When Italy came a Knockin'

Italy was A MAZE ING!!!! Seriously a dream come true. I found myself thinking a lot and really just taking in the beauties of the land. Sigh. So great! I am so grateful to have been able to go. Ok, besides the fact that EVERYONE seemed to have a cigarette attached to their lip which made for a no bueno situation for me since I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and had a constant headache along with puffy face (breath..and I realize that was a very long sentence that probably should have been several), but aside from that, it was PERFECT. :)

We flew into Rome Italy. Once settled into our hotel, a few of us decided to head across town to an LDS church to help with the relief efforts for the recent earthquake victims. It's all about service my friends. Unfortunately our timing was off and we missed them. Karissa and I separated off and explored Spagna. This ended up being our spot since we ended up there 3 times. What a fun place. We got back in time to escort the rest of the group back to Spagna to meet up with our tour director. We walked all around. Trevi Fountain, Piazza Colonna, the Pantheon and many other fun places along the way. Boy it was a long day (or should I say 2 days since I didn't sleep on the plane). Go figure, a tall woman can't get comfortable on a horrendously long flight in order to sleep? Crazy! One of the funniest things that happened was as we were sitting by a fountain, all of the sudden it started pouring. Like out of the movies. Know what I mean? No rain, to buckets of rain. And all of the sudden umbrella's appeared out of nowhere. It was insane. Apparently Italians keep em on their person at all times. Good thing cause you never know when it's gonna pour on ya.

The next day was all about the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Of course it started raining on us again. And of course, being the girl scout that I am, I forgot my umbrella at the hotel. Doe!!! Needless to say my kind friends shared with me. Bless them. Again, I was wow'd by the architecture and landscaping. So beautiful. Um, yes. It's official. I'm an italian tourist nerd. I totally bought a sweatshirt that says Italia on it. Do you still love me anyway? Hope so. Side note...Um, can I express to you how yummy the Gelato was?! Wow!!!! I'm all about the fruity goodness. I tried pear gelato and I almost kissed the man who spooned it into my gelato cone. Seriously that fantastic to my taste buds! I'm afraid...I'm a gelato addict now. Dangit!!!

You can't go to Rome and not see Vatican City!!! So yep, we did. It's smaller than I envisioned. Is that possible? I mean it's still big don't get me wrong, but I just pictured something larger I supposed. Blast this imagination of mine and the reading like Davinci's Code, etc etc etc. Or was it Angel's and Demons? Hm, I'm thinking the latter. Regardless...It was very cool though. Sistine Chapel, wow. Did you know a piece of the sealing fell down due to a bomb? It was a miracle that it didn't destroy the whole thing, but it was just a small part. I did not know that. After the Vatican, we went to the Castle of Angels. This was pretty cool as well. What a view from the top. Wow. After that, Linz and I had our own adventures and mischief. I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you. Or at least torture you. I'd rather not resort to that. :)

Now it's on to Tuscany. I have always dreamed of going to Tuscany. It just seemed so romantic and since I'm a romantic, it seemed like a perfect match. Guess what? I wasn't wrong. So beautiful!!! On our way to Florence, we stopped at San Gimingnano. We went up the tower and took beautiful pics of all the vineyards and landscape. The cobblestone streets. The shops. So fun!!! After continuing on to Florence, a few of us took the train to go see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Hello, I was that close. I HAD to see it. It was cool. The whole time I wanted to ask someone to pinch me to make sure it was all real. But I didn't dare ask the smelly guy sitting next to me on the train. No it wasn't a person in our group, he was a stranger and I don't normally have strangers pinching me. Well..yeah. I did say 'normally'. :)

Boy, I wish I had another day in Florence. We saw the Piazza Santa Croce, The Duomo, The Baptistery door for John the Baptist, and we shopped at the awesome markets. That was a blast!!! Hello. That's saying a lot coming from me, the girl who hates shopping. :) After all of that, we got back together in order to go to a lookout spot for Peggy and George (a couple in our group) to renew their vows. So romantic!!! They bought a rose for each of us to hold. They exchanged vows. And we asked them as a group if they took one another as man and wife again. It was sooo sweet!!!! After dinner we walked home and we were crossing this bridge (totally romantic) and Shawn comes running up to hold my hand as we crossed the bridge. Too cute/funny. :)

On our way to Venice, we stopped in Padua. What a quaint town. It's famous for their university. It was funny, they strip down to their undies when they graduate/pass and run around etc etc while everyone congratulates them. Well, we actually saw this happen. It was a little strange to watch (and when I say strange I mean awkward). But fun that they are that excited about passing. We finished our drive to Venice. We went into town and saw the Rialto Bridge.

Venice was just as I imagined. So beautiful. We did our own tour along the canals and narrow alley ways. We visited churches, took pictures, visited the Jewish Ghetto. We took a gondola ride which was awesome!!! St Marks Square was very cool. One of my friends even fed the birds (totally illegal now but who's telling). But my favorite besides the gondola ride was going up to the tower and seeing the amazing view. Breathtaking!!!

2 of my friends and I stayed an extra day and shopped. However, when it was time to fly home...it would seem that Italy didn't want us to go. We flew from Venice to Rome, but got stuck in Rome until they finally told us the flight was canceled. We were there for 4-5 hours with trying to get a new flight and waiting for the shuttle. It didn't make me feel very fluffy. Thats for sure. But I'm grateful we didn't get on a plane that was broken. However, my friends got food poisoning that night so the next day when we were going to fly out, it wasn't very lovely for them. Again our plane was delayed so we missed our transfer in Chicago. Honestly, I was just grateful to be in the USA. But as it turns out, it was a blessing because our nice Italian airport people gave us bogus tickets that wouldn't have worked in Chicago anyway. The lady felt sorry for us after hearing our story so she put us on a plane with another airline so we wouldn't be delayed another day, thankfully. Love Chicago airline person Karen for that!

Although the traveling part was horrendous, Italy was fantastic. :) Sorry for such a LONG post, but I really did try to condense it and only posted a small amount of pics. Hope you enjoy it regardless. :)

Sushi , anyone?

There is just something about the words 'raw fish' that has a negative ring to it. Over the past few years, I have come into contact with several people who absolutely LOVE sushi. My brother being one of them. I, on the other hand, never thought I'd encounter real live people in my life who opt to eat this food. I know, I know. As opposed to fake people. Perhaps you think my wording is poor, but what I mean is it's just crazy to have people directly in my life who enjoy this form of food. Ya know...my 'real' life as opposed to the make believe one's we all dream we one day will be living. That's what I'm driving at with my verbage. :) Anyway, I digress.

As I have come across many people who have had a love for sushi, I have been very intrigued as to why. No, I am not one of those people that has to ask 'why' all the time, but on this point, I was very intrigued. As time has gone on, I have decided that I would very much like to decide whether I fall in the love or hate category for sushi. My mind would have me automatically say I'd hate it. Cause hello..raw fish! Eew! But I was determined to give it a good go. My brother took me for sushi last year. I tried a few of his sushi rolls. I wasn't a huge fan, however I didn't hate it either. The tuna I tried was interesting in texture and I could only eat one because it was mushy. Even though I wasn't in love, I really wanted to try other types of sushi so I could honestly say whether I loved or hated it.



Last night I went to a sushi bar with some friends. I even used chop sticks people!!! I am horrible with chop sticks! Usually I end up flinging my food across the table at people but I actually was able to eat with them! Whoot whoot! Anyway, I got the Spicy tuna (boy was that spicy for me!) and the shrimp tempura. Lets just say I liked them both but the tuna was a bit too spicy for me. I also tried my friends Ichi roll and the other one was called the Playboy (I think). I liked both but really LOVED the Ichi roll. So what is my assessment of sushi thus far? I really like it! I know, I know. Surprising! Even more surprising is that I liked the Ichi roll cause raw fish was chilling on top of the roll. I thought for sure I was gonna gag it down. Nope...loved it! Just goes to show, trying things for the first time in order to decide whether you like them or not is always in your best interest. :)

Thank U for Helping me Attain my Goal of 100 Firsts

I did it!!! :) Most of you are well aware that my goal for this year has been to make this year a year of firsts. My goal was to reach 100. I am overjoyed to report that I have succeeded. :) Truth be told, I have exceeded my goal but that really isn't the point. My journey is the real reason for the 100. Here are a few things that I have learned in the past year...

I have learned that no matter what, I am the one who decides whether I can or I can't. Which is very empowering. In realizing this, I have tried to make a more conscious effort in deciding what I really want. Rather then an automatic response, I try to really ask myself do I or don't I really want to do or try this? I try to make this my first question rather then allow my thoughts to go immediately to "I don't think I can or I don't think I'd be any good at it or I don't know if I'll like it". I'm not going to lie, sometimes I find myself still defaulting to my old ways, but for the most part, I really DO what I want when it comes to trying new things now. That also doesn't go to say that sometimes I have to give myself a little pep talk in order to find the courage to do what I really want to do, but I end up doing it. It has been a very fun, insightful journey the last year.

I have also learned a lot about myself. Believe me, there are several things on my list that are harmless and were not very hard for me to try in comparison. But there were also some things that really pushed my fears to the limits. Although at times VERY embarrassing to me to allow others to see, I REALLY wanted to push my fears and push them I did. Though I know my friends would never judge me for my fears, I just hate that they are not logical. The fears I mean. And when horrible fears are not logical, and you realize this, it just makes you feel all that more silly to have them exposed (repeatedly in my case) haha. Regardless, I am grateful to have had the experiences to push myself in these ways. For example, I would never have realized just how much fun rock climbing (still working on it), Sliding down Timp Glacier, White water rafting, etc would be. I don't think I would have ever tried any of these because I would have let my fears get in the way.

I have also learned that more often than not, I ENJOY trying new things. This was a huge surprise to me. I jokingly say that I must have lived in a bubble the last.. well the last x amount of years. :) Growing up, we did not have a lot of money, we couldn't afford to travel or vacation places and as I became an adult, I guess I just stuck to the same mentality. Ironically, I'm the one in my family who has really been able to visit places and have fun in that regard. Kind of sad when I look around and see just how much is new to me still. I will not stop my year of firsts. I will continue to seek out fun firsts to try and hopefully get better at some of the things I've learned that I like to do. We will see. :)

I didn't mean for this post to be lengthy since I just barely posted, but I wanted to update on my year of firsts. I am grateful for friends who have helped me attain my goal by taking me to new adventures, participating with me, and supporting me in this silly little goal of mine. :)

Happy New Years Friends and Family!!!

Tis the Season

Wow, I cannot believe it is over. Although Christmas is over, I hope we all make a better effort to always remember Christ in our lives. That is one thing I love about Christmas, it is a time to REALLY focus on our Older Brother, His birth, His life. I love that we have a designated time to focus on Him. I'm going to try to make Christ more of a focus in my life.

On a different, lighter note... :)

This Holiday Season I've decided to experiment with baking. I've had so much fun. I really like to cook but I hate cooking when it turns out terrible. Rather than admit defeat before I've even tried, I decided that I was going to have fun baking and cooking things I've never tried before. It's been fun. Unfortunately I didn't think to take pics of them until LATE in the season, but here are a couple creations that were really yummy. :)

 
Chocolate Oreo Bon Bons! I dare you not to love them!!! :)

 
Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread

 
Crunchy Chicken Roll-ups (Now I'm hungry for this goodness, mmm)

Going to see the Lights on Temple Square is a Tradition. Not only is there so much symbolism there, but I just love to go there. Christmas just isn't Christmas unless I go to Temple Square and see the lights. It was sooo sooo sooo cold! Thankfully we went on a night that wasn't snowing, but we were freezing regardless. Brrr. I love that I'm not the only one who participates in this tradition. Any day of the week, you will find crowds of people enjoying the beauties of the lights. What a blessing.

 

 

We spent Christmas Eve at my brothers house (like we have for the past few years). We munch on lots of yummy finger foods, talk, play with the kiddies, and read Christmas Stories. This year our crowd was some what smaller than past years, but you'd never know it with the volume levels we can reach. Poor great-grandpa! lol. Boy the kiddies get so excited this time of year. I LOVE it!!!

 
This is right before Christmas Stories. They were pumped and ready to hear stories. But definitely good sports about letting TT take a pic of them. :)

 

Two of the four nerdy bro's I have. I couldn't help it. I had to post this one. It makes me giggle at my grandpa's face verses my two bro's. Hahahaha. Still laughing. :)

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Moab is FUN!

This last weekend I went to Moab for the first time. It was so much fun! Honestly, I feel so blessed to be able to travel around a little bit here and there. While hiking, I was just blown away by the beauties surrounding us here. I feel so lucky to live so close to places like this. I can't believe I've never been to Moab before. Believe me, it will not be a mistake I repeat. I plan on going back as much as I can. I didn't get to explore nearly enough. :)



We not only had hiking adventures, we had other adventures as well. For example, on the first day Melissa and I were the only hikers (the others were biking) and we all filled up our packs with water at the local watering hole. Well I was driving Val's car and she needed to get in the trunk and so I gave her the keys. It wasn't until they were pulling away that I realized she never gave them back to me. Needless to say, we were stranded for a little bit until they realized she had the keys. It was kinda funny. We searched the car 3 times hoping she had just tossed the keys in the car before taking off. Things like that definitely build character. lol.

Another adventure.. that night we were going to play Frisbee in the park and a few of us ended up learning how to Latin dance instead. Seriously, it was almost one of those things out of a movie. Just picture it.. a pavilion, streamer lights, couples dancing at night and a cute man and women teaching us how to move. It was actually a lot of fun. I wouldn't go straight to "Tandy had a lot of grace" but I definitely had fun trying. :) I love to dance, but I'm more of a free style kinda girl. lol. This was good for me. I really want to learn how to be more graceful in couples dancing. Practice makes perfect, right? :)

Year of First's

I would say that surprising to some, I am a very fearful person. I fear of disappointing others. I fear of disappointing myself. I fear of so many silly things. Well, I've decided that I am TIRED of being afraid. This year I have made my New Years goal to 'Make this year a year of Firsts'. Ultimately I'd love to accomplish trying 100 firsts that I've really wanted to try but either never had the opportunity, never had the guts, or had some other reason to talk myself out of it. In this quest I have come to realize that I can do anything I put my mind to. Though I still get really nervous depending on the experience, and though sometimes I REALLY need to work my way up to accomplishing the end result, I know I can do it! :) And that is quite a feat for me to say!!! My journey will not end at the end of this year. I will continue to try new things. I will no longer shy away from things because I've not tried them before. In my journey the greatest thing has been to see that those I've come in contact with have also taken on this view. So many people I've come in contact with are now trying new things. They've even come out with a movie "The Bucket List" with the same kind of idea. It all comes down to the same concept, don't let life pass you by. Enjoy it and do the things you've always wanted to do. :)

People have been asking me what my list has consisted of...so here ya go!
1. Went to a gymnastics tournament
2. Went to the Rexburg Idaho temple open house (Beautiful)
3. Went to the Blue Man Group Concert (odd)
4. Went Salsa Dancing (apparently I have amazing hips. lol)
5. Went to an Off Broadway Show
6. Snow Shoeing
7. Attended a Ballet
8. Soldier Hollow Sledding (super FUN)
9. Baniff Film Festival
10. Learned how to do Family History
11. Tried Calamari aka squid (not my favorite)
12. Joined a book club
13. A concert in a suite box
14. Rock Climbing
15. Disney Princesses on Ice
16. Running Shoes
17. New York City
18. The subway
19. New York Temple Session
20. Tried Mango Salsa (actually liked it)
21. Festival of Colors
22. Dance dance revolution (totally terrible but had so much fun)
23. Ghost town- Calico
24. Drove IN California and also drove the whole way from Cali to Draper
25. Rock Concert
26. Tibetan food- Cafe Shambala
27. Charity Walk for Autism
28. Banbury Donuts (yummy!!)
29. Liberty Park
30. Fried Pickle (totally grossed me out)
31. Ruth's Diner in Emigration Canyon
32. Fish 'n' Chips
33. Spin/Cycling Class
34. Joined my first real Gym
35. Living Traditions Festival (FUN)
36. Hummus (totally gross)
37. Bratwurst (I actually liked it, surprisingly)
38. Salt Lake Library (Beautiful)
39. Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant (I don't do buffets but this was good)
40. Capitol Reef National Park
41. Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument
42. Goblin Valley
43. Hiked Grandeur Peak in Millcreek Canyon
44. Porcupine Pub
45. Jarlsberg cheese
46. Yoga (I'm terrible)
47. Manti Temple Session
48. Kick Boxing (LOVE it)
49. Snapea Crisps
50. Ensign Peak
51. Eyebrows Waxed (actually didn't hurt)
52. Gelatto
53. Frozen Chocolate dipped banana (yuck, still hate banana's even with chocolate)
54. BJ's Restaurant
55. Newport Beach Temple Initiatory
56. Watched fireworks from the beach for the 4th of July
57. Tofu (not bad)
58. Full 24 hr fast
59. Timpanogos Hike
60. Sliding down Timp Glacier
61. Riding in a rebuilt vehicle
62. Off roading (a lot of fun especially going fast)
63. Played Rock Band
64. Jackson Hole
65. Whitewater Rafting (total fan!!)
66. Set off my own fireworks :)
67. Star gazing on the top of a car roof
68. New Book Release
69. Floating the Provo River
70. Demolition Derby
71. Made Cinnamon Rolls from scratch
72. Started a Blog (still not sure how I feel about it)
73. Elk
74. Zucchini Bread (mmm mmm good and super easy!)
75. Meatloaf (totally did it! Nasty to touch while preparing but I did it!! :)
76. Drove cross state through Wyoming (surprisingly longer than you'd think)
77. Vacationed to South Dakota (Beautiful)
78. Mt. Rushmore
79. Custer's State Park (cool wildlife and tons of huge Buffalo)
80. Swept off my feet (literally and it was like I weighed nothing, hm)
81. Red Boxed a Movie (seriously, I had never used Red Box before)
82. Stayed @ a Hotel on the Strip in Vegas (soooo much fun!!!)
83. Collective Soul Concert
84. Tried O'Douls Alcohol Free drink (sooo gross!!!)
85. Camp IN Zions (can't believe I've never camped there before. BEAUTIFUL)
86. Chris Cagle Concert (not into much country but it was entertaining)
87. Started a camp fire (in a pit of course but yay for me!)
88. Shooting (guns scare me but totally did it!!)
89. I sparked (did you know you can spark w/ wintermints? entertaining)
90. Cascade Springs (no not a detergent, yes a beautiful place in the mountains)
91. Pot Roast (not too shabby)
92. Go Kart Racing (sooo much fun!)
93. Moab- Arches National Park- Delicate Arch (amazingly beautiful)
94. Went to a Jazz Game in a Suite Box
95. Went to a Grizzles Hockey Game
96. Ate Korean Food
97. Played Football
98. Nielsen's Frozen Custard (holy crap that's FANTASTIC)
99. Milo drink (it was alright with sugar but not my favorite)
100. Piano lesson (I've been wanting to learn how to play the piano forever)