My bedroom

So there is progress that is needed still, but I'm proud to have most of my room clean and with pictures up on the walls. The walls are concrete and thus you have to rent a hard-core drill to be able to put screws in the walls.  I finally got to it and got the 3 pictures hung and the lamp that's on the right of the room. The other corners of the room are still very messy - but I've made progress  :-D

Good 'ol USA

I can't believe that in less than a week, I will be back in the states after 15 months being overseas. It will be busy and not long enough, but I will have gotten back to the US  : ) 

It amazes me that my parents would spend 3 year away from the US & family. It's only been 15 months and I can't wait to be able to shop at Target & Walmart and get new things without having to search for it or get it online. I can't wait to be able to give my family hugs and catch up on life with everyone.

I love Turkey thus far and have enjoyed traveling around and being able to explore a new country. As odd as Turkey can be, I truly love the country, the people and the food. It's a beautiful country with kind & generous people as well as fresh and wonderful food!!  (I do miss local coffee shops, though they do have Starbucks here, so you can get your fix when you need it).  I will enjoy coming back to this country after being the US for a bit, but a break will be nice.

I don't think I'm going to be able to get the amount of time I want in the US with family and friends, but if that's the case, then I'll probably go back again in the Spring. It will make me sad though to only be able to see a few people, when I want to try to get to see everyone  :)

The Lord is blessing me with time away from work and an opportunity to see my new niece or nephew and that is going to be a wonderful blessing!!  Thank you Lord!

John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your heart not be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

RIP my friend...

I've recently had several reminders about how we need to be ready to meet Jesus.

Our base is not a large and you get to know a lot of the people here, if not by name, then by face. Especially the people that are in the same social circles that you are in - ie: work, church, Biblestudy, etc.

There was a beautiful young mom here who went to church and I knew from our women's bible study. She went to get a surgery done off base, which went well, but afterwards had a reaction to the antibiotics that were given to her. As a result, she died several days later. She was a mom of 4 kids and a wife of 9 years, who loved the Lord and really wanted to serve Him. She had one of the most beautiful smiles, had a Texas accent and loved the Lord. I didn't really get to know her, but always enjoyed talking with her when I had the chance.

It reminds me that we need to appreciate each day - it's another day to be alive and we should appreciate that.

Each day we wake in the morning is another day to love your friends and family and let them know how much you love them - you may not be able to tell them tomorrow.

Each day is another day to be able to live in God's presence and be able to show others that He is the center of your life.
Live each day to it's fullest and appreciate it as a day to be alive praising God!

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow. 

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.

Praise Father, Son & Holy Ghost!!

Cappadocia people watching

We got to go to the top of an old fortress where you can see for miles all around you. The picture below is just one of the hundred I took of the beautiful landscape...

While sitting at the top of the fortress, I discovered that tourists weren't the only ones to come visit. I don't know if locals climb up very often, but there def were Turkish people that came to see the sites as well. I really enjoyed watching the different people and thus took pictures of the variety of people I saw.

A young couple talking & gazing out at the view

A young girl that was playing with her friend 

A young lady enjoying the sun and breeze 

A father letting his daughter use the pay-to see telescope  

A tourist teenager resting and appears to be contemplating 

His parents enjoying the view and each other's company 

A father bringing his daughter away from the edge after getting a picture taken 

A little girl drinking some juice that you could buy at the top of the fortress 

A lady with her cover up (don't remember the name). They don't like pictures being taken, so it was nice to get one of her... it was really cool to see that they enjoy getting out and seeing the sites as well. 

A cute couple that must have been newlyweds since you rarely see them this close or holding hands. 

I like this one showing them interacting a little bit & the way they are holding each other's hand.

A picture of a group of women and others looking out the telescope. I enjoyed their laughter and watching them interact with each other. 

A little kid munching on candied chickpeas or hazelnuts... 

My sunset picture from the fortress. Isn't God's creations amazing? 

Cappadocia 2012

This is my 4th trip to Cappadocia, Turkey. It is a fabulous place to go visit... lots of places to see and I love the interaction you can have with the Turkish people. They speak more English than most Turkish, since it is such a tourist location for European people. One guy we met knew Turkish, English, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and I'm not sure what else. 

The man on the right was the one who could talk all those languages... he owned an amazing store with antiques, jewelry, musical instruments and tons more. I could spend way too much money in his little place.

This was the nunnery and the sign to describe what we were looking at. 

 This is the outside of one of the cave churches we got to see... you can see the painting that was done on the outside as well as the carvings. 

Over my head in this picture is what is left of paintings of Jesus and someone else...

The carvings outside another church - I like the cross

A picture of one of the paintings in a church - this is the last supper scene

The crucifix scene in a different church

A tunnel to another church 

A picture of my friend Stephanie (on the left) that I went on this trip with.

On the right is a picture of a random man who had an interesting head covering... I really enjoyed people watching during this trip.

An interesting sign... anyone want a camel ride?

Go-karting

A bunch of my friends and I went into Adana to a Go-kart place. It's about 8 TL for 10 minutes, if I remember correctly. I wanted to see other people ride before I go, so I may do it next time. I wanted to make sure it was safe and didn't want to find out it wasn't when I was in the kart  : D

Here's Walt getting ready. Since everyone who comes uses the same helmets, they give you a shower cap like thing to protect your head.

It's really funny seeing the guys with them on. Ben is showing it off here.

Here's Deanna with her helmet on. 

Everyone getting in and getting ready.

Buckling their seatbelts. 

To go, the assistants turn it on and then give you a push to get you started. 

Beth waving as she goes by. 

Racing past us

They decided to race... this is the order in which they won, with the right being the winner and the left the losers