Hello Everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog while I am gone on my summer trip to Italy. I leave on Wednesday and I am beyond excited to start the best experience of my life! I will be gone from June 5th to August 6th. It gives me two solid months to immerse myself in the Italian culture: food (of course), drink (more wine please!), and the gorgeous views of Europe. 

For those of you who aren't exactly sure how this experience came to be, here is a little overview. It all started with Alanna (my sister from another mother at work) and I talking about our summer plans during a much needed lunch break back in February. I was telling her how my plans were non-existent but I was getting pretty desperate to travel abroad again. I went to Europe right after I graduated from high school in 2006 for two weeks and it was just beyond amazing. 

Unfortunately, on a school secretary's salary (especially in the Nampa School District...), I could not afford to travel at all and would probably have to work for the summer to save every dime I earned. Then, Alanna pipes up and asks if I have ever looked into being a nanny or an AuPair for a family abroad. I had never even thought of doing that for anyone and figured it was out of the question but told her I would look into it just for kicks. So, I went home that night and found a website called AuPairworld.net where you could create a profile that families could view from all over the world. I didn't think much of it and quickly created a profile in the allotted time of my favorite show, "The Bachelor". I figured it would be a fun experience to look into but never really thought people would read my profile and be interested in having me as their AuPair. You could choose six different countries that you were interested in and then search for families from there. I chose Italy, Ireland, England, Australia, France, and Canada. It was pretty hard to choose only six countries to search in but I was very happy with what I found. There were families of all kinds with many different characteristics that they were looking for in an AuPair. Throughout the next few weeks, I spoke with dozens of families all over the world who either saw my profile or I saw theirs and thought we would be a good fit with their family. I kept having great conversations with a family of four from Treviso, Italy, which is about 30 miles north of Venice. 

The Vido family was the first profile that I looked at online. I thought they sounded so sweet, giving, and our times of when we were available matched perfectly. Gianna and Angelo have two little girls, named Anna and Giulia, aged 4 and 5. They are the sweetest girls and are excited to have a friend to play with this summer. One of the cutest things they have done already is asking me to come as early as possible to Italy so I wouldn't miss their dance recitals! They love to dance and I just love them already. I don't know how to explain it but I instantly felt connected to this family from the beginning and I just had a feeling that this was the best opportunity I could have ever been given. 

Girls in Venice for their Festivity Day (just like our Labor Day)



Playing in the sand by the Adriatic Sea (about 40 minutes from the house)



Anna and Angelo's Birthday Party

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family to spend this summer with. I couldn't have asked for a better experience to come my way! I leave in two days and I am a little nervous but only because I hope the travelling and flight times just work out for the best. Gianna has been so loving and caring throughout our email conversations everyday that I know this family was the perfect choice for me! I just feel like I am more than ready for this trip of a lifetime and I can't wait for it to begin soon!

More from the airport layovers in Minneapolis and Amsterdam I hope :) Pictures to come!