New Traditions

Today I learned a Greek tradition: βασιλόπιτα. My students have Greek lessons at my house, and the Greek teacher brought us a βασιλόπιτα. βασιλόπιτα (or Vasilopita) is translated "Santa Claus Pie" and is traditionally served during the month of January for the new year. Greeks bring this tasty treat to friends houses for the new year (I guess I have a friend!).
There is a particular way to cut and serve this bread. First, using the knife, you make the sign of the cross three times to bless the bread. Second, you cut four pieces you do not eat: one for Jesus, one for Mary, one for Santa Claus, and one for the house. Third: the head of the host family gets the first piece (that was me!). Fourth: everyone else is served a piece starting with the eldest and working down to the youngest. Hidden inside the βασιλόπιτα is a coin. Whoever finds the coin will be the most blessed in the new year (sounds kind of like the baby in the king cake!). I was really hoping it would be me (I need to find a fella!) but our coin was in between a student's piece and Jesus' piece.
I love learning new traditions and maybe I will continue this tradition when I come home! Oh the things you learn when you live in Europe!

βασιλόπιτα

My Resolution

Wow, it is 2010 already? That is just not right. I know people always say "I had a crazy year," but I think I can say that with great authority this year. In 2009, I moved 8 times. I lived in 2 continents and 3 countries. I've traveled to 8 different countries. I've taught English, taught school, and did environmental work. I starting learning a new language, and gained a new brother. I hiked Mt. Olympus, watched the sunset from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and eaten gelato by the Coliseum. My life was crazy last year. The scary part is that it looks like 2010 will be just as crazy!
Many people would find this kind of life frustrating, but I find it exhilarating! I don't think I'm cut out for staying in one place doing one thing. There is so much to do, and too much to see to stand still! I spent New Year's Eve in Paris this year. While 2009 became history and 2010 became present, I decided to make my New Year's resolution. Instead of resolving to "live healthy" or "live happy" I have decided that my resolution is simply to live! Just because you are breathing doesn't mean you are truly living. Life is short! Don't let another day go by without making the most of it. This year don't be content to try to get through, do something extraordinary! Make every day an adventure! This year, I hope you join with me and resolve to truly live in 2010!

(me at the Eiffel Tower last week)

Christmas in Europe

"Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call, their favorite time of the year," Boy, I love that song! Nothing quite says Christmas like Charlie Brown. Up until now, I've known what to expect from Christmas: family, chex mix, decorating the tree, and Charlie Brown on tv. This year it will be a little different. I'm in a strange city with different customs and no family around.

At home, my mom and I always decorate the "girl tree" (the tree we don't let the men in the family touch because they don't have our decorating skills). This year I borrowed a Christmas tree from a friend and decorated it myself. It's not quite as elegant as our beautiful burgandy and gold draped Christmas miracle. Mine is sparsely spotted with bright green and pink ornaments, Christmas lights that blink and play off-key Christmas songs (well, they have the ability to blink and play music), and is topped with a New Orleans Saints helmet (Who Dat!). It's also empty underneath. I'm not too upset about there being no presents underneath, I don't need anything, but I've always loved arranging and rearranging our presents under the tree at home.

This year, I won't be sitting at home in my pajamas opening presents so early baby Jesus would disapprove. This year I will be joining my family via webcam to watch my family open presents and see my brother's first Christmas. I guess I'll wear pajamas, although my neighbors might wonder why I'm in my pj's at 4 in the afternoon! It will be different, but I know I'm still connected with my family by a force stronger than geography: love (insert giant "awww" here). I am blessed to know more love from my family than most people know in a lifetime.

Even though I'm not at home this year, I'm going to try to save a little bit of Christmas tradition. I'm going to make my chex mix (which has been shipped piece by piece by loving family members), and settle down in front of the computer to watch Charlie Brown on youtube. Hopefully, this change of scenery and tradition will allow me to focus on the true meaning of this holiday season. If you're a little unsure of what that reason is, Linus can tell you!

(my Charlie Brown inspired Christmas tree)

I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For...

Do you know that movie, "Holiday Inn?" It's one of my favorites of all time. I get so caught up in feeling sorry for Bing Crosby's character, Jim Hardy, as he loses his girl (not once, but twice!) to his best friend Ted Hanover (played by the one and only Fred Astaire). One of the best scenes in the movie (in my opinion) comes after Jim has lost the girl and shut down Holiday Inn. He's moping around on Thanksgiving thinking about the things he had lost. He's listening to one of his own songs, "I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For" that lists his many blessings, and yet he is looking at all the negatives. It's only after Mamie (the spunky housekeeper "Is yo name Mamie?") talks some sense into Jim that he gets back into the right mindset.
That's how I was this Thanksgiving. I have so many things to be thankful for: the best family ever (sorry, it's true!), a great job, the amazing opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and above all, forgiveness and grace! And yet, amid all of my blessings, I found myself focusing on the negatives: missing my brother's first Thanksgiving, not having my Thanksgiving food, things to that extent. These things are big deals, but in the grand scheme of things, the blessings still greatly outweigh the negatives! It was only through a word from my mom that I realized how bad my attitude was. In an e-mail my mom told me that she would rather have an empty chair at home than have a disobedient daughter. Isn't that great? I guess sometimes you just need a swift kick in the pants from Mamie to get back on track. Thanks mom for being my Mamie!

Days like today

I'm no superhero. That might surprise some of you, but I am not perfect. I've had my share of rough days. Today is one of those days. Doing Dad's work doesn't make you exempt from difficult days. It's a few days before Thanksgiving and I'm halfway around the world. Thanksgiving has always been our big holiday at home. It's my mom and my favorite time of the year. For the past 2 years I haven't been there...and it stinks! I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to, but that doesn't make it any easier. Especially today. My students have been giving me a hard time today, and it just makes me miss home even more. It reminds me how good I had it at home. I know I'm supposed to be a grown up, but I miss my mommy. If any of you know any multi-millionaires looking to spend extra money, you can suggest that they buy my mom (and other family members if they are that kind of multi-millionaire) a ticket to come see me! Also, it's my baby brother's first Thanksgiving, and I'm missing it. I love my job, but I still have "those days."

Me? Hiking?

This past week I went on a hiking trip. All right, you can stop laughing! I know I have never seemed like an outdoorsy person, but I am an Autumn person. I LOVE the Fall! I think I get it from my mom. On a normal day I might pass up a hiking trip, but when a friend suggested a trip to Mt. Olympus to see the Fall foliage, I just couldn't say no. What an amazing day! The drive up was breathtaking, the vivid colors reminded me of my childhood and Autumns filled with "mixed up play-dough" trees.
Living in the city sometimes I forget how beautiful God's creation is. It gives me shivers to think about the majesty of nature. I know it's there, but I tend to forget, I tend to think the city in which I live is the entire world. I have to escape to remember how vast the world is. That's how it is with God sometimes. We get so used to one aspect of God that we forget how powerful and mighty He is. Sometimes we must take a step back and look at the big picture to appreciate God's might. Sometimes it takes a huge event for us to realize His might, and sometimes all it takes is a red leaf.



Thank you to Mr. Carl Boberg for the following thoughts:

When through the woods

And forest glades I wander

I hear the birds

Sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down

From lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook

And feel the gentle breeze;

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul,

My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art!

How great Thou art!

When mountains become rocks

I recently went on a trip to Meteora. You haven't heard of Meteora? I'm not too surprised, I hadn't heard of it until I came to Europe. Meteora is one of the most stunning sites I have ever visited. It is listed as a "holy place" and I can see why. Amid the mountains of Greece, gigantic rock formations jut out of the ground and seemingly straight into the sky. I was completely awestruck driving through the mountains, in and out through visible proof of God's majesty. It was phenomenal. On top of some of these enormous stone pillars are monasteries and nunneries. They were built on these precarious perches so invaders would not be able to reach them. I had an amazing time climbing on rocks and staring down into space.
As amazing as these natural wonders were, I found one thing more incredible: the people that lived among these breathtaking bluffs referred to them simply as "those rocks." They had lived among this majesty so long that it had become less breathtaking, less awe-inspiring, less majestic. It reminds me of what happens to some that grow up in the church. We grow hearing the accounts of the power and majesty of God, but they become so familiar that they lose their power. When we treat God as something commonplace, something so familiar, we run the risk of Him becoming "just God." Sometimes we need to take a step back and remember that the God who is our friend and Father is the God who spoke a word and created light, who stretched out His hand and calmed the sea. We need to sit and revel in His majesty every once in awhile, because it's only when we take a moment to wonder that rocks can become mountains again.