For friends and food and all things good.....

......We give Thee thanks, oh Lord. Ah the chapel memories. This time last year, I was in Italy, so crazy! I had an amazing time.  However, it was so much harder then I thought it would be to not spend Thanksgiving with my family.  We had friends over and I got to skype my parents but it just wasn't the same.  I am so grateful that I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family today. We actually had Fettuccine Alfredo tonight.  We're waiting to have traditional Thanksgiving tomorrow when my bro and SIL can join us.  Not to toot my own horn but TOOT TOOT! the pasta was delicious! 

I really enjoyed doing my thankful post last year that I do believe I will do it again! 


(In no particular order) 


* Family: I am so blessed with an immediate and extended family that ROCKS! I have wonderful supportive parents, great siblings, loving grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins that are just fun to be around.  I feel blessed to honestly enjoy being with my family! 


* Friends: I have been given such amazing friends in my life. I'm grateful to have graduated from a school where I still see my classmates almost every time I come home.  I'm so so thankful that the Lord put amazing people in my life in Lubbock! 


* Neighbors: Shout out Diana and James gang! My family is blessed to be part of an awesome "neighbor club".  There are always people watching out for us, and being our friends! I can't wait for our awesome grad party!!


* These girls: 

I don't know how I would survive without them! I am one lucky girl to have these 5 girls that I can count on. We are all so different but somehow we make a complete someone.  No one will never understand it, and neither do we. But I'm thankful! 

* Health: I am so blessed and too often take it for granted

* SENIOR YEAR! I can't believe senior year has finally come. I can't wait to not be in school and to get to live less then 6 hours from people that I love! 

* adventure: I am so thankful that I've gotten to go so many different places. I'm one lucky girl! 

I hope everyone had an amazing day surrounded by people they love! Happy Thanksgiving! 

Ciao!

Happy Birthday!

My brother turned 25 in October and my sister-in-law turned 25 this week! When my mom found out when my fall break was, we all decided to head to Mesquite to see their new rent house! I drove to Abilene Friday and hung out with my best friend and her man. Then Saturday around noon I met my parents and my brother at my brother's house. The four of us went out to lunch and ran a couple errands. Afterwords me and my mom made birthday dessert. We call it Christmas dessert cause my Aunt makes it a Christmas. It has a layer of crust of pecans and flour. then on top of that is a layer or cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip. Next is a layer of chocolate pudding and it's topped off with a layer of cool whip. SO.GOOD. Once Karissa got off work we had a lovely birthday dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, grilled corn, and Christmas dessert. Here are the birthday kids!

We also took some family shots, of course:

Sunday we went to their church and then to a nice family lunch. After that I headed off to see a friend and her new hubby!! It was so so nice to see them. I met her in college and she moved obviously after she graduated and got married. It was so nice to see them. We chatted and they so sweetly made me dinner. I also got to meet their precious little puppy named Burger!

I drove home to Austin for the rest of my fall break. It was so lovely to be able to relax with my parents and see my friends! Nothing beats being home!

Normalcy

This time last fall I was living large in Italy, enjoying beautiful walks to class, wonderful food, tons of rain, and the adventure of a lifetime. I can't believe that a year has passed. I told my family and friends this summer that I'm ready to go back. Its true that I miss the excitment and the different experiences. Upon being back at school, I've been able to appreciate the "normalcy". I got to celebrate my friend Kelsey's birthday and just enjoy being with friends. I spend evenings quietly at home with my roommates. I get to enjoy being around my friends and feeling comfortable in my surroundings. I wasn't able to see what a HUGE blessing this was until now. While I had an amazing time, I did feel pretty disconnected from those that I love most. I'm glad to be here where I can connect daily with people I love and feel like I belong fully. I will not hesitate to go back when I get a chance, but for now I'm just enjoying my normal life :) Ciao

Senior year....when did this happen?!

I originally started this blog as a way to document my semester in Italy. I originally decided that I would end it at that since I'm not extremely interesting otherwise. However, this year is somewhat of a milestone for me. I just started my SENIOR YEAR in college. So, I thought, at least for my own memories, that I would keep up the blog at least until senior year is over. Mostly, blogging is just fun for me.


Thursday I started my last year of school ever. My mom says "never say never" but at least for the foreseable future I will not be going back to school. I just can't believe this year that I've dreamed about since jr. high (which is about when I was no longer school's biggest fan) has finally arrived. It feels like just yesterday I was graduating high school and crying as I bid goodbye (for now) to my best friends. I was 18 and thought that college would never end. I feel like I was just in core classes waiting until I would soley be working on classes that would benefit me. I was dreaming of a future career and thinking this "waiting period" would never end. In some ways I really wanted it to end and in some ways I didn't. At the time I couldn't wait until I was finally "grown up". At the same time I couldn't think of anything more terrifying. And now there's really no turning back. I have to start thinking of my future and figuring out what I want to do/where I want to be.

My mom always tells me that I have what she calls "wanderlust". I call it restlessness. Her word sounds much prettier. I just need change. Which is ironic cause I resist it. I love to travel and my biggest dream is to see the world. I want to travel everywhere and try new things. That being said, I have pretty much decided to move to Europe when I graduate. Hopefully I will get to live and work there for at least a year. At this point I'm trying to decided between Italy and Spain, rough life I know. I'm praying that God will show me His will and open the doors for me to live this dream of mine.

Ciao

My thoughts on being home

It has taken me a while to decide just how I feel to be home. Everytime someone asks me I feel like I don't have an adequate answer. Its very bittersweet. I think about the moment I finally got home and saw my family waiting for me in the airport, and know that I'm so happy to be home. With all the madness trying to get out of Europe, (I know, who in their right mind is desperate to leave Europe?!)I've never felt so happy to see my family. I'm so glad to be able to reconnect with all the people I love. The hardest part about studying abroad was the feeling of disconnect between me and all the people back at home. The time difference made it hard to talk to people and all I wanted to do was share the excitment with people I care about. I'm glad to be back in a place where I don't get lost every week and I can understand what people are saying. On the other hand I miss Italy. I find myself wishing that I could go walk past the Santa Croce or get a sandwich from Antico Noe. Its definitely not as exciting to go to classes here, mostly because the veiw is not near as great. For the most part I am just very grateful to be back in America, but occasionally I wish I was back in Florence....maybe one day.

The Adventures of trying to leave Europe....

I meant to do this when I got back in December. Once I made it home, I got busy being with my family and catching up with my friends. Then I started school and got even more busy. But for the sake of having this memory forever (as if I could EVER forget), I want to write down the craziness of my return to America. As I mentioned I got snowed in. This is something that,being from Texas, I never thought I would have to deal with. The worst part was that there were no cabs running on Saturday morning. So me and one of my roommates decided the only thing to do was to drag our stuff to the train station to catch a bus. Man was that a sight. We finally found a cab after at least (and probably more than) a hour. After I finally got issued a new ticket and spent the night in a hotel, I went back to my apartment to wait it out with 2 roommates and a couple friends. We spent from Sunday-Wednesday morning in Florence. Since we didn't want to spend too much more money we got minimal groceries and shampoo/conditioner to share. We watched movies most of the time and went to dinner out every night. Wednesday morning comes and I got a cab to take me to the airport. After checking in, I got on the plane and to London Gatewick with no problems. I was so relieved and hopeful. I spoke to soon. I had to take a bus from Gatwick to London Heathrow which is about an hour away. I got there and it was complete chaos from all the missed flights over the past weekend. I made it to the check in desk 5 minutes after the plane had started boarding. The very impolite (to put it nicely) british guy at the desk would not let me go. Needless to say, we did not get along and I cried. The best he could do was put me on standby for the same flight the next day. He told me to get in line around 8 to get on the list. After I was on this list I would just have to wait and hope that I actually get on the flight. If not, the next flight was the day after Christmas. I spent the day in the london airport reading, eating, and trying not to freak out. The good thing about the airport was they had a place for stranded people to sleep and eat. I met many nice people there trying to help. These friendly faces just about made up for the jerk from us airways. I slept a grand total of an hour! There were constantly people in and out of this room, the lights were on,and there was a baby crying all night. I woke up at 6:45 and decided to just go ahead and get in line for standby. Well God must have been smiling down on me that morning. I had forgotten this slip of paper they gave me to get on the standby list and couldn't get out of the airport to get it. Well that ended up being the best thing that could happen to me. I had to go back to the ticket desk (where the mean guy was) and ask them for another. The lady told me that she would just go ahead and check me in. {What they hadn't told anyone is that we were supposed to line up at the ticket desk and not the baggage check. There were tons of people just in line at the baggage claim.} So then she tells me that I'm first on the standby list. Which means I'll get a seat before anyone else!!! If there wasn't a desk in between us I would have hugged her! I checked in my bags and then waited for my gate to be announced. After it was announced, I waited some more to see if I could get on the flight. After abotu 30 minutes I heard my name being called. I made my little way over to the desk to get my TICKET HOME! I immediately emailed my parents that I was coming home! Again, I need to keep my mouth shut! The flight crew announced that there was trouble with the engine and our flight would be delayed 2 hours. UUUUUGH! We finally get to Philidelphia and I had missed my connecting flight which meant I wouldn't be able to go home until the next day. After a hysterical (a girl can't keep it together all the time) call to my mom and a frantic attempt to find another way home, I accepted my fate. The airline put me up in a nice hotel with a free dinner. I relaxed in my room, slept in a comfy bed, watched tv, and ate some yummy cheesecake! I woke up super early and caught the 7 am flight to charlotte and then on to Austin. I finally made it home at noon on Christmas Eve. I speed walked through the airport, dodging slowpokes and smiling with excitment. Then I finally saw the 7 most beautiful faces in the world! I waved like a crazy person and then made my way down the escalator. As soon as I hugged my mom, I just started crying. It was the best moment ever. I was so glad to be home. That night we did our usual Christmas eve things but jetlag showed its ugly face and I fell asleep at 7:30. It was such a wonderful feeling to be home and safe and not longer dragging around 100lbs of luggage.




The saddest part was missing my party! I have always wanted a suprise party. Unfortunately, I am sooo nosy and my mom felt (rightly so) that the only way it would work is if I was out of the country. I {stupidly} thought that no one but my family cared that I was coming home or that I was stranded! What I didn't know was that my besties were helping my mom plan a part for me. They ordered a cake and everything. This party was rescheduled everytime I missed my flight. Unfortunately it never got to happen since I got back on Christmas Eve. It was still a nice gesture and the cake was oh so yummy!

Snowed in

Friday morning, I woke up ready to enjoy my last day in florence. Me and my roommate left our apartment to go to the leather market for last minute gifts and walked out to find SNOW. We were so excited. I found all my gifts. As we headed home, the rain started to get more intense. We rested for a bit and decided to climb the duomo steps. By this time there was tons of snow and it was still coming down. We got to the top after 463 stairs! It was so pretty to see the city covered in snow. After this we started to get nervous. Florence aparently hasn't had snow in 20 something years. So naturally the city shuts down. We went to dinner at our favorite restaurant! I got some yummy alfredo! We got back and were all checkign our flights over and over. Around 1 am (yes that's right) expedia emailed my parents that something had changed on my itenerary. My flight was cancelled. My dad called them and they said we had to go to meridiana. I got up at 5 to leave for the airport. Of course, no taxis were running. So we started to drag our bags to the train station to catch the bus to the airport. We met some nice people who tried to help us. (by us I mean me and one roommate since one had ditched us and we later foudn out she got a cab) We had almost made it to the station when we saw some cabs running. We flagged one down and got to the airport. I spent abotu 5 hours in line waiting to talk to the ticket people. I got to the front of the line and tried to be super friendly to the lady so that maybe she would work some magic for me to leave the next day. She did try but could not do anything for me. The next time I could get a flight was for Wednesday the 22nd. I made 2 friends in line who were supposed to be on the same cancelled flight. The airline put us up in a hotel. At the hotel I find out that two of my roommates didnt' get on their flight either. I am now back at my apartment spending the next few days in my apartment. The bad news is that we already through away everything including shampoo, toothpaste, cleanign supplies and dishwashing soap. The good news is that I have company until wednesday, the taxis are now running, and there is not supposed to be any snow. For now pray that there is good weather in London which is my first stop on the way home. At this point I'm ok with being here. Obviously I would rather be home but I've come to terms with the situation at hand. Here are pics of my "last day"
still enjoying the snow
at the top of the duomo

another pic at the top

the duomo covered in snow
veiw from the top!

Ciao!

Christmas break has finally come!

Its official, I'm done with finals!!! I took my last final this afternoon (Italian) and I am now on Christmas break! I feel pretty confident about all my finals and am just glad I don't have to study anymore. Tomorrow is my last full day in Italy. I am going to take pictures, shop for my last presents, and go to dinner with some of my roommates. Its hard for me to explain exactly how I'm feeling about my time here coming to an end. On one hand its kind of sad. This semester was an awesome opportunity for me. I have learned alot and experience so many cool things. I absolutely love to travel and have really enjoyed being here. I now have no excuse or reason to come back to Europe in the foreseeable future. That is probably the hardest part for me, is not knowing when I'll get an opportunity like this again. On the other I'm pretty excited. I have gotten to do everything I wanted. I finally got to see Venice! When I applied to study abroad and during my preperations this summer, I needed aventure. I needed a change of scenery and to experience something new and unique. It was just something that I really needed. I am so blessed that I got to do just that. So, now I am ready. I'm beyond ready to see my family, sit in my living room, put up the christmas decorations, sleep in my own bed in my room, cuddle my doggies, and make christmas cookies. I'm so excited to see all my friends, catch up on everything in their lives, and laugh til our stomachs hurt. I can't wait to drive my car, use the microwave, dry my clothes in a dryer, and not have to bag my own groceries. So, while its a little sad that I'm leaving Florence, I am so excited to be going home. Its true, there really is no place like home!


Ciao!

1 week

It is just so crazy to me that I only have one week here. And its so sad to me that it will be spent studying for and taking finals. Which I hate! Yesterday was an exciting day in my family! My big brother graduated from college! My family is spending the weekend in Abilene and I got to skype them during the party! And here he is, the college graduate!
fixing his hair...so vain!

On other exciting news, christmas decorations are in full swing! This makes my heart very happy! There is a huge tree in front of the Duomo.
how pretty is this?!...you can't spin under it though :(

I have mixed feelings on leaving in a week.I'm a little sad. I don't know when I'll be coming back to Europe and that is disappointing. However, I am getting sick of the pace in Italy. And by pace I mean there isn't one. Everything moves ridiculously slow and it is gettnig on my nerves. I am so excited to see my family. I can't wait to see my friends and sleep in my own bed. Its going to be nice to have my favorite foods, drive my car, and enjoy some fun Christmas happenings! Speaking of chrismas happenings I have been searching the internet to find some fun things to bake and some Christmas crafts.

Ready or not, I will be home in a week!

Ciao!

Fiorentina

I would definitely not refer to myself as an avid soccer fan, or even a small fan really. Thanks to the amount of time I spent with two of my guy friends this summer, I did watch many world cup highlights. In Europe though, soccer is a huge deal. It is pretty much the only sport that matters. With this being true, I felt that going to a soccer game would be an experience that I wouldn't want to miss out on. Me and three of my roommies got our tickets for 10 euro. They weren't very good seats but we didnt' care a whole lot. We went to the Fiorentina soccer game which is the Florence team. We decked out in our purple and headed out into the cold. Lucky for me, purple is my favorite color! The Fiorentina fans are crazy! Everyone is head to toe purple and many bring their own flags. They know all the songs and chants. The atmosphere was really fun. The weather was not fun. Good thing I bought purple rabbit lined gloves the day before! We stuck it out until about 15 minutes before it was over. Fiorentina had just scored and then apparently the ref made a bad call. It went from overjoyed to complete angry mob in 2 seconds. The guy next to us was repeatedly hitting his chair. It was actually quite humorous to us, but it was only funny to us! We decided to leave before we got jumped for laughing hysterically. Overall it was quite an experience. I had a fun time and got to see the true Italian spirit towards soccer. I will leave you with some pictures.

How I spent Thanksgiving

We went back and forth on how we wanted to spend thanksgiving. We first planned to search for a turkey and do it big. Then we decided to go the cheaper route and eat a chicken. The day of Thanksgiving rolled around and we all found ourselves a lot sadder about being away from home than we expected. At about 2:30 right before I left for class we decided to just go ahead with it and have people over. Well now whole turkey was to be found, so we bought chicken breasts, rolls, brocoli, and potatoes. My roommate created a delicious sauce for the chicken and we made brocollie and mashed potatoes. We had 4 people over for dinner and they brought garlic bread, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pies. Including the 5 of us still in town and our friend who was staying with us again, we had 11 people for dinner.

making mama proud, wrapping the rolls

the chicken and the chef

the food

Our friend Robert made apple pies for us. They were delicious! And pretty too!


We even watched a little (disappointing) cowboys football. I was very pleasantly suprised with Thanksgiving. My first thanksgiving without my family was actually pretty fun. I do not, however, wish to repeat it anytime soon!

Ciao!

The last week of classes has arrived!!!

It is crazy that I only have 2 weeks here! Tomorrow starts my last week of class! I present a group project monday, learn a bit of Italian on Tuesday, go to two review classes Wednesday, and review for Italian Thursday! Today I'm going to the Fiorentina soccer game (more to come later), Thursday is my mom's birthday and a party for my school, and Friday my brother graduates from college! This week is way exciting! There is a lot to finish still and studying to dread but that's ok. My last weekend will be spent studying and buying the rest of my presents! In more exciting news, there 21 days til I turn 21! There are also 13 days until I go home. In some ways I feel like I just got here but in other ways, 13 days could not pass soon enough! I will leave you with a picture from a castle/vineyard tour our program took us on a while ago



Ciao!

December is here!

It is my favorite day!! The countdown to my birthday (25 days in case you were wondering) and return to America has begun. I cannot believe its already December. One of the many great things about Italia is that they loooove Christmas here. Every store has Christmas themed window displays. So many of the streets have Christmas lights! It gets dark really early these days. I'm fine with that because that means the lights are on for longer! There is a Christmas market close to my apartment. Seriously, this is a Christmas-lover's dream. I can't wait to explore and,no worries, I'll take tons of pictures of lights! Unfortunately this will all have to wait because I still have class today.

Merry Christmas!!!

Ciao

Thanksgiving across the ocean

Today is Thanksgiving and, normally, nothing could make me happier. Waking up and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade is one of my very favorite things to do. My day is usually spent cooking with my mom and sitting around the table with my family. Today has been nothing like that. Instead, I went to class. The good news is I got a 93 on my Italian quiz! More than anything today I wish I could be home. I wish that I could be with my family and see all my friends from home. I have not been good at acknowledging what this day is really about and have instead been feeling sorry for myself that I'm missing out on everything at home. The whole reason for today is being thankful for the things that I do have instead of thinking about all the things I don't. That being said I decided to talk about all the things that I am thankful for because I really have been so blessed.
1.
My parents: I know that I have the best parents. My mom has tought me what it means to work hard, she is currently working full time and finishing her master's degree. She also tought me to be hospitible. My mom has always welcomed my friends into our house and fed them everytime. My Dad tought me what courage looks like in the face of the worst circumstances imaginable. He also tought me to love unconditionally by loving his little girl even when she was a crazy person. I'm thankful that they were chosen to be my parents. They're also pretty fun to be around.

2.
My brother and sister-in-law: I could not ask for better older siblings. My brother has always been the one to make me laugh. He has shown me how to be easygoing and to enjoy life. I have always wanted a big sister and I'm so glad my brother married Karissa. I am glad she's in my life and fits in perfectly into our family.

3. My grandparents: I am so blessed to still have 4 grandparents. All of them have done so much for me. They are my biggest fans and have always supported me. They are everything anyone could want in grandparents, and I'm so thankful.


4. My cousins: I will also say that my cousins have 3 great wives but we don't have pictures of all us! Even though we are all spread out through Texas, I have the greatest cousins ever. I always enjoy their company. I'm so grateful that we're family!

5. My aunts and uncles: Although I get teased mercilessly I still love them. I'm glad my parents have good siblings. They support me and have been there when my family needed them.

6.health:I'm thankful for health. Anyone who knows my family knows we don't take this for granted. I'm am thankful everyday that me and the ones I love are healthy. This is in fact one of our biggest blessings.

7.Neighbors:I am thankful for my neighbors (across the street and the house on the corner). They are more like family to me and have welcomed us into their families. I know that there are always people watching out for us, our house, and our safety. My parents can never move out of that house because I would miss Diana and the James gang way too much. They took care of my family and they are also just fun to be around. I always know that I have a 2nd house and family! I've also got the 4 best sisters around!

8.
bestiesThese girls are the greatest friends around. We've been through the best and worst times together. I'm so thankful that they've seen me at my worst and still choose to be my friend. I can't even explain how thankful I am for them. I can't wait to be reunited at christmas time after being so far away! The best part is, I know nothing will change and it'll be like we were never apart.

9.Life:I'm thankful for life that is not promised. Its as simple as that. Life is a gift.

10.High school friends:I may not have loved my school all the time but I sure am thankful for the people I went to school with. I love that I'm still able to be friends with them and that they are a part of some of my best memories.

11.
3206 Roomies: I had some pretty incredible roomies. I am so thankful for sophomore year that we spent together. It is such a blessing to have someone to talk to everyday who will be excited when good things happen and supportive when bad things happen. I am thankful for the dinners we cooked together, random trips to target and sonic, Saturday movie days, christmas cookie making, hiding raggedy ann, hocus pocus, greys/the office nights, trips to spoonful, laughs, tears, and everything in between!

12.RSC:This is where I found all my college friends. I am so blessed with such a supportive group of friends. I know that I can call anyone and they'll be there for whatever I need. I'm thankful for all the laughs and long talks. I am just thankful for friendships that see past faults.

13.BOCC: I have so many wonderful people here who care about my family so much. And so many people here care about me so much. I know that here I will always be greeted with open arms and for that I'm thankful.

14.
>
My 2009 cooks: I am so thankful for the 3 months we spent in a tiny cabin working together all day everyday.It is impossible to describe the relationship we have. I know that these girls will always hold me accountable and love me unconditionally. I know that no matter what they will never give up on me. I also know that I can count on them. I'm so grateful for the many tears we shed. I'm grateful for the times we laughed so hard our stomachs hurt and the times we vented to each other in walmart. I could not ask for better people to share my summer with. I feel like I've known them forever.

15.Home: Today and this semester I am thankful for my home. I'm so grateful to my parents for working so hard to not only provide me with a home but to make it into a place that I love more than any other place. It will always be a safe place and a welcoming place for me to return to. I'm thankful for all the past and future memories made there and for how comforting it is just to walk into the front door.

16.Flo, Tori, and Katy: Yes, I am thankful for my dogs. There is nothing like being greeted after a month at school by 3 dogs going crazy with excitement. These dogs (well except katy because she's old and grouchy) are the sweetest most loving little creatures. I'm thankful for them!

17.Skype: I guess it seems silly but because I'm so far away I'm thanful for skype. I can talk to my parents once a week. I also get to skype my best friends. Its just so nice to have some sort of communication.

18. Blue Haven and the 2009 Staff: I am so thankful for this camp that I was able to go to for 9 years. There is just something about it that I can't explain. It changed me and tought me so much. I was so blessed to work there for a summer. I got to work with the most amazing group of people. Nothing makes me laugh like being with these guys. There is never a dull moment or pressure to be someone that you're not. I am so thankful for those 10 weeks in the mountains and the times we get to spend together in "the real world".

19. Travel:I cought the travel bug when I was 17. I am so blessed that I've gotten to go to Europe 3 times. I love travelling and seeing so many different things. Even though its challenging at times, I am so thankful that I'm able to travel.

20. New experiences: I feel like up until I went to college, my life was pretty much the same. I am so thankful for new experiences. Whether its driving 6 hours alone, or travelling around Europe, each new experience has taught me something.

21. Food: I am so blessed that I've never known what it was like to be hungry. I've always had everything that I needed and then some.

22. School: Even though school is a pain and stressful, I know that without it I would never get to do what I want with my life. I'm thankful that my parents worked so hard to send me to school and encourage me to do whatever I wanted. College has given me so many opportunities and taught me so much.

23. Texas weather: I am thankful for Texas weather. I would rather be hot than cold. I'm thankful that it doesn't rain every day and that the sun shines. I can't wait to go home to "warm" weather!

24. Cindy: I'm thankful that I have a reliable car. Me and Cindy have been through many long drives and survived mountain roads together. I'm thankful that I have a way to get back to my family. I'm also thankful that the gas mileage is great and she is very reliable.

25. Christmas music: Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can finally listen to Christmas music! If you have known me for more than 5 seconds, you know how much I love Christmas. Its just such a special time for me and I will always be a child when it comes to Christmas. I love love love listening to and singing along with Christmas music!!!

Wow, I'm sure I've missed out on so much. I am really so blessed and thankful for my life.

Ciao!

Barcelona

Me and three roommates booked a trip to Barcelona before Fall Break. It seemed like it would never get here! We left our apartment at 5:30ish in the morning. We found really cheap flights on ryanair but it flew out of the Pisa airport. We took the train to Pisa to catch our flight. Ryanair is quite a little gem in the travel industry. The gate will close at a certain time and you can not miss it. Then a screen will say boarding and its a mad rush to get in line. There are no assigned seats so its on a first come first served basis. People are really serious about it and get in line in a matter of seconds. We weren't paying enough attention the first flight so we were kind of behind in line. The plane is outside and you have to walk to it. So we made up for the low place in line outside by speedwalking past a couple straglers. After an hour and a half flight followed by an hour long bus ride we made it to barcelona! It is so beautiful! We found our hostel and got lots of directions from the guy working there. So we set off to rent bikes. Biking through Barcelona was amazing! I kept having to remind myself it was real! The weather was perfect and the beach is beatiful!



We ate a late lunch at a restaurant on one of the piers. It was such a welcome change to eat spanish food! Don't get me wrong, I do love Italian food but there really is no other options. Being a Texas girl, I miss TexMex and grilled food. I ate cantelones which were so good!



The next day we slept in which was lovely! We took a walk around our area. They were filming a spanish movie so that was interesting. We walked along this pier and found a HUGE mall.



We went to dinner and I finally got some good Mexican food! In Italy they don't really have a lot of choics when it comes to restaurants. Its basically always Italian. Don't get me wrong I enjoy Italian food but I have missed mexican food! It was very good and worth the trip to Barcelona.
just look at the beauty!

The last day we were there it was really rainy. We took the metro to the Sagrada Familia. This is Gaudi's cathedral. It is permanently under construction because he wants everybody who visits it to see something new and different. Good in theory but construction is ugly.

{sidenote:this is my peacoats first trip to Europe}

We walked around somemore and found some souveniers for people {mich get excited}.On our walk we found a fun food market.It was so much bigger than the one by our apartment in Florence. The colors were brighter and the food choices were so much different. It was very interesting.




I wish I could convey how much a loved Barcelona. I kept finding myself thinking "why didn't I study here?!" I love Florence and am so glad I came here but I think Barcelona replaced it as my favorite place. I am so glad I went!

Ciao!

Venezia

I have wanted to go to Venice my whole life. I remember learning about Venice when I was younger. A city on water just seemed so amazing to me. Ever since, I have dreamed about going there. As I planned out my semester, I knew that I had to go to Venice and would not miss out. My roommate and I went on a day trip with the same company we went to the chocolte festival with. We started out our journey on a bus and then hopped on a train into Venice. As we walked out of the train station and caught our first glimpse of Venice, I could not have been more excited! It was absolutely beautiful except for the huge advertisement for Lufthansa that I could have done without. The city was everything I thought it would be! We hopped on their bus system which, of course, was a boat. I will share this little jem of a quote that I heard from a girl on our tour as we were taking the "bus" to Piazza San Marco: " I knew that Venice was on water but I am suprised that all the "streets" are water too. I keep looking and expecting to see land." Someone didn't do their research :) Here are some pics of my first look at Venice.




Does this look familiar?


I mean, it should because its the famous square in Venice, but its also famous for somthing else. No worries, I'll kill the suspense. If you have seen Just Married with Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy, you may recognize this. I think this is only super amusing to me but I'm, as usual, ok with that. In the movie they go to this square. Brittany Murphy is reading about it in a tour book and looking around. Then you see Ashton and he is being attacked by pigeons and freaking out. This scene always makes me laugh and I was so excited to recognize it. I then had to act it out for my roommate so she would know what scene I was talking about. The best (and most terrifying in my case) part is that there really is an INSANE ammount of birds in this place. And they fly so close to your head! It was not as funny as in the movie!!! Anyways, I'm sure that was unneccisary but its my blog so there!

We got to go see a glass blowing demonstration. It was so cool. I can't believe how easy he made it look. Isn't that always the case though? What a fun skill to have, if only I could master it. That, my friends, is very unlikely! Then we went on a walking tour of the city. The beauty of this place is indescribable. We went after tourist season and it was just so peaceful. If I spoke fluent Italian and could transport everyone I love there, I would move in a heartbeat!





After the tour we had free time to enjoy the city and shop at the market. I got a lovely purple glass ring, and a precious magnet for mia madre. I am so blessed that I got this opportunity. I finally got to do something I have wanted to do since I can remember. Next up, a weekend trip to Barcelona with 3 of my roommates!

Ciao Venezia!