Doing paperwork

Doing paperwork, dealing with burocracy is not fun anywhere.

Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. Growing up in Hungary completely prepared me for life. Well, at least as far as "burocracy" is concerned. I'm used to waiting in lines and tearing numbers that never get called (but all the numbers before and after mine), waiting in line for two hours just to see the door shut right when it would have been my turn and to see the "official" walk away for her one hour lunch break... I'm used to the idea that when I go to the doctor I need to clear my whole afternoon because I might be waiting there for hours. I used to read half of novels, write essays for school and crochet whole scarves while waiting. I was used to it, no problem.

Then. I. Moved. To. America. :)

Those of you who lived there understand what I'm talking about. The country of customer service, free refills, purchase returns without questions, taking care of business with a short and polite phone call... I lived in the US for 6 and a half years and I guess I got used to the system there too much that now when I come back to Europe I continually and repeatedly get frustrated over things, over the system or the lack thereof.  You can't fight the system because it is untouchable. Little common people like me wouldn't even know where to "touch" it. So all I can do is throw fits and clench my fist and spend endless hours on the internet trying to figure things out for myself. 

Can't change it. That's just how it is.

And the sooner I surrender and accept 

the sooner I will be happy. 

So.

When it was time for us to go to the regional capital to turn in Scott's paperwork for his staying visa I had certain expectations...no wonder. 

But you know what? I was pleasantly surprised at the way they dealt with us.
They were very helpful and kind and polite...even when a document was missing they were trying to work around it.... my shaky little Hungarian heart was most pleasantly surprised! :) And ashamed at my prejudice. We got the green stamp on our papers that day THANKYOU!!!! 

Now. 

Was this just an isolated incident and soon enough life and doing business will return to its normal "difficultness"? Probably. 

But I guess I'm learning an important lesson here. 

Trust God to walk before you and get things done for you in His time.

Be polite and kind to people and just

go with the flow. 

The end.

P.S. I LOVE Italy!!! :)

A thank you note

About a week ago a placed a new bottle of shampoo next to the old one that only had enough for one more wash in it.

However I was most astonished to notice that I was able to squeeze "just one more handful" out of the bottle every morning in the last week. How is that possible!

The shampoo that just keeps giving....

As I was contemplating this in the shower this morning I couldn't but think of SOMEONE who truly keeps giving... and never stops... and just keeps giving and giving and giving....

My Heavenly Father is the Maker of all things. He made us and He sustains us.

He provides us with vitals, air, water, nutrition...We truly depend on Him for our LIFE!

How sad is it when people simply ignore, or what's worse, curse and blame Him. 

So

I just wanna THANK YOU   G o d for EVERYTHING this morning!!!

We humbly thank you! 

Kb egy hettel ezelott egy uj sampont tettem a regi melle', mert azmar majdnem kifogyott. 

De aztan dobbenten vettem eszre, hogy a regi samponos uvegbol minden reggel tudtam meg annyit kinyomni, ami eleg volt a hajmosasra. Hogyan lehetseges ez!

A sampon, ami mindig csak ad es ad....

Ahogy ezen elmelkedtem ma reggel a zuhany alatt, onkentelenul is Arra gondoltam, aki tenyleg MINDIG AD ES AD>>>>

A Mi Mennyei Atyank. O teremtett mindent. O teremtett minket is, es mindent ami az eletunk fenntartasahoz szukseges. Levego, viz, etel.... Tole fugg az eletunk!!

Milyen szomoru, hogy ma az emberek figyelmen kivul hagyjak ezt, es ami meg rosszabb, atkozzak az Urat. 

Ugyhogy ma reggel csak MEG AKARTAM KOSZONNI MINDENT URAM!!
Alazatosan koszonok mindent!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Scott was supposed to be gone picking olives with our coworkers on the day of Benjamin's birthday so we decided to spread our his birthday celebrations to 4 days instead of just 1 day. Sweet, right? We knew that Benjamin wouldn't object. :) But then because of the weather the olive picking was cancelled, so we ended up with 4 (more like 5) birthday days for Benjamin! :) 

Ugy volt, hogy Scott megy olivabogyot szedni a munkatarsainkkal a Benjamin szulinapjan, ezert ugy dontottunk, hogy elnyujtjuk a szulinapot, 1 nap helyett 4 naposra. (5 lett belole)Gondoltuk, hogy Benikenek ugysem lesz ellene kifogasa. De aztan az ido miatt az olivabogyo szedes elmaradt. Igy tortent, hogy Benikenek az iden 5 napos lett a szulinapja.  :)

The cake that mom made
A torta amit mama keszitett

The cake that dad made
A torta amit papa keszitett

Scott made this piggy pinata for Ben
Papa keszitette ezt a kismalac pinatat Benikenek (meg volt tomve cukorral csokival)

One night we took him out to McDonalds for a Happy Meal.
Egyik este elvittuk a McDonalds-ba egy HappyMeal-re. 

A little birthday meltdown at some point...
Egy kis szulinapi hisztike.... hamar elmult az is....

I received "some" (a lot) of seasonings from the US, from my mom-in-law and sister-in-law. Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Kaptam "egy kis" (sok) fuszert Amerikabol az anyosomtol es sogornomtol. Koszonom szepen!!!!!!!!! 

Thank you very much for all the fun presents for Benjamin!!! He had a blast!!! :)

Nagyon szepen koszonjuk a sok kedves ajandekot Benikenek!! Nagyon boldog volt!!!! :)

Benjamin in school

On Benjamin's birthday I asked his teachers if they would be able to take some pictures of Benjamin and his friends during the day. They were willing about it. Yay!

So in one hand we got some memories of Benjamin's kindergarten class, on his birthday, on the other hand I have been most curious to know what they are doing all day. Now I see where they eat lunch, how they do activities during the day, see how he interacts with his friends etc. Great!! 

Benike szulinapjan megkertem a tanito nenit hogy fenykepezzen egy parat napkozben Benikerol es a kis baratairol. Szivesen eleget tettek keresemnek! :) Nagyon orulok, mert legalabb kicsit kepet kaptam arrol, hogy mit is csinalnak egesz nap, es hogy Benike hogyan viszonyul a tobbiekhez. :)

Benjamin with his 2 best friends in class: Simone and Antonio
Benike 2 legjobb baratjaval: Simone es Antonio

Prepare for tomorrow!

This is Doctor Bibem

Created and drawn by: Benjamin

One day he just came home from school chanting this little song he made up about Doctor Bibem, then he drew the picture and that was it.

Doctor Bibem was born.  

Yesterday Benjamin got a little emotional. He told us that he missed Grandma and Grandpa so much and then he got all teary eyed. I confess I got emotional too. 

Then he started drawing. He was busy for a while and when he got done he showed us the pictures.

First he drew an "Italian map". The roads are all curvy and bendy.

Then he showed us the "Michigan map". 

WOW!

We were absolutely blowned away by the details of both pictures. 

But especially the "Michigan map" with its 4 lane arrow-straight highways, with other highways running across it, and the skyscrapers... I mean I had no idea how observant he was. 

Totally impressed!!!

Our 3 ingredient Nutella cookies

Super easy and quick to make 

Here is the recipe

What a difference it makes for the whole family when the mama is prepared for the day

I am not a "retreat-person". Meaning, I'm not all for the crowds and small talk.

But I went to my church's (Jenison Bible Church) ladies retreat a couple of years ago and it was one of the best decisions! 

We stayed in a nice hotel in Detroit for a couple of days. My roommates were awesome ladies and we had much fun chatting at night. The food was fabulous and the lectures life changing! 

We watched a DVD series by Elizabeth George. 

Here are a few thoughts that made a huge impression on my life:

Do not worry about tomorrow. Just deal with today.

PREPARE

Preparing will keep you from worrying.

Get up and do something about what you are worrying about. 

When everyone goes to bed, do the dishes, plan for tomorrow, know what you are gonna have for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

Start thinking.

Get everything done and prepared. 

Set the table for the next meal. 

Plan backwards. What time do you need to get up to be the kind of woman you want to be?

Just dream about her for a while:

-she is calm

-she is a rock

-she is there for the family

-she gets everyone out the door with encouragement and good feeling

-she is NOT frazzled, late, looking for what she is gonna wear, where are the keys etc.

Turn off the lights and PRAY. 

Prepare your hear and soul with Jesus.

 

I love fall. I love the leaves turning brilliant yellow and bright red and burnt orange and rusty brown.

I love the sight of leaves, the feeling of kicking a pile of dry leaves, the smell of burning leaves. 

I simply love leaves in the fall. 

That is why I was so excited to see some dry branches on one of the tree on our street.(Perhaps you will see it too, this particular dry branch is on the 3rd tree from the left)

I am not sure the branch is dried out because its fall (probably not)... (I know it didn't)... but I like it anyway. 

I did a silly little test today. Apparently I am my left and right brain equally. 

Well, good to know! :)

Worst food names ever

Okay. 

So I am supposed to be studying. I'm waiting for an Italian dictionary to load up on my PC when I wander off to boredpanda.com and find these photos.

I show husband and we both laugh our socks off, they are sooo funny. 

Here are some

this is my favorite
Tastes like grandma....Yumm! :)

 The end.

Back to studying. 

Ciao!

Late afternoon chillin'

 

So husband and I were both ex-hausted from studying Italian all day, so we decided to take Benjamin down to the sea after school. He loves being down there, digging holes, finding rocks and shells....etc. 

Little boy stuff. 

It was very relaxing... just breathing in the salty air and watching the waves...

My heart was so full of praise to God for the beauty of his Creation!

 Husband taking pics with his phone...

 okay. I know I said we were both exhausted after studying so much, but I just couldn't help myself, okay?

I always carry a dictionary in my bad because I LOVE memorizing words.

There. I said it. 

 We had a little "picnic" too. Popcorn and orange pop. Yumm. 

At some point Benjamin spilled some of his popcorn and decided to dig a whole and bury the popcorn in it for the hungry pirates. He even marked the spot with a big X. :) Haha! 

He thinks of everything!

So. Husband found a very interesting looking shell thingy. We have never seen anything like it, so if you know what it is please let us know.