Or is that an exercise in frustration? For those that have been waiting to hear from us on the phone, you’re just going to have to keep on waiting… We have been waiting now for well over a month to get a phone line in our house. Unfortunately, things don’t work that quickly here in Crete. When we first moved in, the phone company was shut down due to riots going on with the shooting of a teenager by the police. Apparently, some folks thought it would be good to target the phone company as well and destroyed the building and all the computers in it. So, thinking I would be smart, I decided to try putting in an order for the phone line through the online system. After all, that works everywhere else I’ve been; why not here? I received a call the next day and was told that I would have a phone within 2 days. Believe it or not, I actually did. I was so excited that I was able to get that taken care of without the hassle of dealing with the local phone company in person.
Category Archives: Other
Gonna be a Good Day
Today is gonna be a good day! How do I know that, you wonder? Because no bad day ever starts out with a good pillow fight, that’s why!
Gavin
Tristan
New Feature
Hey everybody! You know, sometimes we don’t always keep up with the posts here as much as we want to. So, to keep everybody in touch with what we’re doing (at least as best as possible), I’ve added a new page to the site today, called Lifestream.
What what the heck is a lifestream you ask? Well, I don’t know how to best explain it to you other than to say it is a constantly updated stream of everything we are doing online. Still confused? Don’t worry about it, just check out the new page.
Heading Back!
Well, my journey is almost over. I took a plane yesterday morning to Athens, took a taxi to a bus station to catch a bus to Volos. When I got to Volos, I went to the customs broker’s office to get my car, but it turns out that the customs office was closed for the day – at 2:00 in the afternoon! Where do I get one of those jobs?
So, I stayed overnight in Volos, got up early and ate breakfast, then headed down to the port to pick up my car. I was told to be there around 8:00, so I gave it a little extra time and got there about 8:20. I called the lady I was supposed to meet and SURPRISE – she wasn’t in yet. So, I stood out by the gate freezing my butt off for a half an hour then called again. Uh, not there yet… So, I waited another half hour and finally got in touch with the right lady. Only it turns out I was at the wrong gate. So, she sent a guy on a scooter to pick me up; that was fun!
Got to the office, spent about an hour or so there just waiting and waiting and finally I could get my car. Okay, so back on the scooter and out to my car. I quickly checked the car out and headed out down the road back to Athens. It was actually pretty uneventful. I’m glad I’ve been working out the Greek alphabet, though, because without that I would not have recognized the word Athens on some signs. That would have sucked!
Anyways, I made it to Athens, then over to Piraeus to the port to catch the ferry to Chania. After 3 hours of waiting around, I got on the boat and that’s where I am now. Another hour and a half until we leave, then 8 hours until we get to Chania.
View out the window
My sleeping quarters
Moving Out!
Well, it is almost that time. We are now just 2 days away from our big move to the island of Crete. It has been a very long process to get this done and now that the time is upon us, it is just now starting to hit us that we are actually moving. We have been in Heidelberg for almost 6 years now and have really developed quite a few relationships that we are really going to miss. This has been Gavin’s only home; it is where he was born back in 2004. Needless to say, there are a lot of things that we are going to miss about this place.
First and foremost, our friends Roy and Krystal (along with Zach, CJ, Kallee – and don’t forget Bella!) are going to be the hardest to leave. They have been there for us so many times that we can’t even begin to count. We love them tremendously and know that they will forever be a part of our family (hopefully we’ll find a way to get them over to visit us in Crete). When I imagine what friendships should be like, I know that what we have with them is a perfect example. If you guys are reading this, we love you tons!
We will also be leaving our church family behind, though we know that we will still remain a part of the church for a long time to come. Ken and Danine, along with the rest of the Klinner family have also been a big part of our family and have been a huge encouragement for us. For those that didn’t know, we have been the children’s and associate pastors at the church for a while now. We have come to know the true meaning of fellowship there and have been privileged to be a part of an international church body. For those that are curious about the place, it is Victory International in Heidelberg, Germany. If you are ever in Heidelberg and are looking for a church home, they would love to have you!
Anyways, after today we have one full day left here in Germany and then it’s off to Crete. Exciting times are ahead of us and we hope that everyone can continue to share in our lives through this site.
Debbie Meyer Green Bags
Today I came across a post on one of my favorite recipe sites that talks about a product called Debbie Meyer Green Bags. Now, Ginger will probably tell you that I am a sucker for gadgets like this. As a side note, I think I get that from my mom, who always has tons of catalogs around full of cool little gadgets! Anyways, the Green Bags are supposed to help significantly extend the life of your produce. For those of us that like to have fresh fruits and vegetables around, but find their lives draining away before we get a chance to eat them, these look to be a big help. Take a look at the original article here:
http://simpledailyrecipes.com/debbie-meyer-green-bags-really-work/
It gives a really good review of the bags; in other words, no snake oil here! You can find them just about anywhere, to include Amazon.com. Anyways, just a tip that I thought I’d pass on to anyone interested!
Tristan growing up
Really, I was just wanting a chance to test out Flickr‘s new video service. Just a little morph video showing how much Tristan has changed since we moved to Germany.
Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy
I got a link to this video in my email today and just had to share it.It is a recording of a young boy who called a Houston radio station recently. The message is perfect for this season (and any time else,really!) Somebody is really raising this kid right!
Tripsdrill
Back in May we took our second trip to Tripsdrill. We did this on Ginger’s birthday and we had a blast. This time Tristan was big enough to go on quite a few more rides so he really enjoyed himself a lot more I think. Fortunately there are plenty of rides for kids of all ages, so Gavin had a great time and really didn’t worry too much about those that he couldn’t get on. We really like this place and will probably be back there again next year. Definitely different from amusement parks in the states, but go on the right day here and you don’t have to wait in line anywhere. Enjoy the photos!
P.S. – I am working on getting more photos online, right now I am just playing around with the best way to present them. Let me know in the comments below what you think of this way.
Brothers
This past Sunday we had some beautiful weather (finally a little bit of summer). With the end of our street blocked off, we don’t get too much traffic in front of the house, so I took the boys out for a “little drive”. While they fight and argue, the bond between these two is amazing. I thank God each and every day that He has given us 2 such wonderful boys to take care of.
All for one and one for all
My brother and my friend
What fun we have
The time we share
Brothers ’til the end.
~Author Unknown
