That summer

How strange - we have lived in Zagreb, Croatia for almost one year! Can you believe it?!? Me either.

For the record, I love living here. It is a beautiful place. The language is fun to speak. Croatian is definitely difficult to learn, but when that doesn't work and English doesn't work, I get to speak German. I dig deep into my brain waaaay back to my middle and high school days, and I can actually understand it decently. It tickles my brain in a way I have never quite experienced. The people at our school have been amazing - friendly, helpful, welcoming, and fun! Teaching has been like a dream. I get the freedom to make my own decisions and am trusted by the administration and the families to do my job. It may not sound like much (especially for non-educators), but it has meant the world to me.

I still find myself shying away from new situations when I am alone and know that I will have to speak Croatian only. And yet, as I put myself into these situations more frequently, I find that I am almost always met with friendliness on the other side. I usually end up laughing at myself or the situation and in the end it's not so bad. I am learning to take myself less seriously and appreciate the moment.

So, that summer. This is it! This is THAT SUMMER! The summer that I will talk and talk about for years to come. Please ask me about it when I get home because I will want to talk about it! Because this summer is chock full of travel! So, that being said, I will leave the rest of this post for pictures. So far, we have been to Dugi Otok (a Croatian island), Amsterdam, and a Croatian coastal adventure (shout out to Dave and Jo!) that included 2 islands (Krk, Mali Losinj), Skradin, Sibenik, and Dubrovnik.

Next up: Germany, Italy, and Greece. I leave tomorrow morning for Italy, then we'll be traveling for 22 days straight. Phew! We'll post more when we return.

Dugi Otok: Our friend Sam is from here. We got to see where his great-grandfather was raised. It was incredible.

On the lighthouse.

Besties!

I couldn't help myself. I love Ian's face! He's a serious driver. And we have a similar picture of all three of us driving out west in 2009.

Amsterdam: It rained pretty much the WHOLE TIME. We still had a lot of fun!

We had to take a bike ferry across the canal. Only cost 1 euro!

Put your tires in the grate, walk along the plank. Brilliant!

A windmill at the end of our 5 hour bike ride. Whoopee!!!!

Krk:

Lavender fields forever.

Dave photobombs. 

Mali Losinj:

Zadar:

Sun salutation.

Skradin:

Boat ride on the roof.

Monastery. 

 Dubrovnik: We fell in love with this city.

Green shorts = Ian!

Pistachio ice cream! Holla!

Game of Thrones anyone?

I'm exhausted. Hope you enjoyed! Big hugs to you all! We miss you.