Christmas 2017

It's that time of year again! 2017 has been busy!

December in Florida with the Ruseks!

Just last Christmas Korben and I were enjoying the warm sunshine in Florida. Korben has a lot of family in Florida and we had a nice time visiting everyone there. It was also nice to see Korben's cute niece and nephew who have suddenly become children even though it seems like they were just babies the last time we visited them. I'm not sure how that happens so quickly.
The Pacific Northwest  had an unusually chilly winter, perhaps making up for the fact that we spent Christmas in tank tops and shorts. Portland was getting snow every other day while Seattle stayed cold and dry until we finally got to February. It not only snowed- it stuck! School was cancelled for a few days and Korben and I had a fun time in our new winter wonderland. We discovered that our little Texas-born pup, Kepler, is a snow dog! He happily chased every snowball we threw, even though they seemed to disappear when they landed. Even after the snow melted away, we made sure to take Kepler with us snowshoeing up in the mountains.

A snowshoeing adventure

Spring took forever to come since the rains didn't want to leave, but it was brightened when Korben's mom came to visit us over my spring break. We went and visited Leavenworth, a cute town tucked in the Cascades that looks like a little Bavarian village.

Leavenworth

Korben and I didn't have any exciting plans for the summer until my parents called with some surprising news: they were going to take a class in Italy! My parents have never left North America and I never dreamed they would travel to Europe, but I knew the second they said Italy that my sister would turn their trip into a family vacation. My sister had done a year abroad in Italy and she knew the exact places she wanted us to go see. I was a little concerned about how expensive it would be (recalling how many HGTV luxury hotel shows she's watched since her diaper days), but we couldn't say no to a family trip to Italy! Besides, Joni doesn't take no for an answer.
Korben and I hopped aboard an Amtrak to Vancouver, BC since we had found a cheap flight from Vancouver to London. The train ride was amazing. We had a fantastic view of Puget Sound the entire trip and saw lots of wildlife. The plane ride to London was what you'd expect: cramped, uncomfortable, and bad food. But Korben and I were looking forward to our long layover in London. We had a few hours to kill and we planned to use those hours to see the sights! We didn't have any time to feel the jet lag as we quickly ran around the city on a beautiful, sunny day. We saw pretty much everything except London Bridge and had an unexpected surprise. As we were crossing the street in front of Buckingham Palace, Bobbies (police officers) quickly hurried us to the sidewalk. A motorcade was coming and everyone around us began to buzz with excitement- the queen! I got my camera ready and was able to catch it on video- Queen Elizabeth and Prince Albert, smiling and waving, heading back home from wherever it is royalty goes to in the middle of the day. Perhaps the royal grocery store?

Buckingham Palace

From London we flew to Venice where my family was waiting for us to arrive. We landed at the airport and took a water taxi that ferried us to the little town that sits right in the sea. There are no cars, just boats and "roads" that are confusing little passageways, twisting and turning around tall buildings, sometimes dead-ending into a waterway. Thankfully my sister and dad met us to help us navigate the maze back to the house we rented. It was late at night and we couldn't see much, but the view the next morning from our bedroom window was breathtaking. Pretty much every nook and cranny is amazingly picturesque in Venice. We managed to get a gondola trip in and were caught in a rare sudden downpour.

Everywhere you look in Venice is a photo-op.

After Venice came Florence, where Joni had lived for a year. It is an artistic town situated in between picturesque Italian hills. We then headed to Rome and had a chance to see Vatican City. If I thought the art was impressive in Florence, I was completely blown away by the sculptures and paintings we found in the Sistene Chapel!

Our room in Rome was a knock-out. I think we still have bumps on our heads!

The incredible Colosseum!

We took a quick day trip to Pompeii and I expected to see the casts of some of the dead who had been caught in Vesuvius's ash fall. Korben and I were both unprepared for what Pompeii really is: an entire city that once was home to 20,000 still being uncovered and almost perfectly preserved! There were water pipes, fast-food restaurants, crosswalks, statues, fresco paintings still bright and vivid, and beware-of-dog mosaics on the floors- the entire history of Pompeii is something you can walk through and see!

Fast food restaurant- fresco still vivid!

Although this was an Italy trip, Joni and I had gone to Athens a few years ago and Joni wanted to make sure we didn't leave Europe without getting to see it again. The Parthenon is still just as dilapidated as it was three years ago. We had a fantastic view of the Parthenon right from our B&B window. But I will confess that I was most excited for Greek food. Greece knows how to make a salad right- namely by dropping a giant slab of feta cheese right on top! I also enjoy the yemista, a roasted, stuffed tomato that makes my taste buds do happy dances!

At the trail to the Parthenon

Greece is a beautiful country, but Athens is a bit choked in city smog and buildings. Joni scheduled a ferry ride out to the island of Aegina (an island supposedly known world-wide for its pistachios- we had some pistachio butter and pistachio pesto and it was incredible!) and we spent our last day of vacation on a Mediterranean beach. I thought I was being quite modest as I noticed I was the only girl in a one-piece swimsuit until my mom eventually pointed out to me that my aging swimsuit had ripped in the back and I had been mooning instead of sunning!
It was certainly sad to end our Europe trip. For those of you looking for a great get-away, call my sister Joni. She is an amazing travel agent, but she'll definitely want to come along.

Aegina Island

For the 4th of July we went to Kentucky, where Korben's mom and stepdad live, and had a chance to spend time at their home with Korben's sister Ann, her husband Josh, and their newest adorable addition: Adilynn! Debbie, Korben's mom, took us to see Garden of the Gods in Illinois. It was beautiful! We had an opportunity to be with Korben's family again in Colorado for Thanksgiving. Ann and Josh recently moved there. I didn't want to admit it (because Ann and Josh really should live near us!), but Ouray, Colorado is very, very pretty. It was also fun to see how much little Adilynn has grown!

Addilyn, Gam-gam, and Korben

Korben continues to enjoy his work at Rover. He is the mobile team lead and that has kept him pretty busy with many meetings! Yes, he does still take little Kepler to work with him. People on the street may not recognize Korben, but they do recognize Kepler as the little dog who rides the commuter train. Kepler doesn't seem to realize he has adoring fans. He has gone straight from puppyhood to being a grumpy old man. For Halloween Korben wanted to dress up as Luke Skywalker and have Kepler be Yoda. (For non-Star-Wars nerds, like myself, there is a scene in one of the movies where Yoda rides on Luke's back.) Kepler was born with Yoda ears, he just needed some green spray paint and a little jedi robe to make his transformation complete. (We had to buy a wig for Korben to pull off the Luke-look.)

Luke and Yoda

Korben also continues to impress me with his woodworking skills. He made me a beautiful wooden lantern for our anniversary. He also wanted to include me on his front porch swing project and it turned out very cute! For my birthday, Korben experimented with some brass and copper and created a rose under glass, just like the one from Beauty and the Beast. I thought it was beautiful! He has also been working on a secret project which will be revealed at Christmas. (For our hopeful relatives out there: we are literally talking about a woodworking project- not a baby! Sorry.)

My birthday present

Our front porch swing

I have had a busy year, but have been blessed to continue teaching at Northwest Christian School. For the first time ever, I am only teaching ONE grade! I have a great group of 4th graders this year. Over the summer I also had an opportunity to help out Sunset Lake Camp (I worked there as a counselor 10 years ago!) with their international student program. During that time we also hosted a couple of very sweet and shy Korean girls for a week. We had fun hosting them, but Kepler ate one of the girl's slippers, most likely because the girls fell in love with our cats, but were deathly afraid of Kepler.
We want to wish all of you a blessed and happy holiday season! It was wonderful to see some of you in Seattle this year: Shirley-Anne and Kevin, Dare, Lian, Zach. I had a chance to see my gorgeous college roommate, Ashley, get married. I also get to see my cousin Laura from time to time and watch her baby bump grow! We are looking forward to seeing many of you at Christmastime since we will be in Texas.
Wishing you a happy and blessed 2018!
Korben and Lori Rusek