the Lovely Life: overdue america blog

This blog has been a long time coming… You know by now that I process life through words (and coffee!), but for some reason or another, sometimes the words aren’t there. Blogging became a burden, so I decided to take a break. I think I can officially declare this the end of that blogging break. Thanks for understanding!

Ready to go to America!

Josh and I are back in Papua New Guinea after spending 5 weeks in America. Between the two of us, there were 17 flights and countless hours spent in airports, and even more cups of coffee. I can now check circumnavigating the globe off of my bucket list – I was pretty excited until I realized that this is time number 7 for Josh. Missionary kids, I tell ya.

It was a surprisingly (and wonderfully!) busy trip. We arrived on Josh’s 25^th birthday, which ended up being about 36 hours long because of all of our travel. Yay for birthdays and crossing the International Date Line! Unfortunately, we spent almost all of that time on airplanes or in airports. At least there was fast and free internet for most of it! We downloaded all the things.

We first went to my parents’ house where we celebrated Easter a week early, since everyone was in town and not working that day. It was so nice to hang out for the day and catch up face to face.

The next week we were able to be at our home church for Easter – which I was just over the moon about. Easter is my favorite holiday, y’all! I love the journey to the cross… it’s such a great reminder of the enormity of what Jesus did for me – of what love really is, what I was freely and undeservedly given, the cost of my freedom from sin, and the humility of my great God. The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking up the Florida sunshine. My favorite.

Best friends - reunited!

Josh and I were in Florida together for about 10 days before we left for Wisconsin to see our best friends. Because of ticket arrangements (and the last minute addition of me), we were on 2 different airlines for those flights… we attracted some funny looks as we walked through security together, kissed, and then parted ways to opposite terminals. Josh was in Wisconsin for 3 days, and I was there for 1 week. We spent the only truly nice day (where it didn’t snow) walking around the Milwaukee zoo. It was good for my heart to jump back into life with them once more.

After Josh’s 3 days in Wisconsin, we parted ways again and he headed out to the Spokane Turbine Center in Washington to begin his Kodiak courses. He spent the remaining 2 and a half weeks of our trip out in the Pacific Northwest learning what makes turbine engines tick, and flying a simulator. He was able to spend one of the weekends with some good friends in Oregon, and had some great fellowship with them.

The rest of my time was spent hanging out with my family and close friends, those people who are dearest to my heart. One of the highlights was getting to be a part of my best friend’s bridal shower, bachelorette party, and general wedding prep. There was plenty of shopping and long chats over cups of coffee. It was so nice to just look at pretty things… as my friend Gemma recently said, “Things bought {in PNG} are generally purposeful, rather than pretty.” After being here for almost 10 months when we left, I had a much better idea of what I missed or what I wished I had brought the first time around.

Laughter is so good for the soul. PS this girl is getting MARRIED! *hearteyes*

While Josh and I were apart, we celebrated 5 years of marriage! It’s a little bit hard to believe that it’s only been 5 years… It feels like we’ve just always done life together. Even though we weren’t together on the actual day, we talked almost constantly, and were able to have a really nice dinner “date” in the airport in LA where we met up, just hours before our flights back to PNG. Josh and I have always had adventures, and I know that there are many more on the horizon of our life together. Not everyone gets to do life with their best friend – but I’m so glad that I do. Here’s to the next 60 years (at least) babe!

Turbine engine class for Josh!

When people ask how my trip was… I generally answer “Tasty.” It seems we ate our fill of beef, real processed, lovely, gristle-less beef. Who knew I would one day talk about the beauty of beef? #missionaryproblems I also tried to eat as many kinds of cheese as I could find. We do get cheese, very good New Zealand cheese, but after eating Gouda and Edam and occasionally Cheddar for 10 months straight… I would have slayed for some goat cheese. Luckily, I didn’t have to.

Josh's birthday supper - MEAT!

The many things that I worried about before we left on our trip weren’t nearly as bad as I was afraid they’d be. I was able to jump back into life and I didn’t feel so disconnected from my own culture. I was able to reconnect immediately with my family and friends, and I was able to relax and just be present. Those were huge blessings!

Thank you for praying for us during this trip, I know it was your prayers and God’s unending grace that allowed me to really relax and enjoy that time with my family and friends. It was an unexpected gift to be able to go back to America for those 5 weeks so soon after arriving in PNG, and one that I am so thankful for. I’m not sure I would have coped well with 5 weeks in PNG without Josh, knowing that he was downloading all the things and eating all the beef and cheese the country holds.