The End is Nigh.....

So, this is what our house looks like at the moment.....

 

 

 

yes...those are boxes....

 

and boxes and boxes.....

 

and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on the TV (it's my traditional Thanksgiving movie!).

 

What does this mean you ask?? Well, the end is nigh.  We're moving. Back to the states. By the end of the month!! WHAT??

 

It's been a crazy, hectic ride that has been too slow and too fast all at the same time.  It started in August when Matt was asked to transfer somewhere in Asia. We didn't want to go but they also asked for a 2-3 year commitment to go there. Matt said he didn't want to be in this job in even 1 year so thanks but no thanks.  So they said ok, go for 1 year then.  We said fine but that he would start looking for a new job asap. Let the resume flood begin! He sent them to everyone we know and then some. And he started to apply to any and every job that appealed to him. (Also during this time we're told we're going to New Mexico now, not Asia which we liked a little better).  Weeks go by without much happening and then BAM! The interviews start rolling until finally offers are made, negotiations happen, and one was accepted.

 

So where are we going you ask? Back home of course! The best location for Matt's job field is in SO MD where we grew up so that's where he looked the hardest and found the best jobs.  Now I know I've always said I didn't want to go back there, I moved away on purpose right? But I've also always said that I would never stand in the way for Matt to get the job that he wants and that if the Lord has us going back, there's nothing I can do to stop it.

 

So here I am, packing and packing and packing more.  I can't believe our time here is over.  3 years went by so quickly, it feels like a blink. I was planning on doing a final blog from here showcasing all the places we visited but I haven't even been able to go through our photos from our last trip from here (Jordan!) to put on here. That was an amazing trip and I WILL get around to putting it up, just AFTER the move and getting our stuff back, so in a few months.

 

This is also the explanation for putting Harley down. With no one to take him on here and us not being able to take him home, it was the best option for his well being. It's not even been a week yet and I still think every morning that I need to go down to ride and see him.  It's getting better but it's still so tough to not be able to see him and spend time with him. 

 

SO look out America! We're coming back!

Goodbye My Friend

 

So I have loved many aspects of being here in Cyprus. The thing I have hated most is the rampant animal abuse that occurs. Yes, there are people here who have been working very hard to try and stop this. But sadly this is a cultural aspect that is somewhat ingrained into people and is very difficult to combat.  Now when I say animal abuse I don't just mean people beating their pets (although that is very common), I also mean neglect. Animals are chained outside without adequate food and water, which is a real problem when it's 110+ degrees outside in the baking sun.  Honestly, a lot of people just don't know proper care and maintenance of their animals, especially horses.  There are some vets and government officials in place who are trying to educate people but it is met with lots of resistance-change is hard and people don't really care that much. 

 

What does this have to do with you and Harley you may ask.  Well Harley was a product of this environment.  I'm pretty sure he never raced but he did do race training and the racing yards are some of the worst offenders when it comes to the abuse. Again, I'll reiterate that there are some places where the horses are treated well and have good lives but they are sadly the exception here.  He bore the tell-tale signs of abuse physically as well as mentally. But despite that I still loved him ferociously.

 

Matt and I are moving back to the states at the end of the month. We've known this day would come and it was something we thought about when we bought Harley. At that point I truly thought I would be able to find someone who would be able to buy him and continue on with him like I had. But then I started thinking, what about when they leave? Will they put the care into finding him a good home? Or what if they get into it and decide they can't handle him or don't want to anymore? Would he just get passed around from person to person to eventually end up emaciate, beaten, and alone again?

 

I did talk with some ladies that I know that do live here permanently if they would be interested in taking him. They did want him, very much. However they have stressful jobs that are a long commute away and so they could not commit the time needed to him.  That's totally understandable and I appreciate their honesty in their situation. So what was I to do with my beloved boy?

I came to the difficult decision that the best thing for him (and my sanity if I'm really honest) was to put him down.  Now I know some of you may decry "Wait! You should've tried harder! Had more people try him! Isn't there a place where he can just be put out to pasture?! Surely there must be SOMEONE who can take him on! What about taking him home? Really, was this the BEST and ONLY option you saw?" I got those questions from people who know the situation here.  And I thought long and hard about each and every one. No, there is no where safe to put him out to pasture. No, I wouldn't stress him out by having person after person bounce around on his sensitive back just for me to decide they weren't suitable. I'm sure there was someone out there who could care for and ride him as I have for these last 2 years, but who's to say that they would want him?  As for taking him home, he doesn't travel well and I'm convinced that the trip would've killed him (as did his previous owner which is why she didn't take him back the UK with her).  Although it is hard and heartbreaking, the best option for him was to put him to sleep rather than having even the slightest chance of him falling into the wrong hands.  We are responsible for our horses well being, even after they are no longer ours.  Sometimes you can trust that the person you pass your horse onto will take the utmost care of them; will love them as you have. But what if you can't trust, knowing that it is so easy to pass a horse along like a secondhand item, used and abused to satisfy their need then kicked to the curb when something is wrong.  

  

Harley represents a lot of unknowns and firsts for me. I never thought I'd own a TB, let a lone a race trained one.  I never thought I'd take on something with so many emotional and mental issues, something to the point that others thought he was dangerous (which I never thought he was).  I'd never thought I'd put down a physically fit and healthy horse because the attitude of the people where I am is so unpredictable and unstable that I couldn't guarantee that they would be safe.  If this situation was in the states, he would've lived with me until he was old and gray, happily munching on grass in a big field.  But that's not the case.

 

This has been one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would take him on, love him, teach him, have him teach me, and make the same decision in the end because that is how much I love him and have gotten from him in such a short amount of time. 

 

So in his last minutes, I told him how much I love him. That I only wanted what was best for him. That he has made me a better rider and horsewoman, and that I will be eternally grateful to him. So with a very tearful hug and kiss, I said "goodbye my friend."     

Oh Dear......

So I realize that it's been quite sometime since I last updated what's been going on. Too much has been happening! January hit and we've been going almost nonstop.  Harley has been a superstar when he's been sound-he had a little muscle trouble but it's getting so much better. We went to Vienna for a long weekend and got to see my dad. Then my parents came for a great visit and we headed to Portugal for some more riding with the Valenca's-money well spent for sure!  Lots has been happening at ceramics and I've been making oodles of things, not just baby stuff too ;) Matt just finished his second to last semester of grad school-one more to go then he's all done! Yippee!! We also have been to Italy 2 times since the new year. Our super hilarious friends Jodi and Tim asked us to go with them to Lake Como for a few days in March and then we just got home (yesterday!!) from a 10 day whirl-wind trip for our 5 year anniversary.  Oh yea, that has happened too! I can not believe it's been 5 years already. Well, sometimes I can. Our life has been so amazing, blessed, and rich in such a short amount of time; it's overwhelming to think that we have so many more years ahead of us of, hopefully, such blessings and happiness. When I actually stop to think about it all, I am more in awe of how much the Lord has given me, especially when it comes to Matt and our life together.

 I'm not going to put too many pictures up right now; I am actually going to blog about all the spots we've been too. It's just at this point I have about 4,000 pictures (no joke, we just took about 1,500 on this last trip) to go through and weed out the stinky ones, then do editing on the real keepers. Oh dear, my eyes may fall out soon! Here are just a few tasters of what's to come!

 

Taking in the sights in Venice on our anniversary trip!

No trip to Portugal is complete without wearing traditional garb! I love my beast of a big black horse!

 

Our good friend Charleen recently got married!

 

My parents are just hilarious!

 

And even when it's cold in Vienna we were still smiling!

 

 

Stay tuned for more posts to come, I'm determined to get my act together!!



It's Been to Nice Outside to Stay In...

So one of the best parts of living out here is that the weather is *usually* pretty amazing most of the time. This has been the case recently-sunny, sometimes a little clouds, temperatures in the mid 70s, it's awesome! So with that comes being out a little more, lots of time at the yard, and very little inside. The bummer part of that is we've been playing with my new camera a lot so have some pretty fun shots but I have yet to edit those bad boys. I still need to finish editing Italy-that was how long ago?? Oh my.
One great thing that is going on is I've started a little "trial" time period with my new instructor to determine if I should keep trying to jump (sometimes very, very badly) or if I should throw in the towel and just focus on dressage 100%.  The thing is I usually like jumping, after I'm done with it! The few days, and yes hours even, leading up to it I tend to become slightly queasy, nauseous even.  I do sweat a little more than usual and have even been known to have a slight panic attack. BUT, after it's all said and done, and if I've survived pretty well intact, I think about how fun it is and how the challenge of it had made it more enjoyable.  And to go along with this journey, I am sharing my tale with a horse rider's blog that I follow called "Horse Junkies United." It's a pretty cool site actually; a huge amount of diverse riders and stories are shared on it.  So I emailed them and said I'm starting this trial and do they want me to share it and they have begun putting up my posts-crazy yea?  So here is the first one-I've called it "Tales of a Jump Weenie." Sadly someone put a somewhat hurtful comment up on the first day but another reader was very encouraging and is ready to see how I progress so yay! I suppose that's what I get for putting it out there on the Internet for other people to see. I really need to work on developing some tougher skin! Here is the link to my first post!

"Tales of a Jump Weenie-Part 1"

I also shared a bit about Harley and how stressed he can get-here's that link:
 "What Stresses My Horse Out?"

Other than that not much is going on. Ceramics has been good-I've been "teaching" a class the last few weeks and Tuesday is our last day.  It's been fun and the ladies are really nice. Plus it's given me an extra day in to pour and work on stuff. Poor Matt isn't too happy that I am now making even MORE stuff; he swears we're going to run out of room to store it all.  The biggest thing is I've started to pour things for kid rooms. NO! We're not preggo but we will have one, one day in the far distant future, and I would like to have made some decor for the little rascal(s???).  Right now it's bugs (like caterpillars and snails) and aeroplanes (which Matt can not complain about right??).  Now please don't harass me about when babies are going to happen-when we are, we'll wait a few months, then let you know that we're expecting. So in reality, you've got some time before that happens. Just relax and please don't hold your breath!

So that's all I've got for you at the moment. Here are some unedited photos of Joey that I took yesterday-we went to the salt lake/beach/dunes to let him run around and so I could play with the camera some more. I'm getting better at the settings. Matt also showed me some tricks with the new(ish) tripod and wireless shutter release-it's oh so fun!!

And here is Joey balancing some Christmas goodies! Look!! 4!! He's so talented!!! It took a few tries and LOTS of concentration (on his part!) but we finally got them balanced!

We're Slowly Taking Over-Brits Beware!

So as you know, last week was the fourth of July. Quite a big holiday for us Yanks.  This is the 2nd one we've spent out of the country (actually 3rd for Matt and 3rd for me off the continental US, 3 years ago I was in Hawaii).  Our dear, sweet, and gullible friends "allowed" us to fly Ol' Glory in their back garden for the afternoon which was oh so generous of them.  We sang the Star Spangled Banner and made people look at the flag when they went by. It was awesome.

Even British people are expressing how awesome our flag is! Thanks Nicky!

The family under the flag! Proud to be American on this day!

Hope everyone had a great fourth!

Oh Where Does the Time Go??

So I feel this photo characterizes our year so far perfectly-just diving right in and getting out heads submerged without our body following to well....let me explain.....

After the holidays things got back into full crazy swing around here. The first exciting thing that happened was I took a ceramics class on camp-it was SO FUN!! I have since joined the Ceramics club (for a whooping 3 Euros a month) and have dove right in to making all sorts of things! Tea pots, cookie jars, garden ornaments, bowls, cups, and more to come! It's been a very nice creative outlet for me since I haven't been painting or even taking a huge amount of photos. The ladies are so very nice and HELPFUL! I know I will always have help (and lots of encouragement) with my creations. Matt keeps joking that I can't go to ceramics without spending a ton of money, which is not true!! I only spend a little ;)

These were the ladies in my class-it was such a fun time!

And you remember that horse I was loaning? Yea, he's ours now.

Meet "Harlequin Spam," aka, "Harley," "Doofus," "Cutie," "Idiot," and "Very Good Boy." After loaning for about 2 months we decided to take the plunge and buy him. And I have LOVED IT!!! It's SO wonderful to have my own horse again! No one else riding him (or screwing him up...only me!!). I get to ride whenever, however, and whatever I please. So we've been very focused our dressage and have had some very nice hack outs in which we didn't freak out (and by we I mean him) so things are going pretty well. Oh, there was a mishap with a trailer and he hurt himself and therefore made it so we couldn't compete in 2 shows, but it's not the end of the world, I learned. As much as I LOVE to compete, it's not the most important thing apparently. Why God chose to show me in such a dramatic way is beyond me ;)

He likes to give smooches. He's sweet like that!

He's a good looking boy huh? I am already smitten with him-was after about ride #3.

He's such a good boy-tries SO HARD to do what I ask of him. He is a lot like Rusty in the way he spooks, stresses, and hates me getting angry with him. It's great! But he does know how to work and he's super smart (like Rusty) but now I know how to channel the smarts!



Also in my attempt to get better at photography I've joined a photo club. It's been so fun-the guys who run it are professionals and make money doing it so I'm basically getting free photo lessons. I love it!! We focused on food a couple weeks ago and this is my great masterpiece from that session! The one guy (Andy) wanted to steal my wide angle lens when saw it-goodie! I have good equipment! What do you think of this photo?

Wine and strawberries-yummmm!

So Matt's been pretty helpful with me getting better at photos as well. The other day he suggested that we go to see a shipwreck, let Joey run around, and take photos. Sounds like a good day huh? We threw the frisbee for Joey, which he always goes crazy for! And I played with the camera some, trying out some things I've been learning. It was fun!

Whatcha looking at guys?

Isn't he the most beautiful (and manly!) dog?? Poor guy was pretty tired! Look at that tongue!

We've discussed adding elements to photos to make them a little more interesting, so I added some rocks. What do you think?

I've also been thinking I may need/should/kinda want to make a label/name thingy/copyright thingy to put on my pics, so you suckers can't steal them! Here are some I've come up-what do you guys think? I really want your vote/imput-and if you can't figure out what MLM stands for, we have some problems ;) Right now I'm being nice and adding Matt to this but I may cut him out since he thinks it's a stupid idea to do a moniker so why should I add him to my genius? I'll start thinking of something that is just me as well-we shall see what I come up with :)

MLM Photos  MLM Photogs

MLM Photos MLM Photos

MLM Photos MLM Photos

MLM Photos MLM Photos

MLM Photos MLM Photos

I Realize You All Have Missed Me....

So I fully realize it's been a while since I last updated you on the craziness that is our life. Welp, we've been kinda busy. I went to Portugal with mom to ride some really fancy horses and learn tons! It was amazing! I'm going back for sure, just don't tell Matt ;) It truly was a great experience and I learned so much about riding, horses, and what I want in a horse. I really think I improved a great deal which is good news for the horses here! I can't describe what 9 rides in 5 days will do to you! Thank you so much to the Valenca's for being willing to teach and share their knowledge!! I am a better rider because of it!

Last ride-those are the 2 horses we rode the most-mine is Lotus and mom is on Jaguar. And yes, we did go really fast!

After our week of horseyness we decided to stay in Lisboa (Lisbon to the laymen) for a few days and tour around. WOWIE!! Who knew Portugal was so stinkin awesome?!?! Seriously, I think Portugal is like the neglected cousin of Europe. Honestly, do you really include it in your places to go while touring around Europe? NO! It's always a "if we can squeeze it in" kind of place. Well let me tell you, don't just squeeze it in, make it a stop!! The people are so amazing and friendly. The food is pretty tasty. They have some amazing sites and history. Just go there people. You won't regret it!

Hey mom! Looking pretty good by the arch there!

I made a new friend at the Ocenarium. Which by the way is REALLY COOL!

As usual, we did a bike tour. It was pretty good!

Eating the local treats, pastel de belem. It's a custard pastry. Yum yum!

After Portugal, mom came home with me for a week for a nice visit. It was good to have her here. We went riding, saw some sites, cooked, and spent a lot of money in Lefkara. After mom left the Moritz's came for a visit! Matt was so happy to have his parents here for the week, and to take time off from work! They also got to go all over the place and spend some big bucks in Lefkara.I'm pretty sure Marina loves me and wants to adopt me now! The weekend that they left I had a horse show to compete in! Now I haven't competed in YEARS! So I didn't have high expectations for myself, or the old man I was riding! Monnie is one of the club's school horses so he's a good, quiet boy but doesn't work all that great. But we did pretty well! We got a third and a fifth place in dressage tests and a clear round for jumping. That's better than I could've imagined! I had a great time and can't wait for the next competition!

Look at us go!! WEEEEEE!!!

He's so happy!! I'm glad I could take him!

And today is Thanksgiving. In America we would probably be with one of our families, getting ready to gorge ourselves on tastiness. But this year we're hosting a bunch of Brits. Crazy I know. But they are all so excited to get to do a traditional American holiday! And they are bringing food from the motherland! This will take place Saturday so I've still got 2 days to prepare. Speaking of which, I'm off to the grocery store to get goodies to make! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we love and miss you all so much!

Sex, Chips, and Ouzo-a Wild Night Out

So yeah....we went to see this play called "Sex, Chips, and Ouzo." It's about post Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1978-four years after the invasion. Basically these two British chicks come to Cyprus on holiday and meet two Cypriot men and the rest is chaos. If you want to read up on it more, check out their website: http://rubberear.wordpress.com/about/ The cool thing about this show was it was at Kourion Amphitheater (check out the Kourion post to see the amphitheater in daylight.) We had heard that it was a "thing" in Cyprus to see a show here so we figured we'd go since we missed their production of Romeo and Juliet.

A walk on the beach, how romantic ;)

Matt strolling along...

Don't we look nice?

So we found a dead fish on the beach, which I didn't think was real, and I wanted to take some pics to examine later to see if it was real (later we found 2 more fish just like the first so I decided it was real.) But some of the photos came out pretty.

I like the lighting on this one. And the fish is smiling!

Yup, we live here.

Since the show was from 1978 you have to throw out a peace sign while posing!

I look a LITTLE tan, right?

There was one scene where the one guy was in a dress and it was HILARIOUS! Especially when he sat down, as displayed below. The audience was pretty rambunctious so there was lots of wolf whistling during this scene.

All in all it was a pretty fun(ny) show. We didn't get a couple of the jokes (not being British and all) but we enjoyed ourselves. Hopefully there will be another show there soon (or at another amphitheater near by) so we can have another fun experience!

One Year Into It

So we've done it! We made it one year living abroad! Who would've thought that we could actually do it and not kill each other, ourselves, the dog, and various other people ;) Just kidding. It's been a trying year (but what year hasn't really?) but we've had TONS of fun and adventures in the process. I've decided to do a quick year in review, life on the island and adventures taken.

Where would we be without good friends made? Probably curled up in a ball on the couch a lot, crying to myself.

We had a Christmas away from family but at least we still had our lovely sweaters.

Matt got to be manly and see some cars zoom around real fast with some other manly men!

What would life be like without playing at the beach? Especially since we live only 10 minutes from it!

And I happily get to ride some ponies and work on my game while here-I may even prove to be a rider yet!

That's basically life for us on the island-eating, riding, good friends, and wearing ugly clothes. Happily as life continues on we are getting a busier social calender-that shows we're really adapting to life here right??? We've also become part of a great Baptist church and are getting to know the people slowly yet surely. The pastor (Mark) is American so he thinks we're the greatest things since sliced bread, especially Matt since they've started watching football games together.

And as all of you loyal readers know, we have done quite a bit of traveling this year. We've hit 5 countries this year, making my goal of a trip about every 3 months right on target. We have plans (or at least I do) for more to come this year, hopefully including a long jaunt in Australia/New Zealand (what?? It's cheaper and quicker to fly from here than the states. Don't judge us!) I am off to Portugal with mom next month for a week of riding fancy horses and a little sight seeing-I'm excited to spend the time with my mom one on one. And to ride fancy horses too. We're going to check out Lisbon for a few days as well so I'm starting off this second year with a bang!

Trip #1: Jolly ol' England. Everyone must visit the motherland right? Well, I don't think this was fully our motherland (oh Italy, we'll get there some day!!) but we had good friends there so we went the week of Christmas. It was great! Snow, cold, decorations, and sight seeing!

Trip #2: Greece-It's close. It's cheap. It's a must do on any European traveler's list. And it was FANTASTIC! The food was great! The sights were beautiful. We do plan to hit other parts we didn't see the first time around!

Trip #3: Israel. The Holy Land. The place of Mecca for all Christian in the world. We were fortunate enough to get to go with a fun family from church. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazarene, Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan river was all we saw but it was more than enough for our weekend away! Now when we read certain Bible stories the landscape, buildings, and city plans make more sense and we can actually visualize what we're reading about! It's so awesome!

Trip #4-Paris. Oh how I love thee! We got to meet mom and dad there and explore the city some. We saw all the major sights despite crappy weather for the most part. I really do love Paris and I'm always happy to go back and explore (AND EAT!!!) more!

Trip #5-Belgium. OK, technically this is part B of trip 4 but we can class it alone since it is a different country. After leaving Paris we went to Belgium to eat lots of chocolate and waffles. Oh man; if we lived there we'd gain about 60 pounds in no time! But the landscape was lovely and the food divine!

So there you have it! Our first year abroad. Man, we've done a lot haven't we?! Here is to year two with more adventures, friends, food, and loving life despite being so far away from those we love.