The 4th

You can probably tell by that picture that my 4th of July was good.  I just do not get to see them enough.  We arrived in Indiana mid-afternoon on the 4th and just basically had a great day spending time with my family.  We did sparklers, grilled out (love when the parents splurge for steaks), and watched the fireworks over the lake. The rest of the weekend we had lunch with Ben's parents and sister, hit up the outlet mall, had a great full day cook out with my extended family, and soaked up as much time with those kiddos as possible. Unfortunately after the first night our camera battery died so we don't have a lot of pictures.  I don't have any of my youngest niece, Sofina, because she was going to bed before I broke out the camera.  Don't worry, I'll include an i-phone pic here.  And without further ado, I give you....way too many pictures of one day!

Sparklers and some fireworks

She took the sparklers very seriously

But she liked them

Always on the move



Teddy liked crawling under chairs and under legs

NOTHING in the bottle.  Just a 15 month old teething who only wants what you have.

My girl

 

And Instagram...

 

Yeah I really need to be able to see these people more often.  Also, there's only more pictures of Ellana because she is the easiest to get pictures of right now.  

Siblings

This weekend Ben and I are packing up the car and heading back to Indiana for a much needed rendezvous with my family.  In honor of my almost irrational excitement, I thought I would do a small tribute to those two characters with me up above.

Growing up, all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins lived in the same state as us.  We got together all the time for events.  4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day...all the day holidays.  And it was grand. I always thought that as an adult, this would be the same.  Not only would I get together with my aunts, uncles, and cousins, but my siblings and I would see each other all the time as well.  Unfortunately, life happens, and this isn't the case.  We live in 3 different states no where really near one another.  So any time we can get together, it really is a cause for excitement.  This 4th, we're all congregating in our hometown for the long weekend, and Saturday, all my aunts, uncles, and cousins are coming in for a big ol' fashioned cook-out.  And I.  Can't. Wait.

Yeah, we're Purdue fans.  The best kind of fan you'll find.

My brother and his family live in Florida.  Land of warm weather which my sister-in-law would die without.  He is 2.5 years older than me. The best way to describe Steve is as an overachiever.  He's a neurosurgeon.  Who has a master's degree in public health.  Who travels to Africa to do surgeries and help.  Who lived in Kenya for 6 months.  Who was one of the outstanding alumni for his school at Purdue.  (Of course my siblings and I all went to Purdue...come on.)  Growing up, Steve was always like that.  He was popular.  He graduated 3rd in his class.  He was the star of the school musical.  He was the captain of the soccer team and started varsity since his freshman year.  He dated great people.  That's just how he was.  Because of this, I always did more.  I had to try to live up to his example, and it made me join more and BE MORE.  I'm grateful for that.

Cami and her family live in Pennsylvania.  I called her Cam the Ham as a child because she was so outgoing.  I was shy, and she was the baby of the family with the dimples who charmed EVERYONE.  She was always pushing me because I felt like I had to stay ahead of her.  Wait, Cami might be about to do a back handspring at cheerleading?  I better get my back tuck.  Cami's about to get her license?  I better hurry up and get on it first (I was a bit slow there.)  Between trying to catch up with Steve and "stay ahead" of Cami, I really had some motivation to get things done.  I had to because I was never going to catch up to her in personality, cuteness, and generally likeability.  Luckily I've lost a bit of that along the way.  I can rejoice with her victories and life events and not feel like I need to catch up.  I can be proud of Steve's accomplishments and not wonder how I'm going to match it.  No one can or has ever made me as mad as Cami.  She was both my best friend and my worst enemy.  I think that's what you call sisters.  Now, she is one of my closest friends.  She never fails to send me cute videos/pictures of my nephew, answers my questions about design and how to paint things, gives the best book recommendations, texts with me throughout the Golden Globes and Academy Awards red carpet and show, and understands and shares my love of British history.  We got married the same summer and plan to travel to Great Britain the summer of our 10th anniversaries to visit the sites we love so much.  Don't worry, our husbands know this plan and are okay with it.  They will be able to entertain each other at the pubs when they get bored of our sites.

Andrew, Ben, and Jenny.  We are lucky to have them.

Probably one of the best things about my siblings are the people they chose to marry.  I love Jenny and Andrew and could not have picked better people to marry my siblings and into our family.  Some day they both deserve their own tribute. 

The last time I saw them.  6 months ago.

The absolute best thing about my siblings are the fact that they have made me an aunt, and it's pretty much my favorite thing ever.  Steve and Jenny have two girls (one is my goddaughter), and Cami and Andrew have a little boy.  After the 4th, I know I'll be back here posting more of their cute faces.  All in all, I think this makes my excitement for the weekend more than rational really!

Our first home

The realtor's picture*

Ben and I bought a house!  We have lived in 3 different houses together, but this is our first home that we actually own.  We actually closed on May 31st which was a Friday.  Exactly one year earlier, we were arriving in Columbia to start our one weekend house search.  So technically we looked for a year.  When Ben was offered the job here, he accepted (I feel weird saying we accepted since it was his job, but he obviously made that decision with me), and I had never even been to the town.  Talk about a leap of faith.  And I'm picky!  Anyway, so the university flew us out for a weekend to look for a place to live before we moved at the end of July.  We did two solid days of house hunting, and I just wasn't comfortable buying anything.  Everything just felt so foreign, and I wasn't truly excited about any of the houses.  I also do not rush into decisions lightly so in retrospect I don't know why we expected to buy a house in one weekend.  Luckily, a friend of mine from Chicago has parents who owned a home in Columbia, and it just happened to be for rent.  It could not have worked out better for us.  Plus we got the "friend" no pet waiver so Ollie could live with us. Phew.

It's ours!

I checked the real estate sites throughout the year, and we became more comfortable with the town and where we would want to live.  Of course Ben would pick out in the middle of nowhere with acres of land but that wasn't in the budget (or my idea of the perfect local.)   To make a long search short, we went to an open house in April, loved it, and had to put in an offer the next day because there were already two offers!  Ours was chosen and the rest of the closing process went smoothly!

The day we closed.  It was raining.

We moved in last weekend, and I still hurt.  I much preferred having movers come and pack up all our stuff and carry everything.  If only the university paid for more than one move, right?  So far I've painted two rooms, and I'm so happy with the way they turned out.  I'll have to post before and after pictures.  I'll try to post more pictures at some point when I have unpacked (it might be a year or so), and you have to see the backyard/deck.  That was really the selling point.  Well that and the remodeled bathrooms.  Anyway, I'm so happy with it and can't wait to share more...eventually. 

*I'm an Indiana girl so I have to have the basketball goal in the driveway.  Wouldn't feel like home otherwise.

Oh Venice (Part Two)

Venice part two starts half way between day one and two.  In the middle of the night while we were sound asleep in our third story bedroom overlooking that gorgeous view above, we woke to a bizarre feeling of shaking.  I am a deep sleeper once asleep so I don't wake up easily and definitely do not get up voluntarily at that time.  We both woke up, felt ourselves shaking again, and were quite startled.  We looked at each other, silently confirming that the other felt it, and tried to figure out what was happening.  Ben said, "I think we just felt an earthquake!"  I asked what we should do.  We laid there for awhile, didn't feel anything else, didn't hear anyone else up and about, and just went back to sleep.  As I said, it takes a lot for me to get up at that hour.  I feel sorry for my future children.  The next morning at breakfast Ben asked Marco if we really had felt an earthquake, and our experience was confirmed.  There was a huge earthquake in the Milan area, and Venice felt it as well!

My cute husband where we felt the quake.

We started the second actual day with set plans.  We wanted to visit the Doge's Palace and Saint Mark's Basilica.  St. Mark's Basilica is free (yay!), but we did pay the extra 5 euros to go upstairs.  It is well worth it if you are trying to make that decision.  There's much more to see, and you get to see the actual bronze horses which are inside, not outside.  They date back to at least Alexander the Great, and it was a bit surreal to see something that old and amazing.  The bronze horses you can see from the square are replicas.  You aren't allowed to take picture of the real ones though. If you pay the extra money, you also get to go out on the balcony and see the views.  It's basically a great picture opp.  While at the top, we took some pictures for a group of students, and they took our picture in return. In doing so we started talking about where we were from and the usual generalities.  However, it turned out we actually knew people in common!  One girl was dating the younger brother of a really good friend of mine from college, and the other girl went to the same haircutter as Ben did growing up. His mom still goes there and so does the girl, so they got their picture together, and I believe it is now hanging in the salon.  Small world stories are my favorite.

After the historical sites, we just did more wandering.  Venice is made for wandering.  We also tried the first Bellini's of our life.  For dinner, we ate at a restaurant that was one of the many tourist traps out and about in Venice.  We basically knew it going in so no excuses.  I wanted to go back to da Mamo for the second night, but Ben thought we should try somewhere new.  This place had a good deal even though it kind of looked touristy so we went for it.  It was fine, just not memorable.  We should have gone back da Mamo. :)  Yes, I am a creature of habit.  Another highlight was having my first glass of Prosecco.  Prosecco is my sister-in-law, Jenny's, favorite drink, so when in Venice I knew I had to try some or she would kill me.  I have had Prosecco, but it was always mixed with something else.  Anyway, it was delicious.  One of my favorite things to do now once we're back is to add pomegranate seeds to a glass of Prosecco. It is pretty much perfect.  And so ended our second day in Venice. 

The yellow house that always helped us find our way home.

Bronze horse replicas

Doge's Palace

In the Bridge of Sighs

Taking a picture of all the people taking pictures of the Bridge of Sighs.

Prosecco

Me with Prosecco and Ben with beer.  He missed his beers.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed our time in Venice.  It's funny because while there I went through some different emotions.  I was frustrated by the prices and the crowds, but I was also totally awed by the beauty and history.  It wasn't my absolute favorite location on our trip (yes, that was Cinque Terre as I expected), but once home I actually found myself thinking about Venice more than about any other place we visited.  It just had a magical and majestic quality, and I really hope I will get the opportunity to go back someday.

Silver Lining to Midwest Storms

It stormed a lot here in May.  Too much.  We're talking thunder and rain and hail every day for a week.  This means we're also talking sinus headaches every day for a week.  However, I am grateful we didn't have the tornadoes that so many other Midwestern towns had this year.  And sometimes the sinus headaches are worth it when you see a full rainbow.  Seriously.  Okay, the headaches aren't worth it, but they sure are pretty anyway!

Oh Venice (Part 1)

Oh Venice. What can I say about Venice?  Well a lot actually.  Venice was an interesting addition to our itinerary.  It was a city we were both curious about and wanted to see, but at the same time it wasn't at the top of our list (Cinque Terre was).  It wasn't in the exact same vicinity as the rest of our stops so we hesitated with whether or not to add that travel time.  In the end, we obviously did, and I couldn't be happier with that decision.

We took the earliest possible train from Siena to Venice.  We arrived early afternoon, and it was bright and sunny and wonderful.  I think I was most nervous about navigating Venice with the vaporettos and canals and winding streets.  I didn't know the half of it.  When we got there, we grabbed a slice of pizza around the train station and headed to catch a vaporetto to our hotel.  We were staying near St. Mark's Square, which I would highly recommend if you're only going to be in Venice a short time.  The vaporetto station was a disaster.  Chaos.  I don't know if it's a European thing, an Italian thing, a Venetian thing, but lines weren't such a "thing" there.  We waited forever trying to figure out what was going on.  People were pushing, attendants were yelling, and I hated every second.  My back pack was so heavy, we were sweating, and we had no idea why we weren't moving.  We eventually got on a (packed) boat, and that's when we found out.  The America's Cup Regatta race was in town, and it messed up all the vaporetto times and stops.  Many of the stops were closed, including the one we needed.  We got off at the last one we could and just spent a lot of time looking at the map.  Or actually Ben spent a lot of time looking at the map.  We could see some of the sailboats though which was awesome. 

We also kept seeing people stopping and holding up traffic on one of the foot bridges and couldn't figure out why.  Finally as we were crossing, it was all clear.  It was the view to the Bridge of Sighs!

Anyway, after about 3 hours, we finally made it to our bed and breakfast, the B&B San Marco, and it was lovely. We had a huge room, and even though we were sharing a bathroom, everything was clean, well located, and very well priced.  We ate breakfast in the family's kitchen the next day, and Ben loved getting to talk to Marco about the city.  He spoke English extremely well and was very informative. The view from our window helped release any frustration the initial ride took.  Check it out.

We changed out of our traveling clothes and took off to see the sights.  With Venice, we did a lot of just wandering and taking it in. The bad thing about Venice is that it is extremely crowded.  We were there in mid-late May so I can't imagine what it would be like in the summer.  In some of the narrow alleys, it would take awhile to make it through.  We found the Rialto bridge and saw the gorgeous, post-card views. 

The first two pictures of this post were actually taken from the Rialto bridge.  We continued to wander, seeing St. Mark's square, and sitting by the canals watching the gondolas go by.  It was relaxing.  We finally had to go back and change into warmer clothes and headed out for an evening on Venice.  We stumbled onto a restaurant that ended up being one of the best meals of our entire trip.  Best house wine of our entire trip, fabulous service, intimate, fun ambience, and delicious food.  Plus we only had to wait about 10 minutes.  It was a good thing because I think Ben was getting a bit frustrated at my indecision on where to eat.  Next time, we'll come prepared because we will just go back to da Mamo.  And I really hope there is a next time.

A huge lobster.  His name is Crusty. That's a joke for my family.

This caprese was ah-mazing.

Ben's meal.  Yum.

I hope to see you again da Mamo.

 We ended the night on the square of San Marco or St. Mark's for us Americans.  My mom's best friend, Kitty, travels to Italy a lot and adores Venice.  She said the number one thing we had to do was sit at one of the cafes on the square and listen to the orchestras.  You do have to purchase a drink to sit, and it is pricy, but we were so happy to indulge in the one drink.  The orchestras were so good, and it just seemed like such an Italian experience for our vacation.  It was quite chilly so there weren't many people around, but some were dancing in the square.  I imagine that when it is warm, there are people everywhere.  I hope to experience that someday as well. 

So that was our first day in Venice.  This post is already a bit ridiculous so Venice is going to get a part 2!  Yay!  Be prepared for the Doge's palace, St. Mark's Basilica, our intro to Prosecco and Bellini's, small world stories, and surviving the earthquake..dum, dum, dum!!