Have I Ever Told You About One of my Favorite Days?

Take a quick potty break and grab a Coke.  I've got a story to tell, and it's a looong one!

Last summer Mindy came to visit.  Just as she booked her tickets, an advertisement came across a message board for ex-pats that I am on.  A family was offering their amazing flat right on the Mediterranean Sea, complete with pool and everything for a rock bottom price.  I jumped on it, and booked the place for 10 days.

Ever since we bought the Lonely Planet travel guide in 2006 to help us on our visit before we moved here in 2007 I have been fascinated with this picture:

Mt. Nemrut

I felt that I HAD to see this place in person!  So, since we were already going to be down towards the Southeast of the country, I decided that we should take a quick 2 day excursion over to see  my beloved rock heads.

I got on the internet and poured through the Lonely Planet guide trying to figure out where to spend the night and find some sort of guide.  In the end, I called the number of the guide listed in the the LP book.  He wasn't booked and happy to tour us around.  I asked about joining an organized tour or something.  In the end he suggested that he could join us in my car and take us around. 

So, here we are, Mindy, Noah, Callie, Lucy, and me piled into the car headed out east.  Along the way, we are going to stop in a small town and pick up some man we've never met, in our car (!!!), and continue on out into the middle of nowhere, and finally see some amazing stone heads.  

Oh the adventure... my happiness was off the radar!

Lest you start to worry about this iron clad plan, Mindy and I made a pact that we would do our best to protect the children if the guy turned out to be some sort of maniac!  HA!

I cannot tell you how thrilling the whole deal was!  I just kept thinking, if I got on the phone and told my parents what we are doing right now, they would croak and then roll over in their graves!

Anyhow, it all turned out to be absolutely wonderful.  The tour guide was perfectly lovely.  He had so much information and was so patient with the kids.  Mindy gets carsick and, as it turns out, the roads out in the middle of nowhere are a bit on the curvy side, so Mehmet had to ride in the back!

We stopped to take a few pics.
Mindy and I sat up front.  Callie, Lucy and Mehmet in the second row.
And sweet Noah was in the way back.
PTL that child does not get carsick!

We wound our way through the mountains to our little hostel.

It was like going back in time!
I watched a man and woman plow this field with a donkey!

The terrain was georgous!

Here's the little place we stayed.  It was budget friendly, to put it nicely!

We dropped out stuff off in our (one tiny) room.
Then we walked all around the area exploring a bit.

I had read in several places that the drive up to the top of the mountain was very steep and hard on a car and the driver.  So we hired this van to take us.  At 5:00 we piled in.  My heart was racing with excitement!

My babies about half way up the mountain.
We were headed to that little tip in the distance.

It felt like we were overlooking the world.
The temperatures went from over 100 degrees to the 50's.

That peak ahead was our final destination.

Once we reached the parking lot, we had to hike to the summit.
It was the most steep and difficult part.  I didn't think Lucy could make it, so I hired a donkey to take the girls up.

There they go on their mountain trek.

We hoofed it up.
But the view was worth the effort.

This is the Euphrates River valley.
When I was in 7th grade geography we would play a game where you named a geographical location that started with the same letter as your name.  I always chose the Euphrates River.  And since that time, I have been dying to see the Euphrates River.  I didn't even know that we'd be able to see it from here.
God is GOOD!!

About to turn the corner at the summit and come face to face with the statues!

There they are!
Behold their glory!

Our family on top of the world!

Originally the heads were perched on top of the bodies half way up the hill.

The bodies were thought to have lost there heads during one of our many earthquakes.

The actual mountain peak was completely man made!
Archeologists think that it is a tomb.  It was a huge pile of hand crushed rock.
I cannot imagine the effort that took in the first century!

King Antiochus 1 Theos of the Commagene Empire

His grandson

The king flanked himself with two lions and two eagles.
This symbolized his depth and breadth of his power.

Mindy and Mehmet chatting.

Noah immediately began climbing.

These amazing reliefs were placed at a special angle to protect the gravesite from the intense wind.
They form a beautiful decorative frieze.

The reliefs were carving of some of the king's ancestors.

Tourists try to arrive at the summit to either see the sun set or rise.

Going,

going,

Gone!

This is how Mindy and I felt about this awesome experience.

My girls and me heading back down the mountain to the van.

Food was included in the price of our room.  The food was AMAZING!
It was waiting for us when we arrived.

We finished the night with tea and fruit picked right off the trees and from the garden.

So, there you have it- a recap of one of the best days of my life!  It had everything that I love, adventure, an element of danger, interesting and historical stuff, checking things off my "must see before I die" list, lots of laughter, and time spent with the people that I love most!

Bir Mayıs

Bir Mayıs means May 1st, and May 1st is Labor Day.  So, Justin and the kids had the day off. 

The weather has been a bit hot, but today it was BEAUTIFUL!  In stead of joining the protests around town, we decided to go to this place to walk and play.  It is one of my favorite spots in the city.   The forest is just the right size and it overlooks the Straight.  The views are fantastic- both nature and sea.  There is a nice paved path that circles the forest.  We walked it twice today.  It felt nice to get out and move a bit- city living can lend itself to being inside too much!  We splurged on ice cream cones for the kids and then they played on the playground for a bit.  It was a perfect family day!

Exactly a year ago Max and Isaiah came to visit.  Their visit was one of the highlights of 2012!  It's hard to believe that it was a year ago.  We're ready for them to come again!! 

It's Been A Long Time A Comin'

So, it's been a rough winter around these parts.  But Spring is here, and it's a time of new things.

Here's a recap of what we've been up to lately:

Noah got an electric guitar for Christmas.
He's quite the rocker!

Make your own pizzas for Family Fun Night!

I went on a date with this fine young gentleman.

When my mom came she taught us how to play dominos.
Here we are on Christmas Eve having some fun family time.

Christmas morning breakfast, complete with bacon that Justin brought from England!

Callie came up with a Christmas morning plan, wrote a song, and led us in worship.
It was hands down my favorite part of the day!

Our Christmas tree!

Callie posing with her gift from Grandma.

Noah and Lucy were pretty happy with their gifts, too!

A NASA exhibit came to town so we walked on the moon one day.

A wooden concrete form fell probably 100 feet from the construction site across the street and
smashed the top of our car.  Here they are towing it away.

Miss Lucy got her first report card!
All 5's!

We started off the two week winter break with some fun!
Doughnuts at Krispy Kreme and...

ice skating!
I signed Lucy up for a lesson to help make everyone's life a little easier.

Noah is a pretty good ice skater, and Calllie
keeps a nice firm grip on the wall!

A buddy from high school came through our city on the way to a conference.
It was so fun to see him and catch up!

Justin had back surgery.
Praise the Lord, the surgery went well and he has recovered completely!

This princess turned 10 years old!!

So, we stuck her in this machine to punish her for growing up!

They continued to grow up, so we tortured them some more!

My mom had a BIG birthday this year, so I flew over to surprise her.

My beautiful mother and my Daddy (my coconspirator).

So, as you can see, although the blog has been blank, life has been full!  

The weather has gone from this:

To this:

And I am praying that my heart will, too!

"This is what God says,

    the God who builds a road right through the ocean,     

who carves a path through pounding waves,

 The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—     

they lie down and then can’t get up;    

 they’re snuffed out like so many candles:

 “Forget about what’s happened;     

don’t keep going over old history. 

Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.    

 It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?

 There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,    

 rivers in the badlands.  Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’     

—the coyotes and the buzzards—

 Because I provided water in the desert,     

rivers through the sun-baked earth, 

Drinking water for the people I chose,     

the people I made especially for myself,     

a people custom-made to praise me."

Isaiah 43:18-20 MSG

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

It is snowing so hard outside.  It has been snowing all day!

This is such good news.  Even though the sky is still gray, the white flakes flitting down make everything more beautiful!  It blankets the empty lots, construction sites, and everything in its path with beautiful clean white.  I just LOVE it!!

Unfortunately, since the stomach flu had a week and a half long party at our house, it is December 20th and I have not bought ONE Christmas present for my family.  We don't do anything big.  But at least a video or something under the tree from Mom and Dad would be nice.  So, I had to get out in the snow.

Now, local drivers are a bit crazy under normal circumstances.  But, when it's snowing in a place that doesn't get much snow, all the crazies come out and decide to drive around.  It's FUN!!

I do admit to being one of those crazies.  The things that I have done on these roads is another post for another day.  Remind me to tell you!

Anyhow, when I dropped the girls off at school, and my neighbor and her baby at the nearby doctor, the snow wasn't so bad.  But after two hours of shopping things were starting to get a bit too slushy for my liking.  I jumped in the car and very slowly headed home.

I almost made it!

Our area is just too hilly, and I grew up in Georgia.  I'm not such a great snow driver.  So, after repeated attempts to get home, and sliding all around,  I left the car on a nice quiet street.  It is right next to a big wall, away from the intersection, and there is hardly any through traffic.  So it should be ok.  It's only 2 blocks away.

After I got the car situated, I surveyed my purchases, that included some groceries, and decided what was essential.  I didn't want to leave much because I didn't want it to get stolen.  Heavy laden, I trudged home in the snow.

Uphill.

Praise the Lord for our lovely warm flat!  I am so glad to be home!!

One of the things I left in the car was a big pack of toilet paper.

Turns out it was essential.  The cabinet is empty.  Whoops!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I was leaving that picture of Justin and I up until we were discovered by a modeling agency, became famous, and made a lot of money.  However, that did not happen.  We only had a hand-full of inquiries as to where we got our hot swim caps, and two modeling contracts that really weren't so lucrative.

So, we're going to hold out till spring when people's minds aren't on presents Christmas.

So, it's cold, and gray, and rainy here.  Winter in this city is such a down time.  It's the rainy season.  Unfortunately it's just cold enough to make the marrow in your bones freeze up a bit, but not cold enough to actually snow.  The sun doesn't shine.  Motorists zoom through the poorly paved streets, plunging through huge puddles, and spraying those poor souls walking along the sides with nasty muddy water.

Winter = not fun.

It's the hardest time to be here.  I really feel the extent of what we've given up during the winer.  Throughout most of the year we can convince ourselves that we've got it good.  Yes, we exactly love city life, but we do have a comfortable apartment, friends, decent schools for the kids.  But, it's now, just before Christmas when my mind starts to think, "why did we do this?"

In coming here, we gave up our stuff.  We gave up our pride and our security, and our comfort.  Heck, we gave up a good portion of our sanity.  But the thing that we gave up that hurts the most is our families.  Everyone wants to be home for Christmas.  They want to stay up to late with their Mommas, and sing Christmas carols with the radio while shopping with their siblings.  I want to sit at my mother-in-law's table and eat a delicious meal.  I want to see my nephews and niece running through the house driving the adults crazy.

This year we feel it so intensely, and I don't know why.  It's almost like our first Christmas away again. Forget the presents.  Forget the stuff, and the running around, and all the trappings.  This year all I want  for Christmas is my family!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Who says swim caps can't be sexy?!

Self Confidence

On the way to our Thanksgiving celebration today:

Lucy: Mom, what if I marry, like a Murat or Mahmut (local boys' names), or something?

Me: That would be just great!  As long as he loves the Lord and loves you, that would be fine with me!

Lucy: Humph... Well, that will be easy!  Everyone loves me!!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It was just a normal day here.  It is always really rainy and chilly this time of year, so it's not my favorite.  The kids had school.  Justin had work.  I had laundry, and Callie's guitar lesson, and to bake cookie bars for teacher's day tomorrow.

Sometimes it's hard to remember to be thankful in the mundane stuff of life.  For me, it's even harder to feel thankful!

But, when I stop and look back at all that the Lord has done, all that He's blessed us with, all the promises He's given us, my heart just wells up with thankfulness.  When I look at pictures, and think about our family and friends near and far I am full of Thanksgiving.  We are SO blessed and I am thankful!

I hope that you have a moment to pause and reflect on what you're thankful for.

Puppy Love

I want a dog.

The kids want a dog.

Justin does not want a dog.

What should we do?

Santa is Coming Early...

...and he's bringing an electric guitar to Noah.

Lord, help us!

Welcome Back!

Well, that was an unplanned hiatus! We went on vacation with mom.  When we got back things were busy and she had a hard time getting home thanks to Hurricane Sandy.  That was fine with me, because I wanted to keep her here forever!  Watching her talk to my local friends was more than priceless!!  She had to help me clean the house before she left because I had more company coming and then a retreat that I planned, etc., and so on...

All that to say it has been a busy but good few weeks.  Now here it is Thanksgiving week and I realize that I haven't blogged in ages!  YIKES!

To purge my brain of the things that I've been meaning to tell you, here's a list:

1. My mom's visit was fantastic!  We had such a good time.  I promise to finish telling our stories and posting the pictures.

2.  I also promise to finish telling Mindy and my stories and uploading our pictures form the summer.  Really far behind on that one!

3. My neighbor just got back from the village.  The fun thing about when someone returns from the village is that they bring all sorts of fresh homemade or homegrown food with them.  (Sort of like me and peanut butter when I return from my village- aka America!)  Anyhow, my neighbor was so gracious to share her goodies.  So, now I have a kilo of goat cheese, 1/2 kilo of homemade butter, a small amount of stuff that she just called sauce (Lord, help my innards!), some sort of fruit leather type stuff, walnuts, and apples sitting in my kitchen.  She made me taste everything while we were going through the bags.  I'm going to wait two days to see if I die before I serve any of it to my family... especially the "sauce!"

4. You really should watch this.  The Amazing Race was in our city and it was so fun to see them run all over the places that we are so familiar with.  I could take you to every one of them.  Also, it's funny to hear the way they pronounce things.

5. We are doing Thanksgiving with our American friends (and one British family) on Saturday.  I've had pecans in my freezer since July waiting for pecan pies!!  We'll probably order pizza on Thanksgiving day.

6. Noah is doing ice skating at school and loves it.  He goes to a private school now, and one of the things about this school is that they have tiny little ice rinks down int he basement- weird, but true!  He has decided to be a professional hockey player instead instead of a football player.

7. My friend met two brand new believers in her neighborhood last week!  So, now I'm thinking in my neighborhood of 250,000 there has to be at least one person that is sensitive to the Lord or already seeking Him.  Please pray that there is, and that our paths will cross!!

Well, I suppose that's enough to get my mom off my back about not writing!  HA!

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving! We have so, so much to be thankful for!!