Resolutions: 2013 graded & 2014 resolved

Alrighty...I found my post from last year about my resolutions, as a reminder, this is what I resolved:
 
- Be able to sing Oh Holy Night in church for Christmas...in Italian - Have my photography studio up and running - Keep going with Isagenix and get to my goal weight - Be able to carry on a conversation with someone in Italian - without Google Translate - Mail my Christmas cards by December 1st - De-clutter every room in our house - Catch up Nathan's Navy scrapbook - 20 pages in Nathan's Navy scrapbook -  20 pages in Miles' scrapbook - Read the entire Book of Mormon  - Read one book a month - of my choice. - Keep up with the Sunday School lessons 

And how I fared at year end:

- Be able to sing Oh Holy Night in church for Christmas...in Italian - A
Done.  I almost peed myself from fear, and being 7 months pregnant with a rib-dweller definitely made the long, high notes a bit tougher...but this one felt awesome to accomplish! 

- Have my photography studio up and running - A
My photography business here in Italy took on a life of it's own this year.  Fueled by mini-sessions, it grew rapidly.  Our babymoon to Paris (pictures coming, I swear) was almost completely paid for by holiday photo sessions!  I got a new logo custom designed and I'm also working on a new, more professional webpage.  I can't wait to see where 2014 takes it!

- Keep going with Isagenix and get to my goal weight - A
I started the year out hard, got to a grand total of 50lbs lost and was losing more...then got the surprise of a lifetime finding out that (shocker!) my uterus & ovaries actually decided to work.   Even though I was about 20lbs from my goal weight I'm giving myself an A.  I busted by butt this year and I am so proud of the work I did.  

- Be able to carry on a conversation with someone in Italian - without Google Translate - B
This one depends on the topic...but I'm definitely more equipped to handle random conversations than I was at the end of 2012.  My language base grows every week, and I think I'm going to add a few lessons this year and see how far I can really go.  (since we'll be here another two years, why not?)

- Mail my Christmas cards by December 1st - F
Fail.  Total fail.  I never even got cards printed, let alone mailed.  I was SO busy with my holiday photo studio it was the furthest thing from my mind.  

- De-clutter every room in our house - C
We got a lot of the house de-cluttered...out of necessity for finding a spot for baby girl to fit.  But I didn't get to everything like I'd wanted.  I'll just keep on trucking with this one. 

- 20 pages in Nathan's Navy scrapbook - F
I didn't even do ONE page in any scrapbook this year.  Not one.  I need to try and fix that. 

-  20 pages in Miles' scrapbook - F
See above

- Read the entire Book of Mormon - D
Ok, so I read scriptures over the course of the year...but it was mostly according to topic or research for a lesson, etc.  I didn't sit down and read the BOM (or bible for that matter) from cover to cover. 
  - Read one book a month - of my choice. - C
I sat and thought about this one today...wondering if I actually did it.  And some months I can remember exactly what I might have read and others?  Not so much.  
 
- Keep up with the Sunday School lessons - F
This one just completely fell by the wayside.  Keeping up with the Sharing Time lessons each week in addition to the lessons for the primary classes (we have teachers no-show almost every week...we need to be prepared) kept me busy. 



Well it seems to me that the ones I did - I did fantastically.  And the ones I didn't - well, they just didn't even make it off the ground.  But you know what?  I'm not going to focus on those that I failed.  I had an amazing year.  I pushed myself to limits I thought I'd never reach.  I started running again, I even managed to get in four official races before I had to stop in July (puking 24/7 really takes the steam out of ya...and by the time the puking stopped I was SO jiggly from my growing appendages it hurt to run).  I poured my heart into getting healthy...and it blessed me back 100 fold.  Knees felt better, I slept better, I felt comfortable in my own skin...and my stupid reproductive system fixed itself and I got pregnant.   I have loved seeing my photo studio really get off the ground.  It makes me feel so good when strangers tell me they were referred to me by a former client.  I love it when clients make the photos I took their profile pics on FB or their Christmas card picture.  I love capturing sweet little faces...because they grow so quickly.  My language skills have made our time here easier.  I like finally being able to chit chat with people after church or at the market.   

And as I mentioned before...my 2014 resolutions are simple: spin only the important plates.  So here it goes:

1- Lead a healthy life, for myself and also as an example to my family
2- Try to be a better example of a follower of Christ
3- Spend more time doing things to make me & my family happy and spend less time worrying about making others happy

Good news!

Back in July we decided we were going to submit an official request to stay in Italy an extra year beyond our three.  Usually you hear back within a week or so, but not us.  As the weeks turned into months we wondered if maybe we should pull the request and just leave in a year as planned.   Well today we heard the good news - our request was approved!  We will now be in Italy until January 2016.  

It was a tough decision - it is hard being so far away from family, and life in a foreign tree can be very frustrating.  But there is a lot we love about living here...and the timing is perfect.  Miles can stay in pre-school here and we'll move back before he starts kindergarten.  

So you've been given an extra year to come see us - get saving and plan a trip to Italy!!  We also now have an additional year to work more on our travel bucket list.

Bag lady

You know it's interesting.  I have attended (or plan to attend) a few childbirth classes in prep for baby girl's impending arrival, and I've declined others.  The receptionist at the OB clinic is always surprised when I say no to classes like "New Dad" or "Newborn Basics".  She'll tell me they are wonderful classes and I should attend to learn some valuable things to help with the new baby.  I tell her this isn't our first - well, sort of - it's our first pregnancy and delivery, but not first baby.  Once the baby comes out - we're golden!  It's the getting the baby here and getting her out (ouch...) that makes me a wee bit nervous. 

So with that being said, there is something I need advice on from all my momma friends.  

The hospital bag(s)

When we left for the hospital for Miles it was a mad dash, pack fast, throw everything into the car, drive 26 hours, buy what we forget at Target kind of deal.   This go around I have quite a bit more time to plan - so I plan on taking advantage of that!  I have read a few books and online forums and baby websites about what to pack...but I'm looking for real-world advice from been-there-done-that moms.  Things like this gem from my friend Carlie: buy depends...they are much more comfortable than the mesh "undies" the hospital gives you.  

So I'm curious - 

-How many bags did you pack? (some suggest a labor bag, post-delivery bag, hubby bag, and a baby bag...that seems like a lot of bags)
- What did you take that you didn't use? (everything I take will have to be schlepped down and then back up 60 stairs...I don't want to take unnecessary stuff!)
- What did you not pack that you wish you would have?  

And any other random tips you have for me.  

A quick few things...the hospital here does not have a DVD player, or a cafeteria (except for during breakfast & lunch time...it's a military hospital, so it's a galley for the workers).  They do not provide pacifiers or formula (formula will be used only in the event of an urgent need for the baby).  We will have no access to any sort of prepared food (cafeteria, fast food, etc) after 8pm.  I will have my own room (yay - I don't like to share).    

Granted ALL of this changes if I go into labor before 37 weeks.  Because this hospital isn't equipped with a NICU, if I go into labor before 37 weeks they will not even allow me to labor at the hospital...they'll send me out in town to an Italian hospital and it's a completely different world at one of those.  So my fingers, toes, and legs are crossed that we make it to Valentine's Day...that's 37 weeks!

Keep the plates spinning

You know those fancy trick guys who put a plate on top of a stick, spin it, and keep it spinning without falling off?  I've been thinking about those guys a lot the last couple days.  And it reminds me of life.  We all have things to keep spinning.  Sometimes we are the one who starts the plate and other times a stick is handed to us and we just have to keep it going.  

In the last few months I have felt - in more moments than I care to share - that I wasn't going to be able to keep all my plates spinning.  Wife, mother, photographer, ombudsman, friend, teacher, cook, maid, daughter, sister, etc, etc, etc... it was a lot to keep spinning all at once.  The thing is, you never know how close you are to that point until you are to that point.  People would hand me spinning plates and I'd gladly take them.  I'd see others struggling with a plate so I'd offer to take it.  Then I'd think, huh, a pink spinning plate would be cool...so I'd start a pink spinning plate.  And then I'd stack plates on top of ones already spinning.  And all the plates are great and need someone to spin them, and I am more than capable, so why not me?  And every once in a while one would wobble a bit and require a little extra TLC to keep it from toppling off it's precarious perch.  And that was fine.  I'd take my eyes off the steady spinners long enough to tame the nervous plate.  But then I had more than one wobble at the same time...and the wobbles became more than wobbles and I didn't have enough eyes or hands to tame the finicky dishes.  I did my best to keep them all from falling, but some did.  And the unfortunate thing is the ones that fell are some of the ones that matter most to me.  I was so concerned about keeping plates spinning that could have been kept going by someone else that a few of my own crashed to pieces.  

Over the last month I have learned a few things: 

I don't need to spin all the plates.  

It's ok to sometimes say no to someone who wants you to spin one.

It's even ok to ask someone else to take one and have a turn spinning it.  

Next year I will spin less plates, and I'll only spin the ones that REALLY matter.
It's my only resolution.  

"Perks" of living in Italy

There are so many wonderful things about living in Italy - but there are days that I long for the comforts and conveniences of home.  I think the honeymoon phase of our Italian life has definitely passed.  For example.  It is cold.  I've mentioned that before, and YES I grew up in Utah with snow and freezing temps but you know what we also had?  Insulated houses and central heating.  Here all the houses are made of cinder block and have NO insulation.   We can run our radiators or a space heater and it will take the chill off but because the walls/ceiling/floor are cement the heat goes away very quickly.  When we wake up our house is routinely 50 degrees...INSIDE.   I'll turn the radiators on (oh how I wish they could be set on a timer!) for an hour to take the bite out of the air.  But once I take Miles to school I just layer, layer, layer to keep warm.  Thermal undies, leggings, sweatpants, hoodie, socks, and slippers.  I will run a space heater under my desk while I work...and that is heaven!  In the evening we'll run the radiators for another hour, maybe...only if it's super cold.  Why don't we just run the radiators all day you ask?  Well...because it is SPENDY.  Like, super spendy.  We figured out that we use 7 litres of gas for every hour the radiators are on.  Gas is about $1/litre.  So if we have the radiators on for 3 hours a day for the month it would end up costing us about $600/month.  And that only keeps our house warm for THREE hours a day...the rest of the time it would hover between 50-55 degrees.  That is a LOT of money to pay for not a lot of comfort.  Hence the reason for the layering and the snuggies and the massive quantities of hot chocolate/cider/tea ingested. 

Also - the power.  Oh mamma mia.  If it rains, our power goes out.  If we have too many things plugged in, the power goes out.  If it surges (which happens almost every day at least once), the power goes out.  And "too many things" is not many at all.  For example...I cannot run the washer and dryer at the same time as a space heater (or the oven, or the microwave).  So earlier this week when Miles had rotovirus and I had 4+ loads of laundry to do (our washer/dryer are TINY) I had the choice...clean, barf-free clothes/sheets/blankets or warm feet.  I opted for barf free and put on an extra pair of socks.  So we froze all day while I did the four batches of laundry. 

Imagine it is 5:30pm and you are hungry...and you don't want to cook dinner.  In America your options are unlimited....well, limited only by budget.  Here?  Nothing.  Restaurants will all be closed still from riposo and won't re-open for dinner for another hour and a half at least.  There is a McDonald's at the airport...and a Burger King over near IKEA...both are 30+ minutes away and not what I want.   

And everything will get done "domani" (tomorrow).  We have been having problems with our cell phone company since MARCH.  They keep saying "give us a week and we'll fix it".  Yep...it's been a LOT of weeks and nothing is done.  Customer service is non-existent here in Italy.  You don't like it?  Tough.   Even when I threatened legal intervention I was laughed at!   Our landlords seem to be the exception to "domani".  If something is broken or needs attention they help that day - or at the VERY latest the next.  We are SO grateful to have them!  

Italian food is amazing.  Seriously.  But what I would give for a plate of sushi.  Or a bowl of Thai curry.  Or Chick-fil-A.  Or (gasp!) Olive Garden's salad.  Italians aren't big on other culture's food.  At all.  We found one "Chinese" place that does ok...but it's almost an Italian's interpretation of Chinese food.   And there are a couple sushi places downtown Naples...but I hear mixed reviews.   I can make things of course  - provided I can find the ingredients.  Cilantro, avocados, and yellow squash are hit or miss at the base grocery store.  And things like Lemongrass and masago and spaghetti squash are impossible to find.   I've found raspberries here twice.  

Speaking of food.  A lot has recently come out in the media about thousands of tons of toxic (in some cases nuclear) waste being buried all around where we live...in the towns where our produce is grown.  It is frightening.  It's obviously not good for us...but then if we were in the states we'd be dealing with GMO's...not sure which is worse. 

I know this seems like a whiny post - and it is.  I love living in Italy 90% of the time.  But I've had a rough week here and I need to vent.  And I also want to have this down so when I'm back in the US someday feeling nostalgic for Italy that I can remember that it wasn't all smiles and butterflies.  Not that living in the US is all smiles and butterflies either...

New flash

I got a new flash for my camera and the other night I was playing around with it.  The bursts of light naturally attracted the attention of my curious two year old.  Miles would giggle and yell "ouch!" every time the flash went off.  Not sure why he said ouch...silly kid.  
In the midst of all his giggles I caught this perfect cheesy smile:

Growing Belly

I've been taking snapshots of me as the pregnancy progresses.  Instead of posting them all here I thought I'd give them their own tab...so should you have the desire to view my ever enlarging abdomen, see the "Growing Belly" tab above.

Halloween

It is no secret that Halloween is my most favorite of holidays.  I've had the boys' costumes planned for months...and I was going to be a ring girl, but with the changes in my body I couldn't find something that worked...so I had to improvise.   We had lots of Halloweening this year - which is just the way I like it!

First up was the big Spooktacular event at the base:

Next was a Trunk-or-Treat with our church friends.  Let me tell you...trying to get ALL those kids to hold still and all look the same way was IMPOSSIBLE. 

And finally one of our friends hosted a party on Halloween.  Miles wore his costume, Nathan wore his football jersey...and I went as a pregnant zombie.  :)

I love Halloween...I'm already trying to come up with costumes for FOUR for next year!