This is how I feel tonight.

It has been a month now since I arrived back in the States and I haven't yet written in my blog for a variety of reasons. I wasn't quite sure how to even begin describing all of my feelings about being back home. I was also very busy getting my applications sent out for graduate programs and wasn't able to focus on much else. On top of this, I had shipped a large box home from Italy with many important possessions that never made it onto US soil. I must admit, I have been very stressed over the past month and haven't been handling it very well. There are so many things that are hanging in the air for me at this moment; there is really no telling how they will fall. Because of this, I have complained...to several close people in my life. Today, however, God has been humbling me and teaching me (yet again) to keep faith through every situation. Through this faith and complete trust in Him, we can handle anything that comes our way with dignity and praise for the Almighty, not complaints.

I had an amazing night of worshipping God tonight back in Nashville at Fellowship Bible Church and realized once again how very blessed I am. God is so good and has reminded me of that time and time again. It's amazing that I still find myself sometimes doubting what God is working in my life. My good friends and I were able to lift each other up in prayer and I'm so thankful for that. Showing love to others, and loving well, is my goal. How could I possibly do that if I am being controlled by my complaints against where God has currently placed me?

To pull a quote from the Oscars tonight: "It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." Lena Horne

Ps... at least there is one happy ending so far. My box, after having circled throughout Italy and eventually being marked as containing 'dangerous materials', finally made it back to it's origin: Alba, Italy. Yep, it's safely in the hands of the shipper now. So at least I know who has it, and I should be able to reclaim my things one day soon. Note to self: do not ship finger nail polish overseas.

So the time has come for me to bid farewell to this land that I have called home for almost 8 months now...

There are no words to describe feelings like this. I will miss it here for sure. Alba has become my home and these people are my family. I have spent the past few weeks trying to do as much as possible and say all of my goodbyes to my friends here. I was able to try out snowboarding a couple more times with friends which was very fun! I want to go back. :) I am also eating my full share of Italian cuisine (and everyone else's) before I head off. It has made me laugh that everyone here thinks that Americans only eat hamburgers, fries, and coca-cola for every meal. We all know that's not true...but the food is certainly different and my taste buds will miss certain small pleasures. I think 'the basics' are my favorite things here...good olive oil, tomatoes, parmigiano, gelato, fresh cheeses and hams, focaccia, etc.

My family here had a very nice 'going away meal' for me last night and gave me their wishes. I am trying to finish up last minute packing now and the kids will get home from school in about 1 hour. Then I will say my last goodbyes and head out for Milano. Will I cry? Yes, I think so. It will be so hard to leave these little munchkins. They don't even fully understand right now that I'm going away. Isabella, the oldest, understands, however I'm not sure about the younger ones. Ginevra is constantly asking me to stay and live with them forever and be her momma. :) It breaks my heart. And little Claudio just says "perche vai via?" and "sei bellissima!" This is a big improvement from what he used to call me. They are like my children and I will miss them very much!


In any case...this is it. My future in the states is still quite undetermined so it's very weird going off into the 'unknown'. At least my good friends back home have been giving me many exciting things to look forward to upon my return. I love you guys and can't wait to see you. Just try to bear with me if I start getting too nostalgic about Italy.

Real world...here I come!

Prato Nevoso, Italy

Wow, time is flying by. I hardly had time to even miss Christmas in the States with all of the activity going on here. I was busy working with the kiddos all the way up until Christmas. We, as usual, had a huge Christmas feast with the whole family here on Christmas Eve and then spent the rest of the evening with my friends. Christmas morning was like a blur with the three little ones tearing through their gifts in about 10 minutes...all of which were deemed to be from Babbo Natale. Then it was my turn (as the resident 'handyman') to learn how to open and operate everything they received. We're still working on this. That afternoon the family left for the mountains and I joined them the next day. We were lucky to have perfect sunny weather and tons of snow all week while I was there. I skied every afternoon and was also able to spend some quality time with Isabella who loved skiing with me! The mountains were so beautiful I was wishing I had my camera with me every moment of the day. I met some new friends that are living in Prato Nevoso for the winter season so we were able to experience the thriving nightlife to be had there, haha.


On Sunday I was off to France for a few days of skiing in Briancon. It was a fantastic and much needed getaway. The mountain was huge and connected to about 4 other mountains which we couldn't ski all of. The town was small, but beautiful with a castle on the hill surrounded by great French bistros, live music, and crepes!

Castle/Fortress above Briancon, France

After this too-short vacation, I was back to the mountains (Prato Nevoso) with the family for this past weekend. No skiing for me this time, but instead I spent my time playing in the snow with the kids...sledding on the 'bob', having snowball fights, building snowmen, etc. I love being a little kid again! But man is it exhausting! Now, I'm recovering in Alba for the next few days before heading back to Prato next weekend to do it again.

Currently, I'm trying hard to find out a way to watch my Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship game tonight on my computer. I can't believe I haven't watched any games this year, and I'm so out of the loop. But I'm planning on making the sacrifice tonight and watching online from about 2:30am-6am my time. We'll see how long I can make it. WAR EAGLE!


News report on me: I'll officially be back in Tennessee on January 26th. Only 16 more days here in Italy.  My thoughts on this right now would be a whole separate blog so I won't go into that. Just wanted to give an update. Looking forward to seeing everyone back home soon!

Probably everyone knows the one main reason that I love winter so much...skiing! For me, there is nothing else like it. It's the perfect combination of a great workout and the most exhilarating thrill you can find next to actually flying. I love it. It's the reason that I'm spending my holiday season here in Italy. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity a few weekends ago to try out the mountains here for the first time with some good friends. God smiled on me and gave us the most beautiful weather we could have asked for. Relatively warm, super sunny, and lots of fresh snow. I know this is not likely to happen again for the rest of the time I am here, but I still can't wait to go back. In less than a week, we'll be back in the mountains again for the holiday season.

Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of going to Isabella's school to watch her 2nd grade Christmas production. Mind you...it didn't really have anything to do with Christmas or the story of Jesus' birth. The theme was all about the life of a little boy named Ciro. Guess what part Isabella played?! Yep, the baby while it was still in mommy's tummy. Haha. It was the strangest children's production I have ever seen. I loved it!

Christmas is, of course, the biggest event of the winter season and should be celebrated in all of it's glory.  I know it's become almost cliche to say, but I really do hope to remember the reason I celebrate and to serve as a reminder to others. I often joke here with the Italians because there are so many religious holidays and no one ever seems to know what they are actually celebrating. Literally, I ask everyone, and no one can tell me. At least with Christmas we all know, but let's really celebrate what a wonderful gift we were given on this day two thousand years ago. My current environment is drenched with nativity scenes and reminders of Baby Gesù, and yet it's so easy to completely overlook.

Well...I'm back. After trips like this and so much time away from my blog, it's hard to really find the words to sum things up. I should start by saying that I am so blessed and grateful to have such amazing friends that would fly across oceans to come visit me and spend their holidays here. Thanksgiving at home is typically my favorite holiday because of the delicious food and great company, so I knew it would be hard to miss out on. However, thanks to my little vacation, I hardly even realized I was missing anything. We did try to find a traditional American feast in Firenze (Florence), but were somewhat unsuccessful. So Italian food it was! Oh well. I've really been learning to fully embrace the Italian culture, people, and food lately while I'm here instead of complaining about the things that I think are different or that I don't agree with. This includes learning to love eating only Italian food...every day.

Our vacation was fairly standard for the most part: complete with museums, shopping, sightseeing, climbing lots of stairs to see views of each city, pictures, gelato, wine, and some great Italian discoteca dancing. Of course, we personalized our trip as well by adding in some flooding waters, some football games, missed trains and flights, driving a rental car all over Italy, and of course protesting and rioting in Rome. We also met some fabulous friends along the way. Bruno and Suzie from our B&B in Firenze really made our stay there very special. They were some of the nicest and most helpful people along our journey. After Firenze and Roma, we drove up to visit the smaller towns of Siena and Orvieto. Both were definitely worth the visit and I wish we could have stayed longer. By chance, we arrived in Siena on their patron saint's day, December 1st. So when we walked into the main town square there was a parade in honor of Saint Ansanus, the protector of the city, leading to a townwide mass in the duomo. In the hilltop town of Orvieto, we experienced some incredible views of the Italian countryside and toured the underground caves and taverns built centuries ago below the city, but still in use today.

Friday's journey back home for both Eric and I was a bit of a disaster, but we eventually made it to our respective homes and can now (maybe) laugh about the situation. I had to work Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, but was completely exhausted and slept until about noon on Monday. I think I may finally be caught up now. We'll see.

On a separate note, the holidays are fast approaching and I'm already getting tastes of how things are celebrated here in Italy! Last night we had a Christmas feast with some of Sara's side of the family. Really, you think I would have learned after 6 months here how to pace myself with the food. But of course, after about the 4th DELICIOUS course, I thought we were about done and helped myself to seconds of pasta. Ooops...there was still about 3 more courses. I didn't eat anything today until 4pm. Aside from this, there was the traditional fawning over the children. Grandparents scrambling to squeeze the little ones who only wanted to be held by their mom (mammoni is a very important word here). Then the children were promptly fed first and sent off to watch cartoons in the separate house while the adults cheerfully ate, drank, discussed very slang terms and sayings in a dialect I don't understand, and got into heated (they call it 'passionate') discussions regarding proper wines and methods of production. I love it!

As it stands, my plans are to stay here through the holidays. I'm sorry to everyone that was hoping to see me over the Christmas break, but Italy calls! I can't pass up the chance to see babbo natale visit the children and take a few ski trips in the Alps. :) But don't get me wrong...I do really miss you guys!