Antsy Pantsy!

The time is coming near for Mr. Man to get home, and I just keep getting more and more antsy. Even our baby boy (Buttons) is getting anxious and impatient. I have been exhausted mentally and emotionally, which is causing me to be exhausted physically, too.

I haven't really been able to sleep lately because I always wake up thinking, "What time is?" "Is it a new day yet?" "Are we another day down?"... Completely mind boggling and frustrating. Mr. Man told me I should try to go to sleep earlier in hopes that laying down will knock me out since I am so exhausted. But that isn't the case for me. The last couple of nights I have tried this, but I just lay in bed, watch TV, and wonder when or if I will ever fall asleep. I think about all the things I could (and should) be doing rather than relaxing my mind and body.

Last night was a tough, tough night. I laid in bed hoping I would soon pass out because I felt soooo tired. Like "soooo tired" doesn't even explain how tired I was. But of course, nothing. I get back up, turn on the TV, and the cycle begins. I finally fall asleep. YAY! Until I wake up about 1 hour later wondering if it was a new day! Of course not, it's only about 11:30pm... wonderful! Not this again.. haha, totally that again! I finally fall back to sleep, only for my baby boy to wake me up excited for a new day. "No, baby boy, it's bedtime," I say as I cuddle up to him and try to go back to sleep. So this happened repeatedly all night last night. Between the both of us, life is a roller-coaster at night time.

I am so over this anxiety, just ready for Mr. Man to be home! Did I just home?! 

Our Trip- Next Stop: Florence

After our 4 days in Rome, we will be taking a train to Florence for another 4 nights. I still can not believe that this real. To plan an itinerary and think about us in Italy is just surreal, but fascinating none the less.

The train ride will be about a 2 and a half to 3 hour ride. We have decided to take the slower trains to enjoy the scenery and take time to take it all in. When we arrive, we will first check into our hotel. From there, it is undecided. We plan on taking a couple of day trips to Siena and Pisa. I have heard that Pisa technically only takes a couple of hours, so I thought that maybe after we got checked into our hotel, we could just jump back on a train straight to Pisa and experience that for the afternoon. If we did this, we would have another full day to experience Florence, which is much bigger than Pisa. If we don't do this, then we will only have 1 and a half days in Florence. I believe this will be a last minute decision depending on how tired we are and what else is going on.

This blog is focused around Florence and what we plan to see while we are there. As of right now, this is what I have:
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Reubblica
Piazzale Michelangelo
Palazzo Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio
The Duomo
The Baptistery
Santa Croce
Santa Maria Novella Church
San Lorenzo Church
San Miniato
Church of St. Trinity
Church of San Marco

Obviously, we most likely will not be able to do all of this, but I would rather have everything on the list placed in order by importance. That way we see the most fascinating things first, then go on from there. How exciting?!

So, I mentioned our day trips to Pisa and Siena.
People say that Pisa is worthless (only because you can see it in about 1 hour or so), but if you are in the area you should stop by. Well, technically we will be in the area, but I am not sure I would want to waste a whole day in Pisa (hence the half day as soon as we arrive in Florence). So our plans for Pisa are literally just to see The Leaning Tower, of course. Nothing more really stands out to us.

Siena is in the Tuscany Valley, which I am HUGE on going to for the wines and scenery. They also have a few things for sightseeing, which include, the duomo, Mangia Tower, Basilica di San Domenico, and Piazza del Campo.

Now, this makes our trip halfway planned!!

The Beautiful Blogger Award

The rules state that you thank whoever gave you the award, then list 7 things about yourself. 
First off, I need to say 'Thank You' to Life-As-A-Navy-Wife.

7 Things about me:

1. I married my high school sweetheart at just 17 years old.
2. I was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana.
3. I have a Miniature Schnauzer that owns my heart.
4. I am a fitness junky. I enjoy working out and eating healthy.
5. I am an Elementary Education major hoping to graduate in the summer of '12.
6. I love traveling, being outdoors, photography, and scrapbooking.
7. Writing is my therapy and has been for a very long time!

Now, I will pass this award to:
Mrs. S. @ The Adventures of Mr. Superman and Mrs. S.
Expat Girl @ The Sand is Different Here.
Dani @ Hard Corps Love.

The Kindred Connection

I was reading a blog that I follow (Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots), and she came across this nice blog "connector." That is what I am going to call it, but the point of it is to connect bloggers (like you and me) if we have similarities or common interests. If your blog is based on "marriage, faith, family, homemaking, decorating, crafts, cooking, travel, saving money, style, and a little bit of everyday life," then you qualify to join The Kindred Connection. To join, just click the button below, and it will send you to the original blog for more information.

The questions for this week are:

1. If you could describe your desired lifestyle in one word, what would it be?  

I am going to have to say that my lifestyle is spontaneous. I say this because there are many things in life I enjoy, but the best times are enjoyed when one lets loose and allows themselves the to just let things happen in life.

2. What style of home is your "House of Dreams"?

My favorite style homes are the Acadian style.

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3. If you could live in a fictional story/movie, which would it be and why?

I would definitely chose Alice In Wonderland because sometimes I wish that my fantasy world would become true. My fantasy world is fairly creative and realistic if you ask me!   :)

 

4. Do you prefer coffee or tea? Favorite kind?

Before I moved to the UK, I drank neither. However, once getting here, it has been all about the different teas. I am now a true tea drinker and absolutely love it! 

 

5. Share the last sweet/romantic thing your hubby did for you.

Considering my husband is gone, I will go with the last moment we were together. When I dropped him off to catch the bus to take to his briefing and plane for him to leave, he said and did some things that I know he said in the moment. We were hugging, telling each other bye, and when he went to walk away, he said... "I can't wait to get back to you." And I replied with, "Yes, me either, but don't worry. It won't be long." And he said, "When I get back, can we try harder to make babies?" If you know our story, you know what this means to me.   

 

A Sense of Relief

As much as I hate to blog about Facebook or even think about the crazy site, I am going to do it anyway. I told myself that this is blog is about getting my feelings out because writing has always been my therapy (you should see my collection of diaries!).

Facebook-- It is a wonderful site to keep in touch with everyone you meet as you travel the world. It is the best place to upload photos and share you life experiences so people can watch you grow and vice versa. However, I have ran across a few complications, which one is the focus of this blog.

I am well aware that this person could read this (so if you are reading this, "Hi!"), but it also is not geared toward bashing anyone by any means. Just the ability to let go of what I have held on to for far too long.

I have been on edge about the things I can and cannot post of Facebook, whose feelings I am going to hurt, etc. etc. Really there are many meanings behind it, and I just feel that I ( or Mr. Man = My husband) should feel like this. Some people take things too literal and too personal. They totally should not. People who know me know the true me and that's that. I am never out to hurt anyone or whatever random people decide to put in their heads. I get excited about life and want to post about it, big deal. That's what it is there for, right?

Yesterday, I was able to reach a sense of relief when some things came down. Nothing bad, nothing that was done wrong, just some questions that I had been thinking about for a while were answered. But all I have to say about this situation is: If you are going to lie to cover something up, then make it believable. Make sure that I (or Mr. Man) cannot trace to the truth or discover it is a lie. By all means, be up front with us because we are not the type to get all upset over someone wanting to delete us on Facebook or "not be our friends anymore"... whatever the case. However, if you lie, you will cause much disappointment (especially when we have a strong belief in you). A disappointment that will never be forgiven. So I believe that it has reached that point, and I am greatly sorry that you have felt that you needed to lie to us to keep the "peace".

I am not sure why I have a sense of relief over it, truly I don't. But I am thankful that God has given me the peace of mind to move on. All this just proves that my instincts were correct, and with that I can move on.

Italy!--The beginning.

We are planning a trip to Italy, and I beyond excited. I have already started to countdown the days until the trip (53). It has taken my mind off these last few weeks before husband gets home. We are both very stoked about this Italy trip. We originally thought it would be our last big trip before leaving the UK, but now that other things have stepped in our path, we have chosen to make it the first big trip! Although we have been in the UK for almost 2 years, we have not been out of the country. We went to Scotland one weekend in October (I think.), and we have traveled a lot here in the UK. But nothing will beat this trip to Italy.

A couple of nights ago, I booked our hotel reservations online. Then emailed to make sure it went through and they had no problems with our card. (In the past, with it being an American card, sometimes they have difficulties.) So we are officially confirmed by all 4 hotels. SUCCESS!

Our first stop, which is where we will be flying into is Rome. We wanted this to be our first stop because it will be the most strenuous and most meaningful to the both us. We wanted to be nice and refreshed, so we could get as much out of it as possible. Yesterday I started working on getting tickets to see the Pope (which has already been confirmed) and a tour by 7 Hills Tours (for more information on what it consists of see http://www.7hillstours.it/). I just have a few more things I need to get tickets for so we don't have to wait in line, like the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Roman Forum. I also need to reserve tickets for the Borghese Gallery, which is another one I am stoked about because it is once where most of the art that is now in the Louvre in Paris was. (Right now I am in an art class, woo hoo!!) We will have 4 days in Rome because I scheduled our flight to get us there by 10am.

Someone Please Tell Me This Is A Dream

How could this happen?

As me and my husband prepare for a growing family, I wonder when will be the right time. No time is perfect to begin having a family, but planning and preparing should be involved. The soon to be parents should feel that their finances are set, their goals are reachable, they have the relationship needed, they have their priorities in order, etc.

For someone that finds themself at such a young age, how can becoming pregnant possibly take so long and feel so far away from her? Why does it not just happen like it does for others? Why are people that are so unprepared for children in every aspect get pregnant? Why, why, why? I know it is not my place to judge who and when people have children, but sometimes I feel it is just not fair. It's like I feel so close to my dream, my future, but one month slips away, and I feel hopeless all over again.

It's hard to sit back and watch and hear about everyone else having babies and getting pregnant because I long to feel that joy. I just want that love, that connection to be a part of my life. Is that too much to ask for?

So tomorrow, I will probably look back and wonder how I was crazy for typing all this up because deep down, I do want our pregnancies (all of them) to be a surprise. I want it the way God has intended it for us, and not because we were reckless, immature, or (insert whatever you would like) about it. I do want what God wants, and I do want it to be at the right time, on his time. Sometimes my emotions get the best of me, and I can't resist longing for that craving, the craving of my child, my miracle, my everlasting love!