So, since Chris had his incident in Germany and we discovered the root cause, high blood pressure, our lives have changed. We've become addicted. It's true. Living an active and healthy lifestyle already, we've made few changes to our diet. We've cut out more salt, added more veggies, and apple cider vinegar (more on that later). However, the salt, veggies, and cider are not the source of the addiction. When Chris left the hospital in Germany, the final words of the German doctor were "Purchase a blood pressure cuff and check your blood pressure regularly." So, we did. And there you have the source of the addiction. We can admit it now. We may start recovery soon. But, we still can't walk by it without wrapping the blue cuff around our arms, pushing the READ button and let it do it's magic. The sounds, the tightness around the arm ... all quite addictive. In fact, Chris is part of a blood pressure support group. His friend, who we will not disclose, but his initials are Greg Bennett, it addicted too! So, let this be a lesson for those of you approaching your mid to late 40's ... don't let the cuff get you!!!

New babies, gotta love them. Our good friends, who for security reasons I will not mention, just had a new baby. It was unexpected. I mean they knew they were pregnant ... it was the pregnancy that was unexpected. Early on in the pregnancy there were fears from the doctors of complications, however this week they proudly named their perfectly healthy baby girl ... Addison. It's been weird hearing reports on baby Addison. It has definitely thrown me into memory lane! I've been reflecting about bringing our Addison home for the first time, watching Chris trying to fold up her sleeves to her pj's that were too long, and wondering when I would know when to feed her. I remember older ladies (like the age I am now, grumble grumble) say to me, "Now honey, you hold on to these days. They slip right through your hands." All the while, I'm thinking to myself, "Lady, the only thing slipping through my hands is dirty diaper gue!" So, here's some advice for my friend who is a new mother .... "Honey, you hold on to these days, because they will slip right through your hands just like the dirty diaper gue you now find in your hands!"

This past Thursday Addison, nine other students and a rather young teacher left for Germany for a Yearbook Conference. Despite the fact that she is returning Sunday, the scenes around here were sad. Libby and Parker were fighting over who would get possession of her room while she was gone and Chris kept talking about the heartache we would experience in just 3 years, 6 months, and 13 days from now when we take her to college in the States! Good grief! Those little old ladies were right ... time has slipped right through our hands! I packed her up some goodies, made it look real cute, and just knew she would burst into shrieks of joy when she was presented with my sentiment. She just said, "Bye". "Bye"... that's it. Doesn't she know the time and effort I put into picking out all the right goodies to go into that little bag. Plus the time I put into making the cute little card that was pink and girly but not too pink and girly so it wouldn't embarrass her in front of her friends! Then it hit me. She's not supposed to know all that. That's the beauty of being the one younger, the one caught up in the moment. You are supposed to want to leave, to head out for adventure, to tackle what's out there. It's the Momma that stands there thinking ... "I remember when I first brought you home from the hospital ... ". Then I thought ... "Wow, this is how my Mom felt every time I headed out for a new adventure." Life has it circles, doesn't it?

Speaking of life circles, God has done a miracle for Rodney. Home from the hospital as of yesterday, he is re cooperating from the surgery! The doctors can't believe that he made it! They are wide-eyed at seeing his recovery. Just wanted to publically say, it's not MD Anderson, fine hospital that it is, that "made good" for Rodney. It was God Almighty who performed a supernatural act of healing and brought wellness to Rodney! It wasn't prayers of petition that changed God's mind, it was an act of God. We do not hold the power to treat God as a puppet. God would still be God if Rodney did not make it through the surgery. However, in His limitless love, He let us witness a miracle!

Thank you all for riding the ride with us ... the future will only hold more!

So, on the way to language school, these are the pictures Chris and I see everyday. We are now finding ourselves saying, "Wow. We really do live here." What was at first overwhelming, odd, or we were too freaked out to notice we are now finding just a part of everyday living. In one respect it's nice to have found a sense of foundational living. On the other hand, as with all routine, I don't want to find myself in a rut ... It's a good reminder that no matter where you live, Norman, OK or Vienna, Austria, ruts are just a part of life. Remember to breath and take in the scenery now and then.

A quick funny language story. This week as I was doing my grocery shopping, 3 people asked me if they could go in the line in front of me. This is not an out of the normal kind of experience. In an effort to remain efficient, why not let the person who has the least amount of things to be purchased go first. I had a buggy rather full (not a normal sight here) and so 2 old people and a hurried gal my age jumped in front of me. In an effort to try to be happy and not loose my sunny disposition with the third jumper, I asked her how many children she had. She told me three. I said that I, too, had three children. She said really. I said in fact, my three children are girls. She said, really. Her three children were girls also. Her exact words were ... "sich auch?"(Pronouncing the auch like ... ouch but not a heavy ch ... kinda). I said, "mich auch." Translation ... you too? Yes, me too. I came home and told Chris about my real conversation in the grocery store and then said I would have laughed to have the conversation go ... "sich auch ... mich auch ... get out!" Just a bit of random American humor to the German language!

Speaking of getting out of a rut, we took our Sunday afternoon to do a little sight-seeing. We first went to get a Kaisar Kraner ... the most fatty, cheesy, yummy sausage in all the world ... and if you tell the person at the stand you want it as a hot dog, watch out baby! They take this hot dog bun on steroids with an Austrian twist, stab it into this metal pointy thing that squishes all the bread to the bottom and creates a little spiral hole for the sausage to fit snugly inside, then top it with ketchup or senf (Austrian mustard) and viola! Yum, yum, yumm! We had one when we first moved here and it's now been just shy of 6 months so we thought our digestive system could handle one again. Pure heaven ... pure heaven!

We walked around a lot of places we had not seen, took lots of pictures, and Addison got her first Starbucks since coming to Austria. I take that back, she had one one of the first days we got here ... but it just makes for more drama to say the very first one. Roll with me on this one ...

Wanted to try to include a video clip of what it means to ride the subway system, we call it the UBahn.

Also wanted to remind you to pray for my brother-in-law, Rodney and the surgery he will be having this Thursday. We spoke with him and my sister last night and they feel very peaceful about whatever happens. This is a very complicated surgery, removing the spleen, part of the lung, and all the fungal infection attached to both. I've seen Rodney grow spiritually through all of this, not letting this make him bitter but truly better. Right now, he is my hero. Rodney, if you are reading this instead of just looking at my facebook pictures because you don't want to read ... I love you!

To all of you thank you ... your prayers, support, and words are breaths of life for us.

Quite Reflective,
Christina

Being from Oklahoma, and having the legendary Gary England as my local Meteorologist, I love all things weather. In fact, I have a secret ambition of being a storm chaser one day, but that's a different story for another blog. Such a devoted fan of Gary England, I recently emailed him a question about the weather in Austria. He emailed me back ... personally! I now have a new BFF! (I am joking about the BFF but not joking about him personally emailing me!) He connected me with one of his assistants and we've been in communication. This is just one of many famous people I am now acquainted with ... do you know I've met Beth Moore ... and again, that's another story for another blog!

So, we've been anticipating the warm summer in Wien. Central air conditioning is a rare precious find. I can think of only one public place I've been in that has air conditioning ... my local grocery store. Oh, I take that back. Sometimes you can catch a brand new train on the Ubahn (subway) that is air conditioned. You pay for having a.c. by the rough and tumble ride you must endure ... we still haven't figured out why the new trains are so bumpy!

All public office buildings, schools, stores, malls, etc. do not have a.c. That also means that private homes do not have a.c. We are so grateful for the cross-winds we get in our flat. We open the widows wide in the morning to capture all the cool air we can get and then leave them open a little during the day to get a breeze. It's actually not that bad ... because the weather is dry and so hot here is not like hot in Oklahoma when the humidity is bad.

Well, this is technically the first real week of summer we've had. Let me say that again ... THIS IS TECHNICALLY THE FIRST REAL WEEK OF SUMMER WE'VE HAD! For the month of June, Wien received more rain than the entire last year combined! We had flooding on the Donau River near our home. It's safe to say that for 3 weeks straight we got rain every day at some point during each day. The temperatures have been fall-like, hitting 68 for daytime highs. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I personally think this was God's gift to the Elledge Family ... but then again my perspective could be a bit skewed!

So, in honor of our first real week of summer, I've included summer photos. We have the privilege of having 2 patio's and one balcony. We've made the patio outside our main living room a second living space.

Also, wanted to include some photos of our new favorite thing: Nutella. Yes, you can buy it in America, but it's just not the same as the real thing!

And, please keep my sister, Bettina and her husband, Rodney in your thoughts and prayers. They are back in Houston as Rodney is not doing well. God has shown me that distance makes me feel more vulnerable under these circumstances, while at the same time feel more empowered by the one thing I can do so far away - pray!

Just want to share a quote from a "Christy" episode I recently watched. One of the main characters is praising a mentor. She says this about him: "The Reverend put hands and feet to faith for me." Oh that someone would say that about me one day!