...a little empty

Antonello left 6 hours ago and is up in the sky flying towards Italia...I will be heading there at the end of February. We have spent the last 6 months with almost 24 hours a day being with eachother and while it was intense as we faced many difficulties, our time together was also exciting and beautiful. 

I feel a little empty but so full at the same time to know such a tender and compassionate soul. 

"Snow"attle and Diaper Dude

Well my friends, it has been quite an interesting and memorable Christmas here in Seattle. Aside from being able to spend my first Christmas with Antonello, we were hit with one of the worst snow storms in over 30 years. Welcome to "Snow"attle Antonello.

Apart from being homebound for almost 7 days, my mom, Antonello and I were not going to let the icy white stuff stop us, so we ventured out with the car a few of the days. We live on a very very very steep hill called Dravus so we had to find a different route to take, (our very first outing had us literally slipping down a semi-steep hill in the car...a little scary, I have to admit) but we were rock stars as we headed out in the snow.

This Christmas holiday started off a little rocky with the snow but ended up being absolutely wonderful filled with sledding, taking walks in the snow, solving puzzles, playing card games, eating chocolate and home-cooked Italian food, listening to Frank Sinatra's Christmas album, and making memories to last a lifetime! :o)

Eric and Susan, the couple that my mom works for, who are so kind and generous, blessed Antonello and I with a new flip video camera so here are a couple videos from that winter wonderland and Christmas morning. The first is of my backyard after one of the heaviest snow days (enough already!!!) and another is of our beloved Rufus. Eric and Susan are the proud parents of this wonderful corgi, Rufus, and while they have been away back east, we have gotten the privilege of watching over him. We like to call him 'diaper dude', seeing that he needs to wear a little dipey in his old age. We love him so. In this video, he wants my stocking on Christmas morning and won't stop until he gets a little taste! :)

snowy days, downtown Seattle, and memories!

albero di nonna (grammy's christmas tree!)

Here is grammy's little tree that we set up last night. As much as this family has become my family too, I am at a loss for words with how excited I am to see my mom. I don't think we have ever gone 6 months without seeing eachother..and if we have, we have never been this far apart. Bring on the home-made fudge!!!!!

heart of gratitude...

I have 10 more days in Napoli before Antonello and I step on a plane and head back to the states for Christmas. As much as I am ready to see my mom and to be immersed back in english...I have to stop and truly think about all I have experienced here in the last 6 months. It has been so difficult but so healing as well. There are so many things that I will miss and there are so many things that I am grateful for....here are a few today!

So so so so thankful for grammy...the food she cooks tastes delicious every single time but more importantly, she is one of the most wisest, patient, and faithful women I have ever known.As much as I miss having a dryer, there is nothing like the smell of clean clothes hung out to dry on the line....

I probably have 11.5 more years to go before I am fluent in italian :), but I am more than grateful for being able to learn another language and to gain new perspectives with this culture and this country.

I am finally done with all the ornaments for the children at church!!!! I hope they like them!

...mmmm...fresh veggies daily and see that espresso maker in the back?....my favorite time of day is when grammy makes caffe! Buonissimo!

Don't get me started on the bread...so wonderful and fresh and...actually, I might be turning into a piece of bread with how much I eat daily! :)

The family always tells me that I am, "pazza per frutta!" They are right, I am crazy for fruit!

poesia....

So Much Happiness

-Naomi Shihab Nye-

It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.

With sadness there is something to rub against,

a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.

When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,

something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.

But happiness floats.

It doesn't need you to hold it down.

It doesn't need anything.

Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,

and disappears when it wants to.

You are happy either way.

Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house

and now live over a quarry of dust and noise

cannot make you unhappy.

Everything has a life of its own,

it too could wake up filled with possibilities

of coffee cake and ripe peaches,

and love even the floor which needs to be swept,

the soiled linens and scratched records...

Since there is no place large enough

to contain so much happiness,

you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you

into everything you touch. You are not responsible.

You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit

for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,

and in that way, be known.

I bought a book of poems before I left for Italy, about 7 months ago in Santa Cruz, and I came across this poem which has touched my heart ever since. The highlighted words hold such truth for my life because I actually used to live in my own studio which was called the "Tree House" in California but now live over a street full of dust and noise each day....but even this CANNOT make me unhappy because it is about something deeper...something more meaningful than the way happiness floats. As much as I hate to see happiness disappear from my rooftop, I am left with something that stays. And as much as I forget this truth, when I remember, it is the sweetest taste.

keepin' busy

Along with the wonderful gift of being able to spend time with 2 friends from the U.S. of A., the 3 of us were able to take a day trip to Sorrento. It was absolutely beautiful, but a little chilly as we walked through the little streets lined with stores full of ceramics, wood-work, Italia clothing, and ones that were full of limoncello! Clint and I walked down to the water's edge and ate pizza under the cold, bright sun while the rest of the day held wonderful conversation and in the end, a MAD dash to the train station to drop them off on time. Driving in Napoli through the little, chaotic streets is almost like you are in a video game...good times.

along the cliffs looking up at the little town

another beautiful view of the buildings

a cool tree we found along the walk...JT was my photographer

eating lunch and yes...I brought my billy-bob teeth to Italia
(I wouldn't ME without them)

Aside from spending some much-needed time with friends, Antonello and I are keeping busy. The children's ministry at his church has asked me to help out with posters, crafts, etc., so my current project are these little foam ornaments where you have to weave little pieces of ribbon through eachother to create this effect...my oh my, I keep reminding myself and my hands, that are becoming crippled, that it's for the kids. It's all for the kids. :)


This Saturday, Antonello is speaking to the high school ministry at his church so he has been busy with preparing his talk as well as workin' hard in school. Every time I look at what he is studying, I think it's another foreign language; it's incredible what this boy knows! Aside from church and school, he is planning on getting a tattoo with our initials. How does it look? :)