Rome & Venice Photos

OK, here are some pictures .. not even the best, or favorite but some. They aren't grouped or even in order. I have something like three thousand pictures {insane really}, I can't possibly choose the best.

We got to see the pope. That man can speak quite a few languages, we were impressed.

Joe & I in front of the Vatican

Joe & I inside the Vatican Museum

Trevi at night

Trevi during the day

Angie, me & Joe in Venice

The three of us at a restaurant in Venice

The Sistine Chapel, it was quite amazing to see this in person.

Rubbing feet for good luck

They also rubbed the feet

Beautiful Venice

Me with Ruins in the background in Rome

Joe & I in front of The Colosseum

Many more, too many too post, it was fantastic we all had a wonderful time!!

Rome Rocks

We have been having so much fun and seeing so many fantastic amazing things! I haven't had a chance to load any of the pictures but they are great.

Have a lovely week, I'm sure we will!

Today is that day

We leave for Rome today, well actually tonight ... late tonight but nonetheless it's today yippee. My excitement may have gotten the best of me and now I'm so tired, I never can sleep well before something truly exciting. I had to take sleeping pills the night before my wedding otherwise I would have been up all night.

How does one pack for such ever changing weather? I think I may have done it. Last night was a flurry of packing, getting the house ready and trying to make sure the guy staying at our house is ok with our dog & cats. Three animals is alot to take care of so I hope he's ready and doesn't reck my house in the process.

Anyways, I'm off to get an espresso to try to wake up. I will post some pictures once I get back :)

I did good!

I didn't take pictures (damn it) I was so busy doing everything except the deviled eggs by myself I completely forgot.

Sorry.

BUT all that worrying was for a good reason, everything was delicious! Joe even said so. We had turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and some pretty tasty gravy, we ended all that with two different types of cheesecake and a pumpkin pie. Overall I'm rather satisfied since it was my first Thanksgiving, nothing came out over or under cooked. Yay.

Today is Black Friday in the States and although I've never participated in the particular tradition of hunting for a bargain while punching a fellow shopper in the face, I am slightly jealous of the opportunity of being able to shop at multiple stores with fairly competitive prices. That aside hubby and I are going to enjoy having a weekday off together! My favorite little market is today, so I'll be doing some shopping of my own.

We are finally going ...

TO ROME!!!

I am so excited. I picked up our train tickets a bit ago, it is official. After a year of living in Italy, we will be heading to Rome! I have so much research and reading to do, I want to make sure to see all the sites I possibly can.

So far the plan is to get on the overnight train here late one evening, arrive in Rome the following morning after a restful? nights sleep and explore Rome as is should be done.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we still haven't pinned down what we are doing but JOE volunteered me to host Thanksgiving dinner to our new neighbors. I've never roasted something as big as a turkey before, so it'll be interesting .. if there are any turkeys left! If I make one and IF it turns out I'll let you all know about it.

Have a lovely Wednesday : D

Apparently not clear

So it was brought to my attention, mostly by my hubby that my last post was slightly confusing or deceiving So I suppose I will clarify.

I'm sorry to bore all of you, but I was requested to clear this up lol

Growing up I had a very close relationship with my mother. We did pretty much everything together *I'm going to blame the flower shop. We didn't have enough time anymore but things changed AND a few years ago Dad & I started to get closer. Our relationship growing up wasn't great, he worked too much. But now I like spending time with him and even miss him as does my hubby. I never figured that my husband & I would seek out spending time with my dad, but we do and for that I'm glad.

So I hope that clears it up, we weren't close but now we are :)

I had some exciting news this weekend. My new boss who is set to arrive here on Nov. 28 called me from the States, while on his own vacation to let me know that he wants me to go on vacation with my family that visiting soon.
This has been an ongoing saga not knowing if I'd get the time off. Now I do. Yippee! We will be going to Rome and possibly a couple other big cities up there. I'm so excited!

Now it's my dad ...

For those of you who know me, you know I’m super close with my dad .. and those of you that don’t, you now do. We are the kind of close that when you see us, you wonder why you don’t have that. I love my dad and really enjoy spending time with him; he’s actually funny! Although I didn’t know this growing up and am so glad I do now. My hubby thinks my dad & I are so alike it weirds him out, thankfully hubby thinks I'm the prettier slightly nicer version.

I found out through an email from my grandma, or rather my mom’s step mom, but damn it she’s my grandma. She informed me that my parents who are no longer living together spent the evening in the ER together .. because my dad broke 3 bones in his ankle. My dad, who just turned 50 is in denial and likes to think he’s still young and mobile. Much to his dismay, his ankle has proved him wrong and he now has to get pins placed in his ankle. Forever.

I’m afraid his racquetball days might be over, but knowing my dad he’ll attempt to continue.

So I’m asking that anyone who may read my blog, send some happy thoughts [or whatever it is you do] my dads way.

Where's Charlie Brown?

In honour of my early Christmas and as requested by Suze & Lizzie here are some pictures of our tree. Keep in mind this is our first tree, our first ornaments .. everything :)

Ok here are 3 different pictures, it's still better looking in person!

Veterans' Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Veterans' Day! Hubby and I enjoyed having the day off; we slept in although he slept longer than I did. While he was sleeping I cooked him up a lovely breakfast, southern by my standards. The only thing missing was gravy.

Over our 3-day weekend I broke down, I just couldn't deny it any longer. I put up our Christmas tree. We purchased the tree on October 26th so I think I waited a decent amount of time especially if you consider we wanted to put it up immediately. If you ask Joe about this, he will deny it saying it was entirely me. Bull! So our living room is quite festive albeit early, but festival and lovely all the same. Our house is so home-y I love it!

We have visitors coming at the end of this month; I need to get the guest bedroom in shape for having guests as that room has turned into a storage and laundry drying area. I'm quite excited for all the things we'll be doing with Joe's family :)

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Mum

Mum, Mom, Momma, Mummy .. whatever you might call her she's pretty darn wonderful. Due to a wonderful blog that Lane wrote I couldn't stop thinking about my mom. As I grew up we were always super close, that sick kind of close where people thought we were sisters. Over the past couple of years things somehow changed and we are so busy I don't get to talk to her much lately. But I called her last night and spoke with her; it was lovely. She was doing her normal morning business at her Flower shop but stopped immediately to talk to me. Hubby could see the smile on my face when he walked into the room and knew it was due to my mother.

So I'd like to say thanks to Lane, I knew I missed my mom but apparently wasn't aware how much :)

We love you & miss you! *[mom, not Lane - but Lane is quite enjoyable company]

A game of Tag

Two posts in one day, you lucky lucky people .. I know I'm silly/stupid.

A much nicer version of tag is being played in blogs all over the world, literally the world. I got tagged by Caitlin.

The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Despite my efforts I can’t stop eating carbohydrates. I love breads, potatoes, pastas .. all of it is fantastic. Hubby is sometimes shocked at my bread & cheese habit.

2. I have only been fishing once, I don't think my husband knows this. He really wants me to go on a fishing trip here. It grosses me out, the idea of taking a fish off a hook.. not to mention I'd get terribly sick, damn ocean & it's motion.

3. Although I haven't practiced in quite some time, I'm proud that I know Sign Language. It's beautiful and fun. It's the second language I know best and I've noticed when I can't think of a word in Italian it comes out in Sign or German.
That's the order my brain thinks, English, Sign (ASL), German then Italian.

4. If I'm stressed, I clean. I cannot completely relax until I know the entire house is clean, every last inch. Hubby doesn't understand my craziness, but it's true. When he has overnight stays for work, my 'day off' is cleaning the house so that I can actually relax. So so sad.

5. My husband doesn't have any baby pictures, after much prodding I found out they were all lost. I have no proof my husband was a child; this makes me very sad. I love photos and now our home is very Christina oriented as I have many photos of my childhood.

6. This one is because Lizzie reminded me; I rarely call my hubby by his name. So now when I do it feels like I'm scolding him .. and I feel like I'm in trouble when he says my full name. Strange.

I'm still thinking on the tags! Watch out!

Alright I've tagged Andrea, Brianna, Severine, Rachel, Holly & Bianca.

Oreos & milk .. yes please

Last night hubby and I [yeah he's back, didn't I tell you that part] went shopping, the differences between how we shop is almost laughable. I pull out my list, head to fresh foods that are the healthier choices. HE heads to the chips, cookies, canned crap and if he can sneak it in the basket Velveeta cheese. I have problems with his choices, because when the grocery's I have chosen run out due to my cooking dinner every night ... we always end up eating his bad choices.
My will power is only so much that the cookies staring me in the face from our pantry eventually get eaten and with milk.

So while I am happy for Lizzie for having the willpower and strength I obviously don't, I am slightly pissed that my pants however unflattering are not loose ... so I am swearing off my chocolate bar today in lieu of some veggies, this should last a day or so.

Opps .. I'm bad at this

So I forgot about my blog .. and I must say you have missed so much in our lives! The funniest probably being Halloween.

The hubby thought it would be fun to give out candy, which I agreed because it usually is. Kids can be so cute when begging for something. He also thought it would be great to dress our poor dog up! So he proceeded to buy a child’s costume for her and I had to fix it so she was able to wear it and I hate to say, but he's right. It was funny. The first time we put it on her [early October] I couldn't stop laughing! So this became a once a week event purely for our entertainment, I foresee it continuing as well. Although now the dog enjoys it too!

By the way, for anyone who thinks they get alot of trick-or-treater's you should come to my house on Halloween *(and I really do welcome you all) the neighboring cities bring their families & kids to celebrate in the American craziness of this fun fun day ... we probably had 250-300 kids! I certainly ran out of candy too early ... but it was fun while it lasted :)

So Halloween came & went, I'm a mean pet owner and dressed the dog up ...

Yeah we think she's pretty dang cute too! I'm super impressed with how she did, she was really quite calm and accepting of the kids. They usually scare the crap out of her and they all wanted to pet her being as she's just so cute. She did great! In the time we've had her she's come a long way! Although camouflage still scares her to no end!

The husband is missing i.e. work trip, I am still enjoying my "new" job even though the husband likes spending my(our) money lol

I have some photos to add, it'll make things more fun. So that's it for now, muah!

Ok so I added two photos, hope that displays how great she looked even with her sad face!

Tuesday = business

So today I took a flight went somewhere else and now I am supposed to conduct business lol yeah right!

My new company sent me to another location in order to learn some new businessy things, so far I have learned that I like this office, better.

The ladies are super sweet and they are nice and polite to each other .. not to say my current boss isn't nice, but they actually like each other and spend time together like a lovely friendly relationship.

So anyways, new place is really neat, much much bigger than where I work and literally less than a 10 min walk to the airport.

Now it's 1pm here and I'm trying to figure out what in the world I am supposed to do with the rest of the day .. let alone the evening! *Sigh* my book is on the coffee table at home along with my fuzzy babies and my hubby .. I really do love being home. Hopefully this trip will turn out to be something more than learning new facts

Tata for now

Chicken & Dumpling goodness!

I am all about the slow cooker these days! I have been searching my favorite recipe site for new & different slow cooker recipes, among the ones I'm trying this week I found Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings I figured it would be worth a try for Joe, who constantly brags about his grandmothers good foods.

Here's what I did:

2 chicken breasts, chopped up
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper and Parsley

Cook on low for 8-10 hours

Came home stirred it, added some seasoned salt and (here's where I cheat!) put in the Pillsbury biscuits torn into small pieces.

I got rave reviews and Joe actually asked me if I could/would make this again, that just doesn't happen!

Tonight we are having a modified Tamale casserole Yum!

Ahhhh what a weekend!

I have to say we had a lovely weekend!

Friday evening we went to my managers house for a small work event, it was nice ... but afterwards I went over to Allison's house & had some great wine (I need to get the name of that) and some yummy cheeses and we just talked & looked at necklaces her mom made and darn it, one that I got would have SO gone with my outfit today.

Saturday my hubby got up early to go golfing, he had a great time and boasted about his score, of course this only lead to his wanting his own set of clubs & shoes *sigh*

Saturday evening we went to a Chinese restaurant past Catania, it was yummy & a nice change.

Sunday Joe really wanted to spend money (when doesn't he) after getting back from his trip the antique market, I thought this was a good opportunity to get our grocery shopping done, I like to do one big trip a month and then little ones for fresh milk and such .. this is costly but usually works and it's actually cheaper in the long run. We happened to go when there was a 'case lot' sale and it was even cheaper to buy in bulk so yay we are now prepared for anything coming our way! After our shopping trip we came home put everything away and took Gella on a walk.

Not exactly an eventful weekend but it was quite lovely to us!

Thank God for Fridays!

Well not God per say, but yay for Friday!

Yesterday was overall a nice day, I was busy at work, Joe was in a class all day (as he has been all week) afterwards we went out to eat *I didn't have to cook* lol Came home walked the dog, made a tentative puppy play date, it was a good day. Gella & I go home to get ready for bed and we pop in Knocked Up because I've heard it's funny .. Joe comes to watch with us and we all pretend like we are going to bed. It was probably the funniest evening we've had in bed and I don't mean that in a weird sex way, but we were laughing & joking ... I was sitting there thinking to myself, this is what marriage is. Funny nights in bed, watching a movie. Ahh! lol

Hump Day!

Oh that makes me laugh ... I remember saying that to an International friend (through myspace of course) and they were quite confused, thought I meant Hump in a sexual way ..

So today is gorgeous and I know you wish you were here! The air is crisp, clean and clear and the temperature is quite comfortable, the ground is still wet from the rain last night but the sun is out and it's just lovely right now! Ah yes I am enjoying the Sicilian weather :)

Because we are boring I have nothing to actually report ... I'm considering doing a food like blog, if I can manage to cook something in the evenings.

Have a good Wednesday bloggers!

And the rain has started

This is the last Tuesday of September and the weather has changed here dramatically! In the evenings the skies have looked threatening but never actual rain, but last night it did. It is grey and rainy today and I'm wearing a sweater and I bet you I can get a candy bar from that vending machine outside and it wouldn't be melted today hehe

Now although I'm welcoming this change in weather I hope that there are as few car accidents as possible! I saw some crazy drivers out there, please slow down!

I'm sitting here drinking my warm cappuccino - Happy Tuesday all!

**for the sake of the kids (who are promising to be very cute in their Halloween costumes) I am hoping that this isn't the beginning of winter, because winter here is only rain.

Oh for the love of sweet sweet chocolate

As I sit here I am biting into a Snickers bar, getting a sugar high, I am happy. I had a lovely weekend and the sun is still shining :)

Wishing you all a great Monday!

For those of you in the UK, I hope it stops raining!!

You know it's hot out when ...

You go to get a candy bar from the vending machine outside .. and everything chocolate is MELTED!

made me laugh so I thought I'd share :)

Phew!

And the heat continues! It was HOT today!

We had a great weekend! Saturday we went exploring and bought a few too many lovely ceramic pieces, I am thrilled! We apparently spent too much because our house looks quite a bit different! But it was lovely, the breeze was cool and the sun was out there were even leaves falling .. it couldn't have been a lovelier couple of days! For some strange reason I didn't have my camera, but there was this little area with the great trees with red leaves and a bunch of old men sitting on the benches just chatting on a lazy Saturday, it seemed so perfect.

Yesterday Joe & I put in a flower bed, I'll take pictures and post them, it's still sparse but cute. We have certainly created a nice little home for ourselves :) It finally feels cozy

We have some guests coming in November, but I am hoping for more .. otherwise I might just sell one of our extra beds (we currently have two, a double & a full!)

Joe isn't home tonight but Gella & I are enjoying ourselves, have a great evening everyone!


Oooh I almost forgot, I finally took a picture .. this is what I look at all day long!

That is the amazing Mt. Etna!

Happy Monday!!

I am in an unusually good mood today, probably because I'm feeling SO much better! yay for vitamins because last week sucked! This Wednesday is my birthday and I joked last night with Joe about remaining 24 .. he laughed so I guess I can't. Of course I'm kidding, but I think I'm going to invest in a better eye cream for good measure :P

I am loving my job, I work with a great guy (just the two of us in the office regularly) and I get to help people out, so it's pretty awesome!

Joe doesn't know it and it's actually safe to post this since my own husband doesn't check my blog, but I'm going to try to plan a trip in October I just *hope* it'll all work out, but if I can't do a bigger trip I want to do at least two or three weekend tours in the next 4 weekends. We'll see.

I can officially *(and finally) say I am comfortable driving on these crazy Italian roads, especially since I've been doing it for the past few weeks alone. Watch out Americans I can AND WILL pass you with the best of the Italians! haha

Here's a silly shot of me hopping a fence, short story we couldn't figure how to get out so I climbed over! Yes mom & dad I still climb fences!

Here's me on top

and climbing down

Thank you Abby for taking those!

Wednesday already?

Oh how I love weekday Holidays! yay for Labor Day ..

Well Joe is working apparently 17 hour days this week, which means I have lots of time to myself at home. Yesterday I washed the car, albeit not very well since it got dark so quickly on me and it was still so warm the water dried too quickly, but they are clean spots darn it!

Last night Mt. Etna erupted
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22366101-5005962,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070904/wl_nm/italy_volcano_dc


I actually saw this from our spare bedroom window!! Amazing!

Happy Wednesday

IHO Gella

I CAN RUN SUUUUPPER FAST!

GOOD NEWS WEDNESDAY!!

I got the J-O-B

I'm really excited & while Joe insists on picking on me for my excitement I am still thrilled!!

WOO HOO!

**I just had to throw in a cute Gella pic**

Food food & more food!

Lately I've been in a fairly experimental cooking faze.

This white chick misses Chinese food SO much that last night I made Fried Rice. And it wasn't that bad, although I plan to change it up a bit next time I make it.

The night before I did spaghetti & I was going to put a bunch of veggies in the sauce until Joe came in & made a face, so instead I sauteed veggies & I ate them YUM and we just had normal pasta, with meat & spaghetti sauce.

I attempted to trick Joe with a healthy version of meatloaf & he didn't notice the difference, which works for me!

I've been lurking on some food blogs and getting ideas :)

And yet another evening all alone …

It’s nights like this that make me really want to go home.

I’m just bored .. hope all you other bloggers are having a good weekend!

Stitches, stitches, stitches!

Today Gella got spayed! Poor baby!!

She couldn't eat or drink after 4pm on Monday. Both of which are mean, especially the water part since it's been over 100 (F) ... while Gella was at the vet, I decided to go to the hospital and have a mole removed. Everything is fine, doctor was great & now I have a stitch! Gella has a few more stitches than I do and definitely feels worse but we are home and trying to relax!

Anyone with tricks on how to get a dog to heal quickly? lol 10 days seems too long

I guess I am waiting for the 10 days to pass now .. puppy wants to play!

Uh oh it's Monday

So this weekend wasn't as much of a bust as we figured it'd be lol

Saturday we cursed the drive all the way, but we went to the base to see a movie. We saw Next, with Nicolas Cage AND Joe liked it! He's a hard one to impress, as far as for me I was thrilled that I didn't know what was going to happen (ha ha) next. It certainly wasn't predictable, so for that reason, I'd recommend it. I was surprised that Julianne Moore is in it and sadly she wasn't great .. but Jessica Beil did a good job & she's just so pretty, so I'm sure Joe didn't mind her being in the movie.

After the movie we grabbed lunch, wandered around and decided it was just too hot so we went home.

Sunday we had a fun & entertaining day with our friend "Hop" we played a whole bunch of board games .. yes we are those people AND it was fun! He brought over some steaks so we grilled YUM!

Tomorrow we take Gella in to get spayed and I'm so nervous for her!

Oh I forgot to mention that I've started using http://sparkpeople.com/ it's great! I can find out exactly how good/bad the food I want & do eat is for me!! AND actually tracking what I eat makes a huge difference in what and when I do eat! I'm shocked to find out the things I have thought of as healthy .. really aren't! This website is changing how I think about food and therefore changing the way I eat. Yay!

That's it for today :D

TGIF!

Another week is over here in sunny, hot as hell!

So I have been asked again when Joe & I will have kids .. this is so annoying! Children do not complete everyone, children aren't the key to happiness for everyone .. and the most amusing part of this is I generally get asked by people who have a screaming baby in their arms. Are you kidding me? Yeah that's what I want! *sigh* So far my favorite part about kids, is giving them back!

Here's a few links that crack me up

http://7deadlysinners.typepad.com/sinners/2006/04/breeder_bingo_c.html

http://www.happilychildfree.com/bingo.htm

Read them and quit asking me when I'm going to pop a kid out! lol

Cute Gella pic's .. just had to post some

I considered submitting this one to Stuffonmydog.com .. but she doesn't look pleased & it's rather forced, so I didn't. . .

The ears .. I think her ears so so cute

I love that she looks like she's smiling! Happy Dog!

... it's like she's showing off her adult teeth he he

Last Friday I turned in 5 .. yes 5 applications for jobs that I don't want and I have a sixth application to fill out, here's hoping!

So after a slightly irritating, boring and exhausting weekend we have come to the first Monday of summer .. yippee

We have gotten news of our second visitors of the year, they are coming in November and so far way better as they don't expect (yup I said expect) me to plan THEIR vacation for them! I love them already! They also offered to take us to Rome .. this time we might take the offer. I wish I knew why Joe is able to speak frankly to his father, but not his mother .. whatever the reason, he informed his dad that a trip to Rome is too pricey for us (maybe not if I get a job, who knows)

I'm giving more thought to Joe's outrageous suggestion of having me move back to the states to purchase a house, get a job & live there for the next two years; at first I was completely opposed but now it's worth considering .. but where to live & buy a house? Texas? Puh-leeze! California's out of the question (hello $500,000 homes) and I'm not sure about Colorado. Where to live? Where aren't there natural disasters? lol

Wednesday - The Ticket arrives

Joe just emailed me a ticket!

The man that thinks I speed got himself a ticket!! We have to find the office which will be difficult! *sigh* I've heard that the Italian tickets are expensive ;(

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday

So, tomorrow is the last day of school & it's a half day so today was my last full day of no kids .. ahh summer is here!



Today, I taught Gella to sit! My dog now sits on command. It's great! Tomorrow I will work on lay down, but I have a feeling that will be more difficult than sit.

Yes that's her tongue, she's licking for her treat lol

Joe's getting into Softball, which is really good for him. I wish I had a picture of him when he came home today .. they had practice after work today and he came home red, lobster red! He's got such a 'farmers tan' that he looks like he's wearing a white shirt all the time. Poor Joe.

I got really excited because Joe stated that he wants to quit smoking *again* because he can really feel the affect of it .. whatever works to get him to quit!

Nothing big to report, so I'm off.

Night all!

Another Monday

So this weekend I found out from Joe that my wardrobe is boring and too conservative! Shouldn't that mean that I get to go shopping?? Only makes sense right?

Last night I learned that one of my cats snores! That still makes me laugh.

Today Joe came home with a headache, but he wants to go to the commands softball game, which should be fun.

Nothing to really report, so have a nice night family & bloggers :)

That Darn DOG!

It's a good thing she's so darn cute & has these big sad beautiful brown eyes .. it rained last night so the backyard (her toilet) is all soggy. Gella decides this is the perfect opportunity to practice her digging technique.



Since I don't like mud on my furniture (yes I let my dog sit on the couch) I opt to wash her feet ha ha opps paws, she mopes the entire time until I'm finished and then walks around the house enjoying the wet paw prints she is able to leave on the floor.

On a MUCH more important note, I want to say Happy 50th birthday to my dad! Half a century old ha ha I told my grandfather the same thing when he turned 50

Cave Grande - June 2 2007

Ok so I'm not great at updating my blog, mainly because nothing ever happens lol ..

Saturday was quite an experience! A friend called me on Friday evening asking if I would be up for a 'strenuous' hike to Cave Grande. She & her husband got tickets through the base to go but he got called into work .. she already had a babysitter & it was paid for but she didn't want to do it by herself. I thought it over and decided that I'd go (with some coaxing from Joe & Lane)

It was fantastic! I don't know why I was so hesitant! The view from the top was breathtaking

This is the view from the top!

If you look closely you can see the pools in the center of the picture, looks like a valley.

The hike down took roughly an hour (probably less, but I didn't have a watch on) and that part was nice & easy although at times a little tough on the knees as some of the steps ie. carved stone were two feet tall.

We got to a fork in the road and had to decide which Italian site we would choose. Not being able to read it we went to the right, so glad we did to! We came upon beautiful natural swimming pools. I changed as quickly as possible and my friend & I jumped in only to find that the beautiful water was FREEZING! And I need to point out, we were the only girls to even jump in the water! I would definitely have been kicking myself had I not brought my suit!

Beautiful, cold & clean water :)


The BIG jump!

We got out of the first pool to explore a bit more, we came to an even bigger pool and I didn't think it possible, but I swear it was colder!

We were done being so cold, so we changed & ate quickly and set out to see more. We had to cross a stream by balancing on fallen trees, made me think of dirty dancing! We crossed and climbed a bunch of rocks and came to a natural dam. It was very beautiful!

On the trek back up I was cursing the whole hike! It took a bit more time to get back up and my legs are sore today, but it was great! I'd love for Joe to come with me, but I don't see my smoker husband doing something like this! ha!

Overall I'm happy I went and I am rather proud of myself, I felt great afterwards!

Our new car & some HAIL!

So today Joe came home with the new (used) car and it's really great!













Random craziness of the day, it hailed here! But even stranger is only hailed here, not at the base. But that was all the better for our car :)

And so the rain continues

Okay so I'm not exactly consistent with a blog yet .. but that just means I've got alot to fill in .. right lol

Since it's been a week, I'll try to remember everything ... well we decided to go ahead and get the BMW that Joe's been more or less begging me to agree to. It's more expensive than I would like, but it's reliable and that's a big deal so here we go! Joe amazingly got approved for a loan AND talked the guy down another grand so that helps!

We got news of our first guests, Joe's mom & step dad will be coming! I was told two or three months from now so May or June ... so the hunt for guest bedroom stuff has begun! As well as my mad dash to try & finish the house. Our walls are bare, boxes still laying around, tons of clutter to figure out, things just aren't ready & I'm already freaking out about it .. but my dad reminds me that everything will be fine and to just calm down! Gotta love him, especially when he's right.
So I'm going through EVERYTHING we own , organizing & trying to make some order out of our messes; needless to say we aren't ready. We need to get quite a few items. The guest bathroom doesn't even have a shower head! We need to get ALL the items for the guest bedroom and on top of that Joe's sudden distaste for the bedding we've been using means I'm trying to find some bedding that is Joe approved. I am also hunting for some furniture pieces for the house .. which are proving harder than they should be to find! (and more expensive geez)

Joe is bothered that I said he isn't allowed to get (another) TV now, a bed is much more important .. and I really want a dining room table & chairs for the office, so the TV is out .. poor Joe.

Big update for my life, is that since we now have a car .. I can get a job! The job with the CDC (Child Development Center) is pretty much mine because they need SO much help right now. Which isn't surprising since there are so many kids here! I really am hoping for the best with this, but I'll be honest I would much rather have an office job!

So it's Sunday night and Joe has duty tonight. I've been bored and keeping busy at the same time. I've been 'working' on a photo book of our trip to Ireland which is alot of fun, remembering everything about that trip is great! I just wish I had taken more pictures. So far I love shutterfly, i can't wait to show Joe the book online :) I hope to do this for all our trips!!!

Joe's first Soccer game ..

and I missed it! He's got duty tonight so I'm not sure if I'll be able to hear about it.