Two Months on the board!

Well it has been two months since we have been here and I finally feel like we have a routine and are settled in!  I think the time has gone by fast because we lived in two different apartments and basically settled in twice!

It was kind of a quiet week around here, but that isn't always a bad thing :)  Tony's team lost again on Friday...by ONE!  They played down in Sicily against a good team.  It went down to the wire, but we just couldn't pull it out!  I am not going to lie, I am having a hard time with the losing (3 games now), but I am pretty confident that they will turn it around...I hope...haha!  The one fun thing was that I went to another wives house to watch the game on TV with a couple of other people...so at least we had a yummy dinner! :)

We are missing Cinzia in this picture...but she took it!  Thanks for having us Adriana!

This week they will have a tough one on the road against Jesi (yes they are gone again), but they seem to play better away, so maybe we will get our 2nd win ;)  

There is one very special thing that happened a couple of weeks ago and even though I wasn't there, I still want to share!  On Oct. 5th the Enumclaw Soccer Fields were dedicated to my Grandpa Umpa.  He served as Superintendent for Enumclaw school district for almost twenty years and this is a great memorial to him and everything he did for the Enumclaw community.  I so wish I could have been there to see this because it is so important and special to our family.  We all spent many many hours on those fields playing soccer and have so many memories, and the fact that he built the beautiful facility makes it even more near and dear to our hearts.  It is a perfect spot for his memorial.

The Program

My Brother T.J, sister Sara, and sister Kristin

My Dad and Aunt (and Brody too) :)

It could not have been a more gorgeous day to celebrate my Grandpa's life and dedication to Enumclaw.  So proud to be his granddaughter.  We miss you Umpa!

The official countdown is one week from tomorrow until my Mom and Dad are here....YIPPPEEEE!

Now I am off to practice with Tony, and then to my practice later!  CIAO CIAO :)

Pizza Mom's in Italy :)

Well it was once again a great week (minus Tony's game) here in Veroli because two very special friends were here to visit!  Carol Nelson and Pat Magley were on a trip in Italy and were able to come down to Veroli on Sunday to see Tony's game!  Unfortunately Tony's game was not a very pretty highlight considering they lost their second game at home!!  But I still think they enjoyed seeing a game.

Then I gave them a quick tour of our apartment and we headed back to their hotel in Rome.  We thought we better make it an official pizza night so we stopped for some pizza on the way back ;)  The next day I went in and had lunch with them right outside St. Peter's square and then did a little shopping before I had to head home.

Pizza Group in Italy!

 It was so nice to have them here and be able to share a little bit of our Italian lives with them.  Pat and Carol have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and they are truly the definition of amazing family friends.

I guess I better explain the "Pizza Group" because it probably sounds funny!  It  started as a group of couples that met at church and decided that it would be fun to get together for pizza on Sunday evenings.  They started out meeting at Godfather's pizza where all the kids spent many hours in the arcade and running around the place like a playground!  The families grew...so we transitioned to having pizza at our homes, and would rotate weekly.  We still have Pizza group, even though it is hard at times to round up all of us, we remain a very very close group and we couldn't ask for better people to spend Sunday evenings with.  The original kids of the group are all grown up now, some are married, some have kids and we all live all over the place, so we are an ever evolving group that has never stopped getting together.

The memories with this group are some of the best of my childhood and life now.  Everyone is so supportive and is always there for each other.  I truly hope that Tony and I can have a group as wonderful as this one day!

Thanks for coming to the game Pat and Carol and so happy I could see you and spend some time with you here in Italia!

OK now for the game results...(thumbs down).  Veroli lost to Udine at home which is crazy, because over here you seem to have a much easier time winning at home then on the road.  SO we are moving on and looking forward to another road win this Friday.  The game will be on TV so I will be meeting up with the other wives to cheer them on!  FORZA VEROLI :)

CIAO CIAO!!!
P.S.  The countdown is officially on till my parents arrive...14 days!!!

The Biege's come to Veroli!!

Well it has been a wonderful and busy couple of weeks since I last blogged, so I will catch you up!

Our very good friends from Seattle Pacific, Brian and Liz Biege came to visit us!  They were on a trip of a lifetime visiting many countries before heading to Italy to wrap up their time in Cinque Terre, Veroli, and Rome.  We are so happy that they were able to spend a few days with us and it was so wonderful to have friends here!  We spent time walking through Veroli, neighboring towns, and probably our favorite time was spent playing cards to end every night!  I wish they could have stayed for a month...but I guess their real lives have to continue ;)

College Roommates!

Nice smile Tony...

So fun to have friends here!!

Last dinner together :(

We loved having you Brian and Liz...thanks for coming!! 

Last Sunday Tony's team played on the road at Imola and they got their first win of the season.  The game went to the wire and was torture to watch on the computer play by play, but the result made it worth it! 

Last week I also started working with Mini Basket which is the little kid's basketball program through out Italy.  I am basically explaining the drills in English so that they kids can improve their English language.  They are pretty darn funny...they don't really keep them that organized so half the time there are kids over in the corner, climbing the ropes, or just starring off into space!  But I am doing it with a girl from my basketball team so we just laugh :)

One of our biggest highlights EVER in Italy was attending a U2 concert in Roma at the Olimpico Stadio which is where the soccer team plays.  It was seriously the most amazing concert and we had a great time.  The stage and production of the whole thing was so elaborate and looked like it took days to put together.  The stadium was outdoor so we were a little worried about it raining, but the weather was perfect and you couldn't even tell we were outside!  We sang our hearts out and danced a little too (OK well maybe only me) and enjoyed every minute!!  

Here a few pictures of Tony and I exploring Veroli :)

The Italian streets here are cute as can be!

My favorite view ;)

God is so good :)

 This Sunday Tony plays Udine at home, and we will have family friends here, Carol Nelson, Pat Magley, and Pat's sister.  I am so excited to see them, and happy they will get to see a game!

Have a great weekend!! Ciao Ciao!

New City, New Season, New FUN :)

I know I have been MIA for a couple of weeks, but we unfortunately had limited internet until yesterday!!  We now have a modem, and are waiting for our wireless router...so for now we will sit in the hallway where our single phone jack is to use the internet :)

Tony had a couple of days off so we went to Tivoli, which is a small city right outside of Rome that was really cool.  There we visited the famous Villa d' Este that has fountains all over the grounds that are quite impressive!!  Then we went into Rome for a quick bite to eat near the Trevi Fountain.  We (especially Tony) enjoyed a couple days off just relaxing and watching football!

 We also hosted our first Taco night here at our new apartment!  Adriana (a wife of a player) and I cooked away and had about 10 people full of food by the end of the night :)  I can't tell you how much fun it was to have our house filled with people...loved it!

The Taco night Crew :)

Speaking of our new apartment....I finally have pictures!  Our new place is very spacious and has a nice open floor plan.  My biggest request in finding an apartment is that the kitchen is open to the living room.  Most Italian apartments have closed off kitchens that are little separate rooms...I can't stand that!  I like to be able to talk to Tony while I cook and do the dishes.  It has 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms and two big living areas.  It was not furnished that well, and our couches are pretty sad, but we just have to roll with the punches with what we end up getting every year.  This will just make my real house someday so much sweeter!!

OPEN kitchen...love it!

Great fireplace, and lovely couch ;)

View of Veroli from one of the balconies.

Bedroom

View from a different balcony.

Hallway to bathrooms, and bedrooms.

Dining Room/Living room

Things have been quite busy around here with the official season starting last Friday with a game at home against Venice.  We lost...BOO!  But they have a really good team, and we just weren't ready to play.  We might as well get the losing out of our systems now right?

Frosinone Gym where they play their games.

Forza #5!!

OK Veroli...I will let that one slide, but we better beat Imola!

A few weeks ago I went to my first official concert in Roma with Kelli and Kristen.  We went to see Elton John in the Auditorium which is a smaller venue, but there was at least a few thousand people there!  Well it was an experience to remember...we had front row seats that were directly in front of his piano!  We also had backstage passes and got to see the secret life behind the scenes ;) He was so good live, and really rocked the place!  We had a blast and I am so happy I got to go with them!

GREAT NIGHT!

"It's a little bit funny...this feeling inside"

My basketball is going well and we should be starting games in about a month!  It is pretty laid back and the girls are super nice.  I have gone to pizza a couple times with them after practice, which is amusing at times, but it feels good to be part of a team :)

This week Tony plays at Imola and I am planning on visiting my good friend Erica Martin who lives down in Caserta where her husband plays.  The weather has been great here, with lots of sunshine and warmth...but as I am writing it has been thunder and lightning and POURING outside :)  I think we might actually wash away....oh and our SKY TV is out because of it...haha!

I would love to hear from everyone that reads my blog...so don't be shy and leave a comment :)

CIAO CIAO...and have a great first week of October!

Tre Settimane

Well I have been here three weeks and I feel like I am getting adjusted and acquainted with our little town!  We still have not moved into our new apartment, but I think tomorrow is the magical day.  I have been keeping busy with new friends though so that makes things so much easier.

View from our rooftop deck

This is our view from our current apartment window

We are definitely are on top of a hill...the views are amazing from up here

One of the players sisters is here with her 5 year old daughter...we have had a great time getting to know each other and exploring!  We even went to Rome one day and Kristen (the little girl) actually walked for about 6 hours straight with a few stops here and there!  She was such a trooper and never complained...we did finally find the Disney store which helped!  But of course I bought something and she didn't...go figure.  

Kristen is such a cutie!!

One of my favorite places!

Crowded Spanish Steps!

We have explored Veroli, visited an Abbey, hiked through a Cave, made a trip to IKEA, gone shopping at the outlets, found the best grocery store that has Skippy peanut butter, Heinz ketchup, syrup and even pancake mix!  So needless to say we did well when the team was on a 6 day road trip!

The team is back now and they have a practice tournament this weekend here in Veroli so we are all excited to see them in action!  Speaking of being back in action...I have found a team too!  I had my first practice with them on Tuesday which was also their first practice, so we did tons of ball handling and drills.  They are a great group of girls and I MIGHT even get to play in games with this team!!  I was a little nervous at first because I knew they were a lower division then I have practiced with in the past, but Tony quickly reminded me by saying "I hate to break it to you babe...but your aren't really in your prime anymore" So of course I plan to prove him wrong ;)

Veroli Basket...the future Legadue Champs ;)

My handsome numero cinque (who now has a very short hair cut)!

Time is actually going pretty quickly and our first visitors will be here within a month!  I am so excited to get settled in our apartment and have things rockin and rollin for the season!

Ciao Ciao!
Here is the link to the team's website:  Veroli Basket