Work, Shots, and the BEACH!

So...I realized today that I'm leaving in a little less than two months......as an Italian Tyler Lucas would say..."FWHAT?!?" This is insanity.
I've gotten some responses to my support letters and I'm still working on all that. But I recently got a job at Aeropostale! My good friend Kelsey Wiggs works there and she recommended me and basically got me the job. I'm really excited, everyone I've met so far is really nice. I've only worked one day, but it was good!
TBB sent me my departure prep package! I got all the information about where I'll be and when. I'm getting so excited. But I have all these forms to fill out. So I've been filling out visa applications and signing things and all that jazz. Great fun.
One of the things I got from TBB was the list of SHOTS I need to get before I leave. Yay. Haha. I have received 7 shots to date, and I will probably be getting 3 more, and I have to take a pill for one vaccine. I have my malaria prescription. So I'll have had 10 shots by the time I leave--worth it if I don't get sick though!!
I also have my reading list, and I've started reading the first book: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It's a little strange, but very interesting.
So the family's been at the beach since Friday--we're at Holden Beach and it's so nice. Caitlin and Carson were able to come down for a few days. They left today. I've been reading the whole time. Joshua is having the time of his life--kayaking, fishing, swimming, spending time with the family--he is loving every minute of it! We haven't been to the beach in about 4 years, so we are really enjoying ourselves.
Next post will be my itinerary for TBB--it's sort of exciting. :)

Ah Summer...

I love summer. I love being able to sit at home and reread books (that I've already read ten times...). I have rented six movies from RedBox (I love that thing)& watched all of them (I didn't rent all 6 at once though). I love being able to randomly go to Starbucks with my friends throughout the day.
So I still have TONS of Italy pictures that I'm still going through. I think I have....3 albums on Facebook, and I'm not even done with Day 4 of my trip!
Anyway, here are some more of my favorites. I was really happy with the pictures I got from this trip. (I feel like I'm starting to sound like a blogger...) (I know I am after that comment!)

These are 3 of my best friends from school, Annetta, Kristin, and Sarah Beth. We're on top of the Duomo in this picture. I'm not really sure what I'd do without them. They have kept me sane (mostly) through the years at Trinity.

This is me and my good friend Kelsey at the Trevi Fountain. Kels was my first friend at Trinity. We both started in 1st grade. I will miss her so much next year. Kelsey has so much joy and always finds a way to make me smile. She also is REALLY funny when she's tired: she cries every time she laughs and gets really punchy. Love it.

This is me and my friend Daniel in the gardens at the Pitti Palace in Florence. Daniel is hilarious (isn't his laugh just precious?!), and there's an inside joke in my class that he and I are married. So I call him Hubby and he calls me Wifey. He's mad that I'm not going to UNC with him next year.... :/

This is my good friend Tyler. We decided our Senior Superlatives as a class (because there were only 14 of us...it's not that difficult), and Tyler's was "The Butt of Every Joke." Which is doubly amusing because one of our favorite jokes was that Tyler (affectionately called Ty) has no butt....No but seriously, Tyler is one of the funniest people I know, and he's super sweet. I will miss him a lot next year!
OH about this picture....Annetta, Sarah Beth, and Daniel shaved Ty's head while we were in Italy and had the BRILLIANT idea of doing the Martin Luther look before it was all gone...They brought Tyler in wearing a sheet and carrying a Bible. Daniel had everyone sing the Doxology and then Annetta "unveiled" Tyler. It was SO funny. Definitely one of the best moments on the trip. :)

So I have sent out my support letters! And I am getting my TBB information soon (they call it a departure prep packet). Today I had the sudden desire to just GO, which was really exciting for me because...well between a wedding and graduation and Italy, I haven't had much time for it to really sink in that I am actually doing this. And it's finally starting to and I'm so excited! Which is a relief! I was pretty homesick at one point in Italy and I kept thinking, "What if I hate it? What if I shouldn't go? What am I thinking?"
No worries though. I'm looking forward to it so much, even though I know it will be an intense challenge.
More pictures later. :)

Planes, Trains, and Gondolas

So I got home from Italy this past Wednesday (after a couple delays in the airport that is...)! I've been enjoying my time at home...mainly catching up on sleep. :)
Anyway, I have been uploading pictures to the computer (and Facebook, of course). I got an 8 gig card before I left for Italy & I had over 1800 pictures on just that memory card! So I think I have about 2000 total....
So here are some favorites from the 8 gig card:

This was the view from our room in Florence.


This is a side of the Duomo--one of the largest cathedrals in Italy. It's the pride of Florence


The David by Michelangelo


This is a view of the Duomo and other buildings from the Piazza de Michelangelo which overlooks Florence. So beautiful!


Sarah Beth, Daniel, and I LOVED Venice. It was so laid back and beautiful. We wanted to stay longer. We met this guy, Fabrizio, on the way to San Marcos Square. He had these beautiful watercolors and was SO nice. So we took a picture with him!


This is the view of Venice from the Rialto--the biggest bridge out of the 400 something in the city.

Mamma Mia!

I am writing this from Firenze (Florence!) We left for Italy on Monday, arrived early Tuesday morning in Rome and took a train to Florence. We leave for Venice at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Tuesday we went to the Academia and saw the David (it's HUGE!); yesterday we saw the Duomo, Santa Croce, and a few other major spots in Florence. We also spent ridiculous amounts of money shopping in the market yesterday. Or at least the girls did. :) Today can be summed up in one word: STAIRS. First, we climbed the Duomo--460 something stairs, I believe. And then of course, we climbed back down. The view from the top was incredible though. I'm so glad we did it. After the Duomo we walked over to Pitta Palace, which had the most beautiful gardens! Annetta, Daniel, and I walked to the very top of the gardens and (once again) enjoyed the amazing view. THEN we walked over to the Piazza de Michelangelo and hiked up to the top. And again, gorgeous view. Possibly my favorite view. My mom luckily let me bring her long lens (thanks, Mom) :) so I went a little crazy with the pictures! In fact, my camera is now dead. I wish I could upload pictures because I got some really great ones. They will come later though.
Anyway, I really like it here. Florence is a fun city with nice people. I can't say I'd like to live here though. I'll save that for England. But maybe Italy can be my vacation spot when I am a professor at Oxford! :)
I am going to go nap & freshen up for dinner. (OH by the way--we had the most AMAZING dinner last night. Wow. It was so good. I want to eat there again & get the exact same things. Except I think I would probably have a heart attack because it was all so rich & unhealthy, haha).
I can't wait to start TBB. Seriously. I am getting so excited!
I'll post pictures of Italy as soon as I can.