Home at Last

Jared and I have been back in the USA for 13 days now. The first three we were in NYC, which is awesome by the way, and the next 10 have been spent in Danville with our family and friends. A lot of people have been asking us about the transition and if it is weird to be home. Honestly, it feels like we never left at all. I spent part of my day today flipping through photos of our time in Europe and it was so unreal to me. I guess the whole time I was doing something really awesome but I never truly saw it that way until today. I was looking at Europe through the eyes of a really exhausted girl who couldn't think of anything but home! Today I saw the pictures from a whole new perspective. How many people get the opportunity to spend 6 months with only their spouse seeing beautiful sights throughout? Looking back, I feel extremely blessed to have had that opportunity!

In the last 10 days Jared and I have had many emotional hellos and hugs. The one that really had me tearing up though, was when we saw our dog for the first time. I was really worried that she would forget us with us being gone for so long. I have never been so wrong. I can't really put into words how excited Lily was to see us, but it brought tears to my eyes just seeing her reaction. I think she jumped up and down for 10 minutes without a pause, licking our faces and literally rolling all over us. It was a moment I will not soon forget. Going to church last Sunday was also awesome for us. Not only was it awesome to see everyone, but there was a moment during worship when I just closed my eyes and thanked God for everyone he has put in my life and I thanked Him for the Christian church in general. I am so thankful to have a place to worship with other believers again.

Yesterday was an awesome day for us because it was our very first doctor appointment and our first time hearing the heartbeat of our baby. Although I had to sit through some awful woman stuff (I will spare you the details) and also get my blood drawn (which is the scariest thing in the world to me), it was all worth it to hear the most beautiful sound in the world. I felt so silly, but I looked at the doctor and said "it's really there..." and after that I couldn't really say much more, but for the last two months I have been wondering if there really is a baby inside of me. Yesterday I heard proof and it was magical. Honestly. I think that it was the best feeling I have ever felt.

Jared and I are now embarking on a different journey of house hunting/owning and parenthood. We actually took the first official step today of the house part when we contacted a Realtor. It's exciting and exceptionally scary thinking about having a new house, and also realizing all of the things that can go wrong when a decision like that is to be made.

Really, life here is back to normal except for that I have a whole new appreciation of the Midwest and for the people in my life. I'm not sure I ever want to travel again, although, I am sure that will change with time. I just think I could stare at the sunset and the cows and cornfields for hours upon hours and never be sick of the sight.

Sooo Tiredddd....

This will be my last blog FROM abroad, but not my last blog ABOUT abroad. Right now we are sitting in the Roman Airport once again awaiting our Easy Jet plane to take us to Palermo which is our final destination in Europe. We are spending one night there since we have an 18 hour layover and considering we spent last night on a ferry. We desperately need sleep, so we are going to spend $100 for a bed tonight. Crazy! You may be wondering how we made it to this point after reading my facebook statuses about the Greek strikes. This blog will be dedicated to describing the last awful 30 hours of traveling in Europe.

At this point, Jared and I are pretty fed up with all of the Greek workers and their crazy and violent strikes. Not sure if you have seen anything on the news, but Athens has been a pretty crazy place this week and the last few weeks. If you read our blog earlier, we were without internet because the electric and internet companies in the city went on strike a few weeks ago. This time, the strike effected us in a more serious way because the port in Athens closed because all of the workers went on strike yesterday (Tuesday, 28^th) which was the day we had purchased our ferry tickets for in order to catch our early flight today.

We woke up yesterday all ready to go and we went downstairs to talk to the hotel management about getting a taxi to the port and she responded with “but no ships are leaving from the port today,” which would have been nice to know previously, but I think they are all so used to it that it is nothing out of the ordinary and it is to be expected so it wasn’t really big news. We immediately had a “what are we going to do?!” moment and I was a little panicky. She called the port for us to verify that it was true, and then confirmed that it was. She recommended that we go to the travel agency asap and see if there were any overnight ferries with the companies that weren’t on strike because starting tomorrow Athens would allow boats in so if we got an overnight ferry the boat wouldn’t technically arrive until the next day when the strike had ended. We went to the agency, and there was an alternative company, but the ferry ride was 12 hours long, and would get us to Athens at 6 AM and we had a flight leaving at 10 AM. We were worried that the ferry would run late or that we would have trouble getting to the airport on time, but we bought the tickets and wished for the best.

The 12 hour ride was surprisingly quick, probably because I slept for 6 hours! It was crazy though because we were sitting on the boat, watching TV when the news came on showing video of the day in Athens and we got a glimpse of what we would be arriving to. The streets were full of protesters and burning dumpsters. People were breaking down building walls with sledgehammers and spray-painting buildings. We were warned that some of the transportation companies (taxis, buses, metro) had been on strike this week and we might have a hard time getting to the airport. We arrived in Athens to a really calm morning and all of the taxis were running. We didn’t want to take one though because of the expensiveness (50 euro to the airport from the port) so we decided to walk a little ways to the metro. Of course, they were on strike… so we had to catch a taxi anyway. Luckily, we met two ladies from Korea who were also going to the airport so we shared a taxi and cut the price in half!

When we arrived at the airport we had a couple of hours to kill before the flight because everything went so smoothly. We could breathe! We sipped on coffee (mine was decaf) and munched on some sandwiches and played cards. It was awesome… until we noticed that the TVs with the flight times and info had all flights listed and then beside them in bright red letters was “CANCELED” over and over again. Ours was included in that list. Turns out, the airport workers decided to go on strike as well. At this point, we are LOVING Athens. Love it! I immediately went to the information desk to find out that our flight was indeed canceled, and that it was rescheduled for 1 o’clock when the strike would be over. We had a connecting flight in Palermo from Rome, so we were wondering if we would make that connection given the delay, but luckily, we are here in Rome and have plenty of time to catch it, which is what I have to do now… so I am taking a pause.

…Okay, now I’m in Palermo. The flight was quick and 20 minutes ahead of schedule! Jared and I arrived, got our baggage, and quickly found the taxis. Turns out, even though the hotel is not even 10 miles away, the standard fee is 35 euro to get to it. Our 80 euro hotel just turned into a 150 euro hotel after the two taxis… that’s $225.00 for a bed for one evening. There is no bus that runs this direction. It’s strange too, because this is one of the cheapest hotels we could find on the Italian island thanks to booking.com. We’re so ready for this trip to be over. At least breakfast is included. Anyway, we arrived at the hotel to realize we are so out of place. It is beautiful with a huge garden area and a beautiful pool. It is directly beside the ocean with the most awesome view of the sunset. Everyone staying here is rich, we’re sure… and we’re the youngest people in this place. Probably everyone here is retired and wearing fancy clothing. Jared and I have to ask reception lots of questions because we aren’t used to a place this nice and they give us weird looks. All of this is bearable because tomorrow we get to wake up, eat a huge breakfast (yes, we will take advantage of it), and then pay 35 more euro, and then FINALLY fly back into the USA where the currency doesn’t force us into debt and where we can be pretty confident that a strike isn’t going to cause us to miss our flight or cause our flight to be cancelled.

I am so tired right now that I might not be making sense, but Jared went on a walk to find food since the restaurant here closes at 9 and we missed dinner because we got in late, and I am sitting in the lobby utilizing the internet, supposedly, but it isn’t working, so I am instead locked out of the room since Jared took the key. I am passing my time by finishing this blog somewhat lazily because I am running on 6 hours of sleep, which is just not enough for the pregnant. Also, Jared just walked in the door carrying some brick oven pizza! I thought I would never have it again… gotta go... :)

And... I had to post this a day late because the internet wasn't working... so I wrote it in Europe and posted it in NYC. Fancy.

Saving Jared's Life

So Monday was our 2 year anniversary so we decided to do something really fun and just try to really celebrate the fact that we have been married for two awesome years. We booked a sunset cruise on a wooden sailboat that included a trip to the volcano followed by swimming in the hot springs and watching the sunset while we ate a delicious Greek dinner. I didn't realize that on our relaxing anniversary I would be saving a life.

It was a perfect day for being on the water and we relaxed on the front of the boat and soaked up some rays. The first stop was the volcano hike which takes about 30 minutes to get to the top and because the lava rocks are black and because it was already a hot day, we were tired and sweaty at the top. The view was beautiful, although, we aren't entirely sure if it was worth it. We walked back down to our ship and then departed for the hot springs. This is where it gets interesting.

The captain of the ship made an announcement that there is no port at the hot springs and if you are not a good swimmer that you should stay on the boat because it is around a 100 meter swim each direction to the hot springs. It was also announced that there are no lifegaurds on board. It was stressed that "good swimmers only" should go. Jared and I, because we are both extremely fit, young, and sexy people (joke), decided to take our chances. The swim to the hot springs was pretty easy, I thought. Jared made it as well, but he had to take a break or two along the way. We walked through the hot springs for a moment when I asked Jared if he was ready to go back. He said he was so we walked until it got too deep and then began our swim. I noticed Jared was making his way over to the rocks on the side and then he grabbed on to them and said "I'm not going to make it." His breathing was pretty fast and he said that his arms were completely locked up and that there was no way. We were still about 50 meters from the boat at this point. I started to cheer him on telling him that he could do it. He would venture out from the rocks for a couple of seconds and then swim right back a little panicky. I told him to get on my back and that I could carry him. He hopped on from the rock and we both sank and I came up laughing. I told him to hold onto me and I would keep him up. We did that about half of the way, but I was getting pretty exhausted. I had him lay on his back and I put both hands under him and held him up and used only my legs to keep us both above water for the rest of the way to the boat. The crewman noticed that we were coming so he threw me a life preserver and Jared grabbed on and we made it the rest of the way. The hot springs are tucked a little ways back behind the white church.

We boarded the boat and I asked Jared "Did I save your life? Because it's on my life list to save a life" and then he said "You probably did. I never would have made it." He was feeling a little embarrassed, I think, so we talked about it and what happened and we came to the conclusion that it was because of the cold, deep water and his fear crippled him. Jared also claims that he was stung by multiple jellyfish and Gnargles grabbed his legs and pulled him under.

When we had recovered from the incident the food was ready, which is so good because I was STARVED. I actually filled my plate twice. Don't judge. It was delicious. They served us roast pork with Greek salad and feta cheese along with fresh bread and roast potatoes and rice. Talking about it makes me hungry. Along with dinner we got a beautiful sunset and some awesome picture opportunities.

Other than our awesome anniversary and my heroic moment (gloating, I know) we spent our week completely relaxed with a balanced schedule of work and play. We spent a lot of time on our 4-wheeler going from place to place and we spent some time at beach restaurants enjoying our evenings. On Sunday we went snorkeling by the volcano, which was neat, but in comparison to Belize it wasn't anything too special. Jared had no problem swimming then... ;-)

Now we are preparing to leave Santorini. It is bitter-sweet in some ways, but mostly sweet. We get to go home! We are having ferry problems because a lot of the companies are on strike, but I will include all of that in another blog. For now I have to go and sort those issues out!

Athens and a glimpse of Santorini

I have asked Jared about 10 times today to write the blog… then I resorted to begging. No luck. I don’t know why it isn’t something that I look forward to anymore, but it has become somewhat of a task. It may be because traveling the world is becoming less of a passion and more of an obligation as the last few days trickle by. I am going to keep it up though because I think it is a great idea for me to document the trip in a sense so that I can have a recollection on paper to remind me when I forget how awesome and out of my comfort zone and hard and eye-opening this whole thing has been. Anyway, this blog will be dedicated to our experience in Greece, particularly Athens although I will talk a little bit about Santorini as well.

We arrived in Athens on June 13^th and we stayed until the 18^th in a pretty low grade hotel. The rating on the hotel was good, and the price was REALLY good, so we booked it and we realized after just about 10 minutes there why the price was so good. We paid for a big room with a queen sized bed and a mini fridge and we were given two twin beds in a small room with no fridge. I went down to reception to ask about getting the room we paid for and they didn’t have one available so we had to spend the first night in the lousy room. We shared a tiny twin bed because we didn’t want to sleep apart. Call it young love or whatever you want, but the truth is we just love to snuggle. They moved us to the correct room the following evening with no offer to refund any of our money.

The neighborhood that our hotel was located in was probably the worst. We couldn’t walk to the grocery store without passing multiple passed out alcoholics and prostitutes. Taking a walk to anywhere was a huge chore because everyone we passed smelled terrible, especially to a prego lady. The body odor in our neighborhood was completely unreal. There was one building that we had to pass every day that had tons of stray cats living in it and I had to hold my breath to get past it. The buildings were the ugliest yet and the streets were the dirtiest. The biggest pro was the McDonald’s that was a 10 minute walk away.

Jared and I did spend one enjoyable day in Athens at The Acropolis seeing the city from above. Being within the city is kind of a disturbing experience, but seeing it from above is magical. It was really interesting to see the ancient ruins of what used to be a place of worship for the Greek people in the 1400’s. We also spent some time eating gyros and kabobs which is a classic Greek experience, and it was quite delicious although, I am not a huge fan of some of the sauces that they use.

We left Athens early on Saturday morning and we took an 8 hour ferry ride to Santorini. I was really worried about such a long trip on a ferry considering that I am prego, but luckily I felt awesome the whole day. It may have something to do with the fact that I had caffeine for the first time in 9 weeks. I didn’t even need my mid-day nap! I also did not feel sick at all, which was an answered prayer. I actually have felt wonderful for the last week… knock on wood. The ferry ride seemed to take forever though considering we were so anxious to arrive. The highlight of the trip was when 20 or so dolphins came to the front of the boat and were jumping in and out of the water leading the way. Seeing them do that is something I have always wanted to see! Dream come true.

The ocean here is so blue and the islands are all different shades of red, brown, black, tan, and orange rock. The water is amazingly clear and it’s really awesome how far down you can see. Our resort is really little, but in a great location. It’s only a 3 minute walk to the black beach. Our room is pretty nice although, once again, we have two twin beds! We pushed them together because they said there was nothing they could do about it. We also have a shower that is hilariously tiny. It is a 2 by 2 foot square on the floor with little ledges to trap the water (which don’t work) and a shower spout that you have to hold. No curtain at all so that every time I take a shower the entire bathroom floor is soaked. I think that tiny, ineffective showers and twin beds are just a European thing.

The Red Beach

I have a lot more to say about Santorini, but I am going to dedicate a separate blog to the island because so much has happened already and if I made this blog a combo of Athens and Santorini it would be unreadably long. I will fill you in on the basics of the island. I think this island is one of God’s most beautiful creations. Jared and I both love it here. The beaches are all different colors. We are staying on the black sand beach, but we drove today to the red sand beach which is beautiful in a completely different way. There is also a white sand beach down the road that has the best snorkeling, we are told. We rented a 4-wheeler for our entire stay, so that has been fun and it is wonderful to not rely on public transportation for once! It’s also great to not have to walk everywhere. We are treating Santorini like a vacation (except for we work every day for part of each day) because chances are we might not have a chance to be in a beautiful place just the two of us for quite some time. Also, yesterday was our 2 year anniversary so we did something amazingly fun and interesting yesterday, but I will write that post later on in the week because there is an awesome story about how a 9 weeks pregnant woman saved her husband’s life. More to come on this story.

It's the Small Things

So our day started out with me waking up at 3 and then again at 5 and then at 5:30, 5:45, and then 6 when our alarm was actually going off. I have that terrible habit whenever I am worried about missing an early event. I wake up 5 or so times thinking we missed it! Anyway, we got up in time and headed to the tram that we took to the train station where we caught a really sloowww train that took us to the airport. 2+ hours later we were finally there and going through the check in and customs process etc. until finally we boarded the plane. They seated Jared and I separately which saddened me a bit. I went to my middle seat and awaited the two strangers who would sit beside me for two hours in a tiny space. I thought I was going to get lucky because the seats were empty for quite some time, but eventually a large group of retired folks loaded the plane and two women took seats beside me. I had decided that I was exhausted and I was just going to rest during the flight and not talk to anyone. Instead the lady beside me turned to me and asked "where are you from?" and I replied with "Illinois" and she replied with "me too! we all are" and then I responded with "AMERICANS!!!" and then she laughed and asked why I was so thrilled to see Americans and that just led to a really long conversation. Turns out the 2 hour flight felt like 15 minutes and I was sad when it ended. The three of us talked about our lives and about Illinois (they are from Springfield) and what they were doing on the trip and what I was doing on my trip. Both women had been married for 40+ years and had multiple children and grandchildren. It was awesome to hear the legacy of their lives and the amount of joy that has come to them from children and from sticking to their marriages. I think God strategically placed them at my side for some encouragement. It was reassuring that our lives aren't ending just because we are having a baby... it's more like a new stage is beginning that will never have a dull moment. Jared has been exceptionally sweet about it lately doing little things and saying little things that let me know that he is really coming around to the reality.

Something I have realized that I am going to miss a whole lot when we get back to the US is the unbelievable amount of time that Jared and I have together. Just the two of us. I know that this time is something I will never get back, especially once the baby is born and we continue our family. We are trying to soak up every moment of sleeping in as long as we want and spending an entire day in bed. Our trip has been a chance for us to see much of the world, but also a great opportunity to spend time together deepening our friendship and our relationship. Believe me, we have never encountered more stressful situations than we have here in Europe, but we have learned some great lessons about filtering stress and anxiety and sadness and whatever else may come our way and not taking it out on the other person rather leaning on the other person. Love him so much :)

So let me tell you a little bit about our experience with Rome. We did all of our sightseeing in one long day. We bought tour bus tickets that allowed us to hop on and off at whatever stops we would like and they lasted all day. It was a great option for us. Rome is probably the dirtiest and ugliest city we have seen yet. I know that seems really like a harsh thing to say, but I would really like to be completely honest about our travels so that when I read this in 20 years it doesn't say "Rome was fantastic!" and then I think we should go back or something. There isn't a wall without graffiti or any form of public transportation without layers of grime caked on. All of that aside, Rome was excellent to see once. It really seems "eternal" and the history is awesome. It was unreal to see the Colosseum and the ancient city and all of the pillars and remains of what once was. Vatican City was pretty neat as well, although the lines were amazingly long. We really liked St. Paul's Cathedral. We also spent a couple of hours in the Vatican City Museum which ends with the Sistine Chapel. I am trying not to be a downer here... but honestly, I was pretty let down. Maybe it is because of the length of time that we have been in Europe and the amount of time we have spent in cathedrals, but The Sistine Chapel was something that was really talked up and then didn't really meet our expectations. Yes, the murals are beautiful. Yes, it is a very famous cathedral... but it just wasn't all that we expected.

So leaving Italy was a huge relief for me. I, surprisingly, was getting really sick of cheese and carbohydrates. I blame the baby. I also found that of all of the cultures we have visited the Italian culture has the most pride. Not necessarily the kind of pride where people are carrying around Italy's flag... more like the kind where dirty looks are given frequently. We found that it was mostly the older generation of women. We had multiple experiences where women would do things like refuse to scoot over on the sidewalk so we would have do dismount our bicycles and let them pass. One time on a train we had a big piece of luggage in the isle, but there was plenty of room for people to pass. A middle-aged lady had a tiny rolling suitcase and it wouldn't go through without her turning it. Rather than turning the tiny suitcase she made Jared lift our huge 60 pound bag onto his lap so that she could roll hers past with a smug look. She would not budge. Anyway, I am having an internal debate here. This blog is kind of my journal and also is my way of keeping everyone updated on our experiences. When I say something negative about a culture I don't know who out there I may be offending, but I also want to be accurate. We also met loads of really really kind people in Italy. I just don't think they are quite as kind as the Irish, that's all. :)

So now we are at our hotel in Athens and we have a complimentary breakfast every day for the next week! I am pretty excited about that. We haven't seen much of the city except for what we saw during our bus ride and on a short walk that we took to get some KFC and ice cream (yum). We are excited for the next couple of weeks here in Greece, although the language thing is not cool. We can't read menus... or anything. Crazy letters, you know? Maybe I will learn some Greek this month!

Our Time in Firenze

I had a realization that I have been to Firenze, left Firenze, and spent 2 days in Roma and not written even one blog! I want to blame this on my new found sleepiness thanks to the baby growing in my uterus, but I know that would be a lie. The truth is that I have had plenty of time to blog, I am just out of inspiration. You’re probably thinking “this girl is in ITALY and doesn’t have inspiration?!” but remember that I have been away from anything remotely normal and comfortable for over 5 months now and this girl is really ready for something comfortable and not something new every week. I am going to try to not be a drag though and I am going to tell you about the interesting things and the blessings that we came across in Firenze.

We started our week there with a terrible day of moving. We took a train from Cecina to Firenze and then got off at the wrong stop and had to take another train from the city center to a different train station where we got on the tram for 20 minutes until finally we arrived in the neighborhood where the apartment we were staying in was located. We then had a 15 minute walk with two huge bags and two huge BAD attitudes. We were in such a rush leaving Cecina that I didn’t eat breakfast or pack a snack, which is like STUPID when you are pregnant or even if you aren’t. That makes for a terrible mood. No food combined with the hottest day in Italy yet and two huge bags and a girl who isn’t supposed to be lifting large things just made things awful. By far moving from place to place has been the worst part about our Europe adventure. Anyway, as soon as we got settled in our room I told Jared I would be getting rid of my big suitcase and as many clothes as necessary and downsizing so that he would not hurt his back carrying two huge suitcases everywhere. Now I can carry my own up and down the stairs, but I do miss my clothes already, especially my warm, big sweatpants.

We spent the week with a young couple and their precious dog. Their names are Zala and Marco and the dog’s name is Lulu. Zala is from Slovenia and speaks Slovenian, English, and Italian all fluently. Marco has learned English from her and is also fluent. It was refreshing to spend some time with people our age. It brought us so much joy to spend some time with a dog. We even got to dogsit one night! Zala was as sweet as ever and surprised us in the morning with fresh pastries as a thank you. Zala and Marco were a blessing in other ways as well. I was having my bottom wisdom tooth break through and the pain was unbearable and I wasn’t sleeping well, but being pregnant I can’t take hardly any kind of medicine. After about two nights of the pain I asked Zala if she knew of a pharmacy where I might be able to get a natural pain killer. She and Marco took time out of their day to drive us to the pharmacy, and then to another one to find me a pain killer that was safe for me and the baby. Since I speak very little Italian Marco translated for me and found us a cheap and effective medicine. Italy is awesome because health care is basically free and medicine is cheap. Even for Americans.

When Jared and I weren’t spending time in the apartment and taking Lulu on walks or working we were riding the tram into the city center and enjoying Firenze! It is my number two city officially. Barcelona still comes in first and then Firenze is a close second. Jared likes it as well. It is just one of those cities where there is so much history and culture that you can’t help but just love it. We really enjoyed just taking long walks around the city up and down the narrow and winding streets and admiring all of the old buildings. They are all so huge and majestic. They are art. It’s also amazing just looking down the river and seeing the arched bridges and the gondolas floating. I FELT like I was in Italy.

Our transition from Florence to Rome was much easier because we had much less luggage and also because our current landlady picked us up at the train station to make it easier on us. We are staying in a cute apartment 30 minutes outside of the city center in a pretty bad neighborhood from what we can tell. Jared won’t let me go anywhere alone. I pretend to be annoyed, but honestly, it’s sweet. We have been working hard since it is the beginning of the work week and we haven’t seen much of the city itself. We have big plans for the weekend though including Vatican City and Sistine Chapel and lots of other famous architecture in Rome.

The last two days have been funny prego days for me though as far as food cravings go. I actually went to the store yesterday and couldn’t bring myself to plan any of the weeks meals because all I could think about was fruit salad and cereal. I bought random fruits and a box of Special K and ate it for breakfast AND lunch yesterday. It was the only thing that sounded edible. Today I was craving spicy food, which is a miserable thing to crave when you are in Italy, so I decided to make a trip to the grocery store mid-day to see what I could find. I came home with tortilla chips, ingredients for some spicy pico, and some cheese. Nachos! Anyway, I was crazy and put a crushed, dried chili pepper on my tongue because the pico wasn’t spicy enough. That was dumb. I also ate all of the nachos and pico. That was dumb too.

Anyway, it is 25 days from today until we get home. Jared and I are trying hard to “be here now” and not think too much about home because it gives us an attitude that makes us want to not take advantage of the fact that we are in Italy, Greece, and NYC for the next 25 days. We have lots of opportunities ahead of us and lots of places still to see before we can take the final flight home to what is comfortable and known.

Pleasant Suprise

Tonight Jared and I spent our evening eating some final gelato and pizza and then sitting by the sea and watching the waves and two little boys picking up wet rocks and putting them into their mouths to taste the salt on their tongues. We followed that up with coming back to the room and watching a movie (Definitely, Maybe… It’s a good one) procrastinating every bit of packing that needs to be done. Again. It’s kind of hard saying goodbye to this place when it has been a place of much-needed comfort, and also it is the place where we came to know that life as we know it will be changing.

Do you remember that story about the crazy bugs at the bungalow our first night in Cecina? Well, if you remember correctly you will remember how freaked out I was and how I forgot to grab even a change of clothes so I went to breakfast in my pajamas. Well, consider how extremely tired and stressed we were and then the waking up in a beautiful stone cottage surrounded by green and mountains and vineyards out the window. Now calculate in the fact that we had hours to kill there with no means of transportation until Rosella and Nadio came to get us at 3 PM. Now remember that I was much too tired and scared of the bugs to remember a change of clothes let alone anything else. I really want to keep this “G” rated, so let’s do:

A + B = C.

Being flustered and remembering to bring NOTHING + waking up in an extremely romantic place with lots of time on our hands = I’M PREGNANT!

I know, it was a shock for us too. I have really been wanting to blog about this, but I also have been doing the whole “Is it too early for us to let everyone know?” question in my head. We decided that it isn’t. Plus, the story is just waaaayyy too good. I just have to make a blog while it is fresh in my mind.

So a week or two after the mysterious, romantic cottage I was looking online at my ovulation schedule so that Jared and I could be certain to not get pregnant in the year to come and I glanced at the month of May, only to realize that the evening spent in the cottage was the day in May that I was most likely to get pregnant. At this point I could just see God laughing about it. We try so hard to make our own plans work out. God sent us bugs and stress and then a romantic afternoon all to wipe our plans out.

As you can imagine, for the next week or so I was anxious to see if I would be “late” and also trying really hard not to think things one way or the other. I actually, was extremely excited at the prospect that I might be pregnant, but also worried a little because it was not at all what we had planned. After all, we are in Italy with no home of our own to come back to. Our savings is basically non-existent, and the last time I put on a baby diaper I put it on backwards. True story.

As the week progressed I began realizing that I felt pregnant. Not really sure what triggers that in a woman, but sometimes we just know, I think. I eventually took a pregnancy test, and then another the next day but both positives were so faint that I just wouldn’t let myself believe it. Jared and I went out for a celebration dinner and we called it our “could possibly be pregnant dinner”. I promised myself that I would not believe it until I had a definite positive. Every time I wanted to talk about it, I would try as hard as possible (sometimes failing) to change the subject in my brain. I waited until May 25^th (Jared’s birthday) and took the third, and final test. I was so excited that I woke up three hours before I normally do just to take the test. Anyway, this one was undeniably positive with two bright pink lines. Happy Birthday, Jared!

From this point on we have been accepting the idea and coming to love the little sesame seed of a baby in my tummy. What a pleasant surprise! We are grateful that this happened at a late stage in our trip because had it happened any earlier I would have had to see a doctor in Europe. Luckily, I come home in about 5 weeks which allows me to wait until we get back to go. I am hoping and praying that for now that God’s protection would be all around and that everything will go smoothly and I will feel well while we finish our travels. We are also accepting prayers! :)

As much as I would like to write more and more about it because it happens to kind of consume all of my thoughts lately, I absolutely need to continue packing and getting responsible adult stuff done like work! As you can see, Cecina and the surrounding Tuscan hills will always have a very special, and comical place in our memories. Caio!