Business Apprenticeship

We have recently started a business apprenticeship program with one of our Daughters. Here are a few things that have happened during the first two weeks. Please continue to pray for us as we walk along side her and her 'New Life Jewelry' business. 

Intro to Business and Budgeting 

'Dress for Success' taught by our MTW interns. 

Going to business and creating price lists.

A Typical Schedule

10:00 - 10:20 Psalms Bible Study

10:20 -11:20 Intro to Business Course

11:20 - 11:30 Break

11:30- 12:30 English Lesson

12:30 -13:30 Lunch Break

13:30 -14:30 Typing Lesson

14:30 -14:40 Break

14:40 - 15:40 Creating Price Lists of materials and stock

15:40 - 16:45 Working on jewelry 

Doors of Santorini

Donkeys and Sunsets

SANTORINI!

Up really early for our ferry ride!

Boys feeling sick on the 5 hour ferry. 

View from our hotel. 

Gorgeous. 

Resting on the beach. 

The sunsets. 

Walker and I being ridiculous. 

When in Athens.

Our second stop, ATHENS!

Our flight from Sofia to Athens! We talked to Hayden before hand. 

Acropolis

'I'll just be over here...puttin out the vibe.'

Mars Hill

Zeus' Temple. 

Amazing Wine and Food in Athens. 

Land of Gelato, Gladiators and Selfie Sticks

My brother in law brought Morgan to see me in Bulgaria! But first we took a few pit stops. 

First pit stop?

ROME!

Staring at the beauty of St. Peter

Our corny but wonderful tour guide. Felt so bad for him because not everyone thought he was as funny as he did. 

The fountain near our place. The weather was perfect!

St. Peters Basilica is beautiful. 

Inside the Pantheon. Morgan was in heaven, she had studied most of the art inside. 

Morgan and I not paying any attention to where we are and poor Thomas navigating us. 

The Colosseum! It was gorgeous and so incredible. 

Love Languages

I have learned a lot about myself by taking 'personality tests'. Anyone who knows me knows I love the Myers Briggs and Enneagram Tests. My mother says, 'There she goes speaking in numbers and letters.' :)

It really is a joy for me to study these things, I love studying peoples brains and learning how they are wired. It really does help me learn how to love them better. Not to box them into some

thing but to learn what their tendencies are so that I can work with someone better. For example. If I know that my friend is a 'J' (Myers Briggs Judging), I will know that they like punctuality and so I will make an extra effort to be on time to our meetings, whereas other friends will probably be 10 minutes later than me so I can be late. I love my friend by being on time because it means that I care...to them. This is a very simple and not perfect example. 

ANYWAY

I have recently taken the Love Language Test on line and I learned even more things about me. I thought that hands down my love language would be touch, by a mile...but after really thinking through things it is not. It is quality time. I love nothing more than sitting with someone...talking or in silence...touching or not...on Skype or at my house. I just love quality time. Which explains why I always end my day on FaceTime or Skype with friends and family members. It helps me feel like I am there with them even though we are thousands of miles apart. 

So I encourage you to do this for yourself and for your community. It can really help you learn about yourself and about those around you. 

Myers Briggs

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Enneagram

(not easy to find on line free but that app is wonderful and 99 cents)

Love Language

http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/ 

Istanbul, the land of apple tea, rugs and catcalling

Turkish Coffee 'aka mud'

This past weekend I was able to get away for a few days and have some days in the sun with my girlfriends. After a hard few weeks it was just what the Doctor ordered. :)

Istanbul is famous for many things. The food is amazing. The coffee is good but muddy. The mosques and museums are beautiful and insanely old. The textiles are cheaper. Etc, etc...but what Istanbul means to me are these three things. 

1. Apple Tea

2. Rugs

3. Catcalling

I would go to Istanbul just to see these lamps.

Apple Tea, Istanbul's gift to the world. It is so good! It is like hot apple cider without the weird cider taste. :) 

The Rugs and textiles are amazing right now. It makes my infatuation with aztec print very expensive. I bought five pillows and two rugs. Whoops. :/

Catcalling. This is the worst thing about Istanbul. Walking around Istanbul, it does not matter how you are dressed, all women get yelled at, touched, stared at etc etc. It can be really uncomfortable for women who already feel uncomfortable with forward men. But my friends and I realized that most of the men were actually just being friendly! If we ignored them then they started yelling more, if we answered them with 'No thank you's or 'We have already eaten but thank you!' they would always back off and say 'Ok well, next time! Enjoy your time in Istanbul!

Have I mentioned the humus and apple tea yet?

Spice Market Shopping! Expensive but Amazing. 

The Eye of Sofia (the history of this is amazing, a must see)

Molly smelling a lemon and mint tea. 

My friends and I began playing a game, we began making a list of things the men say to us. Most of the things in the list are hilarious and not inappropriate in the least, but they were still yelled out loud, across stores or roads.  Some of these things are inappropriate and were added to help show what life is like as a woman living or visiting in Turkey. Hope this doesn't keep you from visiting this beautiful place...it really is one of my favorite places in the world, you just need to go with a good attitude, a good 'Back Off' face and always travel in packs. :) 

TOP 13 THINGS MEN YELLED AT US 

(REMEMBER THAT MANY WERE DUPLICATES)

1. 'Hello Girls! HERE I AM!'
2. 'Let me guess...Chinese?'
3. 'Hola señoras bonitas.'
4. 'Beautiful Ladies please check out my big menu!' (NASTINESS)
5. Mmmm...(yummy noises) 
6. 'I have the best rugs in Istanbul! Best prices! And touching is free!'
7. A man literally walked up to one of us, handed her a ten lira (ten dollars), and said "Please feel free to shop in my store!"
8. 'It's my birthday ladies! Help a fellow out!'

Smiling through the catcalling

9. 'It's pay day today, not for me but for the sellers, so please help me out!'
10. 'Hello beautiful ladies! You are from Germany, no? ' (As he touches my friends hair. Thankfully she did not see it because I know she would have punched him right in the face if she did.)
11. 'Let me guess...SISTERS!'
12. 'Please take me home! '
13. (My least favorite) Looking us up and down and literally making a catcall, a kissing noise.