The Clayton Family

Tales of a Terrible Blogger

2010-06-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Geez! I haven't posted anything since April. Sad, sad, sad. . . sorry folks. It's not that there hasn't been anything exciting going on I just cannot find the time. Let's see between playing mommy, wife, growing a baby, working part-time, keeping up a house, finally having some Stampin' Up! classes again, playdates, real dates, and whatever else it is that I do, posting on here seems to be an afterthought. I will not promise to do a better job because frankly, I know it will not happen. Just like promising to keep up with the chores, it will not happen. So that's the scoop.

Anyway, I'll give a quick update of life at the moment. It's stinkin' HOT! Seriously, 90's + humid=triple digits on most days. It feels like August. This would be all fine and well, but at almost 6 months pregnant, I'm not embracing the weather. Speaking of pregnancy, I hit 25 weeks today! #2 is getting quite good and kicking/punching/tumbling or whatever it is he does in there. Definately a boy if you didn't hear over on Facebook. No names yet. We have a list of about 5 but we have time. I'm thinking we might decide after the delivery at this point. We bought the paint for the nursery this weekend with plans to paint in the near future. In April I finally took the plunge and started my Stampin' Up! classes again. It is so much fun to craft and teach others what I like to do. I will update the craft blog with all of our fun projects. Plus, I've had many requests to do this.

Jacob finished Young K-4 in May and has been going to daycare part-time this summer when I work. He enjoys it and it beats sitting around the house being bored. You can only go to the science center, library, pool, park so much before it gets old and expensive. On days off we play and work on workbooks so he doesn't forget too much of what he learned over the previous year. All in all he is a good kid, typical boy though :)

Tim finally has a more family friendly work schedule which has really made the past few months a dream! We actually get to eat dinner as a family on most nights again. I won't post too much about him as he doesn't like that sort of thing.

In May we celebrated a ton of milestones. May 1st was our 1-Year Anniversary of returning to the States after living in Sicily for 3 years. We celebrated by a dinner at Olive Garden and taking Jacob to Chattanooga, TN for a "Day Out with Thomas the train" May 14th Jacob turned 4.5 years old (6 months until I have a 5 year old, yikes!), I hit the half-way mark in my pregnancy AND found out we are having another boy!, May 25th we celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary and May 27th was the one year anniversary of closing on our house. A lot to take in, but it was all good!

That's life at the Clayton's for now. It's going to get a whole lot crazier in the fall!

In case you were wondering. . .

2010-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm pregnant!!!! Yes, I know many of you family and friends have been asking the question "Are they every going to have another baby?" I didn't realize this was a question that weighed so heavily on many minds. It makes me giggle, it does :)

So, now that you know why I've been laying low for awhile, well, I really didn't have anything blogworthy up until now. I'll give you details. I've suspected since 4 weeks, known since 6, and felt horrible from week 6-9 (all day nausea, falling asleep at 7pm). At 9 weeks I was able to go see my new OB, who is a doll. Since we don't live near a military base I get to go civilian with hospital, practitioner,etc. So far I am loving the experience. At this 9 week appt I had the first ultrasound and got some decent pics of the little bean that has been making me tired and feeling overall blah. Now this was a very anxiety provoking appt. You see, in January 2009 I had a miscarriage at 9 weeks. Same time frame. Please don't feel bad if you didn't know, only a few close friends and my mom knew. Anywho, once I saw little bean and a fluttering heart, a great weight was lifted from me. I so wanted to tell the world, but knew is was better to wait until I got to 12 weeks. Since around week 10, I have my energy back and feel almost normal again, except for the fact that my pants aren't quite as comfy as the used to be. #2 definately shows itself sooner than #1.

Today I went to my 2nd appt at 13w3days and got to hear the heartbeat on doppler. You don't know how good it was to hear that fast beating heart beat! It was in the 150's range. Hmmmmm. . . Jacob was pretty consistently 140's. I have made most of my calls to family and Facebook. My how things have changed in 5 years. Facebook? Who heard of this in 2005? The family, is of course, over the moon.

Now, you maybe wondering, how is little Jacob dealing with all this? Well, for several months he's been asking for a little brother or sister. He would really like a sister, or so he says this week. I told him today he is getting his wish and his little brother or sister will be here in time for his birthday. He asked me the important questions: "How did the baby get inside you?" Umm, lets not worry about that one right now. God put it there. "Is your belly slimy and wet?" and "Will the baby come out slimy and wet?" Well, yes and don't worry the nurses will clean him or her off. Last question: " Is that where the pool is?" as he points to the community pool. Love the preschool mind.

I'm sure you are also wondering when is the BIG DAY? October 10, 2010. 10-10-10. Isn't that an awesome day to be born?!

Here is a parting picture for you to admire. Cute isn't it?

November Rewind

2009-12-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's December first already. . .where does the time go? Honestly, I am happy to see December since November was a mess at the end. I can now say, that historically, November is not a good month for me. Bad things usually happen to me, especially the week before Thanksgiving. I guess it started in 2003. I don't know what it is. In 2003 I had a patient code, in 2004 a patient died and I got cellulitis, 2005 was good year (Jacob was born), 2006 & 2007 were crisis free, 2008 I get TMJ.

The insanity started in the days leading up to Jacob's birthday. Thursday the 12th, Tim woke me up to tell me his car wouldn't start and he had to take my car to work. Nice, Jacob missed school and his flu shot appointment. I spent a good 30 minutes the night before calming his fears about the mist he would have squirted in his nose the next day. That was now for nothing. Then I realized the cupcake liners I need to make the cupcakes to bring to school the next day were in the trunk of my car which was now 45 minutes away. That night, Tim spent 2 hours fixing the problem (gotta love a guy who can fix a car!) while I was inside baking and icing cupcakes. Of course Tim got home late so it was 11pm before I was done with my project. The things we do for our kids :)

Friday, Tim called and told me he would be late because the same car that died the day before now blew a tire on his way home. Nice! Gotta love Friday the 13th.

We celebrated Jacob's 4th birthday on the 14th. We decided not to have a kid birthday this year for several reasons. 1. the few kid parties we have been invited to turn out to be mostly family and 1 or 2 kids from Jacob's class. Well, we have no family here and I couldn't see going through all the crazy preparations for 2 kids and seeing him disappointed. Reason 2. I just wanted us to have a nice family day. 3. We would be seeing my parents in a couple of weeks and having a small party with them (something we've never been able to do) We let Jacob pick out what he wanted to do. He picked the zoo and dinner out. So that's what we did. We went to the Birmingham zoo for the day. It was nice and sunny. It's a small zoo but just the right size to get through in a few hours before completely loosing interest. We came home, opened presents and then headed out for an early dinner then it was home again for cake. Perfect! I highly recommend going simple.

The week leading up to this, our desktop computer was acting weird. By Sunday I was about to throw the thing out the window. It was just a year old in August. Not knowing what else to do with it, I brought the tower in to Best Buy. The Geek Squad determined it had a virus and possibly a corrupt OS. $200 later the computer got shipped off to be fixed. We still don't have it back. We are going on 2 weeks now. Luckily we have a laptop to get us by. It's amazing (and sad) how much we rely on computers these days for almost everything.

On the 18th I had to catch a flight with my co-workers to a training conference in Baton Rouge. Earlier that week, Tim wound up with a last minute conflict in his schedule which left us not knowing what to do about Jacob and child care while I was gone. After many phone calls on Tim's end, Jacob got to miss school and go to Atlanta with Tim so he could take his PT test. This is when it would be nice to live near family. I was near tears at this point b/c what else could possibly go wrong?

Well, on my way to the airport I stop at the ATM. I am driving the car that had issues the week before. In case I didn't say, it's our old 1998 Nissan Sentra we had in Italy, my very first car I ever owned. I put the window down, all the way down, not realizing that the switch was now broken. The window will not go back up, it's cold, looks like it is about to rain and I have to drive 20 minutes on the interstate (70mph) with said window down. I called Tim frantic and he told me it will go up if the radio and lights are off. I'm thinking this poor car just needs duct tape and plastic on the windows and we will be good to go. HA! My worry was that my car would get stolen sitting in long-term parking at the airport. About 5 minutes from the airport the window finally went up. Note to self, do NOT put window down again.

While at the airport, I meet my co-works and we find out our flight is bumped and we will not make our connecting flight in Atlanta. We were able to get on a different carrier 2 hours later and all made it safely. Side note, what a great experience this was! I am really excited about this job/research project!

Amazingly last week, nothing happened. We went to North Carolina and spent Thanksgiving with my parents and had a birthday party with them for Jacob. We also spent some time walking our property down the road from my parents. If you recall, we have 4 acres of land, 5 houses away from them. With the leaves off the trees we could really do some deep walking in the woods that we haven't been able to do. We found fresh deer tracks and droppings. We had no idea deer were that near. We were also able to get an idea of the depth of the river that flows in the back. It was so peaceful to be in the woods and listen to the water flow by. We have decided that during our time in AL, we need to seriously start looking at house plans and get an idea of what we want to build. It's so exciting! Since we've had a couple of houses now, we know what we want and don't want in a house and we look forward building something to our specifications. Tim has 10 years to retire but the plan is for me and Jacob to be there before that. Besides looking at house plans we have to find a builder, gets plans approved, etc. and we figure about 9-12 months to build, so it's going to take some time. Luckily we don't have to rush.

Sunday we drove back to find out that Tim has a week of training and he had to leave Monday. It's always something. This weekend we will be putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. We are so excited to decorate the new house! And just in case you were wondering, yes, we plan to replace the Sentra in January :)

Trying to keep our heads above water

2009-11-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would pop in for a minute and say Hi! Yes we are still here, just swamped from every which end. Week days are filled with school, Tim working long hours (still, grrrrrr), me working 3 days a week and in between all of this we still have to cook, clean, play, soccer, find time to food shop, and manage to have a little fun and family time. Weekends aren't much better with soccer games, birthday parties, catching up on what got neglected during the week. It's nuts!

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

On the 17th we finally had a somewhat dry day to head up to Hayden where they have a pumpkin patch. From talking to some of my new found friends, this is fall "must do." The temperature hovered around 50 degrees making it a perfect, cold day to do some pumpkin picking.

Jacob had his first pony ride and absolutely loved it! Now he tells us he is a cowboy. Just one of the many hats he wears when he is not part of Lightening McQueen's Pit crew or fighting crime as Spiderman.

After our chilly afternoon at the patch, we headed north so I could see the town that Tim works in and then we ended the day with a nice dinner out at a local Asian restaruant called Stix. By the time we got home the temps had dipped into the 40s. Much to my dismay, we had to turn the heat on to take the chill off the house. Now to find some fire wood so we can make some nice toasty fires in our new fireplace.

October Happenings

2009-10-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Life has been hectic, as shown by the fact that I haven't update in over 2 weeks. I was in the middle of updating yesterday when hubby kicked me off the computer. Men! Anyway, I thought I would just give a run down of life at the moment.

Jacob got over the H1N1 flu after missing 1 week of school. It took another 4 days or so to really recouperate after that. He got his first report card and did great! You are probably wondering how a 3 year old can get a report card but they do. Basically it's do they recognize the letters they have learned, know the letter sounds, know their name, behavior, stuff like that. He also won an award for "Most Improved" since the school year started. Unfortunately he missed the assembly when the award was presented because he was sick. The soccer season has been very wet. At this point we have had more practice and game cancellations then playing time due to the rain and field conditions. We've also had a birthday to attend in all of this.

This week I started my new job as a Care Manager at UAB hospital working along side a research team/project. UAB is a huge university in downtown Birmingham with a huge medical complex. They are listed as one of the top hospitals in the country! I'm super excited and grateful for this opportunity! This is a big change for me. Going from pediatrics to geriatrics (but now I get to use my minor a bit), direct patient care to indirect patient care. It will be an adjustment. I had orientation Monday and Tuesday and next week things will really get going, hopefully. Otherwise, I've been doing some computer work from home that goes along with it and attending weekly team meetings. So nice to finally be productive out of the house again! I feel like a new person! Someone told me once "the more you have to do, the more organized you are and the more you get done." True, true! So, now that I have found one of my missing links, I'm good to go.

Hopefully if the weather holds out we will venture up to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend for pumpkin picking and hayrides. The leaves are slowly turning from green to red and orange. Still looks like it has a long way to go though. We had a fence put up last week, 6ft on the sides and 4ft in the back so we don't lose our view. Now Jacob and Star can run around and I don't have to worry about either one tumbling down the hill.

Swine Flu hits the Clayton Household

2009-09-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

Things happen for a reason. Yesterday, I was notified that my business trip to Denver to take place at the end of next week was canceled. I couldn't help thinking there was an ultimate reason for all of this. Could it be recent news events or something else completely different? I got my answer early this am.

Jacob came into our room at 11pm. He was roasting. I removed the sheets and Tim found the thermometer. 102. Nice. Gave some Tylenol and would reassess in the morning. My mind was spinning. I had checked on him an hour earlier before I went to bed and he didn't seem as hot as he did now.

6am, Jacob is burning up. Temp 103.7. Oh, boy! Mind you these are tympanic temps (ear), so, probably a degree higher. Tylenol again.

Report cards went out yesterday and today was to be the Honor's Chapel assembly at school. Jacob was suppossed to receive an award for "Most Improved." I felt so bad he was going to miss it :( I called the school to let them know he would be abscent and his teacher called me back to let me know there were several kids sick with the "Swine Flu" I called the doctor back, explained the situation and was able to get him seen 2 hours later.

At the peditrician they did the fun throat culture and nasal swab to run in the lab. Jacob was not happy with them after they stuck the 6 in long q-tips in those orifaces. I cannot blame him. They were never my favorite procedures to do on the little ones when I was working. About 15 min later his doctor (who is the sweetest thing) came in with papers and confirmed my suspicions. "Influenza Type A Positive" AKA, H1N1/Swine Flu. This flu is actually much milder than the regular flu. Yes, if you have an underlying condition it can be very severe. If you are generally healthy you should be fine in a few days. I chose not to go the Tamiflu route as the side effects seemed worse than what we were trying to fight and there is always the chance of this strain becomeing resistant to it. I've seen MRSA and the over use of antibiotics it's not pretty so why chance it.

As we left the pediatricians office, Jacob said, "Mommy, I have that Swine flu that is on the news" Yes, Jacob, Yes you do.

Monday update: Jacob is doing much better! I'm glad I chose the course of action I did because by Saturday evening he was fever free. A low grade temp yesterday evening but not enough to medicate. He was even getting into mischief so I know he's feeling better.

As soon as the flu shots are available in my area, we will all be getting them! I'd also like to thank those of you who called over the weekend to check-up on Jacob. We really appricated it!

Jacob's New Room

2009-09-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

Before. . .

AND

After!

What a difference a coat of paint makes! 2 weeks ago we painted Jacob's room. We wanted it all ready to go for when my parents visited this past weekend. We took everything out, painted and put it all back in. When my parents came on Friday, they brought my dad's old bedroom set, which is like new. My sister used it before she moved out and now it is being passed to the next generation.

For the walls, we used Behr paint from Home Depot in Mickey Sailor, one of the Disney colors. I love it!

The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids. I purchased it on sale about 2 years ago. We didn't use it at the time since we had toddler bed for Jacob.

The closet photo to the left was my dad's project on Monday. When we bought the house, it just came with a small shelf on the right hand side. Jacob has a ton of clothes so this was not going to work. So my dad added 2 extra shelves.

Here is a close up of the curtains. Also from Pottery Barn Kids. They are a heavy navy blue and fully lined in the back so they will keep out the heat and cold. Well worth it! I picked these about a few weeks ago and was so happy with the way they coordinated with the quilt, which also has similar stiching.

So that's Jacob's room. I still have to hang some pictures. I am going to try the Decor Elements from Stampin Up! (vinyl wall clings) in either the train or the little paper airplane that says "so many toys so little time. . . "

Thanks for stopping by!

Parents, Rain, and a Birthday, Oh My!

2009-09-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much sums up our weekend. Friday, my parents drove the 7 hours from their house in North Carolina with a truck full of goodies for us. I've really been looking forward to their trip because 1. I wanted them to see our new house. 2. They were bringing my dad's old bedroom set for Jacob and 3. They were bringing back our dog Star and 4. We needed my dad's help in a few projects that Tim just hasn't had the time for with his insane schedule.

They pulled in around 6pm and Jacob was just ectactic to have gran'ma and gran'pa for the weekend! As we unloaded the truck Jacob looked around and declared "I'm a new Jacob" I asked "why?" his reply, "Well, I have all these people here, my grandparents, Star and you and daddy." It was like he was a little old man. Priceless!

Saturday was a full day! It was Tim's birthday, we had pictures at church for the upcoming directory, and went out in the evening Home Depot and dinner. It was then back home for Cheesecake in celebration of Tim's big day.

Sunday mom, Jacob and I went shopping while the men, sans Jacob, stayed home and worked on installing ceiling fans in the upstairs rooms. On our shopping expedition, I found the Whole Foods food store that I've passed a few times but never went in. We stopped in and all I can say is "WOW!" If you've never been they are a huge organic food store. Not cheap by any means but if you need something special this is the place to get it. I'm by no means a tree hugger, nor do I buy into the whole organic thing but the produce was phenominal and they had amazing hot bars, salads, sushi and cheeses. I was thrilled because I can now go down there knowing we can get some special meats and cheeses that we grew accustomed to while in Sicily that regular grocery stores do not carry. I just wish the store was a little closer and not 30 min away, but we drove a bit in Sicily to get some special foods too so it's all relative I suppose.

Monday, was a regular day for the most part. Jacob went to school and loved having gran'ma and gran'pa home to share his day with them and my dad finished Jacob's closet for us.

Now, if you watch the news and weather (I admit, I'm a news junkie!), then you have heard about the insane amount of rain the southeast has gotten since Thursday. When I heard Friday morning that the day before produced some bad conditions of people being stuck in their cars and homes I knew it was serious but Friday was dry until 7pm, it then proceeded to rain all night, then all day Saturday , Sunday AND Monday. Enough is enough! It reminded of this past January and February in Sicily with the flood warnings we had. Today I am happy to report the sun is out, for now. I'm just planning on rain at some point. The lawn is like a muddy sponge when walked on it's all squishy. Mushrooms are sprouting on lawns the humidity is high. At least the leaves are starting to change and fall so I know fall is around the corner for us soon. It seems to hit around the end of October which is in line with when we lived in Florida.

Star is adjusting nicely. She sits by the door waiting for my parents but in a day or 2 she'll be fine. It's nice to have her back and she has really calmed in the past 3 years. She is 7 now and that's middle age for a pug so her crazy puppy days are long gone.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Working Girl Again!

2009-09-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

If you read my birthday ~~vent~~ er. . .post then you will recall that I decided it was time to get back into the workforce. I finally decided on something I looked into many years ago, case management. It's something I always found interesting, but the positions were alway filled. Must be good if those in the job never left, right? Anyway, I had pretty much given up on the thought because they are hard positions to find and I needed more experience. Well, in my job search, I gave up on the Children's hospital for the time being and found a Care Management job at the adult teaching hospital. Yay! Part-Time, Yay! My interviews went well and I have one more tomorrow. I met with HR yesterday to go over the usual: background check, copying my professional license, setting up a physical, etc. I start the end of the month. My position also requires me to travel to Colorado for a few days of training. That was a little tricky since Tim and I know no one that we can leave Jacob with while I am gone. However, I think between daycare at school and Tim needing to be a little flexible for those few days we have it figured out. Jacob is all excited about eating lunch at school and hanging out with his friends later in the day. I'm still a little nervous about it but it will be fine in the end. It's a leap for me too since I am going from peds to adults, bedside to office. However, the exciting thing is that I will be using my minor, gerontology, in most of my work. My new position is part of a new research project, so it's new and a lot of details are still not available so we will all be learning as we go. If everything works out, this should be a great opportunity and addition to my resume!

Jacob's First Soccer Game

2009-09-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Jacob had his first game this past Saturday. Here he is cheesing for the camera before the big game.

These are just a few of the pics I snapped during the first game. As you can see, their jersey's are "Lemon Yellow" In person, they look flourescent. At this age, there is no keeping score. It's all about having fun, learning to kick the ball toward the proper goal and not touching the ball with one's hands. The latter two are a challenge. The kids did an awesome job!

Could we be any busier?

2009-09-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged, I know. It's not for lack of anything to report. There has been lots going on meaning less time at the computer, which is a good thing :)

Our claims have been settled with the moving companies and we have a new kitchen set arriving this week. I'm still working on what to do in the office about a desk. I also have to replace some stamp items that where no where to be found during the unpacking process. That was tragic. I went to make some card challenges and discovered my Stack n Store caddy with buttons, brads, beads, eyelets were all missing. You don't realize how much you need and use these items until they go missing.

If you keep in contact with me via Face Book, then you know I went on an interview last week. The job wound up being a little different from the posting. I had a panel interview and then found out I had to do a phone interview in the afternoon. I'll report more on that next week.

Now that fall is here, well not techically yet, but it's September so in my book it's fall, we started our paint projects. Last weekend we painted the half-bath and Jacob's bathroom. Today we stared Jacob's bedroom. What a difference some color makes! I couldn't take tan walls in every room any longer. I'll post pics this week.

This morning we also had Jacob's first soccer game. His team did great, my little guy even made a goal during the game! At this age there is no keeping score. It's just about having fun and figuring out which goal to kick the ball in.

As for my other weekly activities? Well, I've made a habit now of getting my exercise done first thing in the morning. After I drop Jacob off at school I head over to the gym and walk for 1 hour (3-1/2miles) around the outside walking trail. I'm finally seeing some results so that in itself is a good motivator. Wednesday night is Bible study and Sunday church. My neighbor even made a comment the other morning about me being busy. I'm trying.

The end of the week my parents are coming all the way from NC with a truck load of stuff for us. The best part is that they are bringing little Star so she can move back in with us. We've missed our little curly tailed 4 legged friend. It will be nice have her around again. I say this now, I'm sure after a few days of her getting into mischief and dog hair everywhere again I'll change my mind.

I'll try to post some pics of the above happenings this week.

Personal Reflection and a Birthday

2009-08-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, tomorrow (Aug 26th) marks my 31st Birthday! I officially made it through my first year in my "30's" (ack!) I remember when 20 seemed old.   It's been quite the year for me as I think back.   A trip to Rome and Germany, a BIG move back to the states, becoming a homeowner again, visits with old friends, seeing my family again. Lots of happy times and some sad times too. This year I decided not to do my annual Birthday Countdown starting on August 1st. Just not in the spirit I suppose. It's been a month of adjustments and somehow the fact that I even have a birthday this month kind of fell by the wayside.

Since Jacob has started school and I've had this upcoming birthday, I've been doing a lot of personal reflection and have decided I'm at a crossroads with what to do with myself.   I was thinking back to when I turned 21, and 11. Those were such carefree times. I remember I couldn't wait until I hit that next milestone birthday. Anyway, it's stirred up some memories, emotions, and realizations. Which brought me to what I am about to share. I admit, I'm not and never have been completely happy as a stay at home mom. It's just not me. I've had a hard time relating to my friend who feel as though staying home is the most rewarding experience ever. I've tried to feel that way many times and I just don't.   I've given up on trying to relate to them because I cannot. I am not "Little Suzie Homemaker" and never will be. There, I admit it. I also think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had a career for 5 years before starting a family. It became part of who I was and am.  I love Jacob, he's my one and only and therefore my world. I loved that I had the last 3 years to stay home and watch him blossom into the little boy he is now, but I feel like there is so much more to life and that I am happy when I'm contributing to the family by working. I also want Jacob to see that mommy can go to work like daddy. I like being home, but not 24/7. Ideally, I'd like something part time that allows me to have a nice home/work life balance.   Tim and I talked about this at length last week when he came home late one night to find a very frustrated, sad, teary Andrea. He's behind me 100% which is what I was waiting to hear. I am thankful he is so understanding. So, instead of waiting until the new year like my original plan, I've decided to start looking sooner than later. Which brings me to my next frustrating hurdle. Finding the job.

In past years finding a job as a nurse was easy peasy. Not anymore, in my area at least. There was a great article in the local paper a week ago about how there is a nursing surplus, one that hasn't been seen in at least 11 years, again, in my area. RN jobs seem to be few and far between. Lots of ancillary and advanced practice jobs. So, I either wait, give up, or go to grad school. I've looked into Grad School at UAB and I have the undergraduate grades in my major to waive any entrance exams. You don't know how happy I was to read that! I cringe at the idea of taking an entrance exam after being out of school for 8 years. It would just be a matter of tracking down some letters of recommendation. I found a binder from my last semester of school where we had to write where we saw our careers in 5 and 10 years. Apparently I thought I would already have this done or be almost done with it. I got a good chuckle out of it. As for the job hunt, I found my resume safetly stored on a thumb drive. This was good news since  I thought I lost it on the hard drive of the old computer that passed away last August.   I think I have it tweaked just right for submissions. I've been casually looking at jobs over the past couple of months and there hasn't been much like I stated above. The last 2 weeks have shown some promise but they aren't posted for very long. I've talked to the front office at Jacob's school to make sure I have some flexibility with before and after care. Looks like I do so that part is taken care of. That was a big part of me holding back. I don't want to take a job unless I know Jacob is going to have somewhere to go and I can pick him up. That's the fun of not living near family and not knowing anyone. That's another gripe for another day. Giving up the job search all together. I consider it and talk myself out of it daily. That would be the easy way out but then I keep having this nagging feeling. When it comes down to it, I'm not in a rush. I'd rather take my time until something right comes along instead of taking the first thing, settling, being misrable and stressed. So, that's where I stand on the job hunt. Stagnet and in limbo.

I've also decided I need to pull back from this darned computer. It is so easy to get sucked into the black hole of time wasted on the computer when I could be doing more productive things. I hate that as a society we have come to rely so heavily on the computer for everything. While in Italy, I was lost without the computer as it was my outlet to the outside world. Plus, since I found Facebook a year ago it's just gotten worse. It's just to easy to know I can go to a website and find almost every friend I've ever had in one place and connect.

So, that's where I stand on the day before my birthday.   Looking back it was a good year overall. Yeah, I wish somethings had gone differently but that's life.   There's always the year ahead! Cheers!

First Week of School and First Soccer Practice

2009-08-18T19:52:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that tomorrow marks Jacobs first week of school! We are so proud of him. I forgot how tiring it is to wake up early 5 days a week to be somewhere, but I have survived. It's wonderful! Having a routine is something we've missed for the past 3 months, and I really look forward to adding more activities to our schedule. I know, I'm nuts!

Anyway, in just a week Jacob has learned the Letter Ii and the numbers 1,2,3 by sight recognition. How a teacher can do this in just a week with a class of 13 is amazing to me. I couldn't get Jacob to do that all summer. I don't know how the homeschoolers do it. At any rate, this is working for us and we couldn't be happier! He has his first little quiz tomorrow with his memory verse. I hope it goes well. It was a challenge getting him interested in it, but by dinner tonight he was able to recite it back to me.

Tonight Jacob had his first soccer practice. He has 5 (including him) on his team. Tim has found time in his busy schedule to coach and he did a phenomenal job tonight. I hope this is just one of the many things Jacob remembers about his childhood when he gets older. It was so fun watching a bunch of 3 year old run up and down the field try so hard not to touch the ball with their hands (very hard to do apparently). They are all excellent little kickers, Look out! The parents were very nice and it was so good to finally talk to adults again.

That's all to report for now. It's almost past my bedtime :o

First Day of Preschool 2009-2010

2009-08-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Jacob's first day of preschool for the 2009-2010 year. I specify the year because he will do 1 more year next year due to his birthday.

Last night we went to the school to meet and greet with Jacob's teacher and see the classroom.

His teacher seems really sweet and the curriculumn looks really good. He has 13 in his class. The unique thing about his class is that they are considered "Young K 4" All this kids in his class turn 4 between Sept 1-Dec 31. So he is not the youngest is a classroom of kids all going to Kindergarten next year. Wish they had that when I was his age! They go at a slightly slower pace than the 4 year old class.

When I picked him up this afternoon he was excited. I asked him what he learned and he told me "I learned about Jesus and that he made the morning and night" he goes to a Christian school so I expect him to come home with lots of Bible stories. He also has a Bible Memory verse to learn each week. It looks neat the way they do it. 1 a week A-Z. Each weeks verse starts with the next letter of the alphabet. They are short verses so hopefully it won't be too difficult. I hope to learn something too!

Well, now I'm off to do MY homework that Jacob brought home (customary 1st day of school papers to fill out ;)

Lazy Summer Day

2009-08-11T08:09:00.001-07:00

The Dragonflies were huge!

Waiting. . .

Waiting some more. . .

And more waiting. . . .

This is how most of our day went. Tim had a 3 day weekend and yesterday we decided to take Jacob fishing. After church on Sunday, Tim and Jacob went shopping for gear. Jacob got a little Lightning McQueen fishing pole and tackle box. The tackle box now houses CARS.

Yesterday morning we headed up to Jasper, about 45 min NW of our house. The weather turned cloudy but after an hour the sun came out. I did a good job with the sunblock and luckily no one got burnt or tan!

Jacob lasted about 30 min waiting for something to happen. We got a few little nibbles but after 2 hours nothing. It was just nice to sit in a peaceful setting and enjoy the time none the less.

The fishing area is nice. A big lake with lots of ducks, a nature trail, picnic areas, boat launch (we'll rent a boat next time), and bait shop. As you can see from the above pic, there are some huge bugs too! Luckily they weren't too annoying, just noisy. Often we found a dragonfly on our poles staring at us.

We came home for a late lunch then headed off to our community pool. Lukcily it wasn't crowded. I didn't take the camera but Jacob had a great time. He's getting more relaxed in the water. By the end he was jumping off the side into Tim's arms. We really want to get him into swim lessons. If I cannot find year round one's I'll shoot for next summer making that a priority.

And that was our Monday. Tonight we have orientation a Jacob's school, meet the teacher and classroom. Then tomorrow morning he's off to pre-school.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Why I've been MIA

2009-08-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

For back to school! Don't you just love that commercial for school suppies? I used to hate it. On Monday afternoon I had enough of sitting around the house and decided to attempt a shopping day with Jacob. These never go well, I was tempting the fates, but I HAD to get out. So we headed out around 12 and went to this great shopping area called "The Summit." It's about 30 minutes away on the south side of Birmingham. We started our spree with a lunch at Panera. After all, "they have those good foods that little boys like." Jacob tells me this all the time. Then we hit the stores. We needed to get a new backpack since "wheelie" backpacks are not allowed for Jacob's age group at school. We got a cute "preschooler" sized backpack at PB Kids. Mission accomplished? No! I haven't been mall shopping in over a month. We hit up lots of stores and got a first day of school outfit, and some things for the house, and soccer gear. Jacob was great! I think it was the bribe that if was good he would get some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I have no shame in bribing my kid. He earned his ice cream and by the time all was done we got home around 6pm. I also made a detour though downtown B'ham to scout out UAB and the hospitals.

By the time we got home, I found out my phone stopped working and therefore the internet wasn't working. I called AT&T and of course got a recording because you cannot talk to a live person anymore. Apparently some main line in the area was out and the estimated date of it being fixed was Thursday, August 5th. Am I in Sicily again? I've called everyday and finally last night we saw AT&T trucks on the street and today they showed up in front of my house on a cell looking at a piece of paper. They came back 2 times and did this and finally I have service again!

Washing the Cars

2009-07-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

As an insanely busy weekend to came to a close, I walked outside on Sunday evening to find the scenes above. Tim was washing the cars and Jacob decided he needed to wash his car too. Jacob did a very good job scrubbing and spraying his car. To find the two of them outside together is common occurance lately. If Tim is mowing the yard, Jacob is next to him with his little mower. If Tim is tinkering with something in the garage, Jacob is there too with tools. So cute! Not cute, however, was how Jacob finished off his car by spraying me and the camera 2 times with the hose. Kids!

Tim's schedule Monday through Thursday is very loooooong. He leaves around 7:30am and we see him between 7-9:30pm. Friday is "short" day with him getting home around 4pm. This is supposed to be temporary, but I have a feeling there are many more of these long nights ahead over the next 3 years. As you can imagine, by Friday night I am fried from spending all day with a 3yr old. So, even though our weekends are our only real family time, I spent all of Saturday out alone! I needed it. I went shopping and to a Ladies Tea and Auction at church. Tim and Jacob really needed their daddy and son time so it was a win-win all the way around.

Sunday we went to Church. 2 weeks in a row is good for us, I'm aiming for 3 next week. Hopefully we can keep this up. I know that's bad, but after 7 years of rotating shift work, opposite schedules, etc. it fell by the wayside. So, a new place, new schedule, we will try to do better. Jacob loves Sunday school so this helps. He tells us he is going to church school and mommy and daddy are going to big church. I actually ran into a woman there that I had met earlier in the week and she has a son Jacob's age. It's nice to finally be meeting some people and getting out. This will get easier when Jacob starts school in 2 weeks (yikes! and yay!) AND soccer season begins.

New Craft Blog!

2009-07-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

http://creatingwithandrea.blogspot.com/

I finally decided to create a blog just for my cards, quilts, scrapbook pages. . .anything crafty! Check out the site above and see what I've done!

I will STILL KEEP this blog. So, if you are interested in my daily life continue to stop here.

Please keep in mind this is a work in progress and will probably evolve over the weeks and months.

The Latest Moving Casulties

2009-07-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

My prized pedastal table all dented and scratched
My student desk, with a leg barely hanging on

This part of the desk was found in a drawer. It' is supposed to be between these legs

Top of craftsman tool chest that Tim got for Christmas just 5 months before we moved.

The bottom of the craftsman tool chest. 1 wheel taken off, 1 barely hanging on.

These are the latest casualties of move #3 in 7 years. When we found out we were going to Sicily in Feb. 2006, we decided to put some of our stuff in storage. Things like text books, extra Christmas decor, outgrown baby clothes, power tools, extension ladder, kitchenette set (we brought our formal dining room set with us, SMART!). It was on option that we were entitled to and after looking over what we had and what we would need/have room for in Sicily, we decided to use it. Boy was that a mistake. Above are just some of the wounds that some of our items sustained sometime between leaving our house in in VA Bch and returning to us 3 years later in AL. I'd like to know just what they did to my things. . .

The pedastal table was something I searched high and low for after my aunt and uncle had gotten one years before. It is hunter green and half oak looking. Very simple. The table top (which I do not have a good pic of yet) looks like a crow bar was taken to it and has missing pieces. The tool chest was brand new since Tim had gotten it for Christmas just 5 months prior to us moving. Was it really necessary to remove 1-1/2 wheels? The student desk has sentimental value. See Tim bought it and stained if for me as a gift when I got into Nursing school. It saw me through many a long study session. It moved from apt to apt then house.

I also had my 4 boxes of Precious Moments in there the box popped off of one of the totes and the drummer boy to my Nativity set somehow came out of the box and broke. He is now in 2 pieces and if you are a collector of PM, you know that this is a piece that has long since retired. GRRRRR! Anything that was in a plastic tote, had not been taped by the movers. Tops popped off all of them and ornaments and PM were scattered all over the back of the truck. Wish my camera battery had been charged. Hopefully I have all the pieces.

Another item that didn't make it was our Treadmill. Pieces were found in the street after the movers left, the frame is all cracked and the thing doesn't work anymore. Half our stuff in the garage from the storage shipment is now busted so there it sits in the garage until the claims process is resolved. Basically if it was in a box it did ok. If it was too big for a box, we shouldn't have bothered. This is our tax dollars at work. Nice huh!?

Now I'm off to finish the long claim I have to submit.

Finally Home!

2009-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

First, I wanted to post this picture of Jacob. Taken sometime in June, a little over 3-1/2 years old. I was going through the hundreds of picts I have taken since Jan. and found this one and though, "Wow, time flies." I think he's looking like quite the little boy here.

Anyway, I also wanted to catch you all up on the last 2 weeks. On Friday, June 26th, my parents graciously drove Jacob and I to Atlanta, GA to pick up our car that had been in Sicily. After 4 hours we made it. It was a typical hot day in the deep south. The car pick up was very easy and simple. I never know how these things will go without Tim. I had a power of attorney so that helped. After that, we transferred all our stuff from there car to ours, grabbed lunch said our good-byes and headed in opposite directions toward home.

We spent our first week in our new house with the bare minimum. No tv, no internet, no furniture (except Jacob's new bed was there). Jacob and I explored the surrounding cities over the weekend for lack of anything else better to do. It was along 4 days until that Tuesday when our household goods arrived, did that by myself too. I waited until 2pm for the guys to arrive and by 7pm that night all 200+ boxes/furniture pieces were in the house. I'm happy to say this was the least amount of damage we have had in a move.

The next day we unpacked some boxes and waited for our couches to come. Couches came at night (See a trend here?). They look great except they put the wrong color feet on my loveseat, so waiting to get that replaced. Nice to have something to sit on, buy nothing to watch.

Thursday, Tim came home for a 4 day weekend from his school. We hadn't seen him in over a month. It was a nice homecoming and Jacob was very happy to see his daddy. I don't know how my friends do it who's husbands are gone all the time for extended periods. Thankfully, we had the help of my parents. However, Jacob wouldn't talk to Tim on the phone. He told me he was mad that daddy went away. Isn't that sad?

We had a calm 4th of July weekend. Catching up and unpacking during most of it and finally getting the satallite and internet hooked up. Yay! Now we can see what the rest of the world is doing again. I love the radio but even I need a little TV!

Monday afternoon Tim left to finish up his last 4 days of school. Jacob and I spent the week getting our items that were in storage (that was a disaster!). I also got Jacob enrolled in preschool! Very happy about that.

Tim came home last night and with the exception of a night here and there that he will be away, we are done with extended schools! This morning we headed over to the soccer fields and signed Jacob up for fall soccer camp. That starts in August with games in Sept/Oct. Guess I'll be a soccer mom. He is so excited to play! Tim might help coach if his schedule allows.

As for me I received my AL state nursing license this week! So, I can finally work. Problem, jobs are in short supply. Especially because I'm specialized. I'm in no rush, especially getting Jacob situated with school and activities. At least I know if something comes up I can jump on it.

So, that's what the last 2 weeks have been like. Over the next couple we'll try to establish some kind of a routine. I feel like the past few months we've been living out of suitcases waiting for the next transition so some normalcy is welcomed!

Almost there!

2009-06-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a nice relaxing Father's Day weekend. On my end my dad had to work and Tim was in Pensacola :( Such is life.

Big couple of weeks coming up. Our car that we had in Sicily finally made it to Atlanta. We could have gotten it last week but had to coordinate with my parents off days this week. They are such great parents letting us stay here for almost 2 months and then driving us to Atlanta to pick up our car. After that, Jacob and I will continue the almost 3 hours to Alabama and officially move in :)

Next week I have to get Jacob signed up for preschool, soccer (if he is old enough), schedule phone/internet/satellite, and get lots of deliveries (couches, storage and household goods). All while Tim is at school. I'll be up to my eyeballs in boxes for a few weeks until I get everything unpacked and situated. I'm excited though. I've done nothing constructive over the past month so I look forward to all the chaos! I'll pop in and let you know how it's all going once the internet gets turned on.

A Day Out With Thomas The Train

2009-06-14T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hello All, hope you are having a super weekend! Last week was rainy. What else is new?! However, Friday we woke to a beautiful sunny day, horray!! We had tickets to the Tweetsie Railroad "Day Out With Thomas" event. We headed up to the mountains in Blowing Rock. It's beautiful up there and the cool mountain air was perfect.

Jacob, as many know, is obsessed with all things Thomas. He knows all of their names and is very quick to correct those of us who cannot keep straight who James, Duck, Rheneus, Percy, etc. are. I'm not complaining, because almost all those trains have numbers on them and it is helping Jacob recognize his numbers.

The gift shop had Thomas themed goodies, so we got a shirt, a special box car commerating the event, and some other things that Jacob "needed." The kids were given a map when they entered the park. The goal was to hit all the stations and get a stamp at each one, at the end when all the places were stamped they redeemed the map for a 3-D Thomas poster. This is now hanging on the fridge.

He was thrilled to ride on Thomas. It was actually just an extra car attached to the regular train, but the kids could care less :) After our ride on Thomas, we headed to the bouncy house Thomas, met Sir Topham Hatt, had lunch, rode on the rides and played on the playground. The day was perfect (except for that fact that Tim couldn't be with us) and a great reward for Jacob who has had several days of great behavior. I think he's finally settling into a routine. Unfortunately I have to uproot him again in a few weeks when we officially move to AL. *sigh

I highly recommend checking out the Thomas website if you have little ones that like Thomas to see if the tour is coming near you. It's a fun day geared to them!

Meet Cookie Mouse! and Other Stuff

2009-06-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, even though we are at my parents, the fun is starting to wear off and we are now getting antsy to move on and head to AL to start our new chapter. In the mean time, I struggle to find things to do with Jacob. Inside is getting old and it is too hot to be outside during the day. My mom was off on Friday and Saturday. Friday the 3 of us headed to Charlotte to go shopping. First we stopped at a fabric store and I got some fabric for a fun quilt that I know those of you with little ones will LOVE. I'll post on that soon! Then we headed to the city and had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and hit the stores.

Saturday, we went to Barnes and Noble to "Meet Cookie Mouse." Are you familiar with the "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. . ." books? Well, Cookie mouse was coming to read the story and have arts and crafts, and cookies of course! Jacob had a blast. I think he was happy to just be around others his age and have story time.

Tim headed to Pensacola on Sunday. He starts his 4-week recruiting school today. I know he's nervous about the whole change, but welcomes it just the same. He got a call on Friday that resulted in a change in his recruiting offices. Jasper is now off the list and he will be out of the city of Cullman. Good thing we didn't buy and house or rent near Jasper. He still has the same commute but should be easier since it will be interstate driving instead of back roads. Plus, our city now falls under his radius. I wouldn't be surprised if something else changes again before July. That's military life though, nothing is certain.

As for our belongs. Last Tuesday, what I thought was going to be the storage delivery wound up being our express shipment. Yay! Then Thursday we were notified that our household goods made it to Birmingham. There is a 5 day release date so Tim wasn't able to get this before he left. Our Nissan still comes up as being in the ocean when we check on it's status. All in all though, I am happy that all of our stuff in stateside again. As soon as the car arrives, the plan is to get it and continue on to AL from there since Atlanta, where the car will be delivered is 2-1/2 hours from the house.

This weeks looks to be pretty slow. However, Friday, Jacob has a big day as we are heading up to Blowing Rock to the Tweetsie Railroad to meet none other than Sir Topham Hatt and take a ride on Thomas. It's part of the Day Out with Thomas Tour. I'm really excited to see Jacobs excitement over all of this!

The Hunt for the Perfect Preschool

2009-06-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

While spending the past month in NC I've been spending some time researching preschools in our new town. The Methodist church we plan to attend has a preschool program and I thought it would be great to put Jacob there. They use the A Bekah curriculumn which a friend had recommended. I called and sounded like it was a go. Well, last week while in AL I called again just to speak with on of the directors and I told that registration started in March and that's when they filled up. Plus, because of Jacob's birthday in Mid-Nov. they won't put him with 4 year olds. Grrrrr! I explained that we are new to the area and if she had any other recommendations and I put him on the waiting list. No way in heck am I homeschooling!

Yesterday I finally got through to 2 other places. The first has their 4 yr class filled and they were willing to put him in there if they has a spot. They charge for the waiting list. No thanks.

The next and last choice is an actual Christian private school K4-12th grade. Tuition is lower than I expected +, they will accept Jacob into their early K-4 class +, he'll go 5 days a week 8-11:30 +, they use the A Bekah curriculumn +. We initially thought of putting him in 3 days since he just did 4 months of 2 days in Italy. So me being the overprotective mommy didn't want to see my baby go off 5 mornings a week. But, you have to cut the cord sometime right? Tim and my mom think Jacob will do fine. I called again this morning and found out about the early K-4 class so that eased my concerns of him being a late birthday and a boy not being able to keep up with kids that have been 4 for almost 6 months. My concern came from my own elementary experience. I am a late August baby and was always that youngest kid in my class. It really showed in elementary when I was always doing my own thing and missing recess to finish my work. By 4th grade I got my act together. The only other issues I experienced in High School when all my friends turned 16 way before me so they were all driving and I was not. My sister had similar issues as an October baby. Really have to watch those school cut off dates and b-days.

The woman assurred me we can complete the paperwork in July when we get there so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Homeowners Again!

2009-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all! Thought I would finally update you on last weeks happenings. On Memorial Day we set off for a 411 mile car trip from NC to our new town Gardendale, AL. Due to the holiday, it was a nice easy drive. Much more exciting than traveling in the other direction to Virginia Beach, a trip I know all to well. LOL! It was also our 7th wedding anniversary. We skipped the presents this year in lieu of a house.We arrived in Gardendale around 3ish. Birmingham reminds me of Tampa. So I think I will enjoy it. We stopped to see the house before heading to the hotel. Our subdivision is off of a country road with 1 lane in each direction and not much around. We are about 5 min from the Super Wal-Mart so we are not super secluded. Our street still has about 8 empty lots still available. We are 2 houses from the end of the cul-de-sac. Retirees live on either side of us but I am starting to see some 30 somethings to meet with little kids :) There is a huge new park minutes from the park with a splash playground. The town itself, is old, quaint and had a lot of new growth and development until things came to a standstill over the past year. They have movies on the lawn, an actual Christmas parade (not Holiday, thank goodness for the Bible Belt), garden shows, etc. We felt at home right away.

We spent Tuesday doing our walk through and were happy to see that the problems found on the home inspection like elecrical work had all been fixed. Note: If you ever find a new construction home please have a home inspection. We never would have found some serious things that came up on ours. After the walk through we headed to the south side of Birmingham to get a signature from the design studio. Basically saying "yeah we showed up and don't want their overpriced fixtures." On the way back we stopped at a huge open air mall that had all the things I missed. Pottery Barn, PB Kids, Restoration Hardeware, William-Sonoma, Vera Bradley, Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, and a lot of other big name stores. Not that I would ever come out with much but I love to go in and browse. It's about 25 min away via the interstate.

Wednesday our closing got moved up 2 hourse ealiers. Yay! It litarally took 10 minutes to sign everything. Much faster than when we bought and sold our previous house. Less paperwork since you don't need all those background checks of previous owners. Homeowners again! I spent that afternoon and night going from store to store finding 2in faux wood blinds. Finally wound up at Lowes got what we needed for the whole house. Tim was in charge of that while I put shelving paper in and cleaned. The cleaning was very easy since it was just a fine layer of building dust. I had the whole house wiped down in less than an hour.

Thursday we received Jacob's new bead frame, fridge and HE washer and dryer. I must say, so far the HE washer and dryer is a dream. So quiet when it runs. Supposedly it saves a lot in waterh and electric. We also decided that we would head back to NC since we were done and had an empty house.

Friday we packed up and left.
So that was our week. Jacob was very happy to come back to grandma and grandpa's house and play with toys and have a tv.

The Latest Happenings

2009-05-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Again! Well, our second week back was good. The weather is cooperating more, so more sun less rain. Jacob and I planted some sunflower seeds last week and they sprouted within 4 days. He is so excited and checks on them everytime he goes out, which is several times a day because he has to come out with whoever is taking Star out.

Jacob is enjoying his time with the grandparents and I think they are enjoying him just as much. Tim and I are enjoying the extra help which has allowed us to take walks after dinner alone, do some shopping by ourselves, and even get to have a date night. I cannot tell you how great it was to sit at a restaurant uninterrupted and relax.

The other day Jacob said to Tim "we are happy here" isn't that sweet? We can tell he is really loving the US. It is funny to see him still picking up on things that he didn't see in Sicily. For example, a trip to Shell gas is fun because they have a shell on their sign and he says we are getting "shelly gas" The chili on the Chili's sign he has called a banana, sausage, and whatever else comes to mind as we drive past. He has gotten over the novality mailboxes and garages.

Saturday we headed to the Strawberry festival in Lincoln. It wasn't what we expected. We were expecting it to be like the one in Plant City, Florida which is like a fair. This was extreamly small and the strawberries were not worth the price. The big excitment seemed to be the hula hoop contest. No joke! It was a morning out though.

This week I have gotten some things we need for the new house. Next Monday (Memorial Day) is our 7th Wedding Anniversary and we will spend it in the car driving 6.5 hours to Birmingham to close on our house on Wednesday the 27th. We will then be there until June 5th or 6th hagning blinds, getting a new fridge, washer/dryer, and hopefully our storage shipment. It's in the air if the express shipment will be there. Our inspection was done last week and we are waiting on the report. We figured we should get one even though it's new construction since we couldn't be there earlier to check things out. Tim will leave for Pensacola then and not come back to NC. Jacob and I will come back to NC and stay until the end of June, beginning of July. At some point during that we all have to meet in Atlanta to pick up the other car which as of the other day is in the ocean. A good sign it's on it's way.

While in Alabama, we also need to try and sign Jacob up for pre-school. I called the church yesterday and need to speak with the director about tution prices and days and if he can even get a spot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I've also been looking for a local MOM's club to pass the time. Jacob needs to be kept busy and socialize. So I hope all this works out.

Speaking of school, the other day Jacob said "Mommy, you need to go to work so I can go to school again." he is really missing his school. This of course opened the whole "Should Andrea go back to work" debate. I say yes, but have to wait until we get a good idea of Tim's schedule before I can commit to anything. I am ready to go back 1-2 shifts a week. I was able to renew my RN license just before we moved so now I just need to look into the AL licensing process. No test thankfully justa lot of paperwork. I'm still leaning toward looking for something in January but we'll see how things play out over the next 6 months. My goal at the moment is to get the house set up and getting Jacob settled and in a routine before I get involved in work.

Have a great week and Memorial Day weekend. Hope to find some Wi-Fi while in AL to pop in :)

More Weekend Pics

2009-05-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from our weekend.

Jacob and Star. She looks less than thrilled. Star is our pug that has lived with my parents for the past 3 years. We got her 4 months after we got married in 2002 for our birthdays.
Another beautiful rose from the Biltmore Garden

More pretty flowers

Jacob petting the goat

Yummy. . . chocolate ice cream.

Busy Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a great Mother's Day weekend if it applied. We were very busy. Saturday and Sunday we were on the go. I'll start with Sunday. The Biltmore Estate in Asheville is how we spent the day. All mom's got in free, kids got in free and if you bought tickets on-line you got $10 off. What a deal! We went there 3 years ago, right before we moved to Sicily and Jacob was only 6 months old. So, it was nice to go back. They were celebrating the "Festival of Flowers" the gardens were beautiful! We ended the day with a trip to the winery to purchase some special ed. "Festival of Flowers" Rose and White wine and ice cream. They also have a small petting zoo and Jacob thought that was great to pet the goats and chickens.

A Rose in the Biltmore garden

Jacob and I under a tree in the garden. Excuse his new picture smile. Looks like it hurts.

The smokey mountains. What a beautiful day.

The Biltmore Estate

Me and my baby

Saturday found us at the Carolina Raptor Center in Huntersville. About 45 minutes away north of Charlotte. A very nice area around Lake Norman. You can go horseback riding, kyaking, hike trails, picnic, etc. We did the Raptor center. Jacob enjoyed looking at all the owls, hawks, eagles. Most are there due to gun shot wounds and car accidents that caused wing damage or blindness. It reminded me of the places we used to go to for field trips in elementary school.

Our 1st Week Back

2009-05-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today marks our first full week back in the US. American life is agreeing with us quite nicely. We are all a little calmer, less grouchy and all smiles. We are all on track with our sleep. Up until today, I was ready to pass out by 3pm every afternoon. We've spent our first week hitting the stores, but not too hard. We got new cell phones on Monday. My phone in Italy was horrible. It was a Sony but not very user friendly and Tim would get annoyed that it was never on, charged, or with me. Now I am back to a normal flip phone that is very easy to use. If you want the number let me know. I went with Verizon, so all you Verizon people, we can talk for free. I didn't get all those bells and whistles like texting, internet, etc. I love you all but don't need constant contact when I am out and about :)

I started getting some new goodies for the house. A new house deserves some new things. I have to wait until we move in to get the bulk of what we really need but I have a nice start. This week we ironed out the closing time and date, as well as when we will get there. Looks like we will be driving to Alabama on our 7 year wedding anniversary. Not exactly what I had planned but it will have to do.

Today mom and I had a girls day out. So nice. Spent my afternoon in craft stores and Barnes and Noble. It was the first time in 2 years I've had 4 hours to shop with no husband or child. It was heaven! Tim and Jacob spent the afternoon at the park.

Jacob is adjusting well. It's funny to hear all the things that are "new" to him after living mostly in Europe on a base. He finds garages and mailboxes fascinating. In housing we had carports and no mailboxes. All mail went though Tim's work. We went for a walk tonight after dinner and Jacob asked if he could open all the mailboxes. LOL! Of couse we squashed that. He keeps asking to go to school so he is missing his friends and his little routine. We'll have to work on something in the coming days.

Our weather thus far has been rainy. We had one nice day but were out and about. Jacob has a nice little assortment of gardening supplies here and some sunflower seeds that he is just dying to plant. Hopefully, we will have some good weather soon.

This weekend we have some plans. Raptor measeum tomorrow and maybe I can convince Tim to go to the Biltmore Estate on Mother's Day. Enjoy your weekend!

We made it!

2009-05-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

Hello all! After a very busy weekend I am happy to report we are back in the US! It is so great to be back. Our last week in Sicily was very busy. We had our final "Express" shipment, house cleaning and inspection. All went great and was very easy. We then headed to the Navy Lodge for our last 2 days. Jacob headed to preschool one last time on Thursday morning. He was thrilled to see his friends one last time and spend the morning out of the "ho n' tell" as he called it. (Yes, we laugh everytime he tries to say hotel). I got a much needed hair cut and highlights that day and then we ended the evening at an Italian Restaurant across the street with friends.

Friday morning bright and early we made our way to the base airport and had a great flight. We could not have asked for better behavior out of Jacob. He slept most of the way and when awake, he watched a movie, played a match card game, and chit chatted. When we landed in Nofolk we got our rental car and made our way to Norfolk Internationl Airport to drop Tim off for his flight to Atlanta. I was a little nervous driving at first since I haven't driving in US traffic in 2 years. It was so nice to finally be on the road with drivers that obey the road rules. I got over my nervousness fast. After dropping off Tim, Jacob and I made our way to our old neighborhood. I was surprised how I remembered how to get everywere after 3 years. It all came back to me. The old house looked good. Jacob could have cared less . He only lived there for his first 6 months. After that, we made our way to our former Sigonella neighbors and good friends house, The Cummings. It was so great to see them and Jacob and their daughter, Faith, quickly got playing. They hadn't seen each other in 6 months but you would have never known.
We really enjoyed their hospitality.

Saturday came too fast. Jacob, amazingly hit the pillow at 9pm Friday and woke around 6am Saturday. I, unfortunately, only slept 4 hours. In the afternoon we headed back to Norfolk Airport and returned the car and got on our flight to Atlanta. That 2.5 hour flight was nothing compared to the day before. Once again, Jacob slept the whole flight! We easily found Tim waiting for us, picked up the rest of the luggage and hopped on the road toward NC. Our drive to NC was very easy. Light traffic in Atlanta (if you've ever been there, you know their 6 lane highway can be a nightmare). We got to my parents after 4.5 hours on the road around 1am. We were greeted by very happy parents/grandparents and a very happy Star (pug). Star and Jacob bacame instant friends. They've been chasing each other around and wearing each other out. Jacob is loving his time with grandma and grandpa and follows them around. He's not happy when they go to work though.

Sunday brought us some very rainy weather. I got about 6 hours of sleep. We returned the rental car since our Camry has been here for the last 3 years. So nice to have that back and not have to buy another car right away. Our Sentra should get here around mid-June. We had a very lazy day, took a nap, played with Star, watched American TV.

Today we are off to shop! I've been very good and showed great restraint so far. I haven't been to a Starbucks or any stores since we landed. Didn't want to get to crazy right away. Jacob earned his Toys R Us trip so we are doing that today and then Chili's for dinner!!!

As for our house, we signed the contract 2 weeks ago and everything is good. We head to Alabama the end of the month and close on May 27th. I am so excited to get there and start moving in. We won't officially move in until July though.

Thanks for all the well wishes on Facebook!

Almost There

2009-04-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends! That's right this week is the BIG MOVE. We are so excited! Jacob is finally coming to terms with the whole thing and wants to go now. He already packed his Lighting McQueen suitcase with the essentials (book, stuffed animals, blanket and cars). He told me tonight "grandma's house then new house."

We've been busy this weekend and today cleaning, sorting the last of our things, etc. Tomorrow the movers come again for our smaller shipment. Though it seemed small 2 weeks ago, it seems like we left a lot out. I'm sure it's all in my mind. Then tomorrow night we do the last of the cleaning: sweep, mop and by the looks of the weather, probably the windows again.

Wednesday we head to the hotel and Friday we leave. I plan to be MIA for a bit. Enjoying some old friends on the way to my parents, then some much needed family time for us and with my parents.

This past week has felt like the end of high school and college. You know you are done with the exams, you have the grades, you are packing up your dorm room and just waiting to walk across the stage to get that diploma. Though in this case, it's a 15 hour plane ride to the states. LOL!
I definately feel like I have paid my dues here and look forward to the big finale!

Revisiting Scrabooking

2009-04-24T03:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! It is a good Friday since next week this time I'll be on a plane back to America :)

Tonight is my last Stampin' Up! Workshop for awhile. Some might think I am crazy to do one tonight with a just a few days left, but I like doing it and I would be home watching TV anyway. The May promotion is awesome! Leave a message if you want to know more. If you like to scrapbook and you like 12x12 paper don't pass it up!

I decided to make a scrapbook page to show tonight to promote the Occassions Mini and May special. As a demo, we get to see product 1 month before it comes out. When I saw this stamp set "Choo-Choo" and it's matching wheel in the Occassions Mini, I knew I had to have it. In case you don't know, Jacob is obsessed with Thomas the Train. This stamp set I actually gave to him to play with and he was not happy when he caught me with it about an hour ago. I used the Textured 12x12 (hint, hint) In Color cardstock in Pacific Point as my base. The rectangles are Real Red and I intend to place pictures there of Jacobs 3rd Birthday which was a Thomas theme. The blobs (could be clouds or puffs of smoke) are Baja Breeze and that is where I will journal. For the bottom border I stamped the trains, cut them out and placed them on Stampin' Dimensionals. If you have a little Train enthusiast at home check out the set. It's a great price too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt #2

2009-04-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

As you may remember about a year ago I started going to quilting class. In January, we got started on quilt #2. Actually, I think I started in the fall but we took a break with the holidays. Anyway, yesterday I mentioned how I wanted to get a block done before I left. Well, last night I completed one block and got carried way and made a whole row. Of course I took breaks to watch "Lost." I woke up this morning to day 4 (I lost count) of crummy weather and sewing machine was calling my name. I completed 1 more row. If I could, I would continue this all day. I love this part of the quilt when it actually starts to look like something instead of a bunch of squares. At first I though my colors wouldn't go well, but I'm liking the results. My intention in the fall was to make this into a queen size to fit our bed. Now that we have a house, I'm going in a different direction and thinking of making it smaller and for the wall. Perhaps move my Americana theme from the kitchen to living room and hanging this on one on the huge walls. We'll have vaulted ceilings so I know there will be enough room. Decisions, decisions. Hope you like!

We survived the last week

2009-04-19T05:58:00.000-07:00

I'm back. What do you think of the new Damask background? The week was crazy. We spent all day Monday prepping for Tuesday's packout. Tuesday came and the packout went great. There were 2 Americans on the team. I like to think that was a good sign. Around 2pm Tuesday the woman who took Rusty decided he wasn't a good fit for her so, she returned him within 15 min. despite my best efforts to get her to wait until after we finished the packout. Then 30 min after that, she came back to get her friends couches just as the loaner furniture arrived. So, we had couches coming in the front door and going out the back at the same time. Some people have no respect for what others are doing. I was pretty annoyed by then the way the whole thing was handled. I'm glad Rusty was returned. He hasn't acted right since he came back which makes me wonder what she did to him. I was exhausted and in bed by 9pm, which is rare for me.

Wednesday Tim went out in town to get Rusty looked at by the Italian vet for his flight on Thursday. This went well. I went to quilting class and almost got 1 block finished. I want a little more done before I leave but we will see.

Thursday we brought Rusty to the airport to got to South Florida where my father-in-law will hold him until we get settled. We had to get the next size down in carrier to fit in the car. We arrived at the airport at 4pm just to be turned away b/c the Italians didn't like the size of the carrier. Mind you, Rusty could stand up and turn around. Needless to say we missed the flight b/c there was no way we could get back to the house and get back within 1 hour before the Alitalia people left. We got home at 4:45 and Tim locked himself in the office to make some calls to the airline. Luckily he got someone right of the bat that spoke English. Rusty would leave on Friday.

Friday, we collapsed the XL carrier and tied it down in the trunk and got Rusty back to the airport. Waited for about 45 min then it took another hour to do paperwork, weigh him, etc. We go to pay and I hand the worker my credit card. "Sorry, we don't take credit cards." What???!!! No one told us this. There are Visa and MC signs up. GRRRRR. . . so we run over to the main terminal and Tim maxed out his daily allotment in euro which left us half a payment short. My pin doesn't work so that left me in a pickle. I went to the currency exchange windsow. It is 11:05 and they open again at 11:15. Why me? As I start to walk away the worker is back. She tries my MC and it won't let me take out money (even if I had to do a cash advance I would do it at this point). Some security feature prevented this option. Ok, that's good now I don't have to get a cash advance fee. Next, try the debit card again. Luckily, by some miracle it allowed the transaction to go through. Thank you God! We now had the proper amount of euro to ship Rusty. Off he went to Miami. FYI: My father in law e-mail us this am and Rusty arrived in 1 piece.

Saturday was spent doing some yard work and stamping with a friend 1 last time. Today, Sunday is pretty calm. Actually to the point of boring. I have stuff to do, just not here in Sicily. I feel done here, just going through the motions and waiting to leave. I've been brainstorming window treatments, wall colors, etc. We got the housing contract this week and will send that back to the states tomorrow. We also got our final travel plans this past week. Even with a few hiccups this week, we still managed to pull everything off that needed to be done.

The Next 48 Hours

2009-04-12T09:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter all! Hope you've had a wonderful holiday with friends and family. We've had a busy weekend which started with the annual Egg-stravaganza on base. This is an event put on each year by the CDC where Jacob goes to pre-school. They have an egg hunt for the different age groups and games/crafts and photos with the bunny. As usual, it was utter chaos. I am so thankful it's our last base gathering like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that they have events like this for the kids and to boost moral, but . . .The last 2 years it has been outsided, but due to the possibility of rain, they moved it in the gym. Jacob was in the 3-5 year age group and got 3 eggs, he was thrilled! The older kids in his age group were leaving with a basketfull. I'm sure they had at least 10. After almost getting trampled getting out, we made our way to get a picture with the Easter bunny. That at least went well. I'd post pics but they are in my camera packed away safetly in my bag.

Yesterday morning, we got a wonderful phone call. Someone answered our ad in the paper about our couches and Rusty. Tim and I had come to the conclusion that no one wanted Rusty and we were going to send him on a plane this Friday to Miami for my father-in-law to pick up and hold him for us until we were settled. Then our prayers were answered. In the afternoon the ladies came and 1 got the couches, the other took Rusty. I had mixed emotions seeing Rusty go. Sad to see him go as he and I had that special dog/human bond but happy knowing he wasn't going to have to endure that long flight and stranger on the other end and not seeing us until who knows when, and sad for Jacob as this is the dog he has basically grown up with. Star is still in the states waiting for us but Jacob thinks of Star as grandma and grandpa's. He has asked a few times were Rusty is but then goes on to the next thing. I haven't had the heart to say he has a new home quite yet. Tim dropped some things off last evening at Rusty's new home and all seemed to be going well. So, I hope Rusty is happy and that his new owners treat him well and love him as we did.

Which leads me to today, Easter Sunday. Tim did his changeover with his replacement and he was home by the time Jacob and I woke up! The Easter bunny did a great job hiding eggs. Jacob had a fun time finding all of them. We did very simple baskets this year of some chocolate, books and Pinocchio movie. The rest of the day has been spent organizing, packing clothes, packing items for the next 2 weeks that will then go in our express shipment. The movers come on Tuesday morning and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'm better then I was almost 3 years ago when we had our packout coming here. At least I know that if I forget something, I'm going back to the states where they have everything I need. We have boxes, sticky labels, tape, markers, . . .I keep thinking I'm going to forget something. The weather has been so wacky here and from what my parents say it's not any better in North Carolina. Hot one day, cold the next. So, I'm trying to pack with that in mind but also knowing I'm going to the South and it will get hot as h@!! in no time. You'd think after moving 4 times I'd be good with it. However, I've learned it never gets easier. I'm faced with the same question: Why have we accummulated so much junk? Do we really need this or that? And when that moving truck comes on Tuesday morning that weird feeling will come over me as I watch all our personal possessions get handled by strangers and packed into boxes and crates knowing we won't see them again until July and hoping everything makes it there safely. I know they are just material possessions but it's still weird to see everything you own go into several large wooden crates.

I'll pop in later in the week with probably my last blog from Sicily. Have a wonderful week!

Weekend Happenings

2009-04-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Well, 4 weeks from today we will be in the US. So excited!! Tim is on his next to last set of 4, this started yesterday. I also, decided that Saturday would be our yard sale. Yard sales are usually more successful in Military housing if it is around a pay day. Unfortunately, I hadn't planned out the fact that Spring Break was also starting and many were on holidays to London, etc. I was up by 6:30 and thankfully Jacob slept in until almost 8am which is when the sale started. The Italian workers were the first to arrive as usual. They love our American junk! I didn't have a ton of stuff, but I did have some bulky items like Jacob's play pen, old booster seat, kitchen island, and some 220v tools and other miscellaneous stuff. I had planned to go until 1pm but around 11:40 I was left with just a small box of stuff! And a very nice chunk of change :) So happy to have unloaded all the big things I wanted to. Now we just need to find a home for our couches. Jacob did better than I expected. I was a little worried that by me doing the yard sale by myself he would be a holy terror outside but he was good. Only 2 melt downs over some toys going. He hasn't played with the stuff in ages but when he saw someone take it, that was it. I felt bad but explained it was ok to be sad but another little girl or boy would be very happy with it and he can take his money and go to the toy store when we go to America. This marginally appeassed him. Moves are hard no matter how old we are.

Last night we gathered all the financial info we need to send off to the bank for our mortgage. So fun since we've gone almost paperless with that kind of stuff. We heard back from the realtor and she is sending the contract this week and the house is basically considered ours---yay! So, I waste some of my time looking up decorating ideas on-line.

Today I have some more stuff to organize and do a little decorating for Easter. Dawned on me that Easter is next Sunday, and I haven't put decorations up for Jacob. So, I at least have a basket up now and he is happy. So much for having the holiday stuff packed.

This week we have the painter coming to fix a ceiling area in the laundry room since they didn't show up last week. Housing charges us if we aren't here when the repairmen come but if They don't show up, oh well. Same day we have the moving company coming to look at what we have to pack. I'm sure we'll have more house stuff to read, sign and send.

Have a fantastic weekend and coming week!

Moving Forward with the Move

2009-04-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings! Sorry I have no cards to show lately. I've been preoccupied with moving. We've been researching our new area. I've been in contact with an old friend from high school that lives near our new city and she had wonderful things to say. Cannot wait to meet up with her and get our little boys together.

After much research, we decided the best place to live will be a town, just north of Birmingham called Gardendale. I love what I have found so far. The community looks great, very family friendly. The schools are very good for the area and we will be needing an Elementary school in about 2 years. Many churches to choose from. One in particular has a pre-school program with before and after care. Houses are plentiful with low property taxes. I've looked into the children's hospital and am excited for when the time is right to go back to work. Especially after meeting some local nurses here over the weekend and "and talking shop" really made me start to realize there is a part of me that misses working.

Now for the exciting part. . .I think we found a house! I was shocked too that we found one so fast. It's new construction at an awesome price! The realtor sent us photos tonight and we love it! It's huge with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths on a culd-a-sac. Forgot to ask about the sq ft in my excitement. It will be nice to have something that doesn't require major redecorating and repairs. Been there done that. Tim's going to have long work weeks and now that we have Jacob we don't want to be consumed with fixing things. There is a massive backyard for Jacob and the dogs. There is a covered patio area off of the kitchen (I missed that in our last house). I can see sitting out there with cup of coffee watching Jacob play. . . The 4th room is huge which will allow for a play/craft room. The other 2 rooms look to be of average size and the master is quite large with walk in closet and bath with garden tub, jack and jill sink, and shower. The neighborhood has a pool which I think is a must in the south with the hot humid summers. Best part, I don't have to maintain it! The kitchen is beautiful. Just needs a little tweaking with curtains, new light fixture over the kitchen table area and perhaps some color. It has dark cherry cabinets (I've seen this trend or white in most new houses) with a tile backsplash and floor. I like the counters but am not sure what material they are. Above the kitchen island are recessed can lights and 2 hanging shade lights. Pretty neat!

Also this week, we spent 2 hours coodinating our packouts and inspections to move out of housing. Moving out of housing can be an ordeal. Someone comes to see how much stuff you have, then they pack it up. Someone else comes to see what repairs need to be done before you leave. Then you clean everything from top to bottom just to have someone come back approve everything sign-off the paper and leave. So that's what's ahead. Normally most of this isn't left for the last month but because we didn't have a final destination until a week ago we are doing everything at the end. We packout on the 14th and move out on the 29th. Our belongings are scheduled to arrive July 6th. We'll be visiting family so didn't need them before. We fly off the island on May 1st. I'm glad it's all coming together. I hope it continues to go smoothly over the next few weeks.

Finally, A City!

2009-03-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. It's been a busy 2 weeks. I'll catch you up on our trip to Germany in the upcoming days. The last 48 hours have been rather bizzarre and frankly I feel blind sided with everything. We never received the message that we were waiting on. Tim called GA on Tuesday and finally had someone forward the questioneer. We sent it back immediately. Apparently it had to be filled out within 10 days or they would pick for us. Then last night Tim was checking a message board he looks at that pertains to his job and someone contacted him that had heard we were going to "Jasper, Alabama" Yeah, that's what I said to. . . nice way to find out?! So today Tim did some calling to find out what the heck was going on. Georgia confirmed that we are going to Jasper. Even though we know nothing of the state that is where the opening is. Ugh! I have been rather distressed about this for the past 24 hours. I thought Alabama would be the last place we would wind up since we have no ties to it. I've spent all afternoon searching real estate websites trying to figure out where to live, schools, and what is around our new city. The town is about 1 hour from Birmingham. From what I have found, Birmingham has all the mainstream stores, restaurants and other things I have been missing for the past 3 years. They also have a Children's Hospital there. I really need to live near this city since I plan to go back to work at least part-time once we get settled. The cost of living seems to be relatively low. Trying to find a house about 10-12 years old at a decent price is a little more challenging in this area compared to what I had been looking for in GA. I'm also tying to look at commute times for Tim and me. However, things are starting to look a little brighter with all of it. I do have 2 friends about 1-1.5 hours from our new city so that is a perk and they both have little boys Jacob's age. Tim is looking forward to our move and new city. We will be over 7hours by car from my parents. I'm dissappointed by this but I'll get over it eventually. It's still better than being on another continent and 15hours away via plane.

So, that's the latest in our moving saga. In the end, I'm relieved to finally know where we are going.

Middle of March already?!

2009-03-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hello blog followers! I thought today I would share what's been going on with our personal life, move progress, etc. First, I cannot believe it is the middle of March already. Wow! I am super excited about this as it means we are that much closer getting back to the States. On the other hand it means the dreaded packing.

Tomorrow my mom comes. I am really excited about her visit. I'm a mama's girl and I haven't seen my mom in 2 years. I can hardly believe it has been that long. She and dad have been busy, and after my last trip for Amanda's wedding in July 07, I said I would try to stick it out in Italy. I'm quite proud that I've done it. Anyway, she gets in tomorrow and then Thursday we all head up to Germany for 5 days of sight seeing. Tim really needs the break from the stress of work, I want to get off the island, and I want mom to see that Europe is not all like Sicily.

Jacob is plugging along. Enjoying pre-school 2 times a week. All 4 teachers he started with in January have left with moves, etc. He seems to be doing fine with the turnover. He is finally potty trained during the day. Still has occassional accidents at night. He knows about the move but of course doesn't want to leave the only house he has ever known. Remember, he was only 7 months old when we came here. So, Sicily is all he really knows. He hasn't been to the states since he was 20months old. He's in for quite the treat.

Tim is going to work and spends his down time reading, on the computer, and diving. I think it's how he destresses and doesn't think about moving. :)

And me, I spend my time picking up after Tim and Jacob. Packing some little odds and ends. Going through rooms sorting what we keep, yard sale, and thrift store. I have boxes in rooms for this very thing. I cannot believe what we've accumulated. Again, having a kid adds a lot of stuff. I know have about 3 plastic containers of outgrown clothes and that many more of toys. I don't dare get rid of them in case we have another boy in the future.

As for our move details. LOL! I laugh because to date we still have no idea what city we are going to. We meet with the moving office March 31st. We then schedule the packout within 2 weeks of that date. I'm thinking before Easter we have our stuff taken care of. We found someone to buy our 2nd car. Yay! Our dog, Rusty, is still up for grabs. Our tickets are being dealt with in Naples. Sounds like around May 1st we will be flying out though. So, its really all on schedule. If we can just get the detail of the city taken care of I can start looking for houses. Thankfully, my parents will be taking us in until we close on a house/July 22nd. Whichever comes first. At least I get along with them.

I'll be MIA for a bit. Hopefully when I return I'll have more info.

Another Custom Card

2009-03-14T02:46:00.001-07:00

Blogger turns another photo

Card and Pretty Box

Presentation is everything!

Happy Saturday! A couple of weeks ago I was asked to make a couple of cards. You saw the first. Very pink and frilly. Well, today the 2nd card requested is due. I was a little worried. I knew what I wanted to do, I was just waiting on the new goodies to arrive. Luckily, they came late yesterday afternoon. So, I was up late creating. My original vision didn't quite work but I'm happy with the end result. This is for another friend that is PCS'ing this week. I hope she likes it!

All Stamps Papertrey Ink (PTI)

Stamps: Damask Designs, Tags for Spring, Mixed Messages

Paper: Sweet Blush (PTI), Whisper White (SU), Basic Black (SU)

Accessories: Pretties Kit (SU), Whisper White taffeta ribbon (SU), scallop border punch (SU),

"Spin" on Easter

2009-03-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

Side view of layers

Little chickie dancing!

Hello Peeps!

I've been preparing for another workshop tonight. I'm on a roll with those lately, and it has been an amazing month of stamping so far! One of my friends has been wanting me to show her how to do a "spinner" card. I followed the directions on SCS and it was SO easy! I did modify it a little. I think I might make some more of these in the future. I kept it pretty simple since it is my first one and I was just trying to get the concept correct.

All Supplies Stampin' Up!

Stamps: A Good Egg

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Basic Black

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Delicate Dots DSP, Apricot Appeal, Whisper white

Accessories: Word Window Punch, Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain, Stampin' write markers, dimensionals, pennies, soft subtles brads, 1/16" punch

Thanks for stopping by!

St. Patty's Day

2009-03-05T00:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday! Recently, I realized I had no St. Patrick's Day stamp sets. So, I improvised. Did you know you can make a shamrock from heart shapes? I stamped the large heart from SU's "Love You Much" 3 times in Kiwi Kiss ink on whisper white cardstock. I cut the stem from a scrap of kiwi kiss. The card base is, you guessed it, kiwi kiss. Now, I'm not a fan of kiwi kiss, but with the right pairing it grows on me. Green has never been at the top of my favorite colors. Sorry to digress, after that a layer of glorious green. The "Lucky" definintion is from the "Define Your Life" set by SU. That was stamped using glorious green ink. Now, after all that, I stepped back, studied the card. Left the room, came back. It looked blah. I hate blah cards. Needed a little something. So, I remembered I had some fine cosmo glitter. I dotted some of the flower centers on the hears with Tombow multi purpose glue and sprinkled the celery glitter on the glue (it's hard to see in the photo). Still needed something, so I whipped out the Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon. And voila!

First Card Order!

2009-03-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I received my first card order. Can we say "yay!" Fortunately, I know the recipient. It needed to be girly, yet serious since she is moving. I hope I did a good job. I know I personally love this card.

Stamps: Out on a Limb (PTI)

Cardstock: Regal rose, pink pirouette DSP, whisper white, pink pirouette (all SU)

Ink: Regal rose, pink pirouette, close to cocoa (all SU)

Ribbon: Wide organza (retired SU), Pretties Kit for flowers and hat pin (SU)

I almost didn't want to give it up!

Enjoy and leave a message to let me know what you think!

Mt Etna Snow Day

2009-02-26T00:33:00.000-08:00

Mt. Etna from the Car

Serious Snowman Making

The finished product

Me and my little snow angel

Hello readers!

This past Saturday we headed up to Mt. Etnea to play in the snow. A first for us here in Sicily. Figured we better do it this season, especially since we are slated to head back to the south in a few short months. That gets a "yay" for heading to the states, but a "nay" for going back to the south. I don't like to be hot.

Anyway, it was a great day of sunshine. The mountain was still covered with the white powder. Jacob had a blast making snowballs and a snowman. Well, sorta. Come to find out, the snow here is weird. Not really the proper cosistency to make a form of any kind, but still fun! Playing in the snow again instantly brought me back to my childhood memories of playing in the snow in Vermont.

We finished off the day with a trip to the Italian Grocery store for some yummy, fattening foods for dinner and vino. When we got home, I treated Jacob to hot cocoa. The homemade kind, not powdered. He loved it! Enjoy the pics!

2009-02-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

Remember that craft fair I did back in November? Well, a woman came by that liked my stuff and booked a workshop. Last night was the night. It was great group of ladies and a lot of fun. I started out with a very basic card (I'll show that one another time). The 2nd card was a little more challenging. We did paper piecing with the "Good Egg" set by SU! This particular card uses a different color scheme but is same layout, concept.

Enjoy!

Moving and the 3 year old mind

2009-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I was busy taking apart our computer desk and bringing it downstairs. One less item to move. This concerned Jacob. He wanted to know why I was taking the computer desk apart and why was it downstairs because it belongs up. . . Later, Tim and I were discussing our move. Specifically, what belongings to keep, yard sale, and put in the paper.

Jacob was sitting on the couch and joins the conversation "Don't put Jacob in the paper." We felt so sad for him. This is apparently all too much for him to process. So, certain moving conversations will have to be done in private. See how their little minds work?! Obviously, we reassured him he was NOT going in the paper, but coming with us. He was then ok with everything.

Valentines' Day Dinner

2009-02-15T01:02:00.000-08:00

Remember in yesterdays post I said Tim was going to make me dinner? Well, he did! He did an awesome job. He and Jacob got me flowers and for dinner, Tim tried one of my Rachael Ray cookbook recipes. I love her stuff! So simple, easy, etc. Anyway it was out of her cookbook, "365: No Repeats" Day 147, Italian Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti. He also got my favorite white wine. We can get it at the base and the label has sunflowers all over it. He did good!

Hope you day was just as nice.

Happy Valentines' Day

2009-02-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

First of Happy Valentines' Day everyone! Any special plans? We are staying home. I have quilting class later and since my time is limited on the island, I really need to go. Tim is going to make Jacob and I dinner. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow. After knowing him for 14 years, his culinary skills are not very broad. He says otherwise. Is that why when I ask him to make chicken or some other meat I always get asked "What temperature? and How long do I cook it?"

Normally we don't really celebrate Feb 14th. Some back story to that. When we were in 11th grade, on Valentines' Day I started getting roses in my morning classes. At our school you could send different colored roses/carnations to friends, boy/girl friends it was a fundraiser for a certain group. So, it was 3rd period and I get 6 flowers. I must have turned all shades of red. I embarrass easily. The slips of paper said they were from Tim but I really thought it was some of my friends playing a mean trick. Only a few knew I had a crush on Tim. By the end of the day, I found out it wasn't a joke and they really were from Tim. There was no school and a half-day or the next 2 days so we made a arrangements for our first date for Feb. 17th. A friday night. Actually wound up being a double date with Tim's best friend at the time and his girlfriend. It was such a nice night. Movie, pizza, and a walk on the beach. . . Oh and when he picked me up, he had a bunch of flowers. His parents owned a floral business at the time. Yes, he spoiled me with flowers those first years. That's why Feb. 17th is more our "Valentines' Day"/First Date Anniversary.

Have a sweet day!

Valentine's Cards

2009-02-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Valentines' Week I thought I would share 2 cards that were made on Friday night at my stamp camp. The nights cards/projects revolved around the Stampin' Up! Love You Much Bundle that was available in Dec and Jan. You can still get these items. They are in the new Spring/Summer catalog. Anyway, these are 2 of my favorites from the night.

All supplies are Stampin Up! Enjoy and thanks for looking!

We Have Orders!

2009-02-08T08:33:00.001-08:00

Yes folks, we finally got the orders. It was just by chance that Tim stumbled on them. Work for him has been stressful lately and he couldn't sleep. I was up playing with paper and stamps. Tim was on the computer and the next thing I know, he's yelling (well, a loud voice), "I got my orders!" We still don't know the city, so until then I call it the "mystery city." He will try calling tomorrow now that orders are in hand and get that sorted out. Oh, and the best part, we get to leave a month early! Sicily has been nice, but all my friends here agree, the faster we get back the states, the better.

Things I look forward to. . .

1. Starbucks
2. Barnes and Noble (and Stabucks coffee at Barnes)
3. Target
4. Craft Stores (Michaels, A.C. Moore, JoAnns)
5. An American Mall (with my favorite stores Ann Taylor Loft, Gap)
7. Having my Camry Back
8. Getting our Pug, Star, back (I miss that little flat wrinkly face and big bulging eyes)
9. A real cell phone plan
10. Zoos, Aquariums, etc. that little kids can go to on a rainy, boring day
11. My own house (cannot wait to paint, have a big kitchen)
12. Pumping my own gas
13. Going out to a store after 7pm (especially if an emergency comes up like ice cream, tylenol, etc)
14. Traffic lights and Stop signs and people following the traffic rules
15. Holidays with family
16. Being within driving distance of family
17. A mail box at the end of the driveway
18. UPS packages dropped off at my door
19. American Restaurants (Chili's Here we come)
20. A new city with new places to explore and people to meet. (it's a little scary too)

And of course, just to be back and appreciate everything I took for granted.
Ahhhh. . . I can see it now. . .

Busy and In Pain!

2009-02-05T05:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been over a week with nothing to blog about. Actually that's not true. There has been plenty to report. Just no time to really do it. For the "Busy" portion of the title, I've added a new activity to Jacob's weekly line-up. "Wee Movers" It's at the gym twice a week on Monday and Wednesday afternoons for 30min. It's music/song/story/movement. Not really sure how else to describe it. I'm just tickled there is something for a boy of 3 to participate in. Tim would flip if I put Jacob in the ballet class with the little girls and sports start at age 5 here. Only down fall with this class is that it cuts into his afternoon naps that he has re-discovered. So, I have a cranky, temper tantruming kid again. I cannot win sometimes.

For the "Pain" portion of the title. . .as soon as I drop Jacob off at his pre-school class I haul butt to the gym across the parking lot for a class called "Pump It Up" strength training with free weights, bands, weighted sticks (not sure the formal name for these), it's great for someone of my size since the machines are made for average-amazon people. About a year ago I was going consistently with my dear friend Rose. She has since moved and finding the motivation to go has been. . . well, lacking. Since it's been about 6 months since I last took this class, my body is so sore. My butt, thighs, arms, all hurt. It hurts to walk up and down the steps, to get in and out of the car and go from sitting to standing. It's great and painful at the same time. I decided this past week though, I really need to get off my rear and shrink it. On Monday and Wednesdays when Jacob is at Wee Movers I hop on the treadmill/elipitical and do 30min on that. Hopefully all of this will result in toned muscles and less fat.

2009-01-24T02:10:00.000-08:00

We finally got to enjoy some sunshine yesterday and Jacob got you use his new rollerblades that grandma and grandpa sent. yay! I got him all geared up with helmet, elbow and knee pads and little gloves to protect his palms. I was surprised how willing he was for me to put all this on him. He did great going up and down the street. He has the Fisher-Price training skates that allow him to wear his sneakers. They also have 3 levels of skill. He is on a 1 so the middle wheel is stationary.

Pre-school is having a great effect on Jacob. He comes home with all kinds of stories about his morning and the little girls and boys he played with. He's been more cooperative, taking naps in the afternoon again. Going to be easily at a decent time. Yay! He also just had a growth spurt. I put clothes on him the other day 2T and the sleeves were too short and his pants were looking like high waters. Now, it is with certain brands but he his pretty much in 3T. I like that he is wearing his age.

We've started talking to him about our upcoming move. It's a little over his head at this point. Sometimes he tells me "mommy, I want this house, not a new one" It's a lot for a little mind to absorb. I'm not going to bombard him with too much "new" at this point. Starting pre-school, packing up his belongs in a few months and moving to an unfamiliar area is going to have quite an impact.

As for that moving situation. . . Nothing new to report. Hummph! All in good time I suppose. I have alot to keep me busy though. Taking Jacob to school, quilting class, Stampin' Up classes, mom coming in March and going to Germany.

PaperCraft Planet Challenge

2009-01-18T03:39:00.000-08:00

I signed up over at the Paper Craft Planet website. Check it out http://www.papercraftplanet.com/

They had a challenge posted that looked very unique so I decided to play along. I liked the corset/shoe lace look that was part of the challenge.

For this card, I used some contraband (aka, non SU items), I know horrible. LOL!

For the hearts, this is actually 2 stamps. I inked the larger one in Rose Red and the smaller one in Regal Rose. I then cut them out and placed the smaller heart on the larger heart using a dimensional. Overall I kept it very simple and didn't really stray from the original sketch.

Supplies:Stamp Set: Heart Prints by PaperTrey Ink

Paper: SU Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Rose Red DSP

Ink: SU Rose Red, Regal Rose

Accessories: SU Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, word window punch

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting to know me!

2009-01-17T05:45:00.000-08:00

I got this from my friend, Justine's blog. Look it over, learn a little about me and try it too.
Highlight those that pertain to you and add a little extra in parentheses if you want.

Enjoy!

1. Started your own blog (you'r reading it)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (More times than I can count thanks to living in the Tampa Bay area)
8. Climbed a mountain (Mt. Etna)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (Loved it! )
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (More like from my in-laws dock)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (Yup, when I was 8, awesome view of NYC)
18. Grown your own vegetables (more like an attempt)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (Much smaller in person, but still cool)
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Yes, I've played hookie...Mental Health Days)
24. Built a snow fort (best use of snow days in VT)
25. Held a lamb (fed one when I was 4 and it wouldn't let go)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (very neat)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (both! Tim and I have watched many sunsets on Clearwater beach)
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (Yup, actually living there now)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (I highly recommend this with your hubby)
46. Been transported in an ambulance (Tim and I got into a car accident our Sr. yr of high school)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (not exactly. Stood under it b/c it was too windy)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (tried snorkeling, not a fan)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (yes, and it was so much fun)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (no but my mom was an extra in one)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (yes, thanks to my in-laws owning a floral business)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (never weighed enough when I had the opportunity, now I could though)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (I will in March when I go to Germany)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (yes, and it is awesome! I love NYC)
74. Toured the Everglades (driven through them on my way to Miami)
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (2-nothing like that new car smell)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (yes, when I was in second grade my class was in the paper)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (walked past the outside, does that count?)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (it lasted 2 weeks and was horrible, glad there is a vaccine now)
89. Saved someone’s life (kinda comes with being an RN)
90. Sat on a jury (almost)
91. Met someone famous (some General Hospital actors at MGM Studios)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (several)
99. Been stung by a bee (twice in 1 month when I first moved to Sicily. Never before that

Hope you had fun and learned a little something!

A Valentines' Tree

2009-01-15T00:15:00.001-08:00

Hope you liked yesterday's card. I have another one for you today.

Again, all items are from Stampin' Up!

This card is folded at the top so it opens different than most.

Stamp Set: Season of Friendship (Holiday Mini), Holidays & Wishes

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Cardstock: Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Accessories: Heart to Heart Punch (in new catalog part of Valentines' Bundle)

I also want to add, I didn't come up with this idea on my own. I've seen many versions of this and this is my version.

Enjoy!

Goody, Goody, Gumdrops

2009-01-14T14:08:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile since I posted one of my little card creations, so I thought with the release of the new Stampin' Up! Catalog on Monday I would give you a little preview. This is a card I made for a swap I was part of in the states hosted by my uplines upline. I had to make 16 card fronts and if they got to VA on time, in about a week, I should be getting 15 different images back! Sorry for sideways card. Sometimes blogger turns them.

All Items Stampin' Up!

Stamp Set: Goody, Goody Gumdrops (Level 3 Hostess)

Paper: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Cameo Coral
Ink: Jet Black Staz-on, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: Large and Small Oval Punch, Water Color Wonder Crayons, Blender Pen, sponge, dazzling diamonds, crystal effects, dimensionals, certainly celery ribbon

Enjoy!

First Day of School

2009-01-13T06:29:00.000-08:00

Our little baby is growing up! Jacob started pre-school on Jan. 6. He goes on Tuesday and Thursday for 3 hours on those mornings. He loves it! On the second day he marched right into the middle of the class and announced "Hi friends, I'm back." I don't think he is going to have a shyness problem.

Trying to get the official "First-Day of School" picture went good for the first 2 shots then Jacob put up his hand and said "that's enough mommy, no more" You can see where it started to go South.

I'm excited for him going and having some structure to his week. I can tell he is getting bored at home. I've already noticed a difference in him after 3 days of going. He is actually back to taking naps again, which means he is more pleasant. I am excited about my 2 hours I have to myself to do whatever. It's also nice to start having a routine again. I feel like I get more accomplished when I have to be somewhere and work around that. I am so excited to head back to the states this summer and getting Jacob set up at a pre-school, Mom's and/or Mops group, sports. And doing all those other mommy/child activities. I really think that will make a difference and I feel that's where we are lacking at the moment. All in due time I suppose!

Rain, Rain, Go Away. . .

2009-01-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

Come again another day. . . .Please just go and come back after June. I am so sick of rain. I think living in Florida for 15 years has had a profound affect on me that requires me to see sunshine 5 days a week. I got a call today at 11am from the base hospital that my afternoon appt would need to be rescheduled of the weather. I took care of that and was on my way to pick Jacob up from school. The base was insane as everyone was quickly trying to pick up kids and head home before the roads flooded. Luckily we live in the housing that is closer and the roads were ok. In the hour I was gone though, one spot in particular became a little precarious to drive through. I don't know how the water didn't flood my car. Hope my friends that live further safely got home.

Due to the weather and some water seeping into my living and dining room, the potential of the leavy being opened and flooding where we live, I decided to cancel my stamp club tonight and tomorrow. Don't you know, the sun is know trying to come out. Geez! Darned if I do, darned if I don't.

So, that's the recap of today. Now, you might be wondering where I've been since 2008? Here, 2009 didn't start off particularly well. I won't go into details as it is personal. I don't want to rehash the whole thing. Just know that we are all well.

The missing Christmas presents finally all trickled in between Dec. 31-yesterday. Grandpa, who landed in the hospital (few posts back) is now back in New Jersey doing well. We heard from the recruiting command and Tim has some stuff to complete by the end of January. We need to call the office in Atlanta and find out where exactly we will go. So happy the ball is rolling on that. I've started doing some packing already. The Christmas stuff is all tucked away. I've started to go through my office/crap/craft room and throw stuff out and sort for my craft yard sale. I'm a pack rat and that room looks like a hurricane came through it. One of my best friends forever (27 years) came to visit last Monday. We tried to make the best of the week, but the weather put a damper on most of the trip, as did my 1-day personal issue stated above. Most activities and places to visit here require being outside. Jacob started pre-school last Tuesday. I'll post separately on that. My mom made her plane reservations for March, Yay! I've reserved 5 days at a resort in Germany for all of us. I am so excited!

Hope that catches you up to speed on what's been going on.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T14:16:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!

I am really looking forward to 2009. You don't know how long I've been waiting to say "We are moving back to the States this year." Well, maybe you do if you chat with me on a regular basis. Tim says we will more than likely have our orders in March. Ugh!!!!

Grandpa is doing much better. Haven't been able to reach anyone today, but as of yesterday he was still in the hospital.

All but 2 boxes of our Christmas presents from the States finally made it here today. A week late but better late than never. Jacob was so excited to get everything else he was waiting for. He finally got his Thomas Round House (or Browned house as he calls it) and various other buildings and track. I guess we need one of those fancy table to put in on next but that will have to wait until we move. I'll post pics soon of what my living room looks like. The Island of Sodor has taken over! He's happy so that's what's important. He also got a Cootie Bug Game. Ever have that as a kid. I did. We tried to play the proper way which lasted all of 10 minutes. Then he decided to just put the bugs together. At least it was better than the 3 of us trying to play CandyLand. That was an experience.

Tim started back on Night shift this week. Yuck! This means he's basically a zombie for the next couple of months. Luckily, if my calculations are right, it's his last batch of Night Shifts here.

The weather for the past week has been dreary. I am so ready and in need of seeing some sun! Plus, Jacob got some starter roller blades with protective gear that he wants to try out. That and a remote control car. After a few crashes in to the furniture I have decided it will have to be an outside toy.

Tomorrow will be spent slowly taking down the Christmas decorations and preparing for the arrival of my best friend Sara on Monday. We've known each other since we were 4yrs old. Though we don't get to see each other often and we found out years ago we are terrible pen/e-mail pals, we can still pick up where we left off. Pretty good since we haven't lived in the same town in over 20 years!

Well, there is about 30 minutes left of 2008 on my end. Enjoy your celebrations and stay safe!

Just Checking In

2008-12-28T22:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas. Our was nice and quite. Tim was working the 4 evenings leading up to Christmas. By Christmas Eve, I was ready to pull my hair out with Jacob. He was excited and wound up, etc. Our Christmas Eve was spent just the 2 of us and a frozen pizza. We watched a couple of movies, set out some milk and cookies, read "The Night Before Christmas" and called it a night. Jacob went to be surprisingly well. Tim was thankfully home by 10:30. Much better then the 3am the night/morning before due to unexpected happenings at the end of the shift.

More than half our packages from the States have still not made it to Sicily :(
I have been bummed about not being "home" with my family for Christmas. It's tough knowing my parents, sister, grandparents are all together and we cannot be there. Glad this is our last Christmas in Sicily.

Christmas morning, I woke up to Jacob in my face whispering "it's Christmas morning mommy, let's go down stairs" We all went downstairs to find that Santa came! The unwrapping took about an hour, as oppossed to the hours last year. Had we had the rest of our packages I'm sure it would have been an all day affair again. Jacob was happy with his new Thomas the Train toys. I think we have just about every wooden engine they make! He added a few new buildings and track to his collection. Tim got a Wii. That has been a lot of fun. For me, I got some new Vera Bradley stuff, quilting books, and some other goodies.

I made a nice ham dinner. Of course Jacob decided he wanted Pizza bagels for his Christmas dinner. Jacob was completely worn out by 7:30pm.

Spent the last couple of days lounging around the house. The weather has been rainy. I really miss our treadmill that is in storage after being cooped up in the house for a few days.

Last night I called my parents to see how things were since Christmas. They were at work, but Grandma was home with some bad news. Grandpa had to go the the hospital very early that morning for chest pain/heavieness/shortness of breath. The doctors say he has Congestive Heart Failure. Lovely. Reason number xxxx why I want to be home this year. And of course it is a Sunday and he is in North Carolina not New Jersey where they live so they cannot get his files or speak to his doctors until today. I didn't understand how it came on so suddenly but after refreshing my adult cardiac health it made sense. I wouldn't be surprised if he has had this for the past couple of years but it was just treated and not given a name. I really want to call back but it's 2am. Gotta love the 6 hour time difference.

That's the latest on my end. Tim heads back to work tonight to start night shift. Luckily, if I calculated right, this is his last block of nights while we are here!

I'll keep you all updated!

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-24T12:53:00.000-08:00

The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, the goodies are baked and the tree is trimmed. Now we wait for Santa. . .

Have a Merry Christmas where ever you are this year.

Love,
Andrea, Tim and Jacob

Christmas Baking. . .Mmmmmmmm

2008-12-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

I love baking, especially at Christmastime. One of my family traditions, which I am continuing is the cookie and bread baking. As a kid, I remember the days (not weeks) leading to Christmas, my mom, sister, and I would spend hours in the kitchen making Chocolate Chip, Spritz, Oatmeal, and Sugar Cookies. I remember the cooling racks all over the dining room table and on towels on the floor. We didn't have pets and my mom has OCD when it comes to the floors so it was good. Then we would make breads, Banana and Strawberry. I love the strawberry and until this past year, I have never met anyone else that has heard of this Strawberry bread recipe. I warn you though, its a diabetics worst nightmare the amount of sugar between 2 loaves of bread.

Now, after all this baking of course my siser and I wanted to dig in, but we were not allowed. We had to wait until Christmas Eve. Ugh!!! Usually that was the next day but when when your are between 4-8 years old that feels like an eternity. Sometimes my dad would get in the action and make his famous rum balls. Those are good! Oh, and in case you were wondering we had 3-5 family members that would brave the elements in the 5 hour drive from New Jersey to Vermont for Christmas so the sweets didn't last long.

Now, I am not countinuing on this grand scale. There are only 3 of us for now, we get no company. Between yesterday and today Jacob and I made Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter (forgot that one, we did that too as kids), Oatmeal Choc. Chip (sent those to work with Tim with PB ones), and Strawberry Bread. I'm still deciding on the Spritz. It's a pain though to get the Green food coloring just right and stuff the cookie press.

That's all for today. The presents from the States are finally making their way here. We got 1 last night and Tim said he as 7 boxes today! I told my parents to go light but they still sent 6 boxes. Good grief!

Thanks for stopping by and have a Very Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . .

2008-12-19T23:46:00.000-08:00

That's how I feel and that's how it looks in my house and surrounding neighborhood. I love that song by the way. I like just about any Christmas song. I would have Christmas music playing 27/7 this time of year but Jacob has enough after about 30min.

I think the house is finally ready for the arrival of the big man himself (Santa) this week. The tree is as done as it is going to get. Still cannot get my Angel on top, but oh well. I really want a nice garland but that will have to wait until next year when we are stateside and have more choices available. I either want to do a Cranberry colored ribbon or get wooden red beads. I don't have the patience to string popcorn and cranberries, nor do I want to prick my fingers over those cranberries. I have really taken to the red thing since living here. I think my friend Lindsay is rubbing off on me with that. I used to be a Blue/Green girl.

Jacob commented the other day, "I like my Christmas House Mommy." Glad he is happy with it. He really gets Christmas this year (the santa and toys part) and for that we are happy. Working on the religious aspect next. I think that is that hardest especially when it's not openly discussed anymore. I explained our Nativity scene to him and for now he has down Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I have a great Golden book from when I was his age that explains the Christmas story in very simple terms so we've been reading that too. Also, watching my favorite Christmas cartoon "A Charlie Brown Chirstmas." For now Jacob is walking around saying "script girl, lunch break, lunch break." It's amazing though what his little 3 year old mind can make sense of.

Tonight is Tim's Christmas Party for work. So we are going to that. The menu sounds amazing as do the prizes. Plus, a night out childless happens once every 6 months (or so it seems) so we are taking advantage of that.

This week we are anticipating lots of packages from the States. I am a little worried they won't make it here for Christmas but we shall see. Monday I meet with the CDC to get Jacob enrolled in Pre-School come January. Yay! I also have my annual baking fest to do: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Spritz Cookies, Strawberry Bread and Banana Bread. It's just a small amount of what we did as kids but I still look forward to it. This year I have a little helper who loves to bake with mommy. He's been looking forward to making cookies.

I'll check in before Christmas with some pictures hopefully of our preparations. Have a great weekend!

A trip to see Santa

2008-12-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

This morning Santa came to Sigonella. This is the 3rd (and final) year we have seen Santa here. I am happy to say that 3rd times a charm. This year the organization of the whole event was the best ever. A few days ago I was gearing Jacob up. In the past, we stood on line for 45 min just to get there and he starts crying, etc. Like in "A Christmas Story." Days ago he told me he didn't like Santa, he liked the Reindeer. Great. Last night I told he he had to tell Santa all the Thomas toys he wants and that did. He rattled everything off and this morning said he was ready.

We stood on line a long time but it moved. Santa looked authentic and Jacob went right up there with Mrs. Clause and started telling Santa everything he wanted like a pro. I even go a good picture. Yay! So proud of my little man today.

We are off now to the Security Associations Children's Christmas Party where we will see Santa again, play games and make some crafts. Then we are off to a "Christmas Open House" where some of my craft goodies are on display. To quote that magician in Frosty. . ."Busy, Busy, Busy"

Finally, we know where we are going, well almost.

2008-12-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

So, after a crazy 48 hours of learning why we hadn't gotten orders yet and what our new option was we finally know something. Too many people not enough spots is what it comes too. So, Tim will be a recruiter for the Navy beginning in summer 2009.

Initially we thought we would get to pick North Carolina but soon found out that NC and VA were not options as we are not dual military. Of the choices we were then given, the Atlanta region which was the next best thing. This includes all of Georgia, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. I would rather not think of going to Florida let alone the Panhandle. After living in the Clearwater/Tampa for 15 years I'd like to think I've been there, done that (no offence to my buddies that still live there). Alabama would be ok. We have friends from college there (hi Beth!). Geogia is what we would really like preferably around Atlanta. Looks like good schools, low cost of living and awesome Children's Hospital for me to eventually work at, good shopping (a must!), lots of activities. One of Tim's sisters lives near by. I am really happy with the price of houses and options. When it came down to it, I wasn't happy with the house selection in VA for what we could comfortably afford on possibly 1-1.5 paychecks. I have rediculously high standards and wasn't feeling it. Looks like that will not be a problem in GA (or so I hope).

We now wait to get the orders and then proceed from there. We don't think we will have a definate city until we get there, but I think there has got to be a better way. Of course, my way of thinking and the way things are done are two separate things which then causes me much anxiety and frustration. For the next 5 months I will probably pester Tim about this issue until I get an answer I like :)

Rome Pics

2008-12-02T00:17:00.001-08:00

Yes, I was bad and took a picture in the Sistene Chapel. Sorry so dark.

Aunt Amanda and Jacob in the Colosseum

Jacob at Trevi Fountain. He Said "This is the Perfect Trip"

Trevi Founatin at Night

Colosseum

Colosseum Arches

Roman Forum

Forum

These top 2 pics are birds in the sky. We had never seen anything like it. The formations were very rhythmic.

Jacob in front of the fountain at the Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps (Note to my retail snob friends: The street leading up to the steps has Burburry, Armani, Gucci, Salvatore Faragamo, Luis Vittone, etc. Amanda and I had fun window shopping. If only. . .)

Just a pretty Church

Fall Leaves ( I miss Fall)

Tiber River

Pantheon (Raphael's tomb inside)

St. Peter's Basilica

Fountain in St. Peter's Square

Here are the pictures from our trip to Rome. I cannot believe we have been home 1 week already. First off, we loved it. Reminded us of Paris. I think I like Paris better though. If you go to Rome this time of year I HIGHLY recommend a scarf, had, and gloves. We didn't plan on it being that cold. Luckily we had the winter coats.

I also highly recommend purchasing a Roma Pass. Currently 20 euro but going up to 23 euro in January. Kids are free (I forget what the cut off is but 3 is free). This gives you unlimited use of public transportation (Metro, buses, etc.) for 3 days and free entry to 2 museums. After you use your 2 free, you get discounts. Not valid for Vatican Museum. We used our freebie to go into the Colosseum and run around the Roman Forum. It paid for itself. We also used the Metro to get around. Jacob loved riding the train. We also had great luck and did not fall victim to pick-pockets. There are a lot of pan handlers around the Colosseum. If you see guys dressed as Gladiators who want you to take their picture, run the other way. As we found out 5 euro later. Live and learn. Food was pretty good. I think it is better in Sicily. I think it's because in Sicily, we pretty much have natives. In Rome you have a little of all ethnicities.

As for accommodations, we stayed at a flat up the street from the Metro Capri. This was one stop away from the Vatican. It seemed like a good mile or so walk from the flat to the Vatican so we took the Metro. We still did ALOT of walking. Our flat was great, 2 big rooms, kitchen, living room and bathroom with washer. If you have little ones this is the way to go. There was also a little supermarket up the street so we ate in for a few meals. Great for those picky little eaters. If you would like the contact info let me know. It was 100 euro a night and certainly beats having to drive in everyday and find parking. Our cab ride from the Airport was between 40-50 euro. All cabs in the area max out at 50 euro so don't pay more than that. It took us 1 hour to get out of the city to the airport at rush hour for our plane home. Glad we went when we did. I'd rather be early than late.

So that's our trip. Try to go if you can. We only did the Vatican Museum but if you don't have little ones and have the time check out the other museums in the city. There are hundreds I believe. Tim and I hope to return in the future to do all that.

Thanksgiving Weekend Update

2008-11-30T03:41:00.000-08:00

Friday I headed to base with our company. It was nice to be childless for a little while. Tim didn't want to experience the day after Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza. I got a few Kitchenaid small appliances to replace what I had. They were 20% off plus no tax. Yay! I was going to wait on these until we move back next summer, but it was too good to pass up. I got some other things too but don't want Tim to know since they are his presents. Later in the day we all headed to Caltigerone and the mall. The weather was horrible and we go drenched. But at least they got to see some other parts of Sicily.

Yesterday we bid farewell to Amanda and Chris as they went back to the States. Actually, Amanda headed back to Texas and Chris went to visit his friend in Berlin. So, our house is quiet and lonely. I love to have visitors and it always such a let down after they leave. I am happy knowing that this summer will move us much closer to them. After a very early wake up call to the airport, the 3 of us went back home and went back to sleep for a few more hours. We headed back to the mall to pick up the best fake Christmas tree I have ever seen. After converting the 280cm to feet it comes in at a whopping 8.8ft! I know, it's GINORMOUS! And a steal at roughly $180. I'm not into the whole pre-lite tree thing, plus they always look scrawny and are way more $$$. Finally decided no more real trees. They are messy, are brown by Christmas and with Tim and Jacob's pollen allergies it just seemed like a better way to go. Just my opinion though.

Jacob is all in to Christmas this year. He looks at the tree and calls it his christmas tree. He asked Tim to make a Christmas house (we assume he meant decorate). He told me last night he wants his friends to come and see the tree. We haven't even put the lights and ornaments on it yet, wait till he sees that!

Tim has to work this evening so I am catching up on housework that got neglected over the past week. I did squeeze in a few minutes to briefly view our Rome pics. We got lots of good ones. So hopefully I can get those on here and Facebook tonight.

Thanks for Checking in.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T02:06:00.001-08:00

Note: This was intended to post on Thanksgiving, but one our many power outages throughout the day prevented this. Better late than never I suppose.

I am so excited to have family in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with. Which leads me to this post. What am I thankful for. . .

1. Husband - Tim is an excellent husband. We've known each other for 14years and he still manages to surprise me and sweep me off my feet :)

2. Jacob - How is it that such a little person can take over your whole life? Loving a child is so much different than a spouse. Maybe because I am a mom I feel this way. I am so thankful to be Jacob's mom and being able to watch and help him grow into a person with opinions, feelings, a sense of humor. . .it's not always easy and I have my moments (many) where I need to be more patient but I wouldn't change it for anything.

3. Extended Family- Even though my family is spread out, we are still good about calling and e-mailing on a regular basis. Being over here in Sicily I really miss them. But technology makes this a little easier to deal with.

4. Friends (Facebook has reestablished this) - I still keep in touch with Sara, my best friend of 26 years! And even though we have very different lives and don't get to talk that often (we are horrible pen-pals) we are able to pick up with out missing a beat when we do get together. I love those types of friendships. I was very worried about having military friends with the way we all move but after living here I have formed some life long friends. And someone said, "Friends are the family you Pick" (or something like that)

5. Health - Being a Nurse, I've seen it all from the delivery room to the morgue. It really make you appreciate the circle of life. Every year at this time I think of my tiniest patient that passed away in my arms and makes me realize how blessed I am to have a healthy family.

6. Travel - Over the past 2.5 years I have traveled to places I never dreamed I would see, let alone by the age of 30. (Paris, Munich, Rome . . .)

7. SAHM- That's "Stay-at-Home-Mom" Since living in Sicily this has been a reality. Hard at first but easier now. After listening to my Stateside mommy friends I am grateful for this experience.

8. For the opportunity to live where my ancestors came from. Yes, I am an Italian American ( aka Andrea Marie Gulino). Half Sicilian/Half Calabrian. So, to be able to actually live where my Great and Great Great Grandparents lived has given me a better understanding of some of the ways I grew up. I am also appreciative of them immigrating to the U.S.!

9. Education - I am thankful I was able to go to College and pursue the career path I always wanted . Especially in these economic times! I feel secure knowing when we go back to the States I can add to the family income.

10. Our Military - I appreciate the sacrifices our military members and military spouses make to keep our nation safe from harm. Long hours, single-parenthood, deployments, etc. It's not an easy job and at times thankless. I really wish everyone in the States could see some of the "news" we receive here about the good our Soldiers and Sailors do all over the world. I believe the news media has done a great disservice in this area. So, the next time you come across a military member, please thank them for all they do.

We're Baaaaaack!

2008-11-26T01:34:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know we returned from Rome LATE last night. Our flight was delayed so instead of getting in around 9:30pm, we landed around 10:30pm and until we got the luggage (airport was on the ball for once with that!), found the car, got to the house, etc. didn't get to bed until almost 1am. We all slepted in this morning, which was much needed. So great to see Amanda and Chris. Jacob has taken an immediate liking to Aunt Amanda and must know where she is at all times. It's really cute. Rome was great! Jacob did amazingly well yesterday at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica the Church itself and the tombs of the Popes. It's as if he knew why he had to be quite. We also saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum and some other places. I'll post pics next week when we get back to normal.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I know we have much to be thankful for this year!

Off to Rome and some other random updates.

2008-11-20T15:04:00.001-08:00

First, an update on the TMJ situation. I now have about half of my jaw mobility back. So, I guess that is better than nothing. I really don't want to go in to the dentist tomorrow because that will just mean more meds. The Motrin is working just fine. I took 1 Flexeril and that knocked me out for half a day. To potent for little me.

As for my vacation. We leave on Saturday and return on Tuesday night. I am so excited to go to Rome because it also means seeing my sister and her husband, who I have not seen since their wedding in July 2007. I am also excited to see how Jacob does with them. That is the biggest thing I regret living overseas, all the family he is missing out on. I grew up like that, and I never wanted the same for my kids. Oh well, I guess I can relate. When we get back on Tuesday we will spend the rest of the week showing them around, Mt. Etna, Catania Market, mall (my sister will enjoy that), and Taoromina (my favorite place!).

I have a long list of places to see in the short amount of time we are in Rome. We might have to sprint from sight to sight. LOL! Seriously, there are the tourist spots to see and just the fact I am getting off this Island. After awhile it feels like living in a fishbowl. Can you tell I am over it?

We still have no orders. Humph! Seeing how we are suppossed to leave in June, we should be finding out soon. I really want to start looking for a house. I miss owning our own home. I love painting the rooms and decorating it. All in good time I suppose.

That's what's happening in my corner of the world. I'll check in again for Thanksgiving!

Hope your morning was better than mine. . .

2008-11-18T01:51:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to find that I could barely open my mouth. Very scary. The left side of my jaw felt like a tight rubber band. So, of course I started to get scared, then Jacob was being fussy and I could hardly talk to him. I tried to ever so carefully and slowly open my mouth but that's when the popping and pain started. Greeeeat, TMJ. I've had occassional random popping before on the left side but it lasted seconds. I called the dentist and luckily they could see me.

My next issue was finding what to do with Jacob. My neighbor moved, my other friends with little ones had already left for their Tuesday activities, the CDC was booked solid. I called Tim and luckily after 45 minutes he called back and came home.

The dentist was very nice. Of course I was thinking the worst, would they have to do surgery, manually pop my jaw back? (I have a dental phobia going back to my childhood of orthodontic work). Luckily, some stretches, Motrin, Flexerall, and a soft diet are all that are needed to hopefully regain normal use of my jaw. The dentist asked if I am having any stress. Lets see, I just finished a crazy week, havn't slept right in a few days, have company coming and a trip to Rome and 3 year old boy. Yeah, I have some stress! I can only comfortably open my mouth enough to fit in a toothbrush or spoon. Gotta love ball and socket joints! Luckily for my family this also means they don't have to listen to me LOL! So, right now I am enjoying some vanilla yogurt and waiting for the motrin to kick in.

I'll keep you updated on the situation!

Jacob Turns 3!

2008-11-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

11/14/2007
2 Years

11/14/05

11/14/06
1st Birthday

November 14th was Jacob's 3rd birthday. Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. . .Here is a look back at Jacob on his birthdays, my he has grown!

Yes, I am still alive. . .

2008-11-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Sorry I have neglected to post yet again. Very busy around here. To quickly recap, last Saturday we had Jacob's Kid 3rd Birthday party. We kept it small with just the few families we met from the beginning of our time in Sicily. I originally wasn't going to do a kid party this year but after we got invited to several Jacob wanted one.

Sunday I co-hosted a farewell party with 2 other ladies for my very dear friend Rose. We have been neighbors from the beginning of our time here, moved in 1 month apart, and have become the best of friends. We really lucked out to have such awesome neighbors and friends! Definately one of those rare friends that you know you won't lose contact with. Very hard to say good-bye, but hopefully we will get to move near them in the summer (should have an update on that later in the week!)

Monday I had lunch with Rose, did some Christmas shopping, and held night 1 of Stamp Club.

Tuesday was spent in Caltigerone with 2 friends. Nothing else scheduled.

Wednesday and Thursday were the other 2 Stamp Clubs.

Friday was Jacobs's actual birthday. My little boy is 3. . .where does time go? I also got ready for my 2nd craft fair of the season. Stayed up waaaay to late preparing, but that's what us procrastinators do.

Which brings us to today, Saturday. The craft fair was VERY successful. I got home ate lunch and took a much needed 3 hour nap. Thanks to my great hubby for getting Jacob so I could catch my beauty rest ;) By the way, if you missed out I still have some things.

Tomorrow I am hosting my annual Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. I am pleased with what I came up with. I only wish I wasn't limited to coming up with 5 designs. Oh well.

Yes, I am nuts and have been dubbed the "Craft Nazi" by one of my friends. LOL! And yes, the maddness is catching up with me. My poor family hasn't had much of my attention . Thank goodness we are taking a much needed family vacation next weekend and I have nothing scheduled this week.

I will post some pics of the past week hopefully on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Halloween Pics

2008-11-07T15:52:00.001-08:00

As promised here are the pics from Halloween, just a week late! But, better late then never right?

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic night of Trick or Treating, I know we did. The day was pretty chaotic for me. I spent all morning finishing my last minute cards for the craft portion of the base Autumn festival. I wanted to do more but time was limited and I wasn't quite sure what to expect turnoutwise. I was leaving the costume prep to Tim. He had to get Jacob to the base for 4:15 for the annual kids costume parade and Trick or Treats as the different booths. I arrived around 2pm to meet my craft table partner, Angela. It was "blustery day" to quote Winnie the Pooh. I thought it would rain at any minute but it didn't. Parking was a nightmare as it usually is with these events. I found my table and Angela found me and we set up. Tim and Jacob arrived around 4:30 and we got to go to the different organization booths to get some candy.

I stayed at our booth until a little after 7:00 and headed home to get at least a little door-to-door trick or treating in. I came home to find Tim already let Jacob get into some of his candy. . .greeeeat! We headed out and Jacob was all excited telling us which way to go. He kept telling up "I want another house to say trick or treat" soooo cute. He really got into it this year! We recycled his Spider costume from last year, which was a big hit again. Even though we got started a little late, there weren't a lot of houses giving out candy this year. I think the festival had a lot to do with it. Jacob had a great time though, and when we tried to each hold his hand to cross the street he screamed thinking we were trying to take his candy. LOL! Don't stand between a preschooler and their candy!

When we got home Jacob sat down and empty out his bag taking out each piece of candy saying "this is the perfect treat" he kills me with the stuff he says!

Note: I will post the pics later when blogger or the laptap decided to cooperate.

Boo!

2008-10-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Jacob wanted to wear his "Boo" jammies to bed tonight. Aren't these just the cutest?! My parents sent them in his Halloween box. He has a Turkey pair as well. So after his bath, he wanted to "go scare daddy" so we went downstairs as quitely as we could (have you ever tried quiet with a 2 year old?). Jacob found Tim and said "boo!" Of course Tim played along :) Then I tried to get a few pics. I think Jacob might have a future in modeling. You should have seen the poses he was trying out. I should have snapped a few more pics but I was getting a little frustrated. Enjoy!

Christmas Cards

2008-10-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've been getting ready for a craft fair I am doing with one of my club members next week at our "Autumn Fest." I am really excited about this since it is my first! I hope it is successful.

Here are a few Christmas cards I have come up with so far. The pictures don't look that great but I am happy with the cards in person. Christmas tree on the top left was done with my BigShot. Having so much fun with that machine.

The "Post Card" card, was done with the SU "Winter Post" stamp set, which I LOVE! It has that vintage feel. The die cut was the top notes die that is exclusive to SU. The final card is the SU Level 3 Hostess set "Window Dressing." This window is so versatile. All papers and ink are also Stampin' Up! products. If you need more details let me know. Thanks for stopping by!

Blogger Illiterate

2008-10-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

After about an hour of unsuccessful attempts to add a counter to this blogg I found a tutorial. After needing to open about 3 tutorials to find what I needed I finally added a hit counter. yay! It was so simple after I found the correct tutorial! I started with a rather low number so I hope to see the numbers climb.

More Birthdays!

2008-10-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is a crazy time of year for my family and birthdays. The majority of us have them August-Nov. just nuts. So whose is it today. . .

Happy Birthday Amanda and Chris!

My sister and brother-in-law are both 26 today. Amanda is older though by a few hours. So the joke is that Chris married and "older woman" LOL.

I am very excited they are coming to visit next month for Thanksgiving and a trip to Rome. I cannot wait!

So above is a pic of Amanda and I at her wedding last summer. Of course I was the Matron-of-Honor (I don't like the word Matron--makes me feel old) Wasn't she a beautiful bride. And yes, though I am 4 years older I am shorter. I see blogger has now decided to act up so I will not get to post a pic of Amanda and Chris right now. Oh well.

Random Pictures of Jacob

2008-10-10T00:27:00.000-07:00

I discovered I have neglected to post pictures of Jacob for a while. So sorry. Actually I have not taken any pics recently. Funny how when it's your child's first year the pictures are snapped 100 times and day and as they get older the camera sits for longer intervals.

The story with Jacob and the Sunglasses. . .He came down stairs one day when he was suppossed to be napping with these silly plastic sunglass upside down. Waves at Tim and says "hi daddy" it was so funny and cute the way he did it and he looked rediculous. We refer to the picture as "The Elton"

Now the other pic to your left with the dive paraphanalia. As many of you know Tim has taken up diving since we have lived here. Jacob is fascinated by the gear. He found the flippers and mask and decided he too, wanted to be a diver. So this is what he did. Guess he needs a little snorkel set when we move back to the states next year.

What a day!

2008-10-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my 1st day volunteering at the Elem. school. Jacob slept while I got myself together, which was great! That never happens anymore. I leave the house at 7:40, get in the car, turn the key and nothing. I try again. . .nothing. Ahhhh! Why on a day I have to be somewhere at a certain time does my car not start? We just changed the battery about 2 months ago so I was sure this was not the problem. I went back in the house and woke up Tim and Jacob because now they had to bring me to the school. Our Alfa is a stick and I don't drive stick. I tried twice and didn't like it. Now I see why I should know how. Anyway they dropped me off at 8:05.

I found the office and the clinic and had a short wait while the nurse finished up a meeting. I quickly found out the School nursing is not a sit down job! I didn't expect it to be. My taste of school nursing in nursing school required us to be at the school for only 4 hours once a week. Plus, we had a teaching project to do so that took most of our time planning that. Without going into details, yesterday we were busy all day between our screenings and patients the day flew by. It is very different from floor nursing which is what I am used to. So, I am going to try and go in once a week if it works out with child care, etc. It was great to be doing something I went to school for and haven't done in several years. I felt like I used my brain in ways I haven't in a while. Now, I will admit I did have a touch of guilt in the morning as I walked up to the office, even though Jacob was going to be home with Tim all day.

After school, Tim and Jacob met me for a late lunch at Applebee's we finished some errands and headed home. I can see at the moment that if I worked M-F from 7:30-2:30 how it's a pretty good schedule esp. with little ones because there is still time for playing and catching up before dinner and bed routine.

I had a break in the middle of my day. I used this time to do some things that needed my attention but of course the people I needed were not available. At least I got some good exercise running from one end of the base to the other.

Car Update: Now today, we brought my car to the local Sicilian mechanic who did a stint in NY. I think that is why I like him since I am from northern NJ (I say northern since there is a big difference in southern vs. northern NJ) . It was the battery in my car that was bad. That was good news since I was planning on it being the starter or alternater. $$$$ parts if you have to replace them and certainly something I don't want to replace from here since we would have to order the parts from the states and have them sent here. Takes forever. I am happy I have wheels again!

It's Finally Finished!!!!

2008-10-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

Pinwheel Pattern. Look at the Dark Green. . . see it?

Hand work on the boarders. Ugh! This was the worst part, but most rewarding in the end.

Corner folded over so you can see the back.

Yes, the quilt I've been working on since March is finally done! Yippie! Can you see me jumping up and down with happieness? I am happy with the end result. There were mistakes along the way but I learned a lot and look forward to the next one that I start at class tomorrow.

The pics you see are of my Log Cabin Quilt. I went with the "Pinwheel" pattern. I didn't see it at first but from the pictures it now stands out to me. Log Cabin quilts typically have a red center square symbolizing the heart of the home. My greens were chosen because that is Tim's favorite color and the purples because that is my favorite. Now I have an heirloom. It is a full size meant to snuggle on the couch with or throw on the bed on a cold night when I just need one more blanket. I'm sure Tim will just love that since I already like a ton of blankets.

After all this I have a new found appreciation for quilts. The time, thought and money put into them is quit a task.

Enjoy!

Good Conversation and Cards

2008-09-24T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It's been very busy around my house. Friday was Tim's 31st Birthday. We went to this Chinese Restaurant called Hong Kong in Catania. The ride was a little scary, but every drive through Catania frightens me which is why I don't drive there. Once we got there I was so excited to get some yummy food, and it was just that. Jacob loved looking around. He was going on about Kung Fu Panda and the Dragon Warrior. He associates things with his movies. We went back to our car to find parking ticket. So much for free parking. Where we parked was packed with cars and they all had tickets too. Oh well.

Saturday I woke up bright and early for a joint yard sale with my neighbor. We did awesome. Many of my things found new homes. After I cleaned up from that, ate lunch, and did some grocery shopping it was time to go to quilting at 2pm. Stayed there until almost 6pm. Then it was home for dinner. Yikes! It was great being that busy. The day flew by and I actually felt normal. Like I said in a previous post, life in Sig is not normal. My recent busieness is (for me anyway). Sunday I was absolutely exhausted. I had a meeing with another stamp buddy. And it was nice to sit, play with stamp techniques and chit chat. Monday night was my 3rd stamp groups monthly meeting. Small with just 3 of us. Again, great time with wonderful people and conversation. Tuesday was spent cutting paper all day for my Halloween Stamp-a-Stack. That's where we make 10 Halloween Themed cards. These are fun because I get to stick with a theme and do several ideas around that theme. The prep work is insane but the end result is a lot of fun. Got some good reading time in with Jacob. Worked on ABC's. That's going to take a while. He's not quite 3 so I don't feel pressured to get this done.

Today was the actual Stamp-a-Stack. 4 ladies in the morning and 4 children including mine. The kids played well like normal 4-2 year olds do and the adults enjoyed their cards. And again, more good adult conversation. The afternoon was spent outside with Jacob playing until Tim came home Which was late allowing for extra outside time. This cool weather is great, Jacob is actually asking to play outside. Tonight was 2nd group to make Halloween cards. I got to spend time with 2 great ladies that I don't get to talk to very often. We had a very enlightening conversation that really made me feel somewhat better, though still sadenned by an issue I've been dealing with for sometime. It's nothing serious involving family or me persay. Just an issue that has weighed heavily on me for a little over a year now. It's gotten worse so I decided to distance myself from it. I found out that the issue is affecting others and I might be able to help by talking to someone. So, hopefully I will work up the nerve to have this conversation and not have a panic attack while doing it. Wish me luck! As I am not good with these types of things. Now that I know I am not making this up should make it easier.

I think what I love about my schedule is that I am doing something I LOVE!!!! I haven't been forced, talked into doing more than I bargained for, I'm not in an environment where I constantly question or doubt my beliefs based on others and don't feel like I have to do everything. I have found I'm not complaining anymore because I like what I am doing. Yay!
So simple, yet so hard to realize sometimes! ( especially when others tell you differently)

Fall

2008-09-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I cannot sleep. I keep thinking about my new stamps, paper, ribbon, glue. . . I am in major craft mode lately. I don't know where this sudden burst of creativity is coming from. I'd like to think it's the change of season. Which brings me to my topic. FALL!

So, for the last 2 days we have finally had some breezy, cool weather. It's awesome! Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons. The other 2 I could care less about. Give me Sept.1-Feb. 28 any day. From the age of 1-10 I lived in Vermont. I think that is the absolute best place to spend fall. The leaves are gorgeous shades of red, orange, and yellow. The "Leaf Peepers" are visiting (those are the tourists that come specifically to see the leaves). Apples are ready for picking, and then there is the apple cider, pumpkins, Halloween. . .it's great! I really hope to get up there this time of year at least once for Jacob and Tim to experience it. Of course there is the change in wardrobe. Jeans, sweaters, dark colors, I love it! And let's not forget that first day of school and the prep involved. The back-to-school shopping was always fun, especially the supplies. I could live in a Staples. I have always had this thing for paper, crayons, pens. . .I'm always well stocked in these kind of supplies. As I got older fall also meant High School and College Football games on Friday and Saturday nights. Those were fun. ahh the memories!

Today I actually turned off the A/C for most of the day and had some yummy apple candles burning. I was in fall heaven! I've been meaning to put the fall decor out (pumpkins, leaves, etc), but the humidity of the last 2 weeks just killed the mood. So, hopefully after my yard sale on Saturday the stuff will come out.

As the seasons change, so does my schedule. I am really happy about this schedule or lack there of. I decided to end my commitments and positions I held last year to focus more on my family, crafting, and to enjoy the last months in Sicily. Maybe I'll finally get Jacob's scrapbook finished. So far so good. I'm not stressed, I don't feel the pressure to do everything that comes along. Jacob is too young to participate in pre-school and sports here so were are enjoying the time together. I look forward to chauffeuring him to these activities in the near future. There are many days I miss the structure of going to a job, and all the craziness that revolve around that but, there will be plenty of time for this when we return to the States next year and get back to some kind of normalcy (my life here is far from what I consider normal). So, that's that.

Ok, I have rambled enough and I think I am finally sleepy. Good night!

Sept. Stamp Club

2008-09-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

Spring Action Inside the "Under the Stars" card
Pocket Silhouettes (sorry it's sideways)

Well tonight kicked off the 1st of my 3 stamp clubs this month. I think I captured the WOW factor I've been trying to accomplish. I tried a new technique called "Brayered Background" and it created a really nice sunset effect. All cards used Stampin' Up! products. Enjoy!

Cefalu

2008-09-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went on a spur of the moment overnight trip to Cefalu. A very pretty tourist town here on the island. It is about 2 hours away by car. We followed some of Tim's co-workers and as soon as we paid the toll Jacob decided to puke everywere. So, it is official, the kid gets car sick. I used to do the same thing, and in his defence, the roads are bad here. I sat in the back with him for half the trip and was feeling yucky too. The roads in Sicily are bumpy and curvy. Not a good combination for someone that gets motion sickness.

So, we arrive at the hotel and decontaminate Jacob. Of course I get stuck with this fun job while Tim checks in. I can do blood, pee, and poop, but I have a problem with vomit. Some nurse I am right?! We get to the room and Jacob was horrified that there was no TV. We finally found the little 13in screen on the wall so all was well.

We headed to the beach which actually had sand, score! This beach reminded Tim and I of Clearwater Beach in Clearwater, Florida which we lived 10min. from growing up. The sand was really soft, min. rocks and scarce shells. I missed the shells but that wasn't a big deal. Jacob went right in the water and had a fun time making sand castles with daddy, or at least trying too.

Saturday night we walked up to the center of town for dinner. Jacob was dying for pizza but the restaurants in Italy don't open until late. The cafes and bars were open at 6 so we stoped and got some water and granita (aka Italian Ice). It was delicious. We got lemon flavor and it was like really sweet lemonade. It hit the spot after the long walk in the heat and humidity. Jacob kept asking the waiter for pizza. After that we killed some more time but going into a little shoe store. I finally found Birkenstocks to replace my brown pair that are beyond repair. They were a fraction of the price even with the exchange rate approx 1 euro=.67 Yippee! So, after my new pair of shoes it was finally 7pm. . .Pizza time. We found a retaurant and order drinks. Jacob chiimed in to the waiter, "uh, pizza?" He finally got his pizza about 30 minutes later. And not a minute too soon. He polished off 3/4 of it. For those not familiar, pizza in Sicily comes on a 10in. plate. After that we called it a night and walked the mile or so back to the hotel and called it a night. I think I fell asleep to Jacob singing the intro to Thomas and Friends. Lightening McQueen has been taking a back seat to Thomas lately. I don't know which is worse. It was nice to get home even though we weren't gone too long. I quickly remember why I am not a fan of sandy beaches. Sand was in everything. I'm still finding sand and it's Wednesday.

Barry Benson lives in my Sunflowers

2008-09-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Those of you with kids might be familiar with "The Bee Movie" starring Jerry Seinfeld (my fav. comedian), and the Bee he plays in the movie, Barry. Well, this evening after the humidity finally let up we went outside. What's left of my sunflowers have a few small blooms. They were swarmed with bees tonight. So, Jacob stands a few feet back and looks up at the flowers and sees the bees. With a straight face of course he says. "Um, Barry Benson?" "Hi" and then he waves. "Hi Barry" "I Jacob" So cute!

Catching Up

2008-08-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry to leave you guys hanging the past several days. Here is the week in review

First off, my birthday was good. Not great, but good. Tim had to work the night before and night of so that kind of put a damper on the day. Tip toeing around the house being quiet. . . night shift stinks. And I can say that b/c I've worked it too. I'm trying to potty train Jacob and also spent the day cleaning up accidents. I would so pay someone to train him. I heard boys were hard but this is not what I imagined. Once Tim wok up he went and got me flowers (sunflowers, gerbera daisys, and a rose), then we went to Applebee's on base for dinner. Jacob did well until the end when he was just crazy. That was our cue to leave. Impossible to get through a nice meal in public. We got home and my wonderful neighbor Rose made me a "Black Forest" Cake. She and her daughter Faith came over to share cake and give me my present. Which was one Rose's signature jean quilts. Very warm and pretty--Thanks again Rose!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I had Stamp Club. I have 3 groups this go around which is the most I've ever had. We made the usual 3 cards. I'm going to try and shake it up a bit next month. I think/hope everyone had a good time. During the days, I spent my time cutting paper and straightening for the company and running errands. The week flew by and now here it is, the weee hours of Saturday. Guess I should hit the sack. I have pictures to post of my flowers, presents, stamp club cards. Will do that tomorrow.

5 More Days. . .

2008-08-21T01:56:00.000-07:00

That's right, just 5 more days till the big 30!!! It has gotten me thinking lately, am I where I want to be? I had a class in Nursing school called Preceptorship. We had an assignment to make a professional portfolio and we had to write about where we saw ourselves in 5 years. Well, it has been more than 5 years since this class and I am not doing at all what I thought I would be. So I ask you as well, no matter where you are in life are you were you want to be personally, professionally?

I'll give you my answer. At the time I saw myself being married, having 2 kids (by 30), living close to family, being an nurse practitioner and doing mom things. Fast forward to reality. . .married, one child, not working in nursing, living in Sicily and doing some travel, farther than I ever imagined from family and being a SAHM (stay at home mom). Happy? Definately! Now where do I see myself 5 years from this point? Still married to Tim. He's my high school sweetheart and we've known each other since we were 16 and 17 he's my best friend. 2 children, working part-time as a registered nurse, being involved with my kids in school, extra-curricular activities, hopefully living closer to family. At this point, living in the US is good enough to me. Having our own house again and still traveling. It will be fun to see what actually happens in 5 years. . . :)

Ginormous Sunflowers

2008-08-21T01:46:00.001-07:00

I've tried my hand at gardening since living in Sicily. I never had much of a green thumb, but it's not a brown thumb either. I've had some great results getting things to grow here. Back in the spring I decided to try sunflowers. So, I started some seeds in pots and within days they sprouted. Eventually I moved them to the ground in my flower beds around the front of our house. Aren't they huge?! I have 2 that the diameter of the stalk is at least 1 inch around. Unbelievable! Everyday they have multible yellow jackets pollenating and recently, bumble bees. Big, huge, fat, fuzzy bumble bees! No shortage of bees here. So, here are some pics of my "Ginormous Sunflowers."

Fun in the Sun. . .Our Day at the Beach

2008-08-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a beach "Lido" in Taoromina. That is my favorite place on the island. It is very touristy with cruise shipgoes from all over. Tim actually brought up going to the beach, something I have been wanting to do for awhile here. Found out he had a motive. He had been in touch with a diving shop and wanted to check it out. So, we made a family day of it. Took us an hour to get there. Lots of traffic in the town b/c the the Italians are on vacation the month of August. We missed the place at first, when we found it poor Jacob go car sick and threw up 3 times. That was fun! He started that a little over a year ago. I had it as a kid too so I'm not surprised. Than we met Carmen, the assistant, who helped us park and find the swim area.

We rented a cabana for the day not too far from the water. We were expecting a sandy beach, but instead go tiny pebbles. Thank goodness we brought out Crocs. I attempted to run back to our cabana at one point without the shoes and burnt my feet. Ouch! It was a good way to make Jacob stay in one spot though :) The water was clear, no seaweed, and temp. just right. Jacob had a blast in the water and playing with the rocks. Even with his water wings on he didn't want to attempt the water so he clung to Tim or me. He loved the waves and sitting at the waters edge having the water splash him. He really wanted to go further and see Nemo and Marlin. From the Disney movie in case you aren't sure. While Tim was diving, Jacob and I ventured to the snack area and got ice cream. One thing I loved was NO SEAGULLS!

Tim really enjoyed the dive. He got to go in a cave. I guess the next purchase will be an underwater camera to show me all these things he see's. He's already requested a regulator for his birthday next month. That will be the final part of his gear he needs, and the most expensive. But it is something he enjoys doing.

After the long day in the sun, Jacob fell asleep for the ride home and was worn out for the rest of the night. Enjoy the pictures!

Being Crafty

2008-08-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

I was a very busy girl this past week. First off, after quilting class last Saturday I got on this kick to just finish the thing. So, I spent many night up past 12am but I am happy to say all that I have left is the binding. Yay!! There was a day I took off because I sewed a section wrong and got mad at the whole thing. Yesterday I squared off the edges. Not easy with a full size quilt, 18in ruler and 24 in cutting mat. I spent a lot of time on the floor on my hands and knees with 3 different measuring tools. I think it is somewhat square. Now I have threads and frays all over the floor. Time to vaccum!

Today Jacob has a "Princess" birthday party to go to for one of his little girl friends who is turning 3. Over the past several months I have gotten the urge to make frames using my Stampin' Up! items of course and Cricut (electronic die-cutting machine). These have been a hit at birthday parties and baby showers. So, I decided I would show you what I came up with. This was done using SU cardstock, Stampin' Pastels, Cricut-Paper Dolls, Doodlecharms Cartidges. The big pink rectangle is for a picture of course! Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. Sorry for my shadow in the picture. It was either that or the flash reflection.

I will be adding a section to the blog of crafty items. As many of you know I am a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. So awesome the things they come out with. I realize I need to start sharing things I make.

Have a happy weekend!

Birthday Countdown Continues. . .

2008-07-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

As promised the countdown continues 1 month from today is the day!!!

It's been a fun week with Jacob as his vocabulary and sentences have blossomed again over the last few weeks. The embarrassing comments in public have begun. I was hoping to avoid this stage, but I see it is inevitable. We were going through the NEX and Commissary the other day and he had his finger (or binger as he calls it) up his nose (great), I looked at him and asked him to please stop like any mother would. And he says "mommy, I picking nose" of couse this was loud enough for passers by to hear. He did it again on line at the commissary. Lovely!

Yesterday he came downstairs with his book bag hanging from his arm and told me he as going shopping. He said "I put things in my person" person? ahhh he was calling his bag a purse. Greaaat. . .of course Tim heard this and was not happy. I thought it was funny and corrected him. He still calls it a "person" Then when Tim went off to work he insisted on going to work with Tim, again with his "person" He cracks me up.

Today was quilt class. I haven't been since May I think. Isn't that horrible? It's coming along nicely and I should be done within the next month. We got the instructions for our next project, Yay! I hope to post some pics tomorrow.

Ciao!

Happy July 4th!

2008-07-06T08:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Belated July 4th Everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday. Things were pretty quite here in Sicily. We had our usual little bbq consisting of just the 3 of us. We were going to see the fireworks on base but decided since Jacob ran around in the heat and missed his nap, that would not be a good idea. So we stayed home and I sewed all day. What did I sew? Well, many months ago I started taking a quiliting class. We are making a log cabin quilt. I finally finished sewing all 24 squares. Thankfully Tim dealt with Jacob all day so I could sit at the sewing machine. I have fallen behind since Tim's schedule has not allowed me to go to the last 2-3 classes. Luckily, all of us are at different stages, but I wanted to be done with this part. I would post a picture for you but my camera is in Switzerland.

This coming weeks plans have changed so many times. Originally my friend, Nicole, was going to visit. We've known each other since 8th grade and were roomies the last 2 years of college. Then I was going to go to Switzerland with Tim. He is up there with the Boy Scouts camping. When that fell through, so Nicole and I were going to try and catch up again (she is in Greece for about 2 weeks), then that fell through again. So, now I am home house/dog sitting for my neighbor. I scheduled Jacob to go to daycare 3 days this week so I don't loose my sanity! If you didn't catch on, the above is why my camera is in Switzerland. Hopefully when Tim gets back I will have some great pictures to share with everyone!

Bedtime at the Clayton's

2008-07-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

What is it about toddlers and bedtime? For many months we have had this battle at our house, Jacob doesn't want to sleep in his bed. I thought we were making progress up until Saturday night when Tim went back to work. During Tim's days off, Jacob has gotten accustomed to daddy reading to him and tucking him in. Tonight was no exception to what's been going on. Jacob decided no, he wants to sleep in the "big bed" as he calls it. I don't think he has gotten to bed before 10pm since Saturday. It's rediculous. We started at 7:30 started in his room then he wound up in mine, back to his, down stairs, "mommy I have to go potty," in the bathroom for 3 books (no success), back to his room, then he wants to be rocked, "mommy I go potty?," 3 more books (no success), tucked in again, I call mom, Jacob finds me "mommy I go potty?," I find him sitting next to the potty looking at a book "mommy I sit on ground read book?." , back to his room, 3 attempts to escape, silence. . .ahhh. 9:45pm. Good Grief! My nightly quiet time gets shorter and shorter. Potty training is slowly starting so he knows if he says he has to go I'll cater to him. Gotta love the 21/2 year old mind :)

Birthday Countdown Begins

2008-06-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Something I do every summer is my "Annual birthday countdown." I can almost hear my sister and mom groaning as they read this. This is usually saved for my immediate family, however, this year is a milestone birthday for me so I feel it is only fitting to add it to the blog. All I really do is just announce how many months, weeks, or days away my big day is. So, without further adieu. . .

2 months from today is my 30th Birthday!!!!!

The Munich Story

2008-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

As promised here is the Munich story. . . As many of you know Tim and I are not a very adventurous couple. So, it took a lot for us to decide to break from our group on the second day of our Legoland trip.

On Sunday, which happened to be Father's Day, we found the train station in our sleepy town of Gunzburg. There was no one at the ticket window since it was a Sunday so we had to figure out the ticket vending machine. Of course we couldn't get it to change over to English. We had about 20 minutes before the train was to arrive. A German couple came along and helped some other tourists and tried to get us to go on there ticket (29 euro/5 people). No thanks! So then another German woman came by and helped us get tickets. She was going to an Aviary in Munich to save a bird she had found the day before. Let the crazieness begin! We found out her name was Maria. Very sweet older woman. She chatted with us on the train and got a kick out of Jacob. Jacob found the bird facinating as well as his first train ride. What 2 yr old boy wouldn't? Maria decided to show us around before heading off on her mission. When we got to Munich, there happened to be a festival celebrating 850 years of something. Score! vendors everywhere, people dressed in Liederhosen, dirndles, etc. We were just waiting for Chevy Chase to jump out of the crowd (if you've ever seen European Vacation you know what I am talking about). Maria showed us around not only for 1 hour but the WHOLE DAY! No matter how we tried to nicely tell her we had some places to go, she always found a way to show us something else.

All in all it turned out great. We had our own, free, personal tour guide for the day. Saw things were wouldn't have and got our own little German history lesson. She even came to the Zoo with us! That was really what we wanted to do was take Jacob to his first zoo. He loved it, Maria loved it, and not only did we see your typical zoo animals, but a pug as well. Those of you who really know us know how we love pugs and miss our little Star pug that is living with my parents in NC. I think we have now seen a pug in every country we have visited.

At 6pm We finally parted ways with our new found friend and the little bird, who by then was practically ready to fly away. Cannot imagine why? LOL! It was doing much better. Maybe it was the McDonald's hamburger we were feeding it. Oh, and everytime we all stopped to feed/check on this bird we wound up with a crowd around us. It was a surreal experience to say the least. To wrap the day up I got my Starbucks fix, had some Chinese food, and headed back the train. Your probably wondering, "who goes to Germany and eats Chinese and Starbucks?" Well, after not being able to readily eat these 2 items in Sicily, we do. We finally got off the train in Gunzberg at 12 am and walked the 20 min back to the hotel. Oh and I totally forgot it was Father's day until the next day. Luckily, so did Tim :)

Blog Revisited

2008-06-22T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I realized today that it has been 6 months since I had orginally set up this blog. I started because most of my friends have well established blogs and it seemed like a really good way to keep in touch with everyone, something that I have been lacking in lately. Thanks 2 of my good friends, Selene and Carla, for reminding me of this. So, this seems like a good time to get back into the swing of things.

June 12th marked our 2 year Anniversary of living on the island of Sicily. This means we have 1 more year to go, and yes, I am counting down. As amazing as it is to say we live in Europe the truth is, I really miss being "home" in the States. Jacob and I haven't been back for 1 year. I honestly didn't think I would make it this long. It's been rough. I am homesick. I have come very close a few times to buying tickets "home."

I have finally decided it's not worth working here. It's only taken me 2 years to be content with this decision. I might as well enjoy my last year of not having to work. I know when we return to the States next year I will have to. Especially if we buy a house and I want to continue with my "retail therapy." Yes, I enjoy shopping without any questions asked.

Last weekend we went Germany. It was amazing! I cannot wait to go back. We went with a group to LegoLand on Saturday. Sunday we went exploring on our own to Munich. That is a really funny story that I might share later. Monday we went to the town of Ulm to see the largest church Steeple.

Jacob was 2 1/2 in May. He is all boy to say the least. He loves Pixar Cars, Thomas and Friends, dinosaurs, running, jumping, bugs, and talking. Acutally, he is hardly ever quiet. Even at night he talks in his sleep sometimes. And to think I was worried a year ago because he wasn't saying much at all. . .

We have some more travel planned over the next 6 months and hope to have some family and friends visit during our last year here.

Stay tuned to read about our Munich adventure and pics (I have to figure out how to download pics to a blog)

Ciao!

Welcome

2008-01-16T05:50:00.000-08:00

Ciao! and Welcome to our Family Blog! I thought I would jump on the "Blog Bandwagon" as so many I know have done. It really is a good way to stay in touch with what is going on. Especially, as our friends are spread all over. Please check back from time to time to see what is new in our little part of the world. . .