So Long, Farewell...

Tomorrow we're embarking on our 16 day tour of Europe and although I'm excited, I always get nervous before big trips, especially when we fly. I am NOT a fan of flying.

Today I'm tying up all the loose ends and doing last minute errands. I'm also dropping Boomer off to the faboulous people who watch him when I take trips. I must admit though, I always get sad dropping him off. It seems so lonely at home when there's not a little dog around. I know he's going to have a fun time while I'm gone though, so I'm not worried.

While I'm gone, I've enlisted the help of 9 faboulus bloggers to keep you entertained while I'm gone. I've read through all of their guest blogs and I know you're going to enjoy reading what they have to say. So make sure you leave lots of nice comments for them!

Also, there was someone who emailed me about guest blogging and I just happened upon your e-mail the other day, for some reason it had gone to my junk mail and it was gone when I went back to answer it. So if you e-mailed me about guest blogging and I didn't respond, please e-mail me again. I'll be taking a trip this summer too and will need guest bloggers again.

I'll see you guys in a few weeks and hopefully I'll have lots of awesome pictures to share with you!

Sunday Wayback Flashback

I love when other bloggers post pictures of them from days past, so I thought I'd post a few of myself.



This is my cousin and I. I think I was around 5. Note that I was quite sassy, even back in the day.



This is one of my senior pics. I'm not sure why I ever sported bangs now that I look at this picture. I did love this dress though. I still have it around somewhere and it still fits!



This is on bid day back in college when I was briefly in a sorority. The girl next to me is my best friend (we've been friends since 8th grade) I hope she doesn't mind that I posted this! :)



And who is this you ask? A young Ron Howard as Opie? Nope! It's Sean! Wasn't he the cutest?

Saturday Snippets

1. This Egypt situation is freaking me out. I'm also very glad that this upcoming vacation isn't to Egypt because it would be a no-go. Also...I'm disappointed I didn't get to see Egypt before all this went down.

2. Sean and I have been sick for the past week. Sean got sick before me and he's been much worse than I. I was feeling bad for about two days and I'm feeling like myself again, minus the massive amount of sniffling I've been doing. I'm not used to Sean being so quite and going to bed so early. It's kind of freaking me out.

3. I think Boomer needs to go to food rehab, he's gotten to the point of food obsession and it's really, really annoying.

4. I had a girl this past week ask me a few questions about moving to Italy and about the unit here. I told her what I knew and about the expansion that is supposed to happen here in the next couple of years. She basically told me their branch manager said something else and she didn't believe me. Um...ok? I only live here in the place you're referring to. I'm pretty sure your branch manager doesn't have a handle on what's going down here more so than I do. Mmmkay?

5. Jersey Shore is going to be filming the 4th season here in Italy. Can you say disaster? I watch the show from time to time, but it's like a train wreck. I can't help but watch it. I'm a teensy bit tempted to find out where they are filming so I can go get some pictures.

6. I got my hair done yesterday. I have to admit I was a little nervous, even though I had my good friend (who is Italian) go with me to interpret. It turned out pretty good, but I would have been happy with a little bit more blonde highlights and a little less hair. The funniest thing? They were obsessed with my hair being naturally blonde.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.If you were a famous movie star, what types of movies would you star in?
Comedies, because they're my favorite. But I'd love to throw in a crazy film like Charlieze Theron did with Monster.

2.What is a vacation you would like to take if money were no object?
African Safari and extensive tour of Asia

3.Did you have pets growing up?
Yep, I had cats and a two dogs for years. We also had horses, baby deer, rabbits and other assorted creatures.

4.What do you do for exercise?
I run a couple times a week, do free weights about twice a week, Turbo Jam and the Shred from time to time and I recently got into Zumba.

5.What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a MilSpouse?
Don't plan anything.

Getting to Know Me...

I've noticed I have some new readers and since I haven't done a post strictly about myself in awhile, I thought it was time for one.

1. I have weird fears. I'm so afraid of floods or driving over a bridge that is close to the water. I'm so afraid of getting trapped in a car in water. I also have this irrational fear of a brain aneurysm (which didn't help my fear when I saw it on Dr. OZ this morning) I also have this terrible fear that I'm going to slip on stairs and knock my teeth out.

2. Many, many times I think of someone or something or have a dream about them and without fail I'll hear from that person or see them (even if I haven't heard from them or seen them in years) or if it's something like a song or TV show, I'll see something about it. I'm talking obscure things too. It's kind of freaky.

3. I loathe the songs American Pie and Bette Davis Eyes. When they come on the radio I HAVE to switch stations.

4. I'm a college graduate who is unemployed and although there are days where I really enjoy not having a job, there are also times when I feel like I'm kind of a bum for not working. Especially since we have no kids and I'm not working on school. However, I refuse to work a job like retail just so I can say I work. Just one downside of living overseas.

5. I get extremely creeped out if people I don't know touch me. As in, people I've never talked to, this excludes bloggers or FB friends. There's a male clerk at the PX who touched my hand while I was waiting in line and it freaked me out. I have a bubble of space, please observe it.

6.If you haven't already noticed I'm obsessed with photography and travel and my dream job would involve both. You might not know that I'm also obsessed with languages. I have a ton of books on languages that I've picked up, yet I'm not fluent in anything but English. I really, really wish I was one of those people that picked up languages easily.

7. I love board games. Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, Cranium, Scrabble. You name it, I probably like to play it.

8. I am not a fan of going to the dentist. I would much, much rather go to any combination of doctors if it meant not going to the dentist. The sound of the drill gives me chills. The only time I've enjoyed a dentist visit is when I left with a prescription of Percocet.

9. If your kid is a picky eater, have faith! I too was a picky eater as a child and these days you'd never know it. I wouldn't eat most meat when I was younger. I didn't even start liking steak until I was 20. Now I'll eat almost anything, minus organs of any type. That still kind of skeeves me out.

10. I really want an iPhone when we get back to the States, but I'm not sure I should get one. I already have an Internet addiction as it is and I'm pretty sure an iPhone would only make it worse!

Traveling in Europe: Planning

Now that I think about it, I probably should have done this post at the very beginning of my Traveling in Europe series, but hopefully it will still be some help to someone out there.

I've had trip planning on the brain ever since Sean told me he wanted to take a long vacation. In all honesty, I constantly plan trips, even though we don't always take them. Trying to juggle going away at the spur of a moment with the military doesn't always work.

Anyway...I've majorly planned for our upcoming vacation. Normally I at least plan on what sights we want to see and get a few ideas of what there is to eat where we'll be staying. This trip I've gone all out. Because it is a long trip, with many destinations and flights, I've planned more than usual. I've done a Word document for each individual city with details like:

What time we get to the city
How to get to our accommodations from the airport
Name of hotel (hostel, etc) phone number and e-mail
Balance due for the room, whether breakfast is included
Sights we want to see, plus what the hours of operation are and what the cost is

I find it easier to break it down like that because I want to keep an eye on how much money we are spending and how much we can expect to spend on this particular trip.

Because we are flying on a budget airline, it means the size of our suitcase and weight allowance are pretty low. Because of this, I try to pack as light as possible. This means I don't want to haul 3 or 4 bulky guidebooks around. For instance, I have the full Spain and Germany guidebook. I only need the info for three cities in those guidebooks. So, I bought the Snapshot Guide for Madrid, Barcelona and Berlin. Much smaller and more compact and I don't feel like they are using up a bunch of extra space. (By the way I got mine on Amazon for much cheaper)



(See how much smaller they are?!)

I've mentioned that I use Rick Steves guidebooks and the site Tripadvisor, but I also have a few other recommendations for sources. The magazine Budget Travel is one of my favorites, I often go through my issues, tear out pages that I think we are interested in going to and then put the pages in plastic folders and into a large 3 ring binder. That way before a trip, I can just flip through it, see if anything applies to where we are going and add it to my planning. The website for Budget Travel magazine is also very helpful.



(My travel binder)

Another source I utilize is blogs. There are some great blogs out there that detail life in cities all over Europe and the rest of the world. Some are written by natives of that country or city and others are Ex-Pats that now consider that place their home. I have some helpful sites on the right side of my blog. Others I keep in an special folder under my Favorites tab. I just recently stumbled upon a blog from Rome that had great non-touristy recommendations for gelato and dinner.

I realize there are some people out there that don't like to plan and would rather fly by the seat of their pants when the travel. My husband is like that, I'm not. I think in the long run you end up paying more money when you don't plan you trip out. I know that firsthand from several trips that we've taken in the past.

A Realization

I meant to blog this weekend, but feeling crummy and just being lazy kept me from doing so.

Sean and I went out Friday night to one of our favorite nighttime places to hang out. They'd moved to a new location and we hadn't been since before he deployed so we went and ended up getting to listen to a Beatles coverband. I didn't have high expectations, but they turned out to be really good.

Although Friday night was great, Saturday was not. I did something I don't normally do anymore and had a few drinks. Not a good idea. My body is not used to it and it didn't react very well to it. I used to go out a lot in college and even for a couple years after I graudated I still reguarly went out. Since we've been in Italy I haven't felt the need or desire to go out that much. I prefer hanging out at home and occasionally sipping on a glass (or two) of wine.



I told Sean that I don't mind going out in the future, but I'm either not going to have any drinks, or I'll limit myself to one. I just can't act like I'm 21 anymore. It doesn't feel good!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.What do you usually want to know about someone when meeting them for the first time?
Where they are from.

2.Would you rather know everything about your spouse, or be regularly surprised?
Be regularly surprised. I like finding out new things about Sean.

3.If you could live in one city for the rest of your life, where would you live?
I've never been here, but I'd say Austin. I feel like it would be a really interesting place to live, plus since my family is in Oklahoma, I wouldn't be too far away.

4.When you go out of town, what one material thing do you ALWAYS take?
My camera. I can't go anywhere without it!

5.Using no more than 10 nouns, and ONLY nouns, describe yourself.
Blogger, Photographer, Oklahoma, Memory, Trips, Questions, Wife, Dog-Mom, Entertainer, Love. (Whew that was hard!)

5 Things to Share

1. I heard this song today on Italian radio and immediately went home and downloaded. If you like a song with an awesome beat with a pop feel to it, then I think you'll like this.



2. My dog is awesome because he wears Pj's.



3. I'm thinking of taking a Zumba class next week at our gym. I know a lot of people are big fans of it. Any Zumba people out there care to give your two cents?

4. I ordered this for our upcoming trip.



I already have four 4GB disks, so I'm hoping I'll be able to fit all my pics I plan on taking on 5 memory disks. If not, I'll have the laptop to upload them to if need be.

5. There was a guy in front of me at the gate on-post in a convertible. With the top down. In 40 degree weather. Yes, he looked like an idiot.

Don't Mess With a Good Thing

So the other day I rented Sex and the City 2 and had high expectations. I saw the first movie and thought it was ok, but was hoping the second would be better.

Wrong.



I don't know what it is with the movies, but they leave a lot to be desired. Which brings me to the point of why mess with a good thing? The series was AWESOME. I could watch it over and over again and used to when it was on TBS. I even own most of the series on DVD. For some reason I can't get into the movies and the characters seem less likeable to me. Especially Carrie, who usually is my favorite.

Can I also comment on the fact how annoying it was that Charlotte kept freaking out about her kids when she had a FULL TIME, LIVE IN NANNY! Really? Who does that? It just got under my skin.

I pray that they don't make another movie, is anyone out there with me on this?

Traveling in Europe: Transportation

One of the questions I get asked about a lot is transportation around Europe. I know everyone has their preferred way to travel, but I wanted to give my opinion on the three major ways to travel around Europe.

1. Train- Before I moved to Europe I thought I'd be taking the train a lot. Not so. Train travel has it's advantages, you don't have to show up hours before in order to check in, you can take large bags on the train without having to worry about weight restrictions or liquids. However, I find train travel incredibly expensive, unless I'm going a short distance. I take the train to Venice a lot, because it's a mere 4.00 Euro from my nearest stop, but taking it to Rome or even Florence can be quite pricey. Not to mention if you're taking it country to country, I just couldn't justify the price of most train rides to make it my regular mode of travel.

In case you didn't know, use this website for train travel in Italy: www.trenitalia.com



2. Plane- Probably my favorite way to travel around Europe. For our upcoming trip we spend around $500 for a total of seven flights for 2 people. That's ridiculously cheap in my opinion. I normally use EasyJet or RyanAir to travel, but I will say that EasyJet is my favorite of the two. On our trip we are also going to be using Vueling, so I'll have to give my opinions on that airline after the trip. If you book far enough ahead of time for one of the cheaper airlines like EasyJet you can score some amazing deals. The longer you wait the more expensive it is and can also sell out. I'm not a fan of the restrictions on bags on the cheap airlines though. On EasyJet you are limited to one item only. That means no carry-on and a purse. It's strictly one item.

3. Car- I love exploring Europe by car. I recommend avoiding the large cities if you are driving by car though. It's way too crazy for this girl to drive in European large cities (minus Munich, I found it quite easy). For the countryside and smaller towns, driving is perfect. You get to see a bit of the land, haul as many bags as you want and in our case, take Boomer. Another plus is if you drive in Italy you have the delicious AutoGrills to stop at. Seriously, I wish AutoGrills existed in the States, they are soooo much better than truck stops. The downsides to driving are of course the ridiculous gas prices and the tolls. Italy has expensive tolls. Austria has the toll vignette you must buy, plus tolls. Slovenia has a vignette, but it's probably the best bargain of all. I've been told that some countries look for you to have an International Driver's license, but I've yet to see one required.

If you have any questions about anything I mentioned in this post, feel free to e-mail me!

The Best Blanket EVER!

Last year while Sean was deployed, I sent him a blanket from JCPenney. I wasn't aware of its awesomeness, until it got sent home with his stuff. I almost trashed it because it smelled like man and Afghanistan, but I thought I'd wash it and see if the smell went away. It did (Thank God) and now we fight over who gets to use this blanket.

It's warm, cozy and all around perfect. They have a lot of different colors of them and currently they are on sale at JCPenney from $19.99-$26.99. I'm thinking about ordering a few more just because I love them so much.

Here's the link.

I also have a tip for all you blogger ladies out there, I was on post today looking like crap with no make-up (I never do that, I only did today because we were working out and I thought we weren't going anywhere else but the track) and I happened to run into two fellow Mil-Spouse bloggers. Talk about NOT putting my best foot forward. Of all the days for me not to wear make-up... So take it from me! Be prepared! You never know who you might run into.

My Must See Travel List

One of my favorite things to do in life is travel. In fact, it borders more on an obsession. I love the planning aspect of travel and I love seeing and experiencing new places. I also love capturing these new experiences with my photography. Although I've seen a lot of places in my life, I still have a massive list of places I still want to experience. I thought I'd do a blog on some of my top "must-see" places.

1. Paris- I've lived in Europe two years and still have to go to Paris. I know, I know...this has to be rectified. I'm hoping to go this spring for at least a few days and cannot wait to see this city!


2. Norway- my Grandmother's side of the family came from Norway and a relative of ours wrote a whole book on their history. I'd love to see Norway and get an idea of the land where some of my ancestors came from.

3. Egypt- I'm not sure I'm going to be able to visit here before we leave Europe, but it's on my list before I die. I want to see the pyramids and take a cruise down the Nile.

4. St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia- There's a teeny tiny chance that I could take a cruise there in August, but I think Moscow is out, unless I want to shell out a bunch of money to take an excursion there. I think Russia is fascinating and would love to explore the country.



5. African Safari- Sean is not on board this adventure at all, but luckily I have friends and family that want to go too. I think about the pictures I could take on a safari and get so excited about seeing a continent that I've never stepped foot on.

6. Plitvice Lakes Park, Croatia- Have you seen pictures of this place? It's gorgeous! I'm doing my best to go see this place sometime this summer.



7. Normandy and the D-Day Beaches- I'm a huge WWII history nerd and this is one place that Sean and I have decided we HAVE to go to before we leave Europe. I really think that once I get on the beaches that I'm going to cry. I just can't imagine not being overwhelmed with emotion when seeing that place.

8. Warsaw/Krakow and Auschwitz Poland- Another WWII history lesson with Auschwitz and I really, really want to see what Poland is like. I've read a few books about Poland and it's really sparked my interest on seeing the places that were described in the books.

9. Hawaii- I'll be honest, I didn't always have a great desire to see Hawaii. I'm sure some of you out there are wondering what the heck is wrong with me for thinking that, but after seeing the pictures of a fellow blogger who lives there and reading the book about the leper colony in Hawaii, I've been dying to see Hawaii and all its islands.

10. Yosemite National Park- I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of the major National Parks in the west, but this is one park I haven't had the priviledge of going to. I'm hoping once we move back to the States that I'll get to add it to my list.



Do you have any must-see places on your list?

Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-In

Join in over at Wife of a Sailor!



1.What are you looking forward to most in 2011?
Travel! We have a big trip coming up in a couple of weeks and we're planning a lot more trips this year too.

2.What is something random you do on a boring night when your significant other is away?
I dress up, do my make-up and hair and then take new profile pics of myself.

3.What has been your greatest adventure as a MilSpouse?
Oh that's easy. Moving to Italy was the biggest adventure I've had yet!

4.What is the ugliest fashion trend you ever bought into (I’d like to make fun of you, so can you please provide a picture as well)?
Remember the biker shorts, with the slouched socks and the t-shirt tied to the side? Yeah...I used to rock that.

5.What was the high point of last month?
Christmas. Even though I was away from my family, I had an awesome Christmas here with Sean and Boomer.

Help Wanted

In a few weeks Sean and I are leaving for a 2 week trip and normally I just don't blog, but I really hate doing that and decided I'd look for a few guest bloggers to fill the empty space in those two weeks.

I need about 7 guest bloggers, I'm figuring on one blogger per two days, so if you're interested in blogging for me, contact me through e-mail or leave a comment with your contact info.

*Edited to add* I have seven bloggers lined up, but if there's anyone else out there that wants to guest blog, let me know. I don't mind adding a few more to the line-up.

Question of the Day

I haven't done a Question of the Day in forever, so I thought it was about time to bring it back.

What is your dream job? Tell me what you'd love to do if there were no obstacles in your way, no spouse or kids to get in the way of want you want to do.




If I had my way I'd be a photographer for a travel magazine.

(Can I just add that googling girl in office in order to find a picture for this blog, brought up some very scandalous stuff. WTH?!)

Movie Reviews

Sean and I have had some downtime lately (who am I kidding? I'm unemployed, I have a lot of downtime) and so we've been watching some movies. Some of them have been hits, others misses. Today I'm reviewing three recent flicks we've watched.

1. The American



Horrible movie. I seriously felt afterwards like I wasted 2 hours of my life on a less than stellar movie. Generally I really like movies George Clooney is in, I loathed this movie though. I felt like the movie didn't really go anywhere. The plot to me left a lot to be desired. I loved the fact it was set in Italy, but other than the cinematography, I wasn't impresssed. Generally I thought the movie consisted of a few basic scenes repeated over and over.
George walking around in his Italian town, George working on a gun, George frolicking with a "lady of the night", George thinking someone was after him, George calling someone from a pay phone. *YAWN*

2. Grown Ups



I thought this movie was more my style. I generally like Adam Sandler movies with a few recent exceptions. Although this movie was funny, it wasn't what I'd consider one of his best movies. It had a few laughs and I liked the cast. I think one of the main problems was the movie had nothing to actually do with the movie, but instead with our copy of the DVD. In the last 30 minutes it skipped so fequently that I couldn't only pick up bits and pieces of what was going on.

3. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day



This was by far my favorite of the three movies. A really great feel-good, light hearted movie to watch, with a touch of realism portraying the beginning of WWII. I'm a big fan of Amy Adams and Frances McDormand, so naturally I loved the cast and the acting. If you're looking for a fun movie with great sets and costumes, then I recommend this movie!

Beginning of Year Three

Today marks the beginning of our third year of living in Italy.

To be honest I can't believe we've already lived here two years. It seems like only yesterday that I was living in Louisiana, looking forward to moving across the ocean and starting a new chapter in my life.

I'm not sure that I've mentioned this much on my blog, but the first month or so I was in Italy I was homesick beyond belief and I was in culture shock. The first night we were here was the worst. After flying for over 24 hours and then driving along the Autostrada at a ridiculous speed, looking at all these signs in a language that I didn't speak. I felt completely overwhelmed, almost to the point of a panic. I felt so bad that I felt that way because I had so looked forward to moving here and had prepared (somewhat) to be living in a foreign country. Gradually though I got my groove back and felt more comfortable in my new home.

If you asked me today, I'd tell you I love Italy. I love Europe and would probably make this my home if my friends and family weren't living back in the States. I miss them a ton and I hate missing out on things like seeing my best friends and watching their children grow up. I miss my family terribly. Christmas away from them was very hard and I hope not to repeat that again.

However, I've had so many good experiences living here. I've seen places I never though I'd see until much later in my life. I've been to 9 different countries since I've been here and I'd love to see 9 more before we leave. I feel like living in Europe has had an impact on me. I appreciate things in a different way than I did before. I've also grown to love wine and will miss the wonderful (and cheap) selection once we move from here.

I'm not sure how much more time we have here in Italy. If I had to guess I'd say we're here for one more year, but with Sean's upcoming surgery, I'm not sure how that will play out. We are thinking he'll switch over to the WTU unit here to heal after his surgery and I'm not sure how long that will take. We're also looking at a medical reclass sometime in the near future and so where our journey goes from here I have no idea.

My goal this year is to enjoy Italy and Europe to the fullest. I plan on going to festivals around here that I've yet to go to, build up my wine collection, eat food I've yet to sample and see sights that I've yet to see.

Here's to a great and (possibly last) year in Italy!

Can Anyone Tell Me Why?

It's no secret that military posts are a hotbed for interesting people watching. I've seen some doozies in my almost 4 years as a military spouse. However, there are some reoccurring sights that I always have to wonder about.

1. What is with people wearing sunglasses when it's dark, when it's raining/cloudy/storming? I saw a guy on the way out of the post office today who was wearing them while it was snowing. SNOWING! I wanted to ask if he was afraid of getting a snowflake in his eye.

2. A common sight at our gym is girls who I'm pretty sure are "dancers" at local clubs hanging out in stilettos, various midriff baring shirts and tight jeans in the gym by whatever piece of gym equipment their boyfriend happens to be on. Umm...I'm just going to say that you look silly standing there on your phone or staring at your boyfriend in the middle of the gym doing nothing. Perhaps you should take a seat? Or allow yourself enough alone time so that your guy can go workout by himself.

Answers

For all of you that asked about the link for the Digital Photography School, here it is. DPS. They also have great tutorials for beginners and those that are more advanced on a variety of subjects so I really recommend checking out that site.

A quick update on my new eating plan, I've done well so far with cravings, but I will admit today that I indulged in a Hershey's kiss. Just one, so in my mind not a huge deal. Not like I had a panful of brownies. I've also found out that if I can't have peanut butter, that almond butter is a pretty tasty alternative.

Since I don't have much else to say today, I'm going to post a picture from my Project 365. It's today's photo. I'm going with a girly theme this week.



Now to watch some Californication!

5 Things I Love

1. OPI nail polish in At First Sight. I've been obsessing over this nail polish since I saw it in a magazine. I've already put my best friend on a hunt for it.



2. Digital Photography Forums- A simply AMAZING website. Any photographers out there that don't already visit this website should.

3. New books from the library. I'm currently reading a book about a Hawaiian girl in the 1890's who has leprosy and a biography on Theodore Roosevelt. What can I say? I have eclectic taste.

4. When people buy my prints on Etsy. Think how much happier I would be if all my readers out there bought some prints. ;)

5.Philosphy Hot Dots Cinnamon Shower Gel- My best friend got this for me for Christmas and I LOVE it! So refreshing and such a yummy smell.

Trying Something New

One of my goals this year is to be the healthiest me possible. I decided to tackle that goal today. Why not start early?

So..because several of my friends in the blog world have been eating Paleo (google it if you want a complete explanation that is better than one I'd give you) I decided to give it a try for 30 days.

To be quite honest when I heard about Paleo and what you could eat, I thought people doing it were a little crazy. No dairy? No sugar? No breads or pastas? I LIVE in the land of pasta! I told Sean I could NEVER eat like that, nor would I want to. However, there was a little voice in the back of my head telling me I should at least try and see how I felt at the end of the month.

So..today I headed to the commissary and bought 2 weeks worth of food for Sean and I. Sean isn't following the plan. In fact, he's only eating Paleo for supper.



I'm going to give this next 30 days my best shot and see how I feel. To be honest, I'm not sure I can permanently give up all dairy or pasta, but for now I will.

I'll probably report in from time to time and tell you how I'm doing. Here's hoping I don't gnaw my arm off between now and then!

2011 Goals

2011 is here! Seems like only yesterday it was 2000 and that seemed scary and overwhelming. Now it's 10 years later and I can hardly believe it.

Here is my list of goals for 2011.

1. Visit 5 new countries. (I already have 2 new ones planned, I'm hoping to bypass 5 by a lot this year, but I thought 5 was a safe goal)
2. Become the healthiest me I've been yet. This includes weight loss and better eating habits.
3. Run a 12K in October
4. Sew at least 3 items
5. Finish my college scrapbook and begin on my next scrapbook
6. Print off photos for previous trips and make an album
7. Increase the sales for my Etsy shop
8. Read at least 50 books
9. Send cards and letters to friends and family at least 6 times this year
10. Make the most of our (supposed) last year in Italy

I'm sure I'll add to the list throughout the year, but so far this is what I've come up to.

What are some of your goals?