Life is crazy here!

I know everyone wants to see pictures and I promise to get those up as soon as possible! Karl and I just wanted everyone to know that we're actually getting settled here in Napoli and even bought a car (not the bmw, but a nice honda civic) and once I figure out stick shift, I will be a woman on the go! Another exciting bit of news is that Karl and I got a house today!!! It is beautiful and sits on a private family orchard way up on a hill overlooking the entire Bay of Naples. It's not huge, but has a kitchen, living room, 2 baths, and 3 bedrooms (plenty of room for company) and it also has a large garden and rooftop patio. The view is honestly worth a million dollars and we have peach and fig trees growing in our back yard! We won't be moving in until September though because Italians go on vacation in August and nothing gets done (not to mention the normal slow pace of life here doesn't help to speed up the process).

Karl and I have been in orientation this week and do a tour with the other newcomers tomorrow. We plan on going to Pompeii and Rome this weekend (it seems crazy to say things like that!). Thanks for all the wellwishes and we miss you all- and I will try to get some pictures up this weekend!

We're Here!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Karl and I made it to Italy in one piece! It has been hard trying to get over jet lag (we're six hours ahead of all of you on the East Coast), but with a few naps, we seem to be doing better. We haven't seen much of Naples yet, but we have an appointment Tuesday morning to go look at possible housing over on the Bay of Naples! Tonight we went car shopping and it looks like our first car here will be a red BMW- very exciting! They're shutting down the library here in a few minutes, so I've got to go- Karl and I miss everyone terribly! Ciao!

Ode to Boo

Our upcoming move to Italy has brought many changes in mine and Karl's lives...we had to sell all our cars, the boat, the house, but the absolute worst part has been that we had to give Boo up. Karl suprised me for my 23rd birthday with this adorable little ball of energy and I was immediately attached. Boo helped get me through Karl's deployment last year and she brought so much joy to our lives. I have never met someone who hasn't loved her; she is the sweetest, most lovable dog you'll ever meet. We are so lucky that Karl's parents decided to adopt her (and they seem to be loving every minute of it from what we can tell); we know she is in a very loving home and that we'll be able to keep up with her as she gets older. We miss and love you Boo!

Goodbye Raleigh!

June 15 was a very sad day for Karl and I...it's the day we sold our home in Raleigh and had to leave the best neighborhood in the world. Karl and I moved into our home on Deering Dr. June 27, 2006 and loved every moment that we spent there (except when fixing the house after Hurricane Ernesto came through). While there, we became extremely close with the neighbors and it broke our hearts to leave them- Karl and I honestly believe that we had the best neighbors in the history of neighbors. From climbing on our roof in the middle of a hurricane to fix a leak to being there for me when Karl was deployed to babysitting Boo countless times, we could have never asked for more amazing friends. Jason, Barbie, Logan, Neil, Claire, Stephen, baby Sophia, Matt, Monica, and Dylan- we will miss you more than you will ever know and I can't wait to see you all in Italy!

Matt and Monica threw Karl and I a going away party the night before we moved (and also let us live in their house once all our stuff was moved out of ours) and we had such a great time- these are two of the best women ever, Monica and Claire

Matt was obviously excited about his photo op

Blakely and Charlie came to say goodbye

Stephen is going to be a rockstar

Neil, Jason, Matt, and umm..Karl...nice shot babe!

Logan was enjoying his dinner also- he is so cute!

The spread

Goodbye 3512 Deering!

Boo doing the final walk through

One last look down the street...

To see pictures of the house (before we moved) visit: http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/556188237DkeyeO?start=0

Promotion!

Quick post today to let everybody know that Karl was promoted to Captain! He pinned it on yesterday afternoon; he used his father's original captain bars and a good friend of ours, Julito Drake, pinned them on in a small ceremony. Captain is a huge step from Lieutenant and it is the most senior of the company grade officers! I am so proud and wish that I could have been there, but my mom and I did call and sing a congratulations song to him (I'm sure that was the highlight of his day). I'll get some pictures soon of his new uniform so everyone can see the new rank and also a new medal he was just awarded for exemplary service to the Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Lejune! Congratulations Karl!

Wedding Announcement

Just wanted to let everyone know that our wedding announcement was in the Daily Press today! To see it go to http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/newportnewsva/specialoccasions/20070715/p2.asp

We're so official!

Our Honeymoon

I thought I would take a break from wedding postings and tell everyone about our honeymoon! Karl and I left the week after the wedding for a seven day cruise to the carribbean- it was so relaxing and we had the best time! We left out of Miami, then went to Grand Caymen, Honduras, Belize, and Costa Maya. The cruise ship was spectacular and we enjoyed every minute of it- especially the margaritas :)

Karl and I on our balcony at the port in Miami

Laying out on the back of the ship on our first day at sea Grand Caymen- we did our first day of snorkling here!

Roatan, Honduras was the best place we went by far (which is why there's so many pictures)! It looked like a place out of a Corona commercial People were actually walking across this bridge- they were much braver than I was!

Karl and I with a parrot

My favorite part of the entire trip- playing with the monkeys! They were so cute and funny- they kept stealing stuff out of Karl's backpack and even made off with my bottle of water!

This monkey was bad, so they had him tied up- he was not happy!

More of the most beautiful island ever....

Karl and I snorkling in Honduras

Goodbye Roatan!

Karl and I went canoeing in Belize...I thought I we were headed for divorce when he started rocking our canoe in alligator infested swampland- don't recommend canoeing in Belize by the way!

After canoeing, we had wine tasting at a local winery and then went on a nature tour- this was our tourguide....

View from our balcony in Belize...so pretty

I loved all the towel animals that our room steward made us everyday! This one was a turkey, so as a faithful Hokie I posed with it.

Welcome to Costa Maya, Mexico!

Karl and I took an excursion to the Mayan ruins- they were breathtaking!

Karl and I on a very massive temple

Relaxing on the beach before getting back on the boat

Karl and I ready for our last formal dinner on the boat

More Wedding Pictures!

There are so many pictures from the wedding- I think I'll be posting them forever! Also, for all of you who just can't get enough wedding pictures (I know I can't!), our professional photos are online for viewing- I'll get some of those posted as well as soon as I get my negatives back- the website is http://www.starmarkimaging.com/ and the password is: pplaukar

If you have any pictures from the wedding, we'd love to see them, too!

Our first dance was to "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman

My daddy and I danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland

Thank you Erik, Blakely, Tina, and Dad for the wonderful toasts!

I may be partial, but I think we had the most beautiful wedding cake ever

(and it tasted great, too)!

The shoe show was a surprise game by our DJ and one of the funniest

parts of the entire day- Karl and I were asked a series of questions and we had to raise the shoe for whoever it pertained to most (i.e. who wears the pants

in the family- of course we both put up my shoe). The ONLY

question we answered differenly to was who was smarter and we

both said the other one!

Karl's Aunt Cindy, cousin Alison, me, and Meagan (Karl's brother's fiance aka my new sister!)

Blakely and Kurt

Lance dancing (where was I for this?)

Blakely and Rachel

Karl and I leaving the reception and heading to

our bed and breakfast for the night!

...and they lived happily ever after