ITALIA

April 10 we landed at Aviano Air Base…finally! We flew directly on base, so the welcoming was quite exciting! A bunch of the guys from Dustin's squadron were there to welcome us and help get us to TLF.

Once we got everything into lodging, we went to eat our first Italian meal! So of course, we had pasta, pizza, and wine. It was delicious!

For the next fews days, we really just went through the motions of in-processing and trying to get all the paperwork completed. We got our driver's license, we visited a few houses, got our phones switched to international numbers, visited the dog park a time or two, and tons of other things. This is us on our first full day in Italy! It was quite foggy for the first few days so we couldn't get a good view of the mountains quite yet.

Here is our view from TLF on the first clear day! The mountains are absolutely gorgeous! I was used to seeing landmarks on the horizon from Vegas, but this takes the cake by far! The base here is very spacious, walking takes a while to get around but we don't mind too bad.

About a week after we arrived, there was a Benvenuti Tour (welcome tour) scheduled for all military members/families that had just PCSed. We had only heard awesome things from everyone we had met so we were quite excited, not to mention we would get to go to our first winery! The tour was extremely helpful, they took us around the area to see the different towns situated nearby, walked through a few cathedrals, stopped at a local market where most Italians buy their produce, took us to the train station to show us how to buy tickets/read the maps, ate a full course Italian meal at a ristorante, got to try chocolate from a local shop, and then ended at the winery. Here are a few pictures from the tour!

Gorgazzo Spring.

13th Century Cathedral.

Local market in Pordenone.

Our first cappuccino!

Walking the streets. There are tons of Italian flags, called "Tri Colore", hanging for an annual festival celebrating the Alpine soldiers.

Cathedral of St Mark, built in 1363.

Dustin outside the Cathedral.

Gelisi Antonio Winery.

Tasting all 13 wines they sell. We ended up buying 6 bottles!

Overall, the tour was awesome and we had a ton of fun! The next few days weren't too eventful, except we found our house and signed the contract! It's located in Sacile...here's a picture of the outside. Once we move in (hopefully later this week), I'll post a tour of the inside!

Happy Monday friends!

Last Days in the States!

After the wedding, we headed back to Vegas to pack up my house and to spend our last week in the states eating and visiting all our favorite places and people. It was quite bittersweet, Vegas was the place we met, where all our best memories together took place, and where we fell in love. And of course, saying goodbye to our families was quite emotional. All things aside, we had an amazing last week...take a look!

We rode the High Roller, Caesars Entertainment's observation wheel. It recently opened on the Strip and is the tallest observation wheel in the world! It takes 30 minutes to make a complete rotation.

view from the top! 

We ate cupcakes from a cupcake ATM! They were delicious!

I sold the Batmobile, my first and only car!

 We ate In-N-Out…duh! 

If you've never been, get a Double Double "Animal Style", you won't be sorry!

We packed my apartment up and said arrivederci to the first place we lived together!

We got to celebrate my birthday a day early with my family on our layover in Houston!

We got to have lunch and spend time with Dustin's family due to our 2 day flight delay!

 I got to try Yuengling and crab cakes in Baltimore for the first time!

 We rode a train into Washington DC and visited ALL the monuments!

 

We got to go to a Nats game (I've officially crossed over)! #natitude 

After being delayed two days, we finally boarded the plane to go to Italy!

#mrandmrsbowling2014: Part 1

So sorry for the break in posts, its been crazy over here with the flights and the big move! We haven't gotten to do too much exploring but from the view of the mountains on base, to the little bit of driving we've done off base, it all is quite exciting and beautiful!

Okay, back to the wedding post! First off, our wedding was perfect! We both had SO much fun, and everything turned out great! The venue was gorgeous and the weather made it 593871x better- beautiful blue skies with the perfect amount of wind! A huge THANK YOU to all our family and friends for making the trip out, we are so happy we were able to share the day with you! Here are the few pictures we have collected; we won't get our professional pictures for a few more weeks. Once we get those, I'll post another wedding post to share them! Let us know what you think!

This door led to the room where the girls' and I got ready!

Best friends since kindergarten! Can't believe it's been 19 years!

Finishing touches with Janelle before I got to see my groom!

My GORGEOUS dress! I was sooooo in love with it! Can't believe a dress named "Tracey" (Maggie Sottero is the designer) ended up being the one for me! Small coincidence in this world!

Mrs. Bowling!

View of the reception building from the altar.

The altar! This is the reason we chose this venue…loved the idea of being married in such a beautiful place.

Outdoor decor and programs.

I was very excited about the sparklers.

Entry table.

This turned out to be an amazing idea! All our pics in one easy to find spot :)

Table setting.

Sweetheart table! A huge shout out to my momma for making the ruffle table skirt! It was so fun and super cute with the venue!

My dad and I walking down the aisle together! Love him beyond words!

my favorite picture! Mr. & Mrs. Bowling!

My Uncle Hank was the officiant!

Our introduction...Dustin decided to bust a move!

First selfie as Mr. & Mrs!

Dustin's grandma caught the bouquet!

Best man, Randy Cooper, caught/picked up the garter!

Sunset pictures were a MUST! So excited to see how the ones from our photographer, Jackie Ray, turn out!

Altar at Sunset :)

Our delicious cake (or so everyone told us!)

My big sister <3

My beautiful wedding band! I am in looooove with it!

That's all I have for now! Like I mentioned before, once we get the professional pictures form our photographer, I will be sure to share them with you all!