A.W.O.L.

So, I haven't been checking my blog or any of yours for a week or so because I have been super sick with the menengitis again. This one really threw me for a loop...I am having a bunch of tests done to rule out things like lupis and leukemia...I sincerely doubt and hope that these things are not what the problem is, but I certainly covet your prayers. Basically I have little energy, a fever, a serious headache and nausia, not much fun. The real kicker is that it's not like the flu or something, it hangs on and on for months at a time...most people who get this type of menengitis, like Brad Pitt, : ) get over it in about two weeks, but there is a small percentage that have recurrences for the rest of their lives, and so far, that's me. Not that I am "claiming" this, it's just the reality of what I have to deal with for now.

Enough about that! How are all of you doing? I will have to go and visit you at your blog sites and chatch up. : ) Ari has been working a lot here, he is in the middle of a very long week. He has eight days in a row with only one day off in the middle, which was yesterday. Normally they work four days and have three off each week, so this is a really LONG week for us. The other thing going on in our lives is that we are getting ready for our trip to Greece which is coming up faster than I thought it would...time really flies...the older I get, the faster it goes too. Anyway, we leave for Greece October 1st, which is only five short weeks away! I can't believe it's almost here already. This is one of those "once in a life-time" trips that seems fairly nebulous and far-fetched, so for it to be actually happening is really quite surreal. It sinks in sometimes for a breif moment here or there, but it really hasn't felt real yet. Now that I realize it's only five weeks away I am feeling pannick-stricken that we won't be ready or have enough money saved for the trip! I am sure that everything will work out, but I have this feeling like I should be doing SOMETHING to prepare for it now, but I don't know what IT is. Yes, we have our passports all ready to go and no, we don't need any shots or anything like that, but I feel like I need to be making a bunch of lists and reading a ton of travel books and that sort of thing. : ) This trip feels as big as a planning a wedding with a lot less planning, so maybe that is why I am feeling pannicked.

If any of you out there have done much traveling, or any traveling for that matter, I would love your advice on what things to do and what not to do, etc...I am a complete newby when it comes to international travel, having never been farther that an M.C. trip to Chilliwack, Canada! : ) (For those of you out there who read blogs for the sole purpose of correcting innocent and unsuspecting people's spelling; I don't know if I spelled Chilliwack correctly, but I don't care!) : ) So there! Please don't be shy, any advice will be greatly appreciated. I know to carry traveler's checks and to keep the money in a belt thingy and to drink bottled water, but that's about it. Ari's mom tells us that we should avoid driving and taxis over there because the traffic lights don't mean a thing, so I think that we will heed that advice as much as possible.

Right now we are planning on visiting Ari's family up north in Thessolanikis a day or two after we arive in Athens...we have a house in Athens that will serve as our home-base for the entire trip. Then we plan on heading down the coast to visit the islands of Crete and Santorini, then head back up north to Athens and possibly to visit Ari's family one more time in Thessolanikis...I think that's about it. We definately want to see all of the amazing historical places in Athens and in Crete, other than that, our main objective is to spend as much time in the warm Mediterranean tropics and visit family. I don't remember if I told you or not, but my sister Jessica and her husband Rob are going to be coming with us and we will be there together for two weeks. I seriously cannot believe how blessed we are! This truly is a once in a life time opportunity, and I can't believe that it is mine! : ) Wow.

Well, this turned into a HUGE blog update when I meant to leave a short, breezy posting...oh well, I should know myself better than that by now! : ) I love you all and I hope that you are doing grrrrrrreat!

Robin Shout-Out, amoung other things!

O.k., I know that you are on a road trip for a few days, but as soon as you check my blog and get this message, please fix your blog. For some unknown reason your blog will no longer allow the little people like me and Sabrina to leave you comments...it says that we are not "team members" of your blog. What the heck?! Please see what you can do to make us team members, we want to belong too! : ) Have fun and Hello to every one else.

It's super late, again and here I sit a-blogging when I should be a-sleeping! : ) Ari and I got out of Dodge this past week and went down to Moab, UT for the night...we stayed at my sister's house and we wanted to sleep outside in the yard, but it was pooring down rain, so indoors it was. We went to a water park the next day, it had cleared up and was hot by then. We had such a blast! Sorry, we forgot the camara in the truck, so no pictures, though I must say that I am not too upset that you don't all get to see us in our swimming suits and our pasty-white skin! It was so good to get away for awhile. I think that this place really takes it's tole on us, it just seems to suck the will to live out of us, so it is really refreshing to get away every now and then.

On the drive home it was raining again and we just missed a flash-flood, which if you aren't familiar with desert life, you wouldn't know that flash-floods kill a lot of people each year. It is tons of water rushing off of the slick-rock with no where to go but down and this one crossed the road we were traveling on and left about two and a half feet of mud across the road behind it. Down below in the pastures you could see several feet of water and we saw a rancher out carrying baby animals to safety. Not to be dramatic or anything, but this flood would have easily washed our truck off the road and down the bank. So, needless to say, we are really glad that we missed it! The rest of the drive home was uneventful, but we sure kept a sharp eye out for another flood. : )

I am going off to bed and I will talk to you all soon. Much love, Kristen

Here's one of the best pictures that my friend Wende` took of all of us in Utah. 

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! 36 years, amazing. I love you guys so much, you are an inspiration to me in so many ways.  

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!

You guys rock! My mom and dad have been married for 36 years today! What an amazing inspiration...I just pray that the rest of us will be going as stongly as they are, if not stronger, when we get to that point in our marriages.

Mom and Dad, I hope that this is your best year together yet! I pray that your relationship would deepen and strengthen and grow in new dimensions and all new adventures together! I love you both very much and I can only say congratulations and way to go! : )

Much love, Ari and Kristen

...and here is Ari watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel! I think he's really into it, what do you think? Yes, that is an actual hat he has on his head. 

This is Jack and his brother Struggles, oops, I mean Snuggles! (Jack is the one with his head further down and the light blue collar with the little fish on it.) 

Here is one of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite places...I think it says a lot. : ) 

Re: The old blog

I know that it is still there, I just cannot get to it in any way, other than looking at it, which doesn't do me any good. I am saying this because some of you were trying to be helpful and tell me that it is still there...I know, I just cannot access it to make any up-dates or postings...you know, what makes a blog a blog? Sorry once again. I think that I accidentally erased our account while I was trying to set one up for my mom...I don't know, but I sure wish that there was a way to fix it all back to normal. I spent about three hours trying last night, and barring a miracle, I think that I have thrown in the towel.

So, I have decided to just move on and try a new one. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

Here we are infront of Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach...the weather was perfect! We had such a great time, and we both wish that we could have stayed longer. 

Here is a picture of our kitty Jack. He is great when he sleeps, you can pose him in any position and he will stay that way! 

Hi

So, now that I have been able to take a few cleansing breaths and e-mail all of my blogging buddies to let them all know that my blog address has changed, I think that I can move on. (Although I don't think that I will ever be able to forget the frustration and tension that coursed through my body while trying desparately, and to no avail, to repair what ever damage I must have inadvertantly caused to our old blog site.) It was a good blog site, wasn't it? I shall remember it faundly. May it forever rest in cyber peace! : )

I guess that is about it, my big excitement for the day was the computer problem. Ari is back on night shifts now, he is working some whakadoo schedule too, I don't even know what days he has off. Oh well, I am sure that I will get used to it and get it all figured out. He does much better on the night shifts, and I do to. I think that we are both night people, so sadly, it suits us. I do end up feeling like a complete slob at times when people call me and leave me messages to the affect of; "Oh, sorry, you must STILL be sleeping. Let's see...it's about 11:30 a.m. and I've been up for hours, but you guys are on nights now right?" Etc... I think you can see why that would get old after awhile. I have chosen to keep my husband's schedule, I don't have to, but I have found that if I don't, we almost never see eachother.

That's all for now...I have been on the computer for over two and a half hours trying to figure out this stupid blog problem and my shoulders are supper tense now...I could really use a back massage right now, any takers? : )

Hope all is well out there in blogger land, much love, Kristen

Testing, testing

This had better work!

Ooooops!

I have no idea what happened, but I was trying to set up a blog for my mom and I got all screwed up and I think that I accidentally erased our blog from existance! Aaaaaarrrrgh! I have spent the last several, oh I don't know, hours trying to recover it, but I am not a computer officianado by any stretch of the imagination, so now I have to tell all of you how un-saavy I am and give you all a new address. Sorry for the confusion! I can't begin to tell you how frustrating this is!