two more days of work... will I make it??

In reality, I will. But in theory, I feel like it is just wasted time and energy when I could be doing my last minute planning and packing.

Joel is working tonight - my plan: to unpack all the bags we packed on Sunday and repack them. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but in reality, I think we'll be happy I did it. We didn't pack very strategically and I think if I can pack us better, we won't be pulling everything out of our suitcases all the time, but we shall see.

We are making several assumptions (I know, you should never do that). One is that the apartments will have towels for showering with. We don't have room for heavy, bulky towels. Two is that we will make the time to clean clothes - we really slimmed down and definitely don't have enough to make it the full two weeks. Three - our imagined style is the same as the style that is in Italy.

For example - I am doing something I've never done before - I am dressing cute for our plane ride. Now, usually I could care less what I look like when all I am going to do is try to force myself to sleep at a ridiculous time of day. But I am actually starting to take pride in my body and feel that I can both be comfortable and cute. So, the outfit that won the test? Short, black, cotton dress, leggings, flat boots, jacket and scarf. I think because the dress is loose fitting and the leggings are comfy, the outfit should work. The truth is, no matter how hard I try, sleeping at 5 p.m. our time is going to be a challenge.

A few last details that can't even be accomplished until we get there - train tickets, tickets for the museums in Florence, tickets for a possible opera performance, and tickets to a AS Roma game. Hopefully the first three will be accomplished by Friday night and then completely put out of my mind! Then we'll eat and walk and absorb and enjoy and drink and...

google walking maps?!

A few updates
- Applied for a new credit card that DOESN'T charge me an extra 3% on international purchases
- Ordered Euro and they came in yesterday
- Put a hold on our mail starting in TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!
- Started to make notes in my notebook about the location, phone number, and money owed for each of our apartments

The big accomplishment of the day was using google maps to get a walking map from the train station to each of our apartments. Each of them is about 1.5 miles away, but that is a good healthy walk after sitting on the train all day. The coolest thing is that each route comes with pictures - so on our walk from the train station in Florence, we will walk past the Duomo, the original location of the David, the Uffizi museum, and the Arno.

Getting less nervous and more excited. We now have all the clothes and shoes we need, my friend Ashley gave us a big backpack to pack in, and we can now focus the weekend on our anniversary. Happy one year to us!

Plans to celebrate? Joel is making breakfast on Saturday, then maybe apple picking, then very nice dinner downtown. Sunday I'm making breakfast, church, and then watching the video of our wedding. Hurray!

exchange rates and exchanging money

So, even though the travel business is down, they are still screwing us at every turn with our money. We are finding that things in travel are changing - it used to be that the best thing to do when making a purchase in a foreign country, was to use your credit card. We were just informed that our credit card company charges 3% for each purchase made in a foreign country! Same with our ATM card. Awesome.

And to exchange currency here, they charge you for that too (on top of the terrible rate the dollar is getting right now). I'm so frustrated and there doesn't seem to be a good way around any of it. Waiting until we get there (like we used to) seems to not be the best answer any more.

This is not my favorite part of trip planning.

I'm going to the bank on my lunch to learn about 2 things - wire transfer (to pay for our apartment in Rome) and exchange rates for our bank.

Another note - even though I told our credit card company that we'll be in Italy for certain dates, they told us it's very possible they'll put a hold on our account in case of suspicious activity. Something else to look forward to. Good thing we have good friends who have lent us their international cell phone. Looks like we're going to need it.

I can't wait to be on that airplane and done with the planning.

a picture's worth a thousand words

Chocolate covered bacon at the Wisconsin State Fair!

Been waiting 15 years for this moment!

Company picnic at the TimberRattlers game

In the Redwoods

Labor day joy!

so many words...

Things have been crazy good for us lately. Really fun summer - great family adventures - great friendships and conversations - and plenty to look forward to. With all of that, I have had a hard time narrowing down what to blog about - and then end up not blogging at all.
So here is the run down - I joined a gym (which, for the first time in my life, I'm loving). Joel is working at Fastenal part-time to get the lay of the land, while still applying for other work. I spent Labor Day weekend in Chicago while Joel celebrated Eric's birthday in California. I got a much-anticipated promotion at work. Joel helped our friend's, the Strattons, build the most amazing treehouse - seriously. I finally applied for my teaching license in Wisconsin, which is no easy feat.

Those are the highlights - here are some details of the slough of blessings being passed in our direction:

- Joel celebrated his 29th birthday on Wed. surrounded by old friends, goods drinks, and a pretty good dinner. Saturday we put his new grill together, and tonight we will break it in with Joel's favorite, Italian Sausage.

- The other night I received an email that I have been selected to be a "community reviewer" for the Performing Arts Center in Appleton. This means that I will (with another person) get to attend a handful of shows this season, and review them online. If you know me, you will know that this is about as good as it gets in my book. I LOVE THEATRE.

- Joel and I received a phone call from a friend of mine from work on Saturday offering us tickets to the Packer/Bear game at Lambeau Field at face value for Sunday night's game. Though the Bears did not look good - we had a great time! Warning to Bear's fans - bring a friend.

- ITALY! We are now at 31 days and I couldn't be happier, more excited, anxious, and ready. We have wonderful and generous friends who have lent us many travel books, converters, backpacks, man-bags, etc. Now we just wait, and wait, and wait.

As for everything else, we are just flat out blessed. Though lost in our search for church, we are not alone. Many of our good friends are just as lost. So we are attempting to band together. At least pray for one another. No matter how frustrated I can be at the church, it never makes me want to run from God. He is definitely not the issue, though not being in community really challenges my ability to think of Him first. We sat with friends this weekend and shared life and prayed and it was very lifting.

And 10/4 is just weeks away - happy one year to us. Marriage is what you make of it. We have had our fair share of challenges, a few tears, and many moments of compromise, but we have come out stronger, and if I may say so, more in love than we both thought we could ever be. I didn't know a year ago that I was marrying my best friend, but now I truly know that I did.

meeting with the pastor

Joel and I, though not entirely willingly, have kinda-sorta decided that we need to find a church. In the process of looking, we kinda-sorta have found one. Joel is very happy and ready to settle in.

Me, not so much.

It's not that it's not a great church - we already know a good chunk of people there. It's not that I don't love their mission. It's just that I'm not totally sold on the whole idea of a traditional "church". I believe in the "C"hurch with my whole heart. I believe in the Kingdom of God with everything in me. I believe that I'm called to live both of those things out.

I'm just totally unsure of the way we do it in our current American culture.

But the problem is, I don't have a better answer. I know that both Joel and I are encouraged to love more when we go to this place called church. I know that I'm forced to reflect on my image of God when I'm with other people.

But I have questions - lots of them. And often times at traditional churches, they only seem to have answers - and I don't feel like my questions are satisfied by those answers.

I won't tell you what was being talked about at church yesterday, but it was a hard topic. But, as most pastors would do, ours broke it down into very simple terms. After he was finished, the girl in front of me took a big deep breath, and did a fist pump while she mumbled to her neighbor "YES". I think she meant that she felt satisfied - that this question that had bothered her was finally answered.

I did not have the same wave of relief, and I definitely did no fist pumping.

See, my problem is that I don't think we are meant to have the answers - at least not all of them. I didn't agree with the answers that were given, but I didn't have better ones. I think we, as Christians, HATE being uncomfortable. We do everything in our power to make sense of things that don't make sense. We want to be able to hold it in our hands, in our minds, and in our hearts, so that if someone asks us a question, we have a quick and swift response.

I'm uncomfortable with this.

And I'm okay with that.

But the pastor, who we are having coffee with today, might not be. We'll see if I even have the guts to lay it out there.

inspiring words

I used to be inspired more. Maybe it was working with teenagers or children - they see things that we (adults) tends to miss. Maybe it was reading more - Twilight is fun, but not necessarily inspiring. Maybe it was being outside of the 3 1/2 walls of my cubicle. Walking with people, talking with people. Sitting in coffee shops watching the world turn. Sitting in parks watching children play. Making your life work about the act of inspiring people.


I like what I do. I like working for Disney. And having a regular schedule is what is important to me. So, this is where I will stay.


But recently I have re-connected (through Facebook and Twitter) with some of the people I worked with in the act of inspiring teenagers. They all inspire me to remember that the world is bigger - and that thinking about it, and God's hand all over it, is part of what makes my heart pump. It makes me want to soak up words and stories again.



But my favorite inspiration lately is my family. Managing two families has been an adjustment to me, and has meant that we haven't seen everyone as much as we'd like. This last weekend we were able to get down to Chicago - my siblings both there - and spend some quality time.

This quality time involved baseball and reunions.


Now, some people may not agree with me, but there is something about getting to go to a baseball stadium and see your favorite team play. And it's better when your favorite team (mine being the White Sox) - demolish the New York Yankees. I believe this may have been the best game I've been to in a long time at "The Cell" (which I recently learned is what people call good ol' Comiskey Park). 14 - 4 White Sox. No homeruns, but lots and lots of hitting. And I even got to see Bobby Jenks (my fave) come trotting out on the field.





But, better than that, my family was all around me, smiling and laughing and joking with each other. Sharing a few drinks. Eating a few dogs and polishes. Standing and clapping. Making memories. The feeling of excitement that comes when "Thunderstruck" starts playing and the players run out on the field. Watching my Dad and the memories that brings for him.


And then there was the Carpenter Family Reunion. Now, most people have a weird negative connotation with "family reunions". This doesn't exist for me. My family has always been solid and welcoming - even those we only see once a year. The conversation is light and fun - we play games and eat - and share our lives.


But back to inspiration - my grandparents, within the last 10 years, have been a constant source of inspiration for me. My grandmother passed away a year and half ago and most days I think about her in some way or another. I keep a few small replicas of her paintings on my desk at work. As Joel and I pulled up to the house on Sunday - I had a sudden and forceful set of emotions hit me. Most days, my memories of her are just that, memories. But when they come to life, like at her house, I can't help but miss her. She aged so beautifully, and she tackled cancer as if it would never take her down. Grandma and I shared a relationship like I have not seen much between a Grandma and her granddaughter. If you're interested, check out the blog we started to keep memories of her alive http://www.carpentertradition.blogspot.com.





As I walked through the house looking at pictures of her and remembering our sweet time together (especially the 3 years before she died) - another set of emotions washed over me. I had this thought and I think it often - she would be so proud of my grandpa. He has chosen to live through his incredible loss. He works and plays with great joy. He rides his new bike. He travels like a trooper. He keeps up with his chores (which he does on a very regimented schedule). And he continues to gather his family together. I am proud, and she would be too. She has left a deep mark on me and my cousins that will continue to inspire us for our lives. I look forward to telling my children the stories of her courage. I am grateful she shared them with me. And my grandpa continues to inspire me each time I see him.



My inspiration comes differently now, but no less true and colorful. My heart is filled to overflowing.


(Don't miss Grandpa's inspiring words on his shirt!)














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