• Vicenza Italy private rental housing
    Italy,  Personal

    A Tour of Our Italian Home

    The time has come for us to say goodbye to our little home in (Costabissara) Vicenza, Italy after 1.5 years. Although our home will never be featured in a Southern Italian Living Magazine, I found peace and comfort inside these walls and we made some of our best memories here. From reunions and parties to new puppies and newlywed memories, we’ll always remember this place in Italy and our first home together. While the rooms in our home never had a “theme”, they somehow turned into a hodgepodge of souvenirs from our travels mixed with IKEA and government rental furniture. A unique style of decorating! We knew we wouldn’t be…

  • business guide to vicenza, italy
    Italy,  Personal

    Business Guide to Vicenza, Italy

    Moving to a new place with unfamiliar faces, and especially to a new country, is overwhelming. Not knowing where to find certain goods and services can cause a lot of anxiety and frustration at first. The language barrier, transportation, opening hours  – a lot of things are probably different from your previous location, at least they were for me. Luckily, as an army wife, there are a million and one Facebook groups where people can ask these questions – but for the rest of the American community living in our area, the method to find these products and/or services is basically a translated google search or trial and errors. My…

  • downtown Vicenza Italy
    Italy,  Personal

    The First Time My Mom Came to Italy

    For one whole week, I had the opportunity to play the only child. I had my Mom all to myself. No distractions, no work, no other siblings to draw her attention away…and while that may seem selfish, it has never happened in my life before – that I can remember that is. I grew up in such a big family, with 4 of us kids, that we always shared parents, attention, toys, experiences, friends, etc etc. One thing that we don’t have in common though, is living abroad. And when my Mom came to visit me for the first time, it was just me and her for a whole week!…

  • Europe,  Military Life

    Where in the World Are My Household Goods?

    If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you probably read my post here about packing all of my household goods up and having them shipped overseas back in September. That shipment was supposed to arrive November 27th, just one day after I did. Inside the shipment contained my winter clothes, Christmas decorations, all of our furniture – including my queen size bed with sheets and blankets. Oh and all things cookware. Well…it’s currently halfway through December and I have yet to receive my items. In fact, when I inquired about it a week ago, they had no idea where the ship was and had to send an “urgent…

  • Vicenza wildflowers
    Europe,  Italy

    Open Markets of Italy | The Ins & Outs

    Every day in Italy brings exciting new sales and vendors to even the smallest of towns. You are pretty much guaranteed to pass by a market if you’re driving around mid-morning throughout the towns of Italy. I had heard about these infamous markets so I just had to check them out! Read below for more information about the Open Markets of Vicenza, Italy. Downtown Vicenza Market I was not disappointed either! There were tents galore full of fresh food, fried food, clothes, household items, vibrant flowers, and even some antiques. I would’ve spent my entire morning walking around to shop at each vendor. They also had handmade items of clothing –…

  • House Hunter International, A Home in Italy
    Europe,  Italy,  Military Life

    House Hunters International – A Home in Vicenza, Italy

    Choosing your first home as a married couple is no simple task, but choosing one in another country…that takes a lot of patience and time. But I can say without a doubt, that once we started looking for a home in Vicenza, Italy, this decision was one of the easiest ones we have ever made as a married couple. I knew we had found the ONE when we stepped out of the car in Costabissara with our translator. I looked over at my husband, and he had this stupid grin on his face. I asked him what he was smirking about and he responded: “I can smell fresh grass!” One of…

  • Military Life

    100 Days Down

    I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for celebrating basically every milestone that comes our way in the future, but at this point in my world (and this new military wife life), these accomplishments are pretty much everything to me! So what about 100 days?! It has been exactly 100 days since I last saw my husband, when we parted ways after our honeymoon at the airport. I was preparing to come back to America, and he was heading off on a short deployment. My heart was broken and I literally had no idea how I could survive the next couple of months without him. I had fears…