Merry Christmas!!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas :D

Our Early Christmas

Joe and I have been home for awhile now, but I am still taking it all in. I met a cousin and a great uncle, as well as some adorable extended family. On our second day in Stagecoach, NV (about as small as where we live!) it snowed. I have never seen snow fall nor have I ever played in freshly fallen snow. It was so much fun.

Isn't using a snow shovel cheating ?

The guys were making snowballs for the girls.

And here the guys are running away from the teenagers. That can't be good.

It was a great trip and we had a fantastic time. Joe fit right in with the craziness of my family. It was truly a wonderful [early] Christmas.

White Christmas

I wouldn't have expected it, but South East Texas got snow. Pastures covered gently with soft white snow. It was so beautiful.

http://www.kfdm.com/news/snow-35566-fun-kountze.html

Endulge!

This will be our first Thanksgiving with either family since we've been married. I'm looking forward to the food, is that wrong of me? Sure I can't wait to see my hubby's pocket sized Grandma and other family favorites, but really it's mostly about the food.

While I plan to enjoy myself, I hope not to over-eat. There's always hope isn't there?

This Crazy Couple is wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Family and new comers

I've been waiting to tell you guys until it was absolute. We will be heading WEST!

Hubby and I are going to a 'Christina family event' in the beginning of December.

Tickets have been purchased, plans for pets have been made and I will see my dad for the first time in 3 years! I'm super excited. I will be seeing a bunch of my family including my fantastic my Aunt [who is hosting the event], cousins and hopefully my newly married brother and his bride.

Hubby hasn't met all of my family yet. Four years together and we still haven't each other's entire families. Wow.

The more I look forward to the trip the slower each day seems to go.

Oh, the newcomer won't be my new sister-in-law as you may be thinking, we will be meeting a new found cousin!

Bachelorette no more

Gela is out of the running, but she is rooting for Nico now. Check out

Burger's blog http://www.hamburgershouse.com/

Yes please

We had the most glorious lazy Sunday today. Gela and I woke up early and went for a walk, letting hubby sleep in. Once we got back we decided we had been nice enough and woke him up :)

The only thing we accomplished was doing our weekly shopping done. Perfectly lazy day!

Our place

Our slightly blurry kitchen

A little bit of each 'room'

Gela is in the running!

I would just like to announce that our pup, Gela, is one of the top 24 contestants for doggie bachelor.

You can check it out here:

http://www.hamburgershouse.com/2009/10/burger-the-bachelor-meet-the-semifinalists/

I think I might need to submit a cuter picture of her, but please submit your vote for #8!

Chillin out

We went for a walk. The crisp Fall air was wonderful!

Shaken up

My husband and brother in law got into an accident last night.

They were riding motorcycles, BIL got hit by a truck (holy cow!) and hubby laid down the bike he was riding in order to not hit BIL. It was the trucks fault and the boys are ok. That's all that matters, they are beat up and bruised, but they are ok.

Please send some good thoughts or prayers their way, the next few days will be rough for them.

Introducing a little part of my day

Our neighbors pregnant pig

Their baby pig


Panoramic view from our place. I love this pasture, it's beautiful.

I live off a dirt road

The row of our little buildings and my 'new' Jeep.

Gela's new yard and our landlords dog, Toby.

I pass this guy every day and every day he's on his house.

Always makes me laugh.

Gentleman?

I grabbed the pup this morning started driving got about five minutes from the house and one of my tires decided to go completely flat. I started to pull off the spare only to see not one but two different men drive by. No help offered. Shame shame boys.

New Blogging

I am going to make an effort to start blogging more regularly. Although in a small town where little to nothing happens it'll be interesting finding material.

I did stop to take some pictures one afternoon. I'm sure the people driving by thought I was a crazy out of town-er. What do you know, they were right!

Oh Fall how I love you

The temperature in Southeast Texas has finally changed, it's cooling down a bit and all I can think of are cozy sweaters and yummy comfort foods.

This weekend the husband and I will experience our first Texas Festival in the country. I've been told we will see many animals, though I'm not sure how thrilled I am for the poo and smell, I'm determined to have fun.

I borrowed a charger and finally have a camera again! I have been taking pictures whenever possible and will load them soon :D It's funny how something so small makes me happy. I love being able to document our lives.

I don't have any of our decorations for fall, we are still living out of suitcases, but I've put come cheery little flowers around the apartment.

I'm sure Abby will be doing some great projects with her little man, so I'm curious what everyone is doing to celebrate and embrace fall?

Trials and Tribulations

I have often in the past few months asked myself, why me? Yes I have felt pity for myself, I hate admitting it almost more than I hate feeling it.

We have had a really rough few months. You might be asking why? Well, we have completely turned our lives upside down. My husband got out of the military and we moved to the grand 'ol state he calls home, mainly due to being promised a job. With the few belongings we could pack, our 3 furbabies in tow and our household goods being shipped to Texas, only to arrive and find said job is no longer available.

I think that's the point where I actually had a break down. Moving back to the states was already stressful and cost us a load of money and here we were staying at a family members house (kicking a little girl out of her room!) with no jobs or prospects in sight. It was not good.

I started job hunting as though my life depended on it. I managed to get a decent job, I am pretty lucky. That is something I have to remind myself of almost daily. Like it's my new mantra. The husband still hasn't' found a decent job. He is currently working as a mechanic, he's more or less a day laborer.

As I remember our struggles of being newly married and moving overseas, nothing could have prepared us for this. We were living it up while stationed in Italy, we had everything we could want or need. We were debt free. It was wonderful.

I understand our economy isn't great, I really really do. But in a rural country area, it isn't actually effected the same ways every where else has been. Being so hard up is shocking and extremely scary. We aren't sure what direction to even try to go in, we are just trying to make it. I look forward to the day everything changes, part of me is praying for it.

I didn't know what I was going talk about when I started this entry, I didn't think it would take this turn. I am not trying to depress anyone. I'm not even sure I will even keep this posted. I am simply stating the truth, well our truth at least.

What instigated it was reading http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ the stand by your man entry.

I feel I have stood by my man, scared as I was and it hasn't worked out so well. I am a city girl, living in the country with some seriously country folks [not that being country is bad, just makes me chuckle sometimes].

I hope you read the "we are that family's" entry and maybe it will inspire you to do something you may be afraid of.

Scary new things can be fun, so long as they work out.

Picture-less

Ok, that isn't a word, but that's just how sad I am. We have officially moved and I have no photographic evidence. Where we live is beautiful. Old tractors waiting to be photographed along with my pup running around all excited, exploring and getting insanely curious about horses, chickens and bulls.

I did not pack my DSLR charger or my little cameras charger. Apparently I suck at packing.

I'm hoping to find a suitable replacement for the big camera, I've been itching to get out there and take pictures. The Texas countryside is just so pretty (minus the snakes & bugs!).

Color Fun

Jessica & Abby have such different pallettes I thought it'd be fun to see what mine is.

Christina, you are a Global Casual

Your home is warm and inviting, and expresses your curiosity and zest for life. You have wide-ranging interests, and an appreciation for many different cultures and ways of life. You bring a sense of the far-flung world into your home through its décor through unique or artisan-made treasures. Objects in your home tend to reflect your personality, your passions, your values, and your eclectic interests. This gives your home a sense of intrigue and comfort.
You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.


Your Happy Home Colors

Moving

Finally.

I have found a small (very very small) apartment for us. We will be moving this weekend and I couldn't be more excited. My in-laws have been wonderful to us, but it is definitely time to have our own space, even one this teeny.

Once we move, I will encourage Joe to look into Peace Officer Schools closer to our new residence, but one step at a time.

We will be living on an old farm, with animals. I'm sure this will be a fun experience especially for Gela; she's never met a chicken before.

Even though I've only been at my job for a couple months it is going well. Once we get set up, I will take and post some pictures.

New Chapters

It feels as though we are almost beginning our new life here, we just need a few more things to fall in place. I recently started a new job (I'm the Executive Assistant to the CEO of a hospital), which is great but quite far from where we are currently staying. Now we just need to get Joe a job and a place to live, then we can actually feel like we are living here.

T-ball dreams

Having missed out on the last three years of our niece & nephew's lives we are trying to have as much fun as possible with them. Our nephew had a T-ball game and it was the cutest thing ever!

Fish Tales

Joe has been going on & on about fishing, more specifically fishing with Daryl our brother in law. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Joe insisted we go fishing the very day we arrived in Texas; everyone obliged and we went. 15 minutes into fishing my pole went nuts, I caught this little guy

The boys are estimating it at around 50 lbs!

We are staying with Joe's sister, brother in law and their two kids; all of whom we haven't seen in three years. It's been interesting and fun living with kids and family.

We have started looking for jobs and a place to live, we have a lot on our plate but are REALLY hoping for the best, of course we wouldn't mind some good luck sent our way ; )

**No harm came to the fish, we threw them back in.

Homeward bound

Since my long absence from blogging, we have had quite a bit change. We are now in the United States, not exactly where we would like to be (Virginia) but we are just so glad to be here it doesn't matter!

Our trip to the states was [if I'm being honest] terrible. We left Sicily arriving in Rome to find out we had to run our bags and three pets about 2 miles to another terminal, only to NOT be let on the flight. We were told to return to the terminal we just came from to try to catch another flight. The five of us trek back to the other terminal and get a flight to Frankfurt Germany, then to Washington DC. After gathering our bags we went to pick up the pets and a terrible woman told us only two of our pets made it. Without even checking. Thankfully she was wrong, we rented a car and were on our way to Virginia.

Joe & I were thrilled (I kid you not) about being in the US. We were set for the two hour drive, thrilled to have an end in sight. We ended up getting stuck in traffic so bad we showed up at our friends house in Virginia at 4 am, which we felt terrible about.

Honestly the trip was terrible, but we are in the states and we aren't letting anything damper that excitement and our friends have been a life saver and we are still at their house. Joe and I are still debating if we will start our trip to Texas tomorrow or Sunday, but we will be driving across country very soon. Wish us luck, I'm sure we'll be needing it!

Avendo una palla

Not sure how I talked Joe into it, but we went to another Ball.

We had a great time!

Simple

Breathtaking

This is the view from my desk.

I fall in love daily.

Thankful

Joe is home.

Cry baby

I rushed Joe to the Emergency Room on Sunday, we had a follow up appointment on Monday and then Joe was admitted to the hospital that afternoon with a surgery scheduled for Tuesday. We have spent three days at the hospital and although it seems like a flurry of appointments and waiting around but we aren't done just yet. Joe is still at the hospital.

I never realized I was such a crier. I went to the hospital to see Joe off only to find his room empty. I was informed, by a very young staff member, they had decided to take him earlier. I panicked, was my husband really to go into surgery without me seeing him off? What was he thinking? I surely didn't want to be a source of concern for him as he was going into surgery! This poor young man standing in front of me was not prepared for what was coming; I started crying, making the young man panic.

After giving myself a bit of time to regain my composure, I walked into the waiting area to find the young man I scared half to death looking for me. Apparently he spoke with the surgeon and they said I could come in and see Joe. Thank goodness! I came into the curtained area where he was waiting and the moment I saw him, I started crying. This is so unlike me, where did this part of me come from and why did it have such bad timing? (Luckily for me, the curtain was drawn and only Joe saw my tears.) The surgeon assured me he would come and let me know how everything went, which in act he did and in exactly the timeframe expected.

Joe and I thought he was in the clear and we were about to head home shortly, but this is when things turned for the unfortunate. Joe started having pain in his abdomen, similar to muscle spasms which is extremely painful since four large needles where just there. In order to be released from the hospital one must walk, not be in pain and fill up a bottle with at least 200 ml of urine; of the three Joe was only able to walk. After quite a bit of beverage consumption and plenty of pain medication administered it was decided that Joe was to remain in the hospital tonight.

I am at home while my husband is at the hospital. I am hoping tomorrow is the wonderful day I get to bring Joe home.

Carnevale di Acireale 2009

Joe and I went to Carnevale last Saturday, it was such a great experience. We think it was similar to Halloween since children and adults dress up in costumes but everyone throws confetti and sprays silly string and there are floats, such fun.