Ramblings.

It's been awhile. I know. But I have been busy. I have been avoiding sitting down and writing anything because I have been in go-mode. Sometimes it feels more like bury-your-head-in-the-sand mode. I do have lists of things to do. Finally got my application for my soggorino in...so it does not look like I will be deported anytime soon. Got the house in shape, yet I still find so many things to do with it. Trying to make friends. And maintain friends. Going to gatherings, yet wanting someone to just come over and sit. And I'm exhausted.

My brain is always on the go. Did I talk too much tonight? Did I say the wrong thing? Maybe I shouldn't have shared that with this person? Am I going to be prepared? Am I taking advantage of this amazing place, I'm living in? Am I going to be prepared for the upcoming months? How can help? Yes, I will do anything and everything set before me, to take up my time. And for not having a job, and usually feeling like I don't have anything to do, I look at my time and think where has it gone?

Tonight will be different. I will get some sleep-hoping for the restful kind. I don't have anything I need to be at till later in the day. I'm going to try and relax. Turn off my brain. Acknowledge the little pang of sadness that has settled in my heart since he left. I need to be thankful. And I am. I have so much to be thankful for. We have only been here 2 months. It's been such a long time. And it's been so short. We are in good hands. He has taken care of us, and will continue. James is safe- even though jumping out of Italian helicopters seem so much more dangerous in my mind. It is all in His control, and I am so thankful.

I love that I call this place my home. Except for when I hear weird noises this late at night...I really need a bat. Contemplating the Cold Steel Brooklyn Smasher vs the Louisville Slugger...too many decisions when looking for a good/legal weapon.

Definitely time for bed now. Good night y'all.

Something New

I am starting something new. It's called What I'm Loving Wednesdays. Yes, I know today is Thursday. But I want to start it and I have a feeling if I wait till next Wednesday I will have forgotten. So I'll start today, a day late. My friend Fawn does this on her blog and I love it. And I find myself looking for things to be thankful for on Wednesdays- so that is a plus. My eyes have also been more open to the little things in life ever since I read the book, One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. It is a book that dares you to live in the moment and see the beauty in everything.

So here it is, the little things in my life

I am loving that I have one room completely clean...it seriously is the little things

I am loving skype. It has made living so far away from friends and family less lonely. 

I am loving the new routine that I am trying to get in the habit of doing- tea/coffee/journal

I am loving the fact that I can read about friends lives on the other side of the world and still feel so close to them

I am loving the time in the morning that I get to spend with James.

I am loving all of the options I have for tea

I am loving the motivation I feel this morning...it usually doesn't kick in until around 3 in the afternoon...

I am loving that I have a clothes line 

Learning How To Drive

Driving over here is ridiculous. A friends little girl called the Italian drivers, "Crazies." It is so fitting. The best way to think of driving over here is that everything is in forward motion. They don't care about what is behind them. If you hit someone from behind, it is your fault. Not theirs. Needless to say it can cause mini panic attacks and it only gets worse if you don't know where you are going. Therefore, we got a GPS. It's been a life saver. Our experience with the GPS on the other hand has been EXACTLY like this:

Lake Bled, Slovenia

This past weekend was a four day weekend for the boys- and we were ready for it. The plan was to get up, have a leisurely morning, get on the road to Slovenia, go hiking, go to dinner with friends, spend more time around the lake in the morning and head back home that afternoon.

One of those things happened. One. Thankfully, it was dinner with friends. We did sleep in and enjoyed the morning, but per usual, when I looked at the clock and it said 11am and we still eating, in pajamas, with not a thing packed, I went into the zone. Not a good zone, necessarily. The one where I run around huffing and puffing trying to get everything done and James just stares at me like, "why are are you so weird?" It never helps the situation.

But eventually we were off- at 1pm. It is a 3 hour drive. It gets dark here around 430. Hiking appeared to be out of the question.

So, because gas is a little under $9.00 a gallon here, we get gas coupons to help supplement. We still pay for the gas coupons- about $5.00/gallon with the coupons, which still made my eyes bug out of my head. The downside to the whole gas coupon situation is that they are only accepted at one gas station- not that big of a deal, because they are very popular in Italy- but not outside of Italy. So the idea being, you fill up with gas before you exit the border and hope that you make it without paying out of pocket. Finding a gas station was super easy- with the help of our GPS, but getting the gas station was the tricky part. Well, exiting the autostrada in general is pretty tricky. There are no exits- except for towns. There are not really rest stops or easily accessible gas stations on the side of the highway. So we venture into a little town- probably like 10 min off the autostrada, get gas, check out the car because it was making some funny noise and I was convinced that we were going to break down on the side of the road- and there are no shoulders on the autostrada, you can't just pull over on the side of the road. So basically, you have to have a very strategic breakdown. No worries, it didn't happen. But while we were off in this pretty cool little Italian town, someone ::cough:cough:: names will not be mentioned, hit the detour button in the GPS. So we take back roads all the way up to Lake Bled...and added another hour and a half to our trip. Hiking was definitely out of the picture.

Ulitmately, the back roads were beautiful, and we were really thankful because we weren't driving on toll roads. ONCE again another blessing- because in Slovenia you have to buy a "vingette" to drive on the roads. Fine is 800e if you get pulled and don't have one. Did I mention that they have toll like booths that have you have to drive through so they check to see if you have the vingette sticker thing??? They do. We went through 4 on our return trip. Hoping that they can't track us down.

It was a short but sweet trip. Slovenia, is beautiful. Lake Bled lies in a plateau surrounded by the Julian Alps- yes they were named for Julius Caesar. The lake has a little island in the middle, known as, The Island. It has an old Slavic church and cemetery located in the center. The only way to get to the island, besides swimming-which you can do in the summer, is on these pletna boats. These are traditional Slovenian gondolier-like boats. Supposedly tons of people still get married on this Island and the groom is suppose to carry the bride up the 99 stairs that lead from the boat dock to the Chapel, to prove that he is fit for marriage. American men get it so easy. There is also the Bled Castle that sits up on this rock overlooking the lake. It is a SERIOUSLY steep hike. But the castle was really cool- it was built during the medieval times and has a beautiful chapel, a slightly interesting museum and the best view of Lake Bled!

Here are some pictures!!

The Black Lung

January 9th.

Pretty sure I am going to die of the black lung. I cleaned today. The house was disgusting. And I lay here exhausted knowing that a) the movers are going to ruin all of my hard work tomorrow morning and b)I don’t know if I could actually get this place spic and span. I am not the cleanest person around. In fact, today was seriously the first time I think I have actually ever used a bucket and mop. I hate cleaning. I like things to be organized (ish) and tidy and there are two places that actually must be cleaned- like sanitized- the kitchen counter tops/sink and the shower. That is about it. I think the Italians agree with me on this concept- the standard of cleanliness just isn’t the same, and the marble floors make things even more difficult. But this place needed some work.

So I found a “broom”

I used it to sweep. It took FOREVER, so I just did the 3 main rooms. My knees were killing me. Glad I did though because the ground was just gross.

Then I moped the whole place. Even grosser. Like I said before, I have never used a mop and bucket before, so I had to Google what to do. Luckily enough, Archimedes left me some chlorox and our water was turned on, so I just mixed the 2 together and started. Yes you can use chlorox on marble floors and no I did not measure how much I poured in.

All of our toilets and showers and sinks are new…very lucky, so I just gave them a quick swipe done and they were good to go. Then we have this beautiful stained glass window in the bathroom. While it is beautiful, the paint is chipping and it is covered in dust. It took me awhile, but I finally got all of the dust off. Then I wiped down the windowsill and saw this gross residue. I thought it was just because of all of the dust, so I wiped down the wall beside it.

Sick. That was ONE swipe on the wall. So I got the cleaning solution and started cleaning all of the walls. Sprayed the Lysol on then wiped it off with a paper towel and tried not to breathe too much. I was having trouble reaching all the way to the top. We have at least 10 foot ceilings. So I grabbed a chair and the mop and continued. Sprayed the Lysol, mopped the wall, and tried not to get Lysol dripped into my eyes. It had to be done. Now all the walls are clean. I felt like my Mom. The whole time I was mopping the walls I was having an internal battle of whether or not this was worth it- still not sure if it was, but my mom would be proud J

Now we are all ready for the movers!!

The Bare Essentials

January 8th

You don’t need much to live.  We have learned this over the past 5 weeks. We brought a couple of changes of clothes, jackets, 2 pairs of shoes (although we should have chosen wiser ones), and some precious items. We do lots of laundry.

We just moved into our house. It is basically empty, except for the table, sofa, and 2 chairs that the army is letting us borrow for the next week. I bought 2 plates, a couple of sets of silverware, 2 bowls, a can opener, a wine opener, and a spatula. We borrowed a set of sheets and blankets from friends. It is all we have for now and honestly, we are going to be fine. We can feed ourselves, clothe ourselves, and keep warm. The funny thing is that when our stuff arrives I feel like I am going to be so overwhelmed with everything. Do we really need all of this stuff? I mean we even left a lot back in America…while sad that I don’t have my awesome kitchen appliances, I don’t need them to eat. It will be interesting to see what I cave in and get while over here…most likely the first purchase will be a crock pot.

Side note.

Best song ever just came on iTunes-seriously wanted it to my first dance with James…

Old time rock and roll.

Excuse me while I have my own little dance party.

Back to what I was actually talking about. The nice thing about living around American’s over here that come and go every 2-3 years is that people leave stuff!!! Woohoo!! There is no need for European appliances in America and vice versa, so I will be heading to the thrift store sometime this week to see if I can dig up an inexpensive crockpot. Already caving.

It is a really interesting to see how we as humans basically convince ourselves that the more stuff we have the better. I HAVE to have my waffle maker and espresso machine or I’m going to die. But these are all just things. They won’t follow us to heaven or create a stronger relationship with God. Don’t get me wrong, I am very much looking forward to our household good’s arrival, but in a weird way I am probably going to appreciate it a whole lot more- especially the pictures of family and home.

I’ll let you know when it all comes!

The First Day.

Yesterday was the first day. Well, James' first day. But you get my drift. The first day with his platoon. The moment we have been waiting for. The moment that he stands behind his men in formation and looks out onto them, thinking and knowing that these are his guys and he will be there for them, help them, protect them, guide them. I am so proud of him and yet, honestly, some kind of jealousy sets in. These guys get him all day long and will have him 24/7 come June, which leads me to believe I could totally pull off a uniform. Yesterday was the first day since Ranger school that I didn't see him during daylight hours. Yesterday was the first day of working long hours...and they will only get longer. So in some sense it is the first day of the rest of our lives, or the next 6 years of our lives.

I heard this song on Pandora.

And then immediately bought it.

This is the first day of the rest of our lives.
Love will make us a shelter as we weather the next 6 years, but especially through this year.
I'll stand surrounded by family and friends, and I'll know that I'm not alone- we will be each others brother's keepers.

These next couple of weeks will bring a lot more "firsts" for the Simpsons- Welcome 2012.

Productivity.

Today I was independent. It is amazing how being productive can be overwhelming when you haven't been for so long. I knew today was going to be busy. And I knew that I was going to have to drive all by myself. On the road. With all of the crazies. I basically didn't sleep last night I was so nervous about the driving. A friend let me borrow their car so I was able to get to our house by 8am to wait for the appliance guys and loaner furniture (table, bed, sofa). Sadly, I forgot the keys and had to make the trip back to post and then off again, which ultimately led to me getting tailed by a seriously angry driver, flicked off, and honked at- the only positive thing out of this was more practice time on the roads.

As I waited, I walked around trying to picture our stuff here- and it was hard. (Insert mini heart attack) I realized that we have a lot of doors. Why does this place have so many freakin' doors? Where am I suppose to put a couch if the majority of walls have doors on them? So I'm going to figure out how to take some of them down. That is possible, right? I mean it can't be that hard. If I could remove 3 of them it would be so helpful. Doors take up a lot more space that I ever would have imagined. You can't put anything behind them! Thus begins my hatred of doors.

I was also invited over to my friends house for coffee, which was an awesome last minute surprise. And also involved me driving to one of the small towns outside of Vicenza, which went smoothly! I made it there and back in piece and didn't get lost. The best thing about the roads here are that they don't have stop lights, well they have very few stop lights. Instead all of the roads are full of little road-a-bouts. They are my favorite part!! While slightly dangerous, it works out great if you miss a turn because all you do is keep driving around in a circle, maybe even a couple of times before you get it right. Plus, people don't think you are lost...

While driving around the town and not getting lost was a huge accomplishment, the sad part is that I spent the majority of the day trying to accomplish one task. ONE task out of the 4 on my to-do. Let's just say that the Italians are the most inefficient people, well add that to the Army's insufficiency and you get what is called a nightmare. Tomorrow will be a different day though, and at least I have things to accomplish!

Off to see if I can get the our car tonight!!

Ridiculous Italian Road Signs

So we have been here a month and JUST took the test to get our Italian driver's license. We were being bums and just didn't want to take/study for it basically.The test comprised of 25 multiple choice questions, 25 true and false questions, and 50 sign questions. With these as some of the examples of the signs...

Why are there so many signs against exploding things...

The best part is that if you get into an accident that causes harm to another driver it will be considered a criminal offense...always. Great. This is why the Italians require 500,000euro liability insurance and ~1million euro medical insurance. And those numbers do not include actually insuring your vehicle.

This place is crazy.