Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I truly believe in the name of this blog Una volta nella vita...If I didn't, would I have it tattooed on my body?? mmuuhahah

no really have a look at my new tattoo with its dedication to the RE recent earthquakes and a phrase that is dear to my heart..once in a lifetime...

My heart is truly and always will be in RE..whether we ever make it there or not..so when her heart breaks so does mine.
At the moment my heart aches for many reason in this world, poverty, death, natural disasters, abuse, abandonment and lack of self worth in people. But my heart also aches for my own personal desires such as a life in Italy, a desire to help young women know that they are valued and a desire to raise my daughter within a community of love and appreciation.
So this tattoo incorporates all of this.


Friday, July 27, 2012

Sometimes life seems a bit strange, weird and a bit unfair..but what other choice do we have? Live and let live I say. As more and more time goes on it seams that more things continue to go up and down and we are just riding the coast. We definitely know where we want to be, what we want to do and we know that we want it RIGHT NOW!
But life has its own timetable and if we stress about its non-alignment with our plans I think Id pass out and rot on the side of the road..no really!!
I've come to the conclusion that I really need to learn how to go with the flow and be happy that things will happen when they are meant to happen.

So what's new..well our apparently great house in RE turns out to be managed by a very very rude man in which we have decided that we didn't want to have anything to do with. When Consu ranged them to ask about our appointment he basically called her stupid and assumed she wasn't a local so didn't have to tell her what area the house was located. He then told her that he makes more money with selling houses then the ones for rent so didn't have to tell her anything..and with that ..beep beep beep...yes he ended the call.. completely rude to hang up on someone in such a way. Shame for him as he has lost great business considering we would always pay our rent and then preferably buy our property from the agency that we already had dealings with..suppose he didn't really think of this. But it has been said that he is probably upset or jealous once finding out what and how much Gaz was paid for what he did. But I would think he would want to use it for his advantage.

So his lost. Now we have the potentional to rent a house of a friend's uncle. So we ae hoping that this will happen, but as exspected things never turn out the way you think they will. But in the long run most times it ends out better ...RIGHT RIGHT !!

Now that we have returned home we are still in the hoping and waiting stage. Gaz is still not working and looking for work in London...So heres to things looking up this week!!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Officially we have been in Reggio Emilia for 36 hours and I feel as though we have been for days already.
We arrived into Reggio around 1pm and the weather was even better than we could have imagined. It was definitively hot since we had to to dress for the UK departure which was cold and wet. However we imagined it would be overly hot and humid given that is how we remember our Australian summers. After returning to our family's house the first thing I had to eat was Erbazzone and bresoala. Two of my favorite foods in Reggio..and my family knows it because the table was already set with food and drinks upon our arrival even though no one was home..hahaha

You would think that we would be like normal people and have a nap, rest and relax after a flight but I suppose we arent your normal joe and jane. Shortly after filling our bellies we were off to the negozi. One of my favourite things to do on a daily basis is to just roam the shops..I love grocery shopping in Italy..I suppose because everything is new and so much to learn.. I'm always just reading the labels. I suppose this past time will grow old eventually but for now its so much fun..so off to Conard we go. We then had a visit at the Real Estate office as we had plan to just see what he had available and what sort of things we should be looking out for as everything listed on the internet is well..cosi cosi.
I would have never guessed that we would actually find a house that we would love. We decided a few weeks ago that we needed to rent for a little while in order to see how we feel about buying a house and where exactly we wanted to purchase. Also we wanted to spend some extra time saving money so that we can buy it without no worries at all..
One of the issues of renting is that 90% of properties are apartamento. Coming from living in a 4 bedroom, 3 level house we are not excited about living in an apartment..no matter how luxurious it is. But we do know that this is one of the disadvantages and sacrifices we were going to need to make in order to make this move happen. So we did sacrifice and change our search to being open to an apartment as long as we had a garden for Olivia and a balcony or patio for us.
Well apparently our translation came across perfectly as the agent didn't give us any information about the apartments he had ..only about the two houses he had for rent..
Especially after reminding us that houses are never for rent so we should take one of 'his' houses if we wanted one..the cheek!
Not to mention he did speak to one of our friend about us and our references ect..and since he knew that I am unable to speak Italian as good as I would like..he assumed that my level of speaking is the same as my understanding..Stupid man..
I understood clearly that his tone as well as words suggested that we could not afford to rent a house as the one he found for us was double the price of what it would cost to rent a 3 bedroom flat. This is when I realized how much I loved my friend when his response in Italiano of course " Excuse me sir, you can look at Gareth and think anything, but to be honest he probably will make in one year more than you will ever make in your lifetime so you should be respectful."
I should mention that my friend is the most polite and respectful Italian I have ever met. He respects all the 'rules' of Italian communication so for him to speak to another professional this way was ..ummm...exciting..hahahaha. The best thing was the look on this mans face after he said it...funnily enough his tone changed after that and has now decided that he needs to arrange a meeting with the owner for us as he believes this house is perfect for us..muuhahhaha
The only bit of information we were not prepared for was paying 5 months in advance....and 3 of the months being the deposit and one being the fees for the agent..vaffanculo!! (MUM PLEASE DON'T TRANSLATE THAT) :)

Hopefully we will get a call soon so that we can view this house...although the rent is alot Im steal amazed that the house is almost double the size of our house in UK, yet still almost half the rent.

So needless to say was a successful meeting.
The night wasn't so great as Livvy was far to hot to sleep and didnt do too well in her makeshift guest bed..she actually fell out and hit her eye which left a nasty mark..I was devastated and felt so uspet that I could let that happen to her. She didn't return to bed until midnight out of fear and even still she only slept on my chest. Then woke again at 5 and 7am. So we have been a bit sleep deprived today. Even though we we are dead tired we made our way to our friends employment agency. This agency specialist in high income and high skilled workers so was right up her alley when she saw the amount of experience Gareth had in his feild ..but did have to mention twice 'you know you will never make that much money in Italia?' hahah he confirmed to her that moving to Italia isnt about money..we have no problem with that department ..but the community is what we desire in Italy.

So now as I am rushed to leave the computer Im off to make a cake with my new friend ...7yr old Daisy!! She is Carina!




Monday, July 16, 2012

Am I excited?? You bet I am! Why??? Because in less than 48 hours I will be in Reggio, and then my heart and I can be together again!!

I can't wait to be reunited with the sun and fresh air! To fill my belly with Erbazzone and tartufi...proper coffee, gelato from Pacifico and labrusco from my friends farm!!

I swear it's not all about the food but as Im lying here in bed I can hear my tummy a rumble just thinking of our orto!

But besides the food I'm longing for the beach and seeing Guiliano Palma in concert for my birthday! Ahhhhh!!! (insert excitement scream!!)

And most of all.....above all the best food and lavish wines of the world, my Italian family! I love them so much!!

I'm excited for Liv as she will be spoiled as always and have more attention than she could handle!

So as I snuggle under the duvet with my kindle ( because cool kids don't snuggle with books apparently), I'll try to keep my excitement at bay!


Hmmmm...I think I'll start to review related books as I read them, especially by expat authors!

Currently reading: Ask Me If I'm Happy by Kimberly Menozzi
Will review once I'm finished maybe!!



Do you like my excitement face?

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Why does everything have to be so fucking hard..yes I said it..why..because I bloody meant it..I know I'm not one to swear from left to right but today is just so frustrating..

I know that life could be worse...alot worse, but why should it have to be so hard at all..
Dont get me wrong I feel completely blessed to even be in this situation and having the ability to even trot across the globe but I really wish dreams were easier to come by. Or maybe our dreams are just far to large.. maybe we are kidding ourselves and should just settle into our happy upper-class lifestyle here in England..I mean that's what its all about right..having loads of money.. going on holidays all the time, living in a huge house whilst someone else does your house work, driving a luxury car and eating out at nice restaurants..all so you can say hey look at me..is it not??

I really don't care about all of that, in reality Im willing to give it all up to just live comfortably and happy...all we really dream of is a life where we can spend each day with our daughter, pay the bills and save money for future projects and dreams.. and enjoy life to the fullest yet simply, see friends and family when we want and build everlasting memories for our family. Is that so hard to ask for?

Where is this coming from?

Since everything has happened with Gaz and his previous contract he has really enjoyed being home with us. I've loved it as well. I get to sleep in till whatever time I want to, have an extra hand around the house with Livvy, and go on family outings when many of the locations would be packed during the weekends and evenings. I can cook meals in peace without Livvy pulling on my leg asking to taste whatever I'm making, and I get to have a shower alone in peace..sounds like silly things but it really does change things when someone else is around.

Gaz really does love spending so much time with her and has said numerous times how much he wish he could do this forever. I really wish I could make his dream come true. In reality I cant see how that could happen. But why not? I really cant understand why it couldn't happen either. After forming a monthly budget we worked out that for us to live in Reggio for a year....Gaz could make working in the England within 2 months.
So in theory why not just work in UK for 2 months and live a great life throughout the year in Italia...sounds great but for some reason it doesn't really feel like its going to be that easy.


Its hard to picture something that seems far too good to be true, yet also too hard to be so easy...
I'm not sure if any of this makes sense but meh you see where Im going with this.



dont they look sweet

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Life is funny sometimes! You never know how things will unfold or manifest! I suppose If you did life would be pretty boring! Predictable! And well not worth living!

Life has been petty stressful for me these days, from Gaz losing his job to completely frying my hair! Yes Fried!
Note to those Independent funky stylish ladies who may be reading this! If you have really really curly hair that is luscious and beautiful and bouncy! For the love of all things sacred don't bleach it blonde then dye it hot red directly after!

Trust me you might look like this.....
A human poodle!! My sad face was warranted as it took hours for me to comb my long locks back into a normal state! You can see its so tangled and bunched up all the way to my ears!

So you see as sad as this can be...they can also be funny! I've tried to remember that all things are for a reason and no matter what that reason is, my life will be perfectly the way it is meant to be regardless!

Speaking of perfectly! Last week or dilemma was the matter of a missing marriage certificate! How does one loose there marriage certificate?? Well I don't know but some how we did and without it I can't apply for citizenship and without citizenship I can't live long term in Italia!
Akkkk! Well in the end I found an old old copy of or official marriage document! So I gave then that at my application checking appointment! And bam they took it with no questions asked!


So in the end things are well... Moving along! Now we just pray that they will approve my application and I'll be an EEU citizen! The only thing we need after that is a job for Gaz!!

Pheww one step at a time!

Ps....
See sad poodle face below!