Italy, England, or the Czech Republic?

Never in my life have I thought, someday, I would like to live . . . in the Czech Republic. To be honest, much of my childhood, I thought I would just live in Minnesota. As I got older and started seeing more of the world (and more movies filmed in different parts of the world), every now and then I would think, it would be so cool to live in Europe--well, England.

When I was about 17, I took my first trip to Poland. I had NEVER thought I would want to live in Poland. However, all those summers I spent there turned my thoughts toward the idea of Eastern Europe, but always Poland--never the Czech Republic.

Well, most of you know the story of how we ended up in Czech instead of Poland. Now, back to my fantasy of living in England. I had seen several movies. Once, even, Brian's company considered sending us to Windsor. I bought a book about London, and I dreamed of living in--I didn't even know what I was dreaming--it just seemed cool.

Well, since MOVING to Eastern Europe, we have had the unique opportunity to travel. This June, we took our first family vacation since Cecelia was born, and we went to Italy. I know--it sounds amazing, and it was (but, keep in mind, it was within driving distance--I mean, LONG driving distance, but still).

Then, Brian's brother, Mark and his family came to visit us here in Czech, and they helped us come with them to London for a few days last week. (Mark's job requires a lot of traveling--bad for Ellen, his wife; great for Brian and Aleisha when they come to Europe.)

Okay, so back to the question--Italy, England, or the Czech Republic? After seeing these amazing places--a few cities in Italy and then, seeing London, England, I have to say that if I had the choice, I would choose to move to the Czech Republic--and specifically, the little town that I live in!

Sounds crazy, I know. While Italy and England were amazing to visit, I would NEVER want to live there--why? Many reasons, but so many people, not so clean, and not as pretty as where we live, and frankly, I like this culture better.

Now, lest you think that I am a missionary in Disney Land--it is still hard here! I'm not going to whine on my blog about the hardships of being a missionary in the Czech Republic because it's just not worth the energy to explain. However, it's not always a picnic, let me tell you. I will say though, that I think it's pretty cool that God made it possible for me to be in my top choice European country, don't you? :)

Italy:


London:


Cece having ice cream in our town square in the Czech Republic: