The Heisner Report

Day 14- A picture of you and your family

2010-11-08T11:03:00.001-08:00

Day 12-Day 13

2010-11-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yes I am slacking a bit, but oh well!

Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one

My dear friend Tiffany hooked me up with a blog shortly after I got here. I wanted to get one because not only could my mom pull it up at work and show off some pictures, but its a great way for us to look back on our memories as well.

Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently

Talk about awkward...I would confront the individual personally before writing a note on blogger. And I hope most of my friends would do the same : )

Day 10 and 11

2010-11-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

I dont really feel like I have specific songs that I listen to when I am in a certain mood....bottom line is that I love music. I cant wait to get my Sirius satellite radio back once we get to the states, I would know songs by heart before they EVER came out on the radio. I do listen to more upbeat music when I work out...but who doesn't?!

Day 11- Post another picture of you and your friends.

This is my Italian Family. 1st is my first picture ever with my best friend Tiffany N. ( almost two years ago..hard to believe!!) and 2nd is with my good friends Jenna and Tiffany P at Jennas birthday party last weekend. I have been blessed to make such close friends while over here in Italy.

Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days

2010-11-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

I am proud of myself for successfully finishing my Statistics class! I am proud of Josh for helping me out around the house on his day of yesterday! Nothing better than coming home to an awesome dinner that you don't have to help prepare!!

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

2010-11-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

My short term goal for the month of November is to strive to be more thankful for all the things God has put in my life. There are so many things to be thankful for, and after all that is what this month is all about right?! I also am striving to do well in my two classes that I just started today. I have never taken two online courses at once, so Im hoping to do well in both of them!

Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

2010-10-31T02:09:00.001-07:00

My sisters are two people that have had a huge impact on my life. I try to be a good role model for both of them, and I try to let them know what I would have done different in my youth ( not that I feel much older than a youth). I love them both and I will continue to strive to set a good example for them.

Day 06- Favorite super hero and why

2010-10-30T04:02:00.000-07:00

Many of you have not met my superhero. But it is a person that I have always admired and looked up to. Kristin Cunningham was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005, and she stayed positive through out her fight with this horrible disease that took her life three years later. My memories of Kristin before she was diagnosed was anytime I was around her I was constantly laughing. She had that amazing talent to turn any situation into a funny one. Her sense of humor stayed with her until the end. We remember her every St. Patricks Day by wearing a yellow shirt (her favorite color) with a four leaf clover. She has and will forever continue to be close to my heart. Shamrock on Kristin!

Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

2010-10-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Off the Coast of Ireland!

Josh and I have had so many opportunities to travel, its hard to pick just one picture. But so far my favorite place has been Ireland so I went with a picture from there. It was even more fun to have my sister and our friend Andy with us! Not many people get the opportunity to travel Europe like we have, and we are so thankful!!

Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have

2010-10-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

A habit that I wish that I could get rid of instantly is being a worry-wart. I have a very strong, protective, and sometimes annoying tendency. I am terrified of tornadoes and when I was little, I was always worried about when the next storm would be. I worry about others feelings too much. If Josh is out to late, or if he doesn't answer his phone I'm immediately thinking of the possible things that could go wrong. I know its annoying everyone, but its just because I love you!!

Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

2010-10-27T11:01:00.001-07:00

I have not been blessed with a huge quantity of friends over the years, my circle has always been pretty small. But once your in....your in for life!

My husband and my dog..need I say more.. The two things I can trust in this world day in day out! I love waking up to these two in bed. And when Josh is not home, Buddy fills his spot perfectly!

My favorite wedding photo! Of course we choose the closest friends and family to be with us on our big day!

I was told that the people you meet through the military life become just like family, I had no idea how true that would be. I met Tiffany through myspace (back when that was cool)and I instantly felt like I had known her for years. We hit it off from the start and have forever been like sisters. She is leaving me behind here in Italy in February, and that is going to be a sad, sad day. I try not to even think about it at this point. She has been my saving grace in so many ways...Love you dear!!

Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name

2010-10-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

The reason behind my blog name is very simple. The Heisner report, is to keep people back home in the know. Im not really that great at updating it mostly because everyone has facebook so they have seen my pictures and posts already. But I guess this will be a nice way of looking back to remember all of our adventures here in Europe!

Day One: 15 things about me and a recent picture

2010-10-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

1. My name is Holly because my birthday is two days after Christmas.
2. I take pictures for a living, bones mostly. (but I like to take pictures of other things too)
3. I have a phobia of tornados
4.My hometown is so small we don't even have a traffic light.
5.I was a cheerleader for 6 years, and I miss it terribly.
6. I have two younger sisters Hillary and Haley, who I miss pestering
7. I trust my dog more than I trust most humans.
8. I am a coupon clipping freak(thanks to Tiffany)
9. I'm really not that great of cook, only because my Grandma spoiled us by always cooking.
10. I used to want to be a Marine Biologist and train dolphins at Sea World
11. I LOVE planning trips, I can search for airline tickets for hours
12. I have never shot a gun.
13. I once said that I could never date a military man......and now I'm married to one living in a foreign country (oh the things we do for love)
14. Jesus Christ is my best friend!
15. I have been to 9 countries, and am hoping to add several more to the list before we move.

Because everyone I know is doing this.....30 days of Holly(which is probably more than you all would like!)

2010-10-25T06:38:00.001-07:00

Here is the low-down:
30 days of me
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future or about your spouse.
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song.

Summer Fades to Fall

2010-09-17T02:16:00.000-07:00

Its my favorite time of year again...I love when you can be perfect in a sweatshirt and shorts! I love when you can have the A/C and the heat off (our bank account loves that too)! Sadly, this seasons make me miss home even more! Football games, camp outs, Mardi Gras, Halloween. Just makes me ready to be back home!

I know most of you know this but Josh has been approved for cross-training, he just signed a 23 month extension for the Air Force. So it will the military life for us for awhile...most likely until he retires but you never know what the Lord has in store for you! We are in the process of waiting for our next base, which we have been told we could find out soon and we have been told we could find out much later. So again...its just a waiting game. We're really hoping to come back to Scott AFB to be close to family, the thought of that just makes me smile! Sunday dinners back at my Grams! Life doesn't get much better than that.

I have been in the process of applying for a X-ray tech position on base...in the waiting process for that as well : ). I'm just ready to know the outcome, I think my life will change a lot going from a housewife to a 45 hr work week. I think it will make our time left here in Aviano fly...which I will not complain about as long as we can fit in our cruise to Greece! I'm still working on my college classes through Grand Canyon. These next three months are going to be rough with school because in order for me to use the full MYCAA scholarship I have to double up on classes from here on out. So hopefully I can handle the workload!

We haven't been traveling around much, although this weekend we are heading up to Munich, Germany for the 200th annual Oktoberfest. I'm preparing myself for a lot of people....hopefully Josh and I don't get separated! I'll post pictures when we get back.

That's about all the news I have for now. Hope everyone reading this is doing well! Missing you all back home!!!

Halfway into Summer

2010-07-01T01:51:00.001-07:00

This post is LONG overdue. I have been on the run since the end of April. My in-laws arrived towards the end of April, stayed until mid May. My sister Hillary arrived the day after they left...stayed for three weeks. Then Josh, Hillary and I all traveled back to the states for most of the month of June. Thankfully, we arrived back in Italy safe and sound....and I must admit it still feels odd not to have anyone visiting.

So here it is the first of July. Crazy how time seems to fly. Only 13 more months left here. Hopefully soon we will find out what our next step is, this is depending upon Josh staying in the military. He is currently trying to switch to a different job, if this i

s approved he will accept and that means 4 more years :). I am very open minded at this point. I think we both still are. All we know is that we want to be closer to family and friends. But after being here, I think even Alaska would feel closer.

This weekend the base is having 4th of July festivities. We are planning on taking our landlord to watch the fireworks and to experience some of the American culture. Hopefully this year it won't rain!! So far the forecast looks good.

Not really much else to report. I start my next class on the 19th, and I need to get my butt motivated to go into the hospital to volunteer. Other than that...same ol, same ol here in Italia.

Ill leave you with a few pictures of the highlights of the past few months!!

Fireworks at Magic Kingdom

Josh and I in Ireland

Hillary and I in London

At Hillary's Wedding

I love Spring!!!

2010-04-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

Italia is beautiful right now, I wish everyone could be here to see it. I arrived at the end of April last year...and I don't think it was as pretty then as it is now. I think this is the greenest grass I have ever seen! But besides that life is great. Josh is home from yet another short deployment (this time it was Turkey). My best friend here is Italy had her beautiful baby girl on April 1st. My in-laws arrive to visit on April 29th, and then my sister Hillary gets here on May 13th, and we head back to the states on June 1st. I started school this Monday, and so far so good. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things as quick as I can. I feel pretty confident about it right now. LIFE IS GREAT!!!!

Time of change

2010-03-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

As most of you know since October I have been babysitting little miss Leyla. Her mommy was deployed in the desert and Leyla was placed under her grandparents guidance for the time being. Her mom will be arriving in Aviano over the next week to come and take her daughter back to the states. This leaves me with mixed emotions, yes I got tired of the routine from time to time. On the other hand I have never gotten a chance to watch a child grow and develop on a weekly basis. It has been so much fun, when I started working for the Landers Leyla couldn't even walk, now I have to be on my toes constantly to chase her down. I love when she says my name "Ha-yee", and when I walk in the door she always has the biggest smile on her face. I feel like I have learned a lot from this experience, and it has all been filed in the back of my brain for when I get the chance to have a child of my own. (which better not be anytime soon!!)

As this door closes in my life, the Lord has opened another one. I will be attempting to return back to school next month. I have been out of the school routine for almost two years. I will admit Im very nervous. I hope my studying skills will come back to me in a hurry. I will be going back to get my Bachelors in Medical Imaging. I'm super excited, as I have always thought I wouldn't be satisfied with an Associates. I'm so thankful that my first year of school will be completely covered financially thanks to the MyCAA scholarship of $6,000. I originally was planning on starting in March and then the scholarship program was suddenly halted. The DoD said they needed time to reorganize the program. I feared the worse, that since I hadn't applied in time I would be left with no funding. However last week the program was announced back up and running. So I hit the ground running, not wasting anytime at all.

In other news, my summer plans have changed a bit. Originally I was going to be going home for the whole month of May and staying until the end of June. My sister Hillary is graduating High school and I wanted to be there to cheer her on. Instead Hill has decided that she would like to come spend a few weeks with Josh and I here in Italy. I will be so excited to have her visit again. Last time she was here was way to fast and time passed WAY to quickly. So the plan now will be for her to come mid May and then all three of us will return to Illinois for my sister-in-laws wedding June 12th. May can't get here soon enough!!!

Thats all for now, I will update you all again soon.

Love and miss everyone back home <3

Just rambling...

2010-03-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Two years ago today, Josh graduated Basic Training in San Antonio, TX. We were just dating at the time. I can still remember like it was yesterday!! I remember the butterflies I got in my stomach, right before seeing him for the first time since the 6 week long training. I remember how FREEZING it was in Texas that weekend (me wanting to look all cute only packed skirts and things like that). I remember how proud I was when he told me he made Honor Graduate, and how lucky I felt to be an Air Force girlfriend...

Fast forward two years, and now I can say that I am still just as proud of him today. But today I can say I am proud of my husband. I am so thankful that he choose the military life, because I honestly enjoy it very much! I sometimes complain about the things the Air Force puts us through...like how they can send our husbands away for weeks at a time. Sometimes we don't even know when they will be back! But those few things that cause a damper on our time together are pretty small in the big picture of how nice we have it!!

Anyways, I will stop the rambling. In other news: Josh is still on mids, and also has to work this weekend before leaving again for another training mission. Tomorrow is my friend Tiffany's baby shower! I hope she enjoys herself and that little Miss Brynlee gets LOTS of cute clothes and such. I will leave you now with some pictures of Joshs BMT Graduation!!

Paris, France

2010-03-04T02:04:00.000-08:00

Josh and I traveled to Paris on Feb 27th and stayed until March 1st. We had a great time, and saw pretty much all there was to be seen. The weather wasn't the greatest but I didn't complain because it wasn't cold. After the initial stressors of traveling to a new country, we managed to figure out the transportation system and arrived at our hotel. After unpacking our backpacks we heading out and started at the Eiffel Tower. It looks very different in person, just not as big as I had always imagined(which becomes more and more the truth the longer I'm in Europe). We thought about going up to the top but the 3rd level was closed so we changed our mind. Then we headed over to the Notre Dame church, which was impressive but I'm not a huge fan of Gothic architecture. I liked the churches in Rome, they are much more impressive! We didn't go inside, so I can't tell you what it was like. By this time our stomachs were starting to get hungry, so we set out to find our favorite restaurant when we travel.....McDonalds!!! Which at first it seemed impossible to find, but once we found one we found them on every corner! After finally finding something to eat we headed to the Arc De Triomphe and the famous Champs-Elysees Blvd. I loved the Arc, it looked like such a neat monument! We wanted to go over to it, but it appeared to have a ceremony going on under it so we didn't want to disturb. After a lot of pictures we started our stroll down the Blvd, I could have spend SO MUCH money in those stores. Josh even encouraged me to go into the Louis Vuitton store (no I didn't buy anything) the cheapest item in there was a hair clip and it cost 259 euro, which is close to 275 dollars. (CRAZY!!!!) After we had drooled over the watches, sunglasses, and clothes we headed back to the hotel. By this time it had started to rain, so we were trying to decide if we should venture back out in the rain and see the Tower at night. We did, and I'm so glad we did. Josh and I had fun walking in the streets in the rain( I was smart and wore rain boots). By this time it was close to 11 at night and we noticed that the tower was taking people up to the top, so us being us decided that we needed to do it! The top was so neat, it was super windy and I didn't get great photos but come one how many people can say they have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower! By the time we got back down to solid ground it was after midnight, so we headed back to the hotel for the night. Well after a late night snack from a pizza stop right next to our hotel! Our hotel had zero channels in English so we instead watched the Olympics in French!!! It was fun!

Day two: We set out about 9, finally found the Mcdonalds close to our hotel and had breakfast( I enjoyed the free Wi-Fi). Then headed to the National Army Museum, this was Sunday the day of the terrible storm in which 50 people died in France!! We had not watched the news/weather so had no idea this was all going on. Instead we just commented on how windy it was and didn't let it slow us down. We spent 3 hours in the Army Museum( I was ready to go in about 30 min : ) ). I let Josh man the big camera, and he didn't fail! He took over 200 pictures in the museum alone! Men and war stuff, I will never understand! We got to see Napoleon Bonapart's tomb, which is the biggest tomb I have ever seen!!! After Josh finally gave the okay that we could leave we headed over to The Louve, I wish it would have been a nice and sunny day, because I think I could have sat around that area for a very long time. I loved the Pyramids! We got through the ticket line pretty quick and started to follow the crowd to the Mona Lisa. I'm not sure if this is planned out, but she was at the VERY end of very long maze! Same goes for the Sistine Chapel, it was at the VERY end of the Vatican. Maybe they think that is the only way they can get people to walk all the way through it, who knows. Anyways, when we finally found her I pushed my way to the front of the crowd (throwing elbows and all). I was amazed at how small it was, I'm talking MAYBE an 11x14....Not to mention the enormous security glass that covered the wall almost. After we had decided we had enough photos and video, we wondered around and took some more art in( we aren't huge art lovers..but Josh liked the Egyptian stuff). After the Louve we decided to start souvenir shopping, which we quickly discovered was going to be a pain because most everything was closed on Sundays. The huge shopping gallery was even closed! We had one more sight to see before we left and that was the Statue of Liberty. Many people don't know that there are actually three Statues'(one being in Paris), I only knew this because of the movie National Treasure. We found via internet that she is in Luxembourg Gardens, so we mapped out the metro and decided it wasn't too far away. We wondered around for awhile, to find out the Gardens are closed during the winter!!! Real bummer, because we wanted to say that we have seen the Statue of Liberty in Paris, before we have seen the one in NY. Oh well.... After two days on our feet we were starting to wear down, we decided we wanted to eat dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Which I was thrilled about, I had amazing Chicken Tenders (of course!) and some awesome Macaroni!! To wrap this up, we flew out the next morning!

I liked the atmosphere in Paris, it was just how I imagined. Romantic, and man did we see a lot of people who loved PDA!!!!! I've never been a fan, so rest assured Mom that we did not partake! Paris was one big city that I have dreamed about seeing and now I can mark it off my list!!! I'm so lucky and blessed to have these opportunities! Thanks to my amazing husband for my Valentines gift!!!! It was one to remember and we have many memories!!!! Also thanks to the Chris and Megan for watching Buddy for us!!!

I'll finish this up with some picture, even though you have seen them on facebook!! Miss you all, and I will post another update soon!

Ciao for now!!

Recap of visit to the states

2010-02-16T04:07:00.000-08:00

I traveled back to the states to visit with family and friends in January. Josh was going to be in Spain at the time, so I figured why not go home to help pass the time. And pass the time it did, The 17 or so days went by so fast, and I was extremely busy. Which I have found that both time I have gone home you almost are always going to be busy. I did lots of shopping (mostly for Josh), ate lots of good food, and spent some much needed time with my family. Big thanks to Tiffany for watching Buddy for me while I was home.

In other news we are planning to head to Paris in a few weeks. I'm really exciting to knock one of our "big places to visit while in Europe" out. It will be a short and jam packed trip, but I kinda like vacations to be like that. I'm still babysitting a few days a week, and I'm looking into going back to school for my bachelors. Thats about it for this short update.

Here are a few pictures from when I traveled home.

P.S. Is it just me or is everyone ready for it to warm up outside. I'm changing my background in hopes that it will make Spring come faster!!

First update of 2010

2010-01-14T02:37:00.000-08:00

I hope this post finds everyone well, not much has been going on here lately. I think I prefer the summer and spring in Italy over the wintertime. Although I do enjoy the snow on the mountains. Ah the grass is always greener on the other side.

Anyways as most of you know I'm attempting to head back to the states next week. I'm praying for a spot on the rotator and smooth travels overall. Josh will be gone for some training so I thought why not head home and spend some time with the family. I can't wait to see everyone!!

I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Monday and the procedure went very well. I'm still a little sore, but nothing that I can't tolerate. I'm getting impatient on not being able to eat solid food ( I think I might give in today).

I think thats it for my updates. Hope everyone is doing well and that Lord willing I will see you all next week!!

Ciao,

Holly

Buon Natale

2009-12-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Josh and I will be spending Christmas in Germany. I haven't been there yet and hopefully we will get a little bit of snowboarding in. To my family back home, know that you will be on my mind the whole time. Hopefully next year we will all be able to spend it together.

I think 2010 is going to bring a lot of things. God has blessed me so much this year. I have made amazing friends here in Italy. I am so very excited for the Nelsons to have their baby girl!! My sister-in-law is getting married in June. Not to mention I hope to come home a couple of times to see my family that I miss so much!! Hopefully we will have a few people come to visit us this next year.

I hope that everyone remembers to stop and thank God for all that we have this holiday season.

Merry Christmas from the Heisners

Giving Thanks, and gearing up for Christmas

2009-12-02T02:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!! Just thought I would give you a little update on how the last week has gone! Thanksgiving feast was a great success. I think we had about 21 people. A BIG thanks to everyone who helped make it a wonderful night. Here are some pictures..

In other news we have all our Christmas decorations up. I wish we could put some lights outside..but sadly we dont have anywhere to plug them in! The mountains have been covered up with fog for a few weeks, but I finally got a glimpse of them yesterday. Man are they pretty. Looked like there was a lot more snow, I'm still waiting for my snowboarding lesson.

As I was leaving the Landers yesterday my car starting acting funny. After shutting off a few times on the busiest road in town I finally made it home. I asked our Landlord if they could call their friend who is an auto mechanic and he came over this morning to take a look at it. As it turns out I was very lucky that my car engine didn't catch on fire. Some wires were exposed and had been melting on the engine. I'm very thankful that we caught it in time, he is supposed to have it fixed by tonight.

Other than that everything is going well. I am signed up for the rotator to head home on the 21st of January while Josh is gone to Spain for a few weeks. Start praying that everything goes as smooth as it did last time. Thats all for now! It's beginning to look like Christmas. This is my favorite month!!! Hope everyone is enjoying it!!! Love and miss you all!!

P.S. Here is our wedding photo (taken by Jessica Hollis : ) ) I framed it myself and I love how it turned out.... just wanted to show it off : )

Just a little update

2009-11-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't wrote a blog in a few weeks so its time. Not a whole lot is happening here in Italia. Its gotten cold, but still warmer than Southern IL. I don't think I will have a problem dealing with the winters here.

I have been planning Thanksgiving....we are hosting it this year. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my friends that have became my Air Force Family. I'm a little nervous to cook the turkey but Grams is on standby if I have any questions. Should be a full house. I will take pictures!

We went up to the mountain a few weekends ago. It was Buddys first experience with the snow that we know of. I think he loved it. I'm still waiting for the opportunity to go and try out my ski legs. Hopefully over Thanksgiving break we will be able to go.

My job is going good. Leyla is a sweetheart. Josh and I went to her 1st birthday party. Isn't she a doll?!

I can't believe that the Holiday season is here! This time of year always flies by. Hard to imagine that I will be 22! In case I don't write until after Thanksgiving, I hope everyone has a fantastic day! And to my fam in the Ville, I'll be thinking about you!

-Hol

Just checking in...

2009-10-29T09:36:00.003-07:00

It's hard to imagine that I will be missing my first Halloween/Mardi Gras ( for all my Italia friends this is a festival in my hometown). After 21 years, it feels weird to not be thinking about the parade and all the family coming in. But I suppose its time to grow up. Josh and I carved our own pumpkins last weekend, which we have been told are very impressive to the Italians. Pics to follow post. Last Sunday we went to a pumpkin festival in Venzone with our friends Nick and Tiffany. It was a packed and traffic was not fun. I wish we would have went earlier because by the time we parked the car it was almost dark outside. It was a cool town though thats for sure.

In other news I have a small job three days a week. Im watching a one year old baby girl who is living with her grandparents while her mother is deployed. I have only worked two days so far but I enjoy it and I feel busier not to mention the extra money is nice!!

This weekend we have the bazaar going on at base. Vendors from all over the world will be here selling their products. Josh is on a mission to purchase something neat.

We will see how that goes over. I think thats about it as far as news with us. Hoping everyone is doing well....and to all my Pinckneyville folk have a great Mardi Gras! Miss you all very much!!!

-Holly

Zucca Festival

Back to Italia

2009-10-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

After a very long day, I made it home on Monday evening. I had a good flight and had no problems getting a seat on the rotator. I had a fantastic visit with my family and friends, two weeks wasn't enough!! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things...I'm having a rough time getting adjusted to the time difference. This morning I was up from 2-6:30...then slept until 11. So that means that I won't sleep again tonight! Maybe I should resort to some Nyquil or something.

The weather has changed to fall since I was home in the states. Everything is still pretty green though. We have already had our heat on, these cement walls do not hold in heat very well at all. This weekend starts the Halloween festivites. There is a Trunk or Treat for the kids as well as a Haunted Spook walk on Sat. I'm going to try to drag Josh to it. He has to work on Saturday, which stinks because we were planning on going to a pumpkin festival a few towns away. We might try to go on Sunday. We have three huge pumpkins to carve as well. I asked Luisa (our landlord ) if Italians celebrated the holiday and she said they started about 5 years ago! I haven't seen any pumpkins or decorations in our neighborhood though.

Well I think thats all for now, hope everyone is doing well!! Miss you all back home already and I enjoyed spending time with ya'll SO MUCH!!!

-Holly

Home Sweet Home

2009-10-09T06:46:00.000-07:00

I think most of you know this already but I made a surprise visit home last Sunday. It was so much fun I keep telling people that I want to surprise them every time. Its so nice to be home, although not much has changed since I have been gone. It honestly feels like I just left. I got to spend some time with our nephew who was still in the hospital when we left for Italy. He is going on six months now, and its crazy to see how fast they grow. I went to St. Louis to spend two nights with my cousins. I took Sadie to the Magic House and I think I had more fun than she did. I'm already dreading leaving, but I miss all my Italia peeps. I think me and my sister are heading out shopping hear in a little bit. Probably going to do some major damage. Hope all is well with everyone. I will write again soon!

A little news

2009-09-24T04:15:00.003-07:00

I wasn't allowed to post this picture until everyone had been notified. But this happened while we were in Rome.

It was so awesome to be apart of this special day for Aaron and Hillary. She of course said yes! Wish I could take credit for taking the picture, but Josh stole the camera from me and stuck me with the video camera. Oh well. It was an awesome day! Congrats again!!

A little update on a Thursday afternoon!

2009-09-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hope this post finds everyone well. Josh and I are doing great, we just ended a great visit with my sister in law Hillary and her boyfriend Aaron. We finally got to see Rome, and it was an experience of a lifetime. Just to be able to think back that some of this architecture was made before B.C/A.D. just blew my mind. We also traveled to Verona which is a beautiful city about 2 1/2 hours away from us. Josh claims its his favorite place so far. Hillary and Aaron went to Milan and then we all four went to Venice on Thursday. We took a water taxi over to Murano to see the famous glass blowing. It was cool to see although I expected them to make more eye catching items. Even though it was neat to learn about the history behind it.

As far as anything new with me, I have been volunteering at the base Radiology dept. Its nice to be around my profession. Its kind of slow as far as patients but on the other hand I dont really have much else to keep me busy. Josh is gearing up for a long week of 12 hour shifts hopefully this week goes by fast. I have been having fun watching him play flag football a couple nights aweek. He claims he is never sore, but Im picking up different vibes!! :)

The weather has been cooling off ever so slowly, I'm actually excited about fall/winter. Im ready to give this snowboarding thing a go....we will see how long that lasts.

Thats about all for right now. Miss you all!

Here are a few pictures from the past week.

It's been awhile....

2009-08-23T22:23:00.001-07:00

These are long overdue...but here are some of my favorites from when my family came to visit. We had an action packed 12 days. We went to Salzburg-Austria, Croatia, Venice, Florence, Pisa, and also had time to visit the local area a bit.

Venice

Croatia

Salzburg, Austria

There are many more but I know most have seen them on myspace/facebook so I will spare you. Life in Italia is going good, we are ready for it to cool off so we can give our A/C a break. Josh's sister arrives in a little over a week, so we are gearing up for a trip to Roma. Looking forward to that!! Josh has been on day shift for the last 3 or 4 weeks and I have been loving it, although that has meant that it is actually necessary to cook dinner. But all in all I'm loving Italy and cant believe it has been four months already!! Im going to miss summer and those days of laying by the pool with Tiff, but Im also looking forward to seeing those Alps covered in snow.

Hope all is well with everyone! I will post again soon!!

As promised...pictures from Sardinia.

2009-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

You will see from these pictures that Sardinia looks like paradise. I really hope Josh and I can make it back down to the island for a vacation before we leave Italy. Im sure Josh will be back because the military goes there often for training. I know he had a good time!

In other news my family gets here in two weeks. Can you tell Im excited?!?! They have no idea how tired they are going to be because I have packed a lot of things to do in a short 12 days. I just hope the weather will be better than it has been the past week. Josh and I are dog/house sitting at our friends Nick and Tiffany. Its been nice to be able to turn the A/C on as much as we want. Hopefully our shipment of furniture will be here soon, it has been a stressful situation. Thats about all that is happening on this side of the world. Hope all is well with everyone. Missing everyone in the U.S.A!!!

A wonderful Sunday

2009-06-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

I have so many neat pictures from yesterday but Iwill try to post my favorites. We started out on a drive up to the mountains but ended making lots of stops. First was Polcenigo, then Casttelo de Caneva and ending up at the mountain peaks in the clouds. We had such a great day, and had some really good food to top it off. Hope you enjoy the pictures, they really dont do much justice.

Josh wrote on the wall of this castle last year, he suprised me by taking me to see it in person. It was really weird because I had just asked "hey what was the place that you wrote our initials at?" and he responded with "Some castle, in Austria". It took me a minute to find it on the wall, he is a trickster.

This was by far the coolest feeling, not to mention some fresh air!

Just a note

2009-06-26T15:20:00.001-07:00

I know its been awhile since I have updated. Josh has been gone most of the month so I haven't been doing much traveling. He is supposed to get home tomorrow so I am looking forward to that. My first experience of being totally independent went very well if I do say so myself. Thank goodness I have my dog or I wouldn't know what to do. We went to the Pet Fair on base today so I thought I would take a few pictures. Thats all I have for now, hopefully Josh took some nice pictures from Sardinia and I will post them. Hope all is well with everyone.

2009-05-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

I finally got the video to upload!

Buddy Heisner

2009-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Most of you know by now that we have "adopted" an 8 month lab named Buddy. So far he has been amazing. He knows the command sit pretty well and Josh and I are starting to work on others. He stays pretty close to you when he is not on the leash which is a relief to me since we live on a pretty busy road. We got him on Saturday and we took him straight to Lake Barcis to see how he would do with water. He wasnt a real big fan of it the first day. And we attempted to give him a bath on Sunday and he REALLY didnt like that. But yesterday since Josh had the day off we went to a Beach that is about 45 min away (Lignano) and Buddy took to it like a natural. Im glad I dont have a labrador that hates the water : ) He loves Kodi and Kaci and its so nice to have big dogs for him to play with. Well thats all for now, I will keep you all updated on how things are going with him. Enjoy the pictures and the video.

First trip to Venice

2009-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Josh and I took the train down to Venice on Saturday. It only cost $20 for the both of us roundtrip. It was nice, I can tell I am going to like traveling by train. Except for when people beg for money and you don't know what they are saying....I know my family is going to love Venice. Warning* It does stink, the rumors are true. Its a mixture of a fishy/trash smell. It comes and it goes, but its worth it. We didn't purchase anything, Im going to start collecting mask as well as glass. We ate dinner on the Grand Canale. I had a margaretia pizza ( a.k.a cheese) and Josh had ravioli's with mushrooms. We asked how much a gondola ride cost and the guy said 100 euro. So we are going to wait until we have someone else to split it with us. But that is something we are defenitly going to do before we leave Italy.

And of course here are my favorite pictures

A little update, as well as some pictures

2009-05-08T11:56:00.001-07:00

Well I have survived for over two weeks : ) My car made it, we were able to pick it up on Wed. So that has made life a heck of a lot easier. Josh's work schedule has been easier to deal with so all in all this week hasn't been bad. I think this weekend we might make a trip down to Venice. If so rest assured I will post pictures : )

Here are a few I have taken of places close to us....

View on the way to base

Wedding dresses in Pordenone

A U.S. $ sign, no clue why its there

There are some tiny streets around here

Thats all for now! More to come

xoxo

First Post as well as first full week in Italy

2009-05-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hope this finds everyone well. My friend Tiffany helped me create this blog so you folks back home can see what Josh and I are up to over here in Italy. So far things are good, I'm still getting settled in as well as doing a little bit of traveling. So far I have travled to see Toby Keith at an Army base that is close to ours. And yesterday we went to Trieste which is a neat town along the Adriatic coast line. It was so pretty! I was even lucky enough to see a nude beach, gotta love the European ways (you will be glad to know, no pictures were taken of this!!) I will keep this updated as often as possible. I miss you all back home!!!

-These next three pictures were actually taken by Tiffany.

Me, Tiffany and Mandee

This was his 7th USO tour

Josh and I on the Pier in Trieste

A tradition that all newlyweds bring a lock for

good luck ( Josh and I are bringing one back for next time)