HOME!

So for those of you that don't know I made it home!

Hope you all are doing well, thanks for reading about my trip while I was away!

Let me know if you'd like to hang out and hear more about it or just relax :)

<3 you all!!!

Katrina
(BACK FROM EUROPE)

didn't do much

overcast today
went to the market
packed up
read
journaled a little
ate a big lunch
just finished watching blind side

comin home mondayyy

And..

I forgot again last night but that's because NOTHING exciting happened!

It's been raining so there is NOTHING to do around here BAH!

I might forget again tonight because I'm not doing anything today so sorry friends

I come home monday night at 9:30pm so if you all wanna see me sometime when i get home
just CALL ME UP!

:)

miss ya all

byeeeeeee

Oops!

So i forgot to post last night before I went to bed, but luckily for me YOU are sleeping right now so it's okay haha

Yesterday (Thursday) I did a whole lot of nothing

It was raining and I melt in the rain so I stayed inside

I made some new jewelry pieces, posted pictures, and created a "pre-fall sale" (look at my facebook page if you care)

I ate Chinese food (YUM) and then at night watched Legends of the Fall with the HOlladay's (great movie!)

Ya so sorry that was boring but that was my day!

I come home Monday so see you all soon!



A piece of soap stone insa gave me to shape!

Freiburg

Went to Freiburg today with the Melli's interns (Youth For Christ interns)

We got to walk around the town and see the cathedral there and some shops and the "college town"

There were some cool hippy booths and street vendors which was awesome

Got to iCHAT with video with Brianna and Marcie today which was awesome!

Well here are some pictures from today

The interns are rooming with me tonight since their place the water shut off!

Till tomorrow...

Lake Lucerne

So today I met Simon, or rather he met me, in Kandern...a foreign exchange student that came to do a semester abroad in Fullerton last year and ended up at Ev Free where I got to meet him for the first time...

We took a bus and a couple of trains and went to Switzerland to Luzern (Lucerne) where we got to see the Swiss Alps and take a boat ride around Lake Lucerne

It was beautiful! I definitely want to go back there
The water was so clear and the old building and mountains were glorious

The city had an outdoor mall setting "like fashion island" (out of the mouth of Simon, SO HILARIOUS that he knows what that is)

Well here are a few pictures from Prague and Lake Lucerne, hope you enjoy!!


Ash and I in front of the "royal gardens" outside of the Prague Castle


My new favorite coffee shop that we went to about 7 times



Saint George Basilica maybe? I can't keep up haha



The beautiful Charles bridge..or the one next to it haha


I <3 the buildings in Prague!



John Lennon Wall!!! (That we accidentally happened to stumble upon)


An important building in Prague?!? haha might be the city hall building or something


Alli (Ash's sister) and I having Ciders!


Buildings in Lake Lucerne (And the beautiful water)


A boat house or something rather along the lake


The Alps!


Simon and I (Yes i'm short)

Ciao!

home from Prague!

So i'm tired and not going to write much but
I just got home from Prague AND it was amazing!!!

I loved the architecture and the city and have a new favorite coffee shop called "Coffee Fellows"
or as we called it "Fellows"

IT was a pretty great time ..i made new friends w/ ashley's sister alli and her German friend Veronica
both were awesome!

pictures and more details to come

my flight got cancelled today and i had to wait 6 hours in the prague airport soo pretty wiped out right now

ciao!

Off to Prague

Ashley and Olga left this morning
Ashley to Berlin to meet her sister
Olga back to Moldova

I will be meeting ashley in Prague tomorrow (with her sister and sister's friend)

Today I pretty much just relaxed, washed some towels, ate meals, walked into town, and now am watching end of the spear on my computer to fall asleep because I have to be up at 430am to catch my flight

I won't have my computer on me until Monday so don't try to reach me (you can text me if you want, but i won't be responding but would love to hear from you!)

I'm excited to go explore prague for a few hours alone tomorrow (going to see Europe's biggest Hard Rock!)

Well have a good weekend

<3 me


Toodles!

An Odd Day

Today i woke up after a full night's rest (praise the Lord) and started packing for Prague

I leave on Thursday and am getting excited..
I looked today and Europe's biggest Hard Rock is there so I can't wait to go get my pin!
(for those of you that dont know i collect pins from hard rocks around the world)

We cleaned our room and the bathroom here so that other guests can stay in our beds while we are gone

It's sad to see everything packed up :(

Olga, my roommate from Moldova, leaves tomorrow to go back home.

Ashley and I are going to Prague and then I'm coming back to Kandern and then MAYBE going to Amsterdam or Ireland, but MIGHT be staying in Germany and doing some exploring before I come home...Ashley will be going to Berlin for a few days and then meeting back up with me in Germany!

We both go home on the 26th and have to part ways :(

We had a lot of our friends come and say goodbye today, including my favorite German Insa.
It was sad to say goodbye to her, as I hope it is not the last time I see her, but she said I can stay in her apartment next time I come and be the kitchen elf!

Well that's all for tonight..take care!


My bed area


Ashley and Olga doing dishes (we switch off, no i don't always just take pictures of them)

A Little OUt oF It...

So last night i didn't sleep hardly ..yet again.
Audrey and I got up at 6:30 this morning to go on a 2 hour hike (total, there and back) to see some ancient ruins
We picked and ate wild berries on our way and got to enjoy the great outdoors (alright no..i'm not an outdoorsy person, don't be fooled)

We got back and I filled out my application for Youth for Christ and sent it in
I had the opportunity to talk to Beckie Melli about the organization again today and talked with one of the recruiters who decides who is accepted into YFC
I will continue to pray and see where God leads!

Audrey showed me how to make a book using an old book binding and we did that for awhile

We had dinner and sent Audrey off about 10 minutes ago :(
It's sad to see the first intern go

I'm a little out of it today from lack of sleep and am getting a little down so prayer for encouragement is greatly appreciated!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy (sorry there haven't been any the last couple days)


I needed proof that I made it to the top


The beautiful tower/ruins!


Audrey on our hike!

Sunday Bloody Sunday

So today we had a party to show off the art work we've done while here/say goodbye and thank you to the people we've met while we've been here

One of my roommates Audrey is leaving tomorrow so we wanted to get a chance to say goodbye while everyone was still here

I sold a piece of jewelry which was exciting for me :)

We had a bit of reflection over our time while here over Chinese dinner and my roommates and we just finished watching National Treasure together

Going to bed now..Night folks!

TIREDDD

Got to talk to the fam on skype/aim chat

Made paper

Worked on a drawing

Ate dinner at the Farmers

Watched The Dark Knight
and had a bat fly at us :)

Now tired and going to bed

Night!

OUch!

Okay so if you read my post yesterday you saw that i hurt my foot..
well it turns out its worse today and has been very hard to walk around..i think i might have broken/sprained/twisted something
gah! it's very annoying.

Anywho..we went to the pool today and had a picnic and got to relax and read a little bit which was great
I was reading some of 1 Corinthians and was kind of surprised at how much we have compromised in the church since those days...just a thought that came to mind

We came back and i worked on some ink drawings, possibly for the Peace Project that thewhole9.com is doing to promote peace and raise money for Sierra Leone


We then ate dinner where we talked about risks and then the discussion turned into a debate on whether or not organizations can be considered a church, people sitting in a circle could be a church, etc. so i got up and did the dishes because I'm too opinionated without enough research or passion to debate on such topics!

WE just enjoyed ice cream and will probably watch a movie shortly, as always!

PS HAPPY BDAY STEF, RYLAN, AND PEYTON!!!
<3 YOU!

have a good day everyone!

Beauty and the Beast

Today we went to Riquewihr, France which is a small town in France that resembles the town in Beauty and the Beast (where Belle lived)

Ashley and I shared this pizza like thing with cheese, cream cheese, onions, and bacon for lunch and then got a scoop of gelato for snack haha. Both were quite delicious

The town was pretty cool, but unfortunately i kind of twisted my foot so i wasn't a fan of walking around too much today, plus it was super hot.

We then went to this other town in France that was set up in a snail like shape, a swirl going from big to small
I sat and waited for the group as they walked around because my foot wasn't wanting to walk wah wah

We got home and had some dinner..well i shared mine with the little boy from upstairs Rafi (who i want to marry my niece)
HE ate most of my dinner so i didn't eat much, but that's alright haha

We are now thinking about watching beauty and the beast since we visited the town

Unfortunately for you i took film pictures, so unless i steal some from ashley you won't be seeing them!

Au Revoir

My turn to cook..

So today i finally had to cook, which I've been putting off for sometime.
I made a traditional German meal: saurbratten (like pot roast), a potato salad, a green salad, and a German cherry cake
All of it surprisingly turned out delicious (i did have audrey as a soux chef)

Before that, however, I finished reading Don Miller's a thousand miles in a hundred years and was encouraged with his idea of living an epic story. I want to live a story that is meaningful and full of adventure like he shares. I started writing my own story today and was getting inspired to finish it. I would like to see Don Miller speak in September in Portland if I find a way to get there/somewhere to stay!

I also worked on some advertising things for Peacebranch to put the word out again.

Tonight was the big Germany vs. Spain game and the place where I was GOING to watch the game wasn't available tonight so i walked to a bar alone down the road called Route 66 had half a jagermeister orange, got a headache, and we lost. :( i'm very sad about our loss, especially since i bought a jersey today that would probably be half price tomorrow. Oh well..till tomorrow

Hope you're having a great day




Go Germany!


German Cherry Cake!

Today felt long.

Today I had another meeting with the Melli's, Youth For Christ missionaries. They are talking to me about an idea to serve in Rwanda for three months after I graduate and then in Southern California recruiting missionaries to go out onto the field. It sounds like a great opportunity and I have been praying about it and would appreciate your prayers as well!

I got to meet a German family, Monica, Thomas, and Chris. I talked to Thomas and Chris about German culture and had them explain a recipe to me. (I get to cook a German meal tomorrow). I was super excited to be able to hang out with some Germans for awhile, they are such great people!

I went to the train station to figure out how much it would be to travel to Lille, France after Prague but it seems to be more expensive then I thought :-/ I then went to the butcher where she didn't speak English, but luckily I got what I wanted, and then went to the grocery store to get food for tomorrow.

I came back and took a nap because I was exhausted for some reason.

I just got done watching the Netherlands/Uruguay game
NETHERLANDS WON!!
I'm excited for tomorrow's Germany/Spain game!

We are now watching Gladiator (but i'm not the hugest fan so i'm on my computer!)

Take Care!

I'd appreciate prayer for my attitude and to tame my tongue. I have a hard time not saying some things and it bites me in the butt. I've been working on this for awhile, but am still not doing great with it. Thanks!

A bit irritated...

So last night i didn't get much sleep AGAIN..gah i hate sleeping problems, they are super annoying!

I got up this morning and we had a devotional which Diane led and a time of prayer

I then went to read A million miles in a thousand years by Donald Miller (author of Searching for God knows what)
I attempted to take a nap but couldn't so went back to reading!

I then made a couple more jewelry pieces to display and then worked on an ink drawing

We just had dinner and Cy and Diane Farmer's!

Prayer for patience is appreciated!! I'm getting a little irritable...

Probably will end up finishing Sound of Music tonight (we started it on Sunday evening) I love that movie! Such a classic and makes me miss childhood!

Happy 4th!

So today is the first Sunday of the month, which means there are free museums in Switzerland!

We got to go to a cartoon drawing exhibit (which was way less exciting then it sounds), a kunst museum (also very unexciting), and a paper making museum (which was awesome..we got to make our own paper!)

We came back and I took a nap because i didn't sleep much last night and then we had a BBQ with some other American's for the fourth of July! It was great, we even had sparklers :) good ol' American food.

I also sold 3 pieces of jewelry today which was exciting for me :)


Inside the paper museum


Creepy mask from this museum that was under construction..it had a bunch of creepy masks in it...


A beautiful church/cathedral in Switzerland!

WORLD CUP!!

So today I made some things out of paper and attempted to water color, but i've learned that is NOT my forte..

I had a meeting with a couple representatives from Youth For Christ and talked to them about a possible opportunity to serve as a head over recruits for the Africa department of YFC. I am going to be praying and listening for God's direction in this

I then went to watch the World Cup, Germany vs. Argentina game where Germany KILLED Argentina 4-0 at the church my host's go to (G5) where there was a lot of beer drinking, cigarette smoking, and cheering for Germany. It was pretty much fantastic..

I got back to the factory and was surprised with Chinese food, YUM!

Now I'm relaxing and waiting for plans for tonight!

PS IT WAS LIKE 95 DEGREES TODAY...SUPER HOTT! LOVING IT!

Pool Day!

Today we went to the pool in town and got to enjoy lovely men in speedos NOT
grody if you ask me..but oh well
IT was nice to be able to swim some laps and get cool because it was like 90 degrees today

After that we went to a second hand store in Mulheim (Actually it was the first one we went to a few weeks back) and I bought some chains to make jewelry

We then went to an art supply store and i bought some more things for jewelry and made 4 new necklaces today!

We went to try to convince our friend Remy to take Audrey and I to go see a high school production of Romeo and Juliet but he wouldn't budge so i don't think we get to go :( sad day
Oh well he's 19..i'll move on hahaha

We then had dinner after having a chat with some friends and that's about all for today!


MOO!!

sunny

Today's a sunny day in Kandern (well it was)

I led a devotional this morning and finished Searching for God Knows What

I worked on some drawings today as well as some new jewelry pieces



I also used Chinese paint and paper today

Audrey made us pizza for dinner that was delicious

Nothing too exciting happened other than that!

Enjoy your day!

Learned a New Art

So today I made some more jewelry pieces
then walked into town and mailed a postcard & got an iced tea and journaled

Then I came back to the Art Factory and began a new art, ink drawing!

I enjoyed it, it was very relaxing and was fun to do

I'm not GREAT but it's fun and that's all that matters right now (For those of you that i know me well i can only stand so much repetition)

Then we went and got Spaghetti Ice (ice cream made to look like spaghetti) in town as a group!

We then went to Insa's house and enjoyed some lemon water in her beautiful backyard

After that we came back and I continued drawing

Soon after that we had dinner and I helped make a peach/strawberry/cherry cobbler that we enjoyed!

Now we are going to watch a movie yayy

OH ya and I sold two pieces of jewelry today YAY! :)




Here's a picture of Spaghetti Ice
They run the vanilla ice cream through this metal thing w/ lots of holes to make it look like spaghetti
Then they put strawberries and strawberry syrup on it (the sauce)
and top it off with white chocolate (parmesan cheese!)

Ehh..

So today we drove around France and Germany looking for art/jewelry supplies

We didn't really find much, so we settled on things at a store near where we live

Oh well!

I got to hear the testimony of one of the German guys that lives here
and now we just finished dinner!

Maybe a movie tonight??

Kinda missing home
all everyone ever talks about here is how to analyze such and such in an artistic way

blehh

oh wellllll

Here's a pic from my going away party before I came here..miss everyone!

Jewelry Day

Today I worked on some jewelry pieces and took pictures and posted them!
(you can check them out at www.peacebranch.blogspot.com)

I then did a bible study and wrote a devotional for our team for Thursday and got to enjoy
a nice dinner outside at the Farmer's house

Just finished watching Chocolat and now heading to bed!!

Here are some pictures of jewelry from today!

A Learning Day

Today I went to a German Lutheran Service in town alone
I left halfway through the service because I didn't understand the language, but it was a great example of
a Conservative church in Kandern and the number in the congregation proves that God is present in this city.

I had some time to read and reflect with God as I had a couple of hours alone this afternoon while everyone was at
an English-German service

God was teaching me that my life is not going to be without trouble, but He will be present and He will take care of me.
I felt some peace with this and am excited for what He has planned for me, although am a bit fearful. I know that He can take care of me way beyond what I can imagine so I shall not fear.

The four interns were invited to tea at our British friend Heidi's house with another friend Alyssa. We got to enjoy English scones as well as tea and chocolate covered strawberries. It was a nice afternoon to relax and get to know our new friends a bit more. The rest of the afternoon I spent working on a poetry/photography book and made a pair of earrings.

We ate dinner as a group tonight as usual and then watched Les Miserables. I love the picture of grace and sacrifice shown throughout the film, it is such a great display, if you haven't seen it you should watch it!

Here are a couple more pictures from Paris!


Versaille


Notre Dame



Me inside the Shakespeare Bookstore :) amongst some of the greatest authors

Just got back from Paris!

Hey everyone, just got back from Paris
It was a great week! We got to see everything (Almost)
Musee d'Orsay
Musee Rodin
Eiffel Tower
Arc de Triumph
Louvre
Versaille
Notre Dame
Sein River
Shakespeare bookstore
Monmarte

& i'm sure i'm forgetting some

My favorites were the Eiffel Tower (bc i was surprised that it was a brown color and was beautiful and we got to eat lunch under it!) and the Arc de Triumph (we climbed it and got to see all of Paris) and the Musee Rodin (with the Thinker statue) and the Shakespeare bookstore of course! (the author of Life of Pi was speaking outside of it!)

I literally got back less than an hour ago so i'm kind of taking everything in still but i'll post a couple of pictures for you!

PS I think i'm going to Prague/Berlin in a couple weeks! YAY


The river just a few steps away from where we stayed our last night in France! It was a bed and breakfast with a 4 course French meal that was delicious!!


If you don't know-I love Shakespeare! This bookstore had tons of new and used books from all different sorts of authors and it is staffed by university students who are traveling (they get a free nights stay for working at the bookstore) this is on my list of things to do!



Beautiful bridge from the boat ride around Paris!


Montmarte~ a Catholic church...i know this picture looks fake but i promise you it wasn't edited! the sky was beautiful that day!


The infamous Eiffel Tower! :) LOVE IT!


Me eating a delicious sandwich at a French cafe!


The Thinker at Musee Rodin:
I sit and I think beside the great Thinker
Alone on a bench with another unknown
She sits and she writes as her hands get weaker
Her silence begs me to leave her alone
I wait as I look at the gardens around me
He sits in his seat, no one saying a word
Looking my way he soon whispers a short plea
Asking me never to repeat what I heard
I didn't repeat the words I heard that day
Nor e'er did look back at what I had seen
That day there was peace made, understanding I'd say
For I knew he already deemed me his queen
No crown did I need, no penny or ring
Just a man with great wisdom to speak it to me
I am grateful always for the words he did bring
The silence spoke wonders, as you too may see