12:01. time for homework.

Not having class until 11 has killed any hope i had for conquering procrastination this semester. Luckily, or not so luckily, one of my required classes next semester starts at 8 am. I'd like to think that i'll actually start my studying more in advance, but in reality I'm predicting that the morning auto-set button on my coffee maker will be well worn by next summer. When it comes down to it, i'm pretty positive that procrastination is in my genes, as i come from a family full of night owls. Thanks dad. I'm not entirely convinced this is a bad thing, however. If God made a moon flower to bloom at night, couldn't He have made me the same way? I think yes.

my alter ego: the moonflower

silver dollar withdrawal

Subtract approximately 12 years from my life and i would currently be in Silver Dollar City, camping with every person i knew thus far in my life and eating kettle corn by the pound. I would spend my days working up the nerve to ride Thunderation, walking and tripping through Grandfather's Mansion, and riding Fire-in-the-Hole (which always ended with me convincing myself and everyone around me that my gun must be broken because i KNOW i shot more targets than it said).

And of course, lets not forget taking the classic tintype picture with the fam, complete with mothball smelling 1800's clothes and awkward serious stares. Those were the days, and the nights were even better. Smore's around the campfire, searching for walking stick bugs, swinging on dad's swing, and the occasional Dino show (tehe).

Without a doubt, i will take my future family to Silver Dollar City to experience the beauty of autumn in the Ozarks. And they will like it. So in honor of my nostalgia, i'm popping a bag of 100-calorie kettle corn and listening to the sounds of Silver Dollar in Nickel Creek.

autumn

Well, i've decided to start this up again. Partly because i feel bad about not updating the rest of my travels this summer and partly because i'm sitting in the language lab listening to Swahili tapes of which i only understand one word every other sentence.

If you really want to hear about my trip this summer, just ask! But in short, after Switzerland i visted Vienna, Munich, Paris, and London. It was a whirlwind but definitely one of the most incredible experiences thus far in my life. There's really no other feeling quite like running after your train that you've just missed and realizing you don't have anyone to rely on but yourself to get you to your next destination. Clearly, i gained quite a bit of independence and respsonsibility. I hadn't really noticed a difference in my everyday life after returning but now that i'm in the swing of school, i've realized i have a pretty different mindset.

For one, my room has remained tidy and clean (are you reading mom?) and i'm much more organized with school stuff. Another thing, that i'm not so thrilled about, is that i wake up earlier than noon and have yet to oversleep a class. Shocking, i know. This is mostly do to the addition of my sweet golden retriever puppy Stella waking me up at 8 am to pee. Oh, the joys of motherhood.

Yesterday was the first day of fall, which i prefer to call autumn. Fall has multiple meanings, but there is not doubting the definition of autumn, plus it just sounds prettier. The changing seasons always remind me that i'm growing older and supposedly more mature, though i'm not convinced those two go hand in hand. Usually i get a sick feeling in my stomach when i think about the fact that i'm actually a junior in college...But today i have peace that i am exactly where i should be. Not necessarily in the language lab per se, but spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I matured in numerous ways throughout the summer and though my experiences have changed me, they have done so for the better.

Happy Autumn! May you have a a prettier one than i am currently experiencing in Waco.

skydiving in switzerland and the world's best milk chocolate

So after deciding to head to interlaken instead of zurich, i immediately started researching skydiving and book a flight for the day we arrived in switzerland! Kelsey and i took our first night train from Florence to Interlaken, and it was quite the experience. Six beds in really crammed quarters made me so nervous and paranoid that i barely got any sleep and was exhausted when we got there. And when we go to our hostel we found out we couldn't check in until 4 so we had to just sit around for awhile. But we took a nap and refreshed ourselves a bit before i headed off to skydive and Kelsey went to canyoning.

It was a cloudy day, so not ideal for skydiving but it was still amazing! The guys running it were really funny and entertaining and i didn't even have time to process what i was doing until i was already in the plane! It was so crazy just falling out of the plane! We did a few flips and stuff and i loved every minute of it! I had paid for a photographer/videographer to tape everything but unfortunately the lens on his camera had moisture in it so i wasn't able to get anything back :( Oh well, just an excuse to do it again!!

The next day, we were still a little tired and were researching short hikes to do, since the alps were SO gorgeous, and we came across a fruit hike! It went through areas where different fruits were made and ended with a fresh apple fritter, so we bought our $13 ticket and headed out to do that... The ride took forever, but the scenery was amazing! When we got there, we couldn't find the fruit hike trail, plus it was really cod so we decided to just get some lunch and head back down...That's when we discovered that we had somehow gotten on the wrong train and were at the top of a mountain that we should have paid $56 for! Haha we had no idea we were even in the wrong place and the ticket people let us go back down for free!

After that, we went to a chocolate show at the Schuh hotel downtown. I guess there is a chocolate convention in Italy every year where they vote on the best chocolate from around the world and Schuh's milk chocolate has been voted number 1 for 3 years in a row! And let me just say...it was amazing!! I bought some to bring home, so if it doesn't melt or i don't get too hungry, i might let you try some :)

So now, we're in Austria and about to get in our room...should be interesting! So far, the hostels i've stayed in have been great and i've met some really cool people, so hopefully they will be like that the rest of the trip! I'll try to upload pics soon!

venice, cinque terre, and the last of florence

My last weekend in Italy was a whirlwind! Samantha and I caught an early train to Venice and spent the day there. We had a gondola ride and wandered around the city, which was beautiful! While we were there, we went to Harry's Bar, which is a famous restaurant that has been around since the 1930's, which Hemingway and Orson Welles frequented, as well as other celebrities. We met the grandaghter of the man who started it and she is now running the business as well as several other restaurants that she has opened in the states called Cipriani. She was so nice and gave us a great price for our meal, with free dessert!

After talking to her for awhile, she told us that she had 3 daughters around our age back in Milan and she would love for us to come stay with her there sometime! So, Samantha and I realllly want to come back next summer and stay at her house in Milan...so i'll keep you updated on that :)

The next day, we took a train to Cinque Terre and spend the whole day hiking from the first town to the last. It was a long hike but had a beautiful view! We were doing fine until the sun came out and made us go a little slower, but we did it! The next day, we spent the whole day at the beach in the last town. It was a much needed relaxing time and was so fun with the group of 8 girls that went.

My last week I have been busy cramming in everything i wanted to do in Florence. It was a local holiday on Wednesday and we had been planning on going to Sienna but unfortunately that fell through. There were fireworks over the river that night that were beautiful and the Italian people are so funny when they watch them! They let out big ooh's and aah's when the fireworks are extra big...very entertaining!

i can't believe i'm done here! It seems like i just got here yesterday! I've spent the day packing and i didn't think that i had bought very much but for some reason it was a lot harder to pack. I leave in a bout an hour for Interlaken, Switzerland to start my next adventure! I'm going skydiving tomorrow there and can't wait!! I'll update as often as i can but i'm not sure what my internet situation will be...love and miss you all!!

the amalfi coast

So i'm about a week behind on posts...sorry! Like i've said before, the time absolutely flies by here! But 2 weekend ago, i went on a school trip to the Amalfi coast! It was sooo beautiful!! We had a couple chartered buses for the 9 hour journey and Samantha and i somehow ended up having our own seats so we got to lay down and sleep. :)

We stopped in Naples before getting to the coast and had about 2 hours to get some lunch and walk around. One of our school guides was actually from Naples so we followed him to lunch at a little pizza place down by the docks that was the best pizza i have ever eaten!! I found out later that pizza was actually invented in Naples so i guess that's why it was so delicious! After lunch, we headed to our hotel on the coast and the next morning we hopped on a ferry to the island of Capri...which is probably the most beautiful place i have ever been!

We decided to get a private boat tour with about 15 other girls and it took us all around the island and the caves. The water was absolutely gorgeous and the weather could not have been any better! We even saw Roberto Cavalli's yacht! It was insane. After our boat tour, we took a little train up to the top of the island where all the shops are and hung out there before heading back to our hotel.

The next morning we went to Pompeii and toured the ruins. It was so crazy to see a city that has been preserved since 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. You could still see the wheel marks in the street from their chariots! It was reeeeally hot though so i probably would have enjoyed it more had it been a little cooler, but it was still really interesting. So yeah, after that we got on our buses again and headed back to Florence.

The next day in class, i was talking to one of my friends about what she had done the previous weekend and she said she went to Interlaken, Switzerland and went skydiving! She said it was the most fun she's had on this trip and that everyone should go there because it's beautiful. So Kelsey and i decided to exchange our ticket to Zurich for one to Interlaken and it worked out perfectly at no extra charge...so now i am planning on skydiving in the Swiss Alps!!! Can't wait!!!!!!

roman holiday

I can't believe how fast my time in Florence is flying by! I'm really bad at updating this...one because our internet connection is less than ideal and, two because i'm so busy during that day all i want to do in my free time is sleep! But this past weekend, Samantha and I went to Rome! We decided to stay just one night and had everything planned out perfectly: leave on the 6:40 train on Friday morning, arrive in Rome at 8:30, head to our prepaid tour of Vatican City at 9:30 and see some random things around the city then the next day go to the Coliseum and see whatever else we wanted to. Funny how plans just don't work out sometime....

Well we got to the train station bright and early Friday morning about 6:20 so we figured we had time to get a bite to eat. After grabbing some breakfast, we checked the display for the status on our train and were confused to find a train leaving for Rome at 6:30 and 6:45, not our 6:40. We thought surely there must be a mistake, thinking there was no way they would move the train up 10 minutes but we went ahead and went over to the 6:30 train just to make sure. As we walked up, it started puling away. Cue panic.

We ran to the other train and boarded it only to find that it wouldn't arrive in Rome until 11:30...way past the start of our tour of the Vatican. So we ran around trying to find someone to help us, my muffin smashing under the tension of my nervously clenched fists, and finally found a man who said that we actually hadn't missed our train, but it was just labeled as heading to Naples since that was its final destination. And how were we supposed to know that??? So we ran over to the Naples train... just as it was pulling away....Cue intense panic.

Our hopes were raised and crushed multiple times within a matter of minutes. So we decided to go ahead and board the train that wouldn't arrive until 11:30, hoping that our more expensive ticket that we had bought for our 6:40 train would work for this train and that we could somehow rebook our nonrefundable Vatican tour. The four and half hour train ride seemed like 10 hours. Finally we arrived in Rome and called the Vatican tour place and they said our ticket was good for 24 hours and we could just go the next day at the same time! What a relief!

So the first day we went to the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Tomb of an Unknown Soldier. We were on our feet all day long and were so tired. We stopped in a Piazza that had a bunch of fountains in it and stuck our feet in the fountain...and it was SO refreshing. As we were leaving that piazza, we heard a woman scream and looked over just in time to see one of those 4 passenger bicycle carts things come flying down a hill into 2 parked cars!! The women inside flew out and after seeing that everyone was ok, Samantha and i burst out laughing because it was probably one of the most hilarious things i've ever witnessed! One of those, you had to be there things. :)

Anyways, Even though our day started out incredible stressful, it ended well in my hostel experience at the cheesily named Hostel Beautiful. We got upgraded for free to private room, which was very nice! It wasn't anything amazing but it was a comfy bed and a good nights sleep. The next morning we were up bright and early to go on our 4 hour Vatican Tour. We were guided through the Museum, which had hundreds of paintings and sculptures, such as the School of Athens, and ended with the Sistine Chapel.

SO incredible! I was expecting there to be guards everywhere telling you not to take pictures but when we entered, everyone was taking pictures! I didn't see a single guard! There were so many people there and it was really crowded but it was still so amazing to see the room and paintings that I've heard about my entire life! After that, we toured St. Peter's Basilica, which is massive, and then headed across the river to the Pantheon and then walked around for awhile. We saw everything we wanted to see and were home by 10 that night! It was an exhausting trip but very exciting and full of beauty. I'll post the pics sometime soon!

david beckham :)

Today we went to the Florence vs. AC Milan soccer game at Florence's stadium on the outskirts of town. Samantha and i decided to take the bus there to meet up with some friends since the stadium was a good walk away so we got to the bus station and somehow hopped on the right bus just in time! We were marveling at how easy it was to get around...until we got to the stadium. Surrounded by screaming and singing Florence fans decked out in all things purple, we wandered around trying to find our gate.

We kept asking people and they would only point in a direction since they couldn't speak English, so we were really confused. We caught site of a guy wearing a Milan jersey and decided to follow him, since he was likely going to the same section. We both had bought Milan jerseys but had been advised not to wear them until we got to our seats because the Florence fans are intense...and sure enough, the Milan jersey wearing guy started getting yelled at and people came up to him and ripped his jersey off, getting in his face and screaming i don't want to know what. We were very thankful we hadn't worn our jerseys but not so thankful that we lost the guy in the crowd of purple. So we kept wandering around and could NOT, for the life of us figure out where we were supposed to go! AND it was raining...not fun. But i was very thankful for my new raincoat ;)

Finally, we asked a man and he said he would take us to our gate, which ended up being in a locked section so the Florence fans couldn't get to us...scary. Anyways, we made it just in time for kick-off and it was awesome! The crowd was chanting and sounded just like that FIFA nintendo game. Our Milan section was completely fenced in with a not so great view of the field but it was still cool! And even though we were fenced in, there were still plenty of screaming matches going on between the Florence and Milan fans. Haha it was crazy.

I got some great shots of David Beckham and it was so weird to actually see him play! It was his last game for AC Milan so when he subbed out at the end of the game, the whole Milan section cheered and clapped for him. I also got a video of the first goal! The game ended 2-0, with Milan winning and when we tried to leave the stadium, we were stopped just inside the gate while the police let the Florence fans leave before us, so no fights would break out...seriously intense. But it was a fun day and i'm SO glad we found out about the game! Enjoy the pics and video!

sunsets, gelato, and Pisa

Sorry i'm so bad at updating...my days are long and full and whenever i have free time, i sleep! But a couple nights ago we walked up to the Piazza Michelangelo, which is a plaza that overlooks Florence. We walked up what felt like 1000 steps and had a great view of the city at night! The only bad thing is that the pics didn't turn out so well since there wasn't much light, but oh well! The next day, Samantha and I went shopping at an outdoor market, full of little shops with "real" leather bags for only 25 Euro!...yeah right. I didn't get anything but it was fun to just take it all in. I did get a ticket to the last soccer/ futbol game of the season though!! It's Florence vs. AC Milan and we had to buy seats on the Milan side because Florence was all sold out, so we were kind of bummed about that...until i googled Milan's team roster to see if i recognized any players and found out David Beckham is playing for them!! Apparently he is on loan from his LA team and this will be his last game for Milan before returning to the US. I'm SO excited!!!! I can't wait to see him and real futbol!! So yeah, that's tomorrow at 3 but we're not sure what time to get there because it's first come first serve tickets...so i'll update you on how that goes tomorrow...

florence

Today we took a train to Pisa and hung around there most of the day. And don't judge, I took one of those cheesy "holding up the tower" pictures. We climbed up to the top and had a good view of the city and surrounding mountains, and it was beautiful! I've done so much walking every day and my feet are covered in blisters and calluses :(. But there's just so much to see, i have to keep going! So here's some pics of that! I just love it here and surprisingly i already feel settled in. Of course, i wish all of my friends and family were here :) Miss you lots and love you even more!

Pisa

firenze

Ciao! Well i safely made it to Florence with no problems, and it is beautiful here! It's everything i thought it would be and more...cobblestone streets, loud italians, vespas, gorgeous flowers, gelaterias on every corner...the whole deal. My apartment is really old but classically beautiful. I love it! Classes don't start until Monday so we have plenty of time to get settled in and find our way around. At first, the streets were super confusing because they go in all directions and are a different name at every block but i think i'm actually getting the hang of it! As long as i know which direction the river is, i can get home. So yeah, i've already taken a bunch of pictures so i'll upload them because they do a better job of explaining my beautiful surroundings. :) enjoy!

italy!

home :)

una settimana

Today i realized that i know zero italian so i figured i should look up a few key phrases, particularly, "do you speak english," "are there any nuts in this," and "help." Thanks to worldlingo.com, i now know those are "parlate inglese," "è ci tutti i dadi in questo," and "auito" respectively. Whether or not i actually remember those words in a time of crisis is another thing...

I seriously can't believe i leave for Florence in a week. I google mapped my route from my apartment to my school and my daily walk will take about 20 minutes and will be a scenic one in which i walk along the narrow cobblestone streets and across the Arno River. I can't wait to cross the Ponte Vecchio bridge every day to go to class. ^^

The biggest obstacle I have yet to face in preparation for Italy is my packing situation. Go figure. How does a fashion major fit clothes for a month in Italy and 2 weeks of backpacking in convenient luggage?? Let alone leave room for souveniers. I'm going to have to compromise somewhere...sigh. I should probably get a start on that.

8 days till gelato, art, yummy food, and all that is tuscany.

baby jamaican punch with cream

I have concluded that this tropical treat is the thing I will miss the most from Waco. Whenever I slurp a bit of this shaved ice from Bahama Bucks, I can't help but let out an "MMM" that rivals Bob Wiley on "What About Bob." Seriously, just ask my roommate Courtney. It's the best shaved ice there is, the kind that just melts in your mouth and doesn't skimp on delicious flavor. And each one actually looks like that picture, complete with an umbrella (of which i have about 10 of in the glovebox of my car... obsessed?) Even though they are the Starbucks of snow cones and a tad overpriced, they are worth every penny. Just thinking of them makes my mouth water. mmmm

officially done

I am officially done with school for the semester! You have NO idea what a relief it is to be finished with my classes. For now at least...hah. Yes, I'm implying that I may not be passing all of my classes this semester. Not something I'm proud of, at all, but I can honestly say I deserve an A for effort. If only Economics was graded that way. At least I know I'll never be burdened with trying to rescue the economy. I don't know what it was about this semester but it seemed like whatever I did, no matter how hard I tried and how many countless hours I spent on something, it never turned out like I hoped; sing, school, my housing situation, I just couldn't seem to catch a break. Thank goodness for amazing friends and an amazing God who supported me every step of the way.

This is what my understanding of economics looks like.

One night I came across Acts 17:24-28 and it fit my situation and feelings completely:

"The God of the world, and everything in it, is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they may inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him, and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him, we live, and move, and have our being."

Reflecting back on this semester, I realize that even if I didn't master economic theories or textile definitions, I learned something eternally more valuable: No matter what I plan or expect to happen, and no matter what actually turns out happening, I am not in control, and that makes all the difference."For in him we live and move and have our being."

ends and beginnings

funny how stumbling upon the most random things can make you analyze life and your place in it. i love life and love where it's taking me, but i can't help but long for more. my quench is only satisfiable in One way: to love Him is to love life. and that is why i do.

As the school year is drawing to a close, I am busy studying for my finals, which are threatening to dominate me. The light at the end of the tunnel is my summer abroad. I can only dream of the experiences that lie ahead in Italy and Europe, but I know they will be incredible. Going out on my own in a foreign country will certainly put me out of my comfort zone, but I'm thinking it'll be okay :) I'm starting this blog to keep friends and fam updated on everything I experience overseas. Hopefully it will be somewhat entertaining and make them not miss me so much. ha.