5QF and FITBF

1. Who wakes up in the morning with the kids, you or hubby?  Nine times out of ten, I do.  Make that 19 times out of 20.
2. Do you watch the World Series even if your team isn't in it?  I don’t have “a team” and I couldn’t care less about football or baseball or whatever the World Series is.
3. What is the best compliment you have received?  That I am a good parent.
4. Do/did you dress up to take your kids trick or treating?  Yes, I have, and I will in the future, but this year we’re skipping Halloween and saving the money on costumes they’ll wear for one night.  Besides, we’re in Ireland during all of the Halloween festivities on base.
5. Do you have a favorite bible verse? What is it and why?  “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  I’ve just always liked it and I think it’s interesting that you can take it 2 ways – 1 being that if you follow God he will grant your wishes and 2 being that if you follow God he will give your heart desires.

 

1.  My favorite feeling in all the world is being cherished.

2.  My favorite smell is my husband or a horse barn, and no, the two don’t smell anything alike.  My horse always smelled good.  He smelled just like a horse should and I even had people tell me that he had a good horse smell.  Kind of odd, but true.

3. My favorite taste is chocolate.  I love chocolate..

4. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen was Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia.

5. The best sound ever is my kiddos laughs or my husband getting home from work.  That’s the best part of my day.

6. A smell that reminds me of my childhood is my mom’s cooking.  She’s a good cook.

7. My favorite of all the senses is sight for sure.

 

For all of my regular readers, I’m sorry I’m SO backed up with blogging.  I’m really falling way behind and it’s kind of stressful to me since I’ve never been behind in my blog before this summer and now I’m constantly behind.  Hopefully one of these days I’ll catch up, but learning how to edit photos just made my blogging process about 15 times longer.  Here’s a picture from our recent trip to Salzburg, Austria in the meantime.  (And I’m writing this from Ireland, so soon I’ll be blogging about our travels over here too!  This is a beautiful country!  Tomorrow we’re headed to the Cliffs of Moher!)

5QF and Friday Fill-in

1. Did you have any homecoming traditions?  I guess that depends on what type of homecoming you’re talking about.  I think of homecomings as either my husband getting home from a deployment or TDY, or going back home to where I was raised.  As for the first, we don’t really have any traditions yet.  We’ve only been through one big deployment and a handful of 2 week to 2 month TDY’s.  And as for the 2nd, my parents just moved, so they don’t even live where I grew up anymore, so any traditions we had before (which just involved eating at my favorite restaurants and/or seeing friends) won’t really happen.  I’ll still go back to see friends though.
2. Do you ask your spouse before spending money?  Normally yes if it’s over like $50 and it’s something “extra” (not groceries or household stuff or something we need).
3. If you could be famous for something what would it be?  Doing humanitarian work.
4. Have you ever seriously thought you were going crazy?  Yep.  Within the first 6 months after we got married and I switched pills (which they just make me nuts in general which is why I haven’t been on them since all this happened) and was figuring out that the military completely controlled our lives and had to sell my horse due to moving frequently.  It wasn’t pretty.  But I figured it out and adjusted and it’s all good now.  =)
5. How do you eat your steak? Burger? (as in, well done, medium, still moo-ing...)  Medium for sure.  However, I’ve learned that if you ask for medium in Europe, it is equivalent to rare in the States.  And if you ask for medium well, it is well done.  Europeans don’t know how to cook meat like people in the States do.

1.  My favorite flower is anything really colorful that smells good.  Like wisteria.  I love wisteria and I planted a bunch at our house here in Italy and it’s growing like CRAZY, but I haven’t seen any flowers yet.  Boo.

2.  You should never talk about ………..  I’m not sure.  I guess I’m a pretty open person so there isn’t much I won’t ever talk about.  Politics, religion, money – I’ll talk about them all if you ask me, just probably not in a large group setting.

3. My favorite discovery as of late is that Lightroom 3 has a way to directly export photos to Facebook.  That will save me 2 extra steps so I’m pretty darn excited!  .

4. This fall you will probably find me wearing boots and sweatshirts.  Although probably not at the same time.  I love fall!

5. I wish I was living in the States so I could do my own clothes shopping.  I’m tired of asking my mom and MIL to look for things on sale or at the cheap stores that don’t have websites (Ross, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx).  Soon enough, I suppose.

6. My favorite TV show currently is Parenthood.  I love that show.

7. This weekend I want to RELAX!!  And do nothing!  But we have squadron functions tonight and tomorrow night, so I won’t get to completely relax, but close enough.  Better than doing all the tearing around we’ve done for the past month!

A bunch of Friday surveys!

1. What album/cd/download are you embarrassed to admit you have?  None really.  I have everything from Disney to hard rock and I like it all.
2. What's the one thing your spouse does better than you?  Just about everything.  He deals with our daughters constant “testing” much better than I do.  I lose my patience much more quickly than he does.
3. When do you start buying Halloween Candy?  I bought one big bag of it already, but Italians don’t celebrate Halloween, and we’re not going to be around when the Americans are celebrating Halloween in Italy, so I guess we’ll have to eat it ourselves.
4. Family closets - Yay or nay?  What’s a family closet?  Like a closet with everyone’s clothes in it?  At this point, I don’t care what type of closet it is, I just want one.  (Italian houses don’t have closets.  None.  So they put things in tiny wardrobes, which isn’t working out so well for us.)
5. Which home/cleaning chore do you hate the most? Why?  Scrubbing the kitchen floor, just because it seems like it has to be done every single day and I hate it.  Although right now, having not had a dishwasher for almost 3 years, I might have to say washing dishes.  It feels like I spend 2 hours a day at the sink cleaning dishes.  Yuck!

 

1.  The last thing I ate was a diavola pizza con cipolla.  (Basically a pepperoni pizza with onions.)  It’s my favorite in Italy!

2.  The last time I went to the beach was TODAY!  I didn’t actually go in the water, but we walked on the beach for a bit in Positano, Italy.  It was BEAUTIFUL!!

3. My last vacation was today.  I am on vacation.  We spent yesterday in Rome seeing my brother-in-law get ordained at the Vatican and then drove down to the Amalfi Coast.  Today we did Positano and we’re going to Sorrento tonight.  Tomorrow we’ll go to Capri and Anacapri and possibly Amalfi/ Ravello and Sunday we’re going to Pompeii.  I’ll try to post a blog soon!

4. The last place I drove was along the Amalfi Coast from Positano to Sorrento.  BEAUTIFUL!!!

5. The last song I listened to was I have no clue, but it was probably a song I’ve heard 200 times before since we just listen to music from our iPhones in the car.  Italian radio kinda sucks.

6. The last thing I watched on TV was …. I don’t remember.  It’s been a few days since I’ve watched TV. 

7. The last time I said "I love you" was  when Abbie went down for her nap.

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?  The busyness of my schedule.  I feel so out of touch with my friends since I haven’t gotten to spend much time with them in the past month.  Hopefully October will be better!

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in September? The bazaar.  We bought an antique dining room table that I’m super excited about.  (But bummed that I didn’t take any pictures of it before we wrapped it up and stored it in our basement.)

3. Sometimes I like to sit on my couch and eat popcorn from a bowl with chocolate chips.  It’s my favorite snack!!- 

4. What was your favorite childhood Halloween costume? I have a hilarious picture of me dressed as Raggedy Ann when I was probably 4 or 5 and I look less than thrilled to have that costume on.

5. What are you looking forward to in October?  My parents are coming for three weeks to visit and we’re going to Salzburg for a weekend and Ireland for a week and I’m going to take them to Lipica. Slovenia too.  SOO excited!

5QF and FITBF

1. What is one grammar issue you cannot let go without correction?  Oh, a lot of them.  You’re, your, they’re, there, their.  My number one pet peeve is when people say ain’t, but I rarely correct them.  I can’t stand it.
2. What's your favorite thing about fall?  The cool, crisp air, instead of the hot, muggy air, and pulling out the cool weather clothes.
3. What's your favourite dish to take to a potluck? I guess I don’t have a favorite yet.  And it seems like I’m asked to bring something different every time, so it’s hard to have a favorite. 

4. When do you start Christmas (Holiday) shopping?  Well being that we live in Europe, I’ve been picking things up here and there all year for people, especially during our travels.
5. Did you move homes a lot growing up?  Nope, only once.  My parents built a house when I was 16, but I didn’t switch schools or anything.  However, since I’ve been with Mark, we’ve lived in 6 places, in 4 different states and 2 countries, so I’m making up for it.

1.  Something I am very proud of is  my husband.  I know how to pick them, that’s for sure.  He’s such a hard worker and an amazing dad.

2.  My favorite thing about myself is my organizational skills.  I love being organized and having schedules and lists.  You’d never guess I was organized by looking at my house though.  This place is WAY too small for us and I find myself just moving piles from one place to other, and it especially stinks that we don’t have closets.  We’re busting at the seams here, but we only have about 6 months left, so I’ll live.

3. My favorite color for fall is those oak leaves that turn a fluorescent orange color.  There’s a couple trees by my MIL’s house that turn the most gorgeous color.  I love it.

4. Something I've been learning lately is patience is a virtue and that sometimes you can be too busy.

5. A book I am reading now/have read recently is “The Next Best Thing” by Jennifer Weiner, although I’ve been reading it for awhile and fall asleep every time try to read it.  That’s probably not a good sign..

6. My favorite Pandora Station is … I don’t have one.  We don’t get Pandora over here.  Boo.  But it would probably be a mix of country, soft rock, musicals, piano instrumental and Christian.  Does such a thing exist?

7. This weekend I will cleaning my house, enjoying spending a little time with my husband, who’s been working 4pm to 4am all week and going to the Italian American Friendship Festival.

Happy Friday!!

5QF and FITBF

1. How long did it take for you to find your wedding dress? (Wedding dress pics anyone?)  Not long.  I think we went to like 2 stores, and I found the one I really liked, which happened to be on clearance and fit perfectly without needing any alterations.  I think it was like $300 and I loved it.  I don’t understand why people spend thousands of $$ on a dress they’ll wear for one day only.  I guess I’m way too frugal for that.

2. Someone in your general vicinity releases a NASTY smelling fart. Do you say anything or blow it off?  That totally depends on who I’m around.  If it’s my husband or good friends, I say something.  If it’s a bunch of strangers or people I don’t know well or in a professional setting, I won’t say anything.
3. What is the scariest thing that happened to you or scared you recently?  Abbie's hospital stay.
4. Favorite brand and flavor of ice cream.  I don’t care what brand it is, as long as it’s chocolate.  Although I do miss Cold Stone quite a bit!!
5. Are you able to sleep well in hotels?  Totally depends on the hotels and who I’m with.  If we’re sharing a room with the kids, then sometimes not because I’m a light sleeper and I wake up if they start breathing differently.  But otherwise, as long as it’s quiet and comfortable, I can sleep just about anywhere.

1.  Right now the weather where I live is my absolute favorite!!  Rained yesterday which was nice and relaxing and a perfect day to curl up on the couch with a good book (if I didn’t have 2 kids to chase after that is) and now it’s sunny, mid-70’s and gets into the 50’s at night.  LOVE this weather!!

2.  The best piece of advice I've been given is “you are your child’s best advocate and no one, not even doctors, know your children like you do”.  (See link above about Abbie’s hospital stay…)

3. My most favorite person in all the world is my husband.  Hands down.  He is my best friend and my true north and no one keeps me centered and focused like he does, even when we’re thousands of miles apart.

4. If I were to have a "mission statement" for my life, it would be to treat others the way I would like to be treated and to be the best role model to my kids and wife to my husband that I can be.

5. My most favorite item in my closet is one of my sweatshirts.  I love sweatshirts.

6. The best cure for a bad day is  a good chat with a close friend.

7. Today is Abbie’s 3rd day of asilo (Italian preschool), and the house is so quiet I hardly know what to do with myself!!

5QF and Friday Fill-in

1. What is your favorite fall family tradition?  Going to a pumpkin patch to look for pumpkins.  Although we can’t really do that in Italy since they don’t do Halloween over here, so they don’t have pumpkin patches.  We were able to do it last year with my parents before we came back to Italy, but I don’t think we’ll be able to do it this year.  Plus we’ll be in Ireland over Halloween anyway.  Fair trade, I suppose. =)
2. If money weren't an issue, how many kids would you have?  Four, I think.  I want at least 3, but if money weren’t a factor, we might have a fourth.
3. If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be and where would you put it?  The only time I would ever even consider getting a tattoo is if my husband or one of my children died, and even then it would be “iffy”.  I don’t know what it would be or where it would be though.
4. What condiment is a must in your house?  Mayo.  I like it.  And chocolate.  Is that a condiment?
5. How did your spouse/fiance propose?  We were walking along the beach in the Florida Panhandle, looking for sand dollars.  I had found a few and they were in the front pocket of my hoodie sweatshirt.  Mark bent down to “pick something up” but then proposed.  I hugged him afterwards and smashed all the sand dollars in my pocket.  Oops.

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed? Our trip to the Italian ER, for sure.

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in August?   Our trip to Vienna and Bratislava, despite Abbie getting sick at the end of it.  (Blog post will be up later this week.)

3. What did you do to celebrate Labor Day?  We spent most of the day in the hospital, but got released that day, so I guess that was our celebration.  It was also my husbands birthday.

4. What do you HAVE to have handy by your bedside?  My cell phone, mainly because I use it as an alarm clock.

5. What are you looking forward to in September?  For the month to be over?  September is really busy for us, and it’s kind of wearing us out already.  But the bazaar on base is at the end of September so that should be fun!

5QF and Friday Fill-in

1. If you could have been (could be) any profession you wanted (brains and $$$ no problem) what would it be?  I think I would like to get into counselling – marriage, kids, etc.  And it’s not really an issue of brains or money, more of the time to get that degree.  Or I would love to run my own horse farm and do boarding and training.  That is definitely a matter of money though.  =)
2. How often do you clean out your car?  About every 2 weeks.  I can’t stand when my car is dirty (well relatively so – when you have 2 young kids, it’s bound to be messy).  I can stand it messy for a while, but not dirty.
3. Do you wish there was such a thing as fashion police or are you deeply relieved?  I think I’m relieved.  I have about as much fashion sense at a worm and I’d much rather be comfortable in what I’m wearing that fashionable.
4. What's your go to food/drink/activity when stressed?  Chocolate.  Or ice cream.  Or a big fountain Pepsi.  Too bad they don’t’ sell those in Europe.
5. If you had twins, what would you name them?  I had a twin brother and we were Matt and Monica.  I guess I like “matchy”-ish names for twins – ones that start with the same letter anyway.  I have my “c” girl named picked out  (Caitlyn Jayne), but I cannot think of a boy '”c” name that I like.  Any suggestions?

1.  My favorite thing to do on Friday is  ????.  Friday isn’t really any different for me than any other day, I guess.  I love it when my husband gets home from work “early” on Friday (before 6pm) but that happens about once every 2-3 months… So I’m not really sure.
2.  This Friday I am in Vienna, Austria!!  We’re having a good time here, no matter how much my 3 year old is trying to sabotage our good times….  Look for a blog on it soon!  Here’s a picture from our drive up here.

3. The best thing about a weekend is  that it’s a break from the monotony of the work week, and that my husband is usually home!  He works long hours so we rarely see him during the week.  And we live in the perfect location to take weekend trips, so we’ve been trying to do that more, and they are fun!
4. Now that summer is almost over, I'm feeling really excited that the fall is almost here and especially October!  We’re going to the Amalfi Coast and Ireland!!  And I’m excited for my daughter to start the asilo (Italian preschool).  We definitely need a break from each other.
5. The best thing I did this summer was go on the cruise with my husband to Greece and Turkey.  Best trip we’ve had over here by far, mainly because the kids weren’t along and I wasn’t 8 months pregnant!
6. The thing I'm looking forward to about fall is EVERYTHING!!!  The weather, the leaves changing, the clothes you get the wear, the fall shows that start up in September, the bazaar on base, the traveling we’re going to be doing.  I LOVE fall!!!.
7. If I had to be stuck in one season for the rest of my life, I would choose (if you couldn’t tell by my last answer) FALL!!!  If I could find a place where it was continuously fall, I would move there in a heart beat!  I LOVE FALL!!!

Happy Friday!!!

5QF and FITBF

1. What's the one thing you buy every time you walk into the store?  Milk.  They only sell them in half gallons over here, so it seems like we always need some.  And sometimes they run out, so even if we don’t need it, I still buy at least one half gallon.

2. If you had a day all to yourself how would you spend it?  Blogging, reading, napping, quilting, writing letters.  But really, I would like to spend it with my husband, although then it wouldn’t be “by myself”.

3. Are you a speed limit driver? If not, over or under?  I’m usually a 5mph over, depending on where I’m driving.  City driving, I go the speed limit, and through neighborhoods and stuff.  Highway driving, at least 5mph over.  Over here in Italy though, I honestly don’t even pay attention to speed limits, unless I’m on base.  I’m not sure anyone over here follows them though.

4. What's your favorite dessert to make, homemade or from a mix??  All time favorite is chocolate chip cookies.  Homemade.  The recipe on the chocolate chip bag.  I love them.  My mom also has this browning pudding recipe which really is brownies on top of this warm, chocolate pudding.  YUM!

5. Would you rather have a spider or a mouse scurry across your face (no copping out and saying "neither!!")? I HATE spiders.  Hate them.  But I think I’d have a better chance at killing a spider than I would catching a mouse, so I’m going to have to say spider.

 

1.  The best thing to do on a hot day is  to stay inside in the AC and drink sweet tea or pink lemonade.  I hate being hot, and really hate being hot and sticky.

2.  The best place to be on a hot day is  again, inside, in the AC.  And preferably AC that works, unlike our tiny AC unit here that only partially works.

3. The best thing to eat on a hot day is   ice cream, of course.

4. Hot days  make me really wish I lived back in the States where they have a thing called central AC.  Unless it’s in the States in Phoenix and then I think I’d rather be here because I don’t care how “dry” the heat is in AZ, when it’s 115 out, it’s friggin hot.

5. My go to uniform on a warm summer day is a flowy skirt and a tank top.

6. The scent that reminds me of summer is fresh mown grass.  (Is mown a word?  Or is it mowed?  That doesn’t look right either…)

7. My favorite thing about summer is  summer vacations.  I used to love to take them with my family growing up and I like to take them with my husband and kids now.

5QF and Fill in the blank Friday

 

1. Thunder storms- love them or hate them?  Totally depends on if I’m home alone or not.  When I’m home alone with the kids, no, I don’t like them because I worry about tornadoes and the power going out.  When Mark is home, yes, I do like them.

2. Do your kids get back to school clothes?  My oldest is 3, so no, not really back to school clothes, but she is starting the asilo (Italian preschool) in the fall, and I did just buy her a bunch of new clothes, mainly because she’s already outgrown most of her 3T stuff…

3. Do you golf? Do you watch it?  No, I don’t golf, and watching it bores me to tears.  My in-laws love to watch golf and that seems to be the majority of what they watch when I’m around.  Thank GOD my husband doesn’t like to watch it either, so I only have to watch it at my in-laws.

4. Showers or baths?  Theoretically, a bath sounds nice and relaxing.  Reading a book, surrounded by bubbles and candles – sounds very nice.  But the reality is a shrivel up like a little prune and worry about dropping the book in the water, and really I don’t have time to take a bath these days.  So showers it is!

5. What's the strangest meal you ever ate?  It wasn’t really a meal, but it was what I mentioned last week, sardines on potato chips in Spain.  It’s a “normal” tapa there, and it was surprisingly decent, even though I didn’t think I liked sardines.

 

1.  The age I will be on my upcoming birthday is 32. 

2.  The best birthday present ever would be another cruise without the kids, or any relaxing vacation with just my husband.

3. My favorite birthday to date was my 21st.  My friends and boyfriend at the time threw me a surprise party.  I had no idea and it was fun!  And my 23rd was fun too because I went to see Lion King with my parents in Chicago.  And on my 25th birthday Mark got me (us) Oliver – our weina dog.

4. Birthdays make me feel ….it depends on the birthday.  Normally I’m pretty neutral about birthdays.  I don’t mind getting older.  But I guess if I go the majority of the day and no one tells me happy birthday then it kinda bums me out.

5. The worst birthday I ever had was I don’t remember having a bad birthday.  Actually, very few birthdays stick out in my mind.  As I said, I’m pretty neutral about them.

6. When I was born, I had a twin brother, named Matthew.  He died when we were 10 months old though, of type 2 Gaucher’s Syndrome.

7. So far my favorite age has been 25. It was the year I got married to my Mark!!

5QF

1. What is a must in a hotel room?  A bed.  And a toilet.  Which is important when you’re in Europe because they’re all about sharing restrooms which is not my cup of tea at all.  I don’t like to wander down a hallway in the middle of the night when I have to pee, trying to find a bathroom.  And now that our little Pippers likes to swim, a pool in the immediate vicinity is always nice too, but preferably not RIGHT in front of the room because then it turns in to a battle to get her to go in to the room and not to the pool every time she sees it.

2. Which Olympic event would you be best at?  Well to be precise, none of them.  In my little dream world, I would love to say equestrian eventing, but the biggest fence I’ve ever jumped on a horse was under 4 feet tall, and the fences they jump are like 6+ feet tall.  And I haven’t really ridden a horse, like SERIOUSLY ridden, not just a trail ride, in about 5 years.  So my skills are probably lacking non-existent.  And to be honest, jumping tiny little ditches and stuff in cross-country scared me a little bit.  It was thrilling and all when you actually stayed on, but seeing the jumps that they have to do on that Olympic cross-country course?  Yeah, I’d be scared ****less on those, which means the horse wouldn’t jump anything and I would land on my head.  So all of that to say, maybe I would be good at archery.

3. What's your stance on the Chick-fil-A subject?  I could, and might, write an entire blog post on just this one question, but to try to sum it up, I think people in general need to lighten up.  America is a great country because we are able to have differing opinions on MANY subjects.  The man was asked a direct question and he answered it honestly.  Just because you or I don’t agree with his answer doesn’t make his opinion wrong.  It’s just that, his opinion and everyone is entitled to one.  He’s not forcing his believes on anyone else, he wasn’t protesting anything.  He was simply asked a question and he answered it and because he’s a big wig of a company, the media is attacking him.  I happen to not agree with his opinion, but I will not boycott his company just because he doesn’t have the same beliefs/opinions that I do.  Americans seem to be all about extremes lately and that’s what gets people and countries in to trouble.  If we can just accept that not every single person is going to have the exact same beliefs that we do, but to still treat that person with the kindness and respect that they deserve, I think we’d be a happier bunch in general.  And I think the media is to blame for a lot of it because they have a way of blowing things out of proportion.

4. One thing you said you'd never do as a parent, but totally have.  Co-sleep.  I swore up and down, left and right that I would not have a baby in my bed, until my oldest was born and would NOT sleep unless she was right next to me.  I held her in my arms, in a CHAIR for 2 months after she was born because any time I put her down she would wake up and SCREAM and I couldn’t take it any more.  So I brought her to bed with me and what do you know, she slept 8 hours straight.  We only did it for a few months with her, but it was a necessity.  I could not go on any longer sleeping in a chair for 1-2 hour stretches at a time.  And now I know to never say never.

5. What's the weirdest thing you've ever found at a yard sale?  Yard sales aren’t really my thing, so I haven’t seen anything too weird that I remember.  My mom could probably answer this a lot better than I could though since she’s a professional garage saler.

Have a GREAT weekend!!

5QF

1. What is the funniest thing you saw on Facebook/twitter this week?  It was one of those old fashioned cartoon-ish things that everyone and their mother has been posting lately and said something along the lines of “Here, have my left over bacon ~ said no one, ever.”  LOL!  Too funny.  FB has been slightly annoying lately with all the political stuff on it though.  All the anti-Obama stuff gets really old, along with all the 2nd amendment comments.
2. What is your favorite Olympic event?  Eventing, for sure.  If I could go to the Olympics, I would want to see eventing.  Or gymnastics also.  Love both of those.
3. Do your kids to chores around the house? If so, what are they and how old are the children? Do they get paid for them?  So this week Mark asked Abbie to pick up her toys, and she said, “That’s not my job, it’s mommy’s job.”  …. Oh boy.  (She’s three, for those that don’t know.)  We’re currently having battle of the wills with her where she’ll flat out refuse to pick up her toys, and we refuse to let her do anything else until her toys are picked up.  She’ll learn soon enough that we’re not bending on this one, but it’s tiring in the mean time.
4. If you get bad service/food do you complain or keep quiet?  It depends on how much the food was, how bad it was, and my mood.  Usually I don’t say anything, but sometimes I will.  For bad service, I just leave a bad tip.
5. If you could pick ONE frivolous item for your home, what would it be? (massive room sized closet? swimming pool? greenhouse? etc...)  In my current home I would give just about anything for closets (no, not big closets, just closets period…  I still haven’t figured out where Italians keep all their junk, like a vacuum cleaner???), a dishwasher or an automatic garage door opener.  In a normal American house, it would be either a swimming pool or a sewing room, not that I have any time to sew lately.  These two keep me pretty darn busy!

MFF and 5QF

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?  My 3 year old asking me why we couldn’t go see grandma and grandpa.  About broke my heart.  (They live in the US, we live in Italy.)

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in June?  Going to Venice, Murano and Burano with my husband to celebrate our 6 year anniversary!  It was a great day.

3. What did you do to celebrate Independence Day?  We went up to Lake Barcis with a group of friends and played in the water and grilled out.  It was fun.  I wish we’d gone to the fireworks on base, but they were at 10:30pm and I didn’t want to keep my kids out that late.  Maybe next year we will.

4. When you PCS, what items do you take with you and not let the movers pack (and if you do a DITY, what do you take with you and not box up) (thanks to Sespi at And You Never Did Think for inspiring this question)?  All important documents (birth certificates, marriage licenses, college diplomas, etc), and a hard drive with all of our pictures on them, and my camera.

5. What are you looking forward to in July?  We leave on our cruise to Greece and Turkey in 6 days!!!!  I am so excited I can hardly stand it!  But I haven’t packed a thing!

1. Is love at 1st sight possible?  Ohhh, tough question.  Romantic love, I’m not sure.  I would call that “lust at first sight”, because I don’t think you can really love someone romantically until you know them.  However, holding a brand new baby, that’s love BEFORE first sight, and definitely at first sight, so yes, it’s possible.
2. How did you choose your pet's name?  They were both just names we liked and thought fit our animals.
3. What are you considering giving up (cable, home phone)?  None.  I like having cable and a home phone and a cell phone and internet.  It’s my connection to the outside world.  I don’t plan on giving them up unless it’s absolutely necessary.
4. How much do you pay your babysitter?  The day sitter gets 5Euro per hour (about $6.25), but she gives me a discount if I leave both kids with her, and the night time sitter gets $10/hour for both kids.
5. How "young" is old enough to babysit?  Depends on the age of the kids.  I’m comfortable leaving my 3 year old with a high schooler, but I’m not comfortable leaving both my 3 year old and 7 month old with someone unless they’re in their 20’s and have experience with kids.

 

Happy Friday!!  (I won’t be participating next week or the week after since I’ll be on a CRUISE!!!!!)

5QF

 

1. What's your favorite childhood snack that you still eat as an adult?  Cottage cheese and applesauce, mixed together.  Maybe kind of weird, but I love it, and so does my daughter.

2. What food will you not eat the low fat version of?  Pop/soda, whatever you call it.  I cannot stand the taste of diet pop.

3. What's your favorite way to cool off during the summer? I guess going swimming would be the obvious answer here, but I really don’t like swimming that much really.  I spend most of my time on the beach or on the pool deck, not IN the water, so I just get even hotter.  So I’m going to say sitting in front of the a/c.  =)

4. What's your favorite summer read?  Particularly if I’m on the beach, I like to read “girly magazines” (Shape, Glamour, Self, etc) or the celebrity news ones.  They entertain me.

5. What are you doing to stay cool in this awful heat?  We keep all of our shutter closed in an effort to keep the sunlight out.  (We live in Italy.)  And we run our one small a/c unit on dehumidify most of the time and a/c when we get really hot.  But electricity is VERY expensive in Italy so we try to be conservative on how much we run our a/c, otherwise we’ll end up with a $500 monthly bill.  (And that’s just electricity, not including gas.)

 

Have a great weekend!!

5QF

1. What do you keep a stock pile of?  Stamps.  I write a lot of letters so I make sure I have a bunch of stamps on hand.  And microwave popcorn.
2. If Ben & Jerry asked you to invent an ice cream, what would it be?  Something with lots of dark chocolate!!
3. How do you blow off steam?  Vent to my husband, friends or parents mostly.  Or sometimes I blog.  Writing can be very therapeutic. 
4. What would you do if you had an hour to yourself anywhere within a ten mile radius of your home...no kids, no hubby, just you?  In my basement, with my sewing machine, where it’s 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house also.
5. When you were 16, what was your curfew in the summertime?  I don’t even remember.  Maybe 9 or 10pm.  I never stayed out late though so I didn’t really need a curfew.  I hope my kids are as easy as I was as a teenager.

5QF

I am so backed up with stuff to do and stuff I want to get done that I’ve forgotten about 5QF for the past 3 weeks until I see these posts up…  Oops.  But I do love being busy and I guess it’s better to be so busy that you forget vs having nothing else to do and waiting around for it.  I’m still working on blogs from May and it’s already June 8th!!  Crazy!  Happy Friday!

 

1. Did you do anything special for your kids on the last day of school? Or did you parents do anything special for you?  My oldest is 3, so she’s not in school yet.  My mom used to make us breakfast and take pictures the first day of school, but I don’t really remember doing anything the last day of school, so most likely I probably won’t do anything super special for my kids either.  Maybe go out to eat or something?  But I’m sure when they’re school-aged, I’ll be wanting to do something special for ME, not for them, to get me ready for having them home all summer.  =)
2. What's your favorite summer tradition with your children?  I guess I’m bad with traditions, or maybe because my kids are young, we haven’t set many traditions up yet.  Summer isn’t really any different for us since my kids are home with me all the time anyway.
3. What was your favorite thing to do during the summer as a kid?  Going on family vacations, for sure, and spending time boating on the river.  I loved that, and I still do.
4. How old were you when you were married? Were you a Bridezilla?  I got married when I was 25, and I don’t think I was a bridezilla at all.  Our wedding was in Iowa at my home church, but we were living in FL because my husband is in the military, so I had to rely on other people to help me out a LOT!  We went up to IA for one weekend to pick out flowers and get a DJ and look at the reception hall, but we got it all done in a weekend.  I know a wedding is an important day, and I will remember parts of mine forever (like Mark shaking like a leaf when I took his arm when I got to the front of the church), but it’s just the beginning and things have only gotten better since that day.  I wanted things to be nice and everyone to have a good time, but I wasn’t too worried about everything being perfect.
5. What is your favorite girl name? (I'm needing suggestions.)  If we have another girl, she’ll be Caitlyn.  (A)bbie, (B)en, (C)aitlyn.  Then I guess we’ll have to have 23 more kids to get the rest of the alphabet.  =)  JK!!  I still like the name Josie too.

5QF and MFF

1. What were you scared of as a kid?  Sharks.  I used to walk around swimming pools to make sure there wasn’t a shark in it before I’d get in…  I’m still afraid of sharks, but I don’t walk around pools anymore. =)
2. Do you sleep well in a hotel? Completely depends on if the kids are with us or not.  If they are, no.  If they’re not, yes.
3. If you could meet any celebrity, dead or alive, who and why?  I really have no clue.  I’m sure there are many that would be interesting to meet, but I don’t really have a great desire to meet any of them.
4. It's a hot summer day. Do you prefer to be pool side or at the beach?  Either.  I’m not picky.
5. What is your favorite summer dish?  I guess I don’t really change my diet much for the different seasons.  I like pink lemonade and sweet tea more in the summer, but those aren’t dishes.

 

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?  I would have talked to my grandma more when I saw her.  Unfortunately she was there mostly during a party when lots of other people I rarely get to see are around so I didn’t get to talk to her nearly as much as I would have liked to.

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in May? Seeing my family and friends when I was home for a very short time.

3. June includes the first day of summer… what are your plans for the summer?  LOTS of trips!!  There are quite a few day trips we want to go on, and we’re also going to Croatia for a few days, on a cruise to Greece and Turkey, hopefully going to Vienna and Budapest, possibly going to Belgium for a few days depending on Mark’s schedule, and then going to Pompeii and Ireland in the fall.  I’m excited!

4. Do you use the services on base (gym, financial planning, family services, daycare)? And if so, what’s your favorite one?  My favorite service on base is the library.  Either that or the post office.

 5. What are you looking forward to in June?  Our trip to Croatia, being busy with a few clubs on base, lots of squadron functions and our 6th anniversary!

Happy Friday!

5QF

1. What advice would you give a couple getting married?  Make sure that you’re each other’s best friend and that there is something more than passion between you.  Treat each other with respect at all times.  Be willing to compromise.  Realize that things won’t always be perfect, but be willing to put in the effort to make things work.  Have VERY open lines of communication and be able to talk about your feelings.
2. If you could tell your 16 year old self ONE thing, what would it be?   Talk my parents into letting me play volleyball in high school.  I still regret not playing a sport.  And major in nursing instead of business management in college.
3. What do you do to keep cool in the summer? (AC, windows, fans, swimming, etc.)  I use the A/C, a lot.  However, they don’t have central air in any house in Italy, so we have one tiny wall unit for our entire house.  Since our bedroom is upstairs, we’re not going to benefit much from the current A/C unit.  We might have to see if the landlord will put another one up in our room so I can sleep.  I can’t sleep when I’m sweating hot.  Gross.
4. What did you (or your wife) crave most while pregnant?  With Abbie’s pregnancy, I craved sweets, mainly chocolate.  With Ben’s pregnancy, I craved roast beef subs from Jimmy John’s and Pepsi.
5. Who is your favorite TV mom? Why?  Lynnette from Desperate Housewives.  I think she’s grounded and I like her sarcastic sense of humor.

Happy Friday!!  And Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day to all my fellow mil-spouses!

5QF

1. Do you make your kids finish all the food on their plates?  Sometimes, not always.  Abbie takes about 4 years to eat one meal and she’s very quick to say she’s done and then 10 minutes later want a snack, which drives me batty.  I make her at least try everything and I make her eat enough of what she likes so she’s not hungry again in an hour.  But I don’t make her finish everything all the time.
2. Do you give an allowance?  Ha!  No.  But my oldest isn’t yet 3, so I have a while to think about giving allowances.
3. Do you actually park your car in the garage?  Well one of the many wonderful things {sarcasm} about living in Italy is their TINY garages (that don’t have electric garage door openers).  So we park our new car in the garage and our old car in the driveway.
4. What is one food you will NEVER cook?  Lima Beans.  Yuck.
5. Do you have anything exciting planned for the summer?  The BEST thing about living overseas is all the travel opportunities we have.  We didn’t travel at all last summer due to my husband being deployed, so we’re making up for it this year.  We have plans to go to Croatia, The Greek Isles and Turkey on a cruise, Belgium, Pompeii and Ireland.  And maybe Budapest or Vienna if we have any time money left.

5QF

 

1. Groceries are high right now what is easiest way you have found to cut back?  I’m terrible at cutting back on groceries, especially right now.  We’re only in the States for 2 months, but I have a place to cook.  It’s amazing how much small stuff you need (spices, sauces, oils, etc) just to make the meals I’m used to making.  I know I’m never going to use them all up, but I’m afraid the food will be pretty bland without them.  I’m interested to see other’s answers though!

2. What are the top 3 things on your "bucket list"?  My top three would be to go on a cruise, to go to Ireland and to buy a house.  We’re doing a Mediterranean Cruise in July and going to Ireland in October, so completely 2 out of the 3 in the next 6 months isn’t too bad!

3. Would you rather give up AC or heat?  Heat.  I feel like I can pack on the layers and use blankets and snuggle with my husband, kiddos and weina dogs to warm up, but there’s not much you can do to cool off quickly.  Our house in Italy has one tiny wall unit for the entire house and we moved our bedroom to the top level of our house, which has very pretty views, but it’s also the highest (hottest) room in the house.  I’m a little nervous about sleeping up there this summer…  I can’t sleep when I’m hot.

4. What's your favorite cocktail??  I can count the number of drinks I’ve had in the past 4 years on one hand.  I’m really not much of a drinker at all, but in college I used to like Captain and Coke’s and I still like strawberry daiquiri’s with whipped cream.

5. What was your first job & how old were you?  My first job was babysitting 2 sets of twins when I was 14/15 years old.  (Same family had 3.5 y.o boy/girl twins and 8 month old boy/girl twins.)  I also worked for my dad as a secretary/receptionist/payroll on and off from 15 – 21.

5QF

1. Who mows your grass?  Normally I do.  Mark likes to, but he’s never around to do it, so I end up doing it.
2. Do you have a picture wall or picture gallery in your house (show us! <--- my addition to the question)?  We have one wall with some of our favorite photos that we’ve taken during our travels and another one with artwork we’ve bought at different cities around Europe.  I would love to take pictures of them, but we’re not home right now so I can’t.
3. What book has influenced your thinking the most? Or, what blog? (I want to read what gets people thinking!)  Jodi Picoult books all make me think quite a bit because they cover pretty controversial subjects.  I love them!
4. Do you have allergies? If so, how do you handle it this time of year?  I never had allergies until I got to Italy.  Spring time usually stuffs me up if I’m there.  I just take Claritin for a few weeks and then I’m good.
5. What's your go to meal to cook in an hurry?  Pounded chicken ( boneless, skinless chicken breasts pounded so they’re thin then dredged in eggs and then in flour with a little seasoning salt and garlic powder), mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.    Or spaghetti.