Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord , for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." (Psalms 107:1 NLT)

What I'm most thankful for...





























Sunday, November 18, 2012

Guten tag, Bonjour, Good day!

I'm writing this post on the eve of our last day in Paris. Our vacation to Germany and France has been amazing and I've seen everything from the castle of a German king to the palace of a French one, with numerous monuments, museums, and famous landmarks in between.

In Germany, I visited the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, where I cried in sadness for the victims of such a horrific period in our world's history. I will never be able to understand fully what each soul had to go through in order to survive, nor will I ever be able to forget those who perished in the process.

I also visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris as it approaches its 850th anniversary in the coming year. I was in awe of those who built this church from the ground up and convinced that but for the grace of God something so beautiful could be built by human hands so long ago yet still exist today.

My take away from this trip is two-fold: 1). I realize how historically young America is in relation to the rest of the world and that I still have so much more to see, and 2). How tenacious humans are in their quest to survive, succeed, hope, create, and thrive.

For me, everything I experienced on this trip was made better by the fact that I had such a difficult and challenging past year. And I know I've said this before, but I can't stress this enough now. I feel blessed that God found me worthy to face such an unthinkable disease such as cancer. He gave me the gift of discovering in myself a deeper faith and inner strength I never realized I had until now. He also gave me new eyes through which to discover and appreciate a new world all around me.

I'm excited to share the details of this trip with my children (whom I miss dearly) and hope to pass on to them a desire to travel or study abroad one day as well. While I wished I'd been to Europe earlier in my life, I can't say I would have necessarily appreciated it as much as I do now.

With that, I give thanks to my husband for planning this trip and taking me, and to God for teaching me what life is really all about.

Enjoy the pictures!

XO

Lisa































Sunday, November 11, 2012

One for My Bucket List

I'm 48 years old, I've battled and (hopefully) beat cancer...and I've never been to Europe. Seems strange to mash those three facts together in one sentence, but they really are all inter-related.

With my fancy new haircut, suitcase full of boots, sweaters, and hats, Steve is taking me along on his business trip to Munich, followed by a romantic vacation to Paris.

In the throws of chemo and recovering from various surgeries, I never could have imagined a trip like this would ever be possible...but here I am, about to board my Business Class seats - a splurge for us! Yippee!

Admittedly, I'm a little anxious about the long flight, as well as being so far from my kids for so long, but I believe God wouldn't see me through cancer only to land my plane in the Atlantic...tee hee.

I am blessed! Pictures to follow! Bon Jour, Bon Voyage, and LIFE GOES ON!