Super Cool Grafitti!!

I have to say that I've really never been a huge fan of graffiti but we actually found some really cool stuff during our time in Athens. The one above isn't really so cool, it's just that we found it so appropriate for Europe!!! No one here seems to have any problems at all with PDA! It seems like everywhere you went someone was making out! We just laughed and thought to ourselves... reminder that I do not want to be like that! It kinda got old after a while but this picture just demonstrated it perfectly!

This photo here is in memory of Harriett. She is one of the girls that we worked with in Kos and everyone called her butterflies! She's a hoot and when we saw this we thought of her.

We just thought these were kinda fun! It's really random, they are just painted on the walls in the dead center of the city. I guess I've just always thought of Athens as a big dirty city and the graffiti for the most part just adds to that dirty feel!

As for these two photos.... I have to say this is art! It's incredible to me what people can do with a can of spray paint!!! Who knew, I still have no clue how they do it and think it would be fascinating to watch them create such a masterpiece!!!

Members from my Mission!!!

These are just some pictures with me and some of the members from my mission! I can't believe that this October I will have been home for 3 years! Time flies.... for the most part everyone is pretty much the same and doing really well. I guess it's the younger ones that have changed dramatically... I can't believe how big Winnie is!!! Marie and Fatima have also changed a lot. I had such a great time being back in Athens. The people there have such a special place in my heart! I can't explain with words the love I feel for them and just the memories that I have of each of them! They made such a huge difference in my life! I will never forget the time I spent there....

This is Julianna!

These are the sisters that are in Athens... (I also knew them from the MTC)

The Sankoh family!!! Kadija hasn't changed a bit and I'm so excited that she is getting married in August!!! (She's marrying one of the missionaries that served in GREECE!!!)

This is little Winnie!!! She used to be so much smaller.... I loved seeing her though!

And this is the Kallay family.. Winnie and all her brothers! And Bro. Kallay :)

Our First Night in Athens!

We arrived back in Athens on May 30th.... after a very long ferry ride and very little sleep!  We spent the morning sleeping at julianna's and then as you can see, the most important part of the evening back in Athens was the ice cream!!!  Ok so not really, I would have to say it was being able to spend time with my dear Julianna.  It's been so long since i have seen her and all the other members in Greece!  I was in absolute heaven....  I hadn't been so happy in a long time.  I don't know what it is about the big dirty city of Athens that brings so much joy into my life!!!  I guess maybe it's about the people who live there and the fact that I truly came to know my saviour while I was there.  I can't describe the amounts of joy I feel when I am there.  I just feel so at ease and full of joy!

As you can see, we are big huge fans of Ice Cream!!!  Julianna was a really good sport!  She was freezing though and really tired by the end of the night!  I have to say I miss her so much and wish there was something more I could do to help her out.  She's so amazing and I hope she knows that!  I loved seeing her and being able to spend a bit of time with her....

This is the server at the restaurant we ate at!  It was just fun and games and he was really nice so I asked for a picture!

This is the three of us just waiting to get our dinner.  We had delicious greek yuros!  I love them so much.  And it's so sad but nowhere in the world can make them quite the same as the ones in Greece!!!  If you ever make it over that way one of the things you must try are Greek yuros.... Don't worry they are super cheap!

Saying Goodbye to Kos!

So I guess it is finally time to come out with the TRUTH!!! Yes, that is right, we've kinda been faking the fact that we've been on an island in Greece for the past two months! Thanks mom and dad for helping us cover :) I guess I should explain.... We were on the island for about three weeks. We were only working 4 hour days instead of 8 hour days and the island was dead. There were not a lot of tourists and we were kinda going crazy. We are so used to the go till you drop lifestyle it was hard to have 20 hours of the day to do whatever we wanted to do... Things just started getting really crazy and we started weighing the pros and cons of staying vs coming home. In the end the pros of coming home outweighed the pros of staying so we decided to take off! Of course though we were already in Europe so we decided we would travel around while it was warm and sunny and then because we had to buy new tickets to get home the trip is to be continued in November so we can use the second half of both our tickets. We spent five weeks between Athens, Venice, Rome, Copenhagen and Paris!!! And yes there are so many pictures to come it is crazy.... You'll probably be sick of seeing pictures of us! (The picture above is us on the ferry just pulling away from the island!) So for now the craziest adventure ever has been interrupted but we've had the time of our lives traveling the past five weeks and can't wait to be going back in November for another three weeks! We hope to see you all soon!

More Fun in Kos Town....

Yes, as you can see ice cream has become a major part of our lives here on the island! We eat if very regularly :) Our boss even lets us have it at the resort for free because we don't drink and all the other girls get free drinks. I'm glad we haven't started a daily habit of ice cream just yet.

I just think all these little ice cream men are hysterical so I had to get a picture taken with one. There was a woman watching and she was laughing really hard at me! I guess it takes a special kinda person to entertain the world!

Here Mandy is up on the bridge in Kos Town and we just thought it was a beautiful picture!

As for these two pictures.... Well, they are just scary. We found these crazy glasses and thought they were so funny:) They make your eyes look really creepy...

Ahhh... the joys of Greek men! We were walking in town and I just said hello to all the men at the table and the next thing I new they had invited us to sit down and eat with them. They bought us drinks and we had a great time chit-chatting. They were soo funny. One of them even proposed. They asked me why I haven't found myself a Greek man to marry and I told them becuase I wanted someone who was loyal.. They definitely agreed that I shouldn't be with a Greek then! It was just fun and very "greek" to be sitting there eating and drinking with good company.

This here is the train driver that the bus driver was trying to set me up with... Let's just say it got a little awkward for a few moments but then we decided against the train ride and continued on our way.

This here is also very Greek! There are so many dogs just laying around... I don't know for sure where they come from or why they are there but they are all stray dogs and I think really it's just too hot for them to do anything else besides lay there.

This is the two of us inside the ruins of Kos Town. We have definitely gotten better at taking pictures of ourselves... Thank heavens for timers on digital cameras!