Nov 23, 2011

gratitudine

I might not be celebrating Thanksgiving this year, but I thought I would at least share what I am thankful for:

1. God's plan. And when I say this I don't mean His plan for my life, I mean His Plan that is so much bigger than me.

2. Family -My family at home in the states, my family here in Rome and the family that is in Bolivia.

3. Freddy

4. Friends - New and Old.

5. Work...something I always took for granted but after 6 months of not really working, I am thankful for employment. I am also thankful that Freddy has work.

There is more, but those are the top 5

Sep 7, 2011

life in translation

It may not be true for everyone who attempts to learn a new language, but for me learning Italian was far more than just learning how to speak using words I that had been previously unknown to me.  Learning a new language meant that I had to learn how to express all that I am in a fresh vocabulary.  It meant that I could not rely on sarcasm, or humor or even intelligence (not right away).  Not even how you moved your hands or your normal facial expressions were a sure fire bet that you were going to be understood.

While this learning process is far from over, I was pretty sure that transitioning back into my native mother tongue would prove simple.  I was mistaken.  Before I lived in Italy for 9 months I had never once had any issue ordering at a Mexican restaurant.  But, since returning it is just one of the many things I struggle with.  Now I feel like I should order in Spanish (another language I heard a lot of in Italy, but do not speak), thankfully my brain knows that while I may very well understand far more Spanish than I ever have I do not know it.  What my brain seems to forget is that I do not need to thus switch to Italian to compensate for my lack of Spanish.  So what happens is when it is my turn to order I think in Spanish, I begin to utter Italian and then I clumsily finish in English and end up just sounding incompetent.

Another fun side effect Italian has had on my brain is that whenever I need to call someone (anyone) I think the whole conversation through in Italian first, just to be sure I know how to say what I need to tell them in Italian.  Never-mind the tiny detail that very rarely does the person on the other end need me to speak in Italian   For example, this morning after having been home for over 3 months I needed to call to schedule a doctors appointment.  Before calling, I thought to myself...

Vorrei un appuntamento con il Dottore. Ho anche bisogno di ottenere alcuni esami del sangue fatto.
 
This is highly unnecessary, but I do this before almost every phone call or important conversation.  I have no idea why, habit I suppose. 
 
Then there are the people I still speak to in Italy, I love chatting with them, they are beyond patient with  my faltering Italian.  The thing is after I finish talking with them I want to share about our conversation with my friends and family here, but that means I need to translate their humor and voice into English, and it just never seems to capture the truth of who they are.
It's a funny thing living life in multiple languages.  I cannot imagine what it must be like for my friends who speak 3-7 languages fluently.  I admire them greatly and would imagine that their inter dialogue is pretty amusing at times.
   

Jul 9, 2011

Pinterest my new addiction

Okay so I will readily admit that I am a Pinterest addict, thanks to a number of friends who introduced me.  What is Pinterest?  It is a different kind of social network of sorts and kinda like your bookmarks tool all wrapped up into a visual wonderland for those of us who love to be inspired to do or at least admire what others do. 

Basically, you make online bulletin boards which you can label as you please and then each time you come across some picture or idea online that fits one of your bulletin boards you can pin it to that board.  Then you and others around the world can come back and look at all your nifty ideas any time you like.   I realized very quickly that just pinning things to the boards I had created was not going to be a good option.  What good are 20 random bulletin boards if you never actually use any of the inspiration on them?

So...I made a board and labeled it "Even I can Do This" and I am determined to take things from that board and others like my; "Cookin Good" or "Oh the Places I'll Go" board and make sure they get moved onto my boards such as; "Inspiration Realized" or "Been There Saw That".  I took it this next extra step, because I did not like the idea of coming back again and again to get inspired and then look back at the end of the year and realize just how lame and lazy I can be.  I am proud to say that in the past few weeks I have in fact moved a lot of ideas around. 

I Made Father's Day Gift Card for my Dad:
The Inspiration











My Version





 I made Garden Marker Rocks for my Mom:
The Inspiration

My Version   





 I made Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes:

The Inspiration
My Version while cookin                                        
Then Today I made Rosettes after watching a tutorial on someone's board:



 


quotes i love

  • "they will never care how much you know until they know how much you care."
  • "never be afraid to trust a well known God with an unknown future." - Corrie Ten Boom
  • "God doesn't need you, He loves you, that is much better."
  • "the world has yet to see what God can do through a man/woman who is totally commited to him." - D.L. Moody
  • "be who you is, cause if is ain't who you is, you is who you ain't."-
  • "some people say movies should be more like real life. I say real life should be more like the movies."