tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76987030038232115782009-11-03T21:19:22.876+01:00These are the thoughts of a dreamer pursuing her dream...Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.comBlogger505125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-37020000939691952942009-11-02T21:44:00.004+01:002009-11-02T22:09:57.249+01:00

one weekWe had a very busy and fun weekend. Doctor's appointment on Friday revealed that nothing was happening. Bummed to hear that but glad to know that we are both healthy and well, which is most important. I still have 6 days left until my due date, so I shouldn't be complaining. :) Insurance and billing matters are not fixed, but the receptionist seemed to understand that mistakes were made

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-68075679171312594742009-10-27T21:31:00.005+01:002009-10-27T22:10:39.440+01:00

Well, it was an eventful weekend to say the least. It was a long weekend, too!We left before the sun was up last Thursday morning to head to the immigration office to apply for our new visas. We were in line first and got the first appointment, and even with all of that, we were still there for hours. Oh, the joys of living in a foreign country. I have often wondered what the process is like in

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-37965510114125419462009-10-21T20:56:00.003+02:002009-10-21T21:24:10.543+02:00

After a perfectly good day filled with yummy warm lentil and brown rice soup and a lovely time with Julie while our boys played, I came home to this disaster of an insurance situation that makes me so mad. Kevin said that all adults at some point in time have major problems with medical insurance, so it was our time. So perhaps this is some rite of passage into furthering adulthood...but whatever

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-63574891555004955182009-10-19T21:47:00.006+02:002009-10-19T22:37:20.026+02:00

I had such a fabulous weekend. Didn't anticipate that happening, which is maybe why it was so great.Friday night started with an outreach event that Julie invited me to help with, and although I was hardly any help at all, I had a great time! Julie and her husband Zach are here with Campus Crusade and have a great ministry with Hungarian high school students. They had a huge outreach a couple

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-50872601590775245352009-10-16T15:51:00.002+02:002009-10-16T16:19:27.066+02:00

Going through Crazy Love for a second time now. Still so many thought and challenges. Too many to share. Some too personal to share on a blog. :)But I have been really challenged to think about how I love, how I demonstrate that love. Jesus told us the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-40:Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-33756992694325157722009-10-15T22:13:00.002+02:002009-10-15T22:25:26.450+02:00

Last week was just a horrible week altogether. This week, God has blessed me with more sleep and TONS more energy. I am praying that this is because baby girl is going to come early. You know how they say you get energy at the end before they come... Here's hoping to her coming early...which would be anytime after Sunday when I am officially full term at 37 weeks. Ready to be DONE!I have been

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-9059921954296860172009-10-09T20:38:00.002+02:002009-10-09T21:01:10.736+02:00

I wrote the other day about feeling loved by the little things in life that God does for us. Can I just say that I have been overwhelmed the last two days, and today in particular, by so many of these little things?I absolutely love living here in Hungary and feel called to be here right now. No doubt in my mind that this is where God wants us. For how long? Who knows. Until God shows us

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-60147362289070488982009-10-06T21:28:00.004+02:002009-10-06T22:01:50.612+02:00

Kevin said last week something along the lines of God working in the small things. Listening to a bunch of Jeremy Riddle's music now. So good. "How He Loves." I know that God loves us, and we can see it in lots of big things. I mean he sent his son to die on the cross for our sins so that we might not spend eternity apart from him!And while being incredibly grateful for those huge things (and

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-87456237435018902822009-10-01T22:13:00.003+02:002009-10-01T22:21:23.527+02:00

It was difficult to get a good picture in of the whole table and chairs, but you get the point. Found the runner at a store in Budapest when Kevin's parents were here visiting last fall. It was way too long on the table we were borrowing last year, so it's nice that it fits so well on this one. Got the gold chargers last spring at the most adorable store that was literally only open for a few

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-91339475150647032722009-09-29T21:35:00.002+02:002009-09-29T22:02:17.814+02:00

I'm talking about the crown waiting for me in heaven, not some princess crown down here. Wow. I could do some serious venting right now after tonight. I am trying to take it all in stride and put things into perspective, but it's difficult. I think I set too high of expectations and am therefore easily let down. And then I think I say that to protect myself and give the other people involved an "

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-48512408361743969752009-09-28T20:26:00.002+02:002009-09-28T20:41:43.759+02:00

I want it to be fall, you know, where the air is crisp and the leaves are turning colors, and the smells are wonderful. Although it isn't super hot out, it's still not fall around here. Maybe since it's going to be October in a few days things will start to change.Zsolt came over last night for a bbq. We have a little bbq pit thing, and we wanted to finally try it out. It worked pretty well,

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-86253276077511914332009-09-27T00:15:00.004+02:002009-09-27T00:49:23.972+02:00

It's after midnight and I am up and awake. Nothing new as my sleep is only good from about 3-7 a.m. Makes for long days sometimes. :) So why blog this late at night? Because I can and I haven't given my sister too many things to make fun of me for this week. :)It's been a really busy week in more ways than one. We have actually been making good use of our new table and chairs by having lots of

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-32376972755819535292009-09-21T21:10:00.002+02:002009-09-21T21:35:08.601+02:00

I have been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. My parents gave it to us this summer. I must say that there is so much in there that I will need to read this book a few times. (By the way, Dad, do you have the discussion questions in an easy to send format that I could look at?)In one of the chapters in Crazy Love, Chan talks about John's recount in Revelation of seeing God in heaven and Isaiah's

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-73811474306574548102009-09-17T20:32:00.003+02:002009-09-17T20:41:50.887+02:00

I just saw that my last post was number 500! Wow! It has been a little over two a half years though, so that's not too bad. I guess I just have a lot to say. :)The important news though is that we got our table and chairs yesterday. Zsolt called around lunch time and said he had some free time to go over to the store and help us. Kevin was free at the time, too, so we went to get them.I almost

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-40861136975610048092009-09-15T21:23:00.002+02:002009-09-15T21:50:19.465+02:00

Vevőszolgálat. Customer service. Often an oxymoron in Hungary, at least compared to the US.Now I know what they say, "It's not wrong, just different." I try to adhere to that as much as possible, but sometimes, it just doesn't work. Like today for example.We finally find a table and chairs that is "reasonably priced" for what we want. I think it's still expensive for US standards, but for here,

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-42678639251207320862009-09-14T14:37:00.006+02:002009-09-14T15:28:58.468+02:00

We are now back at home and still without internet. I feel that one part of living over here means that I just go with the flow. There is little to no use of getting upset over most things because most things are outside of my control. Plus, getting upset doesn't help matters as things still don't get done just because I am upset. Big personality shift for me who likes to control and has many

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-79319047740634853352009-09-07T14:44:00.003+02:002009-09-07T15:01:50.482+02:00

We are doing some babysitting once again. Actually, this will most likely be our last time for quite some time. I don't think we'll be babysitting much after baby #2 arrives, and I probably won't want to do it after she arrives anyway. So we enjoy the Hollowell kids this week!Sunday night is almost always pizza night at the Yaiko household. (And by the way, Seth loves to say "Yaiko." So funny.)

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-3742500223229055972009-09-02T20:14:00.001+02:002009-09-02T20:18:54.447+02:00

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.Oswald Chambers

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-12447635283845169192009-09-01T21:53:00.003+02:002009-09-01T22:07:50.125+02:00

My curtains came today! I had ordered curtains this summer for the house here with some birthday money and realized on the day we were leaving that I had accidentally shipped them to our home in Ohio! I totally broke down and cried, not really because of the curtains, although that was a huge disappointment, but because of the emotions of leaving. That led to Seth crying, which led to my mom

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-40990454174229442662009-08-31T20:39:00.004+02:002009-08-31T21:40:18.627+02:00

There is a direct correlation between how badly you want something and how long it takes to get it. When you're a kid you want it to be your birthday or Christmas so badly and it takes eons for it to get here. When you're on the turnpike and have to go the bathroom desperately, of course the next rest stop is 40 miles away. And now, when we would love to have (and need!) the internet, it is

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-43462929895307037662009-08-26T21:34:00.003+02:002009-08-26T22:05:12.567+02:00

Although I may be dripping with sweat and unable to sleep well at night, there is one good reason I can think of why hot temperatures are good. That one reason: laundry. So with no dryer, we hang all our clothes out to dry year-round. Not my favorite thing to do, but whatever. Hot air means our clothes dry faster. Cold winter air the past two years has killed virtually any and all "laundry plans"

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-68372604610494497082009-08-25T15:37:00.007+02:002009-08-25T16:19:06.652+02:00

I want nothing more than to take a nap right now, so I am trying to not sit down for long (which easily turns into lying down) so that I don't fall asleep. Seth has been napping for well over two hours, and I imagine he'll be getting up soon and will thus keep me from sitting down. I am hoping that by avoiding a nap I will sleep well at night. Restful sleeping has not been happening much for me

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-43874269900677429472009-08-23T20:07:00.003+02:002009-08-23T20:29:38.347+02:00

We have not one but two bathrooms. Can't believe it!One has the shower: (This one is mainly for "guests" as we primarily use the other one except for showering)The other has this gorgeous tub that Seth is enjoying:And we each have our own sink in the bathroom:Just not so sure about the barbed wire decor on the toilet seat:And Kevin is happy for you all to see and now know that we no longer have a

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-53798264276596348162009-08-22T10:24:00.006+02:002009-08-22T12:19:10.168+02:00

Still no internet. Not a surprise but nonetheless causing various levels of frustration. If you have emailed us since we've been back, we are eons behind in emails. One of these days whenever we get the internet I will get caught up on all things internet-related.It's been busy around here. We've been seeing everyone and meeting the new people who have come. We had a potluck dinner the other

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7698703003823211578.post-41787630209989152582009-08-17T14:35:00.003+02:002009-08-17T15:11:33.948+02:00

All summer long it seems that Seth had one goal: Make Mommy a liar. And if that was his goal, he surely succeeded.Here is how a typical conversation/dinner time would go:Person: "Does Seth like ____?"Me: "Oh, yes, Seth loves ____!"Sit down and give food that he loves to him.Seth either pushes it away and refuses to eat it or puts it in his mouth and then spits it out.Repeat scenario countless

Kristenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13570624841731813409noreply@blogger.com5