Buon Compleanno America!

Happy Birthday America!

We had a beautiful time at the Fourth of July celebration on base.  The fireworks show was pretty awesome! I love it when the fireworks are choreographed to music.  And it is always fun to view the fireworks through the eyes of an 11 year old.  We are lucky to have Addy with us for most of the summer.

I am looking forward to showing her all of the new things we have discovered since she was here last year. It is hard to believe we have been in Italy a whole year!  Time has just flown by.  I am amazed at all of the friends and experiences I have had in this fast year.  It is also PCS season.  For those that don't have the "Alphabet Soup" glossary of the military, PCS stands for Permanent Change of Station.  In English it means that their time here in Italy is over and they are moving to a new post.  So friends that I have made are moving on....such is the norm in military life, I guess.

We are lucky enough in the social media age to be able to keep in touch much better.  I know that Facebook gets a bad rap sometimes, but it is a godsend to me to be able to keep in touch with friends and family all around the globe.  And it keeps me in the know about what is going on here in Italy.

We have a busy summer planned.  Addy has specifically requested to see Pompeii, so that is definitely on the list.  We have a murder mystery scheduled in Verona...a 700 year old mystery tour. The local festivals are in full swing and we plan to see what the towns do for their sagras. We already took her to Asiago and I believe she tried every cheese in the factory.  She is quite the formaggio aficionado. What else is better on fresh made pasta???  And we are turning her into the food snobs that we have become!

I knew food was delicious here, but I didn't realize just how spoiled we have become.  That is until we went home for a visit.  We are so used to fresh foods, with little or no preservatives.  I buy our meat at the local butcher shop, our fruits and vegetables at the local shop near the house (I even have a frequent buyer card that I get stamped every time I spend 10 euros), bread from the bakery on the corner and of course wine, from the local wine guy.  And I found the local cheese coop, just around the roundabout from the house. Shopping is done every few days in Italy, because if you don't eat it, it goes bad.


When we got back to the states, we did try to choose healthy food.  Ok, maybe PF Changs doesn't qualify as healthy, but we did try to steer clear of fast food and junk.  Even with being cognizant of our food choices, we both ended up with upset stomachs after less than one week.  Now, that is not to say that all of the food was bad, quite the contrary.  The steamed crabs lived up to my expectations and then some!

We traveled home to see Payton graduate from high school!  What a proud moment!  I know that Craig is wrestling with the fact that his daughter is old enough to be going to college and how quickly the time has flown.  After graduation we traveled to Ocean City for a fun filled week at the beach!  Oh, how I love the beach!  It was so nice to have a set place to stay and the weather cooperated for us beautifully!

For those that travel home for trips, it can be exhausting trying to see everyone that wants to see you. Typically there is a lot of "we have to go here" and "we have to go there".  We opted for "this is where we will be, come by and see us".  It makes for a much more relaxing time.  We had quite the revolving door of friends and family come by and it was great to see everyone.  It was so nice to catch up with everyone and what a welcome change to just be able to sit on the beach and have conversations.  No electronics to interfere with real face time!


We got our seafood fix, steamed crabs, soft crabs, crab cakes.....notice a theme?  Then of course, there were Thrasher's french fries.  I do feel sorry for people that never get to experience them, just the smell on the boardwalk makes me crave them!  There is a new favorite, Old Bay Cheese Curls....I see a care package in my future!! And there is not much better people watching than on the boardwalk....good and bad!  Really makes me wonder if some people don't have mirrors in their houses!












Returning back to Italy, was bitter sweet.  We love it here but we miss our family and friends.  We are hoping for lots of visitors!  Late summer, my mom and aunt will be coming over to visit.  We are definitely looking forward to that.  I see a cooking class in our future.

We are definitely living La Bella Vita here.  We hope everyone has a delightful and safe summer.  Spend time talking, put away the electronics, enjoy food, family and fun!  Life is short, enjoy it while you can! Oh, and come visit!!!

Felice Estate &
Ciao for now!