Goodbye 2013!

Well, this is it. The end of 2013.

This was a pretty busy and eventful year!!  So many tears and answered prayers, questions and waiting... a long journey from Michigan through Hungary to Italy. 

I am so thankful every day that God allowed us to live and serve here in Petacciato, Italy. 

I am looking forward to seeing God's work in our life, in the lives of our people, in Italy and in the world. 

So. 

New year ---> New year resolutions!!! 

I know that most people don't believe in new year resolutions. Because they don't last or whatever.

But I do! I like them! New year, new beginning, new chance... I know that any new day can be the beginning of something new, but it is nice to start a new calendar year purposefully. Formalizing and verbalizing wishes and goals are the first step. Sticking to them is work. I might fail one day, pick up again the other. That's how it goes. :) 

So. 

Here are some of My New Year Resolutions: 

1. Organize the office! Seriously!

2. Organize the house spot on! Everything must have a place!

3. Eat better. Period.

4. Make something from Pinterest every day. Recipe, craft, organizing or cleaning idea whatever. 

5. Watch more Korean dramas to keep up my Korean. 주기난대!

6. Exercise. Like...every day. Even if it's jumping up and down to reach spider webs with my duster. 

7. Put myself out there every day and become Italian all the way.

8. Learn. Italian. Period. 

9. Vacuum every day. Goodbye little dust kittens.

10. Find the positive side of Everything!

11. Keep the house always guest-ready. You never know when an Italian will pop his/her head in for a visit. Italians don't believe in calling ahead, showing up is the proper thing to do!

12. Expose Benjamin to more art, music, languages, crafts, science etc. 

13. Pray for Benjamin's salvation every day and lead him to Jesus every day!

14. Laugh more. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Laugh at yourself too. 

15. Humble yourself and apologize immediately. 

16. Forgive freely over and over again. 

17. Learn new skills.

18. Read more Christian literature.

19. Learn about all the cheeses available in the delis and supermarkets.

20. Be kind!

21. Be kind!!

22. Allow God to grow me, change me, form me, prune me into a woman more like Him every day.

23. Rest in Jesus. He is all I need. He is enough. 

24. Appreciate the season you are in. And by "season" I don't mean spring or summer. 

25. Be SALT. Season people's SOUP. 

26. Keep your broken arm inside your sleeve. 

27. Listen well. 

28. When you bow, bow low. 

29. Use the word "gnarly" more often. 

30. Give God the glory always and in everything!

Please Lord help me! :)

Happy New Year to all of my two subscribers, Sara and Tamara,

and to everybody else!

A little treat: my favoritest outfit ever!

Buon Anno! :)

Spring in December

Beautiful day!!! You wouldn't know it's December 28! Birds are chirping and I was too warm in my light spring coat. We walked over to our coworkers house this morning to drop off some Christmas presents. The sea looked beautiful, bright, clear and deep blue! 

Then we walked back home to get some lunch. I saw that all my neighbors had their clothes and sheets out drying in the sun so I decided to do the same. Wanted to ask husband to hang the clothes so I could get to making lunch, but 1. Italian men DO NOT do any chores here, especially not something as public as hanging clothes, 2. he came down with the stomach flu just when we got home. :/

Downton Abbey and Japanese sweets

Downton Abbey! Who doesn't love it?! It's one of my top two favorite shows. I just watched the Christmas special of season 4 this afternoon. It was soooo good and over 90 minutes long!! :)  I think they will start showing season 4 in the US in January. 

I just read an article on the Huffington Post. Sophie McShera (Daisy) reveals a rather disgusting detail. There is a "no wash" policy in place so the costumes can keep their historic look. 

"We do stink, as they don't wash our costumes... They have these weird patches which are sewn into the armpits and which they wash separately."

We can't imagine the Dowager Countess approves of this.

I got caught up a little bit in looking at gorgeous and super cute Japanese desserts this afternoon. 

I mean, seriously!  Who can make these! So beautiful!!

Tomorrow. Back to work.

Christmas day

Weather today: sunny and windy. Temperature: 60's.

Reminded me of Easter-weather. 

I really really missed the. Michigan-snow. But I am content. 

This was our first Christmas without any family around. It was hard, we missed our families. 

At the same time this was the most relaxed Christmas I have ever had! 

We were playing with Benjamin's new toys, watching Christmas movies and hung out all day. 

We watched: 1. Despicable Me 2 (Christmas present from sister-in-law Amy)

2. Holiday Inn (1942) with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby

3. Little Women with Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes etc. 

We also read and talked about the Christmas story and Jesus' birth with Benjamin. 

To church we could go not. Obviously. Still no car. Trusting The Lord on that really hard!!

Benjamin with his new truck. This was the first time for him to get out of the house since he got sick 3-4 days ago!

Merry Christmas everybody!

A new kind of Christmas

1| pigeon mail 
2| raspberry almond shortbread thumbprints
3| polka dot nails
4| natural and raw Christmas
5| black and white Christmas

I have loved that pigeon the moment I laid eyes on it. Wish I had a sewing machine...and fabric..and some embroidery floss.. and an embroidery needle... I would make it this hour!

The thumbprint cookies turned out A-MAZING! I made two batches today, one regular and one gluten-free batch. The almond drizzle on top is the crown! Melt-in-your-mouth heaven!!!

Can't wait till tomorrow, Christmas Eve when I can finally start eating them. Thought about bringing some over to the neighbors, but they are so good now I'm not sure I want to share them. 

Black and white, natural and raw Christmas. I'm loving the idea! This year is very different for us in many ways. One of those is Christmas. We are not gonna be around any family or friends this year. Well, old friends that is. Anyway. Also I couldn't bring any of our Christmas stuff with us from Michigan. So we started from scratch again. We bought a scrawny little Christmas tree at a sale and made all the ornaments ourselves. I used many black and white accents in my holiday decoration. White paper snowflakes and rosettes, crocheted black and white snowflakes, white lacey candle holders,white pompom Christmas lights (which are the cutest things by the way) etc. I miss our stuff but I kind of like this new kind of Christmas color-palette at the same time. 

I think it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship haha! :) 

Last day of school

So Friday was the last day of kindergarten for Benjamin. He has been anticipating it for days! The parents were all invited to a Christmas program in the morning. The children all "lined up" and sang Christmas songs and recited some Christmas poems. The parents were all squeezing, trying to see the "little people", some of us even stood up on a chair to see and to be able to take some pictures. 

It was nice seeing Benjamin singing in Italian! :)

Na. Penteken volt Benike utolso napja az ovikaban. Mar nagyon varta szegeny!! A szulok mind meg voltak hivva egy kis karacsonyi musorra pentek reggel. A gyerekek mind felsorakoztak es karacsonyi enekeket enekeltek es szavaltak. A szulok egymas hegyen-hatan nyomakodtak (nyomakodtunk :), paran meg fel is alltunk szekekre hogy jobban lassunk es fotozni tudjunk. Jo volt latni, hogy Benike is enekelte olaszul a kis dalokat :)

As part of the celebrations Benjamin wished to watch some Christmas videos under the tree. He was soooo excited!!! Then when it was time for bed he asked me if he could sleep under the tree. I agreed thinking I would just transport him to his bed later. So I left him there. He called 2 minutes later saying: Egh...it's too boring, mama. Im going to bed. 

:)

Aznap este Benike a karacsonyfa alatt kivant karacsonyi meseket nezni. Megengedtem neki, gondoltam hogy ugyis visszaviszem az agyaba kesobb, miutan elaludt. Par perc mulva odahivott es mondta: Aahh, tul unalmas, mama, megyek lefekudni.

:)

Just another normal day

So this is a recent shot of us. Benjamin is holding a little present with candies and a CD with Christmas songs on it for children, in Italian of course. Santa Claus visited their kindergarten today. :) He was so excited! 

"Mama! It was the Real Santa! Because he had a Horse!!!"

"Really! Well, I didnt know Santa had a horse... Did the horse pull his slay?"

"Nooo!! He was Riding on it!!"

We are obviously talking about the Italian Santa.

Ez a kep tegnap keszult rolunk. Benike kezeben egy kis csomag van, Mikulas bacsi latogatott el hozzajuk ma az oviba. Olyan izgatott volt!

"Mama! A Milukas az Igazi volt!! Mert volt egy lova!"

"Oh, igen? Haaat...nem tudtam, hogy a mikulasnak van lova... A lo huzta a szankot?"

"Neeem!! Mikulas a lovon ult!"

Nyilvanvaloan az olasz mikulasrol beszelunk, aki lovon kozlekedik. 

Benjamin with his best friend from kindergarten, Simone

Benike es legjobb kis baratja az ovibol, Simone

So today Scott and I walked to the Tabaccheria to charge Scott's phone and also to practice a little bit of Italian. The little old man is so cute in the booth, I wish I could speak better, I would just ask him if I could sit with him for a while and listen to his life story. The tabaccheria (tobacco shop) by the way is very small, has a small counter, and shelves with glass all around and up the walls. Behind the glass you see these amazing little things, deodorants from the nineties, little plastic doll from the seventies, dusty bottles of cologne, old looking but never used make-up, vintage cigarette lighters, really old postcards, small flowery soaps for ladies.... I dont know if those things are for sale or for decoration only. I think they are for sale. It is amazing though, it is like a time travel looking at them. 

The objects are always the same behind the glass, nobody ever touches or buys them. At least not that you can tell. 

Little side story..

Anyhooo.

Walking back to our appartamento I found this thing on the ground. 

Looks like something...like a cross between a cacti and a chestnut. I gotta investigate.

Scott es en ma elsetaltunk a dohanyaru trafikba. Scottnak fel kellett toltenie a telefonjat, es egy kis olaszt is akartunk gyakorolni. A kis oreg ember olyan aranyos, ha kicsit jobban tudnek olaszul, megkernem, hogy hadd uldogeljek vele egy kicsit, szivesen meghallgatnam az elettortenetet. A trafik amugy nagyon cuki, kicsi pultja van, es az egesz falat beboritjak a vitrines polcok. A polcokon pedig egy csomo regi aru van, 8o-as evekbol valo poros kolnis uvegek, pici szappanok, 30 evesnek kinezo poros haju baba, regi ongyujto, nagyon regi kepeslapok stb. Mintha az ido megallt volna a vitrin mogott. Ugy tunik soha senki nem nyitja ki az uveget, nem vesz semmit. De akkor miert! Dekoracio? Ki kell nyomoznom. 

Kis kitero...

Szoval.

Ahogy jovunk hazafele, az uton talaltam ezt az erdekes termest.. nem lattam meg soha ilyet, mintha egy kaktuszt es egy gesztenyet kereszteztek volna. 

Here is the 5 Liter of olive oil Scott got for the 3 days of olive picking he did a couple of weeks ago. 

It tastes really good and fresh! Nothing you can buy at the store for sure!

I like to pour some on a small plate, season it with some salt, pepper and basil... aslice up some fresh baguette and dip them in the oil....mmm. Molto buono!!

Itt az 5 liter oliva olaj amit Scott kapott a 3 napi oliva bogyo szedesert. Nagyon finom es friss az ize. Ilyet nem lehet a boltban venni, az biztos.  Ugy a legfinomabb, hogy toltok egy kis olajat egy kis tanyerkara. Meghintem soval es borssal, es egy kis bazsalikommal... majd friss es puha bagett darabokat martogatok bele...... Molto buono!! 

It is a little hard to see, but there is a white statue between the trees. It is Padre Pio. I have never heard anything about this guy before we moved to Italy, but he is obviously very "influential" in this region in the life of the Catholics. 

We see him everywhere, his statues to be more precise, on squares, in parks, in front of apartment buildings, there are a galore of things that they named after him, bakeries, streets, schools etc. 

We will talk about him and his influence on the Italian culture later. 

Kicsit nehez latni, de van egy fehez szobor a fak kozott. Ez Pio Atya. Mielott Olaszorszagba koltoztunk, nem hallottam soha errol a fickorol, de ebben a tersegben nagyon nagy imadata van a katolikusok koreben. Mindenhol ott van a szobra, parkokban, tereken, tarsashazak elott, egy csomo dolgot elneveztek rola, pekseget, iskolat, utcakat...stb. Kesobb majd beszelunk az olasz kulturara tett hatasarol. 

Christmas concert and worship

We had at least 200 people present tonight at our church in Termoli at the Christmas service and concert. Several churches came together from the region to fellowship and worship together. 

It was really nice!

Legalább 200-an voltak ott ma este az imaházunkban, Termoliban a karácsonyi istentiszteleten es koncerten. Számos gyülekezet volt képviseltetve a régióból. Nagyon szép alkalom volt! 

Toni (elder in Termoli church) is greeting the assembly

Toni (a Termoli gyülekezet egyik vezetője) üdvözli a jelenlevőket 

The worship time was very nice, great music, beautiful singing. Many familiar songs... it was fun singing them in Italian.

A dicsőítés nagyon szép volt, zene nagyszerű, sok ismerős ének....amiket érdekes volt olaszul énekelni. 

This is Filomena introducing Regin, who was teaching tonight. On all my shots her hand is in motion! Typical Italian... Awesome! :) 

Filomena bemutatja Regint, aki az igét hirdette ma este. Az összes képen Filomena keze mozgásban volt! Tipikus olasz...haha!! :) 

During coffee break Filomena entertained the kids with songs with motions. 

Benjamin is wearing the red backpack. 

A kávé szünet alatt Filomena mutogatós énekekkel szórakoztatta a gyerekeket. 

Benike is ott áll, piros hátizsákkal. 

This kids thing was in the coffee break thus people are walking around. 

Ez a gyerek enekles a kaveszunetben volt, ezert jarkalnak az emberek :)

Snowflakes, snow cake etc.

Snowflakes

We just recently discovered this cute little mall (actually not so little). It is in San Salvo, a town about 15 kilometers from us. The first time we went there it was already beautifully decorated for Christmas. I love the snowflakes hanging from the ceiling!

Also browsing Pinterest this time of the year is such an inspiration! :) I decided to try crocheting snowflakes.

It was actually easier that I thought. This is my first design, but I wanna try other ones too. 

I really wanted to harden them somehow, so they wouldnt be all flappy, but I didnt have all the fancy chemicals to do so. So I figured I would try Decoupage glue, or mod podge. It worked perfectly! I brushed the glue on both sides of the snowflakes and left them out on the radiator to dry. They hardened in a few hours! 

Most nemregen fedeztunk fel egy cuki kis bevasarlokozpontot (annyira nem kicsi).San Salvo varosban van, kb 15 kilometerre tolunk. Mar gyonyoruen fel volt diszitve karacsonyosan. :) Nagyon tetszenek a hatalmas hopelyhek amelyek a plafonrol lognak. Az interneten is olyan sok otletet lehet talalni. Elhataroztam, hogy kiprobalom hogy kell hopelyheket horgolni. Nem is volt nehez egyaltalan. Egy kreativ boltokban kaphato kulonleges ragasztoval meg megszilarditani is sikerult oket. 

Here are some links to crochet snowflakes patterns:

Horgolt hopehely leirasok (angolul):

Pattern 1

Pattern 2

Pattern 3 

Snow cake

I used my awesome carrot cake recipe! Instead of shredded carrots, I used shredded SWEET POTATOES! I also made up this incredibly fluffy, light and just-sweet-enough "Snow frosting". Enjoy!!!
Hotorta! A jol bevalt repa torta receptemet hasznaltam, de reszelt sargarepa helyett reszelt edes gyokeret hasznaltam. Ha erdekel a recept magyarul, irj es leforditom!

SNOW CAKE

{gluten-free}

1/2 cup SUGAR

1 cup CANOLA OIL {or APPLE SAUCE}

3 EGGS

2 cup FLOUR 

(any gluten-free all-purp.flour mix works too)

2 teaspoon CINNAMON, ALL-SPICE, CLOVES mix

1 teaspoon BAKING SODA

1 teaspoon VANILLA

2 cups raw sweet potatoes, shredded

1 cup CHOPPED WALNUTS

Combine all ingredients. Preheat oven 350 F. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until top is firm and toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Cut the cake into 3 layers. Fill with the SNOW FROSTING. 

SNOW FROSTING

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

Beat together until "hard". 

Last night we had a little time as a family just relaxing, watching Christmas movies and making ornaments. Try this cute little origami Santa Claus. 

Tegnap este egyutt pihiztunk csaladilag, karacsonyi filmeket neztunk es karacsonyi diszeket keszitettunk. 

Probalt ki ezt a cuki kis origami mikulast! 

I cant wait to have Benjamin home from school today. Weekend is here!!! Lots more Christmas crafts to do!!!!! :) 

Alig varom, hogy Benike hazaerjen az ovibol. Itt a hetvege!!! Sok kreativkodas!!!! :)

Focus Focus

Buborekban: Hany olasz szo is van osszesen??!

Our life these days:

breakfast, get kid to school, studying, studying, studying, lunch, studying, 

studying, collecting kid from school, studying, dinner, studying, 

evening snack, studying, *yawn*yawn*, stu-dy-ing....*yawn* sleeping

And then start over again :)

Eletunk mostanaban errol szol:

reggeli, Benike ovika, tanulas, tanulas, tanulas, ebed, tanulas,

tanulas, Benike hazajon ovikabol, tanulas, vacsora, tanulas, *asitas*

*asitas*, ta-nu-las.... *asitas* alvas.

And masnap ugyanez kezdodik elolrol. :)

We love it though. 

Every day we are so thankful to God for bringing us to a place where He desires us to serve. It would be easy to say sometimes, Oh I dont know... this doesnt really feel like "serving" since I'm "just" learning the language.... The reality is that many times I would just like to skip the training and the "preparation part", and jump to the "ministry part". But to be formed and molded in His hands is just as important! 

I must allow room for His sovereign time schedule in my life. And that is what I intend to do!

Today I want to be obedient and do my job here and now!

Because that is what He has for me today.

De nem banjuk. Minden nap olyan halasak vagyunk Istennek, hogy elvezetett bennunket szolgalatunk helyere. Konnyu neha azt gondolni, hogy "Aaa, ezt nem igazan erzem szolgalatnak, hiszen "csak" tanulunk...De a valosag az, hogy sokszor szeretnek kihagyni a felkeszulesi idot, a kikepzest, es azonnal a "szolgalatba" ugranek. De az Ur kezeben formalodni, megnyesodni eppoly fontos!

Meg kell engednem az Ur idoziteset az eletemben. Es pontosan ezt akarom tenni!

Ma akarok engedelmes lenni, es megtenni ami ram bizva. 

Es ma a tanulas van ram bizva. 

Buborekan: En tudok..... Koncentralj koncentralj

Buborekban: ragozas, igeidok, be kell inditanom egy adag ruhat, mult ido, jovo ido, ehes vagyok, FOKUSZ!!!

A jo hir: meg fogom en ezt tanulni...... idovel...