Our New Home

I am so thankful for our new home. We are truly blessed! John gets to walk to work everyday. It takes him 5 minutes to get to his client and 10 minutes to get to the office. That means he plays with Chloe in the morning and puts her to bed at night. It used to take him 40 minutes to get to work in Austin. We have dinner every night together - something new for me - I have to cook! I'm not very good at it, but John gives me a lot of grace. The center of Bratislava is so cute with no cars and a great place to get an afternoon coffee. There is a fabulous trail across the river that we take Burton running off leash. He LOVES it and has made lots of doggy friends. My new girlfriends have been so helpful in navigating life here. I may become a professional grocery shopper - going from one store to another to get exactly what I need - but at least I am finding things. I love that Vienna is so close with it's plethora of shopping and a great outdoor market with fresh fish, spices, fruit, cheese etc. We have a nice gym. The child care next door is free while I work out. It's brand new, super nice and clean, and there aren't a ton of children, so Chloe gets one-on-one attention. Even though they can't speak English, they call Chloe's name when they see us coming =). We have found a church with people who love God and are dedicated to living life following Him. It's a small congregation, but everyone is super nice, loving and welcoming. I plan on getting more involved with the church's outreach and ministry programs.

While it's been a difficult adjustment, it is becoming more and more a reality of what an amazing experience this is and will be. With our Munich trip last weekend and talk of going to Ireland in two weeks, snowboarding in the winter and water sports in the summer, it is truly a dream come true. Thank you Lord for showing us a different side of this beautiful world You created.

You know you're in Eastern Europe When....

You know you are in Eastern Europe when you go to get a mandated health check to get your Visa, they draw blood and your arm ends up looking like this:


Seriously, I have good veins. Really good veins. Nurses always comment how easy it is to draw blood because I have veins popping up everywhere. I have never ever had anything more than a small bump after I've had blood drawn. Well, at my health check, the nurse decides to draw blood from the side of my arm instead of the dead center where they usually draw blood. There was a huge vein sticking up in the dead center, so I'm not sure her thought process.

I also knew I was in Eastern Europe during my chest X-ray, also for my Visa. I had to get an X-ray to screen for tuberculosis. First of all, the hospital was the most drab place I have ever been - it looked like something out of a horror movie filmed in black and white. When it was my turn, I was taken into a room where there were two male X-rayers. They showed me to a changing room, where I was told to take off my shirt and bra. Before I could come out, the door flew open and one of the male X-rayers pointed for me to walk across the room to the X-ray machine. I huddle under my coat and try to figure out where they want me to go since they only speak Slovak. The guy grabs my coat and throws it aside - so I am completely naked on top. I am huddling up my shoulders as the modest girl that I am, and the guy throws my shoulders back and positions me so that my chest is pressed up against cold metal, and I am ready for the X-ray. I'm not sure the idea of customer service and bedside manner has quite made it over here. Also do they really not know that you can get an X-ray done with clothes on? Really?

MIA & Munich

So, I've been MIA for over a month and really not doing well with this blog considering I only have 4 entries. Sorry about that. I have a renewed commitment to keep this thing up to date. To my defense, it does take a while to move in and get settled and also I got two colds in a period of 3 weeks that lasted over a week each. The good news is we are settled, and I am learning to navigate Bratislava. Chloe and I have met some friends - ie friends with babies, and we have a musical playgroup on Friday mornings and a Gymboree type activity on Thursday mornings - wow things sure change when you become a stay-at-home mom =). I am also looking into working for John's company one or two days a week, so we will see what happens with that.

We spent last weekend in Munich with our friends the Liners, who are living in Budapest. We had a fabulous time with them (they have a 3 year old boy and a girl a month older than Chloe), and LOVED Munich - it is a really cool city. We went all over it - tons of parks and outdoor spaces. We went to the BMW museum and of course my favorite was a 107,000 Euro crossover.


Chloe had a favorite car too - I think it might have been a little more reasonable. Unfortnately, you can only see the steering wheel:



We feel so blessed to be able to hop in the car and five hours later be in a whole new country. Here's a photo of us under Munich's famous townhall.

We also spent most of the drive in Austria - it is really beautiful with lakes and mountains, valleys and hills. It makes you want to break out and sing ----"the hills are alive, with the sound of music.....". Ok that was a little cheesy, but we did drive right through where Frauline Maria got her inspiration.