Birthday Boy

Today, one of the biggest blessings in my life turns 25.

Happy Birthday, love.

I like him so much. :)

First Days...

Well, we've been in India for 3 days now. It's still so hard to believe! We're staying with Jason & Karyn while we wait to move into our temporary apartment (which we found today! Pictures to come when we move in on Friday). Jason & Karyn have been incredible tour guides and gracious hosts. We have crammed a TON into our first days, so I'll just give a snapshot below..

We've eaten a lot of wonderful food. Our first meal enjoyed at the only logical choice: an Indian restaurant! Our sampling is found below. We've also enjoyed homemade Minestrone compliments of Karyn, yummy pasta @ an Italian restaurant in town, & lots more Indian food. oh, and Neil & I ate our first veggieburger today.....and it was good! We couldn't believe it either. Plus, it only cost $3 for our whole meal. Even better. :)


We also enjoyed a beautiful dance performance at a local theatre. We moved to Chennai at the start of "Music Season" in the city, which hopefully means a lot more free concerts like the one below...

as you can see, the costumes were absolutely stunning.

We couldn't publish this post without a nod to our entertainment when we aren't out on the town: Ben. Jason & Karyn's little boy is a pretty funny kid and as you can see, seriously cute.


We've also ridden our fair share of auto rickshaws. Which, by the way, might be my favorite part of the city so far. The driving is absolutely crazy. And by crazy, I mean awesome. The video below doesn't do it justice, but it will suffice for now.



that's all for tonight. There's lots more, but my body is tired and needs to be put to bed.

-C

Travel

We're up earlier than anticipated this morning. A Hindu temple about 200 yards from where we are staying likes to play Tamil pop music from 5:30-7 to entertain the slum dwellers living nearby. We're not in Kansas anymore!

Our travel to & first day in Chennai were awesome. All of our flights were on time, the plane food was surprisingly good and we even got upgraded so Neil got to enjoy some serious leg room on our flight from Frankfurt (I could almost stretch my legs totally out!). AND, there was no line in customs! We just walked right through and had no trouble at all. I'll tell you, it was the strangest feeling in the world to be hovering over the city prior to landing, seeing all of the city lights and realizing that this foreign world was now my home. Amazing..Overwhelming..so many things.

We'll post soon with pictures of our first day!

love you all & thanks for the prayers.

-C

The End of the Chapter

Hey all. Thanks for all of your love and prayers. We are leaving tomorrow morning and are excited to share this new adventure with you all. We look forward to letting you know some of our first impressions of India! Time to fly...

as promised...

Our prayer for you, Clara...

is that you would know His love for you.

Love Him back, sweet girl.

love,

your uncle Neil & aunt Courtney

Clara Lynn...

Clara Lynn Hall was welcomed into the world yesterday at 5:30 pm weighing 5 lbs. 11 oz and 19 in. long. Pictures from the proud aunt & uncle coming soon!!

Taking a cue from the holiday week...

I'm thankful that I have a nose to be stuffy.

I'm thankful that I have limbs to be achey.

I'm thankful that I have a throat to be scratchy.

I'm thankful that I have a husband to share my germs with.

I'm thankful....

I'm out. I got nothing else. I thought this cold was going away, but it reared it's ugly head last night as I stayed up half the night coughing & feeling miserable. I would really appreciate any prayers/home remedies, as I feel I have exhausted my resources. We have a new niece coming soon--if God honors our prayers, as soon as 3 weeks--so I can't have any traces of cold. Plus, we are seeing so many people for the last time and the last thing I want to be doing during our goodbyes is wishing I was in bed.

Honest thanksgiving... We're hanging out at Neil's home in Newburgh, IN for the holiday week. In the next hour we are heading off to our next round of vaccinations and then to a CHINESE BUFFET with Neil's grandparents. "Buffet" gets me excited paired with just about any word, but it's doubly good next to "Chinese" and "Neil's grandparents". It's going to be a beautiful day of full belly, sleepy eyes. Can't wait :)

yay Chinese food.

boo colds.