Monday the 18th. March is going by so fast. We ate b(R)eaky at a decent hour and decided to go to Pompeii this morning. We met a guy, Nestor, from Spain. He’s super decent and comes from a family of doctors and has twins sisters who are surgeons! He went with us to the metro and we rode the train out to Pompeii with him. The escalators here are the longest I’ve seen. They take you so far down and there are several layers of them to get down to the train. Last night the stations were pretty deserted so Levi went to the bottom of the escalator and we rolled an orange down the side beside the escalator and it struck us all funny because it was bouncing and going like 30 mph by the time it got to the bottom where it hit a sign and no more orange.

It’s very unclean in Naples in general. It looks like a third world country in places. The traffic just whizzes by and motos and cars honk and squeeze through impossible places all the time. Everywhere is cobblestone streets and there is graffiti everywhere. I mean everywhere. On trains, buses, walls, storefronts, alleys, bus stations. It’s crazy. It seems like basically if something works they just use it regardless of safety or anything else. Nothing is really in good shape or clean.

We arrived in Pompeii and split with Nestor who was doing a long guided tour while we did a shorter audio one. So I’ve always pictured the city of Pompeii to be quite small but wow was I mistaken. It’s around 170 acres full of partial buildings and pillars and streets so of course we didnt get through even 1/4 of it I’m sure. Mt. Vesuvius was clear today so we had good views of it from Pompeii. We spent awhile there walking around.

We found the Garden of the Fugitives where the bodies of people were found so there are plaster casts of the people and they look as if they are trying to cover their heads or run away and it really is quite sad how the city met its end. You really do need to go online and read about Pompeii to get a better view of how incredible it is.

After we finished up there we ate some fake food and caught the train back to Naples. Id heard of this place called Christmas Alley that I wanted to see so we walked there and shopped around awhile.

We went back to the hostel and recuperated for a little and then went out to get supper from another Italian place which was an experience our hostel lady recommended for a true Italian waiter experience. Alot of the restaurants here are set up with the kitchen in the building and usually a tent on the street that has chairs and tables in it. The men at this one were loud and yelled “grazie” or thank you when someone tipped the cooks. You ordered either with an appetizer or without and they brought you food accordingly so we had fried mozzarella and buffalo cheese, prosciutto, rice balls, and fried potato balls.

Levi and I had mussel and squid and bean pasta and Morgan had spaghetti bolognese. Prices here for a pizza are about 5 euros and for pasta 10 to 12 euros. The euro is pretty much the same as our dollar so it makes it easy to figure. Water of course is expensive and most places assume you want mineral water which is disgusting. Wine is also really cheap here, cheaper than coke or water. After supper, we walked up a hill to one of the higher points in the city right by St. Elmos Castle. The view was amazing at night and overlooked the bay of Naples and part of the city. We took an uber deal back to our hostel which stressed me out because the drivers here are ruthless. Like it was supposed to take 30 minutes but we made it in 14. Our driver cut through streets that probably never see the light of day and took blind corners with I guess the hope nobody would be coming the opposite way around them. The guys think its great.

We all slept great last night so jet lag must be wearing off abit. I washed clothes in the sink and left them at the hostel with our backpacks to dry when we left this morning.

So Morgan and I are usually DIY people that figure our maps and routes and plans out ourselves and try not to do the average tourist thing but today we voted to do the 2.5 hour Colosseum tour. Our guide was this incredibly knowledgeable guy who was an archeologist and had worked on tombs in Egypt and also on ruins in Rome across from the Colosseum so he could tell us literally anything we asked. First of all, the Colosseum is absolutely huge. The amount of manpower used to build it must have been incredible. Many of the ancient buildings here, be it house, important buildings, pillars, make the more modern buildings look small and dinky. They are all huge with massive arches and wide, marble steps. The outside of the Colosseum has lots of holes in it from past rulers taking the iron anchors off the outside and melting them for weapons and part of the Colosseums outermost wall is missing due to it crumbling off in the earthquake.

We walked through the ground floor arch into the Colosseum and were blown away by the sheer size of it. I’ll admit I’ve been in stadiums before but nothing ever compared to the size of the inner Colosseum. The walls are crumbling but you can see the tiers where different Roman castes sat. Check it out here! http://famouswonders.com/colosseum-seating/

It was so humbling to stand where the sand would have covered the floor as the Christians faced their last moments alive. We saw the underground rooms where they were ket and the places where cages were built holding the lions.

We learned Nero became emperor when he was 17 years old and ruled until he was 31 when he committed suicide, and that because he thought so highly of himself, he had a statue of him built nearly as tall as the statue of liberty that likened him to the Greek god Apollo. I also learned that the Colosseum floor was turned into a dramatic scene when there were games held. They used real bushes and planted trees and flowers and used whatever they needed to make it an actual scene for whatever they were needing. The amount of Christian, and other, history is overwhelming and when I stood there and thought of all these things, I felt so small. Also if any of you have read the Mark of the Lion books, those are what I’ve thought of many times today.

Then we toured the Roman Forum which was the heart and soul of the old city, housing shops, politics and more in its day. Now a rough path meanders through it and you see bay leaf trees, olive trees, and rosemary growing in the ruins. We walked up Palatine Hill where we could overlook the Roman Forum and Colosseum, one of the most amazing views I’ve seen, in a historical way of course.

From there we walked to get lunch at Pizza Forum, a place recommended by our guide. The pizza we’ve had so far varies between places depending on the region the owner is from. This was more of a puffy crust compared with the super thin basically no crust wed had the day before. We got pasta and a pizza to share.

We stopped on the way to see the Ludus Magnus where they trained gladiators. It had a tunnel that connected it to the Colosseum as well. The Roman political scene was barbaric, as they picked out promising gladiators and made heroes of them while in return they were forced to fight. If they chose not to fight, the Roman government could send them to the lions as an example to other people of Rome.

After lunch we took the train back to the hostel and got our bags, then took the 2.5 hour train ride down to Naples, or Napoli. I slept and the boys talked with the guy across the aisle who used to live in California. The countryside is beautiful with lots of small rolling green hills, acres of grape vines, and Spanish style houses set in groves of olive and cedar trees. Most of the people we’ve met here dont speak English at all which is pretty cool. Another funny th(I)ng: we met a Hawaiin family in the airport on the flight here and we have met up with them several times and chatted with them! its crazy to see each other in a city this big and crowded, we tell each other again when we’ve seen them for the third time! Haha

We arrived in Naples at 6 this evening and saw highrises in the distance. Not quite skyscrapers but more modern and taller than anything in Rome. The hostel we are at is called Hostel of the Sun and is ran by an Iranian man who is awesome and helped us out with all kinds of suggestions. It’s a cool place with lots of friendly people and were sharing our room tonite with a girl from Malaysia and one from Germany so it’s fun talking to them. We also met a couple from Bay City, Michigan, which made me happy. We took the guys suggestion of his favorite pizza place and walked up alleys and streets until we found it. We ate outside and listened to people talking through windows to each other, and the sounds of supper dishes clinking, and the chirps of parakeets on a second story balcony.

The pizza was the best yet. Margarita pizza with buffalo cheese and basil and tomatoes and a coke and tiramisu to top it off.

We walked a bit more after supper and took the taxi home. Also the drivers here are horrible, I cant stress it enough. Ours was zipping past pedestrians and honking and squeezing between cars and motos but wait. We look over and he’s on Facebook just scrolling through. I was finished. The first taxi guy I tried to barter with but unfortunately he called my bluff and refused my high offer of 6 euros and drove off to better customers haha.

The guys played games with some guys from Spain and i showered and now I’m in the bottom bunk writing. We decided after supper we could all go home 100% happy with the trip now but luckily we have a few days left! Have a good night!

Our 1 hr flight here this morning served us croissants and swiss chocolate. I’d forgotten how much bread is a staple here! Like anywhere you stop is an array of 20 or so different kinds of breads, rolls, or croissant pastries. We flew over the Alps and such amazing mountains I’ve never seen. We arrived in cloudy Rome this morning at 9 and got a 24 hour pass for Rome transit. Then we caught a shuttle to our hostel. The Italian man driving was a menace to Italy’s roads. We saw speeds of 92 mph and on the bad roads here it was interesting. We are staying at a Meininger Hostel which we stayed at last year in Europe and they’re very nice. If we have someone in our room tonite it will be only one more person since there’s only four beds so that will be cool. We dropped our bags off in our room before catching a bus to see the Trevi Fountain, one of the most famous and oldest fountains in the world.

The water here in the city still comes from the old Roman aqueducts so there are lots of fountains and spigots out of random walls you can fill your hydroflask up at. We grabbed some pizza! then headed to the catacombs.

There are lots of catacombs in Rome but only a few open to the public. They are located along Appian Way. The street Appian Way is one of the most famous ancient roads. It was built in 312 B.C. We took a rickety bus to the catacombs site, rattling over this ancient trade road until we thought our teeth would fall out. We took a 45 minute guided tour of the dark long tunnels and empty tombs. Our tour guide was really funny and we learned a lot, of course. The whole visit was very much centered around Christianity. The particular catacombs we visited were where martyrs and Christians were buried. It was very cool underground and the open spaces where people had been buried were rather eerie. Our guide told us the Christians didn’t live in these particular catacombs because they were built in volcanic soil so the sulfur would make them sick. It still affects the guides now after giving 6 tours a day down there. Our guide told us at the end, “the martyrs gave their lives for us to have the faith that we do.” Another thing we take for granted.

Rome itself is not a clean city. There are lots of people and it’s rather messy. The streets are cobblestone so the buses rattle terribly from years of rough road. The trees and grass are green and there are lots of cypress trees and also ones that look like they should be in the African Serengeti. Most of the buildings are brown earth toned colors. Everywhere you look or drive is something else old or crumbling. There are no lanes for traffic either. You may have 5 lanes and suddenly be down to two with people honking and lots of motos. I think the views and buildings are what I would have pictured it being like in Bible times. The buildings you see on the skyline the most are basilicas and pillars. Every hour there are bells all over the city that you can hear chiming and ringing. Its beautiful.

After we left the catacombs we took a bus to Vatican City which is the smallest country in the world.

Transit takes awhile but the views while driving are tops. The Vatican is amazing. They have chairs set up permanently? in part of the St. Peter’s Square in front of it for Mass. If you plan it right during the week, you can see the Pope when he comes out to give his blessing to the crowd. We walked to look at an old castle next, right outside the Vatican. It actually has a secret tunnel the Pope could use that connects the Vatican to it. We took another bus to the top of a hill where there were panoramic views of the city and we watched the sun set over the old buildings and little (H)ouses where grass grows on the roofs and laundry hangs on little lines on the balconies.

We got pasta SO GOOD at a place called Popi Popi and then caught the train back to the hostel. We are so tired. I think we all fell asleep once today riding the trains so tonight we’ll sleep well I think!

Hey everyone. Last Sunday we went to John and Shars for lunch with a bunch of people. A delightful time. In the evening was singing and Uncle Evans after church with the Koehns for Cadens birthday. This week has been absolutely crazy busy. I’m going to write just a short blog post for the last few days and next week I’ll start my Italy blog posts every day. We leave next Thursday after school so keep an eye out for new posts if you’re interested in following along!

Last night we had our Open House at school. My class hung black sheets around the room to cover the walls and Morgan made stanchions with chain strung between them for the children to stand behind so it looked like an actual museum display. (sort of) The parents had gone above and beyond and the kids all looked so amazing as they each said their little paragraph. At 5:30 last night on the way home from school i suddenly remembered that I also love dressing up so i stopped at Target and found a denim dress and red socks and went home to put together a Rosie the Riveter outfit, complete with denim leggings, boots, red lipstick, and my hair in a red bandana. Some people hadn’t heard of Rosie the Riveter so a brief history is: She was actually a fictional woman whose character represented the women who left the typical housewife mold of the 20’s and 30’s to work in war factories or other jobs men had previously held before the war. Anyways it was fun to dress up for a change. The evening was a lot of work but so worth it for the enthusiasm and excitement of the students!

The other thing i did this week besides Open House was join Curves which is a gym for women. I used to go in CO so i joined here and am glad to be back. One thing i’ve always disliked is coaches who feel the urge to be your constant companion. As i finish the squat machine, one of the tall, 115 pound coaches bounces over to assist me with moves for the resting mat.”Try this one, it’s good for you!” she chirps. I roll my eyes inwardly. I am a beautiful plus sized woman who obviously is not going to be doing the professional bendy moves she is now performing. I decline the attempt while she enthusiastically urges me down on the mat. I watch my life pass before my eyes while she instructs the best positioning for core results. I finish the circuit and as she adjusts her size 0 pants she exclaims, “I’ve really gone downhill since high school!” Well we can’t all be the same size, I think as i pull away for the day to get a cherry limeade from Sonic.

Last night after the Open House the youth showed up at midnight to “pancake” us. Unfortunately I was already sleeping off the worries of the week so I wasn’t involved but I think Morgan said they were around until 2 or so. I was disappointed but honestly i couldn’t have stayed awake. Morgan is mowing today and I’m having a lazy day. I have a sizable To-Do list that needs to be taken care of before Spring Break next week though so I need to get motivated. I just made spaghetti for lunch and tonight I think we’ll be going out for supper with Jalen. I made a packing list this morning which gets me all excited for traveling. YAY! One more week! Have a safe weekend..I’ll see you next week in Italy! Ciaou! Chey

Monday night, the 11th, was supposed to be school board meeting but with some good luck it was canceled. We got to go to Jon&Alicia for supper with Benny&Sharilee and her parents who are visiting, Jerry&Lenora. It was delish.

Tuesday there was no school due to the Tulare Farm Show happening so they actually give us a day off so people can go wander through booths filled with seed and tractors. In the evening we went to folks for supper with Uncle Lowell’s who are out visiting from Alberta, and Uncle Reg’s.

Wednesday Morgan came to school for lunch, which I always love. After school he bought me a pedicure for Valentine’s Day and he sat and got one with me too!:) Then he made this amazing pasta with shrimp, scallops, and white sauce, garlic bread, salad, and gelato for dessert. It was so awesome! A good Valentine’s Day. Thursday was actually the 14th but we had supper plans to go to that evening so we did it ahead of time.

Friday was my Mom’s birthday so i was sad i couldn’t be with her. In the evening we were invited to Ben&Ang for spaghetti with Waylons and Jalens. A super fun evening with useful, honest conversation of course!

Saturday was a relax day definitely. Morgan went skiing with some guys because, if you don’t follow California weather and know this yet, we are having one crazy year for rain and snowfall in the mountains so of course that equals more ski days! I stayed home and caught up on life, deep cleaned, read, practiced Spanish, etc. We went to Uncle Lonnie’s in the evening with the Koehn’s for a birthday supper.

Sunday we went to Uncle Reg’s for lunch with Uncle Lowell’s and folks. We had just finished and Morgan got a call for car found in waterway so we left and spent several hours there at the scene. I suppose because I grew up having my Dad compassionate about people too is where I get this from. But I have issues with the people who have nothing better to do than pull over and get out at accidents and stare and video and gossip. So you can imagine my complete shame when after Morgan said it would be awhile, I got out of the car and went to the side of the road overlooking the creek and watched the process. It ended up with nobody in the car luckily, but I am still dealing with the horror of being the exact person that i can’t stand. I might need therapy.

Monday the 18th, was Ja’s birthday so we had Brents, Jons, and Abe over to folks for supper. The rest of this week has been busy with different things and it has NOT been a good week for me at school. I dont feel burned out, just exhausted from trying to force little minds open wide enough to cram more stuff in. We are also planning for our Open House at school on March 8 if you’re in the area. We are doing a “President” theme with most of the presidents represented along with different people from the span of years we’ve been assigned. I have the World War 1-World War 2 era and since I’ve been to Normandy, Anne Frank’s house, etc., it’s been easy to get enthused. Along with the presidents, my class is also portraying Anne Frank, Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart, a boy from Pearl Harbor, a girl from the Dust Bowl, Eleanor Roosevelt, a soldier from D-Day, Joseph Strauss the chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, a nurse from the Spanish Influenza, and Al Capone. We are going to set our room up as a museum to walk through with each child as the exhibits and red buttons in front of them so when you push the button, each child will have a piece they say about themselves. It’s gonna be cool! Anyways.

Last night we and levi left after school yesterday and drove out here to scio to see madi. Dillon&Renae flew out here and surprised her too so we are together for the weekend! We went skiing at mt hood and now are on the way to portland again! Shout out to my skier/boarder friends…be safe. today at Hood one guy didnt make it home at the end of the day. Pretty sobering.

We are just missing mom this weekend:( have a safe week everyone!❤

i’ve been thinking about the word “today”. I’m sitting on my little couch with my favorite Morgan sitting in the recliner across from me and I’m thinking that today was a good day. “today” brings back memories already etched in my mind of blue skies over Pacific waves, cool breezes through our windows while we drove, and always the joy we both get of seeing other vanagons. We want them all. Any kind of vw bus or vanagon or anything remotely hippie to drive we want to buy and bring home, or at least meet the people driving them and chat and share good things with them. We usually do the latter. Not much buying happens so we settle for making friends on the go. So we drive through tiny seaside towns and on the freeways and we watch green hills go by and look at each other and smile and think “today is a good day.” Sometimes today is a word i look at with regret or disappointment as i realize opportunities missed to share or love or be a friend. But mostly in the evenings when i think about today, I’m thankful.

we had a good weekend around Pismo. we stayed in this interesting place called the Inn at Avila Beach. They serve pie and ice cream every evening, and pizzas at four pm. the rooms are spanish style with hanging beds and jacuzzi tubs and tile everywhere and courtyards and random staircases to get out to your rooms. it was more of a b&b than a hotel. i think we would go back. yesterday we did some driftwood searches and watched the waves and looked at beautiful people walking by while we ate ice cream. I met a man who used to live in Breckenridge, CO (my dad used to live there) and he told me he used to be a bouncer at Downstairs at Eric’s, which is our favorite place to eat in Breck. What a small world. we discussed our favorite kinds of pizza from Downstairs at Eric’s while he sold me some handmade items from his shop and i left with the promise to tell Eric hi from Tad if i got back to Colorado again before he did. We also saw this seal with a baby. Literally the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. The baby seal was on the mamas stomach with its arms around her neck and they were paddling along. I sort of want a seal now. We got home this evening and Jons and Ja came over for nachos and ice cream.

We have had such a busy week and it’s been so fun! Last wednesday we went to Terry and Deana for supper with Jenn, Audrey, and Kendalls. Then Thursday I was trying to organize supper for us and Levi and we got invited to Waylon and Beth’s so we just brought Levi along. on Friday evening we had a family deal at school for David May’s birthday. Went to Jons for coffee after. Last Saturday evening we went to Justins with Brents and Jons. We went early and made ciappino for supper, which is this wine or seafood based brothy sauce stuff which we used with mussels, crab legs, shrimp, scallops, and calamari. You can basically add whatever seafood based item you’d like. Anyways, that with sourdough bread topped it off and it was pretty awesome. Not for the faint of heart or non seafood lovers. Sunday for lunch we were invited to Perrins with Jesse&Tia. In the evening after church Levi came over to make more Italy plans. It’s getting closer!! Wednesday evening was Grandpa Orville Koehn’s 80th birthday party held at the Arnold Barn so we went their and helped celebrate with the Koehns. Thursday was the 100th day of school so my class had a cereal party and brought 100 of something if they chose to. Friday the school divided into teams and ran 100 miles. Luckily we have over 100 students so they only had to run a mile each. Some of the moms served cupcakes and irish sodas afterward.

We have another busy week this week with various things going on and I’m sure all of you do too. Have a safe week. Thanks for the texts:) cheyenne

it always seems like i should write “dear diary” like i did when i was young because sometimes i feel that’s what I am doing:) it also feels like I don’t have much to write about at this point in January. We decided since it was revivals every night that we’d try this Freshly service that you order fresh healthy meals from. They were kind of expensive but we ordered a few of them so I got out of cooking a couple nights!

Last Friday evening we had a couchsurfer couple come for night! Yay! It’s always tough to make sure the house is cleaned up and their bed made but it’s so worth it. They were a couple our age from France and they had been riding bike through south and central america for the last year and 3 months. They started biking in Argentina and stopped at several orphanages in different countries to spend time working with the children and now they’re on the final stretch before they fly home to France. We took them out for pizza Friday evening and they had breakfast with us before they left Saturday morning. It was so inspiring to talk with them!

Last Sunday was church mostly with lunch at folks with Justin&Shenda, council in afternoon, and after church on the evening we went to jenn and Audrey’s, my coteachers, with ben&ang and perrin&nikki. Trudi was out visiting from Nebraska so we spent a fun evening there at the teachers.

We had no school Monday and Tuesday for report cards and parent teacher conferences, a teacher favorite of course. Mine started Tuesday at 9:20 and finished around 3:20 so it wasn’t too long of a day. The school board wives bring lunch so that makes it an even easier day for us. We worked helping ja a couple evenings in his house so John Martin’s could move in this weekend. Wednesday night was communion at winton.

We and Jalen left Friday evening and drove through to madis house in scio. We went to Mike and Vals for an amazing brunch Saturday morning and then madi, ja, and us drove to Portland and spent the day there. It was such a cool day. We explored a skate park under an overpass, shopped vintage and outdoor stores where Morgan bought hiking stuff, had some famous Voodoo donuts, and tried some coffee houses. Voodoo Donuts is a place where all donuts are possible. We tried an m&m donut, a vanilla bean, a vanilla frosted with fruit loops,and a maple bacon. For their complete menu check out https://www.voodoodoughnut.com/ .

In the evening we met lanae, ceejay, and Devin for supper and coffees. It was so happy to spend the day with madi shopping again♡. Sunday we hung out mostly and left this morning after a quick stop at school to see madison’s kids. We drove to Crater Lake after we left which was so beautiful and there was quite lots of snow around.

Now we are continuing home through beautiful mountains with snow and trees covered with fog and still lakes. We’ll get home late with the three of us back at work in the morning.

My after Christmas/revival goal is to be more hospitable…give more of myself…maybe some of you have ideas on how to help me with that! I feel somewhat inferior with my cooking skills and having to come home and make food after school. I’m just uncomfortable enough in the kitchen that it worries me to have company on school nights so if any of you have recipes or ideas for me, send them over! Have a good week!!

Well, we’re home from Christmas. Life is back to normal and we’re all caught up on sleep I think. Fortunately our revivals started last week so we can start the cycle again! A quick overview of our Christmas: we spent around 3 days with the Bronson family at Camp Cedarwood in Manitoba. It was a huge lodge with rec rooms, a snow slide, catered meals, a skating spot cleared on the lake, etc. It was a very good time being with family and catching up with the cousins. I was sick so i honestly dont remember all of it so thats frustrating. From there we went back to Micah’s and spent a couple days there with just Morgan’s family. Morgan and I flew out to Denver on Christmas Day where Mom and Madison picked us up. We ate our little Christmas lunch at Tony Roma’s on the way home. We spent about a week in Center with Mom, Madison, Marks, and uncle Mike’s. It was so so fun to be back with my family. Except for Dillon’s were in Michigan with Renae’s family so I missed them terribly. We flew back to California on the 2nd and both had work the next day. Morgan actually left at 5 the next morning for an LA job with dad and I had school.

We were talking about 2018. What a year. We started it off in Belize and Mexico with my family for New Years. In March us and Jalen went to Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Germany and toured around and saw such cool stuff. We camped in the vanagon at Bishop and Santa Cruz and Yosemite random times. Morgan was on a strike team and went to Cambodia..I started teaching..mom, Madison, and I taught teachers prep in PA and met dillon’s for a weekend in Washington D.C…my family came to visit us…grandma jul, grandpa Gary’s and rhoda somehow ended up visiting us too!..we spent time in Kansas City together when madi donated her kidney…and we ended the year together in Canada and Colorado. What a time to be alive♡

Last week was full with Morgan working and school and different evening plans. Friday night our revivals started with Fran Toews from Scio and Bruce Dirks from I think it’s Windsor, Colorado. Ballico is also in meetings now. It seems like after Christmas sickness is here and I’ve had students missing off and on all week so it makes for less people at church in the evenings and lots of catch up work. Report cards are this weekend but due to missing students I’m not sure when I’ll get mine finished up! One great thing is that during meetings the school board wives or different mom’s, I’m not sure how this works yet, bring supper to the teachers after school which is honestly awesome. Occasionally there will be enough for both Morgan and I so it takes care of a supper for us and it sure helps out!

We were supposed to have the ministers over Friday night for supper but they didn’t arrive in the area in time so we had them for Sunday breakfast instead with chorizo breakfast tacos and fresh oranges from our trees! The sermons have been absolutely awesome. Justification by faith, compassion, charity, forgiveness. Simple messages that are so what I need.

It seems like this post is pretty random but hopefully next week it will be more back to normal. Keep Winton in your prayers and Morgan and I also. Seems like Satan is trying so hard to discourage some of our friends and in turn it burdens us. have a good week..cheers to 2019!

it’s definitely that time of year. the stockings are hung, the California mornings are foggy, and the school related things, as of yesterday, are all finished! So. Last Friday Morgan and I left right after school and drove to Fresno airport. We grabbed a bite and then at 7 flew to Seattle! We drove out to Olympia and stayed night there Friday night.

Saturday morning we drove to meet a customer and followed him on a half hour drive into the country to do some surveying for him. He is a wealthy Turkish man who owns a Turkish restaurant in Olympia and needed surveying done for possible irrigation of a beechnut orchard and kiwi vines. Morgan and I spent the day out in the Washington countryside driving around and surveying. The land was so so pretty with small rolling hills, lots of trees, and old stone houses with little lanes running to them. It reminded me of when we took the train through France. We finished up there and Mahmet had told us to come to his restaurant for “real” Turkish food so we drove back to Olympia. His restaurant’s name is Mediterrannean Breeze so we told the hostess a table for two but Mahmet waved us back and took us to a special table right by the grill where we could see what was going on. It was a very classy, upscale place with the traditional low Turkish style tables and chairs and just an overall classy romantic place. We weren’t sure what to order since we haven’t tried Turkish food before necessarily so we told Mahmet to surprise us with what he wanted us to try because he was super excited we were there. He told us he’d start us off by bringing cold appetizers, so shortly, a plate came out with six different styles of dips; bruschetta, artichoke dip, and rice mixture wrapped in grape leaves were some of them. Wed barely finished some of that plate when he brought a hot appetizer plate which had lamb wrapped in grape leaves, feta stuffed spring rolls, and a bulgar roll stuffed with lamb. Everything is top quality at this place and they have their own lamb butcher and also import everything straight from Turkey. Then he started with the main course with several plates coming out containing lamb sausage wrapped in pita covered with a tomato sauce, chicken shish, lamb patties, and beef steaks that absolutely melted in your mouth. Then mahmet insisted we try the rice pudding, Turkish coffee which was thick and sweet, and the pistachio baklava. When it came time to pay he told us it was on the house!! It was absolutely amazing. We left there so full and drove back to seattle for night.

Sunday morning tony,tara,Ethan, and Olivia met us at Pike Place Market and we spent awhile wandering through there while it rained incessantly and the water puddled on the cobblestones and you couldn’t tell where the sky met the sea. I’d been to seattle once but Morgan hadn’t been so it was cool to see what he thought of it. We bought ourselves some brown pottery shallow soup/coffee cups at the market and watched the men throw fish and ate hot samosas. Of course we had to hit my favorite French bakery and get apricot filled croissants and macarons and hot chocolate. It’s called Le Panier if you want to visit Seattle😁 We walked down by the water and had lunch and then went to Evo to look for ski stuff. Tony’s had the idea to go to the Panama Hotel for tea so we met there next. I dont know if any of you have read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet but it’s a story about the Japanese being taken to internment camps and this Panama Hotel was where many of them left their belongings and their belongings are still in the basement of this hotel. Your view into the basement shows suitcases and shoes and different items that are from someone’s life in a different era. It’s very sad, really. Here is the link if you want a good read! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_on_the_Corner_of_Bitter_and_Sweet So we had tea there which was very neat in this old rickety hotel with cozy chairs and lots of different kinds of tea. Then we said goodbye to Tony’s and headed for my favorite place ever which was a little holiday market in the loft of a building and it was all handmade, homemade amazing stuff. We follow a couple online called Drifters Fish who are from alaska and catch and smoke and sell all their own salmon and they just happened to be in seattle at this market so we got to meet them! They also drive a dark red vw bus with a beautiful wreath on the front. So we walked around and met the 12 or so vendors and ate goat cheese and wild salmon and herbs on toast and it was delightful. Then away we went back to the airport and got home around 1130. Such a fun weekend! It’s so much fun travelling at Christmas when the airports are decorated with lights and trees an all things pretty.

Tuesday night was school faculty supper at Steve and Diane’s where they served us ribs and other amazing things. Thursday evening was the school Christmas program in Atwater at the civic center. All went well, my students did awesome obviously, only one child got sick, and some of us went to Applebees afterwards since they dont do anything after the program, which I think is a shame. I have good memories of getting popcorn balls and candy bags at least! Friday morning we played games and opened presents. I got Starbucks gift cards, a basil plant, some money, and various other gifts. From my students I got the coolest thing ever! They gave me a Rosetta Stone subscription to learn another language and I’ve always wanted to do that so I’m so excited! Friday evening was Santa night at the fire station so Morgan was there all evening and I stopped in for abit to eat candy canes and have cocoa and talk to Santa who was a bilingual Mexican this year due to us living in Little Mexico.

This morning we packed like crazy and I hate leaving my house a mess so i did some minor cleaning. Joe’s picked us up at noon and we are now on our way to Manitoba with a couple stops on the way. I’m going to spend my time going across the barren plains of the western USA watching cooking videos, eating puppy chow, and discussing our italy trip and summer plans with Morgan. Sounds fun right? Last time we went through Wyoming we saw A. a bewildered moose. B. that was literally it. So I wish each of you a happy safe Christmas. If anyone’s going to be around Rosewood, Greenland, Whitemouth, or Center, Colorado, in the next two weeks, let me know cuz I’d like to see some pals! Merry Christmas!