Summer Sweetness straight to Winter Wonderland

I honestly can hardly believe that we are already back in Italy for another season of bball.  This year started a little bit differently for us, but we have landed back in Sassari on the island of Sardegna.  This is the team Tony played for two years ago when they won the championship to move up to Lega A.  The team is still in Lega A and right in the middle of the pack as of now. The season is well under way and again...can't believe it is already December!  I feel like we skipped from summer to winter in a blink of an eye.

SO since I haven't blogged in forever, I have to give a run down of our extra long summer at home.  It was busy as usual...so here we go:

-10 Weddings including my cousin Chris to Gracie, and Tony's cousin Nicole to Joe.  All of the weddings were extremely fun, and Tony and I were able so see so many family and friends which is always the best.

-Trips to California, Nashville, Las Vegas, Ocean Shores and about 5 trips to lake Chelan :)

-Working for me, house flipping for Tony, and a lot of bball workouts for us both (well OK just rebounding for me)

-We got to meet our new nephew Mason who joined the now Schmidt family of five.

-Lake days at my parents house with lots of swimming, tubing, volleyball and of course family&friends&food.

Here is a glimpse of our summer in pictures...

Our Nephew Brody...such a stud muffin!

Disneyland 2011

The family at our favorite spot, La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs.

Sara, Ashley, and I enjoying the Disneywalk.

The first gal we see in Disneyland, she is always so funny!

The night Liz told us she was prego!
Blakely Ann was born November 23rd, and she was perfect!

At Tony's Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary surprise party.
Had to document Tony's summer choice of facial hair too.  

Celebrated our 3rd Anniversary!! 

Celebrating at Joseph Magley's wedding!

Tony surprised me for our Anniversary, with dinner at Palisades and a night at the 5th Avenue  that was playing Aladdin!
Loved it!

Great friends who I miss dearly, Beth and Jessie!  Enjoying Brooke McCully's wedding!

Nashville where I surprised my Sister Kristin...whoop!

Our darling Nieces Taya, and Hadley up in Seattle for a visit!

The newest Schmidt family member Mason!  He is SO cute...love him!

The day after Nicole and Joe's wedding...such an incredible event!

At Krystal Mattich's wedding, here is a shot of a good portion of the supper club kids!

My Love

My niece Gwenny's first day of 1st grade!

The Gondola ride up at Crystal.  SO cool, but want to go back on a sunny day.

Congrats Yuen's, what a beautiful wedding!

Waiting for the Tower of Terror :)

Happy 60th Wedding Anniversary to two very amazing people.
Tony's Grandma and Grandpa Binetti

Congrats to Lance (my B-I-L) and Kevin for getting hired on at the Enumclaw  Fire  Department.

Wedding shower for our cousin Chris...here with the Miller girls :)

Our badges were awesome in Nashville...so was our hotel the Grand Ole Opry .

Goodness gracious....this summer was a blast!!

We ended up signing a little bit later then normal, so I have officially been here 3 weeks and Tony almost 2 months.  This is the first time that we have been back to a place that we have lived before so that is a new twist on things.  I haven't needed to spend my first couple of weeks walking around with my neck strained in every direction trying to find something cool and interesting...I already know most of those things!  It is actually kind of nice knowing how to get to the gym, the grocery store, re-visit our favorite restaurants etc.  Not too mention this is one of my favorite places we have ever been...so I'm a happy girl.

The best part about this team is the huge group of Americans!  I am in heaven :)  There are 6 American wives/gf's and then three other wives/gf's that all speak English....so we take up an entire row at the games.  I already knew one wife, Gini Diener back from our first season in Castelletto so it has been so great having a close friend right out of the gate. She is due with their first baby boy Jan. 1st so we are all very anxious to meet this baby Diener soon.  :)

The only real downer of this season and being in the first league is that we do not get to come home for Christmas.  If you know me, you know how sad this makes me.  I absolutely love love love Christmas and I am truly sad we don't get to be home with our families.  BUT, that is the way life goes sometimes and being able to share it with my husband and the good friends we have here, will be special too.

OK first blog back from the summer is officially up and running.  You will see me back here soon.  Tony's team heads out of town this weekend so the girls will do some shopping, shopping and more shopping ;)

CIAO TUTTI!!

Home Sweet Home

Well I honestly can't believe it is this time again, but I am heading home!  Prima Veroli ended the season in 6th place in Legadue and is heading into play offs this week against Rimini.  We didn't get home court advantage so Tony will play the first two games away, the second two games home, and the third one away again.  GOOD LUCK BOYS!

I am excited about going home but I will say it has been a really different experience for me here this year...I finally have had FRIENDS :) It was so nice to have wives here the entire season, we all became close and I will miss them!  Thanks Adriana, Amanda, and Cinzia for a great time this year...and I am really hoping for a reunion in Italy next season :)

I thought it would be fun to blog about a few things I will miss and a few things I can't wait for...so here it goes!

Things I will miss:

-The one on one time with my lovely husband.  We really get such quality time together over here, and when we go home we are SUPER busy and this special time doesn't happen very often.

-The peace and quiet...this culture still honors siesta which is basically a four hour nap time in the middle of the day.  And as much as it can be annoying, it is a great excuse to hang out at home with no where to go (because everything is closed).

-The very nonchalant driving!  I have to re-train myself when I get home that I can't go any speed I want, roll through stop signs, pass when I feel like it, park where I want to, and not even worry if I slightly bump another car. ;)

-The food!  I really love Italian food, the freshness is amazing!  Of course my favorites...the pizza, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and gelato! Mmm....

-The basketball of course!  I love watching Tony play and his team too...such incredible athletes, and makes me miss playing even more.

Things I can't wait for:

-My FAM!  I miss my family so much and it is always the best thing ever when they are all waiting at the airport when I get home.  This year will be a little different with out Kristin and Teej there, but I know I get to see them in June :)

-My friends...it is so fun to finally be able to talk in person with my good buddies and go for walks, play volleyball, basketball, cards, starbucks runs, and fun times out on the town!

-Shopppppping...I can't wait to get back to Bellevue Square, Downtown Seattle U Village, Costco, etc! :)

-The food!  OK so this one is on both lists but I love the food back home too, so much variety and you can get whatever you want when you want it...that is great!

-My car...and as most of you know she is an oldie, but she is a goodie!  I am just excited to have an automatic and big enough car so that people don't have to crawl into the back :)

So back to the United States I go!  I am so excited to see everyone...CIAO TUTTI!!

Easter Weekend 2011

Easter is such a special and spiritual holiday weekend.  Tony and I both tried to take time to reflect and digest the greatness of what Easter means to both of us.  It means so much to our faith's and we are so blessed to share those feelings together.  Not too mention the fun part of Easter with the eggs, cute decorations and last but definitely not least (if you know me at all) the CANDY!  My sister Kristin and I are candy freaks and we have officially named Easter the best candy holiday by FAR :)

We started off the weekend with a great opportunity, the GM called Tony and asked if he could come to the hospital to meet some of the children that are currently staying there for a long period of time for various reasons.  I got to go along for the ride and it was so awesome.  The team mascot was also there, and him and Tony went into several rooms and passed out big chocolate eggs to the kids.  It was so nice to be reminded in a big way about sacrificing in our lives and doing things to help others.  The kids loved seeing the huge giraffe and getting a few autographs.  It was a good way to start the weekend.

Saturday morning we were up and out the door by 6:30am!  We were headed North all the way to Florence for a day of sight seeing and relaxing.  It was a good three hour drive but it was beautiful as we drove through the Tuscany region for the last bit of it.  Once in Florence we realized that this was probably not the best day to visit, considering it was the day before Easter and we were there with thousands and thousands of tourists!  SO we ended up not visiting any museums (crazy I know), but we only were there one day and didn't want to stand in line for 3 hours at every one.  And really that just means that we will have to go back someday...right?  Florence was great, and it was so nice just walking the side streets with Tony and relaxing!  We had such a fabulous day and finished it off with a stop at Piazza di Michaelangelo which has one of the best views of Florence ever.  It was a perfect way to wave good bye to Florence and head on back to good old Veroli :)

Finally in Florence!

Making our way through the crowds

Ponte Vecchio (one of the first bridges that is still standing)

Mia amore...

il Duomo 

Tony using his artsy/photography skills ;)

The replica statue of Michaelangelo's David 

Easter morning we got up and went to church at Abbey Casamari which is a beautiful functioning Abbey about 15 mins away from our house.  It is one of my favorite places to take visitors because it is so beautiful and simple at the same time.  The place was PACKED with people even though there was services every hour.  It was a great service about how Easter can be thought of only as a story (even though a great one) and not taken or remembered for it's true meaning and impact.  Obviously I had to have Tony translate a little of that for me ;)

Then we came home and just spent time together with no bball!  I made a big dinner for the two of us that was yummy and then finished off the night with goodies from our Easter basket and a movie.  One of the best weekends in a long time :)

Easter dinner!

Baby Shower!

So after a fun filled couple of weeks with visitors I got to end the week throwing a baby shower for Adriana, who is another wife on the team.  Adriana is due with baby Serena in May so the other wives and I thought it would be a perfect time to throw her a shower!  We had a great mixture of Americans and Italians that were able to make it and we really had a wonderful time.  Our friends from Caserta even made the long drive up!  We ate, played games, and of course opened presents.  Adriana has been pregnant the entire season, so we are all very anxious to meet Serena, and are all praying that she has her when we are still here!  Our team heads into play offs May 12th, so there is a chance that we could lose and be out before she comes.  So we are hoping for an early baby so that we can all meet this precious little one!

We decorated with pink of course :)

Cute little Veroli babies!

Serena scored some adorable clothes!

Cinzia and AJ...thanks for hosting Cinzia!

Big Brother Jay gets a few presents too.

Pink flowers from Adriana's sweet husband Jay!

The Veroli Wives and kids...minus little Jay. :)

It was a wonderful afternoon, and Adriana seriously deserved a day of spoiling and love!  We can't wait to meet you Serena!!

The team played Scafati that week on the road and we won again...BARELY!  We have gotten super lucky the last three games, and hopefully this won't continue into play-offs because it is stressful.  Then on Monday I had one of my wisdom teeth taken out, so that was a blast ;) Tony was gone all day for team stuff, so thankfully Adriana was kind enough to take me and bring me home.  It is healing ok, but unfortunately I got dry socket which is extremely painful and is still killing me.  I am hoping to make a visit back to the dentist tomorrow to have him take a look.  

This week brings the last regular season home game against Pistoia.......and then only one more away game to go.  Time is flying by!

CIAO CIAO :)

What a WHIRLWIND!

Sara is HERE!!

My sister Sara surprised me about a month ago when she asked me if I had time for one more visitor after my parents, and Aunt.  Of course I said yes...why?  Then she told me that everything had fallen into perfect place and she was coming to Italia...for three days!!  I know most of you might think that is crazy to fly all that way (24 hour travel time) but for her it was perfect.  She has a hubby, and two kiddos at home that need her desperately and two jobs that need her too!  So...even though she was only gone five days, and here three it was seriously the best time ever.  I was so excited the days leading up to it...and just felt so blessed that everyone in our family could help with the kids and everything just to let her come to see us!

Cheers to Sara in Italia...and matching outfits of course (no it was not planned)!

Happy sister :)

SO she arrived on a Sunday and with a couple hour delay it was already noon when she got here.  So we decided to head back to Veroli so that we explore our local area with the remainder of the day.  As soon as we set down our suitcases we were out the door.  First we went to Frosinone for the famous cappuccinos, then off to Sora, then Isola Liri, then Abbey Casamari, and last but not least Veroli.  We were rockin' to say the least!  Then we picked up Tony and had a great dinner at Pepe Nero where we laughed, caught up on things at home, and just enjoyed a great dinner!  

Bruschetta....one word YUM!

The next day we were up early and off to Roma on the train...which was a funny experience in itself.  But we made our way to our first stop which was Vatican city.  We went through the museum and spent a good amount of time in the Sistine Chapel, that place is truly amazing.  Then we talked our way into exiting through the special tour group exit that leads straight to St. Peters Basilica, and that saved us a huge line and time!  After purchasing some special souvenirs we made our way into St. Peter's and even though all of the pews were out (everything is ready for Holy Week and Easter) it was still once again an awesome sight.  We took our time and wandered through and after stopped to send a special set of postcards to Sara's kids from the Vatican post office! :)  I wonder how long it will take them to get there?

Vatican Museum

Did you know you can take pictures and talk in there now?  I wish it was the old way.

Breath taking...

St. Peter's Basilica

Signed, sealed, delivered...straight from Vatican City!

Then it was off to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and then the Pantheon.  Here we stopped and had a bite to eat at a cafe facing the church and square. They say that the people watching is great outside the Pantheon, and it did not disappoint.  Then after just making it in the Pantheon before it closed we toured it quickly and then headed off.  We walked to the Coliseum from there, and when we arrived realized that it had closed at 2pm this specific day, so we thought we better call it a day (a very successful one) and head back to Veroli to have dinner with Tony.  We ended up at a new place we had not been where we enjoyed freshly made pasta that was awesome! Buon Appetit!

Pantheon lunch!

The The Monument of Victor Emmanuel II
...AKA the Wedding Cake

Sara's first peak at the Coliseum

The next day we were a little crazy...we had made reservations at the Villa Borghese Galleria at 9am which meant we need to wake up about 5am to get ready and train into Roma, and make it out there on the Metro.  But we did it, and we weren't even that tired...(you have to remember I never have to set my alarm for anything, so 5am is a little early)!!  So we got there just on time and went to the ticket office to retrieve our tickets we reserved on line...the guy looks at us and says, I am sorry there is no reservation for you today?  We were like...um...we just made it yesterday and it emailed us a confirmation!  So he looked again, and this time said, oh yes here you are, for NEXT Tuesday!  Haha...we started to panic a little bit and pleading our case, and he quietly smiled and said, we can let you in today :)  I have never been to the Borghese Garden Gallery so I was really excited to see it, and of course Sara was too, so thank goodness for a nice Italian guy that could see how disappointed we would have been!  SO we grabbed a quick brioche and cappuccino and off we went with our audio guide in hand!

It was an amazing place, with so much art to look at and understand.  It was well worth the 5 euros for the hand held guide!  They only allow a certain number of people into the museum every 2 hours, so it was quiet upstairs for the first hour, but once we headed back downstairs, the teenage tours had crowded in!

The Villa Borghese Gardens

I didn't know this but every year Italia has "Culture Week" where mostly all of the museums are free!  So we seriously lucked out...and saved a lot of money that way!  The only thing we had to pay for was the Vatican museum...other then that the Coliseum, the Forum (Palatine Hill) and Villa Borghese Gallery were free...and I am sure so much more.

After we finished there, we went straight to the Coliseum and then the Forum where we walked the ancient grounds, got our shoes extremely dirty and took in the incredible history of Roma.  Once we finished there, and a stop for gelato, we headed home because Tony needed the car for practice.  It was another train ride of standing room only, we seemed to only get to sit down once!

Inside!

Quite the background...

Palatino Hill

• Great way to finish our Roma tour...well right before I found a hair in mine haha!

Thanks Rick for all the great tips :)

Then for the first time when we got back...we just SAT DOWN...ha!  Tony left for practice and we sat out on the balcony and had apertivo in the warm sunshine.  It was so nice because for a moment I had a sister here to enjoy this with, and we just sat and talked talked talked...and relaxed!  Tony then picked us up and we headed off to our farewell dinner at a new restaurant we discovered when my parents were here.  And Sara finally got her Caprese salad that she was patiently waiting for.  The meal was a perfect ending to a seriously fun trip!  The owner was even nice enough to give Sara a glass with an Italian beer logo on the side for free...the perfect thing to take to Lance back home!

Farewell dinner!  Check out that salad!

More delicious food!

Then up the next morning to take her back the airport...insert big frowny face here.  But I honestly couldn't be too sad because I was just so grateful that she came and was able to come with all of the help from home!  It was an amazing trip and I couldn't have asked for a better three days, (oh did I mention it was 70 degrees the whole time).  We got to do everything that she wanted to do and still fit in some good old sister time too!


SO thank you Sara for coming all this way, it meant so much to me to have you here.  And thank you to all the family that helped at home to make it possible and so smooth while she was gone.

WHAT A WHIRLWIND is maybe even an understatement...CIAO TUTTI!!

Tony's team has been winning (three straight) and are now currently tied with 4 teams for the the spots between 4th and 7th.  There is only TWO more games to go before play offs....time is flying!