the walton five : Way Back Whensday...

I have been so incredibly busy the past few weeks I have not had the time, nor the energy to blog. With numerous job fairs, lots of hours at work, and the end of the semester looming, I have more things on my plate than ever. On top of that, Griffin and I decided to tackle the kitchen remodel. So anyways...things have been extremely hectic!
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For this week's Way Back Whensday, I decided to pull out pictures from Austria, where Marie and I studied the summer after our Sophmore year. The five weeks we were there were probably some of the weirdest, yet most fun five, weeks of my life. Marie and I, only knowing each other, knew it would be interesting, but we had no idea the kind of characters we would be living with for 5 weeks!

While we spent the majority of our time in Graz, the second largest city in Austria, we were able to go on weekend excursions to other parts of Europe. We spent time in Prague, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, and many other small towns throughout the region. On days when we did not have much work to do and no activities planned, Marie, Jordan Blankenship and I would walk around this beautiful lake that was located across from our dorm. One particularly gorgeous day, I remember we kept saynig over and over again how lucky we were. How lucky we were to be able to spend 5 weeks of our lives living and studying in Europe. How lucky we were that our parents had the financial resources to send us here. And how lucky we were just to be able to experience such a beautiful setting.

Before spending a significant amount of time in Europe, I had always heard that the Europeans knew how to live the right way. I heard that unlike the crazy, materialistic, technological world that we call America, Europeans know how to relax and know how to enjoy life. After spending 5 weeks there, I believed everything I had heard. On an average weekday, we saw mothers and father at the park playing with their children. We saw friends enjoying other friends' company over dinner and wine. We saw and experienced a slow-motion version of life that is not common to American culture. The five weeks I spent in Austria opened my eyes to the way we were meant to live on this earth. It is easy to get so boggled down in our day to day lives that we forget to enjoy the small things, that we forget to foster the relationships in our lives that are real and meaningful, and that we forget to thank the God who loves us unconditionally.

I had such an amazing time in Austria and grew to know and love so many people...