Seasons Changing

Kindra here! Man it's been a long time since I've written an entry-it's time to channel my inner grandma Mary! (She has already written one wonderful book about one of our ancestors called Yankee Warhorse and is writing another one right now! Pretty amazing!)

As I sit here on a warm Croatian beach in the Roman ruin stuffed town of Split, reflecting on how we got here from magic Murren seems as natural as the gentle waves crashing. It was 3 weeks ago that we said a final goodbye to our now dear friends there and we boarded the train for Vienna to celebrate my 26 bday. And about 6 hours, major train ticket confusions and $500 unexpected later, we stepped of hte train into a big city, after living in a town of population 500 for 3 weeks, to be greeted by friends we hadn't seen since February and had only met once. Quite the change of pace! Our friends Nate and Bethany were great hosts for our 4 days there, and their King Charles Spaniel 4 wk old puppy kept us all entertained! But most importantly for me, I GOT TO SEE MY OPERA!! Die Fledermaus was the perfect lighthearted, fun experience I was hoping and I was one happy duck =)
We then got a chance to stay with a friend of theirs, Janet, for 2 nights, who has lived all over the world, so we got to learn more about Africa and had all sorts of crazy story swapping! After exploring more of the city, the Wienerwald woods and sampling the joys of wine tasting with new friends, we had a decision to make.

At this point, we had a fork in the road decision: go back to our beloved Switzerland in Interlaken (the area we had so fallen in love with previously) to house sit for a friend for 2 weeks, or continue our journey east and head to Croatia. So, after realizing that either way would be amazing, we decided to continue into the unknown. To Croatia. Zagreb was such a cool city, with open markets and beautiful parks, but language like nothing we've seen so far on this trip. No more romance languages that we were kind of able to figure out-squiggles over letters, consonants everywhere-we had left western Europe for sure!

And entered the land we have been hearing and dreaming about for months. first on our list was Plitvice Lakes National Park, with waterfalls that Austin had pictures of hanging up in his corporate office! Any boy was it worth it! We camped there for a week and the waterfalls took on a new beauty and personality every day-rain, shine, afternoon, dusk...it showed us a new face every moment. And we loved it.

Now we are in Split, not sure where we are going but we are leaving tomorrow. It is continuing our new season of travel-following our hearts and going by word of mouth. Either Dubrovnik or the islands for us tomorrow, but who knows!!

I have noticed a definite season relationship of our hearts and the earth, and our summer season is coming to an end. The air has a faint chill, and we are in unfamiliar land. Fall is here! Another thing happening in me now has to do with my identity. God spoke over me awhile ago that I would be a warrior, and the time has come now for me to step into that and begin learning. Listening to a Graham Cooke serious and dwelling with the Lord more is bringing me closer to these truths, and I have a lot to learn! Which is really exciting for me, as I am "Ms. Accommodating and Everything is Ok as Long as we can Avoid Conflict so I just Don't Say Anything If I'm Hurt or Upset..." Needless to say, I have lots of room to grow =)

That's all for now folks-Internet is becoming less and less available, but we'll update as it's possible! Until next time, here's looking at you, kid!

Nouns

Today's bog is how I, Austin, grew up learning to approach nouns. This is a continuation of my recent learnings from 'the open road university of life,' but maybe it will take a different direction. Before I begin, I have to clarify some areas from the last blog, especially on love and Christianity. First, I worte the blog, not Kindra, and so a lot of the statements express solely my views, and not neccessarily hers. Second, when I spoke of the deeper religion of love and my journey of being less 'Christian' or less religious, I was not describing a crisis of faith. Rather, I meant that I am less focused on living out the practical life that most Christians live, which usually involves Bible studies, going to church, etc. not that these are bad, but my focuse has turned inward, to the heart, to teh deeper places where I believe God dwells within us. In this place I find the true motives of my actions, and I also find true rest. Because no amount of doin on the external will bring me rest, only an internal journey will. Hence how our trip is an external one across countries, but just as much internal as we cross our hearts.

Back to nouns. A noun is a person, place or thing. Growing up, I learnied to make various nouns that were a part of my life (such as friends, family, travel, countries, toys, electronics, etc.) into big checklists. Wanted a toy? Saved for it, bought it, check. Hadn't seen a friend in awhile? Called them, check. Another country to see? Go there, come home, check. On to the next. Now, nothing wrong with this intrinsically, and I am cool with others operating this way, but for me, I think I started to miss something. Life became a big "to do" list. I rarely spent time immersed in a moment, savoring it. Instead, I was off to the next task, next adventure, next relationship. I became a doer. I became restless. I couldn't sit in a moment, or be present to what was in front of me or be able to listen. And so, my newest life lesson is approaching nouns differently. Without the checklist. If is and will be a difficult struggle and imperfect journey, but one worth pursuing =)

Right now we are on a train to Vienna to meet some friends we met very briefly in North Ireland who happened to live in Austria's capital. Kindra's birthday is September 7th, so we will celebrate in one of her fave European cities =)

Cheers!