I worshiped with my mom on Sunday.

I guess it doesn't matter that you don't know the story . . .

Just that you know I have prayed for this since I was a little girl.

Deo Gratias!

You would have recognized me in my "blog attire".

Sorry to have missed you all . . . so here goes . . . arghhhh!

Starting with the easy one (smile).

Five things I love about my husband:

1. His words have arms and legs and oh those eyes
2. He still chases me
3. His brave hearted tireless devotion to our great big beautiful messy family
4. His vulnerable trust in God
5. He still chases me

Five things I love to do:

1. Preparing tables and places for people to gather
2. Listening to the stories of friends and strangers
3. Celebrating a life . . . really well
4. Wasting a day with girlfriends in His presence
5. Long date nights

Five things I hope to do before I die:

1. Live out a quilt of memories for each of my grand-children
2. Share the communion table with each of our children ~ complete reconciliation
3. Get a glimpse of the plans He had for me before I stepped into my own (reclaiming the landscape of my life . . . living in circles . . . see Jan's blog)
4. Have time to live outside of my small story . . . entering into some really grand scheme of His (smile)
5. Live my story fully (which probably negates #4 . . . or does it)

Five things I cannot do:

1. Read between the lines (this took years of practice)
2. Hold tensions that aren't mine
3. Be myself without silence
4. Live without joy
5a. Create a life alone (like Lalimama . . . I get by with more than a little help from my friends)
5b. Live without dark chocolate (smile)

Celebrity and other crushes:

1. Michael Buble . . . don't talk . . . just sing
2. Chris Botti . . . just play
3. This is harder than I thought . . . my life has a pretty interesting cast of characters
4. Bono . . . just talk . . . or sing (Jeff thanks for the reminder . . . guess I'm still tired)
5. I'm a sucker for any really good listener with a sense of humor . . . or is it . . . I love listening to a LIFE story shared with a good sense of humor . . . it's one of those anyway

Seeking

God

Katrina

Katrina

Katrina

Oh

Katrina

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

Set at the edge of an evocative Chianti hamlet, our villa overlooked a multitude of vineyards, orchards, olive groves and woods.

Once the home of parish clergy, it remains attached on one side to a striking 1000 year old Romanesque church. A bell tower added in the 16th century still chimes on the half hour as we were told it's done for the past 500 years.

Sunlight filtered through slatted shutters onto walls the color of sun-ripened peaches --- we'd breathe the perfume of the olive groves, and absorbed through our pores the culture of centuries.

Is this gioia? It must be!

Deo Gratias!

I've
seen
grapes
dripping
from
the
vine.

Who
really
expects
that?

Show me
what that looks
like here.

Deo Gratias!

Riposa

It is afternoon

in Italy.


A time for
rest and
rejuvenation.





14 afternoons in Italy . . .

I feel like I'm stepping into someone else's life.

Ciao!

Dio Grazie!