A Bit of London

We arrived in London yesterday and have already seen so much! Our good friend, Alan, greeted us with his typical bone-crushing hug at Heathrow Airport and then led us to godparents house on London's comprehensive public transit system.

 

 

While jet-lagged from the overnight flight, we briskly followed Alan and his extremely energetic and knowledgeable godmother, Celia, all over central London. When Alan commented that her purple hair added to her character, Celia quickly remarked, "oh that's only PART of the presentation." Snapping photos on the fly, we saw Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park and the River Thames. Celia passionately educated us on London's characteristic juxtapositions, between old and new infrastructures and between church and state influences.

Feeling tired but already well introduced to London, we enjoyed a lovely dinner with our hosts, Neil and Celia, in their "Breakfast Room". The two of them fill their house with cheerful, constant chatter and made us feel at home so quickly. We are so thankful for their generous hospitality!

 

We're off!

The adventure is here! Andy and I are off to Europe for eight weeks. This is a trip we've been dreaming of for years and now that it's here, we're in shock it's ACTUALLY happening. We are beyond excited and feeling incredibly blessed God has given us this opportunity. This blog is a way for us to keep in touch with family and friends, while also keeping record of our travels. Thanks for visiting!

While preparing for this traveling expedition, Andy and I have been considering what our goals, hopes and prayers are in all of this. Warning: some of these may seem lofty and idealistic but we're sharing them anyways!

1) Experiencing History, Culture & Nature
We'll be hitting up fifteen different countries and are looking forward to experimenting with languages, observing different ways of life and hiking a variety of landscapes. It will be neat to see what pieces we pick up along the way and use to inform our lives back home.

2) Connecting with People
This will be fascinating! We hope to meet many fellow travelers in hostels and learn how to better connect with new friends. We expect quite a few blog posts will include some of these unique and inspiring individuals.

3) Building our Marriage
They say a trip like this makes or breaks a relationship... haha for us, this isn't an option! Yes, we're newlyweds but it's our desire that God would continue to teach us how to make a great team. Pray for us.

4) Growing in Faith
This hope will flow through everything.. seeing Biblical history come alive, standing in awe of God's creation, conversing with strangers, challenging each other to become more Christ-like, etc! It's our prayer that we would draw closer to God and continue to be blown away by His faithfulness and timing.

5) Living it Up!
Who are we kidding?! This trip is going to be a ton of FUN! It's a window of time in our lives where we both have two months off. It's setting up to be a trip of a lifetime. SO excited for all that God has in store!