on my mind: Christmas
When I was in middle school, every Advent season, my mom, teacher extraordinaire, and her students did a candlelighting service — a mixture of readings and carols — with student readers, pianists and singers, and even a live nativity. I, of course, was at the piano. After the Nativity Story was recounted, there was a […]
on my mind: family we choose. . .
While in Ohio, a gentleman asked me about my life abroad and why I choose to be far from family. There was a subtext that my decision is odd and not a good one (for me or my hypothetical future babies). From our conversation, I gathered that his immediate and extended family lives primarily in […]
on my mind: family through marriage
Five years ago this week, David and I were preparing for our wedding day. We got married on the weekend of the Feast of the Holy Family and with our wedding anniversary and this feast day approaching as well as our recent trip home to the US and the holiday season, I’ve been thinking about […]
on my mind
Happy Thanksgiving! So many people and blessings to be thankful and grateful for this year.
on my mind: love. . .
I printed this out to hang in our apartment this month…. to remind me that this is what it’s all about. Image is a great printable from HoneyBear Lane!
on my mind: perceptions of beauty
I follow a handful of blogs about being a curvy gal — mostly for fashion (not that I’m all that fashionable, although I aspire to be one day). But I’ve found in these blogs strong female voices about topics such as health at any size, positive body image and self-confidence. Really, I think any person, […]
news from home: my momma
Mom and me before my wedding (29 December 2007) Today I’d like to write a bit about Dorothy Andreassen because she rocks, because she’s my mom and because it’s her birthday. September 30th is the day that God graced the world with my mom. That might come across as a pretentious sort of way to […]
on my mind: affordability of nutritious foods
Monday is Piata Day or Market Day for our little family. After work on Monday, I head over to the bustling piata, chat up my favorite old piata guy and get a load of fresh local seasonal fruits and veggies for the week. It’s one of my favorite things about Romania. This week, I took […]
on my mind: decision-making and stress
I know it’s awful to come back from a fantastic European vacation and have the next blog post be about decision-making and stress. But these subjects reared their ugly heads because there are moments on a vacation in a foreign country that are stressful — not knowing a language, getting turned around, figuring out currency […]
on my mind: excitement, anticipation
So far we’ve kept most of our travel Peace Corps pertinent — seeing Romania, collaborating with other volunteers, integrating into this country, etc. But a week from today, we’ll be using some hard-earned leave and hitting the road to new places — Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Krakow. These are some of the crown jewels of Europe […]