7 simple things to help you relax

Is there a direct correlation between
A. not washing your hair in the morning {because it still looks "pretty" fresh] knowing that you ALWAYS regret that decision an hour later already but somehow the day always gets away from you and it is hard to find the time later for washing and blowing out your hair and you are stuck with dirty hair all day
and
B. having a cr@ppy day?
Just sayin

[A few things that helped me wind down and relax tonight]

1. I was alone for 3 full hours [okay, Benjamin Bean was sleeping in the other room]

2. A deliciously HOT foot bath with delicious smelling bubble soap

3. My journal and my STAEDTLER fineliner set at hand

4. A good show [Lie To Me]

5. A nice cup of black tea with honey

6. Danish sugar cookies [that live in a beautiful tin container]

7. Perfect lighting consisting of a creamy off-white table lamp and a couple of peach candles

Belly-time

I had a bad weekend. Started out on Friday, when I "decided" to fall into this foul mood and be grumpy and ungrateful and discontented and and and... [you get my drift]. A couple little things started me out on the wrong foot on Friday morning and it just went down from there. And you know how it is. Once you start sinking, you are done for the day. Well... my depression lasted all weekend. PMS also didn't help things in the right direction... So basically I was sick for 3 days. Inside and out. I couldn't but think of Jonah in the Belly [although my "belly-time" maybe wasn't just as dramatic]. Nevertheless it ended in a similar way. Me, coming to the Father and surrendering.

I got a book in the mail on Friday. [or Thursday] [Thanks to my wonderful Ladies Bible Study group back home in Michigan who are studying a book this year, and our pastor's wife and good friend, Cathy for sending me a copy].
[By the way, it costs way too much to mail stuff between Italy and the US, so extra Thank You to you, Cathy!]
The book: Lord, only you can change me by Kay Arthur.
My heart is full, I am so thankful. God gave me this book exactly at the moment in my life when I was so sick of what I saw in my own heart. I need a change! Desperately!
I want to grow, be more like Jesus, and not be a nag and a grumpy, discontented wife and mama.
I am actually incredibly grateful for every single thing in my life! 
So Lord, here I am, change me! Pleeeease!!!

Blessed Easter everyone!

These are the projects I WANTED TO DO for Easter but DIDN'T. :)

Ezeket a projekteket akartam megcsinalni husvetra, de nem jott ossze. :)

Easter family picture 2014.

Husveti csaladi kep 2014.

Benjamin with his Easter treats. Here in Italy there is not really an egg-coloring tradition. Instead they give children these huge chocolate eggs with a little toy surprise in it. 

Benike a husveti ajandekaival. Itt Olaszorszagban nem igazan van tojasfestesi hagyomany. Helyette hatalmas csokitojasokat adnak a gyerekeknek, amiben egy kis jatek-meglepetes van. 

One of the our friends came over and brought these nice treats for us. Homemade olive oil, Easter pastries, farm eggs, locally made pasta. 

Egyik ismerosunk athozott par finomsagot nekunk. Hazi keszitesu oliva olaj, hazi tojas, husveti sutik, helyi szarazteszta. 

In church here there is not a big emphasis on Easter somehow. But our hearts were full with thankfulness and joy over our Lord's resurrection. He is risen! He is risen indeed! :)

A gyulekezetben itt nem unneplik kulonosebben a husvetot (sajnos). De a mi sziveink telve voltak halaval es orommel az Ur Jezus feltamadasa felett. :)

Easter Monday

I finally finished editing the video from Easter Monday. I had like 63 video snippets so it took a little while ;)

We had a nice picnic with the church of Pietracatella and friends in the country at an old mill. We had lots of opportunity to practice Italian, make friendships and get to know people better.

And of course to eat. When it comes to food, Italians dont mess around. :) We are talking about a 6 course "picnic".

This video is a fun summary of this delicious day :)

Vegre befejeztem ezt a videot... volt vagy 63 kis videom amit osszevagtam. Beletelt egy par napba. 

De mostmar keszen van es remelem tetszeni fog! :)

A pietracatellai gyulekezettel es baratokkal piknikeztunk egy szep regi malomban a videken. Sok alkalmunk volt egesz nap gyakorolni az olaszt, beszelgetni, ismerkedni.

Es persze enni. Amikor az ennivalorol van szo, az olaszok nem trefalnak. 6 fogasos "piknik"rol beszelunk. :)

Ez a video egy vidam kis osszefoglalasa a napnak. :)

Bike ride to the country

Saturday is always nice. We sleep in, play with Benjamin, watch cartoons (in Italian of course, always must learn), eat a leisurely brunch and go out on the beach. Quite honestly after a week of studying all the time we get pretty worn out by Saturday. It is nice to be able to turn off everything and just relax a little.

This Saturday I made lunch (also for signore Nicola, because his wife, Bettina is gone to Germany) then we decided on a bike ride to the country. 

Well...this is what happened.
Szombat mindig nagyon jo. Sokaig alszunk, meset nezunk (termeszetesen olaszul, mert ugye mindig tanulunk), kenyelmesen eszegetunk es lemegyunk a tengerpartra. Oszinten szolva az egesz heti tanulas utan elegge kifaradunk, es jolesik pihenni, lazitani egy kicsit. Most szombaton ebedet keszitettem (a haziurnak is, mert a felesege Nemetorszagban van egy hetig) utana pedig ugy dontottunk, elmegyunk egy csaladi biciklizesre a hatarba. Hat...ez tortent. :)

"I can do it! I can totally do it!!"
...
"Can't do it..."

Lord of the flies

He is good. 

He caught that fly with his hands in the air.

:)

Studying Italian. Our life.

Who doesn't love elder flower cordial!!!

So here I am doing my daily round...actually literally around the town. 

I love walking in town, seems like there is always something new or interesting I notice. And take picture of. 

This below is the Piazza Padre Pio. Padre Pio seems to be the saint they worship in this area with the greatest intensity. It is really sad to see a little (or big) Padre Pio statue or shrine in so many yards here. People are really sooo religious and confused... We had a conversation with our neighbor yesterday and Easter came up and she asked if we (protestants) celebrate Easter. I told here that yes, it is one of our biggest celebrations. Then she started talking about how it doesnt matter what you believe in, just believe in something. And God is the same whether you are a protestant, mormon, Jehovah's witness or muslim...I was really shocked, I dont know why...I guess I just wasn't expecting it... And then all day after that I had a very heavy heart for her and all the other people who are deceived and don't know the Real Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Well, this is a nice panorama picture i took on my walk the other day. 

I love the sea. (il mare) It has a different color every day! Sometimes it is deep blue, other times it is turquoise, like the Carribbeans. When it is stormy the sea looks grey or poison green. It is really amazing to me and I cant wait to see every day what color it is gonna be that day.  

One of my favorite houses in old town Petacciato. You cant really see it on this photo but there is a large terrace wraps the whole front of the house with lounge chairs and coffee tables...of to sit out there, read a good book and drink a tea...

And THAT (at the end of the row) is my favorite house in Petacciato. 

It is deliciously secluded from the traffic of the street, but still in downtown. It is quite small, which is perfect, and had a marvelous view of the sea.

Potted plants outside the house...so cute!

And this is the back side of the house with a rustic little English style garden. It had so much potential. I would put out a nice little table and chairs, umbrellas...and create a tranquil little place. Just me and the vast sea...and potted flowers and sunshine. 

And my book.

And a tea. 

:)

On my walk the other day I discovered ELDERFLOWERS on the side of the road!! They were kind of deep in the bushes, on a slope so I didnt really dare to step out into the unknown... When I did muster enough courage to step into the tall grass with one foot to reach the flowers, I heard little running steps and scurrying sounds and other scary noises...my guess is that there was at least one mouse and a gecko or lizard in that spot or nearby....and of course a green worm that stuck on the top of my right running shoe...Ew! Nature...

Anyway...I did manage to pick two flower clusters which is not much but I could make 6 liters of elderflower cordial out of them. It is amazing. 

See the recipe below.

ELDER FLOWER CORDIAL

(Bodzabole in Hungarian)

my mom's recipe

10 liter water

4 elder flower clusters

5 teaspoons of lemon acid 

60 dkg sugar (3 cups)

1 cup sugar made into syrup

2 lemons sliced up

Mix everything together well until all the sugar dissolves and let sit for 24 hours. Covered and at room temperature.

Then pour into bottles through a filter (to catch the lemon and flower pieces).

Keep in the fridge and enjoy anytime!

So refreshing!! :)

Just a couple more nice view pictures

Getting back in shape. Like really!

Weight loss is normally not complicated. Diet + exercise = losing weight!

Simple enough. I have been trying to lose some {or more} weight ever since I have had Benjamin. The baby weight didnt just fall off me with nursing. {like I was promised. Naive little Edina...}But of course I didnt work super hard on it either. The problem is I dont stick to it long enough. If I did, I would be done with it already. 

Anyway...On January 1st I made my resolutions, I started eating healthier, I cut out most of the snacking, and gave up Diet Coke {except occasional sips} and all together started to be more active. 

I have lost about 10 pounds {4.5 kg} so far. But really, I didnt do much exercise at all 

{because I HATE, LOATHE, DISPISE exercise, really}.

But it seems like all the sudden I plateaud {is it how you spell it?}. The digital "pin" of the scale hasn't moved for a couple weeks now, and like it or not I have to accept the fact that I will have to start doing MORE.

Gggaaaaaahhhhh!!!

My goal is not to lose not 10 but 47 lbs!

So. Starting today doubling the efforts in 

1. {gag} exercise like jogging one hour every day + weights at night

2. cutting out my SanPellegrino lemonade

3. cutting out any kinds of carbs after 3 PM

4. only veggie snacks at night 

That will do. For now. 

Feel free to keep me accountable. 

Oh, and...for the record... Current weight: 157 lbs.

There, I said it.

Hey, if you want check out my inspirational "Get Healthy" Pinterest board here.

Here are some of my favorite pins from that board

Treadmill desk...Yes, please!

link

Cute workout outfit

link

100 KCal snack packs

link

Workout tip jar

After each workout tip yourself  €1

Brilliant!

I can relate...

Maria Kang

link

A good Tuesday

It has been a long day, I mostly just wanted to put up these few pictures I took today. 

Most of my strength was sucked out of me this afternoon while stressing out about the parent-teacher meeting that was coming up at 4. I knew I was going without a translator this time. But all went fine, all three teachers were super nice. I finally found out their names {after 7 months it was about time}.

Maestra Eva, Maestra Manuela and Maestra Ramona. 

They all thought Benjamin has improved a lot in Italian and he will be fine in September when he starts "real" school. It is a big relief for me. Kindergarten ends in June 15 so after that we will have to be creative about keeping up his Italian. Go find kids to play with every day, read books, watch Italian tv etc. 

I also had the chance to talk to two mamas while waiting in the line. Very excited about getting to know more and more people every day. :)

I went for a walk after lunch as a break from studying and took a few pictures

This one below...I cant seem to get used to the sight of clothes hanging outside {for the whole world to see}.

Even though I do the same. I love it, it is part of the Italian life. 

Beautiful poppies

I always wanted to name my daughter POPPY

I walked to the other side of town. I love the different shades of green in the fields, meadows and trees.

Petacciato from a different angle

I love how people put potted plants outside. I see it everywhere in town. 

After dinner we went out for our evening passeggiata as usual. This is very important part of the local social life. I love love love the balmy air in the evening, it is intoxicating to me. You find this nowhere else in the world. This was one of the first things I fell in love with on my first trip to Italy in 1994.

On our way home we stopped by the playground for a few minutes. It is so nicely lit at night. 

So tired. Off to bed.

Finally chatted with the mamas!

So. I am finally driving on my own. This might not be a big achievement anywhere else...but in Italy! :) 

Most peope drive like c r a a a a z y  not kidding, really. We just saw a big accident on Sunday on the way back from church. It was aweful, two cars totaled, one of them flipped upside down in the ditch. So many times cars pass each other while other cars are coming from the other direction as well. They squeeze between each other. It freaks me out every time I see it. So now you see it is a BIG DEAL for a shaky-knee driver like myself to hit the road on my own. 

We decided to go out for an afternoon passeggiata before dinner. We were hoping that we would run into some of Benjamin's friends from school and their mamas of course. I had big plans like striking up conversations and some such things. 

{you need a whole lot of courage, you know, to start talking to someone while you are still doubting your own language abilities}

Anyways, we did meet Giada {whom Benjamin always calls "Gianna" for some reason} and her mama, Francesca and another little girl with her mama, Isabella. The girls are Benjamin's classmates. They were all scooting around while we, the parents were just standing around. I finally mustered enough courage to ask Francesca what the word for "scooter" was in Italian. Then they asked me what it was in English :) Then we started talking!! Yayy!!! Finally!! I was so happy, the ice was broken! Turns out their little girls are starting first grade too with Benjamin in September. Hopefully they will let me know if there is anything to know about school start. It would be nice not to miss anything. 

Benjamin's trying to impress the girls with his special scooter tricks

Scott and Benjamin in front of his {future} elementary school

the scooter bandits

Mystery of the day

If anybody knows the answer, PLEASE tell me.

Why on earth are there water bottles lines up on the balcony and 

down in the two corners of the door?

And why are two plastic bags tied to the balcony bars?

It's killing me, people.

Dinner tonight: Korean bulgogi (marinated meat) with rice and green beans. And an egg of course. :)

Sunday lunch with church and some relaxing

So. We had a real fun lunch with our church {well, part of it} today. The ladies brought such yummy food. We all passed around what we brought and shared the goodness. I really enjoyed trying the other ladies' cooking. Especially when we got to dessert...oh my word! That was heaven on earth, so good! So good! It was worth every single calories!!! 

{probably all 5000 of them LOL}

I am really enjoying getting to know more and more people from church. Expecially the ladies... I would love to learn a lot from them!

These two guys above {both wearing stripes} are from Romania. Turns out they speak some Hungarian!! Yayy! So excited! It was surreal hearing them speak in my mother tongue. I dont hear that often these days.

These desserts...my life will never be the same again...

After lunch we helped clean up. Then husband and I both had the same idea...

Let's go down to the BEACH!

We may or may not have seen a grown man {middle aged} laying on the beach with a bare bottom. Not joking. Couldn't believe our eyes {which we turned away real quick after discovery}

Who doesn't need some sunshine where the sun never shines after a long winter, right?

Gag. 

Not.