Easter Weather

Happy Easter!!! Mother Nature doesn't seem too happy today. We woke up to wind gusts up to 30 mph. Then it just looked gloomy outside. Then it the skies opened and it down poured, just look at the picture.

The rain wasn't a good clean rain either. That's something I noticed living here. Our rain it's clean it is brown. I guess that is because we are close to Africa and get the sand in the jet stream.

About 10 mins. after I took this picture it suddenly cleared up and the sky turned blue, the sun was shinning and the birds chirping. I for the life of me will never be able to figure out this weather.

Have a good Easter everyone.

Nesting

With Braydon's arrival just weeks away we have been getting everything together. His room is coming together nicely, we just keep waiting on a few little things that we ordered. It seems like it takes forever for things to get here. I ordered little stickers for his wall and it took 6 weeks to get here. Oh well guess that is part of the joy of living overseas.

Here are a few more pictures of what we have put together:

His little rainforest bouncer seat, it's really cool it has a rain fall and plays nature sounds.

His crib with the monkey mobile.

His swing. I really like this one because it rocks and plays both nature and lullaby's, it even has a timer.

Just love this little cross.

Curious George is there to watch over everything.

Ok so we are a little behind on getting things together for Braydon's arrival. He is due here in a little over a month and we haven't put anything together. Granted we have just moved and had to get things set-up for the rest of the house, but that really is no excuse. So today my goal was to at least get his stroller and changing table together. I really wanted to get the crib together too but after the ordeal of getting the changing table together I thought differently. Therefore, next weekend's project is to put the car seat in the car and put the crib together. Hopefully by then we will have some of the decorations I ordered for his room and I can finish that. Thought everyone might like to see some pics so here's what is done so far.

Island Beater

Well we finally got a car for Chris to drive to work. We weren't looking for anything great (can't expect much here) and we didn't want to pay a lot of money. So we got a this 1992 318i BMW from a girl in his command that was leaving.




It's seen better days but is in pretty good condition compared to some that I've seen. I already have ordered new seat covers and want to give her a good wash and wax to look better. I admit it I blame my Dad for my love of keeping the car looking good. The day we picked up this car we found out that my car had arrived on the island, talk about perfect timing. Our main goal for the BMW is for Chris to get back and forth from work and also if we want to go into town. The roads are so narrower we don't want to get mirrors broken off or anything worse on mine. I know I probably should have sold my car before we left for here, but I love her and wasn't ready to say goodbye. Plus I have to have a car to go grocery shopping and to do what I want to do.

32 Weeks Done!

This picture was taken on Sunday before I went out with the girls. We went to Alphio's Garden to celebrate "Women's Day". It's a big deal in Italy and as I have recently learned all over the world. It's a celebration for the achievement's women have done. The USA doesn't observe this and I really think that's unfair.

A little pregnancy update for everyone. I'm 32 weeks along now and counting the days till Braydon is born. He is the most active little boy in there always moving and kicking and punching. It's almost impossible to sleep anymore. Don't read this wrong, I love being pregnant but they should make it only 8 months long not 9, I don't think I can last another month.

We are getting the house together for the baby's arrival. I think this has been the most fun for me. All the baby clothes and toys are just so cute I want to buy it all.

Mt. Etna

Everyone has been asking for a picture of Mt. Etna so hope this didn't disappoint. This is the view we have from our front yard. The picture really doesn't do it justice though.

Recent Travel

Chris and I are starting to get adjusted to living in Italy. I'm trying to learn a Italian so it will be more helpful when we go out (especially to eat). We finished up our Indoctrination class with a trip to Catania, but before I get into that we took a trip to Palermo over the weekend.

Palermo
There is a trip company on base that organizes trips to different cities and for different events. We decided to take a trip to Palermo since it's the largest city on the island and the one most people have heard of. We caught the bus from the base and took the 2 1/2 hour trip to Palermo. Apparently we live in the part of Sicily that is known as the flat land. Most of the island is full of hills. On our trip up we saw a lot of snow, which according to our tour guide has not happened in a very long time.

Here are some pictures of our trip:

After we saw all the sights I did something very stupid. As most of you know me I can be clumsy, well I got off the bus to take a picture and was watching were I walked, but the cobblestone was very uneven and I fell. I ended up messing up my knee and my chin, as well as screwing up my glasses and dropping my brand new camera. But all of these things didn't matter I was just worried about the baby. Well just to let everyone know Braydon is alright and that is all that really mattered to me.

Catania

On Tuesday we took another trip with our Indoctrination class to the town of Catania. Our guide Andrea was really great and he offered a lot of useful tips. We started out in Elephant Square with breakfast at a Bar and then went to the fish market. I couldn't believe all the fresh fish, meat and fruit. I can't wait until the baby is born so I can have my Swordfish again. Afterwards we went to a place that has wine on tap (how awesome is that). We then visited the flea markets and they have everything, you can get some cool shoes for about 6 euro. I'm totally going back once my feet aren't swollen anymore. We finished by having lunch at a great restaurant that I will have to go back to often.

Here are the photos:

That was just the start of our traveling, I'm sure it will get more exciting and we will have Braydon to show off in the photos so stay tuned.