Milano Rhinos VS Bergamo Lions

Football, fans, friends, and food! This Saturday's game against the Bergamo Lions had all of these "F's" added together to equal FUN.

"This wasn't just a win," one of the coaches said, "this is history." The Milano Rhinos haven't beaten the Lions since 1994. Bergamo, being no more than 45 miles outside of Milan, many of the players had played together in years past. This game wasn't only played out of motivation for a well deserved win for the history books, but it was played in memory of a former player who had died tragically; Dylan Meier. If we had lost the game we would have also lost our chances for making it to Play Offs because every win counts from here on out. So with their victory of 32-14, the Rhinos celebrated afterwards at the local hang out spot, singing a victory song, and recapping on the game that led to their arch rival's defeat.

This game wasn't like any of the past ones. The stands were filled with loud, enthusiastic fans who simply loved American Football. An American friend of ours, Kristin Macy, had her father at the game who was overjoyed that he was actually witnessing what he had read in the book, Playing for Pizza. Young Italian boys were at the game with their homemade signs, chanting American Football cheers, and getting the crowd motivated. They were truly the best cheerleaders of the night. It was so wonderful to see the support and pride the fans had for the players and the players appreciated all of the requests for pictures and autographs.

Just like any other Sunday after the game, you can find Brock and I eating a pizza. After a big win like last night’s, Brock had two whole large pizzas for himself. Oh, and a gelato to top it off. It was a good weekend to say the least.





Now I hate seeing Brock getting tackled and although this picture was an accident, it turned out sooo cool because this was his first touch down pass of the game! See the ball in the air?


Just like in college, after Brock threw his touch down pass, he threw me an "I LOVE YOU" sign.


Another touch down pass...another "I love you" sign!


After the game with his #1 fan


The Italian "cheerleaders"! These guys were the best fans of the night. Brock's #1 fan was multiplied by 7.


Acting silly on the field.


Matteo and Brock.


Brock & Jack


Brock & I after the game


Brock and the boys: Tommy, Mitch, & Jack.


All night "Galon" kept licking Brock. He loved his "QB" after the win and made sure to tell him ALL night!

“I’ve got a package for you!”

Every time we hear Guido say these 6 words, Brock and I become ecstatic! Although living in Milan and travelling around Italy has been more than a dream come true, we still miss home. Luckily, we are beyond blessed with wonderful friends and family who think about us, support us, encourage us, and love us unconditionally.

Earlier this week, when Brock was gone at practice, and I was left for 6 hours at night…with no one to annoy; I was feeling a little sad and lonely. I curled up in bed, with a good book, and waited for my husband to walk through the door so I could flood his ears with silly girl nonsense he honestly couldn’t care less about. When he came home, he was holding a package from one of my dear college friends from Liberty, Rachel! I was beyond thrilled… “It is finally here!” As I opened the package I found the promised books she sent. I was also surprised to find an envelope with letters and cards. “Weird, we thought. How did a letter from my mom get in here? Maybe Customs combined our mail.” But as we continued to go through the envelope we found a card from my grandma and one for his, a letter from my sister and his parents, letters from college roommates and prayer leaders. “Do you think someone organized this?” We were shocked, blessed, and speechless; we felt so loved. God’s timing was perfect on the delivery. He knew that on that night I needed it the most.

Being in Italy there are a few things that we have had to do without; silly things; food things. Things we CAN live without but just wish we could have and taste. Package number 2 arrived on Brock’s second night of practice. Another night I was alone. When Brock came through the door, I was in disbelief that there could be yet another package for us! This one was from my parents. When we opened it, the top was layered with Kit-Kat bars. Under them we found People Magazines for me, Reader’s Digests, as well as American gum, Cheez Its, Trail Mix, and Pretzels. For the Grand Finale, and Brock’s favorite, we were overly excited to find Hungry Jack’s Pancake mix with Syrup! Oh, and I can’t forget the chocolate chips too! For those of you who know my husband, the only way he eats his pancakes are with lots of chocolate chips!

So this morning I was woken up by my anxious husband who couldn’t wait to make breakfast. And as I wrote this blog, my belly was happily full with delicious pancakes and sweet syrup. For today’s agenda: hitting the gym. Thank you to all of our family and friends who cover us in prayer and lend us words of encouragement and support. Without you, being here would be close to impossible.

Brotherly Love

We knew coming to Italy to play football meant that we would be introduced to a whole new way of life. I have experienced such a small depiction of these “new” experiences. Brock on the other hand, has “felt” firsthand what it is like to be initiated into this new brotherhood Milan calls football.

I was so thrilled to receive a phone call from Brock saying that they had won their football game against Bologna, 42-27. According to him; “Offensive line was strong, I was never touched. I had all the time in the world in the pocket. Receivers were on target and the first half I threw 100% completions.” I could hear the excitement in his voice and I was sad I was unable to travel to see the team thrive on the “muddy” field.

Brock experienced this game, a pride and brotherhood with his teammates and he was even “baptized” as an official Milano’s Rhino. The bus ride back was filled with chants and songs, slaps and “manly bonding”; I as a woman will never understand.

When he finally returned home at the break of dawn I was sound asleep. Exhausted from his night of victory and team initiations, he hit the pillow and drifted off to sleep, leaving behind the night before him, looking ahead as an “official” team member, and never looking back at the slightly painful way he got there. When I woke up the next morning before him, I was startled to see the remnants of my husband’s initiation: a large target was drawn on his back and a few hand prints and bruises around it! He had a lot of explaining to do!!!

Waking up to his “distraught” wife, Brock explained how the team members initiated the new players as a Rhino. The team chanted and sang an initiation song that welcomed the new players and declared the Rookies “One of them.” Brock in return had to recite in Italian that he was now about to get baptized, he then walked the walk of death from the front of the bus to the back, with a target on his back, and received a few friendly taps from his fellow Rhinos. At the conclusion of the ritual, when Brock’s back was nice and red, the players cheered because Brock had completed his commencement into their brotherhood.


After waking up Brock and asking him: "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU! WHY IS YOUR BACK SO BEAT UP FROM THE GAME AND WHY THE HECK IS THERE A TARGET ON YOUR BACK!" His response to me was, "If it is any consolation, I told the guys that my wife is going to be sooooo mad when she sees this!"

Praying Specifics

When Brock and I first started dating we made a “Prayer List.” Throughout our relationship, when obstacles would occur or desires would arise; we would jot down our requests to God. When new decisions came our way and when opportunities presented themselves; we quickly wrote down our feelings and gave them to God. We would use our list as an outline for prayer but we mostly used it as a reference to look back and see how God was ever present in our lives and in the center of our relationship.

As days went by and we continued to do our daily prayers, we would be reminded of our list. And when a prayer was answered, we would cross it off and write down next to it how God showed us His will. Many of our requests, at the time, seemed far too big for God to really answer in the way that we really wanted. How small our faith seemed to be at times. But over time; emphasis on OVER TIME, all of our prayers were answered. The answer wasn’t always a yes or no. Sometimes it was wait or a change in plans or circumstances that were better than we could have ever dreamt of. God always reminded us that it was His timing but He ultimately cared about our desires.

It brings us joy to this day, to pull out our “Prayer List” and see all the ways God brought us confirmation, answers, direction, peace, and most of all, His blessings. We often look back at our list and laugh at some of our requests. “Dear God, we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together living for You. Please show us Your will and bring us confirmation that we are each other’s soul mate. Have our parents support us and give us their blessings.” It was crossed off with a little note of dates each of our parents gave us their blessings and where it happened. And, well, you know the rest… we said “I Do.” “Lord, Brock has the desire to play football, show us Your will in where You want him to be.” Crossed off too! We are in Italy playing football. We weren’t answered right away. And our request brought us through a winding journey. We also wrote a prayer request that God would allows us to travel before we had children. What a big and unexpected cross off! Our small desire was answered far more quickly than we had expected and in such a big and magnified way. How great is our God.

I challenge you to pray specifics and write them down. You will always be surprised and amazed about how intimately our God knows your heart and loves answering your prayers. We are humbled every time we refer to our list. We are reminded of how in control God is in our lives and how the only place for Him to be is in the center of our relationship. When times are tough and when God tells us to “wait,” we look back at our list, at all of our ‘cross offs’, and we wait in peace, knowing God has always given us an answer. And from experience, typing to you from Milan, Italy of all places, His answers are always better than what we expect.

Playing for Pizza

The Milano Rhinos team came out onto the field with lots of heart and determination. They went into the half tied up, but when they returned they just couldn't seem to stop the very potent offense of the Marines from Rome. The game ended 14 - 34.

As for my husband Brock, he is taking the "Playing for Pizza" motto quite literally. It is tradition before a Saturday game to go out Friday night and enjoy each others' company over a large pie of Pizza. It is something he craves and looks forward to. So because of the loss, he reverted back to that same comforting feeling that only the Italians know exactly how to get right.

The best way to cure a sad heart from a loss is to fill the belly with lots of warm, yummy, Italian pizza.

Sushi Showdown

We stood outside the "All You Can Eat" Japanese Restaurant, and I knew one thing was for certain, I was going to eat some sushi! I was joined by Brock and Nick (two fairly large football players) and Jack and Mitch (two fairly skinny Italian football players)... I promise you these descriptions will become useful.
The menu comes around and the boys start picking their choices. Now this All You Can Eat Restaurant isn’t like ones in the States where you go up to a buffet. Here, you look at the menu, write down your selections, and give it to the waiter, who serves you your food. 4 of this dish, 2 of that; the boys really took the "All You Can Eat" literally with their choices. After filling up the pad of paper in 2 neat columns, we made it through the menu and were ready to hand in our order.

This is where the "Showdown" begins. We will call the owner, Mr. Sushi. When he received our order, he informed us that we ordered too much, and that they would have to bring out our food in courses. From this point on, we could tell that Mr. Sushi was getting increasingly angry with our table. We thought this would be fine, "No problem" as the Italians say.

First round, Sushi. Everyone at the table, except Brock, LOVES sushi. We devoured the first two courses. It was when the third, fourth, and fifth tray of sushi came, when we got a little worried. There was an ungodly amount of sushi towering our table. Poor Brock hadn't had any of his meat selections yet because they kept bringing out more sushi. But, he waited patiently and watched us eat and eat. Eventually his selections of pork and chicken, rice and vegetable; you know, the good stuff came out. Our eyes were too big for our stomachs when it came to the sushi and the other Japanese dishes were done, gone, eaten all by Brock. And he was still hungry!

By the sixth combo sampler tray of sushi, we were all starting to feel a little "fishy". But Brock was still hungry and wanted to order more. We asked Mr. Sushi if we could have the menu again, to order more for Brock. He wasn't happy. "No! Eat the sushi gone and you can order!" I was baffled! Finish all the sushi! There was no way! We all looked at each other and thought, "Is this a joke?" It was then when Brock looked at us and said: "I didn't eat my money's worth and I'm still hungry! You have to guys!"

So we strategized. We had 15 pieces left and 4 sushi eaters. Before we could blink, Nick shoved 5 pieces in his mouth! He meant business. We divided up the rest and tried desperately to eat through the now, not enjoyable sushi. Nick told me to “hike up my skirt and eat because I’m with the big boys tonight!” Jack excused himself and went outside for a breath of fresh air. We all felt sick. When he returned he said: "Look I'm pregnant, I have a rice baby!" We all lost it! We all felt the same way but we had to push through. We weren't only eating for Brock, but we were finishing it in spite of Mr. Sushi. Brock even tried to pitch in and help! He ate one and chugged water..."I can't guys! I feel like I’m going to throw up!" We then began to size up our table; skinny Mitch, pregnant Jack, me… enough said, and Nick who already ate more than his fair share of sushi… we were in trouble! Brock realized that for him to get his food, it was all up to him! He picked up the last sushi, without even chewing, he swallowed it whole, and finished off his water!

We conquered the Sushi Showdown! Brock ordered his other dishes; several other dishes, and Mr. Sushi was getting more furious at each additional selection Brock made. "He is going to take our picture, hang it outside, and say they cannot come in!" Mitch said. We figured we had eaten well over 400 euros worth of food, all for the "All You Can Eat" price of 20 euro a person. Mr. Sushi lost some money when he let the 5 of us come in.

We all left with little rice babies, kicking inside, giving us nausea and cramps! Brock left full and happy, a little touched that his wife and teammates would eat all that sushi just so he could have more food. As we all piled in the car, ready to go home, it was hard for us to breathe through our full stomachs and Nick swore we were all “food drunk!” I was concerned about our Mercury intake! I don’t know if we’ll be eating sushi any time soon! My favorite quote of the night was when Jack said: "Brock, you're a big boy. You eat a lot!" My response: "Yeah, I know. I have to feed him 3 times a day!"

A Farewell from Family and a Salutation from Spring

This week has truly been one of my favorites here in Milan. Brock and I were fortunate enough to spend 10 wonderful, very adventurous, never short of exciting, and sometimes… well quite frequently, actually; strenuous and exhausting days, with my parents. We travelled to Florence, Siena, and Pisa in the beginning of their trip as you read in a previous blog. We took a day trip to Lake Como for Mom’s search of “Dreamy Clooney” and on one of the only sunny days in Milan we took a walk in the Park and toured the Natural History Museum and Castel. We ended their trip to Italy with a 3 hour hike through Cinque Terre (or as Mom kept referring to it: Tinka Terra) and we saw the most beautiful sights there are to see as we climbed higher than the clouds and hiked mostly uphill. Travelling with Poppa Nolton himself, we knew we were bound to get our share of bad luck; which we did (Pisa Police, last train to Milan at 11:30pm…delayed, no ATMs taking our credit cards, Metro stop to Zara (our stop) randomly closed, RAIN every day… just to name a few.) But with the little tweaks in our plans, we crammed more adventure in 10 days than was humanly possible and we enjoyed every exhausting moment of it!

We returned from Cinque Terre (or as Mom kept referring to it: Sinka Terra) at 1:30am and realized as we entered the apartment that we had no food, and tomorrow was Easter. Just as expected everything was closed. We enjoyed and cherished a very untraditional Easter together. We shared McDonalds for lunch; yup, trusty American McDonald’s was the only thing open! For dinner, Brock called a Pizzeria (using his best Italian!) and thankful they were open, so we sat around the dinner table and enjoyed good ole Italian Pizza for our Easter dinner. It rained and poured all day long so we camped in, shared stories, looked at the pictures from Cinque Terre (or as Mom kept referring to it: Chiquita Terrace), talked about politics, and watched a great movie. Out of all our days, travelling around Italy, our last day together meant the most. Saying goodbye was hard and sad, but spending that time with them here in Milan, is a memory we will cherish for a lifetime. We bounded and grew together, and it was so special being able to share a part of our adventure with them.

Their farewell was followed by the first true Spring day here in Milan. The sun was shining and it was finally warm outside. We spent the day at the park, under a tree, having a picnic, and watching the dogs run and play fetch with their owners. Birds were chirping, flowers finally bloomed, little hatchlings swam in the park’s pound next to their momma ducks; spring was finally here. We shared intimate little kisses on the park bench and we reminisced about the trips travelled with Mom and Dad.

Clooney in Como

Off on another adventure... this adventure was unique though and different than all the others. It wasn't necessarily unique because my parents were with us, although that was definitely a treat, but it was quite the adventure because my Mom was the one who picked the location.

"I want to go to Lake Como to see George Clooney!" So, on Brock's day off, we took a short day trip to Lake Como, in search of, you guessed it, THE George Clooney. We had to give the lady what she wanted and although it wasn’t her birthday anymore, she declared it, “Mom’s Birthday Week,” so Lake Como it was.

We purchased the fairly cheap tickets to Lake Como, “Here we go; on the search for Mr. Clooney’s house!” “Put on the coffee George, I’ll be there soon.” Mom kept saying. We looked at our tickets and realized they didn’t resemble the “normal” ticket we had travelled with before. But after a little help, mixed with a little confusion, we were off on our way. We got off at the stop, told to us by the Train Guard (a much friendlier one I might add), and we switched trains. We weren’t exactly sure which stop we were supposed to get off at and Brock asked. Even with the help of the Ticket office and the Train Guard we stayed on the train a stop too long and ended up in Switzerland… “Oppps! This isn’t good!” And with our luck with the Train Guards in the past, we thought we were done for. But again, the good Lord was looking after us and the Train Guard was kind again, and they let us stay on the train and go back just one more stop in the other direction to Lake Como.
Mom’s trip started off a little rocky, but she was covered with luck and we made it. Lake Como was beautiful! Of course our trip included lots of walking, but walking along side the beautiful water was a pleasure and hardly a work out. We took the lift, or the funicolare” to the very top of the town. The views were amazing and even with my Mom’s paralyzing fear of heights, she managed (while sitting, clenching the bar, and being escorted from each new height!) The Alps were a breath taking sight, covered in snow, and bigger than life. We watched Sea Plane after Sea Plane take off and land from the water, and Mom could have sworn that “It must be George’s!”

Although we never found George Clooney’s house and we didn’t run into him like Mom had hoped she would, we enjoyed a new place to sight see. We ended our day at Lake Como with a delicious lunch on top of the town in a quaint Chalet Restaurant overlooking the water and the Swiss Alps. And although our waitress was quite a crab, we enjoyed the best local cuisines. Clooney was surely missing out.