Storms

This morning when I woke up it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sunny!! I was so excited about this...but then the weather said, "Nope!! Not going to stay this way...I think I shall rain...or storm...or just annoy you with my lack of sunshine!!"

I am almost out of oatmeal.  This time next week I will not have any for breakfast...hmm...expect cranky blog posts?!?!  Just kidding.  It will be fine...in a month from TODAY my momma and Barbara will be here with more!!  Thank goodness!!

I was so excited to wake up as reigning SEC Champs!!  ROLL TIDE...despite going to bed at 4 am, I was wide awake at 9 am.  I talked to Nick on facebook for a while, and then Alessandra (Lilla's niece...friend from last night), messaged me with the BEST news!  She talked to her American (or maybe Canadian) neighbor and they had church contact information for me!  I explained to Alessandra last night that I am protestant, and I really want to find a church home here in Cosenza.  So, she said they found a church for me in Castrolibero (where the school is), and she gave me the guy's name to call!  OH MY GOSH...I immediately began praying and thanking God for opening this door!  I cannot wait to talk to the guy...I really hope that this is my opportunity to find a group of people to worship with, and continue to grow with!

The whole morning/day I have been listening to Adele on youtube.  I talked to Nick on the phone until he went to take a nap!  I worked on blogs...alll day long.  I also went to the grocery store and got rained on a bit...bleh!  When I stopped in the fruit/veggie place they all recognized me and were so friendly.  They told another lady that I was an American here teaching in high schools!  I love that they are so friendly and welcoming!  Yay for them!!  It made me smile and on my short walk home I had this huge goofy grin on my face and was thinking, "OH MY GOSH...I live in Italy!!!"  This was great because this morning I was feeling a bit sad!!  The Christmas music is going to be the death of me I think!!  However, in this moment I just thanked God for this wonderful opportunity and reminded myself that I could not have gotten here by myself...it is about giving m life over to Him and allowing His will to shape my actions.  All plans that I ever made have never come to pass...THANK GOODNESS!!

The other amazing thing is that I prayed that I would have these exact kinds of moments.  I prayed that there would be those times where I was so overwhelmed with happiness about living in Italy.  I wanted those moments of "OH MY GOSH I LIVE IN ITALY!!!", just like I had in NYC.  I get them often...almost every day!  What an amazing, yet simple, answered prayer.  However, it is not so simple!  I was really afraid of coming here...I fought fear every day...learned to trust that God holds my world in His hands.  Not a single day has gone by that I am not grateful to be here!!  God is so good and works all things together for our good!  I am a little nervous about how Christmas will make me feel...but the important thing will be to focus on the REASON for Christmas.  Family, friends, food, gifts, traditions, etc. are all wonderful and amazing, but Christ is the reason we celebrate.  The birth of my Lord and Savior is the reason...so, this is what I will focus on!  God's grace and mercy are endless, and so I have faith that He will comfort me when and if I am sad!

I literally spent all day writing and such...so it was a rather uneventful day!  I enjoyed it though...

Adele rocks my world...I did listen to  A LOT of different youtube videos of Adele, Jennifer Nettles, etc. etc. I shared most with Nick...and surprisingly we have similar tastes in music...he likes a bit of everything it seems and can appreciate the things I like...I appreciate this about him!  

I talked to Mattea a bit today through text...she was feeling lonely...and I miss her!  I wish she was here...or I was there...or we were all in the same city!!

I also talked to Erin on facebook chat for a bit!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! At the time there was lightening outside like NO OTHER!! She said that made her think of "Under the Tuscan Sun".  Haha..:I had not thought of that...well, I am grateful  I still have a washer...though I did wash clothes tonight...haha

Alright, sorry for the uneventful day!  However, not sorry for the tangent about how great God is!