Betty Crocker

I had a major Betty Crocker day and wanted to show off some of my skills. It looks amazing and it tasted oh so good!

Job opportunity!

As you may know by now I am bored out of my mind while Zach is at work. I do have the occasional outing with the girls, however! I do need to get out into the working world again. There are a couple of government positions opening up within the education department here at the base. I spent a good portion of time working on making my resume meet the standards of these glorious jobs and they are turned in! Keep your fingers crossed that I will hear back from them both! Since there are so many people stationed at this base getting a job is a bit tricky. I was very blessed to have met someone who know's all the right people to give me that extra boost in the networking department. I'll keep everyone posted on my awaiting fate! :) So dramatic! Really this WILL affect when I come home and for how long. I'll only have around a month of vacation time a year. We'll make it work though! Love you all!

Our Catania Excursion

This was our exciting day trip to Catania with some friends. We laughed, we bought umbrella's together, and we terrorized the city! When you all come to visit (which I know you will!) Zach and I will take you on the same tour. You can't get much better than this; stopping at a local bakery for a cannoli, shopping for fresh produce at the market and visiting some ancient ruins all in one place. It really is amazing.

Mt. Etna

This one's for my Bubba. Our view of Mt. Etna from our office/studio/craft room window!

The front and the backyard

Pictures of our house

Here are our wonderful house pictures! Sorry it is the inside only! I'll get the pictures of the backyard and the front soon so keep checking. Ciao!

Taromina

Our other adventure out was to Taromina. Absolutely gorgeous! There are incredible spa's there that I can't wait to take a girls trip to check out! AND the beaches there are filled in the summers with a bunch of movie stars! Can you believe it! They come to my backyard instead of vice versa! :) (I like that) Oh, and aparently there is a famous bakery on the main shopping strip that has been in a lot of movies. Zach and I didn't even know that we had purchased a famous cannoli until we had already eaten them! Boy were they tasty! I'm learning how to make them for all who want to know.

So I apologize for all of the slide shows, but there are just too many pictures to put side by side. I think you'll understand. Enjoy!

Almost our wedding anniversary!

So our first wedding anniversary is in one week and two days! We just bought our gift for each other too! Our first dinning room table! :) I'm so excited not to eat on our couch out here! AND we finally get to have people eat here instead of their houses. It's the little things right! We pick it up tomorrow so I'll get a picture online then. I'm so excited I'm tickled pink!

January

I know this is a little late but OH WELL! January has been a crazy month to say the least. We went to Maui to visit all of the Ski's and say see you soon (not goodbye) before we shipped off to Italy. We are very happy to be done with flying for a while! Missy especially. :)

We were blessed to have great people sponsor us here. They picked us up from the airport and drove us to our new house! They actually had our house ready to go for us, stocked with food and rental furniture! Missy loves our new backyard. It's not as big as Grammy's though! We have a wonderful vine trellis BUT there is a bird colony (it seems) living in it so we awaken everyday to Missy barking like a dog with rabies while the poor baby birds are squeakin! We will be trimming that back soon! We are getting used to how much bigger this place is compared to our old house! It's great! We actually have an office now. Although it was nice having our computer in the kitchen before. I mean, if I need to look up a recipe online BAM! it was there (not to mention watching T.V. while I did the dishes!). Anywho! I'll get pictures of the house up soon. I am just about done putting everything together. There are just a few things that we are waiting for. We've decided to upgrade a room a month so keep checking the pictures!

We have gotten to get out and see some of Sicily already which has been amazing! We are astonished at how much history is in our backyard! Siracusa and Taromina were are great adventures. Enjoy the pictures!

Oh! I almost forgot! The SHOPPING!!!! Yes, I hate to surprise you but the second day we were here I was already in a mall! :) It wasn't as big as our malls but it was still great. Also, the market in Catania is incredible. I was amazed that they have real Italian leather shoes just chillin' on a table in the middle of a crowded street! What can I say, I'm in shoe Heaven! If that doesn't make you want to come visit me I don't know what will. Ha!

On a more serious note the driving out here is absolutely crazy. Sometimes it's not so bad but once you get into a city or a more populated area it's like a rat race. This month we've had two people die from a traffic accident and there wasn't any alcohol involved. It's just the speed factor. The Italian's like to drive like Mario Andretti, fitting isn't it. I'm just glad that I have my bigger SUV coming for me. That will give me some protection. Speaking of cars...Zach bought a little island beater. It's is the crapiest car EVER! But it get's him from point A to point B! It's also going to be our car to go out in town with too. We won't care if that thing get's some door dings! It's a great little car, a 1988 Ford Festiva. We thought of our friend AJ when we bought it! Ya, that's right AJ we thought of you!!

Needless to say January was a very full month.

San Giovanni Catacombs in Siracusa