Griffin??

Tulip time!!

thought for today

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~Danny Kaye

Burqa style

I love that even though this gal has chosen to wear a burqa she is still showing her personal style with her purple leather jacket and red shoes!

Sharp Travel Trivia

What do these islands have in common?

Catalina Island
The Big Island in Hawaii, the Kona side.
Cyprus
Princes' Island, Turkey


A. places the family has been
B. places that we wish we never had to leave
C. places where Tom has taken a nap
D.places where we have been given a free meal

Finally, some good news!

Our letters of invitation are on their way here to Istanbul. We are finally one step closer to getting our new Russian visas. It will be a 90 day visa and by the time we get back to Krasnodar one month of the three will have been used up. But we are grateful to have an answer and to finally feel as if this never ending vacation is coming to an end!

Istanbul Modern

If you get a chance to go to this museum in Istanbul... take it! We had a great afternoon there. It was a bit intimidating because there was so much to see. The cafe is a great place to hang out. The view of the Bosphorus from there is breathtaking. There are also a few benches inside the gallery along the back where you can sit and contemplate the art as well as the waves!

Thursdays are free so we hope to go back again and see the things we missed the first go round!

thought for today

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
Robert McCloskey

Easter treats in Istanbul

It takes some leg work but you can find some goodies for kids and adults here to help make your holiday brighter.

We didn't try the chocolate bunnies...however, we found something very tasty and it reminded me of the bread and Easter eggs we had last year when we celebrated Russian Orthodox Easter with our friends Katya and Alexei!

it's Friday...but Sunday is coming!

I can hardly wait for Sunday! Happy Easter Everybody!!

strolling down memory lane

As we were out walking near Taksim Square we found a tiny shop selling old LP's. What a blast from the past!

thought for today

~ Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. ~

Clarence W. Hall

from the bridges of Istanbul

Spencer and I went for a walk today across two different bridges. As we went over the top of the first bridge you can see how close the traffic is to the fisherman and the rest of us occupying space on the sidewalk.


















If you want a fresh grilled fish sandwich... here is the place! Don't worry there are tables on land in front of the boat where you can enjoy your meal.


















When we reached the second bridge we decided to walk on the lower level this time. Word of warning: there are cafes with aggressive waiters waiting for you to stroll by so that they can give you their pitch!!

praying for those in Moscow

Woke up to the news this morning of two bombings on the Metro in Moscow. You can read more by clicking here

Visa news

The news on our visas is: there is no news.

We are still waiting for the letters of invitation to arrive. We had been told to expect them this week. However, no such luck. Tom was able to reschedule our airline tickets today. Our new target date is April 11th.

Keep on praying for us!

don't try this at home...

Wedding guest severely injured at Russian roulette

MOSCOW – Russian television has aired a video of a wedding guest shooting himself in the head with a rubber bullet in a game of Russian roulette.

An excerpt from a wedding video airing on NTV television shows a man addressing the groom, then whipping out a pistol, pointing it to his head and pulling the trigger with a click.

The man gives the gun to another man who then shoots himself in the temple and falls to the ground.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Tuesday that the victim in the December incident was hospitalized with a severe head wound. It says the man who gave him the gun has been charged with hooliganism.

The origins of Russian roulette are not clear, but Czarist-era officers are believed to have taken chances with revolvers that held one bullet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100324/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_russian_roulette

thought for today

It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not.

James Gordon

nap time

family fun

Fountain of Ablutions at Aya Sophia

Basilica Cistern

thought for today

"What am I afraid of?" began Mack.
"Well I am afraid of looking like an idiot. I am afraid that you are making fun of me and that I will sink like a rock. I imagine that--"

"Exactly", Jesus interrupted. "You imagine. Such a powerful ability, the imagination! That power alone makes you so like us. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster."

excerpted from The Shack by Wm Paul Young


I realize that not everyone is happy about some of what is written in The Shack. However, coming from a recovery point of view that teaches 'take what you like and leave the rest' this is one thought that I will take with me:

"Without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster"

If I dwell too much on the past or on the future I will cause myself pain. If I focus on every 'what if' I can think of I will cause myself pain. I bring pain upon myself when my predetermined view of how life's events unfold fail or people do not react/respond to them the way I imagined they would.

My prayer is for wisdom to balance out my powerful imagination and lead me to the full life that was promised to me in John 10:10.

St. Anthony of Padua

Tom and I were out for a walk and came across this beautiful church. The ceilings, windows and the floors were incredible!

books, Books, BOOKS!

It has been a joy to find several different bookstores that have books in English! We are stocking up on gems to take back home with us.

Paulo Coelho, J.D. Salinger, Toni Morrison and few others have already found a place in our suitcases!

waiting...

We embarked on this trip to Turkey because we found out that we needed to leave Russia and renew Tom's work visa. We were supposed to be able to renew it Russia two more times so when we found out that we had to leave it came as a shock.

We just found out recently that the company he works for was denied the right to hire foreign workers. So now we sit here and wait for new paperwork for a three month visa that will allow us to return to Russia.

Hopefully the new Letters of Invitation will arrive before the end of month... we have been told that they should be ready on March 25th.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to wait.

thought for today

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Mother Teresa

just hanging...

Tom found a hanger store!!

It reminded us of a Saturday Night Live sketch from years ago about a Scotch Tape store. How could I resist preserving this memory!

Spice Bazaar- Istanbul

The wind was pretty strong today and Spencer had to hang on tight to Flat Shirley so she wouldn't blow away!


























the ceilings were very high...




























Not every stall had a stained glass window about it... this one caught my eye!






















Not sure if it was all conjured up by the White Witch from the chronicles of Narnia... but, there was a lot of Turkish Delight to be had!!

hanging out at the Blue Mosque