july highlights.

Summer, can you please stop and stay awhile? I cannot believe July is already here and gone. Not only has it gone by fast, but we haven't had enough hot days to make it feel like a legitimate July. I mean only two days in Texas over 100 degrees is....nuts.

Here are a few highlights from the luckiest (seventh) month of the year:

• Stephen & I got to spend part of our 4th of July at Lake Corsicana & part of it at my Uncle Jeff's house. It was a real treat. I am so happy Stephen got to meet my uncle who is basically my pawpaw. We had a yummy lunch with him and then a lake day & firework filled evening in Corsicana. It was so much fun! 
• My sister got to come visit me on her day off! We started off the day doing some hot vinyasa then a mani/pedi and then bought her some much needed new make-up. I wish she could come visit every Wednesday!
• Back in March, Stephen got me a little birthday surprise... a trip to San Francisco! We finally got to go a few weeks ago. I had so much fun exploring! We saw San Fran, Napa Valley, Sausalito, & Muir Woods. Almost the entire trip the weather didn't get over 70 degrees -- A-mazing. It was a real adventure & I can't wait until I get to see more of the west coast.. or as Stephen says "West coast wheelin.'"  Thank you, Stephen, for such a sweet surprise. You're so thoughtful & I love you so much.
• In east Texas this past weekend I got to meet Stephen's dad, stepmom, & two of his siblings, Brandon & Jordyn. We went to dinner, drank coffee, cooked out, & ate yummy cupcakes. It was so great to meet more of his family - they were all so sweet & precious! That's Jordyn pictured above with her cat, Ella. 

I'm going home to LA in a few days. I haven't spent more than a weekend at home since Christmas. Looking forward to the quiet, home cooked meals, catching up with old friends, & rocking on the back porch. :)

ti amo. cinque terre, italia.

"Love came down and rescued me. Love came down and set me free."

There really aren't words, other than Jesus Christ, to describe what I felt hiking through the hills of the Cinque Terre. When I stopped to look at my surroundings... to think that I live for the King who created all land, water & mankind by His Breath. He called it all into being by His Breath. One of our new friends we met in Florence from South Africa said that she believes in all religions because they all teach discipline. That may be quite true, but there is only one religion that worships the God that created it all by His Breath. When I allow myself to stop. To stop and be still... I am speechless before my Savior. Speechless at what He did for us. Speechless at what He does for us every single day.  

Day 4: We arrived in Vernazza, Italia.

But first...let me tell you about the "breaking the law" that I mentioned earlier...

Well you see it is an Italian law that after one buys a train ticket, before boarding the train one must have the ticket validated. To validate a ticket one must put it in this little green machine and little green machine stamps it with the time and date. I suppose this is to prevent passengers from using an expired ticket. My theory is when you buy a ticket it should already have the time and date on it! Just an idea!

Well when we were leaving from Pisa to the Cinque Terre (we had to change trains in Pisa from Florence) we were in a hurry! Because we couldn't buy our ticket until we got to Pisa and the machines were being difficult with our cards etc. So we had to run to make our train --- having no time to have the darn thing validated. Welp, the one time we didn't validate our ticket the ol' train conductor starts coming by to check them. And of course he didn't pass us up. So after looking at our ticket, he looked at us, stuck his hand out and said "50 euros." I tried to explain our situation, but he could've cared less so I handed him the money and he wrote us a ticket. It was a sad, sad moment. The only reason the law is in place is because they know they can get money from dumb tourists -- like us, apparently.

So after that lovely experience....Katelyn and I were very excited about our stay in the Cinque Terre. After three hectic days of touring nonstop, we were ready for some trees & a more laid back atmosphere. We decided to hike from Vernazza to Corniglia to Manarola via the high road. There were so many beautiful vineyards on the way up the hill full of grapes and olives! Later that night we had dinner at the finest restaurant in Vernazza, Gambero Rosso (Red Prawn), ate anchovies for the first time (ever) & drank a bit too much wine. 

"I am the vine. You are the branches."

As seen in Rick Steve's: Italy 2014.

Day 5: We were pretty exhausted after an intense day of hiking so we slept in late (oh, it was so great), then headed to the edge of the cliffs for some sunbathing in Vernazza on the Mediterranean Sea, took the train to Manarola to see the prettiest town view, & ate yummy pizzeria. P.S. It is way better to be at the ocean on a large rock instead of the sand. Hassle free!

         < Locals sun bathing >

Manarola, Italia.

Day 6: We had breakfast at il Pirata Delle Cinque Terre (as seen in Rick Steve's), hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare, spent the afternoon in Monterosso, had dinner at Ristorante Incadase da Piva (as seen in Rick Steve's: Italy 2014), bought a bottle of Italian Moscoto, went to the top of Vernazza & watched the sunset. It was the perfect ending to our spiritual adventure.

                       

Monterosso al Mare, Italia.

Vernazza, Italia.

Our trip truly was a trip of a lifetime, even though there were a few hiccups along the way - it was all worth it. I had a blast with you sister!!! Ti amo! I love you!                                                                                                        

Here's a helpful list if you're heading to the Cinque Terre:
Traveling Bible: same as previously mentioned
Hotel (in Vernazza): Manuela Apartments
Food: il Pirata delle Cinque Terre, Gambero Rosso, Baia Saracena, Ristorante Incadase da Piva

ciao. firenze, italia.

firenze. 

Day 3: Goodbye Roma, hello Firenze!

But first...let me get to that pickpocketing story I mentioned earlier. One thing is for sure, there was never a dull moment for Katelyn and I on this trip.

So there we are trying to board our train to Florence when this little boy about 12 years old starts hassling us. Like taking my ticket out of my hand to validate it..and then trying to help us with our luggage and then trying to force us to pay him for it all. We ended up just ignoring him and he finally left us alone. We found our seats and were minding our own business when we see the same kid on our train again. We watch him offer to help a grown man with his luggage - then we watch him so confidently & smoothly take the man's wallet out of his pocket and then put it in his own pocket! We freaked out. The man had no clue what had just happened and the boy starts to casually walk down the train past us. I tell Katelyn "Take it from him!" It was the only thing I could think to say. Welp, that's exactly what she did!!! She reversed pickpocketed the little brat and he had no idea he'd been pickpocketed! It was seriously the scariest thing ever. I know it doesn't sound scary, but that little boy isn't working solo. There are probably multiple grown men who order him around because in Italy if you're under 18 and commit a crime there isn't a thing the Italian police can do to punish you so kids do the dirty work. We were so shaken up the entire train ride to Florence. I had to pep talk us for a good while so we could enjoy the rest of our trip!

Once we arrived to Florence, we immediately checked in to our hotel, dropped our luggage off and headed for the city. Since we only had one full day in Florence, we needed to make the most of it. We started at a huge food market with tons of fresh vegetables, cheeses, meat, and fish. It was really cool.

fresh italian gelato. nothin' else like it.

Then we headed to the Accademia to see the Statue of David. We knew it would be another long wait in line...but once again we were surrounded by people who spoke english! We made four more new friends. Two from Hong Kong, Kevin and Caroline, one from South Africa, Estelle, and Juan from Mexico City. It was so interesting to hear the differences between all our countries. For a few hours, we had an awesome time getting to know these cool people. Then we finally made it inside and saw the incredible, David. It is crazy to think that it just started out as one big rock and then Michelangelo formed and carved such a beautiful man (I'm not going to add pics since he is naked.....).

we bought matching bracelets.

After the Accademia, we toured the Duomo and each lit a candle inside and then continued walking around the city. I liked Florence because it was smaller than Rome, but Florence apparently has more of a sewage issue. Some streets it smelled terrible! As we were walking along the river, we ran into Juan! One of the people we met in line at the Accademia. It turned out Juan had been traveling for 15 days all by himself (he did a semester abroad in Spain and his friends wanted to travel other places - no he wasn't a creep) so of course I invited him to have dinner with us. I'm so glad I did - we had a great time. 

After dinner, we tried to go to Piazzale Michelangelo for the best view of Florence, but since Italy was playing in the World Cup that day it was shut down for a firework show so we couldn't. But to our great luck the Campanile di Giotto bell tower was open for the first time this year! We were able to climb the 414 stairs and see the second best view of Florence. 

kk in front of the Duoma Cathedral.

Ponte Vecchio

us with Juan.

As seen in Rick Steve's

real spaghetti!

view from the tower.

Firenze is beautiful.

We learned how to spell the word we'd been using for 3 days for hello & goodbye, "ciao" pronounced "chow." Katelyn assured me that "ciao" was not spelled like chow haha I totally thought it would be.

Here's a helpful list if you're heading to Florence:
Traveling Bible: same as mentioned previously
Hotel: Hotel Lorena (perfect location, very cheap & breakfast included) (community bathrooms but very very clean!)
Food: Ristorante Boccadama
Transporation: Florence is way smaller than what it appears to be on the map. We didn't use public transportation once -- of course, we were only there a day, but we were still able to see everything.
Museums: There was a "fast line" at the Accademia that you could get in if you paid like 25 more Euros, but it did not move any faster. And those people were in the sun while we relaxed in the shade. Keep your Euros and skip the fast line! 

grazie. roma, italia.

I'd been dying to visit Europe ever since my first trip back in 2011. This past Christmas break, after having a serious discussion with my sister about going to Italy this summer, I was happy to be planning another visit!

Our trip to Italy was probably the most adventurous thing I've ever done in my life. And that was probably because I was in charge of putting the whole shebang together and I was headed to a country I'd never been to before. That being said, our trip included losing one another in the heart of Rome, participating in pickpocketing and breaking the law therefore having to pay a fine. 

roma.

So where shall I begin? Roma! 

P.S. I like to add pictures that capture the city. Anyone can Google a million pictures of the Colosseum and every other historic site in Italy. So here's to capturing the city!

Day 1: Arrived in Rome at 9:00 a.m. after getting very little sleep on the overnight flight. As soon as we got off the plane, it hit me that I had to get us from point A to point B on this trip. It was very nerve racking and I had a slight panic attack (no worries, I didn't tell Katelyn any of this), but said a plea to Jesus that He would help me... then I starting feeling a little better! 

We managed to find our bed & breakfast with a bit of searching because the sign for it was about 2 inches long and about a centimeter tall & only by God's grace did Katelyn see it! We were greeted by the sweetest, Asian-Italian owner, Isabella. She talked really fast when explaining to us the 6 keys to all the doors and the elevator. Luckily, her english was good. She taught us our first Italian word "grazie" which means thank you. At this point, we felt exhausted and gross after traveling so many hours, but we knew sleep nor shower were anywhere in the near future. It was time to see Roma!

We walked to the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine & the Roman Forum. After covering these three sights, we realized we were spent. So we found a nice little cement bench in the shade & unintentionally fell asleep...oops. We woke up and laughed - feeling like country people who got thrown into the city, but it was well worth it. We learned once we arrived in Rome the Rolling Stones were actually playing that same day! But we soon realized it was one big party and we didn't want to be apart of it so we just bought a cool t-shirt. We finished up the day with touring a few other historic sites and had dinner at a nice little Resturante enjoying our own pizzeria margarita.  

There are tons of painters on the city streets. You can watch them paint & purchase a picture!

Fortunately, there were clean (cute!) water fountains throughout the city.

You see why we had trouble finding our hotel? Tiny. Sign.

Day 2: After an amazing night's sleep & a yummy breakfast, we were ready to face the day. The most important sites for us to see were St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. We knew the lines would be terrible so we started early and...the line for the Vatican was terrible. Luckily, the two people behind us in line were from the US and soon became our new friends - Laura and Donna. Also, I quickly realized that I had completely forgotten about the dress code for these two sites. Katelyn and I were both in shorts which is a risky choice. So we purchased scarves and made a skirt. They were so hideous. We looked absolutely ridiculous - it was hilarious. I still can't believe we spent half the day looking so atrocious. See for yourself...

our new friends.

on our way to the sistene chapel.

fancy skirt.

 After going through parts of the Vatican and seeing Michelangelo's amazing work in the Sistene Chapel (it really is a-mazing), we headed over to St. Peter's. This is where our day got a bit interesting. And I'm going to give the short version. We waited in line, went through security and were about to walk through the guards when I got stopped for not having sleeves...even though my hair was down and you could barely tell. Katelyn and I decided that she should go ahead and go in and see St. Peter's - this was discussed and decided in about 10 seconds or less. So off she went!... with both cell phones, both passports and all of our money in the backpack. I literally had nothing. Once I smiled and waved her goodbye, it hit me - you are a moron. You have nothing!!! So the short version is for an hour and a half (which felt like 15 YEARS) of me searching everywhere for her, going to information for help and crying... we finally ran into one another. Her first words to me were "I've been looking for you for 5 MINUTES! I was so worried." I wanted to slap the girl. I quickly let her know that while she was away admiring the lovely St. Peter's and catching a dreamy view of all of Rome - just having the time of her life, I was down below choking down vomit because I thought she was gone forever. I told Katelyn I'd give Jesus all the money in my savings account just for allowing us to find each other lol. 

After a good hour, I finally started to relax and we were able to finish our day seeing the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and different shops. We had dinner right around the corner from the Spanish Steps at Antica Enoteca (as seen in Rick Steve's). Shortly, after dinner we headed back to our hotel and called it a day.

us with sweet Isabella.

these little pizzeria's are scattered all over Roma.

we were real sad about this scaffolding on the Spanish Steps.

                       Here's a helpful list if you're heading to Rome:

                                                                             Traveling Bible: Rick Steve's: Italy 2014

Hotel: B&B Smart (hardy breakfast included- I highly recommend this place!)

Transportation: It's very easy to travel from Fiumicino airport to Rome's Termini train station. Be sure to buy tickets to the Termini Station (main train station). 

Tips: It's not necessary to purchase the Roma Pass if you're staying 3 days or less. We bought it and it was a waste of precious Euros. Rome can easily be covered walking (if you're wearing comfortable shoes!)

Be sure and wear sleeves and a skirt if you're planning on visiting St. Peter's and Vatican Museum. The guards can be very strict - as we well know. 

A lot of museums and major sights are closed either Sunday or Monday - plan accordingly. 

If it's even possible, I would try and find out what major sites are under construction. Unfortunately for us, the Trevi Fountain had no water & the Spanish Steps were covered in scaffolding.