Winter has officially arrived. As I lay in bed this morning, debating the possibilities before me, either to shed the warm sanctuary of my bed or to continue to enjoy the blissful warmth and risk being late, it hit me. Summer is over. Fall never was. Winter is here. I decided to crawl out of bed, hunt down my slippers (we have all marble floors) and brave the artic cold of the bathroom. All the time I was wishing I had turned on the heat the night before. After my shower and shave, I ...

Being in another country, or culture for that matter, one has the opportunity to taste a variety of foods and goodies that one would not be able in their home country. On that note, I give you a delicious, mouth-watering, and delectable pasta that is good on any occasion. It is…(drum roll please)…Squid Pasta! Yes folks, you heard me right, squid pasta. Not only is it lovely in form, but also leaves a piece of its tantalizing color with you for several days (use your imagination). Withou...

Just saw this on msn.com Link This is sooo cool! I can remember when I was little, the weathermen back home would track Santa on Doppler radar, it was soo much fun to watch! It just brought the anticipation to a maximum, sitting there and watching the weathermen explain where he was and what kind of weather was there etc. Anyone else have cool newscasters or weathermen who did Santa Tracking?

This time, we are actually going to leave. Not what we want to do, but it is what we need to do. Or should I say, must do. About two months ago my wife and I went to pick up our paperwork that allows us to stay in Italy at the state police office. It was the second time for us to do our paperwork here in Italy, so it was just a renewal of a permission to stay in the country. We thought we had covered all the bases and were 100% confident to receive our renewal papers. Apparently we cou...

I just recently read an article on MSN about the various degrees that certian famous CEOs have, such as Trump, Oprah, Bush etc. It made me think, hmm, I wonder what interesting degrees lie out there on JU? SO...my question to all is: Where did you go to college, what degree did you get and what year? (Feel free to answer only that which you would like to share) I'll start: B.A. in Bible and Ministry, Oklahoma Christian University, 2004

Amanda and I got our tree today! It’s kind of short, kind of bare, but none the less it is our first Italian tree! We saw it about a week ago when we were out walking around town. We didn’t want to buy it yet because we weren’t sure if we would be able to stay in Italy due to some document issues. The issues are still not resolved, but we just can’t NOT have a tree! We don’t have any ornaments from the states here with us, so we just bought some lights and garland, it looks okay. We do...

Sunday was for me what us M*A*S*H fans like to call a full, rich day. I was scheduled to preach that day, which isn’t a big deal and I actually love doing it. However, this Sunday was just a little bit different. There was a family visiting from the states, and they only spoke English. This is something that I feel very strongly about, when there are guests that do not speak the native language and there are people who are able to translate for them, it should be done. I believe that th...

The day before yesterday, also known as Tuesday, I got to eat some cozze (mussels)! They are so good! They rank right up there with grilled steak, and let me tell you, that takes a lot. The first course was spaghetti alle cozze. It was wonderful, I had to add a little peperoncino, but it was delightful non-the-less. The second course was breaded cozze. You eat them right out of the shell. You can also squirt a little lemon on them too, but the lemon is more for when you eat the raw or ...

I don’t know if I will be able to eat tomorrow. Come to think of it, I may not be able to eat the day after either. Simply put, I’m full. Tonight Amanda and I went out with a group of friends composed of people from Taranto and Latiano to eat at a special meat restaurant in Crispiano. It was delicious. And it was also expensive, but let’s make sure to put the horse meat before the wagon, so to speak. We left about 8:30 p.m. from Taranto to arrive early enough to beat the crowds in Cri...

I lost my keys the other day. And not just any keys, THE keys. In other words, every key that I need in my day to day life was lost. This is how the events unfolded that fateful April day. Amanda and I left the apartment and went out to the end of the sidewalk to wait for Stefano to come pick us up in the car. Stefano had not arrived yet, so I seated myself on the edge of a flower bed and began to play with the snails. To play with snails you need two hands you see. I already had one ...

Buon Natale! My wife and I have just finished our Christmas rituals. We cuddled up in front of the TV, each with a bowl of popcorn (popped on the stove might I add) to watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol. We turned out the lights, turned on the TV and enjoyed a Christmas classic by the colorful lights of our Christmas tree. It is now 11:21pm. We are both snuggled into bed and are awaiting the sugar plumbs visions.... In the words of Tiny Tim, God bless us, everyone!