Heavy on the pictures, light on the words

A dusting of snow started falling in mid-afternoon...

A few flakes here, a few flakes there...

Melting almost as soon as it landed

Second by second, the sprinkling got stronger

Faster and faster, it really started coming down

Piling on the ground...

Making a home on the flowers

The day it snowed in Bella Roma

It snowed on Friday, and I know I'm late on posting about it!  But Will is finally back and I've been under the weather, so I've just now gotten around to it.  

I was so excited about the snow, and I stood on the balcony for a really long time snapping shots.  I hope it happens again!

Love,

The title "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" would be too cliche, I think

Hi everyone!  I know I've been a bad blogger lately, but I have good reason.  It's half academic and half me not having anything important to say..... with a dash of me not taking pictures this week.

I figured y'all didn't want play-by-plays of my every day life, so I just held off for a while.  But I have some great, great news.

Tonight and tomorrow morning, it's supposed to SNOW!  The white, cold, frosty stuff that falls on the ground in beautiful, sparkling masses is supposed to grace Rome with its presence tomorrow, and I couldn't be more thrilled.  I don't know how I'll ever sleep... I'll just be running to the window every 4.2 minutes to see if the sky is falling yet.

It's been cold enough here; it might as well snow.  I went to the store today and wore a scarf, a hat, a cozy leather (pleather) jacket, leggings under my jeans, boots, and gloves and I was still really, really cold.

Really.  Do they make nose warmers?  Because nothing covers my nose and it went numb for a little while.  You could have sucker-punched me right in the sniffer and I wouldn't have even noticed.

If it does snow enough tomorrow to be visible on the ground, I'm going to rush outside in the cold just for you and take some pictures.  I'm more excited than the average teen would be about this, but remember, I haven't seen snow since I was five or six.

I know all of you who are buried in snow right now are laughing and shaking your heads, but I'm just to thrilled to notice.  Perhaps you can send me some of your snow?  Thank you kindly.

Give Thanks!

Things for which I'm thankful this Thanksgiving:

My lovely parents, and the fact that after all these (almost 21!!) years, they still love each other deeply.

My brother.  Even though he's far away, he's happy, and he's the best brother I could ever dream of having.

My best friend.  Of course!  She's an utter delight.

My little apartment.  It keeps us warm (for the most part) and dry.

The grace of God.  I am continually amazed by everything he's given me.

My first cold Thanksgiving that I remember.  It makes the season feel more real!  (And today, it's *this* close to snow!!)

Hot tea.  I'm so enjoying this to ward off any chills.

EVERYTHING!!!

You may call me the "Play-Doh Wizard"

This cold, wintry afternoon, I walked two blocks down my street to babysit two little children while their mom was at a parent-teacher meeting for their oldest son, who was at school.

We'll call these two young'uns Boy and Girl.  Because this is the internet.  Nothing is safe on the internet.

After lunch, Girl was very tired.  She was rubbing her eyes with her chubby fists and whimpering.  I tucked her in for a nap, and she was out immediately.  So, basically, I spent the afternoon with Boy.  We first played Connect 4, but that got old for him very fast.  I got out the play-doh, and he told me to make a "pwincess Girl."  How sweet is that?  He wanted me to depict his sister as a princess!  After working with some blue play-doh, a plastic knife, and a baby spoon, I came up with this:

Girl actually has a neck, I promise.  And she's actually a LOT cuter than that.  A lot.

A little blue pwincess.

Next, Boy asked me to make some fyowers or sumteen yike a snyake oy a baw.

Translation:  Make some flowers or something like a snake or a ball.

Well, I chose to make flowers.  Because that's the kind of gal I am.

I weawy yike fyowers.  Especially ones in McDonalds colors.

Boy wanted a play-doh of Boy.  So I obliged.

Boy doesn't actually wear a bow-tie.  He also doesn't actually have candy-canes for feet; that was my "creative license."

Boy and I played with play-doh till Boy and Girl's mom came home, and then I walked home.  When I got in the elevator, which has a huge, obnoxious mirror in it, I saw my nose and cheeks were completely red from the cold.

I love this weather.  And on Friday, I'm putting up those Christmas decorations faster than you can say "Deck the halls, y'all."

Prepare yourselves. Caroline is annoyed.

Before I begin this post, I just want to say that on my blog, most things are pretty sunshine-y and happy.  And this is not inaccurate, because I have a great life.  But I want to keep it real, you guys.  Sometimes I can get a little bit frustrated, just like anyone else, and I don't think I should only post about moments where I'm entirely happy, because that's not the entirety of my life.  So, get ready.

-----
I love snow.  And before you get all excited, no, it's not snowing here, but yesterday I had a conversation about snow.  And I came out of it very, very, very... frustrated.

Every time I tell anyone that I love cold weather and winter clothes and snow, they laugh at me.  They say things like "Give it a few months in Brussels and you'll be hating it.  TRUST ME."

But I don't "TRUST THEM."  I mean, give me some credit!  I grew up in Hawaii, the land where it never snows and it rarely gets below 60 degrees.  I was seven when we moved there and about to turn sixteen when we left, so that's pretty much all I know in regards to the weather.  I have seen snow a few times in other places, and I love getting bundled up in scarves and hats to go outside, because I've never had the ability to do that very often before.

To that, they always say "Eh, it's novel now.  But give it a few months...."

It's like they don't want me to like snow.  It's as if liking snow and cold weather would be an affront to their knowledge and persona, somehow.

I find this all terribly, horribly frustrating.

What I would like is this response:  "Oh, that's great.  You'll have fun!  I personally prefer warm weather, but if you like the cold, you'll definitely enjoy living in Brussels!"

The same goes for rainy weather.  I prefer rainy weather over sunny weather, and when I tell people that, they laugh and say, "Just wait till you go to Brussels, where it rains all the time!  You'll hate it soooo much!"

This really gets my goat.  It's so entirely the opposite of what we should do as Christians. Basically, when people tell me these things, it's as if they're wanting me to be unhappy.  They are not building me up.

How is that even remotely ok?  No matter how much I argue with them (and I sometimes argue too much, I will admit) they just seem to crave for me to be unhappy.   They are basically arguing for my sadness.

I'm not really sure how to handle this.  The appropriate response is probably to just say, "Well, I disagree, but I see how you would feel that way!  I've just gotten tired of wearing shorts and t-shirts at Christmas time."  A nonchalant response like that is probably the best way to go.  But inside, I want to scream about how just because they lived for three years in Alaska and hated it doesn't mean that I would hate it too.

"I can't STAND pistachio ice cream.  Put that cone down right now, you'll hate it!!"

See?  It's just about as silly as that.

And, I apologize for dragging you into my brain for a few minutes.