The last 7 years.

I recently looked for this blog that I started when I was 22 years old, when I was telling my husband Sergio about it, surprised it had not crossed my mind in years. I was thinking about how it was for me when I first moved abroad, finding it difficult to remember why I made this choice in the first place & wanting to read my own younger voice (it was a nice reunion!).

The past seven years have been transformative for me, with life handing me steep learning curves, big surprises & giving me the biggest gift of all – love.

In the past 7 years…

• I have eaten a countless number of pizzas, plates of pastas and I have drank a countless number of glass of wine.
• I have traveled to France, Hungary, Bosnia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Croatia & Switzerland.
• I have run 6 marathons & 7 half marathons.
• I have moved apartments 6 times.
• I have taken 15 round trips from Rome to Seattle and back (can you imagine how many movies I have watched on planes?).
• I have had 5 Permesso di Soggiornos which is an Italian permit to stay (working on my 6^th & last this October! Hallelujah!).
• I have learned to love love love pasta, and learned to cook it.
• The Permessos mean I have spent, over the course of 7 years, probably weeks, at the Italian post offices & city halls & immigration center.
• The Sonics still are not back in Seattle.
• I still don’t believe in ‘cervicale’ which is a sickness Italians think you get when wind ‘hits’ your neck.
• I have discovered how beautiful my state is.
• The Seahawks won the SUPERBOWL! 2014!!!!!!
• The Seahawks lost the Superbowl :( 2015
• I have developed friendships with people from all ranges of backgrounds, cultures, races & mindsets.
• I have worked at 4 English Schools and 2 UN agencies.
• I still think it’s ok to go in the sea after you eat.
• I started to become a little bit judgmental when people order a cappuccino after dinner.
• I started to talk with my hands.
• I have fallen in love, gotten engaged & gotten married.