{Romania and Serbia}: Preparing

Honouring Mr Husband's wishes meant

I could not tell you until now that the wedding that I have

been preparing for with such joy was in Belgrade Serbia!

By the time of this post, God willing, we will have 

returned home the night before.

***

So much happens behind the scenes that we can't blog about

for one reason or another and this was one of the happy things!

I got this great carry on suitcase in Grand Rapids MI with my

Husband and my Dad driving and my Mom with us too.

I have been so delighted to pack it all.

***

Since I can't tell you in real time about the trip,

I am taking a minute now to tell you how excited I am for it. 

I have put old towels down on our bed various times to put suitcases on top of 

(since we have a handmade quilt as a bed spread!)

I have 2 pockets on the inside of the top of the suitcase where my 

pretty little black purse, cell phone tripod, box with 

wedding faux jewelry, etc has fit perfectly.

I am taking my silver dress, makeup and other "beauty products" 

in my carry-risking NOTHING so that my wedding outfit etc is

fully taken care of! 

It's going to be such a beautiful wedding, DV (DV=Lord willing).

An old Serbian church with wall to ceiling icons, 

a beautiful restaurant venue for the reception... 

***

We are flying to Bucharest Romania first!!!

We fly on a Wednesday (Oct 23rd) at night, which as I write this 

(Saturday night, still in NJ) this is 4 days from now!

I have been planning and preparing for this trip for weeks!

***

Our dear friend, who is the Bride, invited us on Labour Day;

in the midst of my fresh grief of losing Cleo,

I learned the best news, that our long time friend, 

who taught me how to have a Slava for our family patron Saint,

went to monasteries with me (she drove!), and was such a caring

presence in my life in NJ for the first few years before moving to CA,

and who we visited 2 years ago in CA, was getting married and to a 

really good (Serbian like herself!) man!

Such a cause for joy, for rejoicing! 

***

When we learned, Mr Husband quickly pointed out how close Romania is 

to Serbia, as two of my closest friends (from my Ottawa days) moved back

after completing PhDs in Ottawa... 

and so I texted my friend A. and got a clear enthusiastic response back! 

And so the planning began!!!

We are staying DV in Romania 8 days, visiting various monasteries, 

churches... and of course enjoying local food there... we have an AirBnB

that looks perfect and for an affordable price!

You should see the lists I have for everything I am packing for the trip!

***
I had written more but lost it and was not able to retrieve it.
We leave tomorrow!
We know it is going to be a long trip so we have Friday to recover.... 

You can see I have packed carefully and even have my outfit for the day of
travel waiting!