{Sneak Peek Istanbul}

Hagia Sophia at night

I turned 30! 

Actually, I hit the big 3-0 at the end of September, but this season in our lives has been a whirlwind that seems to finally be calming down. Sort of. It is just starting to sink in that I've hit that age when most women freak out about wrinkles, job security, settling down and babies. I have the wrinkles, but the other things are so far from my mind these days! Chris and I had been planning a birthday trip to Istanbul with two of our dear friends from Belgium since sometime in June. All of a sudden, we were thrown a curve ball when the opportunity to move to Regensburg, Germany popped up. It was not an easy decision, and we talked it over and over together. After a couple weeks of weighing the pros and the cons, Chris accepted and started the new job a week before our scheduled trip. Needless to say, instead of spending my time researching restaurants and scenic look-out spots in Istanbul, I was frantically packing, and cleaning, and turning off utilities and breaking the apartment lease. 

There never is a dull moment for this little expat family!

I sort of expected to be a frazzled mess once we arrived in Istanbul, but in fact it was quite the opposite. Chris, our two friends, and I had an amazing, laid back four days exploring, eating, and dodging pushy carpet salesmen! In fact, the trip was exactly what we needed before transitioning from life in Belgium to a new chapter in Regensburg, Germany. 

This is just a sneak peak of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. 

Inside Hagia Sophia

Bert taking a picture of the Blue Mosque at sunset