Surfing

A couple weeks ago, my brother-in-law took me surfing in Italy!  It was so good to get back in the water.  It's been over a year since I last surfed!  Ahhhh!!!  Needless to say, I was so thankful that Sebastien took me along!

Putting on a 4/3mm wetsuit is never easy.

A board that Pierre (Daphné's Papi) found in the street.  Seb fixed it up AND personalized it with some fancy blue duct tape.

Wave check.

Seb brought his water camera - yay.

Fun perspective of his buddy on a stand-up paddle (SUP) board.

Those long boards can catch almost anything!

There's me, the hunchback of the Med.

So thankful to have such a cool brother-in-law!

Laughing and surfing go together.

Seb's friend Yann.

SUP and me paddling into a wave.  Didn't catch that one, but I got a few fun ones this day.

And a glimpse from the car.

Sebastien is out there with the SUP.  See him?

"Thank you God for sunsets.

They are Your very special way

To say goodbye to every day."

(from Daphné's "Baby's First Prayers" book by Muff Singer)

Panoramic.

Can't get enough of this place.

There's nothing like surfing in God's creation!

Seb.

Mural.

Sand.

Ok, one more.

And here we are post-surf happy faces... me, Sebastien and Yann (not pictured : Pascal) 

And a big thanks to Tonio, Mamie and Papi for watching Daphné so I could go.

Love Linz

Paris : Nature

Here, I'm sharing some "nature" pictures.  For those of you who know the blog or who know me, you know how much I'm thankful for God's incredible Creation !  It's where I feel closest to Him.

1) Paris : People
2) Paris : Nature
3) Paris : Buildings
4) Paris : Animals

 sunrise along the Mediterranean Sea from the train

 fields seen from the train

 going for a walk from the retreat center

 road, fields and sky

 this one leaves me speechless

 this is actually part of the Seine River (one of the northern hooks) - aren't those limestone cliffs gorgeous?

 sunset colors

 from the other side

 frozen morning grass

 frozen morning field

 beautiful manor

 mossy trees

 symmetry

 tree-lined cemetery path

 cherry blossoms

 though man-made, the water and trees add some nature to the city

winter city trees

Love Linz

tourist in my own town

Nice is nice !

{never heard that one before...haha !}

Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning sunrise.

 All the fishermen and old swimmers were out.

 I collected some sea glass to add to our jar.

Mini wave.

 My trusty Peugot.

 First glimpse of the sun for the day.

Sunday morning.

 Tonio leading worship with Brian Campbell.

Sunday afternoon.

Sunset at Cap Ferrat.

Tonio, Brian and Noëmi snorkeling.

 Vivid color filter of Villefranche.

 Noëmi, Brian, Andrew and me.

 Me and my man.

Sunday evening.

When is the last time you were a tourist in your own town?

I try to make it a regular practice.

Just this morning, I was reminded in reading Psalm 100 to be thankful.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

-Psalm 100:4

Life can be crappy sometimes often.

But we can't dwell in that.

I write lists of things I am thankful for.

Today, one of them was my beautiful city and the beautiful weather.

 (source)

Being a constant tourist helps me stay thankful,

because it never gets old =).

Love Linz

ps.  I stumbled across this shirt in looking for a picture of a typical tourist.  I thought it was pretty clever.  No, I'm not that bad.  My camera fits in my purse ;)