Napoli Soccer!

Jason and I went to a Naples soccer game this past weekend for the first time and had a blast! They played Atalanta (a team from Northern Italy) and won 2-0!!! There was so much energy in the stadium and the crowd went absolutely WILD when we scored a goal! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

The Crew

Go Napoli!

The Girls...Judy, Me, Virginie and Nancy

This is the "La Curva" section...basically where all the crazy fans sit! Aside from the usual screaming, whistling and hand clapping, they also start fires with flares in the stands! Fun and dangerous!

The Big 30!

Well, I have officially said goodbye to my twenties this past Friday when I turned 30! I wasn't terribly sad about turning 30, just sad to know that the funnest decade of my life had come to an end. And I am confident though that the next 10 years of my life will be even better! That evening my wonderful husband took me out to dinner at what I thought was going to be a romantic dinner for two...little did I know he had planned a fabulous surprsie dinner party with all of our friends! I was so happy to have my husband and great friends share in that day with me. We ate and drank to our hearts content and laughed all night long...and I had the most delicious birthday cake ever! I only wish my family and friends back home could have been there to join in the fun :) Hope you enjoy the pics!

Our fabulous Italy friends!

My very delicious birthday cake!

Me and the gals...Nancy, Roxanna, Lourdes and Blanca!

Great friends...I am so lucky to know these lovely ladies!

Jason, Jeff and Eugene

Our D.C. Friends and Tunnelpalooza '08!

Hi everyone! Here are some pictures from this past week when we had our friends Chris and Carrie visit us. We had such a wonderful time with them and were sad to see them go. We showed them the sights of Naples, spent a fabulous day cruising along the Amalfi coast and shared lots of laughs and drank lots of wine! Even though it rained almost the entire time they were here, we still managed to have a great time and take some pictures along the way. And, the best part of their trip was that Chris proposed to Carrie in Rome! We couldn't be happier for them and can't wait for the big day!

That's... not... ceramic!

Carrie and I at the piazza in Naples

All of us being silly in Pompeii

We're just lovin' those ancient ruins!

Chris and Carrie...the newly engaged couple!

Carrie and downtown Napoli

The best pizza in the world...Pizzeria da Michele

Strolling around Piazza Garibaldi

So sweet!

Along the Amalfi Coast

Beautiful Views!

Back to Chicago...

Hello everyone! I am now back home in the states for a little more than a week! My flight here was surprisingly smooth and without incident, and I am happy to be back and well rested. It is great to see my family again, and I am so excited to see more friends and family this week. I do, however, miss Italy already, especially the weather :) I landed in Chicago and it was 12 degrees...needless to say I was not ready for winter weather! Here is a posting my friend back in Italy tagged me to do...lots of fun :)


MY HUSBAND

What is his name? Jason David Zook
How long have you been married? A year and a half
How long did you date? about 4.5 years
How old is he? 31
How old are you? 29
Who eats more sweets? That would be me...I see no purpose in real food :)
Who said I love you first? We both said it at the same time
Who is taller? Jason. I'm 4'11 so everyone is taller than me
Who can sing better? Jason
Who is smarter? My husband is a surgeon...need I say more?! But I'm no dummy, either :)
Who does the laundry? Me
Who does the dishes? Mostly me
Who pays the bills? Jason pays his, I pay mine.
His guilty pleasure? Gummy bears and pumpkin pie
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jason, but I usually invade his space too.
Who is his best friend? His dad. And me :)
Who cooks dinner? I do.
Who drives? Usually Jason
Who kissed who first? That would be Jason :)
Who asked who out first? I did!
What was your first date? Cafe Iberico for tapas and sangria :)
Who proposed? Jason...the happiest moment of my life.
Who has more siblings? Jason has 1 wonderful sister and I'm an only child.
Who wears the pants? Me, of course :)
What is your favorite thing about him? Everything! He is kind, smart, patient, loving, honest, hardworking, funny...and I think he's absolutely gorgeous! I honestly can't think of one thing I don't love about him. He's been my best friend and has always supported me in everything I do. He's my zookie!
I tag Judy next!

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!