The Village of Tuzburagzi

I had the opportunity to go with the Humanitarian missionaries that are here in Turkey to a small village called Tuzburgazi. It was an amazing experience. This village was started by immigrants from Afghanistan. The people are living in very poor circumstances and have close to nothing. It is very humbling to go and see these smiling and laughing children that are happy with absolutely nothing. They look forward to getting a new notebook and a pencil. The other problem in this village is that there is a huge population of handicapped people that don't have any of the medical care that they need. The majority of the children don't have wheelchairs or crutches let alone even blankets. LDS Charity Services is hoping to be able to help this village with Education Kits, wheelchairs, hygiene kits, blankets and if possible even some computers for the school. For the entire village they have only one nurse, one policeman, one engineer and there has only been one person to ever leave the village to go to school in Istanbul.

The adorable little girls! So sweet!

They love to have pictures taken and then see them on the digital camera

We found a little boy that had an LDS Charities wheelchair

I am so happy I was able to go to this village. It was a big eye opener and it really makes me realize how lucky I am to have all the things that I do. It was an amazing day and I look forward to more opportunities to visit and meet more people!

I miss these people

I want to snuggle with this little guy! My nephew Benton

All the girls of my family!

My amazing mother in law Cheri

My fabulous sister in law Mckell
My sweet brother Cody and Paislee (Stef and Allen's baby)
Saders and Sammers
My Mom and Dad
MY CRAZY SISTERS!
My Best Friends!!

If you're not on here it's not because I don't miss you! It's because I don't have a picture of you on my laptop. Living in another country has made me realize even more that I'm lucky to have amazing family and friends! I love you all!

A little shout out!

We went to Ephesus...here we are on the library steps!
Cesme

Sitting on the toilets at the Public Bathroom! Talk about NO PRIVACY! Ephesus
Cesme
We created "Tuesdays in Turkey!" Where we cooked fun foods from the Bizarre
We went on little adventures! Including Danielle's shoe breaking in the Turkish Bizarre right in the middle of hundreds of people while being shoved around like cattle!
Turkey is worth it as long as I get to be with this guy!

My mom and my sister Danielle came to Turkey with me to help me get adjusted. They were amazing! They helped me completely transform our apartment from a bachelor pad where a bunch of Basketball players have previously lived into a perfect little sanctuary for ryan and me. It was so much fun to have them along and I can't thank them enough for coming to Turkey and helping me out so much! LOVE YOU!

I finally had a random girl email me and explain to me how to blog in Turkey!! What a great help! I will now be blogging here and telling all of our stories! Sorry that took so long...my goal was already destroyed to blog every other day! It's back on now!

The adventure has begun!

Ryan and I are now living in Turkey! I am so excited about this crazy opportunity and I can't wait to blog about all of our adventures! I am going to attempt while I am here to blog at least every other day. Hopefully I am successful! I will show you the good, the bad and the ugly of all that goes on here in Karsiyaka! At the end you can decide if you want to ever travel here or not! The way it has been going so far...YOU SHOULD COME! It is so different then I had pictured. Yes it is better then expected! Lot's of baklava, pitas, kebabs, "taksis" and the people are SO friendly! They are so patient with us asking our questions and doing some sort of sign language. They have most likely been greatly entertained with me trying to talk louder expecting that they will understand me easier! Our apartment needs a little TLC but with my amazing mom and sister here we will have this place whipped in to shape in no time! Wish us luck...here are some before pictures! After pictures will hopefully be posted soon!

Disney World

Somehow Ryan and I once again scored and got to go on an awesome trip with my parents!  We don't quite know how this seems to work but we weaseled our way in to getting invited! This time we went to Orlando! It was my parents, my sister Danielle and her adorable kids Sam and Sadie. It was so much fun! We went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios! Among our favorites was definitely the Everest Expedition (that we rode 3 times in a row feeling incredibly nauseous after), Rock n' Rollercoaster and the Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story ride!  

The Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom!

I'll admit I was tempted to get my face painted but then realized I didn't want to look as stupid as the other people trying to once again relive their childhood...SO I held back and didn't. 


I hate to say it but I was a TERRIBLE picture taker on this vacation! All well...we were too busy having fun! So this is what I have and hopefully I can steal some pictures off of my dad's camera. Maybe we purposely didn't take a ton of pictures cause it was 93 degrees and incredibly humid? I don't know! Did I forget to mention that this trip was a BLAST! Thank you SO much mom and dad for such a fun time. We appreciate you taking us along even though it was probably supposed to be a little kid trip! Love you!