Ringing in 2012 and Thinking of Italy

Happy New Year to all!  And a belated Merry Christmas!  This past week has been a busy one, and I'm still cattywampus with my schedule.  I missed my blog on Tuesday because I was out of town, so I decided to do it today on New Years Eve. 

Here is an update: my grandpa is feeling much better and was sent home in the middle of last week.  That was quite a relief!  Thank you to everyone who had him (and us) in your thoughts and prayers.  It is greatly appreciated.

As the new year is quickly approaching, I am reflecting on the past year (and my whole life).  I know that I have touched in previous blogs about how I feel very blessed and lucky to be me.  I am grateful for my blessings, and believe it or not, I am also grateful for my hardships.  While I am experience something difficult, I try to remember that enduring hard times can be the greatest learning experiences.  It is not easy to remember this in the moment, but I hope to be able to do that more often in the future.

I am a person who likes New Years Resolutions.  I like to do ones that are attainable.  I learned some time ago to set up smaller goals so that when I reach them I will feel proud of myself.  To be completely honest, I can't even remember my resolution from this year.  I think my New Years Resolution for 2012 is to learn how to handle stress a little better.  I don't think I am a stressful person, but when stress comes my way, I sometimes feel overwhelmed.  Maybe I will join a Yoga class?  Maybe I will meditate?  Who knows? 

A few days ago, I was thinking about a trip I had in Italy with my husband in October 2010.  We were attending a wedding of my cousin who lives there and it was a trip and an experience of a LIFETIME!  I learned some Italian before we went, and I have many wonderful memories.  I was thinking of one in particular last week, and it always brings me a warm feeling.  I will share it with you now:

It was the second to our last night in Italy, and my husband and I were out to dinner with our relatives.  I have two cousins who speak English, and they were angels!  They were translating for us the whole time, and I did my best with the little Italian I knew.  After dinner was done, my cousins husband gave us a ride home.  He spoke Italian and knew just a little English, and with my little Italian, we were able to communicate just fine.  By that time, we had been around the Italian language so much that the language barrier for the ten minute ride to our hotel was not uncomfortable.  This was because we were treated so well and with such kindness.  On the ride, the greatest thing happened.  He and I were able to communicate!  My Italian had grown and it was a wonderful feeling.  At one point, he asked my husband a question, and they were waiting for me to translate.  Well, I didn't understand what he asked, and I laughed and said, "Come si dice 'I don't know?' in Italiano?" ("How do you say, 'I don't know?' in Italian?).  We all laughed.  I was sitting in the back seat, and my husband was sitting in the front.  My cousins husband had a big smile on his face, looked over at my husband, took his hand, lifted it up and squeezed it.  This was a special moment because we all knew that what he was saying to my husband was, "Hey man, it's all good."  In America, men don't touch each other besides a handshake or a very hard hug with a slap on the back.  A lot of times when I see this, I usually think to myslef, "Ouch!"  I saw in Italy that men aren't as hesitant to show affection.  I don't think I have ever seen an American man hold another man's hand in that way, yet it was still a masculine gesture of kindness.  When this moment happened, I found it so touching that tears came to my eyes.  It was such a quick moment, but also incredibly moving and memorable.  They say a picture says a thousand words.  This is a picture in my mind that says ten thousand words, and they all make me feel so happy.  I can't wait to go back someday.

Happy New Year!  Buon Anno!

Happy Saturday to you and yours...  Sabato Felice per voi e la vostra...

Ciao!

A Prayer for My Grandpa

My goodness... this has been quite a week.  Before I go on, I have to note how I have noticed that I have talked about personal stories in my life, but they are rarely current.  I feel a little awkward writing in a blog about something going on that is happening "in the now", but I feel like I have to talk about this.  My grandpa is in the hospital.  He has pneumonia and needs gallbladder surgery.  He was told he needed gallbladder surgery almost a month ago now, and he had to take so many tests to make sure he could get it.  The surgeon took a long time to schedule it.  Then a few days ago he had to go into the hospital because he has pneumonia.  My grandpa is not a frail old man.  Yes, he is 83 years old, but he is active and has a lot of things to live for and to continue to do.  I saw him in the hospital yesterday, and I am happy to report that mentally he is totally "with it", but it is so hard to see him in a hospital bed.

My grandpa and I have a different way of communicating with each other.  We show each other our love by giving each other a hard time.  For example, my mom and I walked into his hospital room, and other members of our family were there, and he looked at us and said, "Who are you?"  Now... I have to admit that for a fraction of a half a second, I thought, "Oh no..." but then I saw something in his eyes that said he was kidding.  I was the first one to pipe up with a grin and said, "Don't you pull that with me!"  And he laughed.  Then as I was leaving, his nurse (who was incredibly kind and funny) was in the room.  I said to her, "You make sure you give him a hard time because he likes it."  For as long as I can remember, my grandpa has always been hard of hearing, so I had to repeat that to him, just to make sure he heard it. 

During my visit with him he had to have an echocardiogram.  For just those moments, I was the only one in the room.  A little while into it, I got to see the sonogram of his heart which was fascinating.  A few moments later, there was sound, and it sounded like a dog lapping up water.  I looked at my grandpa's face, and his back was turned away from the technician and he was mimicking the sound by pretending to lap up water like a dog.  It literally cracked me up.  I didn't want to disturb the technician so I was actually silently busting up, but I could see that he saw me smiling, and I'm sure my face was beet red.

With all of this going on, it makes me sad that it's so close to Christmas.  I am trying to stay positive, so here are a some things I am thankful for:

1. My grandpa is in no pain and seems to be relatively comfortable.

2. He's not really into the "Christmas-thing", so I hope he will not feel incredibly sad if he's still in the hospital on Christmas.

3. I am happy to see and hear our family doing such a great job taking care of his and my grandma's needs.  I know I live far away, and I want them to know how much I appreciate them all.  My mom, uncles and aunts are all showing their love for my grandpa and my grandma.  If anything, now is the time to not only show appreciation for my grandparents, but for each other.

4. I am happy that I got to see my grandpa and grandma yesterday.  I realized it on my way home that I feel like it's my mission to make people smile and/or laugh when they are feeling sad or scared.  I was able to do that for both of them yesterday.

5. I am grateful for the flexibility of the people at my work.  I will be able to take off two extra days this week so that I will be available to be spend time with and help my family.

Although I feel scared right now, I feel comfort knowing that I have a good family.  Christmas is coming on Sunday, and I know I have been thinking a lot about the Savior (especially lately).  Jesus Christ set such a great example for us to live our lives: to be kind, loving, forgiving, understanding, compassionate... the list goes on.  My grandpa and my whole family have been in my prayers a lot this week.  If you feel so inclined, please remember us in yours.

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...

The Community Sing

Yes... the long awaited Community Sing was on Sunday evening, and it was great!  The women all wore red tops and black skirts, and the men wore black pants, white shirts and red ties (all the women and men from our church).  We looked very sharp.  It was our turn to go up and sing, and it was so much fun.  I am so glad that I stumbled into our choir over a month ago.  We got to hear and sing all sorts of traditional Christmas songs, and hear some new ones too.  It felt so good...  Everyone sounded fantastic.

Last week, we crossed off two more things off of the Christmas To-Do list!  We went to a Creche Exhibit, and got to see all sorts of different nativities from all over the world, and then following evening we went to see the Temple lights which is about an hour away.  My husband and I went with my father-in-law, and we had a great time all together.  

I would normally write more, but I have a load of things to do today, so I better get to them.

I am loving this time of year so much....

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...

Off to a Great Start

The holiday season is underway.  I am very excited to say that my home is all decorated for Christmas!  We got our tree on Saturday, and it is a pine tree.  It has real pine cones on it!  We had one last year, too, but this one is even better than last years.  I spent most of last week doing some much needed cleaning and organizing in my house, and I have to say that it feels fantastic.  What normally happens is that I will clean the house, have the dishes done, and laundry caught up, and it will take just one day for me to fall behind.  Then, it takes a long time for me to catch up.  Before I know it, I've got lots of dishes in my sink, my clothes wouldn't be folded or put away, and the mail piles up...  Believe me, I am not proud of this in the slightest, but this last week, I have kept everything in order, picked up, etc, and it feels great.  I love coming home to a home in order.  I hope to keep it up, and by writing it in my blog, it will help to continue to motivate me.  I have a feeling it will stick this time.

As I type, I've got my Christmas CD playing, and currently I am listening to "Do you hear what I hear?"  I enjoy a lot of Christmas songs, but I also like to be able to come back to them, too.  I will listen to them for awhile, turn it off, then come back to them when I want. 

This coming Sunday is the community sing that my Church choir is participating in.  I am looking forward to it and a little nervous.  On one of our practices last week, there weren't very many people who came; I was singing with two other ladies, and we had to learn and practice how to project our voices.  I noticed something, and man in the choir called us on it, too, and he said that he heard us doing great... we were projecting so well, but it seemed like when we heard ourselves, we got scared and pulled back.  Well, he hit the nail right on the head!  The two ladies and I all laughed because that was exactly it.  Although that was a little uncomfortable to be so vulnerable and singing so loudly, it was great advice, and everyone was very positive and encouraging.  I enjoy it so much.  I will be sad when our choir will take a break after Christmas.  Who knew that I would love it so much? 

I have to say that this season is going great so far.  I feel like I'm off to a great start.  I am looking forward to Christmas day because I will be having a family at my home, and I'm already planning the meal.  From my last blog, you can read about some of my Christmas To-Do things on my list, and I already have one down (getting and trimming a Christmas tree), and we plan on crossing off a couple more things this week.  I will write about them in my next blog.  I can't wait...

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...

Tis the Season

I know I am no where near alone with this thought, but this time of you year is one of my favorites.  I love Christmas time.  It gives us a great excuse to partake in festive activities and to share the spirit of the holiday with others.  This is a time for tradition.  I love following traditions, but I also have found that when we have made our own and followed them, it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  I feel weird writing that I feel accomplished after following a tradition, but it really does take effort to do them.  I am going to write about some traditions and things I look forward to each year at this time.  I feel really great when we are able accomplish (there is that word again!) all the things on our "Christmas To-Do List".  Isn't it funny how "To-Do Lists" are usually something that we might grumble about, but when it comes to doing fun activities, we can't wait?

1.) Wrapping presents and watching "White Christmas" and "It's at Wonderful Life".  Sometimes I'll even do them together.

2.) Putting up Christmas lights at our house and my father-in-law's house.  Actually, my husband puts them up; I just hold them and make sure they stay untangled until he's ready for them.

3.) Driving around the neighborhoods and looking at Christmas lights.  I love to do this at least a couple times before Christmas.

4.) Going to my church's temple and looking at the lights they display.  It is spectacular!  It's a great night because we will make a whole evening of it.

5.) Going to the "Creche Exhibit" and seeing the different types of nativity scenes from all over the world in one building.  This really gets me in the mood for Christmas.

6.) Getting a tree and trimming it.  Last year our tree had so many pine cones on it.  I loved it.

7.) Every year I make Christmas cookies and we pass them out to our neighbors.  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors the first time we did it in our neighborhood.  This is a tradition that my husband's family had done for a long time.  I loved the idea and we do it, too.

8.) Sitting down with my scriptures and reading the first few chapters in Matthew, Mark and Luke of when Jesus was born.  This is a newer tradition I started.  Last year, I only read in Luke, but this year I want to read in Matthew and Mark, too.   

9.) Spending time with loved ones.  I love spending time with my family and friends as much as possible, but it feels so special to be with them during this season when we share our love, happiness, and blessings with each other.

I know that the last two I mentioned should be at the top of my list, but I always like to save the best for last.

I hope you all get to participate in and enjoy all your family holidays and traditions this year.  There are a lot of traditions we had when I was little, and I wish I could still do so many of them.  I now have a mindset that instead of getting discouraged about not being able to do them, I can just modify them and still partake in their joys.  After all, this is the season to be jolly...

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...

Happy Thanksgiving

It is that time of year again.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  This is a favorite holiday of mine.  A  time of giving thanks; a time of gratitude...  When I was a little girl, we always had Thanksgiving at our house.  I loved it.  My mom would bake the turkey, and I remember loving to help her baste it.  Another favorite thing I remember about Thanksgiving is afterward, my sisters and I would go in our bedroom and watch the newest episode of "Friends".  Okay, the "Friends" episode is really at the bottom of my list of "What my childhood Thanksgivings were like", but I must be honest that it was a fun part for us.  In all seriousness, I loved it when our family would get together.  When I was really small, I remember my great grandfather being at our home.  We called him "Pop's" and also "Papa".  He was a wonderful man, and lived until he was 92 years old.  I was 12 years old when he passed away.  I remember he would always bring a six pack of Heineken for my dad.  It was Pop's way of showing appreciation.  Heineken is a German beer, and at the time was considered one of the best, and it was not cheap.  It was a thoughtful act on my Papa's part, and my dad always appreciated it.

In recent years, I have not had many Thanksgivings with my family back home, but I have had the opportunity to spend them with my husband and his family.  A tradition that my husband and I have on Thanksgiving is to talk about what we are thankful for while we are at the dinner table.  I am not sure if this is a tradition that his family started, or if it was just the two of us.  In any case, it is what I look forward to most (the second runner up would undoubtedly be the pumpkin pie).  I decided that I would write down some of the things I am thankful for and why.  You may have noticed the word "some" in my previous sentence?  This is because I am thankful for so many things.  I truly could go on and on, but I will only write a few down for my blog.

Here they are (in no particular order):

1.)  The Service Men and Women in our Country...

Each year that passes, I see myself sitting at a dinner table with the one (or one's depending on how many people I am with) I love.  There is good food, good company, and a feeling of love and home no matter where I am.  In that moment, my mind feels a pull for all the men and women who volunteer to serve our country, and I think of the one's who are far away from home.  They are making such a sacrifice each day.  I think of them who are away from their spouses, children, parents, and how much they must miss being home, and how sorely they are missed.  I think of them a lot, but especially on Thanksgiving.  I thank them in my heart, in my prayer, and hope that they know how much someone like me appreciates all they do.

2.)  My Many Luxuries and Freedoms...

It is especially on Thanksgiving where I reflect on the many luxuries I have in my life.  I have a roof over my head, food in my cupboards and refrigerator.  I have a refrigerator, a car, a job.  I live in a wonderful place where I feel safe and happy.  I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness on Thanksgiving.  I usually have a wonderful meal, and I think of all the people in the world who are hungry.  Other things I am grateful for are that I live in a country where I can walk down the street unaccompanied.  I can say hello to a perfect stranger on the street and not feel scared.  These are everyday luxuries and freedoms that so many of us have.  There are too many people who think they should have all these things "just because".  I wish everyone looked at the things I listed above as "luxuries" because that is exactly what they are.  Our grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. did not have many of these things in their lives, and many of these people lived happy lives.  I hope to someday teach my children that these things are not to be expected.  They are luxuries.  I know I am saying that word a lot, but I don't care: luxuries, Luxuries... LUXURIES!

3.) Knowledge...

I am grateful for the opportunities I have to learn.  I can learn all I want.  I now understand that I will be learning forever.  I am thankful for the accessibility I have to books and other resources.  I am a stones throw to a library.  That is amazing.  Last year I was having severe anxiety issues.  I will always have anxiety, but I have learned many ways to deal with it.  I will have times that are better than others, but it is so wonderful that I have that knowledge!  I remember hearing the phrase, "Knowledge is Power!"  That is a simple truth.  Amen to that!

4.) Circle of Family and Friends...

I love my family and friends.  I feel so loved and supported.  Within this last year, I became a member of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (say that ten times fast!) and I was very nervous how my family and friends would react to that knowledge.  I was met with unconditional love and support.  This is something I am incredibly grateful for.  I feel the most content and at peace I have in a long time (maybe my whole life).  I feel like I am more me then I ever was.  What a wonderful feeling it is to know that my family and friends love and support my decision to be me.  I love my family and friends so very much.

5.) My Husband...

Yes... my husband is my "family", but he is so much more.  He is a strong man who teaches me every day.  He is level minded, smart, funny, supportive, loving, thoughtful... the list goes on!  I want him to know that I thank the Lord everyday for finding him!  He makes me want to be a better person.  He challenges me to face my fears.  He has many qualities that I strive to attain.  He is patient with me (well... except when I am driving, or have anything to do with the car when he is in it... haha).  In all seriousness, I love my husband am thankful for him every day of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, and I hope you have many things to be grateful for in your life.

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...

Found Something I Love

A few weeks ago, I was asked to join the choir at my church.  I have been asked before, and whenever I was asked, I would think, "I love to sing in my car (when I'm by myself) and in the shower, but I'm too scared to sing when someone is within very close earshot."  Just a few weeks ago, a very nice woman from church approached me, gently put her hands on my arms, looked straight into my eyes and asked if I was interested in joining the choir.  Actually, she said something along the lines of what would it take to get me to join the choir.  I remember both of us giggling, but her saying that they were in desperate need of people.  The following week, I said I'd do it.  The first practice I came to, I was excited and scared out of my skin!  I was asked if I was alto or soprano?  I didn't know what that meant.  After asking a few questions, I realized that I am a soprano.  I also figured that since I'm new at this, it is the safest bet to go along with the melody.  I've only been a member of the choir for two weeks, and I LOVE IT!  I am learning every week.  I am unable to read music, but I can follow along with the high, low, long and short notes.  For anyone who is reading this and knows how to read music, I am sure that the last sentence I wrote sounds quite amusing.  The best part is that I told my husband about it.  When I decided to join I let him know that we'd have to wait an hour after church before we went home because practice was immediately after church for a full hour.  He was fine with that.  The first day of practice, I am standing there, and I see him walk in.  He is making the long walk from the door to the stand where we all were.  The head chorister said, "Is he joining us?"  I laughed and said, "He should!"  As he was walking closer and closer, I did not want to get my hopes up.  I thought to myself, "There are a lot of seats in this chapel that he could decide to park and sit and listen.  Don't assume he is coming up here and then feel disappointed."  Well, low and behold, he came up and stood behind me!  So, now we are in the choir together!  It is a lot of fun.  A friend from choir asked me, "Do you practice at home together?"  I thought in my mind, "Goodness, no!  I'm too mortified to sing in front of anyone by myself!"  But, I nicely said, "No we don't... I'm too shy."  How funny it feels to be too shy to sing in front of my husband.  I don't feel shy with him at all, except with that.  Another funny thing is that I sing to my little Sunday School kids at church (and even though I am scared, and still feel like I don't use my best singing voice, I still do it and enjoy it.  Why am I not as shy with the little ones?).

Our church gathers together once a year with all the other churches in the community and they do a community sing around Christmas time.  Ours is less than a month away, and I'm looking forward to it.  Our church is doing two really great songs.  I am practicing them at home (when I'm by myself).  Maybe I should get a little more brave and practice when my husband is home?  Baby steps... baby steps...

Happy Tuesday to you and yours...