Birthday Fun

It's crazy how fast time is going by! We will be going home in just two months, which feels like nothing! I am super excited to go home and also for my sister Kirsten to come out and visit! But, the volleyball team STILL  hasn't gotten us our visas, so it's stressing me out!! Rusty and I work on it almost everyday, so keep your fingers crossed the President of the volleyball club will actually get it done!

Rusty's volleyball team won their game 3-0 this weekend, so Rusty got Monday off! It was perfect timing too because my birthday was the following day. I Googled things to do near Lamia. There are mostly small villages nearby, so there's not a ton to do, but I did find a National Park about 30 minutes away in a place called Ypati. We decided to go there and look for a hiking trail.

We arrived to find a little village set in the side of a mountain. As we winded up the mountain, we saw a waterfall, which I was so excited to see, I made Rusty pull over immediately haha. We eventually made it to the center of town, which was almost completely empty except for a lady sweeping outside of a shop and an off-duty police officer. We stopped and asked the police man for directions to the park. He said there was no park (which I am still skeptical about because there were multiple signs directing us to the park), but he told us about a famous church on top of the mountain, so we went to check it out. The church was not very impressive, but the location was awesome. It was right on top of the mountain and right down the hill from the church was a huge fighter jet, so we checked that out as well. I don't know if we ever made it to the park or not, but the signs we followed made me wonder if the "National Park" was just all the grassy fields we passed while driving around. I guess I'll never know! haha

We set off to find a spot to have a picnic- I love picnics! We randomly discovered the perfect park (which couldn't have been the National Park because the signs directed us past it). But anyways, it was filled with big trees and flowers and had benches around it. The weather was perfect; the sun was shining through the trees as we ate our lunch. It was a great day!

On my actual birthday, the following day, we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant- I still have no idea what it's called because it is too Greek for me to even sound out haha. After we finished lunch, we went and got a piece of cake, which I love, from a place called Deli House. We have become friends with the manager there. She is from Canada, so she speaks English. She gave me a huge brownie as a birthday gift! After Rusty got home from practice we went out to dinner...and what would a birthday be without cake and candles, so we finished off my 25th birthday by having cake back at our apartment! I can't believe I am getting so old ;)

Russ posin' all ghetto

Luckily there was a broken window, so we could get this pic of the inside!

Hahah Rusty could not stop feeding this dog chips

My Actual Birthday...which basically consisted of food...and I would have it no other way...

Moussaka- one my favorite Greek foods!
Thanks to my friend Melanie, who recommended it!

My birthday gift from our Canadian Friend!

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, I officially became a redhead! Never thought I'd say that haha. I had been wanting to change up my hair, but I was a little nervous since my hair has been either dark brown or black for the past seven years. But what better time to try something new then when you're living in a foreign country and don't know many people, right? So I went for it! It isn't exactly how I pictured it, but I do like it.

I asked one of my friends here where she gets her hair done and she showed me to a salon. It was a nice salon, so I made an appointment. I arrived on Valentine's, hoping that the girl who was doing my hair spoke some English, but she didn't speak one word. Luckily, there was a lady there just hanging out who spoke some, so she translated for us. We did run into some language barrier issues though, which was the one thing that made me hesitant to get my hair done out here. They didn't realize I had dyed my hair before, so the red dye only dyed my roots and didn't take to the rest. So they bleached the top half of my hair and then after they bleached it, they dyed it red. It was a long process. Rusty stopped by a couple times- the first time to bring me a rose, the second time to bring me lunch and treats. He is such a little sweetheart. After about three hours, my hair was finally finished, so we walked home to get ready for our picnic!

When I walked into the apartment I saw Rusty had decorated it! The table had a bouquet of flowers, rose pedals, treats, and a stuffed heart that says I love you in Greek. There were also paper hearts hung on the wall. Rusty and I both love planning surprises, which is making me reminisce on Valentine's Day last year...Rusty had a volleyball match in California, so he left on Valentine's morning. He called me from the airport and said he left his ID and needed me to look for it in the back of my car. He even had his coach pretend to yell at him, so I could hear him in the background of the phone. In the back of my car was actually presents for me, which was sweet, but what Rusty didn't realize was I was about to one-up his surprise...I was leaving to the airport to surprise him in California! haha

The Pepsi Max vase, which I am pretty proud of

So anyways, Rusty had packed our patio furniture into our little car. Even though we had already eaten lunch because my hair appt took so long, we decided to have a treat picnic. It was windy up there, but that didn't stop us from enjoying chocolate covered strawberries.

Good thing he remembered the place mats haha

Just striking poses haha

Rusty went to practice that evening, but when he got home we went to Posto, a popular place to get gyros! I had never eaten a gyro before I got here, but now I'm hoping I can find good ones back at home!

Picnicking

In preparation for Valentine's Day, Rusty and I went out searching for good picnic spots. We drove up to the Castle of Lamia, which sits on the highest mountain in the city- it doesn't compare to Utah mountains, it's actually more like a big hill, but the view is still pretty. We continued past the castle entrance, up a dirt road, passing by a little shack and tons of sheep, goats, and chickens! The sheep and goats started walking up the street, right at us.They were wearing bells around their necks, so they jingled with every step. Right before they ran into us, they veered off into the hill and started eating. Right across the road, we found a little grassy knoll for our picnic, it was perfect.

I am so glad the weather here is as nice as it is in February, so that we are able to do things outdoors.  When the weather starts to warm up, my mind goes into full-blown summer mode. Lately all I can think about is swimming and hiking and riding bikes to get shaved ice and Disneyland and Chicago. And to make my summer syndrome even worse, my sister Kirsten is coming in April (which I am so excited for!) and we are planning to visit Santorini and Italy, so I'm constantly day dreaming of laying out on the beach in Santorini or eating gelato in Italy!...ahhh summer...

How cute is that puppy?!

The Superbowl

Each year when the Superbowl comes around I am reminded of the Academic Decathlon I participated in, in high school...random right? But, it took place a couple days before the Superbowl, so I gave a speech on Superbowl advertising. My speech went well...the essay portion on the other hand, not so well- random side note- I accidentally wrote about Martin Luther King Jr. when the prompt was asking about Martin Luther of the 95 theses...embarrassing! But now it cracks me up.

So anyways, Rusty insisted on watching the Superbowl live (I can't say I blame him), so at 1:00am, our Superbowl party began! Well I guess it began earlier in the day when we started eating junk food- as far as I'm concerned, the Superbowl is equally about food as it is football- so we made chocolate chip cookies, had chicken wings and Greek salad for dinner, and then ate lots of chips during the game. 

As I'm sure most of you can attest, the game was pretty boring, so I was having a hard time staying awake. I did make it to see the half-time show! And developed a new found love for Bruno Mars haha. 

Now on to Valentine's Day! I love the month of February! It could be because it is my birthday month, or it could be because it is the month of love! Or it could be both! Anyways, Happy February everyone!