More about things in Italy

• Most of the people around Italy don’t have kids until they are in their late 30’s. They believe that they should do everything they want to while they are young instead of having kids young. That’s another way to tell who is American.
• All stores in Italy close for lunch. The difference is they go to work at 8 or 9 in the morning, close at 11 for the lunch, are closed until 2,30, open again and finish off the day and close at 5. All stores are closed on Sundays. There are markets open Sundays but not stores.
• Everyone here has some kind of cat or dog. The majority of the people have German Shepherds. Especially those who have land with their houses. They make great guard dogs!
• The mode of transportation around here is usually bus or train. Walking and bikes are also used a lot. Why? Well because in order for an Italian to get their license they have to pass the written test, the drivers test, and pay 2,000 Euro! Yup, that’s right, they have to pay a ton of money just to get their license. Could you imagine having to save up that much just to drive. And that doesn’t include taxes and all that. They pay road taxes here too. And if you have a 2nd vehicle you have to pay more taxes for that one. It’s a privilege to have a 2nd car!
• At Emsfaro, the super wal-mart of Italy, they have a food section that creeps me out. Their butcher is out in the open. There’s no walls, no glass, nothing. You just wave a hand and they come take your order. Also, in that same spot they have a spot for seafood. It’s not like any I have seen before. It too is out in the open but there is stuff like squid, octopus, shrimp and all kinds of fish. Not cut up or cleaned or nothing. It’s gross really. Well, I guess I’m just not used to it.

More to come.....

The rain......

Gosh it rains a lot here. Ever since Brandon has left it's rained. Every day!!! Ya know, I wouldn't mind if it was the "happy" rain but it's not. It's the dreary, sad, dull, cold rain. And it doesn't even come down alot, just sprinkles none stop. It's getting kind of rediculas actually. The kids can't go out side and play, I can't mow the grass, can't go for walks or to the park. It must be the time of year. I guess it's good for the grass and flowers though huh? But they aren't able to get any of the construction done around here because of all the mud.

Rain Rain go away, Come again another day just not tomorrow!!!!

Couple wierd things.....

A couple things I just remembered that are different about Italy!

• Garbage dispoles are illegal now! If you have one in your house and it breaks they rip it out and throw it away and you are never allowed to have another one!
• Off post you DON'T stop for busses, school or other wise unless they are merging into traffic. Not even for kids!!!

So I finally started one of these things.....

Yes, Janelle, I started one! Now if I can just keep it updated, probably not as much as you but hey, I will when I can or do something interesting!



Well, to start off, my family and I live in Italy. It's been incredible so far! What all have we done??? Well, we've walked about 100 miles so far. That's mainley because we didn't have a car when we first got here and I didn't want to sit around in a hotel room all day every day so we walked. Where did we walk? I have no idea really. We got lost a lot, but then agian, being in a new place that's the only thing to do is get lost! We also walked all the way downtown or centro of Vicenza. We saw so many neat things down there. They had an open market, which they have at least three times a week. There was everything from china to furniture to dolls. We also saw churches and statues. It amazes me how the buildings around here are so old! Everything looks so amazing and run down but on the inside most of them are nicer then the houses in the states! Other then walking around in Vicenza we really haven't been a whole lot of places. We did go to MSFaro which is attached to a kind of Mall. MSFaro is like a Super WalMart in the sates. Shopping there is so different. It's all really neat though. I'll be taking Janelle there when she comes if she wants to go shopping! Italy is a great place. It has taken some getting used to but we are settling in really nicely. I've had to figure out how to convert everything from Farenheit to Celcius. I'm learning a little Italian. Oh and the driving around here, it was easy to pass the test but they drive like mad!!! It really is awesome here though!


Lets see, other then all that life isn't really much different for us. Brandon went to Germany for 30 days so we are without him for a while. No big deal. If he gets to stay home from deployment this time around then I'm alright with him being gone for a month or two. I got the kids enrolled in daycare. The girls will be going to hourly pre-school and Ben is just going to toddler daycare. He's never really been with other kids like that so it should be interesting! I think I'll take them next week just so they can get used to it. Even if it is just for an hour or so. We are supposed to get our van this week but so far I haven't heard anything about it. I'm going to have to call them and see when it's going to be here. We got all our stuff from the movers. I'm still having a hard time trying to get everything put where we want it. I have no idea where some of it is going to go but hey it happens.

So what have I been doing??? Cleaning, sorting through boxes, taking stuff to the thrift shop for donations, making my quilt, playing with the kids, reading, and more cleaning. Once something interesting happends I'll be sure to post it for ya.....