Hello, November.

November is for NaNoWriMo.  It's for running as fast as I can for as long as I can.  November is for eating pumpkin in my morning oatmeal.  It's for studying hard.  November is for planning and praying about the future.  November is for husbands coming home.  November is for making chili and cornbread.  November is about doing things that are hard, but that are totally worth it.

Vacationitis

I'm having a hard time focusing on anything even though I have a list as long as my arm of things to finish before I go on vacation next week. All I can think about is the sea, feta cheese, fresh seafood, reading all day, sitting on the deck, all-you-can-eat buffets, journaling. 

It's taking all my self-control not to start packing yet.  I've allowed myself to get guide books from the library, go shopping for a new sweater for my trip, fill up all my travel sized bottles, start a packing list.

A week to collect my thoughts, after the hectic move at work and before my husband comes home from Afghanistan turning my all the single ladies existence upside down, is desperately needed.  The fact that this week happens to be on a cruise of the Greek islands is fine by me.

So many things, so little pictures

My internet at home is anti-picture.  It takes forever to email or load pictures to any website.  While I've been taking some beauties lately, only 4 have uploaded.  Che no bene.

Upcoming posts and or topics or things I want you to know:

• Romeo and Juliet ballet in Verona
• I strapped on a harness and climbed things for Missy's birthday. We have proof.
• Gelato in a brioche with whipped cream in Palermo
• I've worked the split shift this week (545 AM to 945 AM then back in from 1300 to 1800).  It has fried my brain.
• We are moving centers at work.  All day tomorrow. But our new center is awesome.
• I agreed to co-teach a Bible study at the chapel this fall. 
• I'm freaking out about co-teaching a Bible study this fall.
• MyCAA is pulling my finical aid for my school because they are poor planners.
• I have to be an even better planner to get them to pay for as much of my schooling as possible.
• Hello, long-weekends-of-schoolwork. Not nice to meet you.
• Cecilia is leaving me soon.  I don't want to talk about it.
• My first 5k next weekend! 
• My first 5k next weekend. Pray for me.
• Read Jill Mansell's Take a Chance on Me this weekend. Outstanding.
• Book give-away coming soon!
• If you've made it through all these bullet points are truly are a true friend.

Home

This week's episode of Glee got me thinking about home. It was saying that your world can feel out of control when your home is tampered with or when home isn't well defined for you.

As an Air Force brat and now an Army wife home has always been about people, not place. When I was a kid as long as my brother and sister were with me I knew I was home. But now, living as a foreigner 4,000 miles away from my family and 3,000 miles away from my husband currently people no longer define home.

Image via weheartit

What I'm saying is that if home is where the heart is then I'm out of place.

But the thing is, I love my house. When I'm in the States all I can think about is going "home" to Italy. When I'm in Italy I miss "home" the US.

What does home mean for y'all?

Flakes

It was snowing today in my part of Italy. Beautiful, steady flakes for over three hours. None of it stuck and had stopped by the time I left work. But for those three hours I was a little kid from Virginia excited at the prospect of no school. I kept getting up from my desk to peek out the window, making sure the snow kept up its hard work of keeping me distracted. I checked the weather online and the internets said that it's supposed to snow on and off all night. Hope springs eternal.

I think fall is finally come to stay here in Italy. I haven't even brought out any of my fall decorations for the house yet because it hasn't really felt real yet. That and I've visitors for 5 weeks and have only felt like hanging out in my room by myself. I know, I need to stop being such a grouch. But I am excited about hunting down some pumpkins and acorn squash to place around the house and getting some pumpkin spice candles to start burning. To start baking fall treats like pumpkin scones, apple dumplings, and homemade biscuits. I can't wait to start cooking chili and roasting chickens and potatoes.

Most importantly this fall I'm looking forward to spending time with my husband before he deploys to Afghanistan again. We get the whole fall together.

Have a good autumn weekend.

Excited to get started

There's a lot of big changes coming up for me soon: new school year, new PWOC year, another deployment, another year in Italy. I think normally, if I didn't live the life I do, I'd be extremely adverse to change. But being thrust into this life of constant and DRASTIC change has been one of the best things to happen to me in my short life. I have grown spiritually and in my faith. I have gotten stronger and more patient.

A lot of people are dreading this deployment. I am excited about it. I'm exited for the new things that are going to be birthed in me because of the difficulties I know I'm going to go through. I'm excited for my husband's opportunity at a prestigious leadership opportunity that I know he will excel at (because he always does).

Soon I'm going to make my deployment list. Every deployment (or long training) I make a list of things to challenge myself even further in a positive way. I'm going to post my list here when it is finalized. This blog is on the list and I'm already making great strides with it.

I can't wait to get started on the next big difficulty in my life.

6th time's the charm

I've been having a hard time settling on a book lately. I've even come close to finishing one and it just hasn't happened. But I think Colleen Gleason's The Rest Falls Away (which I started when I got in back in March or April) has finally hooked me in.

Happy Saturday. :)

German Crepes and Double Knots

It’s been almost a week since I last posted and I have so much to tell you, my loves. Let’s start with bullet points then break it down to the longest, most pictureless post ever.

x Dusseldorf is my new location lover.
x I have pictures but you can’t see any of them (and neither can I.)
x La Bella Figura
x VBS

Moving onwardly: Dusseldorkin

I want to be a Dusseldorfer. I want to wake up in my house in the old town and hop on my bike down to the market on the Rhine river and eat a crepe for breakfast from the stand that looks like a red truck. (Oh, yes. They have crepes in Dusseldorf, delicious crepes.) Then I want to go to work doing whatever it is that I do while speaking fluent German, of course. For lunch, I’ll meet my husband at a local favorite. Eat schnitzel with fries and a big tall beer. (Beer in Dusseldorf at a restaurant is cheaper than water by almost half!) Back to work, then end the day with a stroll through town. Maybe a beer at the worlds longest bar. Talk to some fellow Dusseldorfers (who are SO NICE and NICE and I LOVE THEM.)

The other thing about Dusseldorf that sold me completely? They have a Dunkin’ Donuts in the train station. DD is my not so secret lover. They have great coffee and delicious doughnuts. If the only condition to getting a D ‘n D on post was that I had to scrub the potties every day with my very own toothbrush, I would seriously consider it. Since American luxuries such as these don’t come around for me, ever, (unless I go to Dusseldorf) I ate a big ol’DD doughnut. I do not regret it to this day. In fact, I wish I’d eaten two. Then I would have told my BetterU about the doughnuts and still not have felt bad.

I took pictures in Dusseldorf. OH, I took loads of them. I took one of the cutest road sign I’ve ever seen (a mamma sign person holding a kid sign person’s hand. It was a hand holding zone. Hubs and I followed the law.) I took some of the river side market and a big Camden County school bus they had there. I took some of the Rhine and some pretty hot air balloons that were being blown up on the other side of the river. I took some of our beers. I took some of the heavy weight fight we went to. I even took a picture of a shop that’s named after my best friend, Laurel, to send to her. I would like to share these with you very much. But my computer had decided that it doesn’t like anything plugged into its USB outlets. So. I was going to upload the pictures at work to share, but the Army now HATES external drives of any kind because terrorists live there. I think.

The book I took to read on the airplane is La Bella Figura by Beppe Severgnini. So far I’m really into it. It’s a commentary on the Italian lifestyle, written by an ACTUAL Italian. None of this, “I’m an American that went to Italy for a little and am now an expert and will write a book,” nonsense. Hope to post a review soon.

VBS has started this week. (If you don’t know what VBS is read about it on Joshilyn Jackson’s blog.) I’m a volunteer and lead a group of 10 kids around to all the different activities. Yesterday we were learning about Moses and the burning bush. We were sitting around a “burning” bush when a voice said, “Take off your shoes. This is holy ground.”

The voice waited a moment. Then it began speaking again. A kid yelled out, “Hold it, Moses! I got laces in DOUBLE KNOTS!”

Icing tubs and up high things

I was going to blog yesterday. But I didn’t. I was SAD. Sad because my husband left for Germany yesterday for a month. I asked him not to leave. The conversation went something like this:

ME: Don’t leave.

HIM: But I gotta.

ME: What’s in Germany anyways? Germans? And pristine autobahns? Politeness? Who wants to leave dirty Italy for that? Italy has CHARM and it has me and your house and please don’t leave I’ll love you forever pretty please with sugar on top. *insert Puss in Boots level sad puppy dog eyes here*

HIM: And they have schnitzel!

So.

The thing is, I used to be fine with him leaving. I know that sounds mean and wicked but it was true. He would leave every other month for six months and then left for 15 months and I was good. I got to watch whatever I wanted on TV uninterrupted. I got to have everything in the fridge the way I wanted it. All of the juice labels were facing outwards. It was nice to have everything just so.

But he’s been home now for quite a few months. I’ve gotten used to finding boxers on the floor next to the hamper instead of in it. I’ve gotten used to hearing him sing while he’s shaving and I’m in the bedroom at night. And things on high shelves were ATTAINABLE with him around.

I’m not fine with him leaving any more. I NEED those things in those high places. We’ve been married three years and the first two were pretty much spent apart. Him coming home from Afghanistan this last time was really like our honeymoon period. And I discovered something. I LIKE my husband. I mean, really LIKE him. He’s funny and has a cute butt and is a reacher of high things and he drives slow when I’m in the car because he wants to keep me safe and he LOVES me even on my craziest day. Really, really loves me. Anybody want that to go to Germany? Me neither.

Yesterday I didn’t post because I was sad. And I was busy eating a tub of frosting and a roll of crescent rolls and feeling sorry for myself. Obviously much more important and productive things than blogging. (Small digression: If you eat a whole tub of icing and then watch True Blood for the first time late at night right before bed expect to have scary vampire dreams where it feels like you really have to poop in the dream the whole time. Just a kindly warning.)

MOVING ONWARD: I’m going to a writer’s workshop tonight with Daniel Wallace. He’s the guy that wrote BIG FISH. It was turned into a movie. I forgot my camera, which I’m still kicking myself for but I bought new pens. So I’ll give you a play by play tomorrow.