Memorial Day Weekend

This year we spent some of Memorial Day Weekend in Saugatuck, Michigan. It is known as “The Art Coast of Michigan”. There are some great unique shops, galleries and restaurants. We met some friends down there, did some shopping and took a boat ride along the Kalamazoo River into Lake Michigan.

There were some amazing homes and beautiful boats along the Kalamazoo River!

Here we are going down the Kalamazoo River towards Lake Michigan.

You could see Oval Beach from our boat ride on Lake Michigan.

After the boat ride Giovanni and I had a great dinner along the waterfront. The energy there was great! There was a band playing on the patio and people hanging out on their boats docked right in front of us.

After dinner we drove to Oval Beach to watch the sunset. It was so relaxing and beautiful! We had such a wonderful time in Saugatuck that we are already planning on going back there again sometime this summer.

A Long Way from the Rake Mishap

As many of you may know we are not the savviest DIYers. Painting the inside of our house was a big undertaking for us (we barely survived that). When we first moved to Michigan and became homeowners, I don’t think either one or us realized what we were getting ourselves into. I came from a family where my father was very handy and could do just about anything. Giovanni came from a family/society where it’s just easy to hire someone to do the job for you (it's also way less expensive). So far we have survived on trial and error, help from family when they come to visit, what I have picked up from watching my dad over the years, and hired professionals. As we have become more and more comfortable with our home improvement abilities we have taken on more and more projects. Just a couple of months ago we installed shelving units in our walking closet; something we would have hired someone to do a year ago. With spring upon us we have decided to take on……the yard work! The past three years we have paid someone to come out and cut, rake, etc. our yard. After weeks of discussion we decided to give it a try. Today we went out and bought all the appropriate equipment….lawn mower, weed eater, and yard waste bags. We spent much of the afternoon outside doing yard work; lucky for Giovanni my back/ribs are doing much better and I was able to help. I pulled weeds in the garden, picked up sticks, cleaned off the patio and patio furniture…. Giovanni was in charge of the lawn mower and cutting the grass. I was so proud of him! He has come a long way from the rake mishap!

Brescia Updates

Adoption Update: We have no new news on the adoption front. We are just continuing to wait until we hear anything. We continue to read about adoption and attended classes or meetings on adoption every chance we get. We are trying to stay busy in hopes to make the wait a little more bearable. We have begun to try to reorganize the house and selling things we no longer use or need. I also have begun to work on my Spanish more regularly. All in the hope of bring home our baby soon.

Masters Update: I got word last Tuesday that I passed my comprehensive exam for my masters program. I was a little disappointed that I did not pass with honors but words cannot express how excited I was that I passed. This past Saturday I graduated from Western Michigan University with a Masters in Special Education with an endorsement in Learning Disabilities. What a relief to be finally done with something I have worked so hard for. So what’s next?! I will probably take a short time off from school but I have plans to start a program to earn an endorsement in Autism. My work at Croyden has helped me to develop a strong passion for working with students with Autism. Every day is an adventure and challenge; I love it. Who knows I might just decide to stay in school and get a PhD.

Capone Update: Yesterday was a very stressful day for me! I took Capone in to the vet for a routine check up and vaccinations. During the exam the Dr. noticed an abnormal breathing pattern. He took x-rays and Capone had a significant amount of fluid in his lungs and was going into congestive heart failure. We really didn’t know if he would make it through the night since cats generally go downhill fast once they have been diagnosed with this. I decided to take Capone to a 24 hour emergency facility so he could be monitored through the night by a Dr. This morning I got word that Capone did very well during the night and could come home. I need to continue to monitor him and he is currently on four different kinds of medication, which he will be for the rest of his life. All the money we used on him is well worth it. He is an important part of our family. He was a very timid stray we took in while we lived in Joplin, Mo. It took me almost three months of feeding him every day before he finally let me pet him. Ever since then he has been glued to my side. I often joke that his name should be shadow since he follows me EVERYWHERE! The house was very empty last night without him. It is so wonderful to have him back home and recovering. He is a very special cat!