BIG News

We are moving to Naples, Italy in August 2012.
I am excited and nervous but mostly TERRIFIED.
Let's back up a bit.
When we first learned we'd be moving to Okinawa back in 2007 I did absolutely no research.  A good friend and mother to three boys had lived there and loved it.  I took her word for it.  I was worried any research would scare me out of being excited at the opportunity of living overseas so I chose to be completely ignorant and hope for the best.  Lucky for me, I wasn't disappointed.
Fast forward a few years and when Randy's detailer (aka The Man Who Decides Our Fate) tells us our options after graduation (Chicago, Florida, Italy, Japan) we decide we'd put Italy on our list of places we were willing to go.  After all, who passes up the opportunity to live in Europe, right?
Well then I started to do my research and the panic attack set in.  Naples is like the L.A. of Italy.  There's lots of crime, lots of trash, and the driving is crazy enough that even the sidewalks aren't safe.  But I read lots of good stuff too:  The food sounds amazing and we'll live in a gated community or on base so I won't worry about burglars (too much).  Not to mention we get to tour Europe.
So I prayed.  Prayed to accept our fate and prayed to feel that our fate was in God's hands and not the detailer whom I've never met.  That day I met three (3!) people from Italy (two were an older couple who just moved in down the street and lived in Tuscany for thirty-five years).  What are the odds?  I told myself it was a coincidence but I knew it wasn't.
Well, we heard the official word from the detailer today:  We are going to Naples.
I am choosing to be excited.  A terrified excited, but excited nonetheless.

Marcus is excited because he thinks his dad will be purchasing a mini Cooper so he can drive around like the people in the movie The Italian Job.
Ethan is excited that I'm going to buy him a Nintendo DS for the flight so he doesn't care where we live.

Stay tuned.  For those of you whose normal (and boring and mundane) lives don't allow you to do crazy things like move to Europe,  you can live the life of adventure vicariously through me.  I'm willing to take one for the team.
You're welcome.

An alley in Naples.  Check out the Vespa driving by!

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