BudapestAlive

First Snow!

tcoke — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:08:24 +0000

We’re six days into our new life in Budapest and we’re getting some real snow. From what we’ve heard, this is the first real snow storm of the season. Praise God that we were able to not only get here before the storm, but look at houses, get bank accounts setup and a host of other errands!

Every day is full of activity. I (Terry) have moved over two dozen times over the years and this is on a whole ‘nutha level. It really is like combining all the complexity of an international, cross-cultural move with starting a new business at the same time, there are that many details and puzzle pieces.

So today we’re taking rest…and getting in some good snowball fights

We’ve Landed!

tcoke — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:38:22 +0000

Yesterday we successfully landed in Budapest! It’s still a bit surreal. We were last here in May of 2009. It’s been nearly three years of grueling preparation and now we get to ‘start’

We are so thankful to Keith and Beverly Sellers (and their daughter and son) for giving us a place to stay. We hope to have our own rental home within a couple of weeks and then we can start the process for our residency permits (visas).

There’s a flurry of other stuff going on too; arranging schooling for the girls, figuring our cell phone service, when to rent a car (we can’t buy one until we have some other documents completed) etc. But for today and tomorrow it’s about REST. The ‘littles’ actually slept until 10:30AM (3:30AM Houston time)! Granted it was due to jet lag, but it was great for Christina and me to be able to get some extra hours of deep sleep too. We’re hoping to kick the jet lag by tomorrow.

Anyway, here’s a few pics of our two days traveling. Stay tuned!

Departure Day: January 29

tcoke — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:13:02 +0000

We have booked tickets and will be leaving for Hungary on January 29, 2012! It’s been a long two years leading up to this point. Of course, the real truth is that it’s been a lifetime leading up to it.

It’s an interesting thing to be on the verge of an international, over-the-pond move; especially when it’s not just yourself, but your wife and children as well. I wonder if it’s similar to what military personnel feel when preparing to be deployed. You’ve trained for it. You’ve thought about it and obsessed over it at times. You’ve played the ‘hurry up and wait’ game. Now it’s here. Time to get step on a plane and change the course of your life. Time for all the ‘what-if’s’ to start falling by the wayside, washed away by reality.

So we’re two weeks out, full of training, facts, and more questions than when we officially started down this path in May of 2009. D-Day 1/29. We’re ready to jump.

A New Beginning

tcoke — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:49:07 +0000

This pic was taken from the Buda side of the Danube during our visit in 2009. It looks across to the Pest side (pronounced “Pesht”). In the distance you can see the Parliament building. Several new beginnings are represented. The website is making a new beginning with this post. We are making a new beginning in moving to Hungary. Hungary itself is making a new beginning as it incorporates a completely new constitution.

Over the centuries much has taken place in the space captured in this photo. We wonder what will be in the days ahead, and take great comfort in the knowledge that our uncertainties are perfectly known to God. In all circumstances there is surety through faith in the God over all circumstances.