Sounds of Fall

The other night I was driving to go work on my teaching for Sunday and decided to stop in a nearby neighborhood and go for a walk. The evening air was crisp, so I parked my car and headed out for a stroll to unwind and spend some time in prayer and reflection. This one particular street had a tree with tiny yellow leaves that had already begun falling from the tree. As I walked on that stretch of sidewalk I could hear the leaves crunching underneath my feet. The sound of that just did something to my soul. I took in the beautiful landscapes and trees, walked near the community garden, saw blooming flowers and veggies and life was good. The fresh air and half hour stroll was just what I needed.

I proceeded to Barnes and Noble, parked my laptop on the table with my decaf and typed away. I accomplished more the next 1.5 hours then I normally would have in 5 hours. It's funny b/c my sermon is on God's ability to multiply, as seen in the miracle of multiplying fish and loaves. Yet in this circumstance he multiplied my time- my need for refreshment and clarity in my Bible studying was definitely marked by God.

The sounds of fall are amazing!

Nana & Apple Pie

When Everybody Loves Raymond used to be on tv I loved watching that show and laughing at the extreme disfunction of that family. Yet at the same time I was very thankful that my mother in law is not like Marie Barone.

This past weekend Chris' mom came from Texas to visit us for a few days- to see where we now live, see our new church and see how much Liliana has grown. We had such a good time showing her around our city, taking her on some country roads to see the pretty landscape, playing with Liliana, eating some of the best Italian food ever and just hanging out.

I especially appreciated our last night together. Chris and Liliana were both in bed and Cathy and I were up talking. Our neighbor, Scott, knocked on our door about 9:30 with a plate of pipping hot apple pie he just made. Scott just graduated from college in May and is your typical frat, jock type of guy. However, he has this hidden baking talent. The past two Thanksgivings he has helped his grandma make apple pies, so has learned how to make flaky crusts. He was proud of his home made pie and wanted to share some with us. So Cathy & I stayed up til midnight eating pie and just sharing a heart to heart talk. Every time she visits we somehow end up having these long talks. Chris' mom and dad pastor a church in Texas, so I think she feels like there are not too many people she can open up to about her life. She must feel the freedom to share with me and know I will listen. And I want to be that for her.

(& I have to say Scott's apple pie was DELICIOUS!)

Great weekend and we can't wait til next time when PaPa can come too!

Celebrate Good Times

This weekend we went to Chicago for my cousin Bill's wedding. It was a time of celebration on so many different levels.

Celebrating Family- We had relatives travel in from Canada, DC, Kentucky, California, St. Louis & Wisconsin to be here. We all stayed at the same hotel and had so much fun sitting around talking while the kids played with their cousins. It inspired us so much that we are now planning annual family reunions where we can all come together in a different location, stay at a hotel and just have fun together.

Celebrating with Food- Greeks know how to eat. I was particularly glad to have delicious dolmathes. They are a pain to make, so I will often try to find them in Greek restaurants to satisfy my craving. Usually they are not made well, but these dolmathes were something to celebrate!

Celebrating with Dance- At one point I was holding hands with my aunt on one side and niece on the other, while the rest of my cousins, aunts, uncle, siblings were also in a line dancing with us. It is so much fun dancing with your family like that, especially seeing all the aunts and Uncle Frank smiling and having a good time. I also must say I was impressed with Bill's groomsman- at one point this guy was doing a back bend while holding on to a napkin in the line. Very impressive.

Celebrating with a Toast- As the groom, Bill took this opportunity on his wedding day to give the most touching speech. He expressed his gratitude for his brothers and mom and not only was he crying, but all the tables with family were tearing up. It was beautiful.

Our family has had more than our share of tears over the years, so it is just bliss when we can come together to laugh and celebrate good times!

Shoo Fly

Two days ago Liliana discovered a fly. I don't know if it was the first fly she ever saw or just the first time she actually noticed a fly. Either way- she had a ball chasing the fly around the room, trying to get it when it landed and giggling when she couldn't catch it. It was the cutest thing to watch. Normally I shoo flies away because they are annoying and here is my daughter taking such delight in this little creature.

So, today another fly appeared. I found myself excited to see it so that Liliana and I could try to play catch the fly and laugh together. Funny how my concepts of flies have changed...

Neighbors Part 2

Ok seriously, I don't know why God keeps bringing these amazing neighbors our way, but he does.

We met another young family 2 buildings over. This afternoon they were going to the park with their 2 kids, so popped by our apartment to see if we wanted to join them. We headed out and played at the park, then they invited us for dinner on the way back. AJ is Italian, so he made his special sauce and we had fresh pasta that they bought at the farmer's market yesterday. The kids had so much fun playing, we ate amazing food, drank merlot, had good conversation. It was such a fun and spontaneous afternoon and evening. So refreshing.

Leaving my family in St. Louis to move to Madison has been a sacrifice, but then when I am surrounded with amazing neighbors I see God meeting me in new ways. I'm thankful for the people in our community and feel like God completely hand picked where we live.

highlights of my week

-hearing my daughter say "i love you" for the first time. absolutely AMAZING!

- going to boston for a summit and sitting in a room with brilliant leaders processing how to be relevant with the message of Jesus. it was so challenging and empowering at the same time

- eating a souvlaki that was so good it reminded me of going to the souvlaki stands in greece with my cousin dimitra

- meeting ed on my flight home. he was so surprised i am a pastor and we had a great conversation about jesus and church, even though he is pretty turned off by religion. at the end he actually asked me to pray to my "Buddy" to help him have faith

- walking around the wisconsin dells with my family and checking out all the tourist attractions. who knew i lived less than an hour away from all that hoopla?

- getting a free $10 gas card with my grocery store purchase today

- reading a Mickey book to Liliana. on one of the pages there was a picture of someone waving. she reached over to the book and gave the picture a high five and said "Five". (it looked like any other high 5 to her)

- coming home to a clean house the other day- fresh sheets on bed, carpets vacuumed, kitchen scrubbed. i love my hubby!

Happy Adoption Day

Although we had Liliana with us in July, August 4th is the official day we signed our adoption papers. So Chris and I decided that we wanted to make a tradition each year to celebrate Adoption Day. We are so thankful for this day and the joy of finally having Liliana as part of our family.

So we took a little day trip to Peck's Farm. It is in a small town outside Madison with absolutely beautiful views. Peck's Farm has goats, deer, ducks, fish and pigs you can feed and Liliana had so much fun. I love seeing the joy on her face when she saw all the animals. She was not afraid at all to reach out her hand to feed them and just giggled when they took the corn from her hand.

They have a little shop with yummy goods, and we found Sprecher's soda. A friend told me about this local WI soda- the flavor she told me about was cran-cherry soda with ginseng. Her sister (aka Alice in Dairyland) is this year's WI representative for promoting local foods and so she was promoting using this soda to make floats. So we picked up some vanilla bean ice cream and gave it a try. YUMMY! I never would have tried it if Wendy hadn't recommended it b/c it kind of sounded like a gross flavor. But it was so good. We don't usually give Liliana sugar, but we gave her a few bites of ice cream. She calls it "cold" instead of ice cream. "More cold, more cold" she kept saying.

I wrote several pages in my journal today about Liliana. I can hardly believe it has just been one year since she has been in our life. I can't even begin to picture life without her... she has helped me appreciate life in a way only a child can. I love her and am so thankful God has finally let me enjoy the beauty of motherhood. What a precious gift to be celebrated.

Happy Adoption Day Liliana Jae!!