day eighteen: scarves, castles, and the beach. :)

another day of adventure. some might think that all i do is have fun. yes, i do have a lot of fun here. but unlike iowa, my weekend plans involve sightseeing. if i had fun things to see and do during my first half of student teaching, i'd have a million pictures and stories from that too! but... now, my weekends consist of trips to the ocean and castles. :) when i find those in iowa, i'll take pictures and blog about them like CRAZY. until then, i'll enjoy the sights while i'm here. :)

today was a day spent with krisanna, erin, and laura. we packed lunch and headed out on an excursion. we drove across a 7-mile-long bridge and went to the southern end of Portugal. our first stop was Setubal and we went to an old monastery (that looked a little ghetto), and some little shops (with ADORABLE scarves!), and we got free t-shirts, and got stuck in the rain :)




after we shopped and ate lunch, we headed off to another town. none of us had been to either town, but they shortly became our favorites! :) we happened upon a castle in Sebutal. it was GORGEOUS! we took some time to relax and kill our camera batteries and enjoy the sun and each others' company.

after much needed viewing of the ocean, we took off for yet another ocean town in Portugal, Sesimbra. this brought us to yet ANOTHER castle. can there be too many??? NEVER!!!!!!!!!! when iowa has castles and an ocean, THEN i'll be a fan. also, Portuguese people keep giving krisanna and i dirty looks because we are "crazy Americans" who wear flip-flops and short sleeves any time we can. i guess it's not warm enough for that... but in iowa, if the temp is in the double digits (ABOVE zero), it's flip-flop weather... duh! :) so the sunshine in the sixties... is our feet's best friend. krisanna loves that my toenails are painted white currently. it makes ME feel like summer is closer... but she insists that it looks like i have no toe nails. i disagree. ANYWAY... castle number two... :) more pics on my facebook page, so feel free to stalk.

and... our last stop... was at the beach. since the Portuguese think it's still boots, coats, and scarf weather (even though it's in the 60s), we had a great time at the desolate beach. the water was chilly, but BREATHTAKING! we walked a total of 5.23 miles today and i'm feeling it now!

krisanna and i had pancakes for dinner as we edited pictures to keep our loyal followers appeased. that being said, PLEASE look at the pictures... not just these three, but the rest on my facebook page. i hope today's read was more interesting than yesterday, and i'm guessing since you made it this far, you didn't give up on my pathetic journalism after yesterday. tonight brings much-needed rest and some time with my Savior. i may have learned a little about history, and castles, and monasteries, and sand, and wind, and sunshine, and even culture... but all that "knowledge" will be in vain if i do not learn about the One who created me and grow to love Him like He loves me.

it's amazing to me all the great and marvelous and wonderful and stellar and incredible things God has created ALL over the world, yet how easy it is to look past them or just see them as "pretty things." all day today, i was in wonder at the beauty around me, but thoughts of "what a great God!!!" were not the first in my mind. He has given me such a gift to SEE the rolling hills and the incredible colors, to HEAR the birds chirping and the waves lapping on the shore, to TASTE the many flavors of a foreign country, to TOUCH the sands of a land miles away from "ordinary," to SMELL even just the aroma of coffee in the morning, and to EXPERIENCE the life that i am able to live in the freedom of His love in the power that raised Christ from the dead. my God is good. and i fail to acknowledge that FAR too often.