4 days of fun

Tanner (my brother, for those of you who are just tuning in) and Sarah (his beautiful wife) were here in Nice, France for 4 short but sweet days...  

Day One : Click HERE to see more.

Day Two (below) :

It's not called the "blue coast" for no reason.

Our feet in the same country.

Visiting Antibes.

Exploring Old Antibes with Rob and Cricri.

Coffee break.

In the bus headed to the game.

Nice vs. Paris - full stadium !

The crew.

My sissy-in-law and brother.

Group shot.  Nice lost 0-1, but it was a fun game.


Day Three :

Happy first anniversary to Tanner and Sarah (29th March) !

Opening a letter that my mom and dad sent them.

The lovely couple.


Day Four :

Gelato for the second time =).

Tanner braves the chilly waters.

Well done Tan !

Towel please !

Saying "au revoir."  I cried after they left =(

Tanner and Sarah, we love you, and we hope this was only just an appetizer for your next visit... wink, wink...

Love Linz

Tanner and Sarah!

They're here !!!

 let the fun begin.

before the shenanigans.

 Sarah?

 Tanner?  I think Tonio has a question.

pillow fight seemed like an appropriate France welcome.

Nancy?  Seb with the wind-up.  And look closely at my "man" arm... haha !  Tanner is diving somewhere?

 Ok, let's try this again...

 Tonio?

Pierre wins the prize for remaining most "calm" throughout the sequence - oh those Klein-Hutchinson-Petrignani gatherings =)  I must say that the one-year anniversary couple in the middle look quite cute and unharmed by the chaotic mishaps of the tangential photo session.

We've got a whole weekend of this - YAY !!!

Love Linz

one-year ago

this was happening...

beautiful sister and beautiful sister-in-law

 Sarah and my brother Tanner // zee barn where it all went down

my twin {not really, but we could be}

Tonio dancing with the bride - they were twirling so fast it blurred

cake cutting


And in less than 5 hours, this amazing couple will be here in Nice, France to hang out with me and Tonio and celebrate their first wedding anniversary (29 March) !!!

Congratulations to Sarah and Tanner !  And welcome to the French Riviera =)  We spare no expense...  haha !

Love Linz

TEN year visa !!!

After many trips to the French immigration office, 
a medical exam to make sure I don't have the black lung 
(props to those of you who giggled at the movie reference),
several mug shots taken,
photocopying in triplicate EVERYTHING,
a surprise visit by the police (read more),
standing in long lines,
and after
praying to and thanking God for each little victory...

I just received this letter in the mail !!!
 

Madame PETRIGNANI is invited to come get her "titre de séjour" that she requested...

Well, thank you very much.  I accept your invitation with great joy !  Next week, we go pick it up, and it just so happens that my brother and sister-in-law will be here, so we might just have to drag them along to celebrate with us !!!  Youpi !!! (as the French say).

Thank you God for answering our prayers for this 10-year visa.  I'm so very blessed and thankful (and HAPPY that I don't have to stand in that LONG line again !!!)

Love Linz

Coconut Macaroons

I have so much fun with this blog - it's a little bit of this and that, not much rhyme or reason, but that's where I have the freedom to write whatever I want...

So today, I give you coconut macaroons !
{different than French macaroons, just to clarify}

When Tonio and I first got married, my mom gave me this recipe book.

I wasn't sure how much I would use it, but it has been such a useful tool in cooking and baking.

Sometimes I just look inside for inspiration.  For example, yesterday I found a bag of coconut in the cupboard, so I opened the book and found this great recipe for low fat coconut macaroons.

 Here they are before and after baking.

The recipe if you'd like to give it a whirl.

And I love this book, because I can take out the pages and put them on the fridge next to the picture of little Tonio in the snow, next to the dog butts from Seb, next to the salt and pepper bunnies from Manny and Karey, next to the "Kiss the Cook" apron from Mom and Dad, under the Alaska knife from Tanner... (reminders of loved ones everywhere).

If I drank espresso, I would probably drink one with a few of these babies, but since I don't, I just eat more cookies instead =)

Wish you could come eat some with me and Tonio !  Hurry, they're almost gone ! {actually, by the time you read this, they will be gone... sorry}

Love Linz

DIY frog costume

our friend Dan had a re-house-warming party after a beautiful renovation - to make it a bit more fun, we were asked to wear a crazy hat.

so, Tonio was my "prince," and i was the princess =)

if you're looking for a very easy frog costume : green hat, cut out 2 white eyes and draw black pupils or cut them out of black construction paper, add a tongue if you'd like (draw a fly on the tongue - why not?), tape it all together... voilà !

Love Linz

atelier guitare

guitar workshop

giving away old song sheets.

sign up for song files via email.

prepared for 20.

hoping for less than 10.

8 students - perfect !
{Jean, Birte, Elodie, Yann, Cathy, Sandrine, Mariska, Pierre}
 

Pierre M. taking a break - he came to support his wife, but he ended up learning a few things too =).

it was so cool how everyone helped each other.

captive audience.  i'm so proud of each one.

explaining B and C#m... i got a lot of wide eyes and sarcastic laughs.

we'll stick with G, C, D and Em for now... or i should say Sol, Do, Ré and Mi mineur.

this guitar workshop has been long overdue, and i'm so thankful how well it went {in French AND with strange chords...haha!}.  i remember a while ago when i lived in Montana, one of the pastors encouraged us to be working ourselves out of a job, continually looking for ways to pass along what we know.


if we are all honest with ourselves, we've learned what we know from someone else, even if it was from a website or books... someone else wrote them.


i want to be like a river with waterfalls and streams branching off, not like the dead sea.  what are you doing to share what you know with others?  believe me, just because i did this workshop, i haven't paid my dues.  my whole life i want to be giving not keeping.


i hope you are inspired in some way - you can do it !  i was SO nervous yesterday, but of course, God fills in the gaps of my inadequacy.

Love Linz

ps - after the class, all i heard was, "Quand est-ce qu'on va le refaire?!"  When are we going to do it again?!  i'd say that's a good sign =)  and this morning after church, a lady asked me if she could do a sewing workshop... domino effect !  thank you Jesus - YOU deserve the glory !