Skiing in Roccaraso...

Here are a few pics from our trip skiing in the Appenine mountains in Roccaraso. As my close friends and family know, I do not know how to ski. You just don't get to ski much growing up in the good old Midwest. I had been a handful of times before, but only on really easy hills. We were REALLY excited to ski, but I warned my husband that I was not a lifelong skier like he was, and I needed to start off on the bunny hill. So we arrive at the mountain and the minute we step on the snow he hauls me off to the chair lift and before I know it I'm on what I consider a huge hill. Looking down, I realize I am really nervous and have no idea how I'm going to end up at the bottom of the hill. My lesson from Jason went something like this: "Just turn your skis up into the hill to turn and snow plow to stop." Well, I didn't know what on earth that meant, and soon enough I was flying down the slope and landing on my you know what. After wiping out a handful of times, I decided I wanted off this crazy mountain. I had also decided that I wanted to divorce my husband and wanted real lessons from one of the nice Italian men working at the resort. In between these thoughts came lots of profanities and almost a nervous breakdown on the mountain. So long story short, I took my skis off and walked the rest of the way down. I proceeded to scare my husband away and took a break from all the chaos. Once I calmed myself down and Jason and I had made nice, he and our friend Karl showed me how to do basic ski steps on the small hill. After that, I managed to ski a lot better with fewer falls. Jason, of course, being good at everything he does, was skiing like a pro all day long. Despite all my tumbles I managed to have a blast and can't wait to go again! I've never been one of those people who has made a list of things I wanted to accomplish in life; usually I just take my life experiences as they come and appreciate them as they happen. However, I have been bitten by the skiing bug, and I am setting a goal to learn how to ski well, and even learn how to get on a snowboard. I'm sure I won't be in the winter olympics any time soon, but I refuse to sit on the bunny slopes watching 3 year olds ski past me! Wish me luck!

The happy couple on the bus to Roccaraso

Look at my cute snow bunny!

A loooong way down!

A moment of actual skiing...I look like I'm 5 years old! Ha!

I've made it down the hill!

Hallo!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share some pictures from our recent trip to Switzerland and Germany. Anxious to travel to somewhere other than Italy, Jason and I packed our bags this past weekend and headed to Basel, Switzerland. Basel is a beautiful city with great architecture, tons of museums and lots of shopping. We had a wonderful time roaming around the city, riding the tram around town and eating lots of chocolate and pretzels! (Swiss chocolate is to die for and their pretzels are unbelievably good!). The next day we decided to hop a train and spend some time in Freiburg, Germany, where we also did lots of sightseeing and eating. Jason once again impressed me by being able to speak German pretty fluently, which helped us get around very easily. Though we love Italy, I must say that Switzerland is our new favorite place. The air is clean, the people are friendly and their bus and train systems make it extremely easy to get around. We hope you enjoy the pictures and we hope all is well with our family and friends back home!

A view of the mountains from the plane

The markets in Basel

A view of the town overlooking the bridge

Town center in Freiburg

"Potato Market!"

A sidestreet in Germany

Beautiful Germany

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, we hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a safe and happy New Year! Though we were sad we weren't home to spend the holidays with our families, we were thankful to have been able to spend it with our amazing Italy friends. Jason and I spent Christmas eve and day with our friends on base, and we hosted New Year's Eve at our house. Despite having tons of fun, I am glad it's over, at least for another year! (Though I did enjoy cooking and baking for all of the holiday parties!) Other than that, life has been pretty good over here. Jason is back to work, the weather hasn't been too bad, and we've been doing LOTS of bowling :) Soon we will be leaving for Switzerland, and I promise to post pics when we return. We are looking forward to all of our family and friends visiting us over this next year and can't wait to spend time with everyone. Ciao!