Welcome to Italy Mom and Dad!!

I'm trying to wait patiently!

My Mom and Dad are coming for a 2 week visit today :) They should be sitting in an airport in Rome right now waiting for their flight to Palermo, Sicily.

I am so very excited for them to be here. It means alot to experience some of Italy with them. My Dad loves photography as much as I do so we'll have fun doing that together! My grandpa was a freelance photographer and has pictures in some of the old Arizona Highway magazines. He died in 1973; I was only 3 so I never had the chance to know him. I would have loved to discuss photography with him and watch him at work with the camera.

And Momma :) Don't we all have a place in our hearts that only a Mom can fill? It brings tears to my eyes to think how spunky and rebellious I was toward her growing up. I love her and am so glad we enjoy our time together now!!

This weekend was spent hanging out at the apartment ( and cleaning! :). The weather was crazy!! It rained most of the weekend and there were snowflake wanna be's in the air several times. DJ and the kids messed around with the guitars and piano. We have an acoustic and an acoustic bass guitar plus the keyboard. Everyone's practicing to play "Amazing Grace" together.

Well, we have lots to do and see these next 2 weeks so I better say "Ciao!" and get a couple things done before heading to the airport. I'll blog and add pictures when I can :)

Take care and have a very blessed day :)

San Giuseppe

Yesterday a small group of us headed to Salemi. It's a very beautiful, medieval town sitting on a hill. We all agreed it's a must to go back and explore more!! The drive alone is worth it; winding country roads through rustic and hilly terrain. Everything is green right now and there are wildflowers everywhere (mostly yellow).

The purpose for yesterdays trip was to experience Salemi's celebration of Saint Joseph or San Giuseppe. He is a popular Catholic saint (also known as St. Joseph the Worker)and is the patron saint of the fathers, carpenters, orphans, the poor and whoever is in need.

Salemi is one of the towns here in Sicily who hosts a religious festival featuring "Li Tavuli di San Giuseppe" (St. Joseph Tables) during Lent. We were able to go into the Chiesa Di San Giuseppe ( church of St. Joseph) and observe the banquet.

Bread altars are the most fascinating part of this festival. The bread is made anywhere from a week to a month before the festival starts. Many private homes are open to display their bread altars. There are even bread creations in store windows. The bread is beautifully crafted into many different shapes as a love offering to St. Joseph.

I'm adding pictures to my PhotoStream from yesterday and if you make it full size then click on description I'll have more information on what's going on in the picture.

We parked in the lower part of town and took a shuttle van to an area that had a bread altar. The driver let us out and there was a very, friendly man who went out of his way to help us figure out where to go. He stayed with us for a little while making sure we understood what was going on. Then he and the driver took us to the upper part of Salemi where the main part of the festival was happening. They told us to call them when we were done and they'd come pick us up.
We called them around 1:30 and the driver wasn't available until 3pm. We asked if there was somewhere to grab some lunch while we waited. The friendly guy who had acted as a tour guide said he'd hop on his scooter and come up. When he arrived he said "The problem is that there are no restaraunts up here". ( I forgot to tell you he spoke very good English, which is unusual here in Sicily).

Long story short he took Michelle down on the scooter to get her car then she came and picked me up so I could get my car. We then went back up and picked everyone up!
We were all laughing at our situation as Michelle climbed on the scooter. Our new friend smiled big and said "Only in Sicily, huh?"

We then went to a restaraunt down the hill that had a very casual feel to it. We were told there was no menu that day......you just got whatever was being cooked. The food wasn't bad but so not worth 100 euro (almost $150.00) for the kids and I!!! Can you say YIKES! I'd much rather spend my $ on seeing something....lesson learned :)

At the end of the day it was a beautiful little trip and will be one of the memorable ones!!

He Holds The Whole World In His Hands :)

I realize I left yesterdays post seemingly in mid thought. DJ read it and with a chuckle said "that's random".
In my defense I was heading somewhere with all that randomness! I just didn't finish :)

I am so grateful for God's faithfulness and feel very blessed as I look at my life through the years. Do I feel that way because life has been a bed of roses without trials and tears? Not at all.

*I am thankful for God who through His amazing grace accepts me as I am and because of His love guides me gently yet firmly.
*I am blessed with a husband who is my best friend and my biggest fan.
*I find alot of joy in watching my children grow....there are those days tho!
*I have known great sorrow when Jesus chose to take our first son, Joshua Cole, to heaven way before this mother's heart was ready.
*I went through a time in my life where I struggled with depression.
*I have dreams for my life that I hold to passionately........sometimes stubbornly and a bit rebelliously. That leads me back to our life here in Sicily:

We'd been here a few weeks when DJ starts uttering not nice words. Like:

"I could do contract work like this and move around Europe for the next 10 -15 years."

and

"We have the rest of our lives to settle down somewhere and get some acreage."

WHAT!!!!
I just came to Sicily for a 7 month extended vacation. I'm still dreaming of buying some land back home, a white picket fence, growing fields of flowers, and what about the sweet animals that need me to rescue them? Blah....blah....blah
I couldn't believe he was speaking those words! And was serious!
It was hard enough adjusting to life here in Sicily but then he added that he could do this for an undetermined amount of time and I sank a little.

Now, I know some of you are thinking "Wow, living in Europe...that's awesome...get a grip!"

I'm trying to get a grip :) God has really spoken to me the last few weeks in my morning devotions. He's taking me by the hand and helping me to think outside the box. There's nothing wrong with my dreams but there's life outside those dreams waiting to be lived. We may or may not settle on a few acres someday....it's ok. My heart is more and more learning to be content with the here and now. God hasn't failed us yet and He's been nothing but faithful even when we've wandered.

The days I feel homesick are less and less. Most Sicilians are warm and big hearted after they get over their initial suspicion of you. Experiencing another culture is something everyone should do at least once in their lifetime. I'm beyond grateful for the English speaking wives here whose husbands work with DJ. They've been a big encouragement!

The kids and I are going home this summer so Heather can enjoy her Senior year with friends. DJ will come home several times throughout that school year. We may come back over here for spring break next year.
We are waiting to see what turns this contract takes in the next month or two. It's possible Ben, Dani and I may move over here next summer after Heather graduates and stay til the end of the contract (however long that ends up being). Then we could move onto another contract job here in Europe if we wanted or head back to the States somewhere. Or it's possible DJ could find a good paying job back in the States later this year and we'd decide to do that. There's so many possibilities.....we are open to wherever God leads us!

I guess what I'm trying to say in all of this is God truly has a plan and a purpose for your life. He cares about every little detail. He knows your dreams, pain, tears and the things that make you smile. Trust Him to know what's best even if it isn't the plan you had in mind! He's with you each step of the way :) Even in Sicily!!!!......it says so in Psalm 139:9 -10 "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."

Life......One Moment At A Time

I hope you're starting to see signs of spring wherever you are! We had some beautiful, sunny days last week. Up around 70. It's March so who knows what this week will bring! The above pictures are some gorgeous flowers I bought today and put on my desk. Brings sunshine right to my heart :)

It's been almost 2 weeks since I've blogged. Not for a lack of things to blog about. I've been in that place where there are things to say but when I sit to write I can't seem to corral my thoughts into one place! I've been contemplating the lessons God is wanting me/us to learn in this so not expected life after retirement from the Air Force almost 2 years ago.

Whatever our life has been it definately hasn't been what we expected! Actually, I can say that of my life :)

(Yes, I'm rambling today.......putting thoughts on paper so to speak:)

From the time I was in elementary school I remember having the same dream. I would marry a cowboy, live on a horse ranch in Montana and rescue lots of animals. All the ones no one else loved! During high school that expanded to include my passion for interior decorating and design. My interior decorating teacher in high school was a great encouragement to me and I very much wanted to attend The Art Institute of Portland.

Long story short I enlisted in the Air Force and went to Basic Training the summer I graduated. I met DJ at my first duty station, George Air Force Base. Victorville, CA. ( so not my beautiful Oregon!) We worked together for 3 years. He was a F-4 crew chief and I was Supply, ordering all the parts they needed. After getting over our initial dislike of one another we fell in love and got married.

He wasn't my cowboy ( he wore cowboy boots tho....does that count? :) but it's wonderful how God knows just who and what we need to be the best us!

God has been so faithful over the years. We have grown, struggled and chose to grow some more all the while seeing God's hand at work.

Fast forward to June 2007.....DJ retired from 21 years of military service to our great country. We'd always talked of getting some acreage. I still wanted a place to keep all those sweet, unloved animals who were just waiting for me. I would love to grow fields of flowers and plant beautiful evergreens that take my heart back to Oregon. DJ would have his big garage where he could "play" :)Of course having a house that we could remodel (what we wanted.....not what was necessary!!) and I could decorate to my hearts content would be great!!

No more deployments!! No more being apart!!!!!!! WAIT! That's so not what happened. Lord, did you not hear our dreams?

DJ did work at a job he loved for 5 months after retiring but that came to a screeching halt when we realized it wasn't going to work out financially. At all. He applied for many jobs.....I even applied for some. No doors were opening.

Out of the blue DJ got a call from a friend who had hired on with a company doing contract work overseas. He was leaving in a few weeks for Oman working with the F-16s and said DJ should look into it. DJ and I looked at each other and said "You've got to be kidding God!" At the same time we both had a peace about it and so he went to Oman for 8 months. When he was offered the job here in Italy we said only if the kids and I could come for part of that time.

I know I'm really rambling today..........thanks for listening. I'll post again tomorrow and share what it's been like to come to Sicily and some of the choices we're facing.

IN EVERYTHING GOD IS GOOD!!

Lessons And The Lions Roar!

It's been said that you're never to old to learn. I'm attempting to prove the truth in that! Learning Italian is either going to make me feel very accomplished or make me want to hide my head under the pillow!!

Michelle came over today and began Italian lessons with the kids and I. Thank you Michelle! :) She's a great teacher and I'm confident we'll learn alot as long as we do our homework. I tend to look at the big picture and get overwhelmed so this will also be a good lesson in taking one step at a time. Of course the kids seem to pick it up quicker. Oh to be young again......not really!

The March lion has roared into Marsala today and he's a wild one. It's raining, lightening and SO windy! We sit on the 4th floor on the corner. We have 3 floor to ceiling doors in the living room and they are all rattling and banging around. The Mediterranean was so pretty earlier. Lots of whitecaps today.

I also wanted to share a quick and colorful recipe with you. I made it for dinner tonight and we never get tired of it. It's called Corn Bread Salad. It's one of the ways that we're enjoying the awesome produce Sicily has to offer. Bake a pan of corn bread ( I've made it from scratch but I love Jiffy's corn muffin mix). Cut it into bite size pieces. Dice up tomatoes and green peppers. Mix with corn bread and yummy! We like to put ranch dressing on the salad. You could use all kinds of veggies with the corn bread.

DJ's dad is doing well. He's getting the stitches out today. They're going to talk to the doctor to see when they might be able to travel :)

Good night from Sicily.

Relaxing Weekend With Our Sights Set On Rome......

Another weekend winding down..........they go so fast don't they?

DJ and the girls went over to Sigonella (Naval Air Station) on Friday. They left about 6am and returned home around 8pm. The purpose for this trip was to get our second car. Yeah! There's a new sense of freedom on the horizon. I feel a little Nascar comin' on! I'm not kidding....these folks are nuts when it comes to driving over here. Either super fast or crazy slow. It's every man, woman and child for themselves. I'll have to take pictures one day. Of course not while I'm driving!!

Yesterday morning DJ and I were up earlier than the kids. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day so we had coffee together and then went and did some errands on foot. We went to the market (less than a 5 minute walk) and bought dodici uovo (12 eggs) from Ermerlindo. He's a sweet,older man who sells his farm fresh eggs from a basket. We also had to go to an optical shop and order DJ new glasses. It was interesting as the man who helped us spoke little English and we know even less Italian. He was so nice though and we got it all figured out just fine. After we got that accomplished we walked a little further to the Aloha Bar. It's a great coffee bar with a super friendly owner. I've been there a couple times with my friend, Michelle. I intoduced DJ to Stefano the owner. We sat for a little while enjoying a cappuchino. Later in the afternoon we went to a birthday party for the son of Kent, one of DJ's coworkers. He turned one and what a cutie. The girls stayed home with sinus issues but Ben enjoyed playing with the little kids there and talking with some of the adults.

Today we listened to church online (Central Christian Church in Las Vegas) together and then I went out driving with DJ so I could get used to driving the new car.

My mom and dad will be here in just a few short weeks. This afternoon we did some more planning for our trip to Rome while they're here. We're all very excited for them to come visit! DJ's parent's were originally scheduled to come visit a couple days ago but we are grateful they found the blockage in his dad's legs when they did and were able to take care of it! Hopefully they can come visit at a later time :)

Did you have a good weekend? I hope so. Have a wonderful week, taking one day at a time (sometimes one moment at a time, right:).