Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. When you have to end your tour Europe, we say do it with a bang. That's pretty much how the entire day went. Hope you have your Fitbit on because y'all are about to do some walk-ing. We arrived in Rome late in the evening the night before and were picked up at the airport by our lifetime friends, Paolo and Patrizia. We have known them for 16 years, when we met during our Jubilee 2000 pilgrimage with our high school youth group. Back then, neither of us had kids. Now we have 9 between us! … [Read more...]
Texans in Europe for 20: Lisbon, Portugal
Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. I've got one more post after today and then I promise to get back to blogging about organizing projects, birthday parties, motherhood, faith and Texas Aggies. Y'all are so kind to let a gal reminisce. LISBON. WAS. AMAZING. We started off our morning with a 7:45am photo shoot. It sounds crazy now, but the light was amazing and it gave us a jump start on a truly gorgeous day in the city. We only had until after lunch to soak it all in, so bask we did. Up first, Belém Tower. It's one of … [Read more...]
Texans in Europe for 20: Córdoba & Sevilla, Spain
Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. The day before, we explored the beauty of Toledo's town square and it's shining star, the Cathedral. Today, it just got better. Every morning we would wake up and say, "I don't think today can top yesterday." Then, we were promptly proved wrong. Armed with cute clothes from our found luggage, we rose really early and boarded the high-speed train with stops in Córdoba and Sevilla. That train was something else. This van-loving Texan was quite impressed with the efficiency of the public … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Planning a Vacation, Sans Kids!
A few weeks ago, my husband and I hopped on a plane and headed to Europe, sans kids, for nine awesome days. I've had several folks ask what we did with all six kids and if we missed them, how we planned for the trip and what led us to our destination. You ask, I answer. Let's start with tip numero uno. #1: Make your marriage a priority. We marked 20 years of marriage in July. As much as I would like to say it just happened, it just didn't. All around me, my friends are entering into separation, divorcing and lamenting the shortcomings of their spouse. In short? They're miserable. Our marriage is not without its flaws, nor has it come easily. After our fifth child was born … [Read more...]
Texans in Europe for 20: Toledo, Spain
Our 20th anniversary trip to Madrid, Toledo, Córdoba and Sevilla, Spain; Fatima, Santarém and Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome, Italy, was flat out amazing. To read all about it, just click on those links. I have been busting to share our adventure in Europe with y'all. It was so fun to live it in real-time over on Instagram, but there was so much more to our trip than all those snaps. I'll be sharing a bit more (and a ton more photos!) here on the blog. But I think it's important to share this before I dive into all things tapas, sangria, old churches and fantastic landscapes: one does not have to travel to Europe to feed a marriage. We saved and planned and it worked out beautifully that … [Read more...]
