About Us

 At Willamette Valley Vineyard in my hometown of Salem, Oregon. 

Well hey there! Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at our little blog/journal. We will quickly introduce ourselves here, but if you have specific questions, send us a message or post a comment for us to respond to. 

I (Lana) have always felt at home traveling the world. Maybe it's a result of my upbringing, or perhaps it's just the way my heart was wired. I grew up in Salem, Oregon - had a charmed childhood - loving parents - three little brothers - we traveled a lot, and I always felt a little bit more alive when I was exploring, learning, searching, and dreaming. At 17, I left home, intent on seeing more of the world, and I saw a lot! As these stories often go, I eventually found myself in the small college town of Wilmore, Kentucky. I loved my time at Asbury University, because it made me truly wade through my personal convictions, but I had no idea how important that time would be to the rest of my story.

It was in Kentucky that I met this sexy fellow!

Such a stud! He's ready for Oktoberfest - Munich 2012

He (Chris) grew up in Hurricane, West Virginia, and he also had this deep desire to see as much of the world as possible. I guess you could say that we were wired with the same heart or just wired perfectly for each other. I believe whole-heartedly that he is the man that I had been praying for my entire life. Chris has a great family - beautiful grandparents - wonderful parents - a younger brother and sister - and loving uncles and aunts. His journey took him to the University of Kentucky for college, and that is how our worlds collided. It's a funny story how we met, avoided each other, met again, fell in love on a cruise ship, met the families, went to Namibia, Africa, made wonderful friends, and eventually said "I Do." But that story may be saved for later.

We never expected that our lives would be all that "typical," and we promised each other that we would always adventure together, respect each other, constantly learn new things, desperately love people, focus on making memories, and ultimately try to - 

"Live Life Like a Best Seller."

We leapt into an unknown adventure in 2011 when we agreed to a three-year expat assignment in Europe with Chris' company. I tearfully said goodbye to a great job and an awesome group of coworkers and started wrapping up our world as we had known it. As a young, newlywed (if you could say two years is still "new") couple we sold most of our possessions, left everything familiar, and vowed to make the most of every experience along the way. This season of life finds us in Regensburg, Germany. Chris company just moved us to Germany in late 2013, but before this move, we spent a year in Roeselare, Belgium and also a year in Subotica, Serbia. It has been a whirlwind, but it's been fun to see where life has blown us. We feel rich for the lessons that we have learned, and for the wonderful people who have become friends and saving angels along the way. 

If you're new to our little journal/blog, here are a few posts about our wonderful year in Roeselare, Belgium and Subotica, Serbia. I also added a few links to some of our favorite 

European adventures to date. 

Our Amazing Year in Roeselare, Belgium

- Moving from Serbia -> Belgium

- A birthday party at a Belgian castle

- The beach city of Nieuwpoort

- Beautiful Bruges in Autumn

- An American Thanksgiving in Belgium

- Adventures in learning Dutch

- When Serbia came to Belgium

- Some of our AMAZING friends in Belgium

- Nom Nom Nom - BBQs in Belgium

Our First European Adventure in Subotica, Serbia

- And just like that - we're moving to Serbia!

- My new "job" as a Housewife . . . without children.

- When Lana dressed up for a Serbian parade in Subotica.

- Lana, the Serbian butcher, and a horrible misunderstanding.

- That dark night when Chris ran into 100+ sheep on the back roads of Serbia.

- If you're planning on moving to Serbia, here are a few of our tips.

- Saying goodbye never gets easier.


Some of our Favorite Trips to Date:

- Amalfi Coast, Italy

- Amsterdam, The Netherlands

- Antwerp(en), Belgium

- Barcelona, Spain

- Baska Beach on the island of Krk, Croatia

- Bruges, Belgium

- Budapest, Hungry

- Cinque Terre, Italy

- Cologne, Germany

- Dublin, Ireland

- Dunboyne, Ireland

- Gaubodonfest - Straubing, Germany

- Hvar, Croatia

- Krk, Croatia

- Ljubljana, Slovenia

- London, England

- Mallorca, Spain

- Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

- Paris, France

- Plitvica Lakes, Croatia

- Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, Italy

- Prague, Czech Republic

- Regensburg, Germany

- Rome, Italy

- Rome, Italy (trip #2)

- Salzburg, Austria (Gondola Ride in the Alps)

- Venice, Italy

- Vienna, Austria

- Weltenburg Monk Brewery, Germany

- Westvleteren Brewery, Belgium