On my way to Italy

Last year while we were still in America, I suggested to our great, wonderful, amazing friends Sheryl and Andy that we should meet in Italy to vacation together. That would help break up the 2 or 3 year stretch where we won't see each other because we are living on opposite sides of the globe. Sheryl and I have been best buds since first grade. God has used her and her family in huge ways to help me know and love Christ. And don't you just love it when your hubby and your dear friend's hubby get along? Andy and Andy really hit it off and I am grateful for the fun the four of us have together! So, on to my Italy idea...I said this without first consulting my hubby, who happens to actually know how much money we have. HEHE. I'm definitely a dreamer and I really think if we save aggressively for this trip, we can make it happen.

Earlier this year, after returning to China, Andy and I had a conversation about how to make it to Italy. It went something like this:

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Andy: EA, if this Italy thing is really going to happen one day, we have to seriously figure out how to start saving money for the trip.

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EA: Well, we just need to cut back on our budget busters.

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Andy: What are our budget busters? What do we spend money on?

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EA: (in all seriousness) CHEESE!!!

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Thus began my Italy savings plans. Not less cheese, just cheaper cheese. This needs some explanation I know. See, Andy and I are serious about dairy, as you can tell by our milk consumption. And we love cheese. The problem is that cheese is really expensive here. The "Land O Lakes" brand costs me about 5 dollars for 2 cups of shredded cheese. Do you know how fast I can go through 2 cups of shredded cheese? So I decided it was time to start buying a lower quality, non-import, cheaper cheese. For about a third of the price of my imported cheese, I can get an "ok" cheese-now we're on the fast track to Italy. The only catch is that in order to get the super savings, we have to buy it in bulk. I think the pictures says it all.

That's 44 lbs of cheese which equals a couple hundred dollars in Italy money. But darn, they use the Euro, so we're down to about a hundred Euros in Italy money...but still you get the idea! Actually it's not even that much. We split this cheese between four families, so my savings plan might not have me on the fast track to Italy, but at least I am on the track at all! The 11 lbs of cheese that I bought will last me for 4 or 5 months. Last time we bought it, Andy and I spent hours shredding and then froze it all. It was really handy to have shredded cheese just waiting in my freezer. We will have another shredding date this week.

This thing is huge. You can imagine the jokes as we discussed how to cut the cheese in order to shred it. Sheryl and Andy, you know I love you if I am willing to give up the good cheese to meet you guys in Italy-Now we might be well into retirement before my cheese savings plan lands us in Italy, but I'm working on it!