Creative Living

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Amsterdam

The beginning of our BIG trip started on July 13th when I left Phoenix...

On July 14th I arrived in Amsterdam with my niece, April Jane!

We hit the ground running right away!

We were excited to see the MANY canals of Amsterdam & the gorgeous flowers everywhere.

Of course there were bikes, bikes, bikes!

And a variety of houseboats!

The weather was soooooo perfect.

Our houseboat was perfect too! We checked into this funky colorful boat for our 3 day stay.

What a great place to hang out when we weren't touring the city!

The front door of our houseboat. #cute April sitting on the back of our houseboat. It had a little patio too to view the people & boats passing by all day. #fun

We walked, talked, shopped, took a ferry boat ride, a rest in the park & enjoyed this interesting city and people (the majority being tall, blonde & gorgeous). Not sure what their secret is here... everyone looks like super models. :-)

We drank a LOT of coffee in Amsterdam. :-)

Such charming places to enjoy a latte & good food. Yum...just looking at this makes me want to go back to Amsterdam!

Cheers to this adventure!

Super fun to be on this journey with April!

We kept running into this wedding couple.

We took a peek in the beautiful church for their wedding ceremony.

Even got a photo of the bride & groom with some of their family & friends. Kinda felt like they should've invited April and I to the wedding reception. LOL!

Anne Frank Memorial.

April & I did the Anne Frank Haus tour. Bob and I saw it last year and it's just impossible to imagine this horrible & sad time. A must visit when in Amsterdam

April and I on our morning run to the city square.

Us with a 100 others taking pics by the I AMsterdam sign.

Wahoo... I love Amsterdam.

I LOVE this photo too!

You might wonder why April & I are in skirts? Well... we were inspired by EVERYONE in this city biking in dresses, skirts, suits & lovely chic attire. We had to give it our best shot. We even biked in our shirts!! Those pics in my next post.

Happy & lovely in Amsterdam.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

8-28-18

Happy Anniversary to US! Today (August 28th) marks 19 years of marriage. There is no one else that I would rather go around the world with than YOU, Bob Meneely! Thank you for loving me!! Xoxo.

This photo was taken on an old wooden sail boat off the island of Zanzibar, Africa. This was about 1/2 way through our amazing trip that literally took us AROUND THE WORLD! :-) We are home again in Phoenix, Arizona; recovering from jet lag, doing laundry, sorting 100's of photos, loving our sweet Harley dog, reconnecting with friends, family & getting back to work. Daily we reflect back on ALL that we experienced over 42 days overseas - simply an incredible journey. Anxious to share stories & photos from Amsterdam, Uganda, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Malaysia, Singapore & Tokyo. Join me over the next many days of travel posts...

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

7-11-18

AFRICA 2018 ... here we come!!!!

This Friday I'm getting on a plane for Africa. My niece, April is going with me. We will have 3 days together in Amsterdam following my a mission trip in Uganda for 10 days. We are super excited! Tom Eggum (above) is the director of Hope 4 Kids International. He has an amazing outreach with bringing clean water to remote villages through digging new water wells. There are many other projects they do and not just in Africa but all over the world. Check out the link to get a glimpse of Hope for Kids and what April and I will be up to. They also have a Facebook page.

Hope 4 Kids International

Hope 4 Kids. Adorable children from Uganda.

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July 26 Bob will meet me in Rwanda to see our friends, Todd and Andria & their 4 kiddos. They have been living there for 8 years and started up City of Joy Rwanda. It too is quite a project and they are amazing folks bringing so much help and joy to children and families in Rwanda. Check out their link below and Facebook page too. I've known Todd since college when we worked as camp counselors together at Okobjoi Lutheran Bible Camp (Iowa).

City of Joy Rwanda

City of Joy. A game of baseball. :-)

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August 2nd Bob and I will fly to Arusha, Tanzania. We'll meet Filbert and stay at House of Children. It's a very small orphanage in USA river. We look forward to learning about his heart for these children. Filbert is a local Tanzanian and we have been in contact only through Facebook and other social media. Look up House of Children on Facebook when you get a chance.

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The New Life Band. Arusha, Tanzania.

We'll be meeting and hopefully hearing The New Life Band perform while in Tanzania. I've been in contact with James (the director). New Life Band has been around for 40 years and on their 1st trip to America (when they were a young band) they stayed at Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp for 1 month. That's the camp I worked at!! It's also where my brother-in-law, Paul's parents were directors for many years. It was Connie and Jeanne who told us to look them up. On another note, this band will be performing in California (several concerts) near Bob's parents. Small world that Pat's friend will be hosting some of them at their house when they visit America again this September. We are excited to meet James and the band in TZ.

Check out Facebook and youtube to learn or hear more about The New Life Band from Arusha, TZ.

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Another stop will be to an orphanage for the disabled, blind and albino children. This amazing place is in Moshi, TZ. We will only have 1 day here but we want to visit because a local Scottsdale, AZ company (K2 Adventures) are the major supporters of this loving home for children.

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Come August 7th we'll be able to connect in person with Johnson!! He will be finishing up his final exams at college. Once done he'll have completed his 1st year at MWEKA College of Wildlife Management and Conservation. He is so excited to see us... and we are so excited to see our son! We'll get to meet his grandparents, see his village of Marangu and meet other relatives and friends. And on August 12th Johnson, Bob and I will be flying to Malaysia and Singapore for a week of touring. It will be his 1st flight, his 1st time out of the country of Tanzania and a lot of other firsts for him. It will be our first time to those countries as well. Bob and I are already thankful for our time together with Johnson, sightseeing and experiencing small adventures together in the weeks ahead.

As you can imagine it's been a whirlwind arranging the big and small details (especially this week... things have been so busy). Flights, hotels, drivers, gifts, paperwork and so much more. My head is spinning... so much so that when I get on the plane this Friday I will be happy for the hours of uninterrupted downtime. LOL. :-) Thank you for your support, thoughts and prayers for our travels. I will not be updating the blog until I return at the end of August. Blessings to you from us. Xoxo.

Hakuna Matata.

7-10-18

Look how cute our nieces are at Sailing Camp in California.

Rose & Marie went with another friend and are having the time of their life. What great skills to learn. I want to go to sailing camp! I tried to download the videos of them sailing from Facebook but it didn't work. But these photos capture their big smiles & happiness!

GREAT job Rose & Marie! Bob and I are proud of you both. Now you can add sailing to your long list of talents! Xoxo