House-hunting complete!

Today is special for two reasons.  First, we signed the lease on our house this morning!  We spent many hours during the last couple weeks thinking and talking about where we want to live.  Downtown versus country, an apartment right next to post or a house a few miles away.  So many decisions.  And despite all the horror stories we kept hearing, about how it can take months to find a house and there will be all sorts of problems dealing with the landlords, etc., the process was relatively painless for us.  Our only problem was deciding which one to take.

The first place we looked at was right on the edge of town, only a couple kilometers from post.  Location-wise, it was super convenient, but the interior was pretty outdated, and the living space was pretty small.  Nothing terrible, but nothing we really got excited about either.  The second place was an apartment that was literally a five-minute walk to post.  It had been recently remodeled, so the inside was nice, but it was on the third floor and the outside/garage space left a little to be desired.  However, the fact that we could walk to post was tempting. 

The house we ended up taking is about 6 or 7 kilometers from post, although still in Vicenza.  It's a three-level duplex, with three bedrooms, a garage, a full basement, and a patio in the back.  And I have to say, it's pretty awesome.  We don't move in until 17 May, but I'll make sure to get pictures up as soon as I can.  Not only are we going to love living there, but there's plenty of room for everyone to come visit.

Can anyone guess the second reason today is special?  It has a lot to do with this little thing...

That's right!  Two years ago Donovan asked me to marry him.  At the time I don't think either of us knew just what was in store for us or that only two short years later we'd be living in Italy, but here we are....and absolutely loving it!