Passive Architect
My husband and I bought a home last summer. It was built in 1906, and we have converted most of the yard into new planting beds and a garden. These images show the start of our summer -one that we hope will be fruitful!
The things I love about Morgantown have everything to do with where I am in the US. I love the mountainous state I live in, and enjoy the places I can be in a few hours. This spring my husband and I found ourselves at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, where Spring was in full bloom. My husband is a part of the design team working on the Spring Show for 2016.
Since laying my eyes on this variegated hibiscus, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
I found this image off of Wiki, which shows the part of the plant I most enjoy -the leaves.
I encourage you to enjoy where you live, beginning right now.
We crossed the street to the side of the river and got our first glimpse of Ponte Vecchio. Because I had read Dan Browns’ Inferno my mind was racing about secret passages over the bridge, from Boboli Gardens to the Uffizi. We walked across the old bridge of shops, small jewelry boxes being closed for the night by intricate hardware mechanisms from above, like an old roll top desk.
Easy espresso breaks were often and once we crossed over the river we spotted a gellateria for one. We walked down to the Boboli gardens, though they were closed. The intricate carvings, wooden revolvers, coat of arms, stone buildings, the stores that sold leather and linens. The Medici family’s wealth had washed over the entire city and they were so rich that even 300 years later it was still detectable.
Deepak and Oprah offered a 21-day meditation experience this spring. One day Deepak introduced 7 ways to apportion the day, as studied by Dr. Dan Siegel at UCLA. The healthy mind platter involves spending time in the following ways: Sleep time, Physical time, Focus time: time alone to concentrate and be, Time In: reflection or prayer, Time Out or rest, Playtime: fun in a carefree mood, and Connecting time: private time with those you love.
Times in my life where I’ve listened to my body and natural rhythms have been during travel or in unconstrained work without distractions. I think the key is being focused on whatever it is you are doing. Seven things to divide a day seem like a lot to handle working a 40-hour week in an office environment, but I’m going to explore the challenge.
Simplify Life
Get rid of stuff. Let the thoughts go. It’s time for spring cleaning.
I began writing this last December:
As my husband and I fill up the car for the third time this season we pack the freshly baked bread and the wrapping papered gifts (with bows that fall off into the snow) into the backseat. We ask each other one question. Is this right? ‘Pathological consumption has become so normalised that we scarcely notice it.’
George Monbiot’s article published in December of 2010 The Gift of Death, here, published just before Christmas that year received a lot of attention from me and my sustainable friends.
2015 (Miles!) Run The Edge Challenge
A friend of mine signed up to run the 2,015 miles challenge and then invited his friends to help him make his goal.
For the month of January I’ve totaled 34 miles. The year ahead is full of opportunities to win some bling, as my running friends say. With three months and five days until the Pittsburgh marathon, I’m ready to begin training for the half.
![Photo 13[1]](https://buildlivegreen.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/photo-131.jpg)
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Closer to home, Morgantown WV is planning its first ever marathon this September! The Morgantown Marathon is to be challenging, with over 1650 feet of elevation change. With views of Coopers Rock on the website I have no doubt of the challenge. I’ve been visiting their site often to find out when registration opens.
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Two other races I am considering are the Wheeling WV Ogden, and the Wineglass Marathon in Corning NY.
![wineglass-medal[1]](https://buildlivegreen.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/wineglass-medal1.jpg)
The wineglass medal seems to be the base of a wine bottle. Isn’t running 13.1 miles at least worth that?
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
Our family took a trip to Italy this past spring. My Mom and I had been taking language lessons for two years, and all of us were searching for relatives that my great-aunt and grandfather had visited over the past twenty and forty years. We did find them, but it was only by chance. I’ve been writing a piece on it ever since we returned and wanted to share how we started our search.
How to find your family: Collect Names, Find Family Tree services online, Type in Names and find links, and finally, Try to seek out other people living today and follow their lineage back to your tree.
Easy, right? The last two years have been spent trying to do just this.
The following was found on Trip Adviser: Put your surname in the box labeled “Cognomi” to see the heaviest concentrations of your family name at this website here.
I knew that my family was from Giulianova in the Abruzzo region along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
-Image from Wikipedia
Next, try looking family up in that region by using the Italian phone book online here.
You could also contact the comune in Giulianova, specifically the “Ufficio Anagrafe”. The “Ufficio Anagrafe” is where all the people who were born in a town are registered. Commune Giulianova Translated Email them at: info@comune.giulianova.te.it
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Go to: Ellisisland.org and see what ships brought them to America.
Build a Family Tree at Ancestry.com or throughFamily Search.org
Seek your local Sons of Italy club.
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Find Publications about your area:
and
From the Giulianova is a pleasant and prosperous town located at the foot of the Appennini and facing the Adriatic Sea. Giulianova can be considered as an ideal seaside resort thanks to its golden and fine sand beach, but even as a town rich in art and ancient treasures. Giulianova is located both on the sea and near the mountains, offering in this way a really great vacation to the tourists.
Being the Gran Sasso very near, it is possible to visit the National Park of Maiella, the National Park of Gran Sasso-Monti della Laga, the Regional Park Sirente-Velino and the National Park of Abruzzo. During the winter it is possible to go skiing. For those who love nature the caves of the calcareous mountains in Abruzzo, easy to reach, offer landscapes of spectacular interest: The Cavallone Caves exalted by the poet D’Annunzio, the Stiffe Caves still crossed by the water, the Beatrice Cenci Caves where important archeological finds dating back to the Stone Age have been discovered.My Italian Family. com
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When you think you’ve found them, and want to go visit make sure you bring family photos on your journey! It’s the only way we found our relatives.
More to come.
Though my first marathon won’t be until this October I am going to prepare this spring by running up to the 18 mile marker. My brother suggested the schedule below: Hal Higdon Training Program: Novice 1 for beginner marathoners . I’ve begun to follow the regimine but was glad that the first week I could actually run 6 miles on a Saturday. For the real race I plan to begin training a few weeks ahead of this schedule.
With a few tweaks suggested by a friend massage therapist, the program will change to rest more during weeks of long runs. As for my running diet I’ve never had a problem consuming carbohydrates. I found these articles online that focus on different high-glycemic carbohydrates: Running Competitor and Active.
The next item on my running list-of-things-to-do is to find running partners! I’ve just moved to Morgantown and a friend of mine runs with a group on the weekends. I look forward to joining them soon and hope to find a partner who won’t mind running the 18-miler with me!
I was happily surprised to discover that the family of Narcisi Winery has roots that come from the same town my great-grandparents were from!
~ Giulianova in the Abruzzo area of Italy ~
I attended a wedding shower here this past spring. The winery resides in a lovely setting in Gibsonia PA, just north of Pittsburgh. Learning about where the Narcisi family was from is a coincidence because my family will be traveling to Italy next year to find our relatives. The task is taking longer than I anticipated. Our family name must have been changed from Campetti to Competti at some point. My great grandmother’s family name was Stellarini. I’ve contacted the Registration Office, or the ‘Ufficio Anagrafe” of Giulianova to try to find records of my grandparent’s siblings. My idea is that I can trace down lineage to find someone we can visit today! If anyone else has any ideas to offer I’d love to hear them!
~ The lovely seaside community of Giulianova ~
