From Venice with Love

sorry for the delay in the blogging recently. there is much to tell so here we go. here's a pic of me when I finally got my luggage in Venice. it took five days for it to get to us. it seriously felt like a lifetime, but, honestly, it makes for a good story. thinking back on it now it was pretty funny. you just had to get used to wearing the same clothes for five days. (the worst part about that was we were seated with some attractive, single ladies for dinner through the week. so we just had to let our overwhelming charm and witty humor compensate for our lack of fashion. after a couple of nights, however, we NEEDED our luggage. you know what i mean? here's a couple of pics of the ladies. meet tanya and tanya, from montreal, and danielle, from NC.) Regardless, Venice was absolutely AMAZING and we got to stay overnight there. here's some pics from Venice. the first is of one of the gondalieres, the guys who navigate the gondolas, who were so cool. and a shot of the grand canal from the Rialta bridge with some gondolas and the beautiful architecture. Ahhhh.... so beautiful.

cruisin' the mediterranean

here's a couple of pics taken from the balcony of our cabin on the ship. the view was absolutely amazing. i spent several mornings on the balcony reading and taking in the scenery. the whole time we were on the mediterranean i couldn't help but think about the fact that the Apostle Paul sailed these same waters over 2,000 years ago. during part of the trip i was rereading "blue like jazz" (one of my personal favorites). donald miller's writing style kept causing me to put myself in the shoes (or sandals) of Paul and wonder what it would be like to be sailing on these waters so long ago. i thought about what kinds of things i would encounter; the difficulties and trials in rome, the people who would hear about the gospel for the first time, the conversations on mars hill. then, i finished the book and realized that i was completely incapable of thinking that way on my own. i tried it again and i just couldn't do it without the encouragement from donald miller. i love his writing. i hear he has some new stuff out now. i'll have to check it out so i can learn to dream again. anyway, loved the book... loved the cabin... loved the trip. more tomorrow on how to survive on a cruise ship in europe without luggage for 5 days. it's gonna be a good one. don't miss it. much love.

let the blogging begin

hey everybody in blogger land. it's mikey... and the leaning tower of pisa. pretty cool, huh? there's so much to tell about the summer and the sweet trip to europe, but for now i just wanted to give you a little taste and let you know that more is coming. there is love for you all. especially all those wasssuuppp mans!