We have arrived!

It's been entirely too long since I've posted. Now that we're here in Podgorica and starting to get settled, I'm really going to try to keep up better!

The Adventuring Armstrongs have had an event packed past couple of months. After packing up our lovely house in Monterey and dividing all our stuff into Express Shipment, Household Goods and Long-term Storage we had a few opportunities to say goodbye to the wonderful friends we made during our time there. We are certainly going to miss this place and these people! The Lord truly blessed us with an amazing community while we were there.

After we left Monterey, we had a much anticipated 4 day layover in DC. It was a wonderful time full of friends, family and fun! We were even the guests of honor at a fantastic Fourth of July party at 2225! Many thanks to the lovely ladies of 2225 for hosting!

Upon our arrival in Podgorica, we were picked up from the airport by two of the wonderful staff from the embassy. They drove us to our apartment and helped us settle in a little before we had our first house guests. We're not sure if the Olmsted Foundation gives awards for this or not but we'd like to apply for the award for fastest turnaround from arriving in country and hosting a fellow scholar! Brian and Lucas Krietlow arrived at our apartment about an hour and a half after we did! Brian was the former (and first!) Olmsted Scholar to Montenegro. He and his wife, Liz and their son, Lucas lived here from 2009-2011. Brian was in town to defend his thesis at the University of Montenegro and finish up his masters. We were glad to have them not just to be able to meet these fine people but also to have someone staying with us that could show us the ropes a little.

This weekend we rode with Brian and Lucas in a cab to the coast. We drove through Budva and along the bay to Kotor where we stayed the night. The drive through the mountains provided some of the most amazing scenery that we'd ever seen. Once we got to the coast it was just breathtaking, even though it was rainy! Fortunately the rain cleared for a couple of hours and we were able to enjoy the water and even eat dinner at an open air cafe in Old Town Kotor right amongst beautiful buildings and ruins. One beautiful church was built in the year 803!

So far we are loving our new city and can't wait to get more and more comfortable here. We also have our guest rooms all set up and Hotel Armstrong is accepting visitors!

We love you all and miss you,
The Adventuring Armstrongs