Bucket List >TDY

This past week, Dustin has been on TDY (temporary duty) in Florida. I must say, the first two days, I was the spitting image of a couch potato. I had absolutely no motivation to do anything! Once Monday hit and I was busy at work, the days seemed to fly by and I realized that one week was NOTHING considering we had already hurdled a year apart. But since Dustin has been gone and this week has been a bit more "about me" time, I decided so should the blog post. :) So, its time to cross off a few items on my bucket list!

28. Learn to drive a stick-shift

Completed: June 14, 2014

excuse my roughness...you can tell that I was horrified that I would wreck!

 Yup, I FINALLY did it! Ever since we bought Dustin's Wagon (which has recently been given a name…Valentina, after the Italian lady at our local supermarket), I have been semi-trying to learn. It wasn't until he got his TDY assignment that I was forced to since I would have to drive myself to work. It started out very rough…and I mean very…bless Dustin's heart…

but now, after a week on my own, I'm quite the pro! ;)

45. Visit the Lincoln Memorial

Completed: April 8, 2014

thanks babe for centering ole' Abe...

I had completely forgot that this was on my bucket list! When we were in the process of moving from Las Vegas to Italy, we knew we would be flying to Baltimore to catch our international flight overseas. We were originally supposed to land Monday and depart on Tuesday night so we hadn't really planned on sightseeing. Instead, our international flight was cancelled and we were set to leave Thursday. With the extra days, we were able to ride the train into DC, walk the entire Capital Mall and see all the monuments! It was my first time there so I was beyond excited! We even ended the night with a Nationals game!

96. Write my wedding vows for my soul mate

Completed: March 30, 2014

This one obviously happened a little while ago (82 days to be exact!) but I still wanted to share it on the blog and "officially" cross it off! For weeks, shoot even months before the wedding, we were constantly going back and forth between whether we should write our own or just recite the standard ones. I think I ended up deciding to write our own (because of my bucket list) a week before the wedding. You're welcome Dustin! :) He did amazing anyway!

Now that we live in Europe, over the next three years, we should be able to cross off at least 10 more items- if not way more! I am absolutely ecstatic to travel and see things that some people only dream of seeing in their lifetime! 

Memorial Day Weekend

The Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend we found out that when the military gives you a long weekend and you live in Europe, you go out of the country. Unfortunately, we didn't know this prior to then so we didn't plan any major trips. With that being said, we still managed to get a lot done, and see some amazing things!

The Friday of MDW, my household goods came! And boy, did I have a TON of stuff! When they were unloading the truck and the boxes just kept coming and coming, my jaw kept dropping and dropping. So all day Friday we spent unpacking and then had steak for dinner. We also got to play our first Wii Bowling game…they don't call me Mrs. Bowling for nothing! ;)

Saturday we headed out to Lignano again to enjoy the sand, ocean, and beautiful sunny day. After going there for the past few weekends, I am crossing my fingers, toes, eyes and everything else that we get stationed in Florida after our few years in Italy are over. It's soooo completely calming and beautiful being by the water, just thinking about being out there every weekend relaxes me! 

Sunday we spent more time unpacking but after about 2 hours, we realized we couldn't do much without a shelf in the living room and a dresser for our clothes. So, we headed to IKEA! I had already been scouting out a few options online so it didn't take long once we got there. We loaded up our cart and were home within 3 hours! Then came the tedious building stage…x2! Luckily, everything turned out perfectly! I won't share a picture of the finished projects quite yet, I plan to do a Home Tour blogpost in the near future.

Last but certainly not least, Monday we went to VENICE! Talk about B-E-A-UTIFUL! Oh my gosh, I still can't believe I was there! I have wanted to go for what seems like eternity and now knowing that its just a short hour train ride away gives me Christmas Eve excitement! A majority of the day it was overcast and was only barely sprinkling. We mostly walked around and took everyone's advice to simply 'get lost'. Trust me, it didn't take much!

Train tickets weren't super expensive, about 13Euro, which is probably about $18, per person round trip. Not somewhere we will go every weekend but a perfect date night!

This is the view stepping out of the train station…already beautiful!

Old Venetian Church

View from the Rialto Bridge!

Looking at the Rialto.

 St. Mark's Square! I've wanted to go here so bad, mostly because of the Italian Job! :) 

These pigeons were seriously walking around like they owned the place! 

Dustin in the square

St. Mark's Basilica was unfortunately undergoing renovation, 

just means we will have to go back when it is complete!

The side of St. Mark's Basilica NOT under renovation.

Squinty husband and wife :)

Outside the square, on the edge of the city.

We didn't take any pictures of the place, but we had a late lunch at this little ristorante off one of the small sidewalks. It was pretty good and catered to tourists very much. Next time, we want to try really hard to find a place off the beaten path.

That's all for now! Happy Tuesday!