(UPDATED) obsessions, chocolate and otherwise...

After my last post, my spirits have been better.  There have been some dear friends making an effort to cheer me up and help me relate to what motherhood will be like.  They are so sweet, just like this chocolate pie I am showing you all a HUGE picture of here on my blog.

Now, about this chocolate pie. It is so good.  Someone made it for a pot-luck back at Christmas time and I fell in love with the flavor of it.  I badgered the poor woman to give me the recipe for it for several weeks until she finally emailed it to me.  I ran right out and bought the ingredients for it and made one.  It is totally easy and in the two months that I've had the recipe, I've maybe made 8 pies for various different occasions, all very well received.

I just wanted to share my obsession of chocolate pie with you.  Just so you know and understand that in my confession I will be planning on making more.  This recipe will be a favorite in my family for years to come.

UPDATE:  link to recipe HERE

Other than that, there's not much to report.  We've did have some snow this week, but it was here one day and gone the next.  It was pretty falling in the night sky though.

Oh, and I'm completely obsessed with Downton Abbey and all things English, lately.

What are your obsessions?

letting my imagination wander...

I was thinking today that I often plan ahead to what life will be like when we have kids.  Charlie and I talk about what we will do in certain parenting situations, how we will make decisions and what we want life to be like once we are a family.  We talk about dinnertime and how we want to raise our kids to be included in things, and how we want them to behave.  We talk about baby names, and whether we want to use the names we've already chosen for the adoptions that did not go through.  When we went to name the twins, we didn't use the name we chose for the original baby girl we were going to adopt.  Now, we've used up three names that we had for girls and don't know if we need to choose more or try to think about using them.  I mean, it wouldn't mean anything to the baby, but we've attached some emotions to those names in those situations. 

But I wonder how soon it will happen, when we'll be parents, and to how many children.  Will we be able to manage to go through this process more than once?  We've had two false starts now, and can we abide going through another round of this even after we have one child?  Don't know. 

We imagine so much, but I can't think too far ahead.  Sometimes it is hard to walk past the room that is all decorated, ready to go, full of clothes and diapers.  We even inherited another carseat this week, once for a toddler and now we have one for every possible age.  I like to plan, and we have the room to store things, so I don't mind hand-me-downs.  And it will help us save money later, which is always a benefit. 

So, I keep imagining things and not knowing if they will ever come true.  The latest situation that was a long shot turned out to be just that: a long shot.  It was over as quickly as it started and even though the situation was up in the air, we could not intervene.   I wish we could have, but we were too far away and it was none of our business.  I believe that the Lord will answer our prayers, but my heart is heavy while we continue to wait.  This has been a long three years and while it has served us in a way to deepen our relationship as husband and wife.  And while it was nice to enjoy Valentine's Day without needing to secure a babysitter, I would have loved to have that honor. 

May the Lord be answering our prayer soon. 

couple things to mention...

Near the Roman Coliseum

In Verona....

Some of you asked for a couple more photos of my trips, but here's the sad truth about it:  I didn't have a digital camera back then!  The few photos I have that are digital were sent from a student who had a digital camera.  I think I should get more off the disk she gave me, but I can't find it.  So, here are two more. 

All that being said, I've been contacted a couple times last week about adoption situations and I'm hoping that something pans out.  We don't know right now.  But, definitely keep us in mind when you come across a situation that you think we might want to get ourselves involved in!  My email address is on this page, so please feel free to use it!

when the world opens up...

Canals in Venice...view from my gondola

Juliet's balcony in Verona

On the streets of Florence with my student Katherine

 

 

 

One of the things that's a trend in education is bringing a global perspective to our students.  When I taught high school art, that seemed really easy.  I sponsored three trips abroad and took students to Europe, which benefited me because I hadn't ever been across the ocean and wanted to see all the things I'd been studying in college.  I saw and learned so much. 

I stood under the Eiffel tower.
I ate pizza in Covent Garden, London.
I cried in many, many cathedrals.
I took deep breaths in the coliseum in Rome, savoring the history.
I bought a cross charm in Notre Dame.
I slept on an overnight train, an overnight ferry and overnight flights.
I woke up with the sunrise over water on a beach in Greece.
I said hello to the Mona Lisa.
I rode a gondola in Venice.
I talked to the dead in Pompeii.
I drug my suitcase up many, many flights of stairs and through multiple airports. 

I loved it all. 

I've been to Spain, Italy, Greece, England and France with students.  On my own I've also been to Mexico, Canada, Belize and another trip to England.  

But trying to inspire a global view with kindergarteners is a little bit tougher.  I mean, they really don't know much about the world to begin with (well, except I do teach at a school with a ton of kids that were born in Hispanic countries) to know that there are so many other countries.  While many of the kids might know they moved here from another country, I don't know that they understand tourism and that travel can be a choice, not a necessity.  It's a difficult concept to impart on little kids. 

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see so much of the world, and I would love to see some of Asia if I could stand to be in a plane that long.  It's just been so great to experience other cultures and soak up the energy from the world. 

I'd love to know where you've traveled.  Do tell.