{easy}

What is easy?
It is easy get involved in every day life and put God in a box.
It is easy to push Him to the side and say "I've got this."
It is easy to listen to the temptations of the devil telling you you can't handle the stress.
It's easy to get caught up and overwhelmed.

It's hard to completely put our trust in God.
It's hard to give it over to God and let Him handle our stress.
It's hard to remember to pray when we are at our best and at our worst.

Since school started in early August it has been easier for me to push God to the side and wallow in self pity. It has been easy for me to say "well, maybe I'll just quit, I can't handle the stress."

While on my drive to Louisville with just Polo and me in the car, I had a lot of time to think and pray.
I honestly felt God talking to me saying "Brooke, I put you in that position for a REASON." You see, before I ever got a job I prayed. I prayed that God would place me where HE saw fit, not me! I wanted so badly to teach REGULAR ED. I was uncomfortable changing diapers of a 10 year old and I did NOT want to do it. I prayed. What did God do? Put me in a situation where I thought I would be uncomfortable and taught me to TRUST Him. My first year, I did just that and I fell in LOVE with my job. The life of a special education teacher is not easy. It's not easy changing 12 diapers a day while potty training 2 others, writing IEP's, and meeting IEP goals. But that is where God wanted me.

 Over the past month since school has started I've had a hard time managing stress and work. It has been easy to be negative about life and about my job. God tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me to trust in him. So on that drive last weekend, I prayed. I prayed that God would work on my heart, change my attitude, and HELP me! I made the decision to have a better attitude towards work and you know what? It WORKED! I went to school on Monday and told my assistants, "I promise from this week forward I am going to stay positive, not raise my voice, and give these children the love they deserve."

I cannot help these students on my own, I NEED God and I  need to show my students God's love. Many of my students do not have fathers, they do not have running water at home, they have few clothes, and some are forced to skip supper. I need to love these children like Christ loves me. It's not about ME it's about the students!

God has not been speaking but YELLING this message to me in the past week that there is no problem TOO big for His power and no problem too small for His worry! HE CARES! Our lives are shaped by our thoughts. The mind is so so powerful! "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he... {Prov. 23:7}

I encourage you to give your worries to God and consciously decide "I cannot do this own my own". The mind is a powerful thing. We need not let our worries take over our daily lives or life will pass us by.

{Backpacking Through Europe: Paris}

Paris is typically known as the city of love and romance. The city where you can find couples kissing everywhere, holding hands, and staring in to each others eyes. For us, it was run as fast as you can to see as much as you can in 24 hours. With a wee bit of romance and hand holding thrown in between. 

We took a high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris on Saturday, June 22. We checked in to Emeraude Hotel Lodge du Centre Paris. We freshened up as quickly as possible and made our way to the metro. 

The funny thing about the Eiffel Tower is that it is literally breathtaking the first AND the second time you see it. You always see so many pictures of the Eiffel Tower whether it be browsing the aisles of homegoods or the pages of vogue magazine. No matter how many times you see pictures, seeing it in person takes your breath away. 

Last time I was in Paris we did not get to see it at nighttime. This time it was at the top of my list to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night! 

After seeing the Eiffel Tower during day light, we decided to find a "cheap" place for dinner and wait until the sun went down. We ate dinner at Bistro de Lonchamp and it was very tasty and nice to eat a meal for 7 Euro a piece AND have a NICE waiter that spoke English!

We went down the road after dinner and bought a bottle of wine at a cheap store {no cups, no bottle opener} and made our way to the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. We met a nice, older American couple from Texas that opened our wine for us--those nice Americans!

I got my wish and got to see the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night. I didn't realize that it only lasts for 4 minutes--11:00-11:04!

Dale was hungry again and got a nutella crepe and O.M.G it was HEAVENLY!

The next day we RAN through the city because we had about 10 hours left in Paris! We walked ran down Champs de Elysees , saw Louis Vuttion and  Arc de Triumph. We RAN through the Lurve in 2 hours flat, said hey to Mona and the Egyptians and left!

Tried getting a picture with Mona--talk about claustrophobia {and Mona didn't even make the pic}

We stood in line for Notre Dam. The weather at this point was crazy. It went from freezing cold, to blazing hot, to POURING down rain in about an hour!

Before we left Paris we got another Nutella Crepe, this time with banana added in {that makes it healthy, right?}

Au Revoir Pairs!

The night of June 23 we boarded an overnight {regular speed}train to Barcelona. I say regular speed because this train ride was TEN HOURS. This was literally the worst night of my life. I do not sleep well unless I am in a bed. I am not the type of person that can fall asleep in a car, doctors office, airplane, boat, train, you name it. Unless I am horizontal, forget it! I did not sleep a WINK on this dang train.

We literally booked the train the DAY tickets became available and cabins were already, somehow sold out. We were forced to settle for "reclining" seats. We figured it would be ok. No. It was TERRIBLE.
This picture was taken "pre" take off. We were excited to be heading to Barcelona. See how I had my seat covered with the blanket? I was terrified of germs! And check out Dale's baguette! haha! Always prepared with extra food!!

{Backpacking Through Europe: Amsterdam}

excerpts from my travel journal 

Amsterdam: The city where everything is acceptable. The city full of life. The city with far more bicycles than vehicles {and honestly I would've been more scared to ride a bike than drive a car}.  This city was absolutely beautiful. Amsterdam was full of old buildings, more canals than Venice, and full of history. Amsterdam is marvelous. 

We arrived at  CocoMama hostel on June 19th. This hostel was AMAZING. It was run by young women that were all about having fun and encouraged you to live it up in Amsterdam. We walked in and were automatically welcomed. The young woman gave us a map, told us everything we needed to know about the city and lead us to our room. 

In our hostel, each room was "themed" we got the red light district room. sexy. Be thankful I did not post a picture of all of the naked women that was plastered all over the walls! The four of us each had a bunk bed. This was probably the nicest hostel we stayed in. We had a private bathroom and didn't realize we took for granted how big our shower was. 

After we freshened up at our hostel, we ventured down the streets of Amsterdam for some food. We went to Leidse Plein for dinner. Many places close around 9:00 so we had to find something quick. Our dinner was AMAZING but we paid a pretty penny for it! Our first dinner cost 45 EURO!

Go ahead and get used to seeing that sexy headband....

The next morning, June 20th we took a stroll through Albert Cuyp Market-- one of the largest open air markets. we ate these delicious mini pancakes. Talk about deliciousness!

After going to the market we decided to get some real food and go hang out in Vondel Park. This is a great place for people watching and getting a feel of the local culture.

Later that night, we went on a pubcrawl with our hostel. SO MUCH FUN! Our guide took us through the red light district, which was a lot different than I expected it to be. I didn't take pictures because apparently they throw pee on you if you take their picture. gross.  We also paid a pretty penny for the pub crawl, stayed out way too late, danced our booties off, but most of all made some fun memories that night!

The next morning, June 21, we slept until NOON, guess our bodies were not adjusted to the time change yet. We took a tour of the Anne  Frank Haus, which was kind of disappointing. Every one said "you HAVE to tour the Anne Frank House..." Well we did and we were disappointed. We couldn't take pictures and the house was turned in to a museum and all of the originals were ripped out of the house. All we had to look at were some messily old pictures. Blah.
We were too tired from the night before that we went to the market, bought some items for dinner, and cooked at our hostel.

June 22: TRAVEL DAY: we woke up , packed, and headed to breakfast at the Pancake Carousel. YUM!!

Bye Bye CocoMama!!

{Backpacking Through Europe: One Bag}

I haven't blogged in FOR EV ER! Main reason being we traveled to Europe this summer for three weeks!!

Europe? Sounds expensive just saying that word. When we decided we were going to make the trip to Europe for three weeks of the summer 2013, the cheapest way possible would be to backpack. Backpack? ME? Ok on a weekend trip I pack an entire suitcase and another bag of toiletries. How in the world was I going to pack for THREE WEEKS in one bag?

We did an extensive amount of research, looked at a lot of blogs on how to pack for a backpacking trip. 

The easiest thing we found was to pack basics. Boring, I know, but functional. 

Here is what would would have found in my bag: 

4 solid shirts with sleeves
1 long sleeve shirt

2 tank tops

1 dress

2 pair of shorts
1 pair of work out shorts and top

1 maxi skirt

1 cardigan

1 raincoat 

4 {yes only 4} pair of quick dry undies

1 bathing suit
1 pair of light weight pjs
1 sheer scarf

and 1 pair of jeans. 

We also had to make room for some non-clothing items. 

We packed a cocoon and PRAISE THE LORD we did! This thing was a lifesaver--a must have on your packing list. You see, we stayed in hostels. I will hardly sleep in a hotel and let my face touch the pillow there, much less a hostel. This coccoon was a like a sleeping bag but just a tiny, thin, sheet. Perfect for the summer! And it had a little insert for a pillow so you didn't have to lie directly on a pillow that wasn't yours.

Another must have for a backpacking adventure is this REI quick dry towel. Looking back, I wish we bought the XL towel so that it would've covered more of our body, but whatever, we lived. The hostels we stayed in did not supply a bath towel so we were very thankful we took these.

Shower Shoes!!! Put that on the top of your list! If you are staying in a hostel, you will be thankful you had these!!

1 pair of tennis shoes and 1 pair of chacos. I took TOMs but they got soaking wet in Pairs and smelled SO BAD that I ended up just throwing them away. 

Laundry sheets--these little sheets were PERFECT considering the fact we each took only 4 pair of unmentionables. We could wash them, hang them on the line, and they were dry before we left for the next city!

A platypus water bladder. Honestly, we could have left this thing at home. The one thing it was good for was the long plane and train rides!! However, when we were walking around the cities we just purchased 1L of water.

Make up--the basics

Hair Accessories--2 head bands and a fedora. THAT IS IT. I didn't even take a brush. Not because I didn't want to, I honestly forgot to pack it. Yes, I didn't brush my hair for 3 straight weeks. 

I got all of that in a 22 lb pack!! 

{outdoor adventures}

I've mentioned before that we live in a S U P E R small town. 

Like really small. 

Like we don't even have a target small. 

Anyway, one of the only things our favorite spring/summer activities here is going on hikes. 

I am so thankful to finally have my husband back for the summer. We try to wake up every morning and do something active with Polo. We have really taken advantage of the awesome trails that are available to us while we live here. 

This hike we did IN THE RAIN!!! It was so much fun! The trees provided a little bit of shelter from the rain so it was tolerable. 

Polo made a friend on this hike!! It was SUCH a hard hike but there was a really cool flat piece of land at the top where settlers had their sweet little farm! 

This hike has such a beautiful view & it's pretty easy too! You can see three states all at once from the top of this mountain! 

This hike is a little more difficult. However, I like hikes with "rewards" in the end. This hike has two AWESOME rewards--a great view and a sand cave!! 

 

We get a great workout while hiking, get to enjoy each other with no annoyance of cell phones, and get to wear the little guy out!!