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!