6 days and counting

Welcome to my blog everyone! I have started this for the purpose of documenting and sharing about my travels through Europe. I realize that this is the trip of a LIFETIME so I want to learn and experience everything I possibly can. Writing about it will be helpful for me, too, as I process everything! God has been so good to me in providing this opportunity. Since so many of you have asked if I could pack you in my suitcase, I thought the least I could do is to share about this trip as it unfolds. I hope to be able to write every day (or close to it) but will only post as I have internet access so posts may be a bit sporadic. Thanks for your patience...

All that said, let me just share that I believe this trip is a gift from the Lord. I never would have thought that I would be able to do something like this, but here I am! I'm so grateful for your prayers for safe travel and good health. Originally, I was going to take this trip on my own but in the Lord's providence he provided the best travel buddy EVER! My dear friend, former roommate and current "older sister I never had" Kelly is coming with me. I'm SO blessed to be able to share this journey with her. Given, she will be the one who insists on climbing every stair of the Eiffel Tower with ankle weights on and then will want to hop on bikes to tour the city while wearing a resistance parachutes on our backs and then finish the day with a dramatic re-enactment of the Tour de France. Needless to say, Kelly has a heart for adventure, too, and I'm just glad at least one of us has the energy and ambition of a normal human being :) - love you, Kell!

The great part about this trip - and possibly the thing that keeps me up at night these days - is that it's not all planned. We have some things laid out but a lot of it is going to just happen. This goes against my teacher-ish type A personality streak. BUT since I am also an adventure seeker, something about this makes me smile out the window when I'm driving down Randall road. So, we will see what happens and hopefully I'll get to write about it all!

Here's a basic itinerary for our trip.
June 29 arrive in Paris, spend a few days with my aunt and uncle
July 1 fly to Rome
July 3-9 travel by train through Italy with stops and adventure along the way.
July 10-12 Stay with friends in Switzerland
July 13 Return to Paris
July 14 Bastille Day in Paris! woot woot!
July 15-17 is all up in the air for possible adventures to London or maybe even Barcelona! :)
July 18 Return home

So... that's what I have so far! Thanks for following, and again, thanks for your prayers! We want to give glory to God through this trip and Kelly and I both feel like we are coming up to the Niagara Falls of God's goodness with a thimble in hand as we attempt to take in all he has for us. So excited to share this with you!