Family in Florida

September 11, 2013September 11, 2013 • by admin • In Moving, September Sunshine, Where We Walkers Are • 0

Mi Familia

My parents have been road-tripping all over the US since the middle of July, they started in NYC, made a trip to VA then headed to Los Angeles via Denver, CO to see my fathers family and to attend one of the Denver Broncos (our family’s fav team) scrimmage games before the season started and short time in Montana, Washington, Oregon and Northern California….they spent a week in LA with my eldest brother and then headed to Austin, TX. (i am sure they could give a much better detail of their trip, of everyone they visited and all that they got to see) They drove directly from Austin, TX with my brother Bobby to relax with us for a few short days before making the trek back to MN and my brother went on to Puerto Rico to spend time with some friends of his. It’s crazy that we have all traveled so much this summer.

We spent the majority of the 3+ days they were here at the beach & pool since the weather was absolutely perfect. To switch things up we went to a few different locations and my brother bought us a boogie board and skim-board for more ‘beach’ entertainment. Cordie and I being here just over a month have definately not spent as much time in the water as we did the past three days while my family was here… we are feeling the soreness of swimming in strong currents and attempting to ride the waves for hours and hours today. Which is great as it has poured for most of it!

I realized once again that nothing really compares to one’s own family. And my family is thankfully relaxing to be around, make themselves at home with cooking meals and welcoming my own inexperienced cooking. The night they arrived I attempted my mothers (which was from her mom) ‘mexican’ rice and made pico de gallo, guacomole, black beans and steak ‘fajita’ style for some yummy tacos. Surprisingly, it all turned out wonderfully and the Mexican rice was very close to my moms. Also, while they were here we indulged in GATOR TAIL (I think I am the only one that really enjoyed the meat as it was somewhat tough) crab legs with hot butter, sheephead (type of fish), fried clam bellies, fresh mostly raw tuna, mahi mahi tacos, blackened flounder, scallops, fried cod, blackened shrimp in some yummy garlic grits… pure bliss. Enough seafood to last until we arrive in Spain in a couple of weeks.

As you can see from the random pictures we had a lot of fun.

On one of the nights we went through many photos my parents had scanned at my grandparents in Austin, TX before they left. It was nice to look through photos from the 1920s and to learn more about my mom’s side of the family. My grandparents will forever be a couple that inspires me to be more and give to all people wholeheartedly. We thoroughly enjoyed having ‘half’ of the Osborns together for a few days. We love and appreciate the support, care, understanding, advice, love and of course the constant laughter that they share with Cordie and I. I as the first child to get married am also very thankful for how accepting and welcoming my family has been to Cordie. I am blessed.

Love you Dad, Mom, Michael, Bobby, Donald & Elizabeth. <3 the photo below represents the last time all 7 of us were together(2 Christmases ago).

Delayed.

August 8, 2013 • by admin • In Moving, Travel, Where We Walkers Are • 0

Hey there everyone! We have arrived in Ponte Vedra, Florida and are loving it! However, my computer broke and will no longer turn on-with that said blog post will be few (as I can use my husbands when he isn’t working) and details of where we are will be later than desired due to not having a computer.

Apologies & Take Care

Our mini Roadtrip

August 5, 2013August 8, 2013 • by admin • In august living, Moving, Travel, Where We Walkers Are • 0

New York to Florida

After we left D.C we headed to Virginia Beach and stayed the night (we wandered to the beach but it stormed most of the day so we didn’t stay too long).

From there we ventured to Charlotte, North Carolina for the weekend. Our hotel was just down the road from the infamous Billy Graham Library which was a much longer experience than we both expected but thoroughly enjoyed. It was a self guided tour with videos and prompts throughout the museum which was nice to stay for all of a film or only parts of it. The museum is free and has a cute ‘barn’ style cafe inside of it (delicious milkshakes) if you do ever decide to go while you are visiting Charlotte. From there we headed up towards Lake Norman and had a wonderful BBQ lunch from a on the ‘go’ truck in a park right on the lake, it was a very relaxing Saturday.

photo (8) As you can see the outside of the ‘library’ or ‘museum’ was a barn and the themed continued throughout the tour. The cow below was a talking replica of Billy’s cow when he was a child named Bessie-she spoke about his childhood and how he first came to know the Lord.

As you can see these were some of his personal items and a brief picture of the eleven different presidents Billy Graham has counseled and many became very close friends with.

Another highlight from Charlotte was attending Elevation Church. In which you should most definitely check out their website, but also one of their 7 locations! We went to their Blakeney location which we also had the privilege of listening to their senior pastor live as he travels from campus to campus each week. As a first time visitor-we were treated like Kings and Queens, escorted to our seats, given free t-shirts after the service was over, received a phone call the following day and the day after that an email was sent for follow up and letting us know what else goes on in their congregation. It was amazing and the hospitality really made us want to come back; not only were the worship and sermon along with what we believe and want to be a part of. GO to Elevation if you ever get the chance!

After church we made our way to Savannah, Georgia (we have both been here before and love the historic parts of the city) and relaxed mostly at our hotel which overlooked a gorgeous golf course. We did not spend much time in Georgia as we both were anticipating arriving to our new little home in Jacksonville, Fl. It is located along the water in a gated community, which is much quieter than living in NYC and quite close to a marsh… so we will see how many snakes and alligators we see as we live here over the next couple of months.

Pictures to come of our home!

DC in a Day

August 1, 2013August 8, 2013 • by admin • In Moving, Travel, Where We Walkers Are • 0

WashDCday

After arriving quite late to our hotel in Arlington, VA (I never truly knew how easy it was to get from state to state on the east coast until after today being in 7 different states in a matter of 4 hours) we woke up early the next day to get started on touring D.C. It was very refreshing to have so much space around us as we walked, be in subways that smelt and looked a tad bit cleaner than those in NYC and have time to ‘relearn’ about our history through the years.

The Smithsonian is made up of a bunch of museums in our 8+ hours of being around the National Mall we made it to 5 of those-being in each of them it felt like you could spend even MORE time, which now I understand how people could spend more than a few days in DC just seeing the monuments, museums, memorials, the capital and of course the White House.

Air and Space Museum

We loved seeing all the different time zones of when travel/transportation was invented.

Hearing the details of the various planes that were apart of different wars was enlightening.

National American Indian Museum

This museum is spectacular in how each section is split up into different tribes and stories of whom the people were, where they were and what has happened to them over the years. I enjoyed this museum as I often feel like the Native American people are too often forgotten.It was a very interactive and seemed like a great place for kids to hang out and spend time from just ‘walking’ through and reading displays of things.

National Holocaust Memorial Museum

We were both very happy we took our time to go here, even though it was a lot to choke down and at some points hard to keep reading the individual stories of those that lived and survived through the concentration camps. I enjoyed this ‘tour’ as it is a memorial so still pictures and filming is not allowed and welcomes you to ‘breath’ in everything that you are seeing, and everyone is encouraged to grab an ‘Identification Card’ before entering-which has the story of one individual for you to read as you walk from floor to floor. The memorial is 4 floors and goes from before Hitler became thesupreme power and everything that happened in the years to follow and of course how it all ended.

The one thing that I never knew was how Hitler also wanted to get rid of ‘gypsies’ which were mostly ‘roma’ people at that time, and came from Bohemia and Moravia. (This really stuck out to me as from my father’s side we are part Bohemian Jewish) The museum has done an honorable job in remembering the Holocaust and I would recommend if you are in D.C it is a must go and see.

American National History Museum

Our favorites here: George Washington’s actual clothing and sword.

The two chairs that were used by General Grant and General Robert E Lee to sign the agreement that ended the Civil War.

The Natural History Museum

This being the last museum we went into-we breezed through everything, making sure we spent time in areas that we knew we couldn’t find in other museums we would go to in the future, the Dinosaurs and Gems.

Seeing the ‘hope’ diamond and reading its path through history was sweet.

At the end of the day walking to the Lincoln Memorial was a challenge as our poor little feet (even after walking every day in New York) were very sore, but we made it! It had construction pieces around it (just like the Washington Monument) as we had seen on the news last week someone had poured a large amount of green paint over it, which is now white paint and seems as if they are still trying to figure out how to clean it off without ruining the statue.

Above is the Lincoln Memorial from a distance and below is inside with the man himself.

We ended our day at the Arlington Cemetery and were very grateful that our hotel was connected to the Metro line for a short and convenient journey home.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out the gallery for more pictures!

Goodbye NYC

July 30, 2013 • by admin • In July Home, Moving, Travel, Where We Walkers Are • 0

July Home

We cannot believe how fast this month has gone! Some days feeling like we did waaaay too much for our bodies to handle and the others being able to just wander around this beautiful city. This past week I got to catch up with a good friend and her sister from Perth, WA a couple times and I am soooo incredibly grateful for those moments!

One day we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then had a 2 hr+ catch up on life in a cafe and then the last time I got to see them we were in Washington Square Park (above pictures) which we hadn’t been to yet and absolutely loved the atmosphere as there was all kinds of funny free entertainment going on around us!

I met Kerri when I was on staff with YWAM Perth, and had the privilege of being her outreach leader to Jakarta, Indonesia, Namibia and Botswana over a 3 month period. She is one of a kind, gracious, full of life and an aspiring girl! Love her to pieces. And can’t wait to see her again in Australia someday.

Rubys

Spending time with the aussies girls, we also FINALLY went to a restaurant in Soho founded and run by a group of Aussie ‘blokes’ and they have AMAZING food. Cordie has even gone to the point where it has been his ‘favorite’ meal here in NYC! They are known for their Australian type coffee and burgers! Our first experience I had a salad and he had pasta….it being soo good we went back today for our ‘last’ meal here in Manhattan and had a chicken burger (with my fav sweet chili sauce) and Cord got a typical Aussie burger with beets, a fried egg, pineapple and a bunch of other goodness. All with a lovely non-alcoholic Ginger Beer (with is similar to Ginger Ale just with more of a Ginger Zing).

These last few days were ‘double’ dip days as we found our fav gelato place, Mo il gelato and went there twice as well! (it only being a short walk from where we are staying it is good we didn’t discover it until now otherwise I know we would have spent too much money there) They make their gelato FRESH every morning! If you are ever in Little Italy, Manhattan it is a must go too!

We loved every minute of our time here in NYC and LOVED all the time I could spend with my sister Elizabeth! I am so thankful for her and proud of what she is doing and what her future holds! Love you ita! Will miss being your roomie sooo much!