Home again, home again...

Well, this finds me back in my comfy room in Atascadero, CA, half paying attention to my computer and half watching the Super Bowl... actually, mostly watching the commercials.

I had a pretty uneventful trip back from Italy. We had to drive 2.5 hours to Rome the morning of my flight, so I got up just after 2 AM... It was a very long day, but I'm thankful for safe flights, etc. Oh, my first flight from Rome to Munich was in a TINY plane, which I was kind of worried about. However, I was later grateful because it flew lower than the monster planes, and it afforded me a beautiful view of the snow-capped Alps! We flew right over the mountain range, and I just sat staring out the window with my mouth hanging open. It was magnificent!

I got a bit of a cold the second week I was there, but I felt like I was just getting over it before I came home. Then I got on the plane, and all that changed... I don't know if it was the enclosed space for germs to circulate or the cabin pressure or what, but when I landed, I felt horrible! I've been battling this nasty cold for the past days now... ugh. I am just grateful that I didn't feel this yucky while I was in Italy.

I landed Tuesday afternoon and spent the next couple of days at my grandparents' in the LA area. Thursday afternoon I drove back up here to Atascadero. I am so thankful to the Lord for James and Kellie Wenzel and their providing me with a room in their home. It was so nice to come back to all my stuff and a WARM, comfortable bed! :)

I've been flying under the radar since I got here--just trying to recover from my trip and dealing with this cold... I'm enjoying the few days of relaxation because Tuesday I go back to work, back to the daily grind.

All for now...

Last pics

Antonio and Dolores Marino (Anna and Sofia)

The very narrow street that the missionaries live on (in Naples)...

The port in Naples...

The port again...

Outside the amphitheater in Naples...

Heidi (missionary in Naples) and the Marino girls--Anna and Sofia

The amphitheater (the inside of the arena)

More Italy pics

This is Campobasso, a larger city that is about 20 minutes away from Pietracatella. This is most likely where I would live if the Lord takes me back to Italy.

Another view from the house...

This is a street in what used to be a medieval village; it is in the city of Termoli.

This is underneath the 3rd largest amphitheater in Italy (in Naples). The lady in the pictures is named Heidi; she and her husband are missionaries in Naples.

The view from the house after we got a ton of snow!!!

Italy pics

The view (looking out the window to the left) from the Marinos' house in Pietracatella...

The streets of Pietracatella...

Pietracatella

Another street...

More pics...

One of the many canals in Amsterdam...

My friend, Femke, is the one in the middle. The other two girls (Miryam and Laura) are a couple of her "flatmates," as they say there.

Typical view in Amsterdam...

Pictures!

This is a city called Gouda, which is where the cheese comes from. They pronounce it much differently than we do, though!

This is also in Gouda. The Dutch people ride bicycles EVERYWHERE, and this shot shows a typical bicycle "parking lot."

This is a typical street in Holland. Every door that you see is a different house, but as you can tell, they are all attached. They call them row houses. That is my friend, Femke, standing next to the bicycle.