Excuse Me, Life!

At some point in life we are all likely to find ourselves in an unhealthy relationship or situation. The lows make you want to find freedom but the highs keep you coming back for more. The constant back and forth can go on for so long that it becomes a way of life. At what point do you break the cycle and find a way out? These are just a few things that I had to learn the hard way through these unhealthy life experiences… Love yourself. Can you tell a difference in your attitude, behavior or health? Sometimes it’s so bad that your answer is no. This is when you need to listen to those close to you. You could be in so deep that you’ve accepted things as they are, as if they’re supposed to be that way. Love yourself enough to be honest about seeing things the way they really are. Take off your rose colored glasses. You deserve more! Find patterns. After so long things can become a blur. The inner turmoil is agonizing with all the mixed feelings. Sometimes...

Losing my faith didn't happen overnight. It’s been a long process of self-loathing, tug of war, hot and cold, on and off. I remember conversations with friends who aren't believers. They didn't give me one solid reason why. I remember questioning them in shock and horror like wow I can’t believe you don’t believe. When they shared their arguments and questions I came back at them with what I call cliché sentiments of “religious spit.” THEM: So you’re saying anyone who doesn't believe that Jesus is the savior and acknowledges it devoting their life to serving Him will go to hell? All the people in the world, all the other religions are wrong. ME: Yes. That’s what the bible says and the bible is truth. THEM: Why do you believe the bible is truth? It was written centuries ago by MAN, parts of it left out and translated over time. ME: Well yes God spoke through men to write it. I said all of those things because that’s what I was surrounded by and heard my whole l...

It's hard to believe I've been back in the states for a little more than two weeks now. I've had a lot of people ask me how I made this trip happen. So here it is: 17 days... 4 countries... 5 cities... $3,000... with no help from a travel agency or booking tours. DESTINATIONS First came the destination planning. With Sarah living across the world in Prague we went back in forth for a while on ideas and looking up costs. We had a list of places we would like to visit and the flight costs are what made the choices for us. Prague, Czech Republic Venice, Italy Malta - tiny island country amidst the Mediterannean Sea  Madrid, Spain Pamplona, Spain We actually added Pamplona pretty last minute. We knew we wanted to experience the world's Mardi Gras AKA San Fermin Festival Running of the Bulls, but the flights were outrageous. Originally we would be in Madrid for about four days. Then we realized it was only a five hour bus ride away from Pamplona and went for it....

Oh, Spain. You leave me exhausted with all the excitement and long travels. It's been quite the adventure spending time in Madrid and Pamplona... Where to begin. The warm evening of Madrid welcomed us with a rain shower that quickly cooled things down from a day of the sun beating down. The condensation of an ice cold beer tap through the glass enticed us to dodge getting drenched. It was nice to sit down and relax over a beer and some pizza. We stayed in the most adorable flat in the heart of the city. It was very tiny but everything we needed. Our host was so helpful to give us maps and the inside scoop. With really only one day to spare before our next destination we planned to visit some museums.  As we walked the streets every window had signs reading "Rebajas" and we quickly translated that to SALE! The museums would have to wait because these girls were in shopping mode. ZARA got the best of me. It would be a challenge fitting everything in my bag ...

Three and a half scorching days in Malta leaves my skin torched and sore. I've never felt the sun burn like that.  Upon our late arrival a man was waiting with a sign that had my name on it. His name was Martin. We have a mutual friend, Paul, who I work with, that put us in touch. He was so kind and accommodating offering to give us a ride and answering our questions.   We walked outside where Martin's wife waited. It was my first time riding in a car with the steering wheel to the right and driving on the left side of the road. It was kind of trippy taking turns.  A mutual friend of Sarah's let us stay in her home while she was on holiday, so we were headed to her flat. When we got to the street we realized we didn't have a house number, just a map. Things quickly turned into an island treasure hunt! In this case the potted plants marked the spot. Fortunately we found our way and ventured inside the flat. Let's just say walking into a stranger's home was, well....

Venice has been wonderful. The weather was so hot and I'm leaving with sunkissed shoulders. It only rained one evening and my flip flops made me keep slipping which resulted in me snorting from giggling so hard as people chuckled walking by. I then pranced around barefoot in the streets holding my flip flops.  We didn't plan every detail of our adventure for the purpose of just figuring things out as we go. It is a cool test of instinct and survival skills. Too often we live in comfort and are familiar with everything around us. Being in another country things are different at first but it has been easy adapting to how things are done here. When we got to the airport we found a bus to take us into the city. The next two hours consisted of getting lost in an attempt to find our hostel. Venice has so many twists and turns and it was like an adult playground and corn maze.  Thanks to some great friends who were just in Venice we had a few waterbus passes with us and they came in ...

After three flights, 10 hours of flying and lapping people in security lines I made it! Oh and of course the long preparation for the trip which took lots of planning, booking things and figuring out the whole electricity converter, plug adapter and currency exchange. Not to mention packing your life for 17 days into a backpack.  I've spent the last three days in Prague. Everything seems so surreal considering a trip like this has been a dream of mine for so long. I highly recommend actually doing the things you so often talk and dream about. Where there's a will there's a way so forget saying "someday." When it comes to beer gardens, Prague is where it's at.  While at a beer garden by the river feeding ducks some French boys asked me how I get my teeth so white. Between that and the breeze from the river I was able to bust out some of my French, "Je ne sais pas. Il fait froid."  Sarah and I got lost around the castle and found a scenic route for nat...