there is more

there is more.

there is more to this than a house. than bricks and stones.

than a view.

there is an entire process of lessons learned. of a life's path.
of my daily navigation of my path and the allowance of possibilities.

I truly believe that this is supposed to happen and will be integral to something in my future.
I don't, nor do I need to, know the exact details. but in the meantime I will move forward.

And this house and my time here is not just about sideline passivity. During all of these years so far it's been about assimilating, learning, and processing. And these past few months, while waiting for the next steps of the house to crawl by, I've been actively doing other things which allow for this entire life process to take place.

Already this year has taken me to England, Morocco, Bali, the US, France, Scotland, back to France, and all over Italy (Venice, Amalfi Coast, Ischia, Puglia, Rome, and countless spots dotted in Tuscany and Umbria). I've spent time with friends, family, new friends, and traveled for both personal and work reasons. And there are still more trips planned before the end of the year - Ischia, Malta, the US, and South Africa. Staying busy and staying grateful for getting to do what I love to do.

In August I was able to successfully be granted a freelance work visa, which I exchanged for my previous elective residency visa. Now my freehand work visa allows more opportunities for me to expand and integrate into a work life here as well.

Also, I've passed my Italian driving theory test! This was a big hurdle which everyone, even Italians, lament, and the scary stories that surround this entire process fuel plenty of anxiety and apprehension. Luckily after finding enough free evenings in the past few months between so much travel, I was able to complete 16 classes (which was a huge crash course for my automobile-related Italian) and then set off to take my theory test in Siena. After the 30-minute time limit we are given our results which I was elated to know was a passing score. Now it's off to the driving section of the process which I hope to complete next month.

I've also signed up to start my WSET Level 2 wine-certification course next month which will finish in November, so looking forward to these on-going learning opportunities. Plus, I'll have more wine-knowledge in which to choose my celebratory bottles after each hurdle is passed during the house-building process.