17.04.2009 - Friday

Nan, cutting herself a piece of my calzone when not looking!! Ha!!

The cute ol' cook at La Cavas

Ha, the tiring walk to get some pane!!

Coffee break!!

This morning we all woke up at 8:30am so we could go downstairs and grab some bfast. They had a donut down there today…yippee!! :) After bfast, we got ready for the day and decided to go into town so Nan could buy a new pair of kicks (the ones she brought weren’t comfy for walking). Finally after going into almost every store VT has to offer, we went into a store called Geox and Nan found a pair she loved!! :) Then after our shoe shopping was over, we walked back out of the city walls and over to Despar where we bought salami slices, cheese, bread and two slices of pizza (for my mama and I). Then we walked back to the hotel where we all made a sandwich and ate that for lunch. It was very good and super cheap for all of it. After lunch, we all took a nap and Nan and I ended up taking a four hour nap while my mom got up!! Haha, four hours…can you believe it?? Ha, after our nap, I walked over to my dorm room with my mom so I could grab some clothes and what not. Once we got back to the hotel, I took a shower and got ready for dinner – tonight we went to a restaurant called La Cavas which is inside the city walls and I have never been there. I ordered a calzone and mama and Nan both got antipasti with bean soup on the side…very tasty by the way!! The cook was really cute…older man…he cooked my calzone and when I got it, he watched me take my first bit, to see if I liked it!! Ha, I saw that he was looking at me, so I gave him the Italiano sign for ‘delicioso’ :) After dinner, we walked home and stayed up for a few hours until it was time to go get pane. Ha, at 11:45pm, we left the hotel to walk inside the city walls, past Geox and to the ‘secret pane place.’ We got ripped off…ha, I kept telling mama and Nan how good the ‘dolci pane’ was and I ordered it and then when we were walking away we saw that it wasn’t chocolate pane, it had like fruit filling it it…what the heck yo?? Ha, so the rest of the night Nan and mama were making jokes about how good the ‘chocolate pane’ was!! Mathone!! HA!! After we ate our pane, we saw that there were still some cafés open, so we went to one so Nan and mama could get a coffee (decaffeinato of course). Ha, they ordered their cafés and then they wanted milk, so the lady poured freezing cold into their tiny cups of coffee…you can see where that led to…ha, nothing like a tiny cup of cold café!! :) Then we walked home and went to bed!!

Miss you all, sorry, the internet hasn’t been working for over a week…mathone!!

Love you all!! :)

16.04.2009 - Thursday

Spanish Steps

Trevi!! :)

This morning us three were up at 8am so we could get ready and go downstairs and eat some bfast (it was over at 9:30am). Nan really enjoyed the meat – she ate it on a piece of bread with cheese and meat on it and my mom loved the coffee…she had like 1 billion cups this morning!! Ha. After bfast we finished getting ready and then I checked on the times at the station for Roma. 10:55am was the next train, so that’s when we planned on leaving. We got off the train and took the Metro to Spagna where we saw the Spanish Steps and since we were all hungry, we grabbed a slice of pizza and attempted to eat them on the steps. Ha, we got yelled at by a woman police officer to not eat on the steps, so we went off to the side and finished eating. Then we walked over to the Trevi Fountain but before we got there, we stopped for some gelati. :) Yummy!! Nanny got peach, mom café and I got frgola (strawberry). You can’t go to Roma and not eat gelato!! We all tossed our coins into the fountain and took pictures, then we shopped for a bit!! :) Mama mia bought me a Wind jersey…ha, Wind is my cell phone company and I thought it was cute because it’s Roma colors!! :) Then we saw a bank and my mom needed to change in her American $ for euros, so we went inside where we were beyond frustrated!! First of all, some Italiano guy cut us in line and went right up to the counter and he KNEW he cut us!! Then the lady wouldn’t help us, so she told us to wait in the guys line because he speaks English. So we stood there for seriously 20+ minutes, waiting on the guy who cut us in line to finish up. FINALLY it was our turn…but of course, the guy didn’t speak English!! Wow, that’s not what we wanted to hear after waiting in his line because he did speak English!! :/ So he got this lady over and we some what figured it out. Then, he would only take the ‘perfect’ 20’s my mom had brought from the US… “couldn’t take any with any color dye on them or tears in the bill.” So with that taking place, we were only allowed to trade in HALF of what we gave him…crazeeness!! MATHONE…it took us over 20 minutes to get euros…ha!! After the bank, we went back to the metro and then took a train home. When we looked at the train schedule, it said one to PF was coming in 4 minutes, so I told mom and Nan to do the hustle. We had a bunch of stairs we had to climb, but after running up all of them, we barely made the train, luckily we made it!! Once we got home, Nan and I took a nap and then we went downstairs for dinner. We all shared and had chicken with peppers on top, cheese-rice and green beans. Very tasty meal I must say. Then we went back up to our room and my mom crashed while Nan and I watched P.S. I Love You. Thanks Dani and Nicki!! :) During the movie, Ry called, so we talked for like 20 minutes!! :) Aww, I miss my Ry bread!! After the movie was over, we went to bed. :)

Love you all!!

CIAO X3!! :)

15.04.2009 - Wednesday

:) Waiting for the train to go home to VT!!

Happy Anniversary Ryan Matthew!! :) I love you baby!!

This morning I woke up at 4am and got out of bed and got ready to get on the 5am train to Roma. I had enough time (of course) to have a bowl of GPs, so I enjoyed one along with a glass of chocolate milk. Once I was on the 5am train, not even 20 minutes of being on the train, it stopped in a town called Vetralla for almost an hour!! I was freaking because I had to get to the airport!! Mathone!! Finally, it took off and once I got to Trastevere, I had to transfer to the train to the airport (dropped me off right at the airport). I got to the airport around 8:30am and their plane landed early at 8:20am. Luckily they didn’t walk out until close to 9am, I was anxiously waiting for them to come through those doors!! :) When they did, Nan yelled “There’s Rach!!” And then my mom yelled “RACHALLLLL!!!” AWWW…I was soo excited they were here!! We all hugged each other for a few minutes and then we moved out of the way and headed for the train. Once we bought our tickets, we had to hurry to the train because the next one to leave was leaving in 5 minutes. We made that train and took it to Trastevere where we had to wait for the 10:55am train to come (the train to take us home). While we waited we talked each others ears off while we (by that I mean I) snacked on muddy buddies that Ry made for me and Cheese-Its…yummy!! Thanks baby for those btw!! :) AWWW….YAY, MAMMA MIA AND NANNY ARE HERE!!!!!! Finally, the train came but it didn’t go to PF, the last stop was PR (Porta Romana) which meant that we had to walk home from PR. Ha, PR is near where the SMG campus is, so we had some walking to do. During our walk, Nans wheel on one of her luggage’s stopped turning, ha, it was very entertaining, especially since they were so tired, so we hooked it up to the other luggage and kept walking. Nan swore the walk was at least 3 miles…aww…she was definitely tired, as well as my mom, I felt bad we had to walk, but it was better than waiting at the train station till night time when the PF train came!! Once we got to the hotel, mom and Nan unpacked and then my mom walked with me over to my dorm so she could see it while Nan took a nap. We hung out in my room for about an hour and chatted and then we headed back to wake Nan up, but a nap sounded good to us as well, so us three took a nap!! :) After the nap, we got ready for dinner and took a walk inside the city walls. None of the restaurants were open, so we ended up grabbing a slice of pizza at this place I have never been to outside the walls. After dinner, we walked to my dorm so Nan could see it but before the dorm, we stopped at this coffee place so they could enjoy a cup of VT café. Ha, I showed mama mia and Nan the dungeon, they were disgusted and then we walked back to their hotel where I ended up staying the night. The walk is only 4 minutes away, it’s perfect!! :) We all went to bed pretty early because we were all dead, esp. my mom and Nan!!

YAY, SOOO GLAD THEY ARE HERE!!!

Love and miss you ALL!!!

CIAO x3!! :)

14.04.2009 - Tuesday

Last night, I packed up everything and slept in my outfit which I wore today so I wouldn’t have to think about packing up things so early and waking Cass at 2am. I basically slept in everything except for my shoes. Ha, at 2am I got a wake up call to our room and I flew out of bed so it wouldn’t wake Cass. Then I brushed my teeth and went downstairs and while I waited for the taxi, I talked to the ‘Porter’ who was working the mid-night shift. He was really nice. Older/chubby man who was from Spain. Finally at 2:30am, the taxi showed up and I hopped in the car. It only took an hour to get there and it was the biggest rip-off of my life!! :/ O well, I had no other options, I had to take a taxi…I knew how much it would be before I got in, but what can you do?? :/ Once I got to the airport, I self-checked in and then I went over to the counter and turned in my bag. Then I walked over to my gate but first went to Starbucks where I got a cup of fruit, egg sandwich and OJ for bfast. Then I walked over to my gate and still had plenty of time to kill!! Finally, 6:40am rolled around and I ended up being the FIRST in line!! Ha, o the joys of RyanAir!! After priority boarded, I was the first to board and I sat in the first row where there is extra room for my long legs and I played off the fact that I was sleeping so no one would sit in between me and the man sitting next to the window!! Ha, it worked and no one sat in between us, it was great!! The flight went by fast, but I didn’t sleep at all. I just listened to my ipod and starred out the window. Once we landed in Roma, I got in the passport check line for residents because I am a resident until May 15th!! Ha, it was funny though because all the Italianos were looking at me like I was a ‘stupid American’ but then I showed them…because I knew exactly what line I was in!! :) It was great!! Then I picked up my luggage and headed over to buy my bus ticket to get to Termini. Once I got to Termini, it took me forever to get back to VT because I missed the train by seconds…I ran (sprinted) with my luggage in hand down the halls and up the stairs and missed the train which meant I had to wait over an hour for the next one to come!! :/ After traveling for 13 hours already, and only 2.5 hours of sleep…I was dead!! So I called Ryan from my Italiano phone and he called me back so we could talk longer. :) What a sweetie, especially because it was like 3am his time!! :) I was super frustrated for the entire morning because I forgot to mention that once I was at Termini, I took the wrong Metro because someone told me the wrong directions, so I went 30 minutes out of my way, which means if I would have had the right directions, I would have been on the earlier train. O well, everything happens for a reason, but I was just frustrated with myself, so talking to Ry calmed me down. :) After we hung up, the train came and before I knew it, I was back in VT by 4pm. 15 hours of travel…first big adventure done alone…interesting to say the least. Ha, but I am home safe and I cannot wait for tomorrow…mamma mia and Nanny are coming out!!! YAYYY!!! Ry called me when I got home and we talked for a bit and then I had a quick PBJ for ‘dinner’ and got ready for bed and was out of it by 7pm…up early tomorrow to pick them up Nan and mama mia at the airport….I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE FAMILY!!!!! :) Love and miss you all!! Ciao!! :)

13.04.2009 - Monday

Abbey Road...in front of Georges house?? (or something like that)

Stonehenge!!

Our alarm went off at 7:30am this morning and I took a quick shower and then threw on some clothes and went downstairs and had the same bfast as yesterday morning and then I went back upstairs to finish getting ready for the day. We all planned on meeting downstairs at 9am so we could leave for Abbey Road before going to Stonehenge. Before 9am, I went downstairs and paid to get online so I could go onto RyanAir and change to pay for a carry on luggage. 10euros is better than 20 at the airport!! :/ Then we all met up and left to go to the Tube and once we got to this one stop (forgot the name) we got off and had to walk for about an hour before getting to Abbey Road. Once we got there, we only stayed for a few minutes because we had to get back because we already paid for Stonehenge and we weren’t missing that bus. We got onto a city bus and took it to the Tube station we need to be at to catch our bus. Since we took the city bus, we got back to the station early, so we had time to grab a bit to eat…mmm Subway!! Ha, I saw it and you know that bread smell…same one you smell in EVERY Subway you go to, I smelled it and it hit home for me, so I had to get the usual turkey/pepperoni!! :) Of course I made it a meal deal and wow are their chip bags tiny!! Ha, and out here, you only get one cookie, at home, in AZ, don’t you have the option of 2 cookies or one bag of chips?? Hmm…so ya, after lunch, we got on the bus to Stonehenge and on the way our bus driver pointed out lots of things to us. He pointed out these roof tops which was were Mary Poppins was filmed and he told us all about Stonehenge. Michael, the driver, was a nice older man. Once we got to Stonehenge, we had a hour to walk around. The stones were roped off, and you were directed to walk around them in a circle. They weren’t as big as I expected, but still very interesting!! I am so glad we made it out to see them because I really wanted to see them in person one day, and that day happened to be today!! :) After Stonehenge, we drove back to London and went to their “Time Square” – ha, it is pretty funny, but since I have never been to NY, I have no comparisons to talk about. One day, hopefully soon, I will!! :) We shopped for a bit and then went to grab a bit to eat. I ordered chicken fingers and French green beans. Yummy…they were really good beans, I liked!! After dinner, we got back on the Tube and went back to Russel Square. Next to the hotel, there is a store where I bought myself a shirt – bright neon colors saying “I love London” ha. Then the girls and I hung out in Amy and Beths room until 11pm and then I decided to go to bed because I had to wake up at 2am, taxi was coming for me at 2:30am because I had a 6am flight!! MATHONE!!! Tomorrow will be a LONG day of travel!!

Love and MISS you ALL!!

CHEERS!! :)

12.04.2009 - Sunday

Beautiful tree in the park near our hotel :)

Ha, lovely reminders on the streets (cars drive on the opposite side of the streets than in the States!!)
Flowers at the Buckinham Palace
Cass and I at the Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Big Ben

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTEE SANDEE!!! :) I love you, can’t wait to see you over the summer!! O, and HOPPY EASTER EVERYONE!! I miss my family BIG TIME!! Especially when the holidays roll around, makes me miss you all that much more, can’t wait to spend time with each of you when I get back to the States!! :) This morning, Cass and I got up and had an English Bfast which included scrambled eggies, piece of toast, and a small bowl of cereal with a glass of AJ on the side. We were out of the hotel by 8am and since the girls didn’t wake us up last night when they got in (flight got pushed back and got to the hotel by 3am), Cass and I wanted to go see all the sites, so we left without them. First stop…Buckingham Palace to see “Changing of the Guards.” Hmm…I would say don’t worry about seeing that. Ha, Cass and I took the “Tube” (Metro) to Hyde Park where the Palace was at. We got there really early and the Changing wasn’t until 11:30am. We ended up walking around and admiring the beautiful flowers and then it was starting to get crowded, so we went over to the fence to get a spot. MAN, did it ever get packed quickly!! We stood over to the right of the Palace and the main changing of the guard happened over to the left I believe. It was funny to see all the men with their tall hats marching around. And the man who yelled out the commands was really YELLING!! Made me laugh because each time he would yell, his hat would shake!! After the Changing happened, Cass and I made our way through the crowd and went over to the Mews where we were able to see the carriages and limos which the Queen rides in. Her ‘limo’ is a Rolls-Royce. Ha, we also saw the horse stables which had no horses in because they were still out front (where the changing was still occurring). After, it was about 1pm and Cass and I were getting hungry, so we went to a restaurant called Garfunkels where I ordered a burger, it was yummy. Then we got back on the Tube and went to go see the London Eye and Big Ben. Big Ben…not so big. Ha, the building that surrounded him were gorgeous, I still wonder how long it took to build them? The London Eye was like 17lbs to ride and it takes about an hour to ride, so it wasn’t worth it to us, so we didn’t do it. After, we went back to the Tube and we took it to go see the Tower Bridge. We ended up climbing the steps to walk across the water on the Tower Bridge and once we got to the other side, we saw a castle, I forget the name but it’s probably like ‘Tower Castle’ or something like that. We grabbed a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and then sat on the steps looking out to the castle. There were a TON of people everywhere, I was surprised too because it’s Easter, does no one have family?? What the heck yo (ha, Jimmy)?? After we were done eating, we went back over the bridge and then walked over to the London Bridge…not too exciting, very plain bridge, I enjoyed the Tower Bridge more. Then the girls texted us telling us they were at Hard Rock, so we got back on the Tube. Hard Rock London was the first one btw. Eric Clapton liked it so much, he gave them a signed guitar which started everything because then other bands caught wind of that and the competition began to give HR band mementos. The texts must have been behind time, because once we got there, they were no longer there. Ha, we didn’t end up staying, but at least I can say I have been inside. So we got back on the Tube and went to our hotel where they were at. I met Amy’s mum and sister. Ha, they say ‘mum’ out here, same as in Scotland. 8pm rolled around so us girls went to go grab some drinks and hang out and talk about our days. We ended up doing the same things, just at different times because we never once saw them, but London is not like VT, it’s a bit bigger. Ha. We stayed out until 12:30am or so and were in bed before 1am, another big day tomorrow. I love traveling!! Wow, May is almost here and I still have lots of traveling to do!! Ha!!

I love and miss you all!!

CHEERS!! :)

11.04.2009 - Saturday

WOW, it is has been SO long since I have been on here!! Lots have happened!! Here is goes…Last night while I was in bed, my mom called me at 11pm!! :) It was so nice talking to her, I can’t believe her and Nan will be out here in just a few days, YAY!! :) I feel bad because I don’t remember the first few minutes of our conversation because I was out of it!! I went to bed at 9:45, so I had been out of it for a few hours already!! After we hung up, I fell back asleep rather quickly and then I woke up at 3:45am to get ready for LONDON!! After I was done getting ready, Ry called me at around 4am so we could say our goodbyes for the next few days. I ended up having time for a bowl of GPs so I had one of those and then I made chocolate milk to go with the rest of the milk I had. Cass and I were out of the dorms by 4:40am and on our way to PF. It was interesting rolling our luggage’s down a dark dirt road early in the morning…ha, all the bumps and such, very entertaining. Once we got on the train, Jesse (a kid from the dorms) met us on there because he was on the same flight as us to London, so he decided to travel with us for the day. We were to Roma by 7am and then we had to take a bus from Termini to Ciampino airport and were there by 8am. Check-in was at 8:10am so we waited in line and when it was my turn to check-in, I was not a happy camper. I decided to bring my smallest luggage thinking it would be good to bring and carry on with me, but it turns out the max weight for a carry on is 10kg and that is including your personal item as well because they changed the rules. So my bag ended up weighing 11kg which meant I had to go pay 20euros and then had to get back in line to get my ticket!! O wow, was I ever upset. :/ Of course, all the Italianos can have 2 carry-ons, but not us Americans!! :/ So upsetting. So I paid the money and while I was doing so, Cass waited for me in the line so I could get my ticket, and save time for us all. I then got my ticket and we all went through security and then before we knew it, we landed in London. Since we took off late, we landed late, which means RyanAir didn’t play their song because we weren’t on time. After we landed, we went through passport control and then picked up our luggage’s, then we went and bought our tickets to get by bus to the city center. Our bus driver was not that good because he had to ask for directions 3 times!! Wow, finally, we were at Victoria station and then Cass and I left Jesse and caught the metro to Russel Square, where our hotel was located. Finally, we were to our hotel by 5pm (only 8 hrs. ahead of AZ instead of 9, like in Italia) and decided to just drop off our bags and go check out the town. I ended up finding a place right away that sold lighters and patches, so I killed two birds with one stone right off the bat, which was great, so then I didn’t have to worry about finding those for the rest of the trip in London. :) For dinner, we went to China City, right down the street from where the hotel was and I got a chicken chestnut plate with rice on the side, very yummy!! I had been craving Chinese, so I was excited we had that for dinner. After din, we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed, big day with lots of walking tomorrow, so I figured it would be nice to get a good nights rest!!

Hope you all have been doing well, been awhile since I have been on here!! Glad to be back!!

Love you all!!

CHEERS!! :)

10.04.2009 - Friday

LONDON TOMORROW!! :) This morning my alarm went off at 8am and then Ry called soon after. I wanted to get up and get going because I had LOTS to do today!! :) Ry and I talked for about 30 minutes and then I got ready to go workout and went downstairs to do so. I signed up for the 9am slot and as I was entering the room, the cleaning ladies were in there. I had to wait about 15 minutes to go in and then I rode the bike for 25 minutes and called it a day. I put it on a harder setting and rode faster, that’s why I only did 25 minutes. Ha. After, I went up to my room and did my workout in here as well. Then for bfast, I had a bowl of GP’s and while I was eating, I turned on my computer to jam out to my itunes. After bfast, I decided to hard core clean my room so then next week when I get back from London, I don’t have to clean before Nan and my mom get here. I have decided to not let the cleaning ladies clean my room anymore because they move all my stuff around and don’t clean it that well. I would much rather do it myself, so that’s what’s going to happen. After I was done cleaning, I hopped in the shower and got ready for the day. While my hair was drying, I finished my Culture PP which is due when my mom and gma are here but I am not going to class, so I wanted to finish that up. I also wrote my cuisine papers, and am almost done with my Gardens final. LOTS of homework out of the way!! :) Then I started to pack for London and I didn’t get far at all, so I took a break and had a PBJ for lunch while watching Ryan and Rachal (donkeys). Ha, Ryan was getting kicked in the face by Rachal because he was trying to get on her…must be that time of year…ha, it was funny though because he was following her everywhere and she kept kicking him!! Around 2:30pm, I decided to leave my room and go get my hair done. I ended up going to this place where no one spoke English!! Ha, so I had to explain to them what I wanted by calling a friend here who speaks fluently so she could translate for the both of us!! :) In the end my hair turned out good and I am happy about it!! :) When I get home, I will get it done again, so I shall be back to blonde very soon!! :) I miss it dearly!! Once I got home for getting my hair done, Ryan called me and we got on Skype and then I went downstairs to make me some pasta on the hotplates, WOW!! It took FOREVER for the water to heat up first of all and secondly, the noodles took FOREVER to cook!! Ha, it was a bit ridiculous!! So for dinner I had pasta with cheese on top and some of my homemade Italiano dressing…pretty tasty. Then at 7:30pm, Ry and I got off Skype so I could pack and get ready for LONDON!! :) Tonight is going to be an early night because tomorrow I am going to be waking up at 4am, leaving here at 4:40am to catch the 5am train to ROMA!! I love you all, talk to you next Tuesday when I return from LONDON!!!

CIAO!! :)

09.04.2009 - Thursday

Last night, I tried to watch Now and Then but it was too scratched, so I watched Miracle instead. I wasn’t able to finish it because I was too tired. At around 3am again, there was another Earthquake or just a really bad aftershock?? I swear my bed was moving around that time because I woke up for a minute and felt shaking!! SCARY!! My alarm went off at 8:30am and Ryan called me at 9am. We talked for about 15 minutes and then I got up and got ready to go to the bus station. Today Cassie, Bethany and I planned on going to Tarquinia which is less than an hour away, but we didn’t know what the time schedule was like, so we left the dorms at 10am. When we got to the station, we found out that we missed the bus by a few minutes and the next one wasn’t until 12:35pm. So we all went to Ipercoop where I bought some food and a COOLER with ICE PACKS!!! :) How exciting!! So I bought a lot of milk and headed home to put everything away. I went down to the dungeon to put my milk in the fridge while my ice packs were freezing and then I had an hour to kill before going back to the bus station to meet up with the girls. The internet was limited for that hour, so I read a few pages out of the book I brought called ‘Eat pray love’. On the plane here I read 9 pages and then stopped. Ha, I am not much of a reader, but hopefully I can finish this one!! Once I got to the bus station, we headed for Tarquinia and once we got there, we walked up to the ‘top of the town’ where we looked off a cliff and saw rolling hills of green grass with sheep on them!! :) Then we walked to an Etruscan site where we saw tombs and homes which are underground!! We needed to go there for a project, so I am glad we got that out of the way plus it was cool viewing the tombs!! You had to walk down these steps and then press the black button at the bottom of the stairs to turn on the lights…crazee!! After grabbing an ice cream sandwich, we headed back to the bus station where we caught the 3:55pm bus back to VT. Once we got home, I was in my room by 5pm and Ryan called me. We talked for a few minutes and then I went down to the dungeon to do a load of laundry so they would be dry before I went to LONDON this weekend!! :) Once I put my clothes in and the washer was locked, I came back up to my room and called Corrie from my Italiano phone to see how she and Patrick were doing!! :) CONGRATS again cooz and BIG D…I am SO happy for you two!! :) We only talked for a few minutes, but it was great being able to talk to her, even for those brief minutes!! Once my laundry was done, I went downstairs to put it in the dryer and someone’s clothes were in there!! MAN…that’s what happens when you have ONE dryer for a whole dorm!! :/ I went back up to my room with my wet clothes and hung them all over my room!! Ha. Then I started reading my book again and got to page 44 then I went back downstairs with my wet clothes and threw them in the dryer!! :) Honestly, I am amazed that I am that far on my book. Ha, perhaps I’ll bring it with me this weekend and get lots read?? Ha, we will see about that one…sounds good in theory, but I doubt I will bring it. Ry called me again, but I had to go and get my clothes, so he called the room again once I was folding my dry/clean clothes!! :) We talked for like 30 minutes and while we were on the phone, I felt shaking again…oy eh veyy!!! I am NOT liking this…I have felt shaking everyday since Monday now!! :/ Hopefully when I get back home next Tuesday, they will be done!! I am going to go to bed now, it’s 10pm and so hopefully I will finish watching Miracle. :)

08.04.2009 - Wednesday

This morning my alarm went off at 9am but I stayed in bed until Ryan called me at 9:30am. We talked for around 30 minutes and then I got ready to workout and went downstairs to sign up to workout at 11am. While I was down there, I went to the dungeon to grab my milk out of the refrigerator so I could enjoy a bowl of GP’s!! I also had a banana for bfast and then it was time to workout. I rode the bike for about 30 minutes and then as I was stretching, someone came into the room to workout as well. He scared the crap out of me because I had my ipod in and I thought we had the room to ourselves for the hour?? Guess not?? After I was done stretching, I came up to my room and did my other workout in my room. After I was done cooling off, I hopped in the shower and then watched My Girl. It has been YEARS since I have seen that movie and it still made me cry. I used to watch My Girl lots back in the day, classic!! After My Girl, it wasn’t dinner time yet, so I watched Bounce. I have never seen that movie and I enjoyed it. Sad, but had a happy ending, so I was happy!! :) After the movie ended, Ryan called me on his way to class. We chatted for a bit and then he had to go and so did I. I was off to the Iowa girls apt to hang out and have some grub. We ended up making Macaroni and Cheese…the good stuff and then we watched a few episodes of a TV series called Summer Heights High. I had never seen it before, it’s based on a high school setting where one actor acts for 3 different characters, it was pretty entertaining! After watching 2 episodes of that, I borrowed a few movies and walked home. I was home by 9:45pm and Ry called me when I got home. He was hanging out with his dad because his class got out early. Now I am going to get ready for bed and watch Now and Then. Never seen it, so I am excited to watch it!! :)

I am SO happy that baby Patrick is finally here and is healthy!! :)
Love you coozins, congrats again!!!

LOVE and MISS you all!!

CIAO!! :)

New addition to the fam!!

YOU CAN NOW CALL ME AUNTY RACHY BECAUSE BABY PATRICK IS FINALLY HERE!! :)

As of April 3rd I am now an Aunty!!
Patrick is just SO precious, look at him!!
Congrats BIG D and Cor, I love you both!!
I can't wait to meet little Patrick!!! :)

07.04.2009 - Tuesday

Today I was about to workout in the dorm gym!! Yay!! Ryan called me at 9:30am to wake me, my alarm was set for 9, but I figured I should just hang out until he called. We talked for like 10 minutes of so and then I got dressed and went downstairs to go workout. Before working out, I had to fill out paperwork with my name, DOB and city I was born in. It was very confusing because no one spoke English down there and I don’t know how to read Italiano. Ha, so that took some time, but then I was able to go and workout!! To my understanding only one person works out at a time so I signed up for the 10am opening and did my thing while I was in there. There are only 5 machines and the treadmill doesn’t work, so 4 machines. Ha, I rode the bike for 40 minutes and then I did some free weights then I went back up to my room where I did my other workout in my room. For bfast, I went down to the dungeon to grab my milk and came back up to my room to have a bowl of GP’s. I also had a glass of chocolate milk…yummy!! The milk was so cold, it’s been awhile since it has been like that…silly freezer bags!! After bfast and once I was cooled down, I took a shower and got ready for the day. After I was ready, I uploaded pictures to Costco and sent a few emails out. Thank you everyone who was concerned about me. I am fine and so is Viterbo, but not so much L’Aquila. They have lost over 200 lives and almost 2,000 people are homeless and just under 2,000 injured. Please pray for all of them, how horrible that would be!! Class today was at 3pm at SMG, so at 2:30pm, the girls and I headed for campus. Once we got to class, we presented our billboard pictures and translated them in class. After everyone presented, we flipped through magazines looking at the ads in there and we had to find 1 or 2 which are completely different from the states. Class honestly was pointless. I don’t understand how that fits into Italiano Culture?? Shouldn’t we be learning about the history of Italy and what not?? Hmm…well class ended at 5:30pm, so I walked home with Cassie and Chris and right when we got to the dorms, I went down to the dungeon to grab my salad and salami because for dinner tonight I had a salami salad with the homemade Italiano dressing and carrots…yum!! :) While eating dinner, I updated my blog and then at 7:30pm, Ryan called me and we were able to get on Skype for a bit to see each other!! :) I miss my little Ry bread!! :( Once we were done talking, I got ready for bed and finished watching Kung Fu Panda and I was in bed by 11:30pm. I hope you all had a great day!!

Love and miss you all!!

CIAO!! :)

06.04.2009 - Monday

Ryan called me at 6am because Amanda L. sent him a message on Facebook asking if I was okay due to the Earthquake in Italy. Ryan had NO clue what she was talking about, so he did some quick research and then called me. I told him that I was fine and only had a dream of shaking, but I now know I wasn’t dreaming, it was for real!! We talked for a few minutes because it was early and I was okay, along with Viterbo, as far as I knew. Then not even 10 minutes after Ry and I hung up, my dad called me. We talked until 7am and then I figured it wasn’t going to be worth it to go back to bed for 30 minutes, so instead, I turned on my computer and did some research about the Earthquake. While my computer was turning on, I called my sister from my Italiano phone to tell her I was okay and to say hello to her because I miss her!! We only talked for a few minutes because that’s all I had on my cell, I found that out because when I went to call my mom, I didn’t have any minutes left on my phone. :( Sorry mama mia!! Once my internet was up and working, I texted Ry telling him that I was up for the day, so he called me on my dorm phone to talk. The Earthquake happened in L’Aquila which is only like 60 miles from VT!! Please pray for everyone who got injured and for those who have lost family members!! After Ry and I hung up, I ended up taking a 20 minute nap before class and then I got up and got ready. In class today, it was super boring!! I had that teacher Paolo for Survey of Art and he is just so unorganized and jumps from artist to artist without any connection, so it is confusing. The class was over at 11am, but while in class, I found out that the other dorm students felt the shaking as well, so I wasn’t crazee!! WOW, that is insane!! I guess that the dorms there in L’Aquila were destroyed!! :( What if I were studying abroad there?? O my!! After class, I took pictures of Italiano billboards because I have an assignment due tomorrow which is to take pictures of billboards and we will translate them tomorrow in class. So I took pictures and then when I got home, I went up to my room to grab some money along with my ‘green grocery bags’ and headed to Despar with Cassie. I had to get milk, bread, and a few other things to make me some meals for myself. I cannot wait to be home and have all of this in the fridge, well at least have a decent amount of milk in the fridge, that’s why I find myself going to the store so often because the biggest the milk container that is offered is 1000ml. I fly through those milk bottles. When I got home, I had to put my milk, salad, etc in the fridge downstairs in the dungeon because I can no longer use the freezer bag. It is getting hot out quick and I don’t want my milk spoiling. :( For lunch, I had a salami sandwich with a yummy fruit salad on the side. YAY, today was Monday, which means the Dr. is here. At 3pm, I went downstairs to get my Drs note, to be able to workout here in the dorms. He checked my lungs, heart beat and pressure and then signed a note for me. Once I had the note, I took it to the front desk and she informed me, ‘domani matina’ which means tomorrow morning, so I have to wait until tomorrow to workout because the head lady needs to see the note and have me fill out other paperwork as well. MAN!! I was really looking forward to working out!! :( Tomorrow it is!! Rent is due this week, so I went upstairs and got Cassie and Bethany and us three went and paid rent. I paid for April and half of May because I will be out of here on the 15^th. After rent, I went with Cassie to go to Lidl to pick up Golden Puffs because we were both out. Never good when you run out of GP's!! Once I got back to the dorms, Ry called around 4:40pm and we talked for a few minutes, then I did my workout in my room and as I was about to hop in the shower, my phone rang. It was my dad!! :) Yay!! :) I LOVE when I get phone calls!! We chatted for about 30 minutes but then I had to get going because I had dinner plans. At 7pm I left the dorms with Cass and Bethany and as we were walking over to the Iowa’s girls apartment, I found 10euros on the ground!! YAY, so tonight’s dinner was paid for. Ha. I ordered chicken and potatoes. Unfortunately mine was the only bad chicken…that’s what I get for a free meal huh? It was really dry and was all dark meat…not so yummy. But it was good to see Beth (she was traveling while her family was in town and it had been over a week since I had seen her) and hang with the girlies of course. After dinner, we walked home and around 10pm, Ry called me because he was done eating lunch with my dad and was home, so we got on Skype and I stayed up till 1am and then I went to bed. When I was talking with Ry, I told him that I felt the dorms slightly shaking…I am thinking that either another Earthquake happened or an aftershock…scary!! Hopefully it just stays over there and doesn’t happen here in VT!! I would FREAK out!! :/ On a brighter note…

I love you all!!

Ciao!! :)

05.04.2009 - Sunday

Time to go home!! :( This morning I was up at 4am and out of the apartment by 4:10am to head to the bus station where we bought our one-way ticket to the airport. Once we got to the airport, we checked in and went through security, all that good stuff and then waited for an hour or so to board the plane. Our flight was at 6:30am and was on time, so we boarded the plane and headed for Roma. I didn’t sleep the entire flight, which was a big bummer because I was working on like 2.5 hours of sleep!! We landed in Ciampino early so we bought our bus ticket from Ciampino to Termini to catch a train to Viterbo. From to Ciampino to Termini, the bus ride was only 20 minutes or so, but it was a PACKED bus and the lady made me put my ‘purse’ under the bus. I was a bit upset because it had everything in there, so I was freaking out a bit. Had my passport, money, clothes, everything. Of course one of the last seats was mine and it was in the very last row, the one with 5 seats in it. I sat in the middle seat to stretch my legs out and some guy came up and told me to move over, yahh right, so I leaned over for him so he could be smushed by the window. Ha, I was a bit cranky at that point due to lack of sleep. If I would’ve known him, I would’ve scooted over, but I didn’t know him, so he can have cramped legs for the ride. Ha. Once we got to Termini, we purchased our tickets to PF (Porta Fiorentina – station right near the dorms) and I grabbed a McDonalds ice cream ‘cono’ while we waited for the 12:09pm train to get there. We had to get off at Ostininza to transfer and the next train to PF was at 12:52pm, so we didn’t have to wait too long. :) I was home by 3pm and as soon as I got home, I turned on my computer to send out emails and what not. What a weekend!! :) I had a blast and saw so many neat things!! :) Ry called me around 4:30pm and we talked for an hour and a half and then I got ready for bed and put in Kung Fu Panda to watch. Ry called me again at around 8pm, so I stopped my movie and went to bed around 9pm, I was too tired to finish watching it. Hope you all had a great weekend as well!!

LOVE and MISS you ALL!!

CHEERS!! :)

04.04.2009 - Saturday

Yummy!!

St. Andrews - first golf course

Course, right near the shore!!

I love doors!!

CHEERS!! This morning Jenny and I woke up at 8am and at 8:30am, we woke Amy and Mike up to get ready for the day. The girls and I went to Chocolate Soup for some bfast. I got pancakes with a cup of hot chocolate on the side. They were really good and I got a white chocolate double shot with caramel, no whip, it was delish!! There were some white chocolate chunks left at the bottom, so I ate them and they were sooo good, I love white chocolate!! :) While we were eating, Michael Jackson was playing…in Italiano!! Haha, I thought I was in Scotland?? The girls working there were Italiano, it was funny. After bfast, Mike met up with us and we went to the bus stop to find out about Lockness and St. Andrews. The bus for Lockness was a 12 hour tour and we missed the bus. We wouldn’t have gone on that anyways because that is the full day!! Crazeeness. We decided to take a bus to St. Andrews to see the first golf course instead. As we were driving to St. Andrews, I saw cottages which were soo cute!! I even saw one that said “Rose Cottage.” :) Aw, Nanny, I can’t wait to see you!! I love how their front yards are covered in flowers, especially daffodils!! They are like their weeds out here in Scotland, so pretty!! When we got off of our hour and 40 minute bus ride, it was raining in St. Andrews. Luckily I brought my umbrella because you just never know!! We left the bus station and walked towards the golf course. Once we were at the course, I found it rather confusing and there was NO clubhouse…what’s up with that?? Also, I didn’t see a beer cart girl so that doesn’t make it a golf course!! Haha. The men who were golfing were using wooden clubs, haven’t seen those in years. The golf course is right by the shore, so it was pretty chilly and still rainy. We walked around for a bit and then we went up to the city center of St. Andrews to check things out. We ended up seeing the St. Andrews Church, Cathedral, something to do with Harry Potter (I guess part of the film was shot in one of the buildings we saw) and we saw a lot of interesting buildings. I like how there are different store fronts and everyone’s front doors are different, very unique. It had such a ‘homey feeling’ but not AZ home, I don’t know how to explain it. Since St. Andrews is small, we took the 1:45pm bus ride back to Edinburgh where we decided to eat some lunch. Once we got off of the bus, it was raining pretty hard in Edinburgh and every restaurant/pub we were going into was PACKED!! I guess there was a horse race going on so everyone was watching it. Finally restaurant #5 or 6 had available seating, so I ordered fish and chips. The fish came out looking like an entire fish, I was a little scared, but it was fine, just shaped like a fish. Ha!! The water we got was free…we were all shocked, it has been months since I have had free water at a meal. After lunch, we stopped in a bunch of shops to check everything out. I ended up buying these adorable salt and pepper shakers that look like chickens, they are all different colors and are just really cute. I love them!! Ha, the man who rang me up for the shakers was like ‘would you like a wee bag for these miss?’ Ha, yes, may I please have a WEE bag!! Ha, I love their accents out here!! It finally stopped raining after a few hours which was great because I needed to get some pictures!! All the stores closed at 6 or 6:30pm, so we went to go see the castle which was just up the street from where we were staying. It was still light out because the sun doesn’t set until like 8ish. After the castle, we saw a man in a kilt, playing his bag pipes when we were walking back to the apartment. I am glad I saw that, because what would Scotland be without that?? At 9:30pm we went back out to a pub (right next to our gate to the apartment) where we had a few drinks and played some card games. We ended up staying at that pub and then we went across the street to this hole in the rock place to grab a snack because we didn’t have any dinner tonight. I got a garlic pizza (garlic bread sticks) and the girls got French fries, so we took it up to the room and ate. Shortly after, we went to bed because we have to wake up at 4am to leave for the airport tomorrow!! Today was so much fun, I reallyyy enjoy Scotland, all the people are really friendly as well, which is a great change from the Italianos!!

Love and miss you all!!

CHEERS!! :)