Happy Thanksgiving twice!

For a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving we really lucked out this year by celebrating twice! Saturday evening we were invited to Amanda and Zeno's house. Giovanni works with Zeno in the International Relations Department for the Mayor. His wife Amanda is from New Jersey and works at the American Consulate. It was a great evening with Great food and games! Amanda was great, she even had made me a birthday cake! I look forward to doing more with them in the upcoming weeks!
Sunday after church we invited the missionaries and the Parisi family over for Thanksgiving. Natalie and I split up the food and everything came out wonderfully!
Thanks to Amanda we learned a little more about the first Thanksgiving. Did you know that the first one was in 1621 one year after the arrival of the Pilgrims, they were celebrated surriving the first winter. Also 91 Indians participated in that first meal? Psalms 100 was read upon their successful arrival! Here it is! I found it very fitting.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he tat hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

My Birthday!!!

ITs my BIRTHDAY!!! Yea!!!! Today I decided I wanted a change of something, other then my age, so I took myself out for a haircut! I cut it shorter and went a little darker.
When Gio finally got off work I met him and we went to dinner. This was the creative dessert the resturant came up with in lue of a cake: Strudel a wad of foil and fruit, i even had a candle to blow out. YUM!

I teach instutite in my ward for the young single adults and they surprised me at the of the lesson with a cake and candle! It was great, since I did not even tell them about my birthday L toR Tanzilya, Cristobal, me and Monica! (none of us are Italian). It has been a good day, and tomorrow i will be with Gio!

Giovanni works with a local Rabbi for connections with Israel and the City of Milan. We had dinner at the Rabbi's house on Friday night along with other friends of theirs. We were invited to a wedding today (Sunday). Since neither Gio or I had ever been to a Jewish wedding we were both curious and exctied to attend. The first is a picture of the end of the ceramony. After 7 blessings in Hebrew from 7 different Rabbis the couple drank some wine and broke the glass to simbolize the destruction of the King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. For them it is to remember that in a time of Joy they need to remember that there is still sorrow in the world and that they are waiting for the Messiah to come.
It is nice to expand our horizions by learning about those around us!
Here is a self shot of Gio and myself after the ceramony as well as some boys waiting their turn at the punch table. They were playing around the hotel, just like any other wedding. Some things are the same everywhere!

On Thursday this week I went and met up with my new friend Natalie Parisi, a fellow utahan who recently moved here with her husband Joe and daughter Natalie, check out their blog (link on the left). They live close to Lake Maggiore that goes up into up into Swizerland, so we took advantage of this and spent a day around the lake! It was fun! Usually the little towns are busy with tourists and other passerby's but with the cold and wind coming off the lake there was no one around... it made for some nice exporation and window shopping for us! We were thinking of taking the ferry across the lake, but once again due to low tourism our options were low on the time table and we decided to drive instead.... I think it was the warmer choice! These are a few pictures of the area! It was fun! I am sure that Natalie and I will have more adventures to write about in the next few weeks!

couscous sald with baby spinach and pistachios
course salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup couscous
2 TBS white wine vinegar
1 TBS olive oil
2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced (opt)
2 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup shelled pistachios
Serves 2
In a small saucepan with a lid, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil; season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat; stir in couscous. Cover, and let stand until liquid is absorbed, about 5 min.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine vinegar and oil; season with salt and pepper. Add couscous and if using scallions; toss to combine. Refridgerate couscous in one artight container, spinach and basil in another, up to overnight. Store nuts at room temp. Just before serving , toss all ingredients together.

Some of you may know I love to try new things in the kitchen. This is a really EASY recipe that I came across! I have made it ahead on those days when Gio comes home really late from work, then I don't have to worry about keeping something warm! I dont think my photo did the great taste justice!

Last week while Giovanni was in London on a buisness trip I went to visit some friends (more like my 2nd family) in Verona. This is Edda and Remo in the center of the city, we are planning a trip to USA sometime in the late spring. Remo is loosing his eye sight and has always wanted to go to America. He is a big lover of History and music, especially Jazz. They are just great, I truly feel as if they are my long lost Italian parents!
This is my sweet sister Esther. She is from Nigeria, but has lived in Italy for about 15 years! She is an amazing woman and I admire her selflessness! My trip was too short and I did not have a chance to see her 1yr old daughter Racheal, but in a few weeks Esther will be baptized and we will go back to Verona!

Together Again

After spending 3 months this summer in Utah with my family it was time to get back to my life in Milan with my hubby, Giovanni. On my first weekend back I took him for a mini tour of the city, including a tour of the castle, the top of the duomo (the main cathedral) as well as some tasty treats... panzarotti and Gelato! Yummy!

Halloween is not really celebrated here, so we did our best to be festive by carving a pumpkin!

Nov. 1st All Saints Day we drove to the Swiss temple for a quick session, before driving home, all in all it was about 8 hours round trip! It was a beautiful drive with all the country side covered in brilliant colors as the trees change for the season! I love this time of the year!