Same ol Same ol

What's that saying they say? "Another day, another dollar", wait...scratch that last part. So I totally forgot to post yesterday until I was laying in bed and it just seemed like a whole lot of work to get up and think of clever things to say.

So yesterday was a carnival for my palette. I call it a carnival because it was fun, but kind of weird. Like the people who work carnivals. Weird. Anyways, for lunch Patrizia left me with lamb to cook! Oh my, lamb! For real. I am a beef and chicken kind of girl. So first off, I have no idea how to cook Lamb. She told me to just put it on the skillet and cook it. No seasonings nothing. But...to my surprise it tasted like steak! She had also fixed some weird vegetable stuff but all in all it was very good. And then for dinner, she made Asian Stir-fry. Its funny, we as Americans eat all different kind of foods, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, but when I think if real Italians I do not think of them eating other foods haha. I was talking to my mom last night and she asked me what kind of meat was in the Asian Stir-fry, because she was afraid it was going to be weird, I did have Lamb for lunch. And yes it was weird, for Asian Stir-fry....she put hotdogs in it! Haha! I really couldn't taste it but it was just weird to think of hotdogs in it. I put hotdogs in a bun, or macaroni and cheese, but with soy sauce and rice! I would have never thought of it! It was very good though!

Today Patrizia works the PM shift so she was here all morning. We blew up the pool and the boys swam, then it got very hot so we came inside and she put a Barbie movie on for them. Yes, Barbie. But they love it and were quiet for a little bit and that is all that matters. Around 12pm Patrizia left for work and the boys and I just ate leftovers from the past couple days for lunch. I didn't pull out the lamb though haha.

But its nap time and I am still not feeling 100%, so I am going to lay down. Have a wonderful day!!

Love you-
Kellie

1st official day alone with the boys.

So my day started with the boys at 8:30 am. I walked over to the house and we ate breakfast and then the dad left for work. The boys and I played outside, blew bubbles, and watched a movie (all in Italian!). As with all kids, they behaved much better when it was just me and the parents were not around. I mean I still had problems. I would say, "stop" and they would go, I would say, "don't hit" and that meant, "hit harder and as much as possible before she gets over here!" So we have some behavior issues to work on over the summer. Then they were getting even more grouchy so I decided it was time to fix lunch. Patrizia had made pesto last night for me to put on pasta for lunch today. Let me tell you...the pesto was AMAZING!!! I dipped a cracker in it earlier in the morning and almost got a spoon out! She told me how to make it for when I get home! So I made lunch and the boys ate. Marco eats like it will run off his plate if he doesn't shove and stuff it all in as fast a as possible. Alan is an awful eater. He says that he doesn't want to eat because he is afraid he will get fat! Isn't he a little young to be worrying about that! But Alan actually ate really well for lunch!

After lunch I decided that before naps I needed to wear them out, so we went outside. The ran and ran and then we went to the swings. We swung for like an hour! Marco even fell asleep in his swing at one point but it wasn't quite time for naps so I woke him up and we started singing songs.

Dad came home while we were swinging and he ate, then came and got the boys for their nap. Now basically I was done for the day because Patrizia gets home from work by the time they get up from their naps, when she works the morning shift. So I went to my room and talked to my mom and Brenna on Skype, which by the way is awesome!!!

I decided I needed to go and see if Patrizia needed any help with anything. I helped her water all the plants around the yard. Now, when we started watering the boys wanted to help. So...Patrizia had me help Marco, and she helped Alan. If I touched the water hose to help him at all he yelled and screamed and threw himself on the ground! This kid was serious!

We had cheese omelette for dinner with a tomato and mozzarella dish. It was pretty good. Im not a huge tomato fan so I ate it with bread.

Nothing too exciting happened today. But Patrizia did tell me she talked with her parents and on July 12th they are going to take the boys to the beach and she is taking me to Rome!! Looks like I will have to get all my sight seeing and shopping done all at once.

Last thing is I want all of you to be praying for this family and their financial situation. I got some specific details on what they need. In October Patrizia is going to take at least an 8 month leave (unpaid) while Andrew undertakes full time study with the German branch of Columbia International University. They need 80 regular supporters ( at the least $20 a month from at least 80 individuals). $20 is not a lot of money and when I get back I am going to make that commitment but I am just one of 80! They need to meet this goal by October. Please pray to see if God is leading you in supporting this wonderful family! I feel God has put me in their life for one reason to maybe get some supporters that they would have otherwise not had.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!
Love you-
Kellie

Afternoon Adventure

This afternoon after naps Andrew and Patritzia took me on an outing to a couple nearby towns to look at the scenery! Now I couldn't tell you the town names to save my life! I read the signs and even asked Andrew but I can't remember, much less spell them, to save my life! But...OH MY! It was amazing! God is so good! I can't imagine the fun He had while creating Italy!

The first town we went to was like maybe 10 minutes from their house. Its a very historical place.

These are just a few pictures of the view from just where we parked!!

This is the view of another town.

Monastery

This is kind of like the center of the town. Andrew said that it is hard to get to know people and find jobs because it is all family owned.

Alan

Marco

That is just a few pictures from the day. It was wonderful! This is a part of Rome that I wouldn't have gotten to see if I was a tourist.

Tomorrow is an early morning. Both Andrew and Patritzia will be gone. Maybe I can get some obedience out of the boys....please pray!


Love you-
Kellie

Sunday

Went to church this morning. I had no idea what to expect. Last night Andrew told me to be ready by 8:30am. So I wonder out of my room at 8:30am and they are all still in their PJ's and haven't even eaten breakfast! Its like they had just rolled out of bed when I have been up for over an hour haha. Anyways, we eat breakfast and I help the kids get ready and dressed.

Now the car situation I was wondering about. I mean its not a bad car, its just that it is a 5 seater, with 2 car-seats! So they let me sit in front and Andrew squeezes in between the 2 car-seats. It was quite funny!

At church there was actually a couple people who spoke English. We walked in and Patritzia walked me over to this lady, said something in Italian to her and had me sit down beside her. They Patritzia and Andrew and the boys went and sat on the other side of the room. They just left me with this lady. But she spoke English so that made it a little better. But the reason I was sitting beside her and not them was because she translated the whole sermon to me! I sure hope they asked her if she would mind doing that previously! I felt awful.

The way the service went was, we would sing, then somebody would stand up and pray, then somebody would shout out a song name and we would sing that, then somebody would pray, ect. That went on for about 20 minutes, then somebody got up and read from the Bible. Then more singing and praying. Then a guy got up and preached (it was one of the elders because they can not afford a pastor). This is when she started translating.  After he preached, we took the Lords Supper...with real wine, not grape juice! Then more singing and praying. Finally at the end they took prayer requests.

The service wasn't weird but it was different. I had never seen it ran like that before. Andrew said that they are very flexible in how things go.

Lunch today was SO SO good! I would tell you what it was called but I can't pronounce it nor spell it! I had pasta, cheese, nuts, and greens (salad) all mixed in together. I was a little worried about the hot salad in it but, OH MY it was good!

This next week Patritzia works all mornings, so that is good for me because she is back by 3ish but bad for her because she has to get up so early! I think I will have to be there for the boys around 8am or 9am.

Pray for Patritzia this next week as she will be working early. Pray for the boys, that they will listen to me! Pray for supporters for them. They only have one car right now because the other one is so broken, the mechanic can't even figure out what is wrong with it. They do not have the money at the time to buy another one either, and another car would be very beneficial at this time in their life! Pray for me as I have not felt well today. I took a nap while the boys napped hoping that would help and it did a little but I just feel not 100%. I need to be 100%!

Thank you for your continued prayer!

Love you-
Kellie

The Routine of Today

Not alot going on here since yesterday. I am anxious to get internet on my computer, I just have it on my phone right now, so I can have something to do at nights when I come to my room. I am about to resort to watching Toy Story or Ice Age in Italian! I don't know how people learn languages just by watching TV. I have been immersed in it and still barely know anything. I have learned "basta" which means "that's enough" and that has come in handy.

I had in interesting conversation with Andrew this morning over breakfast. I don't know how we even got on the topic but we started talking about politics. He apparently keeps up with American politics, I have no idea why. He was talking about how he didn't like Bush and he really didn't like Palin, so I quickly changed the subject. I don't like getting into political debates - much less with someone who it doesn't effect!

After breakfast I went to the market with Patritzia and the boys. It would have been much more enjoyable without both boys or maybe just one. But other than that it was interesting. Now I am not totally sure on the difference in currency at the moment but she bought about what would cost easily $175 and only paid €50 ($75). I was amazed!

Came home and she went to work. She will get home around 9pm tonight. Which is only about 2pm in Texas! Andrew had a friend stop by and eat lunch with us, but he only spoke Italian so I played with the boys and his son Mario! I couldn't help but thing of the video game...he even had red on!

If something interesting happens tonight I will post again but if not...talk to you tomorrow!

Love-
Kellie

Day One on the job

Today was my first real day on the job. Well kinda of. Grandma and Grandpa were still here this morning but they were packing and getting ready for their week long trip. But Franchie, the boys' 11 year old cousin, still played with them - which is a huge help to me! I will miss her. Even though we have this huge language barrier I still feel like we communicate. But I still was more in charge today.

Yesterday, we blew up the pool, la pacina, so it was still up today.  Franchie and the boys played in it right away. It was funny.  Franchie's older sister, whose name I still can't remember and knows NO English, came to me and I could tell she was trying to ask me a question. So she got Franchie to come and she tried to tell me but couldn't find the right words. So Grandpa was outside and he told me what she was wanting . . . she wanted to borrow my hair straightner haha! I thought that was what she was talking about but I had no idea that she was wanting to borrow it!  HaHa!

So even though we don't live up north in Pampa anymore, I still get the daily Bible verse from the Christian radio station sent to my phone. Today's was-

Phillipians 4:6- Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

I worry and am anxious most of the time here. So this verse really spoke to me. I just cant seem to remember that this trip was all ordained by the Lord! It's amazing how easily Satan can get to me. Pray that I will remember the promises God has made and that I will trust those promises.

Lunch was good today. Andrew made pasta with tomatoe sauce with some really strong cheese! The cheese got a litttle overwhelming towards then end. I am thankful Marco was still hungry and ate the rest of mine!

Andrew and I have had some great conversations the past couple days! Just talking about how sad it is that this one guy in his home group can't completely trust the Lord.  He can't understand why God would let his father die from cancer when he was 8! And just about the church in general - how as a whole the church has strayed away from scripture. He hears a lot of  "But we are in the 21st century, that doesn't apply to us anymore."

Also pray for the financial situation they are in. Andrew is going back to seminary in the fall to work on his Master's but they will barely have enough money to live. His dad is going to help pay for classes but they are going to have to depend on support to provide food and such. They were hoping to get around 200 supporters but as of right now they only have 20!  Pray that they will know and trust that the Lord will provide.

Well, I think I might nap as well.

Love you-

Kellie

Thursday - Part 2

Oh my! I feel like days has past since my last post and it hasn't even been 24 hours! After the park we had lunch. Since Andrew's parents are still here. we usually eat with them for lunch, which is awesome because she is an amazing cook! Today we had some kind of potato casserole with ham in it. They called it Guatto (not sure of spelling). The past 2 days since I have been here the weather has been wonderful. so we eat outside! They drink wine with every meal, well, at least lunch. Andrew, Patrizia, the boys, and I eat dinner by ourselves and they always have beer. I haven''t tried the wine because I don't want to offend them if I didn't like it and you have to eat and drink everything! Waste nothing! But dinner with Andrew and Patrizia is very different. They are not very good cooks. Tonight Patrizia was working, so Andrew dug in the freezer and pulled out some frozen fish...yeah. Since I do not like any fish, besides the Dungan's of course, I drowned it in ketchup and tried not to breathe while chewing. So needless to say I am going to miss Andrew's mother's cooking! But I found out today that they will be back for a little while in a week! That makes me SO happy!!

As for learning why the Lord has me here...I am still searching, but I am getting an idea. I am thinking He decided that I needed time away from things that are comfortable and normal so that when I cry every night because I can't understand the boys or Patrizia, I will only be able to turn to Him. If that is the only lesson I need to learn here than that's fine, but I have a feeling that I am in for a huge makeover.

The past few weeks I have just been reading through the Psalms because I really didn't know where I was supposed to be reading. But today I finally decided that I needed to read through the Gospels. I have never just sat down and read them straight through. I am halfway through Matthew and learning so much!

I LOVE nap time! The boys sleep for about 2 hours and that is kinda like my free time. Today I just read my Bible, read my book Radical by David Platt. That is a must read! I should get paid for this advertising! I even got a little nap in myself!

Oh and I cooked my very first Italian meal for the boys tonight Frankfurt Sausages...or...hotdogs. Really?! Well, hopefully I will learn some real Italian soon!

That's pretty much it for today. It has been a long day and I am tired!

Love you-
Kellie

The Park

This morning the family had me come eat breakfast at 9am so we could then go to the park. When I got there they had everything set out and everybody had already pretty much finished. So I ate my 2 pieces of toast with marmalade (jelly) and drank some coffee. Of course it didn't take me long to eat so when I was done I helped clean up. Well Andrew said "That was a quick eat. I thought you would eat for 30 minutes or so. You do this every morning? Just eat and go?" Haha. I guess the Italian culture sits around for a while.

After we cleaned up, we stopped by the Bible school where Andrew works. It is beautiful! I will post pictures when I get my computer up and running. I met the secretary and she speaks English! So Patrizia asked her if some Sunday she would take me to the city to tour!! She said that she has only been there 3 times so we could be tourists together!

Then we went to the park. Not walking distance in my mind but anyways. It was pretty much the same as the parks in the States, except for the water fountain (I didn't get a picture but hopefully I will soon). It looked like just a water spout. I thought you would just cup your hands and catch some water and drink from your hands. But no! You cover up the hole the water is coming out of and it comes out a hole in the middle of the spout and looks like a water fountain! I would have looked real dumb if I would have tried it by myself!

Now we are back home. I will post another tonight to tell about the rest of my day!

Here are some pictures of where I am staying.

Love you all!  Thank you so much for all the prayers!!!
Kellie

Where to begin. . .

It has been a LONG 2 days! When I finally arrived in Rome I had had about 3 hours of sleep in over 24 hours.

I left the airport in Houston at 4:30pm and arrived in Germany at 1:30am. But in Germany it was around 9am. So the jet lag began. My body was telling me to sleep but it was light outside. The flight to Germany was AWFUL!! My very sweet uncle had told me international flights were wonderful...he was wrong. We were crammed in the plane like sardines...in economy of course. They did play movies but only 2 and they were both ones I wanted to see. Valentines Day was first and about over half way through something went wrong and they had to restart the system! Which meant they started the movie all over again.  I fell asleep before it ended and woke up after they had started the other one. So that was a fail! I was sitting next to a quite large nun - haha. So we were touching the entire trip! And she was grouchy. There was an adorable little Indian boy sitting in front of us and he would stand up and look around. Well if he was in her way - by golly - she would tap him on the shoulder and tell him to sit down! There was a guy across the isle from me who I believe was Muslim. I got to see him pray! He didn't get out of his seat but I noticed his lips moving and he was leaning forward and touching his head to the chair in front of him. Then he would move his arms in a different position and do it again.

I landed in Germany and was exhausted!!  On top of that I was nauseous from the plane ride. My phone wasn't working so I couldn't get a hold of my family. I finally found a pay phone and got a hold of them at 3am states time. And with all the emotions going through my body I burst into tears! Their voice was the only thing that was familiar to me. Now everywhere I went people were talking in a different language and I wasn't sure I liked it.

I had 6 hours to kill. I tried to sleep twice and maybe slept for 30 mins or so. I was VERY anxious so my stomach was in knots and I almost threw up. Not a good way to start a 2 month stint in another country!

Finally my plane left for Rome. I thought it could only get better from here. The plane ride was better and everything. We landed an hour and a half later and I got my bags. Now to find Andrew. There were a ton of people waiting but I finally found him. He's exactly what I expected. Nerdy haha! But very sweet.

You have not seen traffic till you have driven in Rome! It took us a good hour to get home. We get home and I get a real Italian welcome from his Father and Mother! They are precious! They speak English too! But they will only be here till Friday. His wife got home from work about 30 minutes after us and she speaks very little English. I think its going to be the hardest with her. I was exhaused so I went to my little apartment off of the house. I walked in and it has a little kitchenette, bunkbed, and a tiny bathroom! But I am all alone. You can't get to any part of the house except to go outside, so that is good.

Last night was very hard! I am hoping it was because I was so tired but I cried and cried and cried. I miss my family, I can't talk to them on the phone, and I can't understand anybody! But I slept all night long!

Today has been 100% better! The boys are so cute! Alan is the oldest and is very shy! He usually hides from me. but it will get better. Marco on the other hand wants to tell me everything...in Italian! So I just listen and shake me head and smile. This is going to interesting.

Already went to the store because I packed lotion instead of body wash. And I am pretty sure I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair this morning. But things can definately only get better right! I am trying not to try and count down the days.

I am not sure how the touring the city thing is going to go because of where they live, which is not close to anything. Rome is nothing like the movies...at least not where we are at.

The streets are crazy tiny though and I am surprised they haven't died by the way they drive!

Sorry this post is so scattered but I don't have a lot of time.

Love you and am in serious need of prayer!
Kellie

Italy Here I Come!

Its 12:32 PM and we are leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes. Oh my I cannot believe how fast this all has gone. I know my time in Italy will go even faster.

I am SO SO excited to watch movies ALL the way to Germany. If you know me at all, you know that I will have no problem watching movie after movie. I hear international flights are very enjoyable.

One thing you can be praying for is the Diprose family. Pray that they are ready for loud and crazy me. Pray that the boys and I will hit it off great! In high school I loved babysitting boys. They are not as dramatic as girls. They are just easier to be around. So that they have 2 boys is very much a blessing.

Pray that Mrs. Diprose and I get along too. Pray our cultural differences and the language barrier will not hinder a wonderful relationship. I am about to become a member of their family and that is going to be  a hard transition on both of us.

Thank you everyone for the prayers you are already praying for me. I couldn't get through any of this without you!

Hopefully I can find some WiFi in Germany and be able to post about my flight.

When I told my uncle what airline I am flying on he said, "Oh! They hardly ever crash!" THANKS!!

Talk to you all soon!

Love,
Kellie

Preparing to leave

I'm not sure I am good at this blog stuff, so bare with me. I am also not the best writer, so bare with me there too. Grammar was not my best subject. Just being honest! 

I leave for Rome in 5 days and I have NOTHING ready. I don't even have my checklist filled out. I am a procrastinator, so I will probably not even begin packing until Sunday night. I might even be able to squeeze it into Monday morning. 

I am a fiction fanatic. I always have a fiction book going. But I decided that while I am in Italy, I am going to make my focus totally on God and what He has to teach me while I am there serving Him. So I am loading up on Christian Living books along with my Bible. My first prayer request from you is that I really listen to what God is wanting me to learn. Pray that I take to heat what I am reading.

My second prayer request is for communication between me and Alan and Marco (By the way that's the boys names). Pray that I can show Gods love to them even though we are from different cultures. Pray my actions glorify Him. 

And my last prayer request for right now is for a safe flight. I have flown before but not for 18 hrs. My plane leaves at 4:35 on Monday; I fly for 16 hrs; land in Frankfurt, Germany and have a 6 hr layover there; then fly 2 hours to Rome where it is 5:35 p.m. Rome time. Which by the way is 7 hours ahead of TX.

My plan with this blog is to hopefully post pictures and keep in informed about my daily life. I am sure there will be venting involved along with the joys and fun sight seeing pictures! Thank you for praying for me while I am serving the Lord. 

Love, 

Kellie