PIC ME (part 1)

The last few days have been so surreal. 

Yesterday morning, I woke up in Slovakia. 

Today I woke up in Austria. 

I just replied to an email from a student by saying, "Hi!  Welcome back from Italy...." and to another student, "Hi!  Welcome back from Poland..."

What a semester of unexpected travels and surprises this has been thus far...and we're currently just under two months from returning to the States.  I sit here astonished at how quickly the time is going.  It feels like we were just planning for this semester abroad and packing in early January as we threw together what we thought we might need for the next several months amidst snow and Christmas decorations. 

Today is March 25th which is exactly nine months from Christmas Day.  Today, in our Church, is also the Solemnity of the Annunciation when Mary learned she would be having a baby.  I saw this image on social media followed by the comments below and just had to share it here.  I originally was going to write about the feast day of St. Joseph that was just celebrated last week but I really love what the author below had to say about the connection between these two special days in our Church history.

Laura Kelly Fanucci at Mothering Spirit

March 19 at 4:13 PM · 

Could today be a feast of unexpected parenthood?
For the first time it struck me that the Feast of St. Joseph (March 19) & the Annunciation (March 25) fall in the same week. A father's dream and a mother's interruption. A quiet no turned courageous yes. A startled question turned fierce fiat.
Together, a holy family beginning from what looked like exactly the opposite. Together, two feasts holding an octave of surprising beginnings, unexpected callings, upheaved plans, and logic-stomping grace.

In other words: how family looks in many of our lives.

Maybe you got pregnant too young, too soon, too poor, or too often.
Maybe everyone said you were too old, too late, or too successful for that nonsense.
Maybe you've stared down at a positive test with tears in your eyes thinking no no no.
Maybe you've stared up at the ceiling, praying please please please.

What this week teaches us is that God is not on our timeline. Love does not mean logic. And perhaps most importantly: joy is not always born of joy. Joy is often born of the exact opposite: grief, anger, fear, sadness, and disappointment.
Because new life starts after what looks like death, every time.

Today is a feast of saying yes to what matters most, shattering expectations, trusting dreams, defying popular opinion, and rushing into the mess when God points there.
Today is a day for remembering how many (all?) of us end up there: standing in the mess, shards of hope at our feet, piles of plans that will never be, unexpected gifts outstretched that look like anything but the good we wanted.

Today is a feast for bending low, scooping up the broken pieces, looking each other in the eye and saying: this will be good, too. This will be even Better.
Because whatever good we can give, whatever love we can offer, did not come from us. It came from God.

I had a hard conversation today with a dear loved one about religion and life.  The conversation barely just got started and did not last more than a few minutes but had been taking root for quite some time.  For the better part of the last 14 months or so, I've been praying specifically for this person and religious struggles being faced.  Life is incredibly hard and messy.  It doesn't always go as planned and unfair things happen to good people.  I only have to look back at the incredibly unfair events of what happened the night of Charlotte's birthday to be reminded of that.  Yet there is still resilience.  There is still grit.  Doing the right thing.  Holding on and trusting even when every instinct screams to fight and flee.  The statement above about God's timelines vs. our own made me think of this.  Take this in again:

Love does not mean logic.

And perhaps most importantly: joy is not always born of joy.

Joy is often born of the exact opposite: grief, anger, fear, sadness, and disappointment. 

Because new life starts after what looks like death, every time.

New beginnings come from endings.  New adventures come from the final moments of previous ones.  New starts come from final pushes to the finishing line before the fresh beginning.  Platitudes aside, here we are in Lent which is a time of waiting, praying, fasting, showing mercy, and almsgiving.  How amazing that a day devoted to Jesus' earthly father, Joseph, and a day devoted to the announcement Mary had conceived fall during this time of heightened introspection...the other day, when I realized the Feast Day of St. Joseph was near, it reminded me of the novena I prayed that had ended on March 19, 2013.  I had prayed the novena for my future spouse.  You guys...14 short months later I was engaged to marry Adam in a church called, St. Joseph the Worker.  ;)  I said it before and I'll say it again...what a Godicidence!

The Sunday before that feast day was St. Patrick's Day 2013!  I had spent the last couple days in York, PA so I could attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade and collect data for my pilot study of my dissertation.  I was inching closer to my dreams of obtaining my PhD and left Ashley's house that morning excited about the data I had collected.  I headed toward Emmitsburg, MD where my parents met me for mass at the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton followed by a tour!  Here is a posting I had written about that trip.  If you pay particular attention to the pictures from the shrine and toward the bottom of the post, you'll see some pictures of Mom, Dad, and me from the church and some inspirational art.  When scrolling back through old blog posts to try to track down this photo, I gasped as I realized I had written 17 posts in March....03/17...!

This picture wound up being the "cover photo" I had used when I created or updated my Catholic Match profile that Adam wound up seeing seven months later in October 2013!  The above photo was taken two days shy of when my novena I had been praying would end on the Feast Day of St. Joseph during which I prayed for my future husband (Adam).

I also wrote this a week later.  You guys!  This was written almost one year to the day six years ago!!  At the time I was in the midst of dissertating living in my brother's house in North Carolina dreaming of a family of my own.  As I read over the excitement I had felt at this time in the spring six  years ago, I recognize I have been feeling this way lately now over the last several days.  My family and I made a big decision a little over a week ago and I have a hunch that is why I'm feeling simultaneous peace and expectation much like I felt at this time in 2013.  It may also be due to realizing that this life we're living here abroad is going to come to a close in a couple short months.  Ever since we returned from Rome/Assisi a few weeks ago, it feels the semester has been flying by at a rapid rate!

So, in my effort to slow down time and to capture every moment of living here, much like when I realized that I had less time in NC than when I first started my PhD journey down south, here is something I've been meaning to write for a while!  Just before Valentine's Day, I was invited to speak on a panel for Women's Ministry here called:  Dating to Marriage Night.

I was excited to attend this talk to hear from the other three wives on the panel and to also hear some of the questions the college students might have for us.

Wow, were the stories amazing!  This is exactly the type of event I would have loved as a college student and that I enjoyed attending as a young adult at Theology on Tap and other Young Adult Events.  In fact, I have written about being inspired by some of these types of events here on this blog over the years, particularly those led by my dear friend, Lisa.

While the other women shared stories of how they met their spouses, discerned if they were headed for marriage, and proposal stories, I took a different approach.  I told the room filled to the brim with eager to learn everything college women that I was going to share advice I had heard when I was their age and along the way but that I was also going to share how I physically put the advice into practice and that I would tie in bits and pieces of Adam's and my story into it.  This is what led to the PIC ME acronym that I will share with you later, dear reader!

Charlotte Ann is three!!

I know I say this every year...but where does the time go?!  How is that our wee little baby born in early March is now three years old?! 

On our way to Bratislava, Slovakia!  Oh, the places she has gone in her short three years already...I can't wait to see what is next for her!

Hanging out in a restaurant in Rome, Italy with her bread with Nutella and already planning which gelato flavor to order after lunch!  She loves peanut butter, Nutella, and ice cream...yup - she is definitely related to Adam and me!  

Charlotte (and Adam) hold such huge pieces of my heart.  This little girl full of energy shaped piece of my heart takes on the form of a sassy blonde who lets us know how she's feeling all the time every day and loves to hop from square to square on a sidewalk or "slide" down the slippery red couch in the office of the apartment where we are currently living. 

This always moving and in motion piece of my heart enjoys time with her friends whether they be her size or college-aged size. 

Irish Step Dancing Class in one of my classrooms!

Some favorite activities are to pick up and collect rocks, jump in puddles, and to stare out bus windows as we are carried away to new places.  The truth is we have been carried to places we would never have dreamt of traveling or visiting so often over the last three years since Charlotte Annie's birth not just during this spring semester abroad.  Thank you for taking us along for the ride, Charlotte, as you continue to grow and explore and experience the world as only you can!  Yesterday, at lunch, she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I pope".  I stopped chewing my food and looked at her.  "You what, Charlotte?"  "I pope!" came her reply.  Now, you guys you have to understand that we have been having conversations about the potty so at first I thought to myself, you pooped?  I don't smell anything.  So I asked her, "What?" again.  She insistently said, "MOMMY!  I met the Pope".  Oh, yes, yes, you did sweet girl!  Last week, when in Rome, she met Pope Francis.  I'm not sure what prompted that statement as we munched on our lunches in the kitchen of our apartment but for whatever reason she was remembering that experience and wanted to remind me of it.  It's been such a joy to try to see things through her eyes.

Watching Charlotte Annie learn and grow over the past year has brought so much happiness and love.  I pray she knows how much she is cherished and what a gift she is to our lives.  Over the past year, Charlotte has discovered a favorite TV show, "Spirit", about a girl named Lucky and her horse.  She still loves music and songs.  One of her greatest pleasures is to watch videos of babies...so much so that she requests that she watch, "babies on Daddy's green phone".  She takes exquisite care of her Purple Baby Bear Ballerina and cradles her, feeds her, and tucks her in to her stroller or bed.  When in a good mood, she loves to smile and wave at countless strangers- usually bringing a grin to their faces but when she is not in the mood to socialize, she will stick out her lip in a pout cross her arms as she stares down at the floor.  Yet, at the flip of a switch, she will be cheerful and happy again! 

Every now and then, usually when about to fall asleep and laying beside me on a challenging night when she doesn't want to start out in her own bed, she will turn to me and stroke my face with a smile on her face.  It is during moments like those that I am awed by this huge responsibility of being her mother.  Who am I that God would entrust this little soul to Adam's and my care and what a fragile gift this is?  Those moments of peace and serenity are some of the sweetest I've ever experienced.  It's amazing to look into her blue eyes and see how content she is in the moment.  May we all strive for that way of being...to be fully present in the moment, vulnerable and genuinely open in front of others and God. 

Then, during other moments, Charlotte makes the funniest scrunched up nose face when she is mad or being defiant.  She definitely knows what she wants and is not afraid to go after it.  

Pouting in downtown Assisi by the fountain.  ; )

Look at that scrunched up nose!

She still loves to bring her toys one by one to us and line them up on the table, counter, or bed.  She is still drawn to my school bag of highlighters (thank you color coding) and pens but shows more interest in white out these days.  She is borderline obsessed with makeup and will use crayons, highlighters, and markers to put on her "makeup".  She enjoys coloring her finger and toenails to "paint" them.  

She still enjoys spinning around in circles, dancing, climbing, pouring liquids all over the carpet and coffee table, and running out on the back porch at all hours of the day and night when the pups are being put outside regardless of wearing shoes or not.  She loves receiving piggy back rides and being carried on someone's shoulders since she's "so high".  One of her favorite places in the whole wide world is in her Daddy's arms (mine too!).

The face she made when I said we had to get off the carousel!

Shielding Daddy's eyes from the bright sun in Rome.

As she has done since she was born, when she sleeps, she puts her left arm up by her head and nestles her nose into her armpit, again seeming like she is sniffing her armpit as she did when she was itty bitty little.  This is a quirk that makes her unique and all the more loveable but I know I'm a bit biased when I say that. 

Sleeping on a European-style double bed in Vienna.

Here's to many more years of learning more things about you and loving you even more, Charlotte Annie, our girl of three!

"Here, I'll help you!' - - one of her favorite sayings right now.

A Day Trip to Salzburg, Austria

Our second outing from campus involved a day trip to Salzburg, Austria!  We only spent one day in this charming city but I look forward to going back when Adam's Mom and a family friend come to visit us in April!  We're thinking of staying overnight to explore the city even further.  As you can see in the picture below, it was hard to get Charlotte up that morning and get ourselves out the door since it was a gray, cold, rainy day.  However, we were excited to see a new place so we eagerly boarded the bus.

Another day another morning of watching the sun rise from a bus window!

  She gets some of her best sleeping done in a moving vehicle be it by air or ground!  ; )

We took a tour of Old Salzburg upon our arrival.  Salzburg literally means "salt castle" and is the fourth largest city in Austria!

The city has three universities so has a huge population of college students and also contains 27 churches!  Charlotte made friends with some of the college students of this city at the Toy Museum!

Charlotte Annie loves horses so she especially enjoyed seeing the horse drawn carriages all about the city!

Some other facts about this city I learned (thanks, Wikipedia), are that Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. Fifteen air strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings, especially those around the Salzburg railway station. The town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were destroyed but much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. Wikipedia also shares that Salzburg is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered the city on May 5, 1945 and it became the center of the American-occupied area in Austria at that time.

I hope we do the Sound of Music tour when we return in April!  The movie was filmed here!  We also learned Mozart was born in this city.  On January 27, 2006 which was the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells after 8:00 p.m. to celebrate...how cool does that sound?!

Wikipedia shares that in the 1960s, the movie The Sound of Music used some locations in and around Salzburg and the state of Salzburg. The movie was based on the true story of Maria von Trapp, who took up with an aristocratic family and fled the German Anschluss. The town draws many visitors who wish to visit the filming locations, alone or on tours.
Salzburg is the setting for the Austrian crime series Stockinger.
In the 2010 film Knight & Day, Salzburg serves as the backdrop for a large portion of the film.

See the mountain below...the Toy Museum (and parking garages) were literally built into the mountain!  Here is more information regarding Salzburg's geography according to Wikipedia:

Salzburg is on the banks of the River Salzach, at the northern boundary of the Alps. The mountains to Salzburg's south contrast with the rolling plains to the north. The closest alpine peak, the 1,972‑metre-high Untersberg, is less than 16 kilometres (10 miles) from the city centre. The Altstadt, or "old town", is dominated by its baroque towers and churches and the massive Hohensalzburg Fortress. This area is flanked by two smaller hills, the Mönchsberg and Kapuzinerberg, which offer green relief within the city. Salzburg is approximately 150 km (93 mi) east of Munich, 281 km (175 mi) northwest of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and 300 km (186 mi) west of Vienna.

This was Charlotte's favorite part of the day trip - - - the toy museum!!

I don't think seeing castles perched atop the cities around here will ever get old for me!

Charlotte quickly made friends.  ; )  The college aged girls you see in this photo were not from our university but they spent at least 30 minutes playing with Charlotte who loved every second of the attention!

I could see our nephews doing this in their house!

This was one of my favorite parts of the museum!  There were small houses that had props and read alouds of popular children's stories, such as, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty!  I'm not sure who was more excited...Charlotte or Mommy!

Look at her face!  

She loved the kitchen play area!

This was one of my favorite stories as a child - - The Princess and the Pea...but look at the title on the sign?!

I can't wait to go back and experience Salzburg again when the weather is a little bit warmer and perhaps the sun is shining!