let's fill the room

Christmas Eve has always been my favorite night of the year for many reasons. Not only am I around the people I love most in the world and surrounded by my church family as well, but sometimes I get to sing one of the best Christmas carols, "O Holy Night" at the end of the service. For the past few years, I have sung while the candles were being lit. I have been able to watch the light being passed from one person to another as it gradually works its way back to fill the entire room with candle light and it just might be my favorite part of Christmas.

Yeah, the 48 dozen cookies that we made were great, as was the 4 hour opening presents event on Christmas morning, and the feeble attempts Abbey and I made to play Christmas carols on the piano were possibly some of the most humorous times I have ever had, but those candles make me think. Imagine if we were able to touch people like those candles do. If we show Christ's love to one person, were that light to one person, that one person might just show it to someone else. No, it's not profound and I know this concept isn't new, but this time it made me want to be that light more than it ever has. Sometimes the candle just won't light, and sometimes it blows out, but we have to at least try to fill the room. We are called to fill it, and trust me, the end result is worth it. This Christmas Eve, I got to see a glimpse of what it might look like.

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin... Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble." 1 John 1:5-7, 1 John 2:10

I hope and pray you all had a wonderful Christmas! God Bless.

Boxy the Snowman

Every year my genius sister Beth themes the way she wraps her Christmas packages. Strange, yes, but genius none-the-less. You can always tell her gifts because not only do they look the same (duh), but they are wonderfully planned and always very interesting. Some previous themes include "Ribbon", "Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String", and "Tiny Packages". But this year, she has gone all out with the most creative idea yet- "Boxy the Snowman".
Each gift is in a box and covered with white wrapping paper. On one side there is a face made of cut-out paper coal and a paper-carrot nose. The other side of the box has 3 buttons of cut-out paper coal so when they are stacked on top of one another, they look like snowmen, in all different shapes and sizes. You might be a little weirded out, but the presents under our Christmas tree look amazing.

the long day is over

Traveling is done. Jet lag has set in. But it's all okay.

I saw my friends and family today, sang for a long time at school, did some Christmas shopping with Mommy and Abbey, and went to Rachel's with a bunch of amazing beautiful people that I have missed so much. It's surreal and wonderful.





I am home :-).

Things I Will Miss

I know you are probably wondering what this blog is going to be about from the incredibly cryptic title of this entry, but don't worry. I'll fill you in.
I wanted to make a list of a few things that I am going to miss here in Itlay.
1. Seeing the Duomo on the way to school and out the window of my classroom.
2. The brioche mele (apple pastry) that I have been known to get in the mornings before class.
3. The Ponte Vecchio at night.
4. The shopping.
5. Readily available honey-soap from Lush.
6. The little old lady who sells me Italian yarn for the scarves I have been making.
7. The little chairs on the back of the bicycles for the little ones to hitch a ride with Mom or Dad.
8. The Italian way of making/drinking espresso.
9. REAL cappucino.
10. The smell of leather on the streets.
11. The street musicians.
12. The Tuscan countryside.
13. Tuscan Olive Oil.
14. Alberto (who makes the most amazing sandwich in the world) from "The Oil Shoppe" and il panini numero 4.
15. GABS and my 10% discount.
16. O-the-Italian-Pooches.
17. Four course meals.
18. Carlo's hair.
19. Aquacotta- their goat cheese, walnut, and honey salad.
20. The Japanese secretary at I.E. named Rie... she speaks Japanese and Italian... I speak English and a little Italian. It was always fun talking to her!
21. Getting letters!
22. FRANCO!
23. Francesco- the guy who cuts my hair.
24. Valeria Ferri who told me she was in love with my voice.
25. Walking by Eby's and hearing "Ciao bella!"
There are many many more, but those are the few that popped into my head first and I can't wait to tell you all the rest in person!
I will be home December 17th- just 3 short days away.

New Number

Eight days and counting and I will be home.
I wanted to give you guys my new cell phone number that will be active the day I get home. It's Verizon, so, woohoo to any other Verizon users out there... we can talk for free! I was going to post it on here, but then realized how sketchy that is... so email me (KM_in_Italy@yahoo.com) if you want it. Make sure you email me yours too, so I can start compiling my phone book. Alrighty, I've got to go. Have a wonderful day. Love you all! CiaoCiao.

One Last Fling

All of my roommates and friends have made it a point to travel around Europe as much as they can, some of them totaling within the range of 6 different countries. I don't know why I didn't travel more to different places. I think it was because I love Italy so much I didn't really ever want to leave. But because I am getting anxious to come home, I needed to get my mind off of things and, literally, leave the contry for a while. It was an answer to prayer because I had really been asking God to let me live it up here for the next few weeks and not waste away my time wishing I could be with you all. So, my friends Emily and Michal, two wonderful girls from my church, asked me to come to Zurich, Switzerland, for the weekend and I accepted. This was one of the best decisions I have made!
We traveled the 7 hour train ride straight from Florence to Zurich, which actually lasted about 8 and a half hours because of some unforseen stops. We got in Friday night to a wonderful little hotel in the town of Kloten, right north of Zurich. The next morning, we got up, looked out our window and could see a market happening in the street below. We walked there and on our way saw a Swiss pastry shop. We, of course stopped to take part in the sights, smells and tastes of this amazingness. There was a giant brioche outside of the bakery- we had to take a picture, of course. After walking through the market with our Swiss specialty gingerbread - man - shaped - donut - like - things, we hopped on the train to Zurich. The very old, beautiful city is located right on the river- the houses and buildings are right up against it. It's beautiful. We walked along all of streets, stopping to shop at the tons of little stands lining the streets that made up the Christmas Market of the city. There was even a singing Christmas Tree made up of children singing carols in German and doing handmotions to the songs. As it became night, the city streets lit up with Christmas lights lining the buildings, streets, and stores. If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I'm not really sure what could. The next morning we visited a church called Grossmunster that claims to have started the Reformation, and dates back to before the 1100s. We did some more shopping and hanging out, ate some traditional cheese fondue (SO good) and caught our train home. The train was one of the best parts as it took us through the Swiss alps. They were bigger and more beautiful than I had ever imagined they could be. I really hope to go back to Switzerland someday and tour the countryside a little more. Breathtaking is a good way to describe it.