Archive | travel

that time we went to Greece

There’s a whole story behind our last-minute, semi-harrowing journey to Crete last week, but I’m going to save it for tomorrow when the four loads of laundry are no longer calling my name.  There are some lovely pictures to share of a magnificent island, and I’ll also tell you what’s like for your plane to lose an engine halfway across the Mediterranean!

In the meantime, I have a wonderful article I want to share with you: Constraint and Consent, Career and Motherhood.  Kate Harris, Executive Director of the Washington Institute, wrote a response to the much-discussed Atlantic article Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.  Kate’s perspective is insightful and encouraging, especially as she writes as a Christian woman who works part-time as she mothers three pre-school-age children full time.  Read Kate’s article and be encouraged and inspired to use the constraints of motherhood to figure out your true calling and passions.

As I muddle through volunteering as a nurse, developing my skills as a homemaker, blogging somewhat regularly, knitting with a purpose, I wonder where in there lie my true passions, now gently and firmly constrained by the presence of little Lena in our lives.  I think of two of my friends who are going back to school (taking classes at home) to become midwives while raising their young children.  I think of other bloggers who have studiously developed their writing or design or photography skills while nursing young bodies or homeschooling young minds.  I think of many published authors who have written during nap time as they crafted their life’s work.  Wherein lies my deepest passion?  How can I refine my vocation and pursue the sweetest calling of all, all to the glory of God?

2 :: in good reads, thoughts, travel, weekend

there and back again

Well, I guess I went on an unexplained blogging vacation!  Sorry about being MIA for all you few and faithful who look forward to updates.  I’m back now with some photos today and other life updates later this week.

One reason for the lack of posting is that our little family took a trip back to the States.  We did nothing but relax with family and see friends the entire time, altogether a sweet interlude in regular life.  I’ll share more from our visit home later this week, but for now, here are some iPhone photos from time with family as well as a few from life since we got back last Wednesday night.

Marmee (mother of twins) teaches Lena how hard it is to take care of twin babies!
& snack time on the back deck
 nature loving in the Garbers’ beautiful backyard in Virginia
 now back home in Sicily, we settle back into our familiar routines (and also pots)
 playtime and “helping” with the laundry
 she pulls her wooden alligator behind her everywhere these days
& enjoying a traditional Sicilian breakfast (frozen granite ices inside brioche sweet buns) with my dad, who visited us this weekend
 enjoying the fruits of Sicily: homemade cherry compote (in an old lemon curd jar) 
& munching on an apricot on a walk
yesterday Lena found new uses for her cloth diapers as her mama took them off the line
3 :: in family, Lena, life lately, travel, Virginia

there and back again

Well, I guess I went on an unexplained blogging vacation!  Sorry about being MIA for all you few and faithful who look forward to updates.  I’m back now with some photos today and other life updates later this week.

One reason for the lack of posting is that our little family took a trip back to the States.  We did nothing but relax with family and see friends the entire time, altogether a sweet interlude in regular life.  I’ll share more from our visit home later this week, but for now, here are some iPhone photos from time with family as well as a few from life since we got back last Wednesday night.

Marmee (mother of twins) teaches Lena how hard it is to take care of twin babies!
& snack time on the back deck
 nature loving in the Garbers’ beautiful backyard in Virginia
 now back home in Sicily, we settle back into our familiar routines (and also pots)
 playtime and “helping” with the laundry
 she pulls her wooden alligator behind her everywhere these days
& enjoying a traditional Sicilian breakfast (frozen granite ices inside brioche sweet buns) with my dad, who visited us this weekend
 enjoying the fruits of Sicily: homemade cherry compote (in an old lemon curd jar) 
& munching on an apricot on a walk
yesterday Lena found new uses for her cloth diapers as her mama took them off the line
3 :: in family, Lena, life lately, travel, Virginia

the journey home

Elliott’s conference finished in Germany and it was time to head home to Sicily.  We took the long way back: drove west through Austria, paused in Litchenstein for the night, and then swept through Switzerland and into northern Italy to catch our 6pm flight out of Milan.  

By this point we were more confident with the GPS and also rested and relaxed after a week in the mountains.  Hence this leg of the journey was a lot better Day 1 of our road trip last week, where this whole thing sounded like one big bad idea.  Although we don’t know if we’ll ever do this again, at least the photos will help us remember it fondly!
Here are a few snapshots from along the way…

A U S T R I A
where we stopped briefly for playgrounds and cappuccinos

a video of happy moments on the road
(Isn’t Lena so cute with her little book?!) 
L I T C H E N S T E I N
where we found a street fair, shopped for cheese, watched a bachelorette party in full swing, and ate hot bratwurst for dinner 

S W I T Z E R L A N D
where McCafe was the only place open in Lugano and where we walked along the lake in the rain

4 :: in family, Germany, Italy, travel

the journey home

Elliott’s conference finished in Germany and it was time to head home to Sicily.  We took the long way back: drove west through Austria, paused in Litchenstein for the night, and then swept through Switzerland and into northern Italy to catch our 6pm flight out of Milan.  


By this point we were more confident with the GPS and also rested and relaxed after a week in the mountains.  Hence this leg of the journey was a lot better Day 1 of our road trip last week, where this whole thing sounded like one big bad idea.  Although we don’t know if we’ll ever do this again, at least the photos will help us remember it fondly!

Here are a few snapshots from along the way…

A U S T R I A
where we stopped briefly for playgrounds and cappuccinos

a video of happy moments on the road
(Isn’t Lena so cute with her little book?!) 
L I T C H E N S T E I N
where we found a street fair, shopped for cheese, watched a bachelorette party in full swing, and ate hot bratwurst for dinner 

S W I T Z E R L A N D
where McCafe was the only place open in Lugano and where we walked along the lake in the rain

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4 :: in family, Germany, Italy, travel

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