10. Everything seems so small. It was my first thought after admiring how clean our house was. I thought our house was huge before we left, but our adjustment to the large and spacious America now leaves us with the impression of how small things are here.
9. Meal planning and grocery shopping. I have been spoiled by living with family for 10 months. The process of meal planning, cooking, clean-up and grocery shopping now take up a huge part of my day and much longer with just one set of hands.
8. Laundry. The two hour wash-cycle followed by line drying everything does not allow for getting through a mound of laundry quickly, not to mention the softness lost with the convenience of a dryer. It does make for a good humidifier in the bedroom by going to bed with damp laundry hanging in your room.
7. Circuit overload. We are readjusting to what large appliances can be run at the same time without blowing the power. Washing machine + oven/vacuum/microwave/dishwasher = blowout!
6. Serandas. The kids have not been getting up in the morning because they say it is not daytime yet. The closing of the serandas make the house pitch black even in the light of day. It's awesome!
5. Language. Need I say more?
4. Bluntness. Getting used to people to just telling you straight up what they think. For example, a neighbor saying how we should not have any more kids because 3 is enough or someone telling Jonathan how much weight he put on while in the states.
3. Cooking. Gone are the helpful conveniences for cooking (shredded cheese, canned soup, pancake mix etc.) and back to preparing everything from scratch. One Italian friend who now lives in the states said that for them to find food NOT in a box was a huge adjustment for them. I prefer a mix of both.
2. Legal matters. We immediately began the process of getting our papers in order. We are still trying to change over our residency papers from Perugia to Leini' that began almost two years ago. Somewhere along the line the ball was dropped and we have to sort that out this week. Health insurance issues as Jonathan's gallbladder surgery is still having billing issues over one year later. It was wrongly submitted and is being reprocessed after making several phone calls between the hospital and insurance company.
1. Driving. This will always remain number 1 on our list! The roads are SO narrow and the driver's drive so fast. It's with a breath and sigh that we squeak past a passing building, pedestrian or oncoming car. Today we were waiting at a red light and after 3 cars whipped past us on the red, we began to wonder if they were seeing something we weren't. Getting used to people ignoring the rules of the road will take some time. Driving still remains my biggest fear that I must overcome.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Home Again
"It's MY house!" "Home sweet home" "I love my house, my bed...I'm so happy to be home in Italy!" These have been the words of our children repeated over and over this week. What a blessing for us to see, hear and experience their excitement for returning to Italy. Their adjustment seems to be coming more quickly than ours, but in time this too will all seem normal to us again.
We arrived safely with a small delay in getting in on Wednesday. The kids did well despite only sleeping for a few hours during our travels. For the first time, we left precious items on the plane that we were unable to retrieve. Thankfully the loss of Emma's "Hushie" frog and Samuel's new Leapster and games did not turn in to a major loss of self and hysteria in the Frankfurt airport. We had so much stuff it's amazing we didn't leave more things behind. Apart from that everything went super smooth. We were warmly greeted by Brad, Pino & Adrianna who were amazingly able to get all of our luggage in the two cars.
Our friends from church did more than give our house a quick clean. Everything was thoroughly cleaned from the drapes to the floors and looked awesome. Not to mention the dinner left for us and a stocked refrigerator. They literally saved my back and a week's worth of cleaning. It was nice to just be able to dig in to our bags and begin to put things away. The house has a lingering smell from the flooding and mildew that followed. We thought our heat was turned on a month ago but there was a block in the gas line and so there was no heat to dry out the basement. It was fixed and turned on the day before we arrived. There were a few books that were sustained water damage, we lost our printer, but the carpet seems like it can be salvaged once it dries out thoroughly and gets a good scrubbing. And the guitars do not seem to be damaged although there is evidence of the cases being wet. All of our cardboard storage boxes in the garage are ruined but thankfully most everything inside them was in plastic bags so only 2 large bags of clothes are needing a good wash before they will be repacked this time in plastic storage bins.
Upon arrival our first task was to clear the driveway of icy snow so we could get our van out of the garage. It took Jonathan 8 hours to do so! It was a great way for him to reconnect with our neighbors as he had to borrow a pick ax and shovels since the stores were out of stock in the shovel department. He was able to have great conversations with all of our surrounding neighbors and everyone seems happy to see us back. So although it was an all day back breaking task there was no better thing than for him to be exposed outside all day to people coming and going. Our neighbor, Angela, even gave him a hand for a while.
On Friday, our van was in the shop all day getting tuned up to pass it's overdue inspection. Therefore, Samuel and Emma could not go to school. They will start on Monday instead. The kids have been sleeping in until 9am each day and would sleep longer if it weren't for us stirring them up. Saturday we did the most insane but necessary thing by going grocery shopping. It will be my last time shopping on a Saturday! One could hardly manuever a cart through the aisles and the lines were horrendously long even with every one of the 50 registers open!
It was a blessing to be back in church today and warmly greeted by everyone. There were new births, deaths, marriages and so much more than took place in our absense. We are anxious to reconnect with so many people. Continue to pray for us in the language as we are most definitely rusty. We are filled with joy to be back and thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for us as we reaclimate to life in Italy.
We arrived safely with a small delay in getting in on Wednesday. The kids did well despite only sleeping for a few hours during our travels. For the first time, we left precious items on the plane that we were unable to retrieve. Thankfully the loss of Emma's "Hushie" frog and Samuel's new Leapster and games did not turn in to a major loss of self and hysteria in the Frankfurt airport. We had so much stuff it's amazing we didn't leave more things behind. Apart from that everything went super smooth. We were warmly greeted by Brad, Pino & Adrianna who were amazingly able to get all of our luggage in the two cars.
Our friends from church did more than give our house a quick clean. Everything was thoroughly cleaned from the drapes to the floors and looked awesome. Not to mention the dinner left for us and a stocked refrigerator. They literally saved my back and a week's worth of cleaning. It was nice to just be able to dig in to our bags and begin to put things away. The house has a lingering smell from the flooding and mildew that followed. We thought our heat was turned on a month ago but there was a block in the gas line and so there was no heat to dry out the basement. It was fixed and turned on the day before we arrived. There were a few books that were sustained water damage, we lost our printer, but the carpet seems like it can be salvaged once it dries out thoroughly and gets a good scrubbing. And the guitars do not seem to be damaged although there is evidence of the cases being wet. All of our cardboard storage boxes in the garage are ruined but thankfully most everything inside them was in plastic bags so only 2 large bags of clothes are needing a good wash before they will be repacked this time in plastic storage bins.
Upon arrival our first task was to clear the driveway of icy snow so we could get our van out of the garage. It took Jonathan 8 hours to do so! It was a great way for him to reconnect with our neighbors as he had to borrow a pick ax and shovels since the stores were out of stock in the shovel department. He was able to have great conversations with all of our surrounding neighbors and everyone seems happy to see us back. So although it was an all day back breaking task there was no better thing than for him to be exposed outside all day to people coming and going. Our neighbor, Angela, even gave him a hand for a while.
On Friday, our van was in the shop all day getting tuned up to pass it's overdue inspection. Therefore, Samuel and Emma could not go to school. They will start on Monday instead. The kids have been sleeping in until 9am each day and would sleep longer if it weren't for us stirring them up. Saturday we did the most insane but necessary thing by going grocery shopping. It will be my last time shopping on a Saturday! One could hardly manuever a cart through the aisles and the lines were horrendously long even with every one of the 50 registers open!
It was a blessing to be back in church today and warmly greeted by everyone. There were new births, deaths, marriages and so much more than took place in our absense. We are anxious to reconnect with so many people. Continue to pray for us in the language as we are most definitely rusty. We are filled with joy to be back and thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for us as we reaclimate to life in Italy.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Travel Day
It is amazing to think that it has been nearly 10 months that we have been stateside. Our time has been full of encouragement and refreshment. We want to thank our families for their amazing hospitality, sacrifice, love, giving, encouragement, food etc. during our invasion of house and home. We have been so blessed to be in your care and presence and for the influence you have given to your grandchildren during this time. We love you so very much and will treasure these wonderful memories from our first furlough....So before I bring myself to total tears, I thought we would give you our flight schedule so you can be praying for us over the next couple of days.
A winter snow storm is moving it's way across Michigan so we will be leaving the house around 12 noon today to drive to Detroit. Samuel woke up his siblings at 4:30am and had trouble getting back to sleep until around 6am. Thankfully he was able to eventually get back to sleep and didn't get up until 7:30am. This ought to make the day very interesting.
Lufthansa Airlines
Depart Detroit at 6:10pm
Arrive in Frankfurt at 7:55am
Depart Frankfurt at 1:20pm
Arrive in Caselle/Torino at 2:35pm
We are so thankful for dear friends, Pino and Adrianna, who have thoroughly cleaned our house out of love and with servants' hearts in preparation for our arrival back home. I can't imagine what 10 months did to our house! They cleaned our house in freezing temps as our heaters were not working. Brad has helped to get our gas problem fixed so that we now have heat, hot water and a stove to cook with when we get home. Thank the Lord! He's also working on trying to get our van running again even with his damaged shoulder that is awaiting surgery very soon. What a servant he is! Brad and Pino will be picking us up from the airport including our 14 bags plus carry-ons. Be praying that all our luggage makes it safely along with us.
Samuel and Emma will start school on Friday so pray also for their quick adjustment to the time change of 6 hours and that everything will go smoothly for them as they transition back into the adventures of Italian school. The next time you hear from us will be from the other side of the "pond." We thank you in advance for you prayers and thoughts for us on our journey home.
A presto...
A winter snow storm is moving it's way across Michigan so we will be leaving the house around 12 noon today to drive to Detroit. Samuel woke up his siblings at 4:30am and had trouble getting back to sleep until around 6am. Thankfully he was able to eventually get back to sleep and didn't get up until 7:30am. This ought to make the day very interesting.
Lufthansa Airlines
Depart Detroit at 6:10pm
Arrive in Frankfurt at 7:55am
Depart Frankfurt at 1:20pm
Arrive in Caselle/Torino at 2:35pm
We are so thankful for dear friends, Pino and Adrianna, who have thoroughly cleaned our house out of love and with servants' hearts in preparation for our arrival back home. I can't imagine what 10 months did to our house! They cleaned our house in freezing temps as our heaters were not working. Brad has helped to get our gas problem fixed so that we now have heat, hot water and a stove to cook with when we get home. Thank the Lord! He's also working on trying to get our van running again even with his damaged shoulder that is awaiting surgery very soon. What a servant he is! Brad and Pino will be picking us up from the airport including our 14 bags plus carry-ons. Be praying that all our luggage makes it safely along with us.
Samuel and Emma will start school on Friday so pray also for their quick adjustment to the time change of 6 hours and that everything will go smoothly for them as they transition back into the adventures of Italian school. The next time you hear from us will be from the other side of the "pond." We thank you in advance for you prayers and thoughts for us on our journey home.
A presto...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas Week
We safely arrived in Michigan a week ago, just barely. Our flight was delayed out of LAX by two hours thus projecting that we would miss our connecting flight in Cleveland since our original layover time was only 55 minutes. The holiday backup due to weather was already evident with long lines of disgruntled passengers and delayed arrivals. The Lord was very gracious to our family because when we landed in Cleveland at the time our 2nd flight was to depart, we called the information line and found out that our flight was delayed due to incoming connecting passengers. We prayed that we were those passengers! We ran like an insane family through the terminal not even bothering to put Luca in the stroller. When we got to our gate it was indeed our family they were waiting for! If they had not held the plane for us we would have either had to have Munga & Gramma make a 6 hour drive to pick us up or wait until 7:30pm the following day to get our rescheduled flight out to Grand Rapids. We are thankful for the Lord's traveling mercies!
We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family. It was the first time in 5 years that we have celebrated Christmas Day with Jonathan's family. It was indeed a white Christmas. Samuel enjoyed shoveling snow with Munga, while Emma & Luca's snow tolerance was very short. Sled rides were taken up and down the covered streets but the weekend rains melted a lot of the snow thus detaining the hill sledding for the time being.
We went to a Griffins Hockey Game the day after Christmas and Samuel really enjoyed that. Luca and Emma found it fascinating for about the first period. Emma was very concerned about the players going into the penalty box for being "naughty" and wanted to see their angry faces. Samuel was insistent on cheering for the Red Wings. And Luca was happy to take 2 periods to devour a bag of popcorn.
Our departure is only 2 weeks away and the packing has begun in full force. Currently we have 5 bags packed and are hoping that our 10 bag limit will be sufficient, but we'll see if extra bags are needed soon enough. Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we wrap up our time stateside.
We found out 2 weeks ago that our house in Leini' got flooded. When our colleague, Brad, checked it out there was no standing water but a watermark of 7 inches in our garage was evident along with some moisture and dampness in our office. We are thankful the major items seem to be okay, but we'll find out more of the extent when we get home. They are just things of course and all things considered it could have been worse. Spring cleaning will come early this year it seems!
We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family. It was the first time in 5 years that we have celebrated Christmas Day with Jonathan's family. It was indeed a white Christmas. Samuel enjoyed shoveling snow with Munga, while Emma & Luca's snow tolerance was very short. Sled rides were taken up and down the covered streets but the weekend rains melted a lot of the snow thus detaining the hill sledding for the time being.
We went to a Griffins Hockey Game the day after Christmas and Samuel really enjoyed that. Luca and Emma found it fascinating for about the first period. Emma was very concerned about the players going into the penalty box for being "naughty" and wanted to see their angry faces. Samuel was insistent on cheering for the Red Wings. And Luca was happy to take 2 periods to devour a bag of popcorn.
Our departure is only 2 weeks away and the packing has begun in full force. Currently we have 5 bags packed and are hoping that our 10 bag limit will be sufficient, but we'll see if extra bags are needed soon enough. Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we wrap up our time stateside.
We found out 2 weeks ago that our house in Leini' got flooded. When our colleague, Brad, checked it out there was no standing water but a watermark of 7 inches in our garage was evident along with some moisture and dampness in our office. We are thankful the major items seem to be okay, but we'll find out more of the extent when we get home. They are just things of course and all things considered it could have been worse. Spring cleaning will come early this year it seems!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Fisher Family Reunion
Fisher Family Reunion 2008
Ben, Jennie, Cody & NoellaNoella has three siblings, and believe it or not this past week was the first time in 3 1/2 years that we all have been together. What an amazing Christmas present for us to reunite at Mom and Dad's house in California. Jennie and Miguel were married almost 2 years ago in the Dominican Republic, however, we were unable to attend their wedding. Therefore, this was our first chance to meet Miguel and of course our 7 month old nephew, Diego. They arrived on December 17th and although our cross-over time was very brief we are thankful that God gave us this added blessing at all. Between Miguel obtaining his Visa and us being detained for our return to Italy, we can see God's hand in working out this unexpected reunion.
Miguel, Jennie & Diego MorelThe Dominican Republic
Our time went by so quickly, but we had lots of fun celebrating Noella's 31st birthday, Mom & Dad's 35th Wedding Anniversary, Great Nana's 83rd birthday, an early Christmas and so much more.
Ben, Melissa and Maddie made a couple of trips up from Camarillo, CA to spend with everyone. They await the soon arrival of their son in February and we are so excited for them!Cody is now living in the area and is counting down the days (98 to be exact) until he and Michelle are married. Michelle was greatly missed in this reunion. We are so excited to have her officially join the family on April 4, 2009. Unfortunately, we are not able to celebrate with them in person as a return trip for all of us is not feasible. But we trust God will grant us strength to endure another missed sibling wedding.
Here are some photos that captured our precious time together. We love and greatly miss our California family already!!
Papa & Nano couldn't have had a better Christmas present than for all their children and grandchildren to be home.
Great Campa with five of his Great Grandchildren.
Nano sewed Emma & Mamma coordinating aprons for our baking time together.
Cousins: Emma (4 yrs), Maddie (19 mos), Diego (7 mos), Samuel (5 yrs) and Luca (2 yrs)Monday, December 15, 2008
Disneyland
This past Thursday Papa & Nano treated us all to a trip to Disneyland along with Uncle Ben, Aunt Meli, Maddie & Uncle Cody. The kids had been counting down the days to Disneyland since the day we arrived in California and once again a paper chain was needed to keep their excitement in check. We left home at 7:30AM and made the 3 hour drive down to Anaheim. Our plan was to go as along as everyone could hold up taking in to special consideration Aunt Meli who is 32 weeks pregnant. The kids had an absolute blast and it was so fun to see their first Disneyland experience through their eyes. It was a gorgeous day topping out just above 80 degrees. We attempted to get on as many rides as possible which included: the rockets, Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Autopia, Submarine, train, carousal, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Tour, Space Mountain, and a few other rides in addition to watching the Christmas parade down Main Street USA and the fireworks show.
The kids held up well. Luca did not do well in the lines at all! He was pulling with all his might against his Monkey leash and was nearly impossible to keep happy waiting in lines. So needless to say we didn't attempt any lines that had longer than a 30 minute wait. Once he was on a ride he was completely content but then he wanted to race to the next thing as soon as it was over. If only we could siphon his energy to spread his abundance of energy.
Aboard the yellow submarine to see Nemo & friends
Cousin Maddie
The kids' first choice of rides was the rockets
Luca trying to hurl himself over the gate to get on the ride
Christmas-Disney style
View from Tomorrow Land
The castle was prettier than it looks in this picture
Luca obtained his Autopia driver's licenseSamuel's most favorite ride was Space Mountain. When he got off he was shouting "I'm SO happy, I'm SO happy!!" Emma's favorite ride was Star Tours and if she can shout on a ride it's all the more fun for her. Not sure what Luca liked best but I'm sure it was Buzz Lightyear as he choice a Buzz hat for his souvenir.
After leaving the park we made a stop at In-n-Out Burger at 10:30PM for dinner and then we officially ended our day when arriving home at 1AM. What a wonderful day it was to spend with family and to have this experience together. Thank you Papa & Nano for this special treat--we love you!
After leaving the park we made a stop at In-n-Out Burger at 10:30PM for dinner and then we officially ended our day when arriving home at 1AM. What a wonderful day it was to spend with family and to have this experience together. Thank you Papa & Nano for this special treat--we love you!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
From California
Forgive us for being absent from the blogging world as of late. (Noella caught a bad intestinal/stomach flu after Thanksgiving that lasted for a week and thus we have been pretty busy trying to make up for some lost time) I will do my best to give you a summary of the past few weeks along with pictures for those who are interested.
We did arrive safely in California nearly three weeks ago. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and it was the first time celebrating with them since we have been married. The first week here was pretty low key; visiting Noella's grandparents and trying to catch up on some must needed rest after our previous eventful weeks. Samuel is doing great and bounced right back to his normal self within a week of being released from the hospital. Jonathan is doing great as well and seems to have passed his kidney stone about a week ago. Apart from Noella & her dad catching a bad case of gastroenteritis everyone has been healthy.
We had the wonderful blessing of seeing our Italian friends: Raffaele & Manuela Spitale and their two precious children on two occasions. They drove up to see us the weekend after Thanksgiving and then we drove down to see them at their home today in Sylmar. They arrived in California almost two months ago and can now simpathize with our lives, emotions, language learning and stresses that come along with a cross-cultural move. What a joy to see them again! We are going to miss them greatly when we return to the field as they were our closest friends and neighbors in Italy. Thank goodness for Skype and MagicJack so we can keep in touch often, right Manu?! Raffaele is currently studying the language and hopes to pass his language exam so that he can begin seminary at Master's in January.
Jonathan has been preaching every Sunday and also has been able to teach in the prison several times through my dad's prison ministry. He has enjoyed these opportunities to preach and teach God's word (in English). It has been a joy to reconnect with our supporting churches once more here in California.
Jonathan & I had to reshcedule our overnight getaway since I had the flu, but we were able to squeeze it in this past week. We headed north to Avila Beach on Tuesday and had an incredible time together. We walked along the beach catching lots of magnificent shots of the sunset, dining out, relaxing, exploring Pismo Beach & San Luis Obispo--all without the kids which made our 24 hours away feel so much longer than that. The weather was great--nearly 80 degrees! You gotta love California winters! On our way home we stopped by Nana's (Noella's grandma) house and took her out for Chinese food. It was an amazing time of refreshment for us both and we are so glad we were able to do this one last time before heading overseas.
This blog is getting way too long so I'll save a post about our trip to Disneyland for a later time.
Sunset at Pismo Beach
The moon peeking through a Mellaluca tree
California Palms at dusk
Avila Beach by night
We enjoyed dining at the Custom House twice in Avila while overlooking the ocean
Avila is a quaint little beach town and off the beaten path. Such a great place...we'll be going back on our next furlough for sure!
Avila beach landscapes
We stayed at the La Fonda Hotel that had a 19th century Mexican village atmosphere both inside & out.
Our room
We may not have snow, but the fires were enjoyed around the Christmas atmosphere as Jonathan treated me to an early birthday celebration.
We did arrive safely in California nearly three weeks ago. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and it was the first time celebrating with them since we have been married. The first week here was pretty low key; visiting Noella's grandparents and trying to catch up on some must needed rest after our previous eventful weeks. Samuel is doing great and bounced right back to his normal self within a week of being released from the hospital. Jonathan is doing great as well and seems to have passed his kidney stone about a week ago. Apart from Noella & her dad catching a bad case of gastroenteritis everyone has been healthy.
We had the wonderful blessing of seeing our Italian friends: Raffaele & Manuela Spitale and their two precious children on two occasions. They drove up to see us the weekend after Thanksgiving and then we drove down to see them at their home today in Sylmar. They arrived in California almost two months ago and can now simpathize with our lives, emotions, language learning and stresses that come along with a cross-cultural move. What a joy to see them again! We are going to miss them greatly when we return to the field as they were our closest friends and neighbors in Italy. Thank goodness for Skype and MagicJack so we can keep in touch often, right Manu?! Raffaele is currently studying the language and hopes to pass his language exam so that he can begin seminary at Master's in January.
Jonathan has been preaching every Sunday and also has been able to teach in the prison several times through my dad's prison ministry. He has enjoyed these opportunities to preach and teach God's word (in English). It has been a joy to reconnect with our supporting churches once more here in California.
Jonathan & I had to reshcedule our overnight getaway since I had the flu, but we were able to squeeze it in this past week. We headed north to Avila Beach on Tuesday and had an incredible time together. We walked along the beach catching lots of magnificent shots of the sunset, dining out, relaxing, exploring Pismo Beach & San Luis Obispo--all without the kids which made our 24 hours away feel so much longer than that. The weather was great--nearly 80 degrees! You gotta love California winters! On our way home we stopped by Nana's (Noella's grandma) house and took her out for Chinese food. It was an amazing time of refreshment for us both and we are so glad we were able to do this one last time before heading overseas.
This blog is getting way too long so I'll save a post about our trip to Disneyland for a later time.
Sunset at Pismo Beach
The moon peeking through a Mellaluca tree
California Palms at dusk
Avila Beach by night
We enjoyed dining at the Custom House twice in Avila while overlooking the ocean
Avila is a quaint little beach town and off the beaten path. Such a great place...we'll be going back on our next furlough for sure!
Avila beach landscapes
We stayed at the La Fonda Hotel that had a 19th century Mexican village atmosphere both inside & out. 
Our room
We may not have snow, but the fires were enjoyed around the Christmas atmosphere as Jonathan treated me to an early birthday celebration.
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