Buon Natale from Italy!

Yes once again we are saying "Buon Natale" from Italy!

Thankfully this will be our last Christmas in Italy, and hopefully away from our families. We both come from close, always together on Christmas type of families. Having to spend the holidays away makes not only us sentimental but also our families. Many people ask us why we choose not to fly back to the states during the holidays to be with our families, and our answer is this:
Living overseas for us is challenging. Flying commercial is very expensive during the holiday months, and forget Space A (a.k.a. "Rotator.") Everyone is flying back to see their families. We also have pets and even though cats are much easier to care for when we go on vacation, most of our friends go on leave during the holidays. For us staying put during the holidays is just less of a headache.

Enough of that annoyingness. Christmas this year was great. We both got exactly what we wanted. I got my first ever DLSR camera, a Canon Rebel T3i. It's a beginner model which is what beginners like myself should start out on. I see spouses over here who think they're "professional" and purchase a Canon EOS 5D Mark III...seriously? Those cameras are $$$$ and the spouse a beginner. Good luck figuring out all those buttons sweetheart. Anyways I can't wait to start practicing with my camera and hopefully develop a knack for picture taking with a DSLR! I decided on this brand after doing some research since I not only wanted to take pictures but also record videos as well. In the near future I plan on creating a YouTube channel and sharing my experiences on there as well.

Hope everyone near and far has a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!!

CE Holiday Party!

Last night was my second (my hubby's third) holiday party (and sadly our last) at Aviano!

We had a great time and looked super snazzy. I was more than ecstatic it wasn't at the same location as last year's because it was cramped and just not a great place. This year's was very nice, with a live band and decent food (I thought last year's was better because it was authentic Italian.) We all give and take and should be satisfied with we're given in the end, and we definitely were.
My heels weren't killing my feet by the end of the night, which for me was a huge accomplishment as I had troubles breaking in heels since I hardly ever wear them (because I'm always taller than most of my friends.)

Hope everyone is having a supreme December!

~Kadie

Here are some pics from last night!

First Christmas picture of 2013!

Me in my $5 dress from a second hand site! Spent less than $10 on this outfit including heels!

My handsome hubby in his holiday attire! Looking shnazzy!

At the holiday party enjoying the live band!

Happy Holidays!

There's Always Someone...

I absolutely love how colorful and different everyone on Earth is created. There aren't two individuals who are the same, and I am so thankful for that because life as we know it would be so crazy and insanely boring and SO competitive we would have non-ending wars over and over again.

The individuals we meet can change our lives in so many ways, and I am so thankful to have gotten to meet such wonderful people on this journey. I look forward to meeting so many more beautiful individuals wherever my life may take me.

Here's something that gets me.

My sister has had this problem growing up and making friends, and I feel like now I can say the same. There's always that one person who seems to be there, not all the time but whenever there is a situation that you feel like you could be involved, there they are. Growing up my sister and I would participate in competitive activities, winning many of them, but always competing against certain individuals. It would make my sister go crazy knowing that person was there and ready for business.
I have to say I'm thankful in a way I haven't had the crazy competitors my sister has had to deal with over the years. Individuals are what they are and there's no changing that.

I didn't realize this individual would make such an impact on my lifestyle, especially over this summer and what I chose to do with my time. I'm certainly not afraid of this individual. More annoyed because we have so much in common and yet so very different. They want to achieve the lifestyle I'm living which puts tension of both of us: Them wanting to achieve the amount of experience and knowledge I've obtained, and myself...

...

The reason this individual puts tension on me is actually childish. Honestly I have tension because I feel like this individual is going to replace me in a way. Everyone is going to look up to them instead of me.

Why do I let those feelings get to me?

Meet Butters!

We had been thinking about getting another kitty since we arrived in Italy (well since I arrived and we moved into our house in April.) It's really similar to the average married couples who start to have this nesting urge and feel their lives would be more complete if they were to have children.

I don't want kids. Not now and maybe not ever. That's a whole other topic that I'm not really wanting to get into on this post!

Anyways, we had been wanting to get another kitty. Mainly for Juba who seemed to be lonely at night while meowing at whatever in the house as we try to sleep. She knows what another cat is because she had been around kitties since she was about 6 months old (before that I have notta clue!) Toph and I decided we wanted a little male kitty since we already had a female. From my background growing up with cats, the opposite sexes seem to get along better. Less alpha and leader of the group. Thankfully Juba isn't an alpha female so I knew introducing a new addition into our little family wouldn't be a huge issue.

On July 13, 2013 something amazing happened. Our good military friends and distant neighbors told us their cat Lily had kittens. Three to be exact. The wife sent me pictures of all of them. They were beautiful. As Toph and I were browsing through the pictures one night he seemed to be particular of one of the kittens. This little creamy sandy orange kitten was so adorable, and it reminded Toph of his kitty "Tommy" who was left at his parent's house in the States. Tommy is about 14 years old and was too elderly to travel overseas. Toph misses him just like I miss little Bunnie, the kitty I left behind because we were only allowed 1 pet.

So the weeks went by. We were eager to know that the little orange kitten was-a boy or a girl. The wife told us one day while at Magic that it was a boy she was almost certain!! We were thrilled!

We had to wait until the kitten was old enough to be weaned, and on Sunday September 9, 2012 Mr. Leopold Butters was brought to our house!! Toph had to be on standby that morning when our friends brought him over, so a few hours later when Toph came back he was very excited to meet Butters. Toph's first words when he walked in the door were, "Where's my cat!?" Lol

How did we come up with the name Leopold Butters?

If you've watched the series "South Park" then you know what we're talking about. Leopold Butters is my favorite character off of that show, and one day before we adopted Butters it just clicked!

Here is a picture of Butters the day he was brought to our house.

So little! Happy adoption day Butters!

Happy 5th Birthday Jujubee!

I can't believe where the time as gone, because it seems like just yesterday I brought this sweet little kitty home from Craigslist about 4 1/2 years ago.

She's come such a long way since then, and I am so thankful to have her in our lives. Some pets don't get second chances, but this little girl certainly did and has done a complete 360 degrees for the better!

Happy 5th Birthday Juba!

Out and About in Italy

Here are some pics of the scenery, the roads, and everything in between my first couple of weeks here in Italy. From where my hubby and I are from, it's not completely different...everything is just as green if not greener than back home. The road signs are definitely different than what I'm used to seeing...so many different pictures to follow, how does one remember them all?

Leaving our house, on the road...notice the line in the middle of the road isn't yellow!

Strange road signs (top means there are two side roads coming up but this road has the right of way, and the bottom one means watch for deer)

This sign ahead with the red slash through it means we're leaving this town and going into another one

The beautiful Dolomite Mountains ("Doh-low-meet-ay")

There's hubby driving!

Entering another little town...this one is called Costa ("Coh-stah")

I'm not really sure what the blue arrow means...straight ahead?

More strange road signs...road bends to left, and right of way again

A small grape vineyard

Turning with blue road signs

This sign with the number circled in red means speed limit (50 km/hr =30 mph

Coming up to the main city

Stopping at a light...so different than in the states!

Our Italiano Casa! (Inside)

I've only lived in a total of (2) houses in my entire lifetime. One from the day I came home from the hospital until I was 13 1/2 years old, and the other until I was 23 1/2 years old. I loved both of my homes so very much. My husband is pretty much the same as me. He grew up in a total of 3(ish) houses. One until he was 9 years old, and then his parents moved, purchased a large lot of land, built two homes, and lived in one for a few years, then lived in the other for a few more. He did however move out of his parents home and live in what I called a "bachelor pad" until he was 22(ish) then moved back to his parents before leaving for Basic Training.
Italian homes in my opinion are...just a little, well, different. There's nothing really wrong with them (well besides having absolutely NO whats-so-ever built in closets.) This is our FIRST ever home living on our own, together I might add. We really can't completely judge...especially since the military is paying our rent each month!
Here is a mini tour of what our house looked like when we first moved in...after FMO (let us borrow things like a fridge, microwave, bed, etc.) Hope you enjoy!
NOTE: There will be an update once all our furniture comes from TMO!!

Our FIRST night in our home...it was so cold!

The entrance to our home...there's Juba!

Kitchen off to the right...it's apparently one of the larger accommodations here!

Our stove...it's propane which I've never used before. Professional chefs use this type, so it shouldn't be so bad!

Looking out the kitchen window (there's two)...such a lovely view

Our simple little fridge...yes, I've already started "girly-ing" it up as Toph puts it!

The living room off to the left (where we slept for a while until we decided to move into the master room)

Past the living room on the left side is a small hallway (bathroom is on the right, and straight is the master bedroom)

Our bathroom! The biggest I've ever had!

Mirror above sink (which I love the cabinet!) There's me!

Nice BIG sink!

I think it's called a....bade? (bah-day)

This is used by women here to "clean themselves" after going number 1...uh, yeah I'm not doing that. This thing is just going to be used as storage!

The shower...definitely not digging the shower head for the fact it likes to face down...definitely gotta be flexible!

Now onto the master bedroom (a "catch-all" at the moment for all our clothes and such)

Going to the other hallway on the right side (there's Juba again!)

This is going to be my office/cat room...but as you can see it's Juba's room for the time being

She wanted to give you the tour of her room herself!

Looking out Juba's window at the backyard...see, it really is BIG!

This is the hubby's office. He hasn't moved in here all the way yet, but it will be the "ultimate gaming room" as he puts it

Interesting light switches...because they're on the outside of each of the rooms...something to get used to

An Italian plug...so strange comparing to what we're used to