My First "Anta"

...the birth year of Star Wars and yours truly. Hopefully my children would see the day of my birth, forty years ago as the bigger of the two world shattering events, but it might be a toss up. ;) In the eyes of Italian culture 40 is a big deal as this marks one's first "anta". From here on out I will climbing the hill of the "anta" count. I guess it's better than descending the hill!

Trenta (30)

Quaranta (40) 

Cinquanta (50)

Sessanta (60)

Settanta (70)

Ottanta (80)

Novanta (90)

You only turn 40 once and since my birthday is generally on the overlooked side of things with Christmas festivities in full swing this time of year, I wanted to host a party with friends for my milestone birthday. As expected some friends could not come due to prior commitments but there was still a good number that came for appetizers and cake on Sunday evening, the day after my birthday.

Unfortunately, we were without a car (flat tire and a missing security bold key to remove the tire) for the whole week prior so I was making daily trips on foot to the grocery store getting what I could two bags at a time. It made things a bit challenging to prepare for a big party but all in all I was able to get most everything done in advance with the forced house bounding.

For the very first time I made Sicilian Arancini, rice balls stuffed with ragù and cheese that are then breaded and fried. It might be a toss up, which is more laborious—a cake or arancini—both are a two day process and hours of work. The kids would pop in the kitchen while I was assembling the arancini and comment "you're still making those?!" Just making the 1.3kg of risotto took over an hour of constant stirring. Good thing is that I made 35 and they freeze amazingly. Oh my goodness though, it is one of my great Italian food loves and very much worth the time and effort!

Here I am celebrating on my actual birthday after a day in the kitchen. Thanks to my in-laws for the wooden tulips from Holland, Michigan! A unique bouquet of flowers that will last through the "antas" and always remind me of them.

The cake was a team effort as I baked the cakes, Dalida made the cream filling and Emma decorated it. She did a fantastic job and I absolutely LOVED everything about it from the taste to the colors to the avant-garde look. Amazing job, Emma!

Brush Stroke/Feather Cake design made out of dyed white chocolate

An assortment of savory and sweet snacks were prepared and Melissa brought her homemade apple cider to top it off. It was a very casual and special few hours spent in the company of good friends. Thank you to sweet Sara for taking the initiative to grab our camera and capturing the evening in photos for me – a gift indeed!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Emma are you taller than me?! It must be an illusion.

Party guests

After singing "Tanti Auguri" and before cutting the cake, it is Italian tradition for the birthday person to then take photos with each family unit that attended their party.

Isn't this gift unique and gorgeous?!

Thank you to those near and far who sent their birthday wishes! You are sweet blessing in my life!

17 Years and 133 Days

Seventeen years and one hundred and thirty-three days would be referring to our anniversary that we celebrated back on August 19th. A late post is always better than no post in my mind, so bear with me as I reflect on our anniversary that we celebrated in the heat of the summer.

Marriage is a gift and one that has taught us over the years that love is a daily sacrifice to put your spouse before yourself, to humbly serve the other in sickness and in health and to remember and keep Christ at the center of our marriage. We have had many anniversary celebrations in the past that have totally bombed out (i.e. a getaway with the contraction of the intestinal flu), so when we have a good celebration year it is something to treasure and delight in. Last year Jonathan was recovering from nasal surgery on our anniversary. But that's life and that's true love. And we definitely made up for it this year.

The visit from Jonathan's parents coincided with our anniversary and it was great to get away for the day to Monte Carlo, just the two of us. That sounds so ritzy and glamorous! However, if you don't have a lot of money to spend there is not much to do in Monaco apart from people watching and going to the beach. We didn't care and for once we had no agenda other than to just be together. It was so nice! Jonathan was happy to check another country off of his list. I was in Monaco 19 years ago visiting some missionary friends who lived in Menton, France at the time. It has been a while but for the most part it remained unchanged.

It was about a three hour drive to the coast. We took the scenic route through the mountains going and then the coastal highway returning. We got the best of both worlds.

Quaint Italian and French towns all along the way

Monaco
It's basically just what you see in this photo.
The country nestled between the sea and mountainside.

Monte Carlo Casino

At the top of the list of places to see in Monte Carlo one would rightly guess that it would be the Casino. Anyone recalling scenes from James Bond? We were allowed to enter the lobby only before 2pm and then if you were not a high roller patron you were not permitted to step foot on the premises thereafter.

We had fun checking out the luxury sports cars from ALL around the world parked outside the casino or driving around the loop. It was truly mind boggling to see the wealth and other worldly lifestyle these people must live. We weren't envious in the least!

We had a good laugh when standing next to a Ferrari that the people near us starting snapping pictures not of the car but of Jonathan's toe shoes instead! So even the common man can attract attention in the world of wealth. 

We found a bench to eat our sack lunch and then took a leisurely stroll along the coastal city path. In our wanderings we found the rooftop location of Starbucks and spent a good chunk of time just sitting and talking while enjoying the sea view. It was the perfect unhurried day with nothing in particular to accomplish other than enjoying sweet and uninterrupted time and conversation together. So that was our 17th anniversary and before the year ends I wanted to record this special memory. Love you, Sweetie! You are the best and I love journeying by your side through life. Baci!

Port of Monte Carlo

Moving traffic through the mountainside streets

A perfect sunset at the end of a perfect day

Gratitude for Family Visits

As we conclude the Thanksgiving month of November and reflect on God's grace, gifts and goodness extended to us throughout this past year, it is only fitting that I play catch up here on the blog to record some very special memories from 2017. 

Always sacrificing to fly business class so they can bring us extra luggage
filled with gifts and items we need. Thank you!

One huge and special highlight that we are so thankful for (and somehow had no time to write about) was a visit from Munga and Gramma in August. It had been four years since they last came to Italy and it was the first time that they stayed in our house in Caselle. It was fun to show them around our town even though it was mid-August and most shops were closed. But at least there was always one gelato store guaranteed to be open, and Munga made sure they did not lose business with so many locals away on vacation. 

It was hot, but mostly tolerable if my memory serves me correctly. Ok, maybe it was a little uncomfortable coming from "the land of AC". Their first four days involved jet lag recovery, kid sitting while Jonathan and I got away for the day on our anniversary, lunch with friends, house repair projects and most of all just loving on their grandkids. Then they left for five days to visit a good friend in Turkey before coming back to us for a week. 

Sunday lunch with friends

Closed. Closed. Everything is Closed.

The Venaria Palace was even closed, which is a big tourist attraction.

Creating their own fun

With it being August and the mass exodus from the landlocked region of Piedmont to the sea, we too left to enjoy some place more lively. Of course, that meant leaving the country and heading north to Geneva, Switzerland. People are always shocked to realize that from where we live we can get to France and Switzerland in a little over an hour. We crossed over the Alps, rather through the Mont Blanc tunnel pass into France then on to Switzerland and had a fabulous day.

We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed eating it in the Parc des Bastions while admiring the Reformation Wall. 

A fitting location at the Reformation Wall for Jonathan to receive an email
from the South African Theological Seminary with his acceptance into
the PhD program.

World's Longest Bench (as seen on The Amazing Race)

We toured the Reformation sites associated with John Calvin and others throughout the city. [See this blog post for more Reformation details from our first visit in 2015]. 

Where John Calvin's house once stood.

We climbed up to the top of the St. Pierre Cathedral for a fantastic view of the city. 

St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached.

View from the church bell tower

Taking a rest in the middle room between the two towers

A stop at Starbucks to grab something refreshing to drink along Lake Geneva before heading home made for a enjoyable conclusion to our day before heading back home.

I always love driving through the Mont Blanc pass and seeing the glacier that is it's name sake. Studying geography, as I do with Luca, is so much more fun when you have vivid images you can put in your mind.

At the Italian-French border

During their final few days with us, Munga and Gramma were able to meet more of our friends, spend the morning at our favorite coffee shop that Jonathan frequents almost daily, cool off on a shopping trip to IKEA and of course more gelato and pizza. Our studies and ministries were suspended for the month of August so it was nice to have that down time while they were here before we hit the rush of the start to school. It is always great to have visitors, but even more special when it is family. We treasure these moments together and are so thankful they were able to make the trip to visit us this year. We love you Munga and Gramma!!