closing the door, and looking toward the open one

These last few weeks before leaving Milan have been interesting and wonderful! Many memories and sweet acts of kindness coming to my memory from the years lived here; now that we prepare to leave many more new and beautiful experiences have happened. So many friends lovingly offer to help pack & clean the house, while others have offered to help with the kids & making sure our tummies are full! It has really been bittersweet to say goodbye to such a fantastic place to live, but with the feeling that it is time to move on to another place for new memories! Funny thing is I keep meeting new Americans in the area! From church, to the park & even the grocery store! All with children close in age to mine. All somewhat beginning their own journey in Milan! My heart has been torn and a little confused why in all these years of so many friends moving from Italy to other countries WHY am I meeting these families the very LAST week I am in Milan? Maybe so they can know they too will be OK, maybe so I can pass along info of some of the best people in the area to help show them around.... and maybe because I will need someone to be a friend to me when I am the "newly arrived". "When one door closes another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us". ~Alexander Graham Bell

Closing the Chapter of Milan, Italy

There has been a whole lot going on around here lately! Although I have felt mostly tired and overwhelmed, I have been feeling a desire to get back to the blogging world and write my feelings and experiences. I really don't know if there is a place for the innermost things of my heart and mind in the vast internet world, but maybe just maybe there is. It is with this thought in mind that I write. Yesterday our lives here in Milan, Italy were packed into boxes and carried away to a storage unit where they will stay for the next 6- 8 weeks, or more. This is a REALLY big deal for us! You see Giovanni and I arrived 9.5 years ago for a job offered to Gio, working with the Mayor of Milan, doing international public relations to secure the bid for the 2015 world EXPO. This ride of the bid took him travelling to many fun & beautiful places, occasionally with me in tow (3 months in PARIS)! Milan won the bid and for 8 Years He prepared and worked really hard to see the actual Event happen! It was an intense-fully rewarding EXPO and a Great success for all! Especially for Giovanni who really worked through so many challenges! With the organisation of any big event, let alone a world wide one there were obstacles to overcome and creative solutions to be found! There were many changes in government, a few promotions, additions to our family, much travel to visit family members, enjoying visitors to our place, anniversaries, birthdays, making friends and saying goodbye to them. Personal and family growth through it all! How grateful we are for these experiences! We are now preparing to do it all again, in Dubai, UAE!

Duabi will be the host city for EXPO 2020 Stay Tuned for more on our adventure, travelling through our lives.......

Ezra Vittorio turns ONE!

Good morning! Make it a GOOD Day!

Great Advise! More from me coming soon....

2013 was paradise!

I've been missing in action around here for the past few months... In the meantime we have been having a great time as a family!

Spanish memories & churros

Hi there,

sorellinachamy just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"I had a flashback while walking in mid May Pouring rain the other day- I was suddenly transported to Salamanca Spain, 2005. Studying Spanish, visiting amazing cities, laying out at the park, tappas touring at night, flamenco dancing lessons, snacking in tortillas , Spanish guitar lessons & of course this sudden flood of memories brought on a craving for churros dipped in hot chocolate! So perfectly Spanish! The rain let up, so we left out the hit chocolate part, but loved making and eating churros! Check out those sugary fingers if you don't believe me!"

Local farm

A few days ago we met some friends at a small local farm. Very close to the city selling locally produced produce, milk & cheese. The kids had fun watching the cows chow on hay, the ducks quacking, the goats gnawing on fingers stuck through the fence and watching the horses give rides!

It was great to get out and do something different! The kids loved running through the wide open spaces. Even while we were walking to the car Lottie found some muddy puddles and started jumping up & down! Ikey found a hill & started rolling down it! It took us a while to make it to the car, but we did make it.

Oh yeah, btw we now have a car. Bought a used Peugeot while in Sicily this summer. It's a great car!

Art or mess??

I found about 10 photos exactly like this on my phone. I guess Charlotte was inspired by her brother playing and then abandoning toys!

some words on a sicilan summer

Ciao family, friends and fellow bloggers! I wish I had access to more photos that we have taken on our yearly Sicilian summer trip; I sent the previous photo from Gio’s phone as he left for the airport. I only have my film camera and Gio has the rest on his phones; meaning who knows if you will ever see them- sorry, but it could be true! Making plans to come to Sicily was in our minds, but there were plans to travel to the states earlier in the summer and arriving in Sicily just as summer would be drawing to a close; however, our plans quickly changed and before we knew it we bought a flight leaving just a few days later! Giovanni is headed to Korea for work soon and with nothing to do in Milan but sweat, I chose to stay with the kids in Ragusa to hang out with Italian family and play in the Mediterranean. While here we have gotten a lot of Sun time, eaten the BEST fresh ricotta cheese, collected beautiful sea shells, indulged (at times more than once a day) for amazing gelato or granita (a granita is like a slushy, but as in true Italian style like eating/drinking an iced fruit or nut just picked from a tree- pure BLISS, some of our favorites are: toasted almond, pistachio, ricotta, pear and coconut with chocolate pieces) taking walks to admire Ibla (the oldest part of Ragusa)or along the board walk at night with the rest of the beach goers, homemade fresh ravioli thanks to Zia Maria, shopping the sales, playing with cousins and kittens at the farm house, wondering the local markets and celebrating birthdays with Nonni! It is such fun to listen to Charlotte speak Italian that is improving by leaps and bounds converse with everyone here, she pretty much refuses to speak to me in Italian, but that is ok by me. Isaac too, has quite the growing vocabulary! He seems so advanced for being 16 months (today he is 16 months, really already?) but what else would you expect his mother to say. We are truly enjoying our time here. Even if we miss Giovanni.

Sicilian Summer

A few pictures

Just thought I would share a few photos of us from 2012 thus far. I have put blogging LOW on the list of things to do... maybe that will change soon, then again maybe not.

Milan mosaic

Walking around the center today i saw these lovely mosaics hidden in the entry to a very normal looking building tucked between bustling stores- stunning work!

Cool mosaic

I spy with my little eye ONE green thing!

Are you looking to laugh? Would you like to cuddle? Want to play hide and seek? How about reading some books and make pretend food in the kitchen or be a dragon, a prince or even a princess? Oh this little guy can do it all! There is never a dull moment with him and how can you resist an always smiling face... look at that sweet smile! Sure glad we get to keep him! Because we all really are in LOVE!

Mother's Day

The day I became a mother I was extremely excited and awe struck of the responsibility and grateful for the trust bestowed upon me. I remember feeling strongly that I COULD do all that was required to be a Great, Amazing mother to my little one. I was in a partnership, not only with my husband, but with a LOVING Father in Heaven that sent this soul to earth to learn and grow. This same feeling came over me again with the birth of a second child. As a little time has passed there are many days that pass that I FORGET this special feeling I had those first early days of my motherhood. Dishes pile up, toys pile up, laundry piles up, the space is never enough. Little ones are hungry, they play nice, they play too rough, and the STRESS and Frustration starts to pile up too. I feel as if NOTHING is getting accomplished and my day's work is amounting to ZERO. It is usually around this time I am on the floor picking something up and Isaac will come and bear-back hug me- chatting in his little language! Or Lottie bug will ask me to "Please help me mom," I leave EVERYTHING and give a silent THANK YOU and start to kiss those little faces! I smell the sweet scent of their hair and I tell them I LOVE them! Because If I don't who will? These moments I get a small glimpse of those cherished feelings I first felt. I love being a Mother! I am grateful that I can fill this HONORABLE Role and be the BEST I CAN BE! I am even more grateful for the examples of Mothers I have had in my life! My Mother has always been a strong reference point for me. I love her strong Conviction for what she believes in and Passion in what ever she is doing. She is a Loyal friend and Honest. She encourages me to be the best I can be and I love her! My Grandmothers have both been very present in my life and for this I know I have been blessed. Kindness and Forgiveness, always giving LOve, you are never too old to Learn something new and to NEVER GIVE UP! I have been far from home for a few years now and I continue to meet women whose amazing qualities touch my heart and inspire me to be a better being. I love all of you! Happy Mother's Day!

Le Cornelle Zoo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the weekend we rented a car picked up our friend Cary and headed out to the zoo. We were very impressed by the amount and variety of animals they have! From camels and zebras to owls, flamingos, pengiuns and elephants! There were Golden tigers, white tigers and siberian tigers! White lions, bears and rinos! On top of just admiring all the beautiful animals we got to see many of them in action! Lions roaring and marking territory, rino's grunting, penguins swimming, camels fighting and spitting! Monkeys chasing each other and lots of eating going on! It was a the perfect Saturday (and no one got pinched since we all wore green)!

After weeks apart we are all together having fun!!!

There is a carnival at one of the big parks in the city for a few weeks, we took advantage of the sun and enjoyed a few rides!

Dressed up in the City of Lights

For some time now I have been taking a backseat to blogging. At first it was due to some technical difficulties (ie. phone being stolen, hard drive crashing, ect...) but now I am just being lazy I guess!
The last week of OCtober Giovanni had a big International participants meeting up in Como for EXPO and I decided since he was going to be gone most of the week to head to Paris to visit with our friends! We had a GREAT time! Giovanni joined us for a long weekend and we packed in much fun along with lounge time! Here are a few photos of Halloween. I will post more about the rest of the trip at a later time.

We celebrated Halloween by attending the American Library in Paris activities, including Charlie Brown's Halloween and trick' o treating through out the library.
As you can see we had 2 insects! A Yellow Butteryfly and a Spider that LOVES to crawl!

A view from a new window

Here is the view from Giovanni's new office window, Milans' first skyscraper at 30 floors (he is on the 30th floor nicknamed the celestial floor). Situated in front of the central station all of Milan can be seen from here, on a nice day even the alps!

Standing up

Isaac started standing on his own! So fun to see him discover new things each day!