Finally Up-dating!

So, I know that it has been a long time since I have up-dated our blog and a lot has happened since my last post.

First, in early May, Dustin prepared to leave for Afghanistan. They changed the date for him leaving about four times and then finally they said they were supposed to leave on Thursday the 13th. So on Thursday they wanted us to just drop them off and they would bus them to a seperate hanger to wait for the plane. The problem was, it was down-pouring!! It was so sad to see dads climbing into the backseat to hurry and say goodbye to their kids and climb onto the bus. There was no way to take pictures, or give hugs and have a final goodbye. It was so rushed and it just plain SUCKED! About ten minutes later, Dustin texted me and said that I could sneak into the hanger and hang out till the plane came. So I drove over and we waited...and waited... and waited. Around 4:00pm I went and got dinner for everyone since we had been there since 11:00am and around 5:00 they said the plane would arrive within a half hour. At 6:00 they announced that the plane was actually broken and had never even LEFT Germany and they were being dismissed until the next day!

It was such an emotional roller-coaster! They were now going to leave on Friday the 14th at 8:00pm. My Grandma was coming in on Friday and so we decided that it was best for me to go with a friend to the airport and say our goodbyes before I left. Right before I left for the airport, we found out that he was now going to leave on Saturday the 15th instead! But because he needed to stick around in-case the plane came early I still went to the airport without him.

My Grandma came with me to drop Dustin off on Saturday. (they still changed the time twice on them.) We dropped him off at 10:00 and they finally took off at 3:30. This time I didn't stay and hang out. By then it was just too hard to keep saying goodbye and they weren't allowing families into the hanger anyway. (Sometimes it's easier to just rip the bandaid off!)

Dustin is doing good. He is working 12 hour shifts and with chow hall, gym and sleep, it doesn't leave much room for anything else. The attack on Bagram happened only three days of being there and on the first day of actual work. He said that they sat in a bunker and watched army helicopters circle the base and insurgents launching rockets. Luckily no one was hurt!


Dustin took the camera with all the pictures of him leaving, so here is a pic of us in Venice.

Second, Grandma arrived safely and we are having a blast! We have already been to Venice, Nove, Capri, Pompei, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and now to Pisa and Cinque Terre!

Well I have so much more to post but me and Grandma are off on our next adventure!



Grandma and I in Venice!

A good idea!

So Dustin leaves in about a week, and he thought it would be fun to go to Germany last weekend and go to CHILI'S. That's right CHILI'S. As in the American restaurant. I was totally up for the idea. We haven't been to any American restaurant in seven months and Ramstein, an Air Force base in Germany, is lucky enough to not only have a Chili's but also a Macaroni Grill. They are so spoiled. They don't even know how lucky they are.

We left last friday and on saturday we went shopping at their BX. (Which was as big as a Super-Walmart. Very cool.) Then we went to Saarbrucken and went to the WildPark Zoo. After the zoo we went to Chili's and it was AMAZING! I had a hard time deciding what I was going to order. I had thought about it for days but still couldn't decide. It had to be a perfect decision that I would not regret. I ended up ordering the triple dipper so I could have three choices! Ha ha. We pretty much stuffed our faces. So then, half-way through dinner we learned that Toby Keith was giving a free concert that night! And it was within walking distance of Chili's! It was freaking awesome! He was a great performer and we had so much fun. We had such a GREAT weekend!

Heavy's at Ramstein

SO Green

This sign cracks me up. It means "Caution: 30 kph because of FROG Crossing"

Feeding the pigmy goats

Alissa: You know you want him!

Toby Keith!

Perfect song for my hubby who deploys in a week! I LOVE you so much and I'm going to miss you!!

Spring has Sprung!

It's Spring in Italia! The last two weeks have been so warm and nice. It's getting up to the 70's during the day and on Saturday it was almost too hot. I am worried about the summer if spring is this warm. Also, the humidity SUCKS! But we are loving that the rain has finally stopped and we have clear skies. (For almost a month, everyday would start out nice and by mid-afternoon it would turn cloudy and by night-fall it would rain. It was awful.)

Last Saturday we went out and bought flowers and flower boxes for our porch. I am also nursing back to health a basil plant that I killed. (For those who know me, this is no surprise. We'll see how long the flowers last.)

Here's some pics....

All the supplies

Sayla checking out the flowers

All done!

Bosa checking out the flowers

Kinda hard to see, but they look really good! Hopefully they live!

Dustin had an awards banquet to attend so we got to play dress-up!

Rachel and Sid, our friends that joined us!

Caught the cats sitting on my scrapbook table so they could see out the window. They are loving the warm weather too! (But they are shedding way too much! They get shaved in a week!)

Scuola di Cucina!

Last Saturday, Rachel, Veronica and I, all took an authentic Italian cooking class. It was SO much fun! We went to an Italian ladies house and she and taught us how to make fresh pasta.

Making fresh pasta is a loooong process! First we had to mix flour and eggs and make the dough, then let it sit. Then we flattened it out into sheets and let it sit again. Then we cut it into the shape that we want and what next?? Yep! SIT AGAIN! Homemade pasta in Italian is called "pasta all'uovo fatta in casa".

We also made a mushroom sauce ("salsa ai funghi) and a cream and ham sauce ("panna e proscuitto") for our pasta. I liked the cream and ham sauce the best.

Then we made "panna cotta" for dessert. Sorry, no american name for this, there is nothing like it in the states! All it was, was cream, sugar, gelatin sheets (yes, SHEETS! It was gelatin that was in hard clear sheets that looked like plastic. Weird.), and vanilla bean and a little milk. Rachel said it reminded her of flan, but I have never had that before so I wouldn't know. It tasted really good but the texture was a little strange. Panna cotta IS my favorite gelato flavor though!

Also, there was one other Italian woman there to help translate because our teacher for the morning spoke nothing but Italian. BUT I am proud to say that I understood most of what she was saying! We defiantly want to do it again and she said next time we can custom make a class and make whatever we want. I think I want to learn how to make Pizza next. It is SO good here!

Rachel and Veronica

Stirring the cream for our panna cotta

Trying to flatten my dough to make tagliettelle noodles

Rachel separating our noodles so they can dry

The best part of course: EATING!!