Christmas in Italy (final)

Italy has been a top country on my bucket list to visit, while living here in Europe.  There are so many cities in Italy that I want to see, so starting with Venice was a great choice.  I am amazed at how this city runs on water.  I walked around fascinated, as I watched the garbage system at work, the adjustments that store owners make when the levels rise and the streets are flooded, and the amount of physical labor that happens daily to keep the city running smoothly.  It is a city like no other, and it's beautiful as well.

We landed around 4:00 Friday night and took a water taxi into venice.  The boys loved it!

We were greeted at our hotel/apartment by Michele, the owner.

Smitty in the entryway/garden of our beautiful hotel

in the living room of our suite

Beautiful grounds

We then headed out for our first Italian meal, that the boys loved.

Since we had less than 48 hours in Venice, I hired a private tour guide, Christina,  to show us around.  We discussed beforehand that I have three very active boys that have no interest in art, museums, and as they would say, "the boring stuff".  She understood perfectly, raising two boys herself, and planned a fun afternoon for all of us.

Christina telling the boys about carnival masks

We started at a very old church (I lost this entire blog and I'm on my second writing, so some of the names are out of my head.  My memory left me when three little turkey boys entered my life).

This church, like the others we saw, had amazing architecture, along with beautiful details inside.  But the highlight of visiting this church, was most definitely the fact that very old bodies were buried inside, from many years ago.  Apparently, back in the day, the very wealthy or prestigious were buried inside.  Chase was so fascinated by this fact, he really couldn't concentrate on anything else that Christina told us.  

Indiana Jones was filmed in this church back in the 80's

We continued to walk, and stopped at a gondola "garage".  Christina told the boys stories of the original gondolas, and why they all have that metal piece in the front,  Smith thought this was a knife, so that's what we called it every time we saw them.

learning about gondolas

Along the way, we came across these floating fruit and veggie boats.

this is how artichokes are stored, in water, to keep their color

Then we walked through the tourist market,  

and into the local fish market where the boys saw an amazing site.... the head of a sting ray tossed to the side.  It took quite some coercing to pull them away and continue our tour.

Christina told the boys about her favorite snack as a kid, fried mozzarella and ham.  Chase kept saying it was as good as a chicken nugget.  

We also walked by candy stores that reminded me of my younger days, at Granny Grandma's house.  This was the candy that was always on her table that we would all eat every chance we got... lots of sneaking extra pieces.  

This held the boys over for one last church visit.  She saved the best for last, St. Mark's Cathedral.   The St. Mark's square was full of people and had even more pigeons and seagulls.  These birds were crazy, no fear of people.  We actually saw a seagull crash into a lady's head and then steal her sandwich. 

 St. Mark's Cathedral was beautiful beyond words.  Every wall and inch of the ceiling was covered in pictures of old testament stories.  

There were over 18 million mosaic tiles making up these stories. 

One side of this enormous church

Picture doesn't do it justice, but there was beautiful detail everywhere we looked

 The church took over 350 years to build.  The columns at the alter were over 1500 years old.

Columns in St. Mark's.... look at the detail

To stand in a building that old, is mind boggling.  The amount of detail that went into building this, was even more mind boggling.  I love that the boys were as interested in this as we were, and that they experienced this sort of history first hand.  Another reason why living over seas is an amazing educational experience for the kids.  Of course Chase asked over and over whether there were dead people buried in this church too.  

After Christina left us, we made sure to eat chocolate cannoli and then take a gondola ride.  Steve and I struggled with paying the ridiculous amount of money to the biggest tourist trap in Venice, but the kids had their hearts set on it, so we caved.  I agreed with what Jake said once we were on the water, "I'm glad we did this, it's very peaceful".  

cruising through the canal streets

The boys chilin on the gondola

We even saw the home that  Marco Polo lived in many years ago.  The boys thought that was pretty cool, and wondered if he actually made up the water game in these waters.  hahaha

Marco Polo's home

After a long day of touring Venice, we were able to sit, relax, and enjoy pizza, bruschetta,  and spritzers.  A traditional Italian mid afternoon/early evening cocktail.  It was the best bruschetta I've ever eaten.

enjoying my spritzer after a long day with the boys

Christina recommended the restaurant Trattoria San Toma for dinner that evening.  We were living Italian style, so we ate our snack around 5:00 and then dinner around 8:30.  When Steve and I go out for dinner, we always make reservations between 8-10pm, but when we're with the kids, we never eat that late.  That Saturday night, we decided to go with the customs of Italy.  The boys all hung in there, even Chase, and we were able to enjoy a delicious meal.  We did find it weird that the family next to us decided to bring their little dog to the restaurant.  At first it didn't bother me, but then I felt something at my feet and looked down to see this little dog eating all of the food that Chase dropped. The mother finally called the dog back to their table, and he started barking and crying to come back to our table.  We couldn't figure out why a nice restaurant would allow dogs in the first place, but then realized that this family knew the owners.  

I forgot to mention that it took us about 30 minutes to find this restaurant, that was only 10 minutes from our hotel.  Navigating the streets of Venice is no easy task.  They are not labeled well at all, and there are squares everywhere.  Even my "map wiz" hubby, had a hard time here.

Leaving Venice was so difficult for us.  Even the boys wanted to stay longer.  It was an amazing city that I hope I'll revisit again some day.

The next part of our Italian Christmas adventure began with a bus ride back to the airport where we picked up our rental car.  As we were presenting ID's and paperwork, Steve realized he had forgotten his license.  (We don't need our American license very often in Europe.  We are hardly ever driving, and when we travel, we use our passports as id.)  No problem the woman says, we will put it in your wife's name.  She will have to drive everywhere though.  "No problem", we reply.  Little does she know that I am the WORST driver of a manual (stick) car.  Of course, Steve didn't allow me anywhere near the steering wheel.  Could you imagine me driving up the steep mountain roads stalling every five seconds.  By the way, the only reason I had my license with me is because when I flew back home in October, I forgot to take it out of my wallet).

Steve packed the car with all five suitcases and three little boys, and we began to put the address into the GPS, only to discover that's it's all in Italian, with no option to change it to english.  The woman that worked in the rental car lot was so nice and she quickly gave us a tutorial in Italian, telling us all the words we would need to understand on the GPS.  She reminded me so much of my Godmother, Marie.  Her voice and accent was identical... that when I first heard her speak, I wasn't looking at her face, and I quickly turned expecting to see Marie.  

And the adventure began.....

My boys all get car sick, so Steve and I were a bit nervous about the two hour drive ahead.  These cars do not have t.v's and movies....we were traveling old school.  After about 30 minutes, all of the "how much further?" and "are we there yet?" started coming from the backseat.  When they realized that we weren't close, we started hearing, "my head hurts", "my stomach hurts".  In order to distract them, Steve and I allowed Jake to play his music in the car.  This is something that rarely happens in our family.  We are slowly but surely becoming our parents. (neither one of us were ever allowed to play our music in the car).  After about an hour of driving, we were hungry.  Steve spotted a pizza place on the side of the road so we pulled over to check it out.  The woman greeted us with a smile, and sat us down.  She didn't speak a word of english, the entire menu was in Italian, but we thought we could pull it off.  I love that we have been exposed to so many languages and we actually thought we could do this. We flipped through, searching for the pizza page, and couldn't find it.  When she returned to our table, we asked her about pizza, her response,  "no pizza".  We didn't think she understood what we were asking, considering the name of the restaurant was "Pizza Restaurante", but she did understand.  They didn't have any pizza at this restaurant.  We were all stunned.  And since the  only reason we stopped here was to eat pizza, we  quickly figured out a way to leave.   Thankfully, there was another pizza place down the road that actually served pizza.  

We were back on the road again, heading up the exact mountain that we spent the last hour looking at from a distance. 

 It will be extremely difficult to put the scenery into words.  My pictures will not be a true example of the beauty that we experienced living on these mountains.  The roads were steep and windy... causing the boys to instantly feel sick.  Chase was turning green, and I was panicked that we would be pulling over to clean up vomit.  But, I couldn't stop staring at the amazing torquois sky with white fluffy clouds, touching the tips of the mountains. Poor Chase is crying in the backseat, and I have my camera out the window trying to capture what I was seeing.

We finally made it to the top, we found our house, and this guy was all smiles again.

There wasn't as much snow as we had hoped for, but in hindsight, I'm glad the ground wasn't covered in snow.  The roads were scary enough on their own.... without adding an ice factor.   We found this house online, and we were so lucky get it.  People here in Europe plan their vacations so early, so we were so bummed when we searched and everything was sold out.  I came across this house one night in my last attempt at an Italian vacation, and when I looked up the dates we needed, it was the only week that was free.  It turned out that the owners are Americans, living in both California and Italy.  They told me that someone just canceled that day, and it was now available.  When we opened the door and stepped inside, we were thrilled.  It was perfect!  

The living room

Chase and Smith's room

our bedroom (messy bed)

Jake's room

Dining room table/ family games table

kitchen (eating breakfast before a day of skiing)

As we were touring the house and getting acquainted with the rooms, Jake asks us what this "thing" is.  At that exact moment, I felt really old.  After we explained to him what this ancient piece of equipment was for, I found some Christmas CD's, put them in, and started singing old school Christmas songs.  The boys were not happy, but I was!!!  The one thing that was missing, was now discovered.  No Christmas is complete without Christmas music. 

The views from the house were pretty amazing too.  Each morning a family of deer would eat breakfast right outside of our kitchen window.  

Chase loved watching the deer

Standing on our porch, looking down at the village.....

the view outside our living room window

The next morning we headed for the slopes.  The boys were so excited to be on skis again.  Chase was not as thrilled at first, so Steve guided him down the mountain.

 This one was a bit too big for little Chase, so he was not so keen on staying.

Steve and I took turns going with the older boys, and before we knew it, the day came to a close.

We all had a great day.... the mountain was beautiful, and the skiing was fun.

Jake in the distance

Go Smitty Go

once he ditched the poles, he had a much better experience

Brothers on the slopes

 And then the day took a turn as Steve reached into his pocket only to realize that the car key was gone.  They fell out of is pocket somewhere on the mountain.  We are now standing in front of a locked car that has all of our shoes inside the trunk.  The boys are cold and hungry, and we can't walk back to our house because we only have ski boots.   With a little help from some locals, a cab was called, and we were able to get home.  Without going into the gory details, the rental car company told as that we have the only key to this car.  The stupidity in that statement was a bit much for us, as Steve gave them all a piece of his mind.  They told us that we had to call a tow truck, have it towed to their garage, break the car window (pay for the damages) in order to get our belongings from the trunk.  Then take a cab two hours back to Venice and pick up a new car.  The ridiculousness in this logic is starting to make me mad all over again!  So A LOT of money later, we did all that they told us (minus breaking the window, because the tow truck driver said we weren't allowed to do that),  we packed the kids in the car Christmas Eve and drove back to Venice.  Steve couldn't go alone because he didn't have his license, and I can't drive a stick, so it was a family outing.  Not exactly how we thought we would spend Christmas Eve day, but oh well.  Everyone at the rental car company new us, we were famous.  Apparently this has never happened before!!!  There was nothing more stupid or frustrating than the situation we found ourselves in.

The only good that came out of returning to Venice, was finding a mall with amazing shoe stores.

 I came home with a shopping bag full of clothes and two new pairs of boots.  I can now say that losing the keys wasn't quite as bad as I had originally thought.  But the shocking news came after we drove back up the mountain and back home.  The phone call telling us that they found our car keys on another ski mountain.  Yes, we drove to Venice for no reason!  The good news, we were able to get our things from the trunk,  and not have to extend our trip while waiting for the keys to come from the manufacturer in Rome.

Because we were stranded in the house the night before, cereal was the only dinner we had.  Thankfully, Christmas Eve made up for it.  The owner of the house we rented was so nice and so helpful.  Not only did he make phone calls trying to help us with our car situation, but he also sent us a list of restaurants, ski information, butcher, produce market, shopping and eating in other villages.  We took all of his recommendations and decided to eat Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner at his two favorite restaurants.  We were NOT disappointed.

waiting on our first course Christmas Eve

brothers... they fight all the time.. but actually DO love each other

no screens allowed... so silly faces entertained us instead

Delicious food for Christmas Eve

Christmas morning was very quiet, and it felt really weird to not be surrounded by family that day. The boys were thrilled with their new soccer jerseys though...

 I think we all had a small moment of sadness, but then we put our ski clothes on, jumped in the CAR, and headed for the slopes for some Christmas skiing.  The cab driver must have been so disappoint that we no longer needed him to chaufer us around anymore.  The owner of the cab company also owned the local bar/restaurant.  Him and his wife were on a first name basis with us.  When we called, we didn't have to speak (they only understood Italian), they knew it was us, and would just say "I come 5 minutes" and they would be at our door  It was actually nice having them!  They charged us one fee at the end, after driving us around all day.

Christmas was the turning point for Chase's skiing.  Him and I skied for a few hours alone,

He even found a small hill he could slide down....

Santa showed up on skis... and Chase was so excited to see him. 

We took a little break and had a snack....

while Steve and the older boys hit the harder slopes.  We all met at the bunny slopes in the last hour so Chase could show his brothers how much he improved.

he was so proud 

Throughout the week, we would buy food from the butcher and the fresh produce market, and cook a few meals at the house.  It was really nice to stay inside in the cozy home, eat dinner,  and then play games.  Steve would walk to the market and bring home the food to cook.  We would all help prepare the meal....

peeling the carrots

that the boys brought home

building a space ship with daddy

look what I made

As much as these meals were delicious.... the meal we ate for Christmas was amazing... I don't know if I can express how much we enjoyed it.  There were so many things on the menu that we wanted, so we decided to eat family style.  We never gave the boys a choice (hahahah), instead we ordered five different meals and passed them around.

The appetizers were unique... the wine was perfect, the meals outstanding, and the dessert.... well.... like nothing I've ever tasted before.

creme brûlée

mousse

strudel

The restaurant, Da Aurelio,  sat at the top of the mountain.

The ride up was breathtaking and the view from our table was amazing.  I snapped so  many pictures that the boys were getting really mad at me.  

This was the view right outside of our window.... that's a hostile at the top

This is my favorite picture

waiting on our table... the porch outside

Inside was very cozy and the staff was so friendly.  Most of the restaurants seemed to be family owned, and this was no different.  The owner blew me a kiss when I left.... if we were closer to her, I'm sure she would have kissed us all.

The drive back down the mountain was just as pretty.  The sun was setting, and I couldn't help to marvel at the beautiful world that God created.

Our last day in Italy we spent in the village, Alleghe.  We drove, but it was also possible to travel from our mountain to this mountain by gondola lift.  We really liked this village.  It was a bit busier than our village, with more restaurant and store options when walking around.  There were beautiful, crystal clear streams running through the village.  I would love to come back in the spring or summer and experience the nature in the warmer weather.  

It was time to say goodbye to Italy and travel back to Stockholm.  I was pleasantly surprised to see sunshine in Stockholm when we arrived.  The temperatures were much colder, and snow was falling, but we woke up Saturday morning to a blue sky and a sun that showed its face for a few hours.  This picture was taken by my friend Heidi on her walk home.  The sky isn't blue anymore, but it's still beautiful. 

thanks Heidi for the great photo

The boys woke up to a living room  full of Santa gifts.  This year, instead of wrapping the gifts, we put them in sacks.  This seems to be a Swedish tradition... and I love it.  

Sacks full of Christmas fun

Smith enjoying his new brain teaser game

Chase so excited to dig in

 Daddy got a gift he's been wanting for years now.  I had this map mounted onto a board so we are now able to push pins into all of the countries and cities that we've visited.

Remember in my last blog when I spoke about Christmas shopping... and how difficult it can be when living in a city.  Well, now I can explain what prompted me to write that.  When I found this map, I knew I had to buy it for Steve.  It was different from the ones that everyone has in America, that we all order from the same company.  This place allowed me to pick whatever map of the world that I wanted, and they mounted it, and had it made ready for push pins.  I loved this map because the colors look great with our furniture.  What didn't occur to me at the moment of purchase, was how to get it home.  I had only an hour until I had to pick up the kids from school, so I decided to walk with it.  They boxed it up, and I walked to school and then home, carrying this giant thing.  I wish I would've thought to have Jake take a picture of me... but it was so heavy, and so cold that day, that I just wanted to get home quickly.  Needless to say, I made it, and he loved his gift.

color coordinated pins are all in and ready to be hung

One of my Christmas gifts was a reflexology package.  I really wanted to start reflexology.  I've heard so much about it, and I was intrigued.  Over the break, I was able to do two of them.  I go once a week now.  It's the most painful thing I've ever done in my life... that includes having a baby.  But, it's fascinating.  I won't go into it on this blog, but if you're interested, google it.  It is helping me so much!

New Years Eve was a few days after we arrived home.  We spent it with our good friends Åsa, Jimmy and their kids Liam and Nina.  We decided that Jimmy makes the best goulash around, and Steve wanted to learn how to make it.. so they came over early, and we had a full day of hanging out, eating great snacks, drinking, and cooking together. 

Åsa made shrimp toast (toast skagen)

After dinner, the adults played a girls vs. boys game of Party Trivia Pursuit.  Poor Åsa was stuck with me, the worst partner in Trivia Pursuit.  I"m terrible at that game.  She was even answering the American geography questions because I'm so bad.  Needless to say, we lost.. but laughed a lot!

Sweden doesn't have a "ball that drops", like we do in America.  It was very different to not be able watch the New Years Rockin Eve and hear the countdown.  Their tradition is to watch a show that is televised from Skansen, with a countdown in Swedish.  Then, to not hear the song Auld Lang Syne after the new year, with confetti dropping everywhere, was very strange.  But, I will say, I liked their traditional song, Happy New Year, by ABBA.  So appropriate since I now live in ABBA country.  I absolutely loved ABBA when I was younger, and fortunately still do, because you  still hear their songs in many stores and restaurants even now.  

willhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uo0JAUWijM

The tradition of fireworks is very popular here on New Years, much like we have on the 4th of July.  My apartment was the perfect spot to see a great firework show.  We were able to sit on my couch and enjoy the fireworks, without being out in the freezing temperatures.  

Happy New Year with my oldest baby

Jimmy, Åsa and me at the end of the night

fireworks in the park across the street

January 1st is Jimmy's birthday.  Since they spent the night, we decided to celebrate his birthday at our house the next day.  We called Åsa's parents, and they came over as well.  We spent the day eating left over snacks, watching football (soccer) and chatting.  We love spending time with her parents, they are great people.  A fun time was had by all.....

The next weeks were spent in Stockholm, with no agenda, and no alarm clock.  It was a great vacation.  Steve loved every minute of it. With his crazy travel schedule, and then me, dragging him all over the world every time he has a day off, he loved being able to hang around the apartment and relax.  The boys loved it too.  We spent tons of time together as a family playing games, working out (in the cold), playing soccer at the local fields, watching movies, and playing board games.  The boys dragged me out on the soccer field every day that snow wasn't on the ground.  Softball is my sport, and unfortunately, I never played a day of soccer in my life.  It's a great sport though.  I had so much fun running around, and attempting to shoot.  I missed so many open goals, that at one point I was wide open and Chase refused to pass to me.  After the play, I said, "Chase, I was wide open, why didn't you pass to me?"  He said, "mom, you are still learning and we needed to score." It was dark and way below 20º when we played, but the workouts were amazing and we had so many laughs (mostly at my expense).

 I am proud to say, that with the help of my boys begging, I watched ALL six Star Wars movies.  We had a Star Wars marathon, for six days straight.  I will say,  I was dreading doing this.  I had no interest in Star Wars, and I just knew I would hate them.  But... I was wrong.  I actually liked the movies, and now I am looking forward to number 7 coming out in December.  Who knew!!!!

Since I watched Star Wars for them, they played lots of games and did lots of puzzles for me.  For those of you that know me, I am a board game freak.  I love, love, love to play games.  I have so many amazing memories of my cousin Laura and I playing Monopoly all summer long.  I also remember my Nanny (the best Great Grandma ever) playing both card and board games with me every time she visited.  She never tired of them, or at least she never let me know that she did.   Jake and Smith both found a love for Monopoly... and I rekindled my love with my "old flame".  Now I want to play Monopoly all of the time..... but nobody will play with me anymore.  :(  For my birthday, I want more board games...and guess what I'm choosing to do that night.

this was taken on our 'screen-free' fun day

I also baked a lot on this vacation.  Steve and the boys couldn't believe it.  I decided that I was going to perfect the chocolate chip cookie.  I think I finally mastered it on my last batch.  We also brought a batch down to the neighbors right below us.  Poor things had to deal with three boys locked up in an apartment for two weeks.  With that came a lot of wrestling, indoor soccer games, and light saber fights.  They were more than patient with us, so we thought we would say thank you with chocolate chip cookies, hand delivered by three little trouble makers.  They are older, and have a number of grandchildren themselves, so they were so forgiving and very thankful that we brought them cookies.  She invited the boys in (and Steve) and now we are all on good terms.  Not that we weren't before.  Once school started, the cookies and all junk food were out of the house and it was back to our healthy lifestyle again.

Jake finished a book over the break, and in this book, the main character made enchiladas.  So Steve and Jake decided they wanted to have Mexican Fiesta Night.  The two of them shopped and then cooked the entire meal.  It was delicious.

Jake mixing the ingredients

Jake stirring the meat

the finished products

enchiladas 

cheese and beef nachos

toquitos (my favorite)

The only bad part of all the cooking and baking we did, was not having a dishwasher to clean the dishes.  A week before Christmas, both our dryer and dishwasher crashed.  Here we are four weeks later, still waiting on them both to come in.  They were ordered a few days after they broke.  The wait time here is unbelievable.  Oh, how I miss the days of running down the street to Brandsmart, Sears, or any of the many appliance stores, choosing the one we want, and having it delivered the next day.  

Steve went back to work on Thursday, January 8th, but the boys were still on vacation until January 13th.  We spent Thursday at the eye doctor.  I finally got around to making an appointment and re-ordering my contacts.  Since Jake has been complaining about his eyes, and not being able to see the board, I thought I should finally take him seriously and make an appointment.  I felt terrible when the doctor told me that he has astigmatism, like his mom.  He needs glasses when he is at school and at home watching t.v.  Since I was there, I had him check Smith as well... and he needs glasses too.  I couldn't believe that both boys have the same eyes as me.  Smith's isn't quite as bad, so he only needs them when reading.   After the eye doc, we went to the big city library Stadsbibliotek.  It's a few blocks from our apartment, the boys and I had been wanting to check it out.  They had a great assortment of english books, so we brought many home.  I love that all three boys love to read as much as I do.  Each day we tried to have D.E.A.R. time (drop everything and read) for about 30 minutes.  Even Chase enjoyed it.  I was able to read a few chapters of my book each day too.

That Sunday we took the boys back to the indoor swimming pool/water slides in Södermalm.  It was packed, but the boys love it there.  It was snowing heavily that day, but that didn't stop the kids from swimming outside in the heated pool that is attached to the indoor pool.  It was a crazy site.  After swimming, we ate at a great Asian restaurant.  We walked home as the large snow flakes were pouring on our faces.  

One more day left... then back to school.  The boys went to the gym with me so I could get my workout in.  I made it my new years resolution to come out of my comfort zone and try all of the classes at the gym that looked fun to me.  Before this, I would take Spin, and a few others that I felt "safe" in because I knew the routines and therefore language barrier wasn't an issue.   These past three weeks, I took five new classes and loved them.  The language was a bit of an issue in a few, but thankfully, the instructors spoke a bit of english for me and the members in the class would quickly translate.  Now I'm hooked and I love many of the classes.  There is so much variety here and so many classes are athletic based/circuit/ cross training, which is what I love.  It's amazing how universal the gym is... language doesn't get in the way of a good workout.  

The boys were all happy to be back at school.  This is the path to school, lots of ice.

They really like their classes  and teachers this year, so  I'm thrilled that it was an easy transition Tuesday morning.  Chase is my exception.. he's not as thrilled with school as the others.  I am convinced it's because he is not being challenged.  I know it's only Pre-K, but in the states, the curriculum in Pre-K is much more academic based.  My other two learned to read and write at this age.  Chase is so ready for this, but the curriculum doesn't allow for it.  That is one reason why I volunteer once a week and pull the children in his class that are ready. I've been teaching them to read.  His teacher is wonderful and very open to me coming in.  I only wish Chase had a bit more push throughout the week.  I have to look at the other side of the coin though... he's exposed to things that he would never see in America.  He's learning other languages, learning about other cultures, and meeting friends from around the world.  So, no complaining from me.

I came upon am article on Facebook the other day and there was so much truth to it, that I had to repost it here.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-v-j-ward/the-4-ways-living-abroad-changes-you-forever_b_6414222.html

The article talks about how living abroad changes us as people.  As I was reading it, I was amazed at how much I can relate.  Sometimes the experiences we have, and the situations we are placed in, are so hard to explain.  A reason for starting this blog, was to document all of the things we go through on a daily basis... but so many times I can't express them to their fullest capacity.  I have always had a need/want to move around.  I love to travel, live in new homes, meet new people, and experience change.  It puts me so far out of my comfort zone sometimes, but that's part of the thrill.  I feel a sense of accomplishment after I "succeed" in the new place.  Perhaps this is a problem and I need therapy for it.  Hahahahaha  

But reading this article, made me realize that I am a different person than I was two years ago.   I know my children are different people as well.  As most of you know, we have extended our contract until June 2016, so the kids will be here for one more school year.  Will we go back to the U.S. after that year, I'm not sure.  There are other places in the world that I would definitely consider living, and Steve and I are discussing them right now.  I love that my kids are open to it, and that they are not afraid to start over in a new place.  I truly believe that this is something that will help them in their future.  They will not be afraid to try new things, to meet new people, and to take chances in life.  

For now, we are content living here in Sweden.  We've met so many great people, have seen so many amazing places, and everyone is happy!

Stay tuned for my next blog.  I just confirmed all of my flight info.  A group of 8 of my girlfriends are heading out Feb 5th for a birthday celebration/Heidi's moving away/girls weekend in Budapest.  We planned this trip in about 2 hours, and all of our wonderful hubbies made it work for us!!!

I'll end with this photo of our mail carrier and how they do it here in Stockholm... rain, snow, ice or shine, these faithful workers get it done.  Thanks Meg for the photo.....

Happy New Year!!! I challenge all of you to go after your goals in 2015.