La mia casa è la vostra casa (My house is your house)

Today is the first day since we've been in Vicenza that the sun hasn't been shining. It actually rained on me a little bit when I walked to the library this morning. I'm a little disappointed because I can't see the mountains today, but maybe the air will be clear tomorrow.

I already told Sean that I want to go to Switzerland, stand on a mountain with my hair in braids and do my best Heidi impression. He just laughed and told me I was weird. Seriously though, I really want to start traveling, BUT I have to admit I'm a little nervous. Mainly because of the language barrier. I really don't want to end up lost because I don't know what signs or people say.

There is a sort of travel agency here on post called ITR that puts together trips that you can sign up for. Right now I'm looking at a trip in late February that goes to three towns in Tuscany. It looks like fun and how scenic would that be? I'm thinking I could get some good pictures on that trip.

Speaking of pictures, I forgot to tell you guys how I did in the Army Photography Contest. I won 1st and 2nd on two pictures that I entered and now Ft. Polk has forwarded those pictures onto the national level of the competition. To say I'm excited is an understatement.

My title of the blog comes from the fact that Sean and I went to the housing office yesterday and tomorrow we have an appointment for them to show us a few homes (online I believe) First up is government housing and if we don't like either of the homes they show us then we move on to privatized housing. At least that's how I understood it to be. So, my question is this: For you ladies that are in Europe, what do you honestly think about those options? What has been your experience with eirther one of them? I told Sean I just wanted to sure we got what is best for us. I'm honestly not expecting a lot of room, but after seeing cute places like Casey and Allison's I'd like something comparable. Granted I know both of you ladies are in Germany and not in Italy. Any specific questions that I should ask them when we go to our appointment? I can use all the help I can get.

One last thing, I see that I've acquired some new followers in the last week or so. Hello and thanks for adding me to your blogging list! I promise I'll try my best to get over to your websites and comment soon, I'm just running a bit behind on that since I currently am without a computer.

Well, I'm off again. I'm supposed to attend a Drivers Orientation class with Sean this afternoon so I should get back to the hotel.

Ciao!

Insights on Italy

Sorry to report that I still have yet to upload the few pictures that I've taken while we are here, but I'm hoping soon to get out into the town. I have to admit I'm a little nervous on venturing out into Vicenza just yet, since I'm still not orientated yet to it and I'm sans car, but I do promise that I'll get some pictures up soon. I've taken a few pics of the views from our current place of residence so I'll try to put those up next time I'm blogging.

Thankfully, we are able to stay in the room that the Ederle Inn gave us the first night we were here. At the time they said it would only be a one night thing, but since then they've informed us we are cleared to stay there at least until the first week of February. Since we have a pet, we are unable to stay in the main hotel and so they put us in the "Annex". It's a four story cluster of three buildings and our room is awesome. Actually, it's more like seven rooms, as we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen and a large living room. I know it's never going to happen, but I wish the apartment we moved into here would look like that!

Ok..now onto my insights of Italy.

1. Jet lag sucks. I laid in bed for 3.5 hours last night trying to go to sleep. Yeah...it didn't work. Something has to be done about that.

2. The views of the mountains here are incredible. I hope wherever we live around here has a decent view of the mountains. I'd take a view of mountains over the beach anyday.

3. Carbonated water isn't tasty. I grabbed some by mistake the other day and was sorely disappointed when I realized what I'd done.

4. The PX here actually has *gasp* cute clothes! As in, I'd actually purchase and wear some of them. At the Ft.Polk PX that was unheard of. The only clothing items I bought there were workout shorts. Also, might I add they have cute lingerie and bras. Score!

5. I had the most delicious parmesean cheese the other day from the deli. Sean and I agreed it's the best cheese we've already had. If that's any sort of preview of the cheese I can find here, then I'm in for a real treat.

6. Food at the commissary is suprisingly cheaper then I thought it would be. I was expecting a huge jump in prices.

7. I'm totally lost with the Italian language. Obviously that needs to be remedied and quickly.

8. The Autostrada scares the crap out of me. People going 90 to 100 mph is frightening! When we were being shuttled from Aviano to Vicenza, I was convinced I was never going to make it to Vicenza in one piece!

9. Radiators in every room are something new to me. It's interesting...just different.

10. AFN public safety announcements are beyond hilarious. I'm sure in the three years that I'm here that I will get tired of them, but in the meantime I can't help but laugh whenever I watch them.

Well, I need to scoot, Sean will be done soon with his in-processing for today and afterwards we are supposed to go to housing and also go deal with some TriCare stuff. Should be a good time.

Have a wonderful day ladies!

I Made It!

Well, I made it to Italy!

Not without a few minor incidents of course, but that's to be expected right?

It's been a crazy week for us. I'll give more details later, but here's a few for you.

1. Finding a vibrator (ew!) under our bed in the hotel we stayed in by the DFW airport.

2. Rushing around the Baltimore Airport to find Boomer a hard-sided carrier

3. Getting to the hotel in Vicenza and them telling us our reservation was invalid.

Everything worked itself out though in the last two situations, so no worries there, but like I said I'll explain some of this later.

I'm still trying to get used to this time change. I didn't go to bed until after 12:30 last night and Sean and I woke up at 1:00 this afternoon. Yeah...jet lag blows.

We are doing a few errands on-post today and hopefully hitting the gym for a much needed workout. On Monday Sean starts in-processing so hopefully I'll get back to the library then and upload a few pictures I've taken. Nothing too spectacular, but I'm hoping to get out into Vicenza soon to take some pics. Oh..and we have a pretty view of the mountains here on post. I didn't realize that until we were out walking on-post.

More details to come on life in Italy so far, but that will have to wait until Monday. Thanks to everyone for the comments on my last post!

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane....

Well ladies, it's time for me to say goodbye for a bit while we are in transit to Italy.

I'm hoping after I get over my jet-lag that I can hop down to the computer room that our hotel supposedly has and update on how things are going.

I've got a dozen things running through my mind right now, most of them are worries.

Will we get our car shipped? Will everything go well with Boomer on the plane? Will I make it in one piece to Italy? (As most of you know I'm terrified of flying)

I'd appreciate any prayers and well wishes you can spare that everything goes as planned.

Tomorrow we are heading out early to get some stuff done between here and Dallas. We are going to give it one last effort at the Oklahoma Tax Commission to see if there is anyway us being there in person can help us get our title. We shall see!

At any rate, I hope to be back on here blogging and reading all of your adventures soon.

Ciao!

Awards and Fashion Finds

First up I'd like to thank Mrs. Newlywed over at Misadventures of a Newlywed for this fab award.



Here are the Rules:

1. You must be a true lover of the New Year to receive this award.The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with the New Year.

2. List things that you love about the New Year. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space.

3. Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the New Year cheer going.

4. Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving a comment on their site. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award.

So without further ado, here's my list of things I love about the New Year.

1. The possiblities! I always love wondering what's in store for me in the new year.
2. The fresh start. What's better than starting anew?
3. The thought of upcoming holidays and events I have planned.
4. My upcoming PCS to Italy. I'm scared yet excited.

Now...to pass it on. I'm always bad about passing on awards, but I'll do my best.

1. Indiana Girl at Yellow Ribbon Diary. She's one of the many women that keep an upbeat attitude while her husband is deployed. She writes wonderful posts too and I really enjoy reading her.

2.Lindsay at And We'll Just Laugh Along The Way- the girl makes me laugh and I do mean laugh. She's got a wicked sense of humor and she has a huge year ahead of her since she'll be planning her wedding.

3. NewlyWed Central- she's a fairly new follower of mine and I'm really enjoying reading her blog. She had a great post about following and making realistic resolutions, so she seemed a natural fit for the award.

Now on to a few fashion finds that I found on...of course Forever21.



How can you not love this camisole? It comes in a couple of different colors too.



I love this shirt! It's got a rocker chick vibe.

Rock Lobster!

Well....the day started out quite crappy, but I'm hoping it ends on a high note.

To put it simply, we aren't getting out car title before we go to Dallas. After dealing with an extremely rude lady who informed me, "Ma'am, it's ridiculous for you to even ask me to have your title for you by Monday." I honestly broke down and cried. Is it too much to ask for some customer service? I mean really?

I'm still a bit peeved, but I'll move on and try to figure out someway to get our car shipped, whether that means my parents have to mail the title to the shipping company or something along those lines.

We got our car detailed today and now it's super clean and shiny. Just the way I like it. You know, before I had a husband my car was immaculate. Then he came along and leaves it messy. You know how husbands are.

Tonight is our special dinner at our local fancy restaurant. I'm excited! I get to wear my Forever 21 dress that I love and have a good meal. I'm hoping I can get my mom to take a picture of Sean and I before we leave for dinner. We shall see though.

Oh..and before I forget I'd like to give a shout out to my new followers. I've had a few new ones in the last week or so and I just like to say thank you to them and all of my followers for coming back day after day and reading about my adventures.

Last but not least, I leave you with a few pictures from the last couple of days.



I was in charge of the lobsters



Yet..they soon became a photo op.



The finished product...rock lobstah!

Resolutions...To Keep or Not to Keep

Happy 2009 everyone! I hope you had a great start to the new year.

I'd like to share my list of resolutions with you.

1. To become a better photographer
2. To fully experience Europe and travel as much as possible
3. To not complain as much (yeah I can be a complainer at times)
4. To not be as critical
5. Oh yeah...and to lose those pesky 10 lbs that are still hanging around

I think it's a list of attainable goals.

I'd love to hear a few of your resolutions!