An Italian Feast

It's that time of year when Tyler and I start to get nostalgic for Italy. The other night I was watching Chopped on the Food Network and they were using all Italian ingredients. Later as I was explaining to Tyler what the chefs created, he got the wonderful idea of cooking an elaborate five-course Italian feast for our next date night! That night we both went to bed hungry and were already planning the menu for our feast!

Yesterday we spent about two hours cooking and over an hour eating (which is longer than we usually spend eating dinner) and thoroughly enjoyed our Italian date! It brought us back to our times in Rome and Assisi and we even listened to "Traditional Italian" songs from Pandora as we cooked!

We planned our menu based off our favorite dishes we ate when we were in Italy. We started off with two antipasto dishes, bruschetta and fried cheese balls.

Tyler found this recipe for fried cheese balls and they were delicious! I was very impressed!

Then we had pumpkin ravioli. This was my second time making ravioli from scratch and they turned out really well.

Our main course consisted of pork chops, potatoes and asparagus. We waited between each course and made sure we ate slowly and enjoyed the meal! In Italy they really enjoy meals and don't rush through them like we tend to do here.

And like all good Italian meals, we finished it up a cheese and fruit tray. 

We even had different wines to go with the different courses! Tyler researched what would be best paired with each of our dishes.

We love to cook and we love to eat, so this was a wonderful date night. Since we don't have any plans to go to Italy in the near-future, we'll just have to continue to cook Italian food and savor our good memories!

Maryland

Dene' and Tyler standing in front of Marian shrine, St. Clement's Island in background

This past weekend Tyler, Aly, and I went to Newburg, Maryland for a FOCUS regional gathering. It was a weekend to get away and enjoy time with other missionaries in the Atlantic and Northeast region.

We had the whole day on Saturday to make our own plans so we went with a few friends to explore two historical sites around the area, St. Mary's City (the first capital of Maryland) and St. Clement's Island (the first place Mass was celebrated in North America.)

St. Mary's City, view of Potomac River

Tyler's senior thesis was on the persecution of Catholics in colonial America and he did a lot of research about these two sites so it was very special for him to be able to visit these places!

Old House in Colonial St. Mary's City

Tyler in front of plaque commemorating religious freedom in colonial Maryland

St. Clement's Island

2 Timothy 2:2

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Even before I was a student at the University of Nebraska I knew I wanted to be involved in FOCUS. My junior year of high school my sister Ashley was already at UNL and was involved in a Bible study and my parents had the FOCUS missionaries over for dinner at our house. Having already met the missionaries and knowing what FOCUS was about, when my freshman year came I made the Newman center my home-base and signed up for a Bible study the first chance I got.

I experienced first hand what it means to be invested in by a beautiful red-haired woman named Erin. She invited me to her Bible study of other freshman girls in a room in the honors dorm, Neihardt. I will never forget our first study. She brought coloring books and we ate Eileen's cookies while colorings pictures of Disney princesses!

I was asked into discipleship by Erin the end of my freshman year. We met weekly for discipleship where we prayed together, talked together (one time I cried while explaining I was afraid I was called to be a nun) and Erin modeled for me tools of how to share my faith with others while growing in virtue and our relationship with Jesus.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Teach teachers to teach. That is the purpose of FOCUS. To invite college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church; to inspire and equip them for a lifetime of Christ-centered evangelization, discipleships and friendships; in which they lead others to do the same.

Seven years later I am so thankful that Tyler and I are able to do this work at Belmont Abbey College. We are investing in young men and women that will be leaders of our country in the future! And what a pivotal time college is, where lasting friendships are made, either for good or bad, and many students start down a path that they will follow for the rest of their life. Again, either good or bad.

As we invest in these students, we are not only here to love and serve them, but we are here to find those that want to run with us! Those that want to give their lives to Jesus and serve him as a student but also who realize the deeper call, the call that each one of us has! To share the gospel of Jesus and to invite others into a relationship with Him.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

We do this by modeling and teaching six tools: intercessory prayer, lectio divina (slow, prayerful reading of scripture) meeting new people, leading a Bible study, sharing a gospel invitation, and mentoring another person. The desire is for the students to learn these skills and then be able to teach them to others. Teach teachers to teach.

Check out what my dad's spin on this topic is here!

I meant to do that...

Just a "small handful" of the students that joined us last Sunday evening

Do you ever have those moments when something happens and you jokingly say, "I meant to do that!" Well, that happened to me last Sunday.

I invited five girls over to our place to play bananagrams and to meet our dog Frannie. I told them to invite others as well. Then after Mass, I invited a few more people.

Long story short, for the next two hours we had over forty students join us for the evening. In our one bedroom apartment and with very understanding neighbors since we didn't get a noise complaint!

I don't know how everyone fit, but it was quite the evening! At one time there was a card game going on at the kitchen table, a game of bananagrams in the middle of the rug, Apples to Apples on one side of the room, and another card game on the opposite side. This reminded us of the event two years ago when we were in Dubuque and we had students over at the beginning of the year. Only that was outside on the rooftop and this one was in our living room!

Check out my dad's blog to see what he meant to do this week!

Our Reading Lists

Tyler's reading list at the present moment

Dad and I came up with the blog topic for this week to share what we're reading. It didn't take too long for me to figure out that I have a lot of books I could talk about, because I am prone to start a book and then take forever to finish it. So first I'd like to share what Tyler is reading!

Tyler inspires me to be a better reader. Ever since we were married, we started reading before going to bed. I think he has always done this but it was new for me.

Tyler likes to read several books at once and switch off which one he reads each day. Currently he's reading Let the Fire Fall by Fr. Scanlan, a book given to him by the soccer coach at Belmont Abbey College. He's also reading The Spirit of St. Andrew by Alister Mackenzie which is about the architect behind designing golf courses. And third is a meditation book called A Year with the Angels.

And now for my reading list! I just finished a wonderful book about the Camino de Santiago called Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus by Fr. Pivonka. I highly recommend this book (it was lent to us by friends in Montgomery after talking about our shared desire to go on the Camino!) and I finished it in three days!

Since finishing the book about the Camino I have started a few other books but last night I asked Tyler to give me a few recommendations. He brought over these three books. (Notice two of them are about sports!) I have heard about Brideshead Revisited and decided to start that one, so we'll see how it goes!

Check out what my dad is reading here!

Prayers Please!

Student missionaries in the Adoration chapel on campus

Tonight we met with our student missionaries here at Belmont Abbey for prayer, fellowship, and planning for Fall Outreach which starts Friday! Please keep us all in your prayers, especially the 335 new freshman that will be coming to campus!

We will be starting bright and early Friday morning to help the freshman move into their dorm rooms. This is such a crucial time because for many freshman, the people they meet in the first week will be the people they spend the next four years with. We hope to meet as many of them as we can, get their names and contact information, and then personally invite them to the welcome-back events this weekend and lots of fun activities we'll be planning next week. We want to get them plugged in right away and eventually invite them to Bible studies.

Here is a quote from Pope Francis that we discussed tonight with the student missionaries.

“Don't be afraid of love, of the love of God, Our Father. … Don't be afraid to receive the grace of Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of our freedom that is given by the grace of Jesus Christ... Don't be afraid of grace. Don't be afraid to go out of yourselves … to go and find the 99 who aren't home. Go out to dialogue with them and tell them what we think. Go show them our love, which is God's love.” – Pope Francis 

Please pray for us that God gives us the grace to bring His light to the students on campus and that we won't let fear hold us back. We'll be praying for you and all your intentions as we step on campus!

Popcorn = Rappana Family Tradition

Popcorn. Butter. Salt. Dad's pressure cooker. Family. Comfort. Deliciousness.

These are all words that go together! There are many memories I have growing up and a lot of them include popcorn! Thanks to dad's trusted pressure cooker that he inherited from his parents, we have never been in want of popcorn. And since he searched high and low for additional pressure cookers to pass onto his girls, our future children will grow up with this treasured Rappana family tradition. Did I mention Tyler is the popcorn maker in our family now? That makes my heart happy!

Dad's pressure cooker and best popcorn ever!

I remember one time when Ashley and I were little we had to go to bed even though we smelled and heard popcorn popping in the kitchen.

Another time we got back from a shopping trip to Rapid City and dad made popcorn. I must have been about six or seven years old and I had to tell myself to slow down because I was eating it too fast. So I ate three pieces of popcorn at a time. This seems like an odd memory but it's true!

Fourth of July is synonymous with popcorn. When I was little we'd go to the parking lot of St. Patrick's Church and eat popcorn out of brown lunch bags while watching the fireworks over the Open Cut. One time we went to Nancy and Ken's apartment in Deadwood and ate popcorn from a large bowl while we watched the fireworks. I distinctly remember picking out the buttered pieces. I might still be known to do this today...

I remember watching dad make popcorn and when it was time to melt the butter he would hold the pot down at my level so I could watch the butter melt.

And for my favorite popcorn memory: going out to watch the stars at night while eating popcorn with our family. When we lived on Railroad in Lead we'd go to the picnic table outside. Dad would bring the big popcorn bowl and we'd look up at the stars while eating popcorn. When we moved to Miners Ave we'd go to the swinging porch in the back and look out at the town. There's something about family and food that makes me feel secure.

Last night Tyler made us popcorn for the first time in months. Since we've been traveling we haven't had access to our pressure cooker. Microwave popcorn is a close second but doesn't quite do it. I am thankful for my dad and his love of popcorn and for passing this love onto me. Check out my dad's favorite memories about popcorn here!

One tip for those out there that are hungry for popcorn after reading this...use salted butter! It makes all the difference in the world.

North Carolina

It hasn't really set in yet that we live in North Carolina!

Hello from North Carolina! We have survived our first week in our new home! I say survived, because we are anxiously awaiting our moving company's phone call letting us know they are on their way with our stuff. God is giving us the grace to offer up not having our apartment be filled with our belongings yet and it really isn't that bad not having any furniture or kitchen supplies. However it does make us grateful to know that we won't have to sit on the floor forever. The other day Tyler said, "We're missionaries, not monks." Well said.

Since there is only so much cleaning one can do in an empty apartment with no belongings, we have found plenty of things to do to keep us busy! We have really enjoyed exploring the surrounding towns around Charlotte and thankfully we like ours the best! Belmont is a small historic town right on the interstate and our apartment is minutes from Belmont Abbey College. Every day we've been going to daily Mass on campus and praying in the Adoration chapel...I'll have to post a picture later!

Farmer's Market in Gastonia

We have already explored two farmer's markets! One in Belmont and the other in Gastonia. We plan on being regulars and enjoying fresh vegetables and fruit for as long as we can! They are open year round so we're excited to see what the different seasons will bring!

Leave it to Tyler to find a soccer game to go to! The Charlotte Eagles are a USL pro team and we caught their second to last home game this past week. We are excited to continue to explore all the sporting events Charlotte offers! Tyler is considering becoming a Carolina Panthers fan. I like their colors so I'm in.

Whenever you come to visit us (everyone is welcome!) we will take you uptown Charlotte. Yes, it's called "uptown" instead of "downtown." What we've heard is that during the 1980s people wanted to change the image of the city and thought calling it uptown would present a more positive upbeat image of the city, as opposed to downtown. I think it's fun to say.

We ventured uptown the other night for a date night. Thanks to our Regional Director who took us here when we visited last March, we were confident that we could get on the interstate, go north, and take an exit and end up where we wanted to be. Sure enough, that is what we did. It is very easy to get around and another perk is that parking is free after 6pm!

We definitely marveled at the tall buildings and as we walked down the main streets we took note of dozens of restaurants that look amazing. We enjoyed appetizers and a beer at an Irish pub called Ri Ra that is definitely a new favorite.

How does our girl like North Carolina, you might be wondering? She seems to like it a lot. She has transitioned very well and is always SO excited to see us when we come home (more than usual it seems, she jumps in the air a lot and we're trying to work on that so she has good manners when meeting students in a few weeks!) There is a nice neighborhood near by that we enjoy walking her and it seems like many places here are pet-friendly.

We're excited to see what our second week holds here in our new place! Hopefully it is full of unpacking our things and getting settled! All in God's timing...

Family, Food and The Beach!

A family picture of the Rossers...pretty funny!

This past week Tyler's parents joined us in Florida after our FOCUS training ended. We spent a week in Naples and even though Ave Maria is one of our favorite places on earth, after spending six weeks there we were ready for a change of pace and enjoyed being with family, eating lots of great food, and getting some sun at the beach!

I remember the first time I went to the ocean as a child. I was about 10 years old and we took a road trip to visit our family in Oregon. Since I met Tyler, I have had the opportunity to go to the beach more than I would have ever imagined and I have discovered that I love the ocean!

There is something about the feel of the sand under my feet, the sound of the waves, and the mystery of what's out there beyond the horizon. It makes me feel small, standing on the shore, but in a good way because it lifts my heart to God knowing that he created this and it shows his glory.

I took dozens of pictures of the water and they all look alike, but this one is from a morning walk on the beach. One morning while Tyler and his dad went to play golf, I went out early after they left and walked along the beach. It was so quiet and peaceful. Even though Tyler and I enjoyed going to the beach at the hottest time of the day (thanks to Mary Kay sunscreen we didn't get burned!) I think my favorite times are either in the early morning or right at sunset.

Towards the end of the week we drove out to Marco Island for dinner and caught the sunset. It was a beautiful evening!

Jeff and Barb on Marco Island

I was enjoying taking pictures but Tyler had had enough after the first one...he had a positive attitude about it though!

Enjoying some drinks at dinner

None of us were quite ready for the week to end, but we had a little girl waiting for us back in Alabama!

Tyler's parents took great care of Frannie while we were at training. We got spoiled not having to walk her and his parents enjoyed walking her, so it was a win-win situation! Also it was a blessing that Frannie stayed with Jeff and Barb because their little guy, Rudy, passed away early this summer. Frannie was a great comfort to them and loved on them a lot!

In memory of Mr. Rudy Toot Toot II

Armadillos

Four years ago when I first visited Tyler in Montgomery he said there were armadillos in the neighborhood. I had read children's books from my favorite author, Jan Brett, who always wrote about these interesting creatures and I was fascinated with them, having never seen one myself.

Looking for armadillos four years ago...I admit I was not really expecting to find one but it was a fun adventure.

So one night I asked Tyler to take me out to find an armadillo. He amused me (later to tell me that he thought I was strange for wanting to go find one at night) but we didn't find any. In the next few years on our many road trips, he'd point one or two out to me. However, I wanted to see one that was alive, not one that was dead on the side of the road. 

Last week I saw a picture on facebook of...you guessed it! An armadillo. It was here in Ave Maria and I was thinking to myself why haven't I seen one yet? A few days ago Tyler and I were walking back from Mass to the cafeteria and we saw a group of people looking at something in the bushes and taking pictures. I didn't think it was an alligator so I ran to the spot and here's what I saw:

My very first armadillo. I don't think they are cute but I think they are just fascinating. I didn't know anything about them so I looked them up and thanks to Wikipedia here's what I learned:

• The word armadillo means "little armored one" in Spanish.

• The Aztecs called them āyōtōchtli which means "turtle rabbit."

• The armadillo prefers to build burrows in moist soil near the creeks and streams around which it lives and feeds. 

• Armadillos have short legs, but can move quite quickly, and have the ability to remain under water for as long as six minutes. Because of the density of its armor, an armadillo will sink in water unless it swallows air, inflating its stomach to twice normal size and raising its buoyancy above that of water, allowing it to swim across narrow streams and ditches 
• Armadillos have very poor eyesight, and use their keen sense of smell to hunt. 

Now we all know more about armadillos!

Weekend Highlights

Mass in the Oratory at Ave Maria

My favorite place at Ave Maria (okay, one of them, for there are many!) is the Oratory. It is very special to have Mass here every day along with daily prayer time. This past weekend Tyler and I helped lead an Engaged and Married Staff Conference. There were four couples that each gave talks and in between the talks the couples had time to discuss the information and apply it to their lives.

Tim and Abigail gave a talk on communication

Our talk was on Teamwork and Scheduling. Tyler had a fun idea to start the talk off with a physical activity. We showed a quick video of two people doing a handshake (think "secret" handshake style with lots of moves) and then we asked each couple to come up with their own handshake. The activity was to build teamwork and to show how other people, especially students on campus, look to us and we are models of family life. 

Couples creating their own handshakes

We captured another sunset outside of the cafeteria the other evening. We are really enjoying our time in Florida and can't believe it's already the middle of June!

Tuesday's Thoughts

We are into our third week of training here in Florida and thankfully we've had some sunny days since the tropical storm passed us by. It was hard there for a few days when it was a constant rain and dreariness. Finally just a few nights ago we saw our first Florida sunset. I'm excited to see more of these this summer!

Tyler started his first week of his LAST semester of grad school! For those of you who don't know, he's getting his Masters Degree through an online program for Sports Management. He started this in the Spring of 2011 and will finish this upcoming August. I'm really proud of him for balancing grad school, being a Team Director, a Dean of the Married Men's College, and several other things this summer! He's doing a great job with time management.

Walking to class in the morning, what a good student! Haha

Yesterday we had a visit from someone we met in Rome! Archbishop Fisichella came to Ave Maria to speak to the FOCUS missionaries and preside at Mass. He is a friend of Curtis Martin (the founder of FOCUS) and was on his way to a Bishop's meeting somewhere in the States. He is the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization and we heard him speak in Rome last Fall when we were there for the FOCUS trip during the Synod for the New Evangelization.

Archbishop Fisichella speaking in the Oratory on Monday evening