Jeep Girl

Jeep Girl here... We docked in Barcelona on Friday. A tower of Christopher Columbus greets you at the port. I forgot he was Spanish. I promptly saluted him and thanked him for discovering America. We had the entire day to explore the city before meeting with the Carrano's (missionaries) the next day. I cried a lot as we hopped on and off the bus tour, seeing as many sights as we could and getting an overall scope of the city. It was beautiful, and overwhelming and a lot of other emotions that I couldn't really process at the time. The most prevading of which was the feeling of "I made it!" You see it's been much longer than a seven day journey for me. Read more about that here https://jeepgirladventures.blogspot.com/2018/07/barcelona.html and here https://jeepgirladventures.blogspot.com/2018/07/barcelona-part-2.html Barcelona is...well it's all the things I said about the other cities and more. It's very much like New York City, even mo...

Jeep Girl here... I've long wanted to visit France, but Paris was the only idea that was in my head. Well, that my friends is no longer true. France is romantic all on its own without the iconic Eiffel Tower. After boarding a smaller boat to transport us to the port, we took a 20-minute ride over crystal blue waters surrounded by towering mountains and colorful buildings built in layers up and around the rocky terrain. Pink, blue, green, and yellow dwellings with bright pops of purple flowers accented the palette. Everything was in color! Italy felt full of life and color, or so I thought. Arriving on the French coast felt like I had been watching television in black and white all my life and technicolor had just arrived on the scene. It was awe inspiring! We arrived in a small village called Villefranche, which is incredibly fun to say with a French accent. Try it. You instantly feel cool. This adorable village was absolutely filled with quaint shops, winding stone steps, ...

Jeep Girl here… It was hard to leave Rome, feeling as if I had only scratched the surface of the city that had so quickly won my heart. I desperately wanted to see Michelangelo’s handiwork in the Sistine Chapel, but touring hours were over by the time we arrived. I didn’t waste too much time being sad about it though, because something tells me I will be back to explore again. In fact just to make sure, I visited the Trevi fountain before leaving the city.  You never see it coming. You’re walking along a narrow passage-way trying to not get run over by tiny cars that seem like they are driving on a sidewalk rather than a street, then suddenly there it is! Its beautiful alabaster sculptures rising out of the blacks and browns and grays of the surrounding buildings like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Tucked away deep in the heart of the city, its clear turquoise waters like an oasis in a vast desert of cobblestone. When your eyes first take in the fullness of the sce...

Jeep Girl Here… Even as I boarded the largest plane I’d ever seen, I still didn’t believe I was actually going out of the country. I’ve spent my life traveling, so traveling in itself doesn’t exactly feel adventurous or out of the box, but there was a very distinct moment when this particular adventure started, and it wasn’t when we lifted off the ground and into the great blue.  After being served dinner at 1 am, a very odd time to be eating beef and gravy indeed; the flight attendant dressed ever so smartly in her freshly pressed navy blue uniform, perfectly positioned flight cap and white gloves, reached over my lap and pulled down the window shade. I thought it was odd. “What if I wanted to look at the stars all night and dream of the places I was going to see?” I thought.  Then my eyelids began to feel heavy and I wondered if she would come around again and close those too.  I drifted off to sleep for an hour or two before I was abruptly awak...

Jeep Girl here... In January of this year, I was in another transitional time and I had a lot of questions for God about where I was and where I was supposed to be. Spain inevitible came to mind as it does every time I ask what He wants me to do. Only this time it came with a clear conviction. He said to me, "If I told you to do something that doesn't mean you stop if it's hard. You have to figure it out. Sometimes you have to fight for the things I tell you to do. It not being easy, is not proof that it wasn't my voice. I want to show you the obstcles your mind tells you are there, are not too hard for me. I want to show you how I can remove them, but you have to do your part. You have to believe that I'm going to go before you. You have to keep moving and keep believing no matter what. Only then will you be living in obedience." OUCH! That hurt. A lot. Here I was thinking that I was mostly doing a good job of being obedient. From the outside loo...

Jeep Girl here... In July of 2013,  I had made some big changes in my life. I was starting to become more of the person I wanted to be. I was scrolling through my social media feed and I saw a post from a missionary I follow in Barcelona, Spain. John and his wife Brandi were good friends with one of my closest friends. I had heard stories about them and their grand love story for years. How Brandi had broken up with John and gone to Spain because God told her to, and how John followed her there and proposed. I met them on a couple of occasions and found them to be pretty inspiring people all around. They started a church in Barcelona called International Church of Barcelona and I watched through social media as they reached out to the city and made a very visible impact with the love and light of Jesus.  Every time I saw their posts I felt as if I was going to cry. I didn't understand why I was looking at pictures of smiling people and I was being moved to tears. ...

Jeep Girl here...  On this exact day seven years ago I borrowed a red Jeep Wrangler from a friend to surprise someone for their birthday. Before the big birthday surprise, I got to drive the Jeep around for the afternoon. With the top down, radio up and wind in my hair, I experienced a sense of joy. Well, it was really more than that. It was a sense of freedom that I'm not sure I'd ever really felt in my life. I felt brave and almost invincible! I started to ponder how riding around in a different vehicle could affect my confidence this much. I guess it made some sense. When I put on a pair of high heels I felt sexy. When I wore sunglasses, I felt cool. When I wore hiking boots I suddenly believed I could climb Mt. Everest even though I hadn't been to a gym in years; but I had never put on a Jeep before, and once I did, I realized THIS is what I wanted to feel like every day for the rest of my life. The same friend I surprised with the Jeep ride, surprised me with...