Life Update 2021/22 Edition

Wow, it’s been almost exactly one year since I have written last. I apologize for that! To be honest sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day doesn’t exactly give me the motivation to go home and sit on the computer some more, but alas I am here. I am glad I finally made it back, however I am not so happy that it’s because I finally got COVID. I am fine and already on the mend after just a few days of feeling like I had a cold. Since I seem to have some extra time at home I thought now would be the perfect time to catch up on things I have been neglecting, like this blog and our laundry. So let’s rewind a bit for quick updates since my last post.

Summer 2021:

We stayed in Italy since the U.S. was only open to citizens and not tourists. Although that meant I could go I wasn’t vaccinated yet and I didn’t want to travel before I was fully vaccinated. I got my first vaccine in July 2021 (not because I waited that’s just how slow Italy was). Pasquale became an uncle in July! Pasquale is always looking forward to the next opportunity of seeing his nephew. We spent 2 weeks in August 2021 in the South of Italy with Pasquale’s family. We even made it to Sorrento and Amalfi for a few days where we soaked up the sun and ate a lot of delicious food. We had lots of beach weekends from June to August but of course summer eventually came to a close. Why does it feel like when summer ends, responsibility starts? Or is that just me?

Fall 2021:

Our friends Hannah and Simone got married in September 2021. We got to make a trip up to Milan for a couple of days. We were able to say hello to some old friends we hadn’t seen since we moved. The wedding was a little outside of Milan and the location was beautiful. We had a great time at the wedding. Being in Milan was like no time had passed, yet a lot has changed in a year. My parents came to visit in October 2021! It was awesome to finally see them in person after 2 years. Also we got to show them around Florence which we hadn’t been able to do as locals yet. We ate and drank a lot. We even made it outside of Florence with a trips to Chianti, Vinci and Fiesole. Sadly, fall soon came to an end and the days got shorter and a lot colder.

Winter 2021/2022

This is where the fun began. COVID cases were on the rise December 2021. Pasquale and I had made the decision to go to the U.S. in December since we were not able to go during the summer. It would also be a first for Pasquale to be at my house during this time of year. I went to the U.S. first and Pasquale was going to meet me there 2 weeks later and stay for 2 weeks. The night before I leave my company has a Christmas dinner. At this point all is well. I had a great time with my coworkers. Next morning I leave for the U.S., I make it to San Francisco with no problems. My parents and I make it back to Reno that day. Next day, my work announces there were people present at the company dinner that have COVID. Ok itàs fine. Soon more and more people from the dinner, people from my table included, confirm they also have COVID. Somehow after a few tests, I still don’t have it. Ok lucky me! Whoohoo. Christmas flies by. I enjoy Christmas Eve dinner with my family and Christmas day with my sister, her husband and my parents. Pasquale is coming soon! Lucky us, a snowstorm hits the Sierras. Pasquale is flying in to San Francisco and we are supposed to be meeting him there. Roads between San Francisco and Reno are closed. We see one finally open up and we think let’s try! Well everyone else also had the same thought because we sat on that road for 6 hours. Pasquale lands and we are still on that road. We eventually get Pasquale a flight to Reno because we just are not making it over the hill. Pasquale finally makes it to Reno and sadly he has no luggage. We missed out on San Francisco and he has no clothes, but were like its ok we can do other things. We still have plans to go to Las Vegas. Luggage arrives a week later. It’s destroyed but at least everything inside is still there. We decided to do a COVID test before leaving for Vegas… boom, Pasquale has COVID. Thankfully he had no symptoms but it meant no Vegas for us. So we stayed home, and did lots of puzzles and relaxed the best we could. Pasquale tested negative a few days we were supposed to leave and I tested negative this entire time. Our trip back to Italy was uneventful (compared to the rest of the trip) and we made it back safely. Although our trip wasn’t everything we imagined I am still thankful we were able to go and see family. My parents did a great job of keeping us entertained even if it was just in their house.

Spring 2022

And here we are to now, well pretty much now. Spring this year has been a weird one. We had a couple warm weeks in March so I changed out my clothes, and winter decided to return. It has rained quite a bit and just recently started to get warm. We spent Easter with Pasquale’s family down south and enjoyed an extra-long weekend with them, lots of food included. It was recently Liberation Day in Italy so we had another 3-day weekend which we decided to spend in Rome. We hadn’t been to Rome together before so it was a nice getaway. We ate carbonara and amatriciana until we couldn’t take it anymore. I was also able to meet up with a couple of friends in Rome which of course led to more food and more drinks, but when is that a bad thing? That bring us up to now, me with COVID. So somehow I avoided it from my work dinner, peak season, and my family only to get it when I was least expecting it. Lucky me. Although I can’t do much now, I am looking forward to summer! Warmer days, longer nights and of course the beach.

I am impressed if you all have made it this far. Hopefully, this post has gotten me out of my slump because I really do enjoy sharing with you all. I plan to write some posts about typical dishes of Florence, our travels, and most importantly more things I have observed since living here. Talk to you all soon.