Tonight I have decided that it is time to bring back the blog. I have renamed the blog to more accurately fit my current life situation. Being only 59 days away from getting married, I feel that most of my post will have to do with the discoveries that are being made during this sweet time of engagement and very soon from our newly wed life. To some this may seem like a crazy time to begin blogging again, and I admit my days are pretty busy, but the nights are currently long and filled with lots of time to reflect and write. In my current position at work I have made a transition to third shift, which leaves me with plenty of time to spend at least a little bit of time sharing what I have been learning.
So here it is. A new beginning, sure to be filled with love, laughter and my happily ever after! Enjoy!
-Peggy
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Oh Canada
I have spent the last few days on a short, but busy trip to Canada. Several weeks ago my boss asked me if I would be interested in helping a family he knew move. They needed someone to drive a U-Haul truck up to Kingston, Ontario. Of course because it means crossing the border they needed someone with a passport and knowing that I had just gotten back from Italy earlier this year I was the natural choice. We got all the details worked out and left on Sunday morning. Although it was two days of long driving this trip came with a bonus! Kingston is only about two hours where my very dear friend Regina lives! I was able to take and extra day off work to go see her. Yesterday we spend the day walking around a cute little town called Port Perry. There was a nice waterfront and little shops. We had lunch here and then went back to her little town of Uxbridge. Here we again explored little stores and went to a bakery. In the afternoon we put in a movie and both fell asleep and took naps. Later we made dinner and then went to see the new Harry Potter movie. She loved it and thought it was great, I mostly laughed and thought it was ridicules. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I has seen moves 5-7 before I watched the final number 8. This morning we spent walking around her farm and she showed me all the things that were in season. (Stayed tuned for pictures of me "helping" her so some chores!) Now I am sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago. One nice thing about the Toronto airport is that they have free Wi-Fi, unlike most airports theses days. I am ready to be home and in my own bed but I will dread going back to work tomorrow!
Well I guess that is is for now. Just had a little bit of time so I thought I would update about my quick Canadian adventure!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Well I guess that is is for now. Just had a little bit of time so I thought I would update about my quick Canadian adventure!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Welcome to the World
Oh my gosh it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I was doing so good there though for awhile. Well I am back and with some very exciting news! I am officially an Auntie! That's right Jenna had her baby in May and although I am slacking in the blog department it is only because I spend every second I can with my precious little niece Madison Ray. She really is pretty much the love of my life and I already have her spoiled rotten.
She is getting so big. And I just love her so much! Isnt' she pretty much the cutest?
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
All Roads Lead to Rome
While this may have been true at some point what it doesn't say is that not all roads lead to the convent in Rome. Before starting my bus tour through Europe I got the chance to spend three days in beautiful Rome. While there I met up with my good friend from Liberty University, Kristina. Kristina is currently serving as a missionary in Romania for a year. But finding her in the huge city proved to be difficult.
I arrived in the morning with no problems. I had hired a car to take me from the airport to the convent where we were staying for a very good price and just like they said they were waiting for me. I arrived to discover that Kristina and group had not yet check in. This surprised me as their flight arrived before mine, but I didn't panic we had a plan, meet at the Vatican at 11 for our 11:30 tour. So after checking in I took the bus to the Vatican City. When I arrived I was astonished by how many people there were. The place was huge and so busy so I did the logical thing, I looked around the monuments, the fountain, the steps. Finally I found an information center where I learned that the museum entrance is different from where I was currently. At this point I only had 15 min. to walk to the entrance, find the group and start the tour. Well I did arrive at the museum but could not find them anywhere but it was not 11:35. I assumed that they had started the tour so I bought a ticket and the lady dropped me off at the first point of the tour.
I ended up wondering around for hours looking for them. Finally I decided that I would simply follow the day's itinerary on my own and hoped that I would find them some where along the way. This of course never happened but I did see everything that had been planned. At 7:30 I decided to call it a night and head back to the convent. And this is where the real trouble began...
I am pretty sure that I took every bus that Rome has to offer. I kept asking the bus drivers for help and they tried their best but no one seemed to know where this convent was. What was worse was that I had lost my paper which had the address and phone number to the place on it. At 10:30 I gave in and called Cristina, my host mother, and asked her to look it up for me and to call the convent to tell them I would miss the 11 pm curfew. She of course was worried but was able to give me the address and phone number for the place. At one point I have about 5 bus drivers helping me at the same time. They seemed confident that if I took bus x to such and such and switched to bus y it would take me right there. It was all I could do not to start crying right then and there. I was so tired and my feet hurt and I could not bare the thought of taking any more buses so I simply asked them to help me get a taxi.
Rome is not like New York, where you can just hail a cab on the side of the street, you actually have to do to a taxi stop. A very nice off duty bus driver drove me in the not in service bus to the taxi stop. The taxi driver didn't know where the convent was either so he called the number Cristina had given me to get directions. Finally at about 12:15 I arrived "home" where I am pretty sure I fell asleep even before my head hit the pillow.
The next day I finally got to meet up with Kristina and her group and the next two days were wonderful. We saw all the major sites and we could not have asked for more perfect weather...well almost, but that's another story!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
I arrived in the morning with no problems. I had hired a car to take me from the airport to the convent where we were staying for a very good price and just like they said they were waiting for me. I arrived to discover that Kristina and group had not yet check in. This surprised me as their flight arrived before mine, but I didn't panic we had a plan, meet at the Vatican at 11 for our 11:30 tour. So after checking in I took the bus to the Vatican City. When I arrived I was astonished by how many people there were. The place was huge and so busy so I did the logical thing, I looked around the monuments, the fountain, the steps. Finally I found an information center where I learned that the museum entrance is different from where I was currently. At this point I only had 15 min. to walk to the entrance, find the group and start the tour. Well I did arrive at the museum but could not find them anywhere but it was not 11:35. I assumed that they had started the tour so I bought a ticket and the lady dropped me off at the first point of the tour.
I ended up wondering around for hours looking for them. Finally I decided that I would simply follow the day's itinerary on my own and hoped that I would find them some where along the way. This of course never happened but I did see everything that had been planned. At 7:30 I decided to call it a night and head back to the convent. And this is where the real trouble began...
I am pretty sure that I took every bus that Rome has to offer. I kept asking the bus drivers for help and they tried their best but no one seemed to know where this convent was. What was worse was that I had lost my paper which had the address and phone number to the place on it. At 10:30 I gave in and called Cristina, my host mother, and asked her to look it up for me and to call the convent to tell them I would miss the 11 pm curfew. She of course was worried but was able to give me the address and phone number for the place. At one point I have about 5 bus drivers helping me at the same time. They seemed confident that if I took bus x to such and such and switched to bus y it would take me right there. It was all I could do not to start crying right then and there. I was so tired and my feet hurt and I could not bare the thought of taking any more buses so I simply asked them to help me get a taxi.
Rome is not like New York, where you can just hail a cab on the side of the street, you actually have to do to a taxi stop. A very nice off duty bus driver drove me in the not in service bus to the taxi stop. The taxi driver didn't know where the convent was either so he called the number Cristina had given me to get directions. Finally at about 12:15 I arrived "home" where I am pretty sure I fell asleep even before my head hit the pillow.
The next day I finally got to meet up with Kristina and her group and the next two days were wonderful. We saw all the major sites and we could not have asked for more perfect weather...well almost, but that's another story!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Monday, May 2, 2011
Salad in Spanish
Well I promised more stories from my Europe tour trip so here is one that should make you laugh. On the trip there were two girls from Columbia. As such they spoke spanish which proved to be useful when we were in Italy as the two languages are very closely related. In Florence a few of us went for a walk and to find something to eat. Joanna kept saying how hungry she was and could we please find someplace to sit down and have dinner. Well we finally found the local hang out place and we were getting ready to order. Joanna decided that she wanted a salad and she asked the waiter about an item on the menu. She gathered that it was a pasta and lettuce salad that had cheese in it.
When we got our food I had a wonderful plate of ravioli, another girl a pizza, and the other a pasta dish. When Joanna got her dish she was very surprised to see a plate of 5 pieces of cheese arranged on her plate with a few sprigs of lettuce in the middle. It was possibly one of the funniest things that happened but to make it even better we had not even controlled our laughter when a man trying to get us to donate money to some cause or another walked in and put a card and a mouse keychain right next to her plate of cheese. Of course we laughed even harder and then took pictures of the mouse next to the cheese. Joanna was a good sport and ate the whole thing. It just goes to show that although somethings may be close in language it is important to know the differences.
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
When we got our food I had a wonderful plate of ravioli, another girl a pizza, and the other a pasta dish. When Joanna got her dish she was very surprised to see a plate of 5 pieces of cheese arranged on her plate with a few sprigs of lettuce in the middle. It was possibly one of the funniest things that happened but to make it even better we had not even controlled our laughter when a man trying to get us to donate money to some cause or another walked in and put a card and a mouse keychain right next to her plate of cheese. Of course we laughed even harder and then took pictures of the mouse next to the cheese. Joanna was a good sport and ate the whole thing. It just goes to show that although somethings may be close in language it is important to know the differences.
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Home Sweet Home
I am ready to go home. I know that is not something you are supposed to say when you are in a beautiful foreign country like Italy, but it's how I feel. I have been here for 80 days and I am simply ready to spend time with my family and have a room that is really mine and be in my own bed with my new pillows that I got for Christmas, and cook in my own kitchen, and simply be home. The thing about home is that it is were everything is familiar and you come to know what to expect, especially from those who you are closest to. After nearly three months here I still don't know what to expect each day from Mike or Cristina, or Ale or the baby. Their moods, reactions, assumptions, and feelings are still in many ways a mystery to me and it's tiring trying to read them all the time.
There are so many thing that are different here but one of the main ones is the hospitality. Both of my parents, but especially my mom, have taught me a great lesson in this area. They always have an open door to the house. And what's even better is that they LOVE it when people stop by. They love meeting my friends and putting names with faces. My mom would take in anyone. Once I called to ask if I could invite a girl home for Christmas who had no place to go. Before I even asked my mom suggested that I bring her home with me. She then went on to say that if needed she would personally call this girl to invite her, and that she would do some shopping to make sure that the girl had presents under the tree to celebrate. This melted my heart and although it did not come as a surprise, amazed me how generous and open hearted my parents are. Mike and Cristina are great people but they just do not have the same mindset. They plan on having me take the bus from Bergamo to Milan to the airport, instead of taking me themselves. This would be unheard of in my family. It saddens me somewhat to think that they don't want to take me to the airport to see me off but I keep telling myself that this is a different culture and that not everyone sees things the same way but it is difficult.
My experience has been great but now I am ready to be home. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz says, "there's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's not place like home."
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
There are so many thing that are different here but one of the main ones is the hospitality. Both of my parents, but especially my mom, have taught me a great lesson in this area. They always have an open door to the house. And what's even better is that they LOVE it when people stop by. They love meeting my friends and putting names with faces. My mom would take in anyone. Once I called to ask if I could invite a girl home for Christmas who had no place to go. Before I even asked my mom suggested that I bring her home with me. She then went on to say that if needed she would personally call this girl to invite her, and that she would do some shopping to make sure that the girl had presents under the tree to celebrate. This melted my heart and although it did not come as a surprise, amazed me how generous and open hearted my parents are. Mike and Cristina are great people but they just do not have the same mindset. They plan on having me take the bus from Bergamo to Milan to the airport, instead of taking me themselves. This would be unheard of in my family. It saddens me somewhat to think that they don't want to take me to the airport to see me off but I keep telling myself that this is a different culture and that not everyone sees things the same way but it is difficult.
My experience has been great but now I am ready to be home. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz says, "there's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's not place like home."
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
My New Time Waster
Oh my gosh! I have to tell you about me new time waster. I have discovered Pinterest! It's like reading a blog that gets updated every few seconds and instead of having to read through long paragraphs it is just pictures! And one of the best parts about it is that it automatically gives credit to the original website so if I really want to read more I can just follow the link. I have already found so many great ideas that I can't wait to try. But maybe I am getting ahead of my self. Let me explain.
Pinterest is a website that allows you to catalog ideas, kind of like a creative scrapbook. Instead of ripping out the recipe in a magazine you can "pin it" to a "board" and come back to it later. It's kind of like being able to look at all your bookmarks at the same time. I also love that you can look through other people's boards and repin to your own. Because people are constantly updating it is easy to spend a lot of time on the site just looking at pretty things.
The only downfall I have seen so far is that you have to be "invited" to join, and there is currently a waiting list. And so while I have not been accepted yet I have been doing lots of looking at other's boards and can't wait to start working on my own!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
Pinterest is a website that allows you to catalog ideas, kind of like a creative scrapbook. Instead of ripping out the recipe in a magazine you can "pin it" to a "board" and come back to it later. It's kind of like being able to look at all your bookmarks at the same time. I also love that you can look through other people's boards and repin to your own. Because people are constantly updating it is easy to spend a lot of time on the site just looking at pretty things.
The only downfall I have seen so far is that you have to be "invited" to join, and there is currently a waiting list. And so while I have not been accepted yet I have been doing lots of looking at other's boards and can't wait to start working on my own!
Love from Liberty,
Peggy
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