Dec 2, 2013

Ready or not...

...life is changing!

I have always heard about empty nest and all the growing pangs that go along with little chicks leaving the nest and I thought it would be a cinch when the time came but I have to tell you, it's a booger!!

We saw Cody leave 3 years ago at 19 and that was difficult. I honestly got through it by just not thinking about it and I was pretty successful. Then two years later when Josh left at 18 it was much harder. I think it was because he was the last boy in the house. When he left we had to do away with the boy's room cause there were no more boys in the house and that was a reality check for sure. We redid the larger boy's room and moved Hannah in there leaving a completely empty bedroom. It wasn't long till we realized that this family house was a bit too large for our little family of 3. 

Also for the first time in our ministry here we are going to be living in a different city. We have lived and worked in this city for 13 years, since we arrived in Croatia. As much as I love this city and the friends we've made I'm ready for a change. We no longer work in the first church plant and we're exclusively working in the new church in a neighboring city. The new city is at least 3 times larger than than our city here which means lots of shopping opportunities. 

I am really not the sort of girl that resists change. I actually welcome change and need it every couple years it seems to keep from getting bored. Being a missionary has worked out well. Between furloughs and work we have managed to move 5 times in 13 years. I know that seems crazy but it's just the way it has worked out. I know God knew in advance what our life would hold on the mission field 'cause as a child my family moved more than 30 times by high school. I didn't understand it or like it then but I can see how it's prepared me for life here. 

Anyhow, ready or not it's time to move again. This move is different because we are seriously downsizing. The house we are renting is basically a house with the top floor made into an apartment and the bottom is a garage and some storage rooms. It's different than anything we've lived in before. For one thing, it's one story, which is amazing. Can I please stop here and interject: I hate stairs! Every house we have lived in has been at least two stories and a few three. I'm so excited about living on one floor. I'm keeping in mind that the grass is always greener on the other side and maybe a one story isn't gonna be as cool as I think but I'm up for giving it a try. Oh wait, no stairs?....there goes my only means of exercise! So by the first week of January we should be completely moved into our new house and new life. 

Life is changing whether I'm ready or not. We're now a family or 3 for now anyhow. It won't be long and our 16 year old daughter will be old enough to fly the coop and head off to the US to Bible college. So then, I'm sure I'll be back making a post about life as a twosome. 

Life is changing for us...ready or not. 

siggy

Nov 26, 2013

It happened!!! Finally!



CATO Fashions now ships! Do you know how long I have been waiting for this place to start selling online. I've even written e-mails, prayed hoped, and waited and finally...it happened!
siggy

Nov 19, 2013

7 Free, modest Clothing Tutorials

I've been collecting some great modest tuts lately for the day when I get a burst of motivation and energy. These are really versatile tuts 'cause the length and sleeves can be added to to make them as modest as you'd like. Oh yea and best of all, they're FREE!


This is a great tutorial over at Merrick's Art. She's very thorough and look how cute it turns out. Love it!


Again, Merrick's Art has another awesome tut. Love this little Mod Shift Dress


There's a great T-shirt dress tutorial over at iCandy. This could be so versatile especially if I had one in black, khaki and navy!


I adore this super-easy top pattern over at It's Always Autumn. The possibilities are endless. I love that it's super easy to make the sleeves longer. 


Is this not the most adorable blouse! It's a man's dress shirt, no really! Adorable!
Guess what, the tutorial is free over at It's Always Autumn


Love this cute pleated skirt tutorial. The Socialite Skirt over at Elle Apparel is so cute. She's got a great tut for it so take a peek.


Love this maxi dress tutorial that I found over at Second Story Sewing. She used a sheet, so smart and cheap. 

I'm totally gonna make some of these as soon as that burst of energy comes along. I'm sure you're totally self-motivated and you're gonna be knocking these out in no time. 

Anyhoo, enjoy!!

siggy

Nov 12, 2013

My Italian Adventure Part 3

The last stop in my Big Italian Adventure was Rome! 


Our first stop was the Colosseum. It was huge and very crowded. I figured that if we went the end of October there wouldn't be many tourists, boy, was I wrong. 

The inside of the colosseum was much more intact than the one in Croatia but it was still very difficult to understand what it would have been like in it's day. 




Apparently there would have been a floor but there would also have been a way to fill it with water and have mock ship battles. Don't ask how, I didn't read any further. 


We enjoyed seeing it with our good friends, the Frazier family from Texas.  


It was an experience and I'm glad we went. Honestly after seeing so much history in Europe it takes something really special to inpress me. The colosseum was neat but I don't think i'll ever wanna go back. I checked it off my "wanna see" list and that's that. BTW, bottle of Coke was $6!! 





The views out of the city was amazing. There are so many ruins, really everywhere you look there is something photo worthy.


The amount of detail they could acheive out of cement and stone,  2000+ years ago is amazing. 
Look at the done of the building in the background. Amazing. 





You know the old phrase, "All roads lead to Rome", well it's true. They do all lead to Rome and then they MERGE! The traffic in Rome was the worse I've ever seen and I've been to lots of places. 3 lane roads are used as 5 lane roads. They create lanes. It's unreal and the yield sign is obsolete in Rome. Most of the cars are small, (I'm sure because of the traffic and parking) but this little blue thinggy was so cute, I had to share it. 



We decided that we were a little hungry and decided to find some American eats. So we headed to the nearest McDonalds.


We were tickled to see this bike on the side of the road. The bike apparently was left there a little too long. I feel for the owner, it's gonna be a difficult ride home.


You know Pinocchio  was from Italy so the kids enjoyed getting the pictures made with him. Little Caleb had a ball. 


Hannah and Bridgette had to get in on the celebrity photo shot too. 


Really one of the only placed that I HAD to see was Trevi Fountain. They say if you throw a coin from your right hand over the left shoulder and make a wish your wish would come true. 
That foundation takes in more than 3000 Euros a day just from coins being thrown in.  


The Scala Santa are according to Catholic tradition the steps that Jesus took on the way to the pratorium of Pontius Pilate. As with all Catholic tradition you have to take it with a grain of salt. I was excited about seeing anything that Jesus touched but after being there and seeing the sheer bondage that the Catholic church has managed to chain it's people with I realized it's probably just rumor and lies like most of the artifacts the Catholic church claims, I was disappointed.

It was heart breaking to see all these people from around the world climbing the steps on their knees. At the bottom of the steps there is a huge plaque that listed the said details about the stairs and the indulgences (allowances to sin) that you would receive by climbing these stairs on your knees. Also the stairs have been covered in walnut wood to protect them from use but in the wood there are little circle cutouts covered in glass. Beneath the glass are bright red spots that are said to be the blood of Christ as he climbed the stairs. For one thing, after 2000 years the "blood" wouldn't be red anymore so obviously someone got happy with the red paint and for another, many people climbed those steps to be judged by Pilate.



After seeing all the Catholic heresy we decided against going to see Vatican City. The fact that this small city could chain 3/4 of the world's population in false religion is sickening and unbelievable. 


We decided after the rat-race of Rome we needed to get away into the quiet and breathe a little. We headed up to a local lake encircled by mountains. It was a lovely day sitting my the lake drinking coffee was just what the doctor ordered. 



We left Rome the next day to drive back to Croatia a day early. We stopped in the coastal town of Opatije to enjoy some "real" pizza and relax a bit.  BTW, the pizza in Italy wasn't good at all. I was so surprised to know that Croatia had better pizza than Italy. Go figure. 

The one really good thing we did experience in Rome was getting to attend church Homan family in Rome. They are good IFB missionaries working in Rome. They've been there 7 years and it's a hard work but they've been faithful. Can't think of too many places that need a missionary more than Rome. 

Rome was our last stop in our Italian Adventure and it was very interesting and I'm glad I saw it but I don't think I'll go back. I'll check it off my list and remember it as a real adventure.  



siggy

Nov 9, 2013

My Italian Adventure Part 2

After we left the lovely Venice, we made our way across the Italian countryside including crossing the Apennine Mountains and onto the Tyrrhenian Sea coast. Our first stop was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 


The tower is amazing. Not only is it...DUH...leaning but it's beautifully constructed of what seems to be marble. 


The tower is seriously leaning, not a little but we're talkin' about major lean-age.  


I tried to get Hannah to do the whole iconic "holding the tower up" shot but she was having no part of it. She's 16 you know and she was afraid she'd end up in someones shot doing this...

**photo found floating around cyber-space**


We actually enjoyed seeing the tower the most. It really is a huge feat that it's still standing albeit leaning. 


Hannah and Bridgette had to get there photo snapped too, for braggin' rights you know!


The area around the tower was also very impressive. The different stones or types of marble used made for a puzzle-like appearance. Beautiful!


Super-loved this simplicity of this done on one of the buildings. So pretty. 


Okay so you're wondering why I snapped a photo of folks waiting around. Well...Italy was so multicultural-ed and Croatia so isn't that I was loving all the colors of folks. You know after living in a country where everyone looks alike it's nice to see some variety. And on top of the variety of folks there dress was just as interesting. Case in point: the lovely lady seeing the sites in a gorgeous kimono. Amazing right! 
BTW, they were waiting in a line to climb the tower to the top via stairs. How many steps you ask...surprisingly there are only 294 steps to the top of the tower. Regardless, climbing them in that kimono was going to be a challenge. 


Just more lovely buildings. 




Hannah was haggling to get a snow-globe for her collection. The Indian dealers we're good but we were better!


After seeing Pisa we continued down the Tuscan coast and stopped to see the Tyrrhenian Sea. I didn't even know there was a Tyrrhenian Sea. Have you honestly even heard of the Tyrrhenian Sea? I don't even remember learning about it in school. Anyhow, it does exist and it's purty!


I loved watching this fisherman with his long rod out in the surf, so peaceful. 


Lastly, since I'm down to one kiddo still at home, here she is; my sweet 16 year old Hannah. She's growing up way too soon and I'm fully aware that before long I'm gonna have to start taking photos of my dog Zoi since my kids will all have flown the coop. Guess since we're not there yet I'll just keep taking photos of her. 
It's funny, the first child is born and you wear out a camera taking photos of the sweet thing. Then the second comes along and he gets way less lens time and by the time the baby comes, What camera??? Apparently it all works out in the end when they start leaving. For one thing after the first leaves you start to realize that empty nest syndrome is real and inevitable (if you do the whole parenting this correctly) so you start trying to redeem the time but when there's only one left, it's like: 
Aww, she's sleeping, SNAP. 
Aww, she's eating, SNAP. 
Aww, she's wearing makeup, SNAP.
Aww, she's smiling, SNAP.
Aww, she's laughing, SNAP. 
Aww, she's singing, SNAP
Aww, she's bathing....GOTCHA!

Anyhow, we loved Pisa and if you're ever over this way, (like people just happen to be over this way) don't forget to go see Pisa, it's totally worth it. Oh yea, and take the silly "holding-the-tower-up" photo, it'll make the grand kids crack-up!

We're still not finished with my Italian Adventure. Coming up, Part 3...ROME!

siggy