One Down, One to Go....

Today is something of an anniversary.....and also a date of something to come.  It was exactly one year ago today that Nick and I arrived in Rome.

Within days of our arrival

It's been something of a whirlwind.  So much has already changed while we've been living so far from home. Here are just a few things:

• I lost my grandfather
• Our next door neighbors, and very good friends, had a baby girl.
• My sister had a baby girl.
• One of Nick's good friends got married

And there are many things that we'll miss in the next year, including three more weddings of very dear friends and at least one more baby.

But there have been some incredible adventures along the way.

We made some amazing friends.  This are two select examples.

We got creative and made free Halloween costumes

We went to Spain (and Nick had a weird mustache)

We went to Paris to celebrate Nick's birthday (and Christmas)

We went to Amsterdam (and Nick grew his longest hair ever)

I went to a conference in Oxford

We've also traveled a lot in Italy.  See this list for details :)

Many friends and family members have come for a visit, experiencing Rome with us.  We've been sort of adopted by our Roman choir and Nick's Roman volleyball team.

I've made significant progress in my research and writing of my dissertation.  I've also given dozens of tours, making a bit of extra money on the side.  I recently tabulated that since arriving one year ago, I've been to the Vatican Museums 27 times and the Galleria Borghese 12 times.

Nick has launched his career as a freelance travel writer and has written around one hundred pages of a novel.  Even staying busy with those projects, he manages to take care of us and our home.

It's been an incredible adventure and we are busily making plans for travel in our last year (Sicily, Vienna, and Greece are some of the major destinations).  

But.  It isn't all fun and games.

We've made a lot of sacrifices, stressing over money issues now and for the future.  I've gone off of my insulin pump and CGM, and haven't had my A1C tested in well over a year.  Nick hasn't returned to the US at all.  I've only been once.  We don't know if we'll get to go back in the next year.

And we're homesick.  We miss our families desperately.  Maybe me more than him, since Nick's parents have been able to visit, are coming again, and his sister will be here on Thanksgiving.  We miss our friends, in Philadelphia and elsewhere.  We miss being able to understand what everyone around us is saying.  We miss lots of different foods (I want a bagel!!) and certain aspects of American life that just aren't present in American culture.  We miss our house.  We miss a double income.  We miss so much.

And I'm not exactly wishing away this last year.  I'm definitely not looking forward to getting us, our cats, and all of our stuff back to the States.  But I know that I will be ready to go home in a year.  I know that while I love Italy, I really want to be living in the States.  And I know that I want to finish my degree, to apply for jobs, to know something, ANYTHING, about our future.  

One more year.  I know we will make it unforgettable, but I'm grateful that the end of our two-year adventure is nearing our reach.  We'll be doing our best to have as much fun as we can, to take advantage of this opportunity, and we'll leave in one year with smiles on our faces.