Life on the Vine

Buon Natale!  Stockings are unstuffed.  Presents are unwrapped.  The boys are chewing on their new bones and our bellies are full from a Christmas breakfast.  There is still frost on the ground outside and we've got a fire going in the living room fireplace.  Church bells have rung, carrying their song through the chilly air.  Tom's wearing one of his Christmas presents...a new shirt from my mom.  I'm wearing some alpine slippers I picked up at the Bolzano Christmas Market on Saturday.  The Christmas tree lights are on and our bookshelves are framed with the Christmas cards we have received.  My coffee cup is full of Irish coffee and we're listening to Burl Ives Christmas album.  I want to sit here and enjoy the ambiance and music so I thought it might be a nice time to share some photos and reflect on our first Christmas in Italy. It's hard to believe we have been living in Italy for six months.  We're already halfway through our...

Knowing my geographic bachelorette status, my friends Steven and Ally invited me to spend New Years Eve with them.  I'm a bit of a homebody when it comes to New Years...sometimes Tom and I are in bed before midnight (sad I know but it's the truth). I just figured we'd be staying in...watching movies, eating food and drinking French champagne.  Which would have been enjoyable enough, but fortunately for me...Steven and Ally had other plans.  Usually no later than 10 p.m., they drive up to one of the U.S. military installations, which sits on a hill and has great city views, and watch movies and eat snacks, waiting for midnight. You have to see it to believe it but we witnessed pyrotechnics gone wild.   On New Years Eve private citizens all over town, and surrounding communities, launch personal fireworks from streets, yards, pedestrian bridges, parking lots, parks, etc...basically any place with a flat surface and aerial access.  There is nothing orga...

This will be my last post for a few weeks. And it's going to be short and sweet. I'm heading home tomorrow for some rest and relaxation with my honey and fuzzy kids. I should be back in Iraq in early April. It's been a busy few days. Yesterday we had a St. Patrick's Day parade around GRD compound. GRD is being supported by the 416 th Engineer Command right now and many of the Soldiers are from the Chicago area. We were "adopted" by Chicago's South Side Irish Parade committee and a group called ComPadres . They sent us tons of fun St. Patty's Day paraphernalia . PAO did a float for the parade. We also got some great media coverage. A Reuters photographer covered the morning 5K and 10K walk/run races and a visit to the hospital to give wounded warriors some of the donated items. We also had a reporter from AFP (a French version of the Associated Press) cover the parade. The link below will take you to the resulting article. Enjoy the photos...

Several weeks ago I received a box from my Aunt Almeda. Inside were about 14 little black fabric pouches that sealed with Velcro. I could tell that my aunt had made them. They were pretty cool. Inside were chocolates, hand sanitizer, beef jerky, and chap stick. All stuffed by my Grandpa and Uncle Paul. I added a few things to the pouches, some alcohol swabs and Crystal Light powder to flavor water. My family's intent was for me to find some soldiers to give the care bags to. Occasionally there are units of soldiers that pull up in front of our headquarters building, either taking a break, grabbing some coffee or waiting to pick up VIPs. After I got the pouches I started praying that the Lord would bring along the perfect unit who I could give the gifts to. Well, Monday I was on my way into the office in the morning (note my wet hair in one of the pictures) and I saw a group of vehicles parked outside on the main road. I guessed by the vehicles that they were military police and...