The Honeymoon Phase is Almost Over

..and I'm not talking about my 6.5 years of marriage but the complete awe I've been in from living in Europe. I still love Europe, I still want to lay my head down at night in Europe, and I will go as much to say I've made a committment to Europe so I will stay until the end. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't get homesick and I didn't yearn for fast food and a trip to a local Target, but these days are few and far between. The traveling we've experienced and the culture we're immersing ourselves in is much bigger than a trip to Sonic for the beloved Route 44 sweet tea.

I make it a point to go to a town market once a week even if funds are low. It is truly a place you can attend and not need a single euro. The atmospmhere of the markets is almost indescribable. The smell of fresh air with a hint of flowers on a chilly morning is enough to knock you off your feet. Put that with the sights of the vendor's tents on a tiny Italian road, in a town center, surrounded by old buildings, and you'll be in eternal bliss. The markets are a time for my youngest and me to make mom and me memories. He loves them just as much as I do, but how could he not? The Italians have a fit over children. It's almost safe to say my children have been kissed on more by Italian women than by their own mother. Not really, but it's definitely a close running.

We try to travel at least once a month. We are only in Italy for three years. Hopefully six if we are able to ipcot to get another tour. It would be crazy if we didn't try to travel as much as we could. Our bucket list is long, and even if we did extend, I'm certain we couldn't get every place in. We are however trying our hardest. I'm going to leave you with pictures from some of our travels and plan to blog about each place, and how we did it with small children without losing our sanity or breaking the bank.

Verona
My family with the statue of Juliet (Yes! As in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet's love tragedy).
Legend says to have good fortune, you must rub her right breast. Notice how worn the metal is.

My daughter and I standing on Juliet's balcony.

An old road leading to the Verona's coliseum.

Venice
A Venetian Gondola

The Grand Canal with The Rialto Bridge

Paris
My children in Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

The Notre Dame

Croatia
Unfortunately, the amount of pictures my friend and I took is a joke. I appologize, but we were too busy playing in the Adriatic Sea or lounging by the pool with our family, and therefore I only have one photo.

..

Conegliano
Only 40 minutes away. Look at these rolling hills full of vineyards.

Florence
I love this city

The night life in Florence

Vinci
This little village has won me over

Outside Leonardo di Vinci's birth house

Pisa

Moving to Italy

Boy did it sneak up on me fast! We just received orders yesterday, or so it seems. I WE love it here. A whole lot to get used to, but I like change and adapt easily to pretty much anything.

The children were AWESOME on the flights. The only tantrum we dealt with was in Germany when Noah lost her dollar store Minnie Mouse charm off her necklace. Not too shabby if you ask me. Oh, and the mini tantrum I pulled when Noah's luggage was "misplaced" in Germany that had my "just bought" boots in them. However, it turned up in Aviano so I was perfectly okay.

My first "OH YEAH, we're not in America anymore..." happened the night we got into Aviano. Our Sponsor helped us up to the room, and asked Kevin if he wanted to go to the commissary to get food to cook, and I immediately blurted out "We can just order a pizza. We are tired and it's fast and easy." A long pause from our sponsor and a "Uhhhhhh about that... yeah, no." came straight from his mouth. HA! If only there were delivery places here.

Current News:
We found a house today we love and started our lease this afternoon. It's HUGE! It ummm... has two kitchens. I know, I know... You're probably asking who the hell needs two kitchens. But, WHO THE HELL DON'T? What? You've never ran out of counter space or ovens? Because I have! It has a fenced yard, green grass, wrap-around porch-that needs hanging flowers, big living room, furnished dining room WITH a beautiful hutch, 1 kitchen upstairs, 1 full bath upstairs, 3 bedrooms upstairs, playroom downstairs, 1 kitchen downstairs, another bedroom downstairs, 2nd bathroom downstairs, laundry room, and garage. I love it, and I love that I can see the Church steeple/town clock from the front porch. It's also walking distances from the town's weekly market.

I'm picking up Italian quick. Grazie e' Dio! I have actually caught myself a few times starting to speak in Italian to Kevin. Noah loves to throw her newly learned words and phrases around, too! It's so cute! Speaking of Noah, she starts Asilo in a week or two. How fun! She's going pass Kevin and I up soon on the language, and she will have to translate things to us!

Hopefully tomorrow Kevin and I can find something fun to do. Unfortunately, there's not too much to do in this little country... I kid, I kid. Maybe Venice or Verona is in our 48 hour future. How romantic would either be?

CIAO!