Venice during Carnevale

Venice during Carnevale is CRAZY! People everywhere (and we went on an off day)! Our train was super crowded - shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, eye to eye - that close. Good thing I was with James - he's the only person I should be that close to. There were loads of fascinating costumes. Many people posing so we could photograph them while others just walked on and as if they were dressed normally. There were little stands everywhere so you could get your face painted (which we declined) though we did see some amazing artwork on the faces of passersby. Carnevale starts two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday which is the day before Ash Wednesday. It is marked by elaborate masks and costumes. Some of the costumes were just breathtaking.

Venice Alleyways & Waterways

On President's Day, James and I rode the train to Venice and just walked around for the afternoon. Here are some of the interesting shots of waterways and alleyways we took. That Monday was the day before Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnivale.

Lunch at Aelioli

One day in January, James took me and my friend Ann to lunch at Aelioli's. This place is supposed to be where Galileo hid out when he was being persecuted by the Catholic Church.

Great interior, amazing wine cellar that is actually tunnels that run for miles into the cool mountains, tasty food and fabulous ambiance.

Yes, I know I am posting these a bit late. I am so far behind in my blog updates. Hopefully, I can make up for that in the next few days.

Enjoy the photos...

WHAT??? I'm old enough to have a 14 year old?

Caleb & Madi at the bowling alley
Caleb, Madi & Stephen eating cake
Caleb, Jared & Madi at the bowling alley





Caleb turned 14 yesterday. It amazes me when I think of me having a child that old. But no, I am the mother of a teenager and a pre-teen (Jared). Caleb is growing to be a wonderful young man. We are so incredibly proud of him.

He is a funny, young man. He is not interested in many of the things that charm young people most. He is not interested in cell phones or texting, dressing in the style of the day, having a girlfriend, etc. He is more interested right now in doing well in school, playing video games, reading and listening to techo music on his ipod.

For his birthday Caleb wanted to go bowling with friends. Only one of the kids he invited was able to make it to bowling and that was Madison. However, Caleb did have two friends who bowled right after school and he went with them. So he was able to bowl two separate times on Friday. After bowling, we headed back to the house with Madi and her mom so they could play video games. Another friend of Caleb's, Stephen, lives just a block away from us and he joined Madi & Caleb for Wii games. After we had cake, Madi and her mom had to leave but Stephen was able to stay the night.

This last picture is just to show how tall Caleb is getting. We did the official measurement this morning and he has gained over 2 inches since the end of June. Jared has also grown over 2 inches since we moved into this house.

Jared & Tesla

Jared is holding Tesla. She is still a bit skittish but is getting more comfortable with us. She stays in the same room with us but won't sit on our laps. Occasionally she will try and sit near us but that is as close as she gets. She does sleep on the beds with the boys.

We are enjoying having her. Our only hope is that in time she will be completely comfortable with us.

One Word 2010

One little word change your life. I discovered this concept at Ali Edwards blog and decided to take the challenge myself. The challenge (or tradition as Ali refers to it) is to choose a word that could be a catalyst for enriching your life. A word to focus on, mediate on, pray about, and reflect on in my every day life.

I have thought about this a lot. Prayed about it a lot. And even discussed with James what he thought I should choose as my word. While I didn't choose any of the words he suggested I did incorporate his thoughts into the word I chose. I have already journaled about this in a beautiful journal I was given years ago.

I decided that this year my word will be FOCUS.

Focus ~ on God, growing myself spiritually by reading my bible daily, studying the Word more consistently and having a consistent, focused prayer life. There are times that I fall short in these areas and so I want to renew my commitment to my Lord.

Focus ~ on my family, by being calmer, more compassionate with the boys and James (when they hurt or are sick - trust me I am no Florence Nightengale :O)) Keep the tone of my voice less sharp especially when irritated. Do all things without complaining or disputing comes to my mind when I think on this. Be present and in the moment when I am spending time with them.

Focus ~ on health and wellness. Mine, by exercising 3-5 times a week, eating less junk and processed food. Eating more whole clean foods, more fruits and veggies and making more from scratch (I get better at this every year which helps with my family's health as well)

Focus ~ on growing myself in my craft. Trying new techniques, step out of my box, make my craft pay for itself. Update my etsy shop with new products frequently, make my display for our local Art Center and keep it up to date. Make at least 1-2 projects a week - not just cards. Work on being published by submitting to magazines or websites. This will challenge me to learn new techniques and continue to improve.

Focus ~ on our finances. Manage our money better, put more in savings, spend less on crafting (hence making the crafting pay for itself) and junk food (eating whole foods and those made from scratch). Less waste in our home, do without if it is NOT necessary. Think about purchases longer - no spontaneous spur of the moment purchase, especially high-ticket items. We don't usually do these things but with Christmas just barely behind us I always resolve to improve our stewardship of the monetary blessings we have received. I will also substitute teach 2-3 times a week to give us money for eating out, trips and crafting.

Focus ~ on less clutter. Continue cleaning out the house, taking things to the Thrift Store that we no longer need or want. Organize better so we know what we have. Keep my studio desk clean - this should also help me to be more productive when crafting.

Focus ~ on mentoring younger women with kind words and actions. No complaining about where we live, how small the base is, how much air pollution, how bad the school is etc. Really easy to listen to one person complain and add your own. So I am resolving to Focus on the positive and stay away from the negative. In doing this I hope to encourage those young women who are going through deployment or deployements with young children at home and living in a foreign country away from family. I want to encourage others by offering Crafting classes, sending cards, and freely giving encouraging words and prayers.

These are my thoughts for now. I will continue thinking on this, praying about this, and probably dreaming about it as well. I will do my best to work on being FOCUSED this year. What are your thoughts? Is there a word that comes to mind for YOU to implement? Think on it and let me know - we can keep each other accountable.

Thanks for sticking with me thus far.

edited to add I forgot this one thought when typing up my thoughts on One Word.

Focus ~ on digital scrapbooking. Record more of our memories with journaling, take more pictures including everyday life, not just the special occasions. My wonderfully sweet, loving husband got me Photoshop Elements and gave me a HOMEMADE gift certificate good for and digital scrapbooking classes of my choice. So I have no excuses not to learn how to do this. My software came with a class and I signed up for two Jessica Sprague digital scrapbooking classes. I am ready to go - just need to take the time to start.

Tesla - the MANX...

Meet Tesla, our new beautiful addition! Isn't she gorgeous? Our landlords finally agreed 2 days before Christmas that we could get the boys a cat for Christmas. We adopted Tesla from a soldier in Aviano that decided he couldn't care for her anymore. He actually adopted her from someone else that was leaving Italy and didn't want to carry her with them. The soldier we took Tesla from is anticipating going back to the US for a "Compassionate Reassignment" due to a surgery his wife just went through. He knew he wouldn't be able to take care of all the necessary work to get her back to the States is a short period of time so he put an ad in the paper. We were the first to respond and picked her up last Saturday.

here she is sleeping on one of the boys' computer chairs.

She is still a bit skittish but has only been here a week. Tesla, who was named by Caleb, is a Manx cat, which means she naturally has no tail ~ just a little nub where the tail would be and a curved spine. Makes her backside look a bit hunched over. She is a VERY vocal cat and loves to talk to us. She walks around crying and talking a lot. Particularly when she wants to be in the room with us but is still too scared to just jump into our laps. She has slept with both boys so she is sharing her love with them and adjusting just fine. She is still a bit jumpy and can run pretty fast if we scare her by getting up too quickly. Even though she is quite fluffy she doesn't shed very much at all. I have held her and petted her and brushed her and have had only a stray hair or two on my sweaters. Not bad - so far it looks like I shed more hair than she does.
Tesla is trying to ignore the camera here - silly girl.