the anticipation for the holidays this year seems stronger than ever. maybe it's because, now that i'm married, we just can't get to chicago as much.
everyone at work keeps asking "what are you excited to eat"? i love it all - especially the stuffing, but nothing as much as my mom's gnocchi. see, even though she's not italian - she's stuck with a bunch of italians around her and it's only right that on thanksgiving, we celebrate it all.
joel is sure he hit the jackpot! gnocchi, bread, salad (with grandma's salad dressing), stuffing, potatoes, turkey, apple pie, and other lovely treats we don't even know about yet.
but being the sap that i am, the best part is family. for me it is the chance to be with my family for an extended period of time, to help my mom be the hostess with the mostess (though she by no means needs my help), and the opportunity for joel to get to know all of them better and better.
to me the question is "what are you blessings this year?" without question, i have too many to even begin to describe - and it's something i hope i never lose sight of. i have a husband i can't believe is walking this life with me. i have parents who i trust and love and enjoy. i have siblings who continue to do great things and be great people. i have in laws that are fun and loving and have always made me feel welcome. i have a job. i have a cozy and welcoming home. i have the most incredible friends than i have ever had in my life.
this just reminds me that these are not only blessings to me, but reasons for me to continue to focus outward, on others needs. mine are fulfilled. so many others don't have the things i do.
my prayer this season is that God would give me eyes to see - to see the beauty and the pain in other's lives - and not only to see, but to act. it's a tall order, but i know this prayer will not go unanswered.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
FOUND IT :)
So, I just posted this to the wrong blog... hilarious!! This is the blog I posted from Rome...
pantheon steps
15 minutes. I just excused Joel to go for a walk while I use the next 15 minutes to give you a quick update (we just checked football scores, so he is satisfied).
Obviously if I told you everything we had been up to, you would never finish reading. I can tell you that we have done so much that we were supposed to go to Pompeii today and felt that we couldn't appreciate it. We have seen so much art, so many churches, and many piles of ruins. We decided over one of our best dinners last night (pasta fagoil and rigatoni carbonara sitting outside in a piazza we stumbled upon), that it was time to relax. So today, we're just walking - reminding ourselves that not everyone walks past the Pantheon everyday. There is a part of Rome we haven't explored yet, so we plan to stroll in that direction, but we're going to attempt to leave our map in our bag and just see what we see.
As for the last week - it has been everything we could have hoped for. The concert was great (we were practically sitting on top of the violinist), Cinque Terre was BEAUTIFUL (though it rained the whole time so we only could hike the Via del Amorè), and Rome has charmed Joel in a way that neither of our first places could quite do. I am surprised, but glad.
We have learned to slow down in Rome. We took Florence at a dizzying speed. With so much time in Rome - we have strolled and eaten (gelato, espresso, pasta, pasta, pasta). Joel has discovered that he absolutely loves espresso - I love gelato (as if that was even a question).
And on Sunday - we became quite blessed. We were in the Castel Snt. Angelo. From the top, you can see St. Peter's Square and we noticed chairs set up - so we wandered down. We could see a mass going on inside St. Peter's Basilica and that the pope was inside (it was a mass for Africa, so there was cool music that they were pumping into the square and showing on huge screens). We decided to get in line to go inside (assuming it would be after the mass was over). In front of us, people started to b-line for the chairs set up in front of a golden chair - Joel leaned over to the English speaking girls to our left and found out that the pope was coming out after the mass. So we sat patiently to see African priests, cardinals, and lastly, the Swiss guard parade out before the Pope came out, spoke about reconciliation in Africa and then blessed us all in multiple different languages - including English. It was a pretty cool experience.
1 minute. Gotta go! We'll be home soon!
pantheon steps
15 minutes. I just excused Joel to go for a walk while I use the next 15 minutes to give you a quick update (we just checked football scores, so he is satisfied).
Obviously if I told you everything we had been up to, you would never finish reading. I can tell you that we have done so much that we were supposed to go to Pompeii today and felt that we couldn't appreciate it. We have seen so much art, so many churches, and many piles of ruins. We decided over one of our best dinners last night (pasta fagoil and rigatoni carbonara sitting outside in a piazza we stumbled upon), that it was time to relax. So today, we're just walking - reminding ourselves that not everyone walks past the Pantheon everyday. There is a part of Rome we haven't explored yet, so we plan to stroll in that direction, but we're going to attempt to leave our map in our bag and just see what we see.
As for the last week - it has been everything we could have hoped for. The concert was great (we were practically sitting on top of the violinist), Cinque Terre was BEAUTIFUL (though it rained the whole time so we only could hike the Via del Amorè), and Rome has charmed Joel in a way that neither of our first places could quite do. I am surprised, but glad.
We have learned to slow down in Rome. We took Florence at a dizzying speed. With so much time in Rome - we have strolled and eaten (gelato, espresso, pasta, pasta, pasta). Joel has discovered that he absolutely loves espresso - I love gelato (as if that was even a question).
And on Sunday - we became quite blessed. We were in the Castel Snt. Angelo. From the top, you can see St. Peter's Square and we noticed chairs set up - so we wandered down. We could see a mass going on inside St. Peter's Basilica and that the pope was inside (it was a mass for Africa, so there was cool music that they were pumping into the square and showing on huge screens). We decided to get in line to go inside (assuming it would be after the mass was over). In front of us, people started to b-line for the chairs set up in front of a golden chair - Joel leaned over to the English speaking girls to our left and found out that the pope was coming out after the mass. So we sat patiently to see African priests, cardinals, and lastly, the Swiss guard parade out before the Pope came out, spoke about reconciliation in Africa and then blessed us all in multiple different languages - including English. It was a pretty cool experience.
1 minute. Gotta go! We'll be home soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)