Europe Trip, Check!

Yesterday our Europe trip drew to a close and now we're back in our little London flat. There's been lots of hugging and "Oh, we're back!". Kurt even exclaimed, "Look you're making your oatmeal!" this morning. (We're kind of goofy and sentimental.) But thoughts of this being our last three weeks in London are hard to shake. As much as I've discovered I'm not a city girl and that I need a higher percentage of daily sunlight to function properly, I'm going to miss this country. I've learned so much this year and I just feel really grateful for it all. I hope you won't mind more sappy posts in the near future.

I don't want to bomb you with oodles of photos, but I'll share a few from our favorite places on the trip: Salzburg, Southern Bavaria and Switzerland. Generally anywhere with mountains, cute architecture and hearty food. These are the places we'll revisit when we're 70 and can finally travel again.

(instagram: michaelaraej)

Following a massive trip it seems like this post should be longer, but I'm still processing it all. I can say though, I was overtaken by complete awe at how beautiful this earth is and how sweet the people on it are. God really is magnificent and I wanted to belt it from the mountain tops. It was also a great time to reflect on this past year's adventures and how blessed I am. 

Now for mastering the art of savoring our remaining time here while also prepping for our return home. 

Michaela Rae

Hola, Bonjour, Ciao, Hallo...whew!

I meant to have blogged by now, but it's incredible how quickly vacations fly by.

Here's a speedy update: We're in Salzburg, Austria. Already half way through our massive road trip. We began in Barcelona and have visited Southern France and a good portion of Italy since. Nice, France was absolutely breathtaking. I couldn't get over the color of the water, and coming from a Florida girl you can count on that meaning it was pretty amazing. Italy has been my favorite. Rome was overwhelming on many levels (sights, heat, people, prices) but everywhere else is incredible. Simply driving through the country and seeing old towns on every hilltop is fun. And I could drink the coffee all day.

Perhaps the strangest/coolest thing about traveling through Europe is experiencing the huge change from country to country, not only in language, food and architecture but also in landscape. We're doing our best to let it all sink in.

I've been sharing photos through Instagram along the way. You can follow me for more: michaelaraej.

I have the travel bug now, I have it bad. I just want to see more and more!

Michaela Rae

Northern Ireland Trip (in the works)

I've been mostly MIA from the social media world the last several days - a break is just good sometimes. It was nice to have more time for reading, painting of the nails, writing letters to loved ones back home and cleaning. But I'm pretty excited about something and wanted to quickly share.

Kurt and I have decided to plan a short trip to Northern Ireland for hopefully sometime this month. I've dubbed myself the trip researcher and have been spending time figuring out things to see and do. I'm really curious though, do any of you have recommendations? Or, if you were going, where would you want to visit? We'd like to find a cheap B&B and do some hiking and really anything outdoors - it'd be a nice break from the city life. Oh, and I want to see a legit castle (even remains will do)!

These photos have been getting me excited. I'm definitely going to put some Nickel Creek and other fiddly music on my ipod. :)

photos courtesy of google images

God's creation is incredible, isn't it?

I've got a couple blog posts in mind that I hope to share later this week. One on the new eating habits I'm trying to form and why and another on some of my favorite grocery products here that aren't in the US (most of which probably shouldn't be part of my new eating habits either).

Off to watch fireworks from our living room windows now...remember, remember the 5th of November! (Ever read up on why the British celebrate the 5th? It's quite awful. Then again, so are the origins of many a holiday.)

MJ