Wanderlust Summer 2015 (Montenegro - Part 1)

I was blessed with another opportunity to go on an international mission trip / vacation for a few weeks this summer.  And it was certainly an adventure every step of the way!! And because it's me, you know this will be picture overload!

Last year I went to Romania with a group called Adventures in Missions (AIM) and I loved it so much I signed up for another trip as soon as I made it back to the states.  I landed on Ireland for the next mission trip and even convinced my friend Hannah to travel with me!  We decided to make it a little adventure and stay in London for a few days once the Mission portion of the trip ended.  We made all the arrangements with flights and hotels to Ireland and London, when, about a month and half before we were set to go God intervened and decided Ireland was not where we should be sent.  And a few days letter I got word that we were being sent to Montenegro!!  Montenegro was formed not to long ago, after the Yugoslav war that separated into 5 little countries.  It is across the Adriatic Sea from Italy and right above Albania.

So after wrapping my head around the fact that the location had changed once again I was geared up and ready to go!  Getting there was going to be a little bit of a trek as the entire team had already made travel arrangements to Ireland.  AIM still had us meet up there and then we would be able to travel the rest of the way to Montenegro together.

Hannah and I got to Ireland the day before we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the team and were excited to see what Dublin had to offer!  But unfortunately, London Airport decided they needed my luggage more than I did and didn't put it on the plane with me. After throwing a little fit at the thought of not having my luggage during the trip, Hannah loaned me some clothes and we ventured into downtown Dublin to a pub one of the attorneys I work for suggested we go to, The Brazen Head, it is the oldest pub in Dublin.  It was jammed packed and had live music, but we were too late for food so we didn't stay long.

The next morning, I had my lovely Mother on the phone with American Airlines trying to locate my still missing bag (that I was told was still in Dallas even though it was in London), while Hannah and I got ready to head back to the airport to meet the rest of our team. As we were printing off our tickets and getting ready to go through security my Mom text me to tell me my bag was on a plane heading to Dublin!  As luck would have it(my luck, not their luck), two girls from my team were held up at the London customs and when they were released (that's another story of it's own) they were on the same flight! So since we were waiting on them, I got to wait on my bag that fortunately made it just in time!

Relieved that I had my stuff we made it on to the never ending saga of travel to Montenegro.  First we flew from Dublin to Germany where we ran, (I do mean ran, as in break out in a sweat run) through the airport, rushed through customs to run down the tarmac to our plane heading towards Austria.  Where when we landed there had to do the same thing to catch our next plane to Albania.  My passport makes it look like I'm quiet the world traveler even though it was mostly airport visits for 5 min :).  We landed in Albania at 1 am where we waited for a bus that picked us up at 1:30 am.  (PS all luggage was accounted for!)  We drove through the night and arrived in Sveti Stasije, Montenegro to watch the sun come up on the most beautiful oasis I have ever seen.  Pictures do no do this place justice!

 






















Now the people of Montenegro, we were told, sleep in until around 10 everyday, so for most of us our apartment's were not ready when we got there.  Fortunately Alecs, our translator, was there and took us down to Premier (the only restaurant in Sveti Stasije) while we waited for things to get ready.  As tired as I was, I was happy to be in this beautiful place!   After a few hours, our apartment was ready and we all were excited to take a much needed nap!!  Katie, Ashley, Hannah and I shared an apartment.

 

After the much needed and appreciated nap,  we headed back to premier for dinner and to get the low-down for the next day.

The next morning, my apartment group woke up a little early to venture down the local bakery for breakfast and to have quiet time on the beach.  This is still one of my favorite parts of the trip.  Such a serene place to start off the day!

After the rest of the group woke up and we got together we headed into Kotor, where we spent a lot of our time. There is an old fortress that makes a city-like area called Old Town.  It has a lot of the history mixed in with the modernness of the shops and apartments.  Montenegro makes most of, if not all of it's income through tourist.  Which is fine during peak season, but I imagine it to be a lot like Alaska where it's dark, cold and depressing during the off seasons.  There are cruise ships that port in Kotor almost daily during the peak season and Old Town booms into life. 

The place below with the green shutters is a coffee shop were we set up home-base and handed out Bibles in the Serbian language.

Some people were receptive to our "poklon" (gift) while others were not.  But I think that is to be expected anytime you do this particular mission work.

Next up, the hike up the wall of the Fortress.......

Mornings are hard.

Everyone who has ever known me is fully aware that I am NOT a morning person.  It takes me a little while to get moving not only physically but mentally as well (things just don't compute in my mind in the morning).  And, I wear contacts so it's even harder to see and squint and grasp what I'm seeing.  When I'm getting ready in the mornings I never look at digital clocks because the lights are way to harsh in the morning hour and I never look at an hour hand because it takes me less than hour to get ready so I only need to know where the minute hand is.

That being said....

Yesterday morning, I was awoken suddenly and literally jumped out of bed believing I had either slept through my alarm or turned it off in my sleep (yes, that has happened more than once).  I stumbled into the bathroom to shower.  Shoved my contacts in my eyes so I could see to blow-dry and straighten may hair.  That's when I started to notice it was a little darker outside than normal but my mind is not fully functioning yet so I continued to get ready.  I quickly applied my make-up and grabbed work clothes....I opened the door to race out to my car when I realized it was completely pitch black outside.  That's when I decided to look at my phone to figure out what time it was....

Yes, I was completely ready for work at (drum roll please...) 4:30 am.  Pretty sure that's a record for me.

But this story doesn't end there...that would be too easy.

I decided I would got back to bed at that point and get a solid 3 hours more of sleep.  But the night before I had washed my sheets and they still had that fresh clean feeling that I didn't want to lose...so I washed my face, took out my contacts, put my PJ's back on and crashed! I don't think I've ever fallen asleep so quickly! 

Big mistake...BIG! Never go back to sleep once you are up and going...

7:30 hit, my alarm went off and I felt like I had literally been struck by a truck! My eye's were so swollen that I had to pick up my eyelid to shove my contacts in and after the 3rd or 4th attempt I got them both in. I re-applied my make-up, straightened the awesome cow-lick I had going, then I got dressed only to look down and notice I had yogurt all over my pants.  I quickly grabbed another pair pants, but the shirt I was wearing didn't match! (ughhhh) So I grabbed something out of my closet threw it on to find a big hole in the back (mumbling all the while how much I despise morning) Finally at 7:55 I was on to outfit number 3, which thankfully worked.  And once again, I opened the door to race to my car and make it work.  Y'all, I was exhausted!!

Mornings are hard!

Chopped it off for Love

I recently did something a little crazy...well crazy for me anyways.  I've been saying I wanted to do it for sometime, but was never brave enough to go through with it.  Alas, the time finally came, no more just talking about it.  I did it.... I cut all of my hair off!!!! YIKES!!

I know I know, it's just hair.  It will grow back.  But this was a big deal for me.  I really loved my long hair.  Let's be honest, I'm a little lazy in that department and it was so easy to fix (or most of the time not fix because I could just let it go).  But my cousin, Alli, and I made a deal to donate our hair to good causes.  When she chopped hers right before school started I knew I couldn't back out. 

Here we are before on the 4th of July....just look at those lovely locks!

 

Alli donated her's to the Pantene Project .  Here are her chopped locks :) 

 

And I donated mine to Locks of Love.  Here is my before and after....it's all gone!!

 

 

A little bit over a foot!!!  I'm slowly getting used to it (I mean I actually have make time to dry and straighten) but this was something simple that Alli and I could do to give to those who are going through some tough times.

Happy Humpday Folks!

The BIG 3!

I finally landed a 360 off of a kicker at the BSR!!!!

I've been working on this on and off for a little while now.  And though it looks easy, if you don't land just right, you will catch and edge....and that hurts!! The cable is pulling at 19 Mph and when you catch an edge the board comes to a complete stop while you are hanging on the handle which is still moving fast and you get whipped really hard face first into the water!!! 

The hardest part is getting that hand off behind my back...you know, being pulled at 19 Mph flying off the water from the kicker and then adding a spin...it's harder than you think.  But I finally did it!!!

See the 360 here :)

Last one...I promise!!

One thing I got a whole lot of this summer was quality time with my family and friends.

One of my most entertaining trips was when two of my high school friends and I got together for a road trip to Arkansas.  Tana is a huge Miranda Lambert fan so for her birthday we all made the trip to AR for her concert.  As Tana says...sometimes Mama just needs a night off...

Now the trip home....we may or may not have been stranded on the side of the road in the 100 degree heat....and we may or may not have had to drive 55 with no AC and the windows down (in the 100 degree heat).  But us three together made it all the way there and back and I know three Mom's who were worried about, even though we are all 26 years old, sending us off without any supervision :)

Speaking of being 26 -- this is something that I just can't get over, at 26 years old (well really I was 25 when it happened, but I'm 26 now and they are still in) I had to get tubes put in my ears.  REALLY!!!

And yes, at 26 years old I still have my Mom and Dad come take care of me :)

Another thing I can't really get over is the fact that my Munchkin (my little, not so little cousin) graduated from high school.  It was fun to have the whole family together, but I still can't believe he is off to college!!

And now for just the random family fun shots I've accumulated over the past few months!!  Enjoy :)

Really, all in all, life is pretty good!! My parents are coming to visit next week and that's always fun!! We are getting closer and closer to fall and winter and those are truly my favorite times of the year.