Spilling My Guts Part 2

Here are the military and miscellaneous questions.

Cassie asked:

What's your most embarrassing moment? What's your favorite book?

Embarrassing moment...probably at Bowl for Kid's Sake in high school when I went to throw the ball and it flew backwards off my fingers. I wanted to DIE.

My favorite book is Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. I never get tired of reading it, it's that good.

Amanda over at The Kellys asked:

What is your favorite name for a boy and a girl?

If it were up to me to pick I'd call my little boy Logan and my little girl Vanessa. However, Sean has vetoed both those names, so I guess I'll have to find some new favorites.

Kebi asked:

Who's your dream actor, the one you'd marry in another life?

What's the worst thing you've ever done on a dare?

What's your favorite dish that you cook? (and what's the recipe?)

Dream actor is Eric Balfour without a doubt. He's smokin! And an excellent actor.

The worst thing I ever did on a dare? Well...it was back in my wild college days and it involved being down to my skivvies...let's just leave it at that.

My favorite dish that I cook is my potato casserole. You can find that recipe over at MRE's Not For Me. (Which I realize you already know Kebi. :))

Kiki asked: When are you planning on pursuing photography as your living?

Kiki you are so sweet! Thanks for that compliment. In some ways I'm pursuing it right now. Mainly by buying new lenses and trying to learn Photoshop. I need to add a few other things like some more staple lenses and lighting before I feel like I can really start pursuing it. Plus I need to find some customers that are interested in my work.

Full of Heart asked: What are three things you hope to achieve in the next year?

1. Start working on my Masters
2. Become a better photographer
3. See at least five countries

Crazy Shenanigans asked: Do you think you'll one day leave the military life (ie sean getting out) and move back to America?

Honestly I wish I could answer this, the short answer is I don't know. Sean changes his mind everyday on whether he wants to stay in the military or if he wants to get out. However, after this tour in Italy, Sean is thinking of not being Airborne anymore and we are wanting to be stationed someplace like Fort Carson. Only time will tell though.

Lola asked:
Growing up, what did you always think that you would be doing?

What brings you the most satisfaction during your day?

When I was younger I was convinced I was going to do public relations for an NFL team. Then I got to college and realized I hated my PR classes.

I am satisfied during the day if I make someone laugh. Seriously though, that's my goal everyday.

Casey asked:

If you had the opportunity to look ahead at your life 10 years from now, would you do so? Why or why not?

No, because I like the element of suprise. I was actually the kid who tried not to snoop during Christmas because under no circumstances did I want to know what I was getting.

SS asked: What prompted you to start blogging?

I used to blog frequently on MySpace and then didn't like lots of people that I knew in real life reading some of my posts, so..I decided to switch to Blogger and only let a few really close friends know I'd made the switch. I blog because I used to be a faithful journal writer and that's kind of fallen by the wayside. This way I still have a record of what I was doing day-to-day.

Indiana Girl asked:
Do you remember dreams and if so, what was your favorite dream?
When it's time to retire, where would you like to live and what would you like to be doing with your time?

I do remember dreams, quite frequently in fact. One of my favorite dreams is when I used to dream all the time about living near water, canals almost. Then we got told we were moving to Italy. Kind of prophetic in a way!

When I retire I'm selling my home and getting an awesome RV where I plan on touring the country with Sean and stopping at all the National Parks in America.

JLC asked:

What is your favorite band/ type of music?

What's the best place you've ever visited?

My favorite music is Classic 70's music. Rock, disco, easy listening from the 70's, I love it all!

Best place I ever visited is Grand Teton National Park. I fell in love with it and would love to go back someday. It's amazing there. Seriously.

Abbie asked:

What is your favorite season/favorite time of year and why?

Aside from photography, what is your favorite hobby?

If you could have to chance to spend the day with anyone you'd like, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

My favorite time of year is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I LOVE the holidays and all the fun things that go with it. The songs, the shopping, the decorations, seeing my family. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Aside from photography my favorite hobby is reading. I LOVE to read and thankfully I have a lot more time since we moved here to read then I did while we were at Ft. Polk.

Hm...I'd spend the day with Reese Witherspoon, just to see what her normal day was like and get a taste of being a celeb. I think she's quite intelligent too, so it wouldn't be a wasted day.

Spilling My Guts Part 1

Thanks to everyone for the questions you asked, I've really enjoyed answering them.

I'm going to do the overseas questions first and then the miscellaneous questions after that.

Erin asked and Miss Adventure asked similar questions:
What's the thing you miss most about the States? What's the thing you prefer most about living in Italy/ What's the best thing about living in Europe and the worst?

I most miss the convience of things in the states. If the PX didn't have something, I'd go to Wal-Mart and pick it up. I miss fast food places like Taco Bueno. What I wouldn't give for some Taco Bueno right now! Oh..and closets. I miss closets a lot too!

What do I prefer about Italy? 3 things. Proximity to awesome things/places. Cheap wine. I mean four liters of wine for nine bucks? Unheard of in the states and I love the shutters they have here. I could literally sleep until the afternoon because the shutters keep the house so dark.

Best? The experience of everything from wine to the food to the culture. Worst? language barriers, craptastic drivers and no closets.

Kiki and JLC had similar questions:

Are you planning on staying in Italy during Sean's deployment/where do you wanna go / live when Sean's deployed?

I will be staying in Italy. Even before we moved here I planned on staying here. I h ave a job here and the opportunity to travel so many places so I'd prefer to stay here. Plus my parents have told me several times that they love me but they don't want me to move back in with them, which is fine, because that's not an option I'd even use.

TexasLauren77 asked:

What has been the funniest or strangest experience you've had since you've been living in Italy?

Hm...probably when we were in Verona and an older gentlemen came up to me and assume that Sean and I were in German and insisted he give us some sort of German mass brouchure. It was a nice gesture...just funny.

Steph asked:

What are some of the places you'd most like to visit while living in Europe?

Oh I have so many I don't know where to begin. So I'll do Top 5
1. Normandy and the D-Day beaches, along with some of the concentration camps
2. Paris (cliche..I know)
3. Spain (bullfights, Madrid, Seville, I am really interested in Spain)
4. I really want to take a Greek cruise. Santorini is high on my list
5. Russia...I know that's sort of kinda not Europe, but I really really want to see what it's like.

Casey asked:

When will you come see me?

Is there anywhere in Europe you DON'T want to see?

I plan on getting up to your area in August, Casey. Unfortunately I think Allison will be gone by then, but I hope to see the rest of you girls up there!

I'm not too jazzed about seeing London. In fact, it's really far down on my list, it's even underneath the Scandanavian countries. I probably will see London, it's just not a priority.