They say the only thing constant in life is change. I think they are right, but just because it's constant doesn't make it easier.
I have been mourning (and when I say mourning, I mean crying, pouting around, and eating every terrible thing I can get my hands on) because of a recent change that has challenged my loyality, made me question things I felt and thought I knew, and just plain broken my heart. My dearest friend is gone from my daily life at work, and I just can't fathom how things could ever be normal again. I have been such a mess of emotions in depths I never knew existed and in such complex arrangements I can't begin to untangle them. I can't wait for hind sight to reveal the lessons to be learned from this unsavory experience.
In other news, I ripped off all my false eyelashes (it was painfully satisfying, like taking acrylic nails off) and my natural lashes are truely pathetic.
Also, against any of my better judgement, I will be running in a 5K on the 4th of July. I may not live to see the evening's fireworks....
"There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help and what they cannot" -Plato
Monday, June 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Like for reals...
Remember that one time I said my Euro Trip blog would be eternally long.... I was totally right. After going through 1,800 pictures (yes, you read that correctly), I have narrowed it down to approximately 62 that I feel must be shared. I have broken them up into blogs by location and of course I can't get them to post in the right order. Paris first. Venice second. Cinque Terre, Florence and Pisa third. Rome fourth. Dusseldorf last. Well.... Have at it...
Please, please feel free to Wikipedia any of the item seen, or discussed.
Please, please feel free to Wikipedia any of the item seen, or discussed.
Germany, the end.
Dusseldorf 
Washing the dirt of Italy off our feet in Jessie's bathroom (the feet washing was a regular occurrence during our travels)
Jessie's cute house as we are leaving to pick up her girls from school
Downtown Dussely-dorf and the Rhine.
Playing with little Tim, who was so cute.
In Closing:
I do not believe this trip could have been any more perfect (except it could have been longer). We had the most incredible time, saw the most unbelievable things, partook of the most delicious food, and made many priceless memories. I am so very lucky to have had the opportunity to go on this trip, and I would recommend it to anyone! I hope you all have the privilege of finding yourself in Europe someday.
Roma
Montepulciano
This beautiful, historic town we stopped at on our way to Rome. This is at lunch in the square. An incredible lunch. Btw.
Pauly and I and the square at the top of a steep main street so skinny you can barely fit 1 car and pedestrians.
Gelato #115
THE Colosseum. Like the real thing. I was there!
It was Paula's birthday so we had some fabulous gelato (#122) with a candle.
THE Trevi Fountain!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL!! And absolutely packed with people.
Tossing my coins into the fountain to ensure my return to Rome. (each day about 3,000 euro in coin is tossed into the fountain... that's over $4,000)
St. Peter's Square in The Vatican City.
Jessie and Pauly and the square.
St Peter's Basilica. The yellow circle is Pope Benedict. As in THE POPE. I saw him!
The Swiss Guard uniforms. They are the sworn protectors of the Vatican.
Inside St Peters with my hand in the Holiest of Holy Water. Boo YA!
The Mouth of Truth. Go watch Roman Holiday with Audry Hepburn.
Shopping in a nasty discount bin along the street. 2 euro isn't bad for a skirt. Didn't buy it.
The Pantheon. Huge church. Huge dome. Huge hole in the top. Awesome! The outside looked so dumpy and run down, and the inside was... amazing (I'm running out of adjectives for all the things I saw)
Sad, Sad, Sad. The final Italian Gelato cone. We went out with a bang by mixing two flavors.
All our luggage, 1 million degree weather, waiting at the train station for the train to the airport. Goodbye Rome. Goodbye Italy. I will very sincerely miss you.
This beautiful, historic town we stopped at on our way to Rome. This is at lunch in the square. An incredible lunch. Btw.
Pauly and I and the square at the top of a steep main street so skinny you can barely fit 1 car and pedestrians.
Gelato #115Rome
Each morning we took a picture of the three of us before we headed out to various activities. Some are better than others, most are better than this one, but I wanted to show of my eyelashes in this one. I got eyelash extensions before I left, and they were the best thing I packed. They were so great!
Each morning we took a picture of the three of us before we headed out to various activities. Some are better than others, most are better than this one, but I wanted to show of my eyelashes in this one. I got eyelash extensions before I left, and they were the best thing I packed. They were so great!
THE Colosseum. Like the real thing. I was there!
It was Paula's birthday so we had some fabulous gelato (#122) with a candle.
THE Trevi Fountain!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL!! And absolutely packed with people.
Tossing my coins into the fountain to ensure my return to Rome. (each day about 3,000 euro in coin is tossed into the fountain... that's over $4,000)
St. Peter's Square in The Vatican City.
Jessie and Pauly and the square.
St Peter's Basilica. The yellow circle is Pope Benedict. As in THE POPE. I saw him!
The Swiss Guard uniforms. They are the sworn protectors of the Vatican.
Inside St Peters with my hand in the Holiest of Holy Water. Boo YA!
The Mouth of Truth. Go watch Roman Holiday with Audry Hepburn.
Shopping in a nasty discount bin along the street. 2 euro isn't bad for a skirt. Didn't buy it.
The Pantheon. Huge church. Huge dome. Huge hole in the top. Awesome! The outside looked so dumpy and run down, and the inside was... amazing (I'm running out of adjectives for all the things I saw)
Sad, Sad, Sad. The final Italian Gelato cone. We went out with a bang by mixing two flavors.
All our luggage, 1 million degree weather, waiting at the train station for the train to the airport. Goodbye Rome. Goodbye Italy. I will very sincerely miss you.CT, Firenze, Pisa
Cinque Terre
The door to our hostel at the top of the stairs, us strategizing how to get us and our bags up to it.
View from the square just below the hostel. Manarola, the 2nd of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre
Jessie and I embarking on the path along the cliffs to the next village over.
I can't believe I was in a place so beautiful.
Jessie and I with our toes in the Mediterranean. Clearly not a swimming day...
Via del'Amore- The pathway of love. Located between 2 villages, lovers from would meet at this point. All the locks on the railing are a sign of their love.
Florence
My BEAUTIFUL David. He was so stunning.
Took a cooking class out in the Tuscan countryside (see below) I made that pasta from scratch! I'm so Italian!
The gorgeous patio view from the Cooking house. And the 3 cooks of course.
Gelato #97 and 98
Gelato in Popsicle form #99
My adorable 16 year-old, straight up Italian boyfriend (I seem to be acquiring them rather rapidly lately) who sold me some Florence pottery AND gave me a 2 euro 50 discount in exchange for this very kiss.
Pisa
Driving from Florence to Rome we detoured for an hour in Pisa for a pic with the tower, snapped a few and were on our way again.
The door to our hostel at the top of the stairs, us strategizing how to get us and our bags up to it.
View from the square just below the hostel. Manarola, the 2nd of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre
Jessie and I embarking on the path along the cliffs to the next village over.
I can't believe I was in a place so beautiful.
Jessie and I with our toes in the Mediterranean. Clearly not a swimming day...
Via del'Amore- The pathway of love. Located between 2 villages, lovers from would meet at this point. All the locks on the railing are a sign of their love.Florence
My BEAUTIFUL David. He was so stunning.
Took a cooking class out in the Tuscan countryside (see below) I made that pasta from scratch! I'm so Italian!
The gorgeous patio view from the Cooking house. And the 3 cooks of course.
Gelato #97 and 98
Gelato in Popsicle form #99
My adorable 16 year-old, straight up Italian boyfriend (I seem to be acquiring them rather rapidly lately) who sold me some Florence pottery AND gave me a 2 euro 50 discount in exchange for this very kiss.Pisa
Driving from Florence to Rome we detoured for an hour in Pisa for a pic with the tower, snapped a few and were on our way again.Venezia
Venice
BEAUTIFUL VENICE!!! It is absolutely unbelievable!
Our very first taste of genuine Italian pizza. It was SO worth the travel!
The view from our PERFECT corner hotel room.
The Rialto Bridge. It's got two rows of shops across it, mostly Venetian glass shops. The oldest bridge across the Grand Canal.
Doing some stretches to ease our aching bodies from walking like five billion miles and then we walked five billion more (just to be the man who walks five billion miles....da da da da da da)
Probably my second taste of Gelato. ( 2 down, 143 more to go...)
St Marks square hanging with the flying rats.
It's so incredible. This guy was washing his boat just like I would wash my car. I LOVE VENICE!
BEAUTIFUL VENICE!!! It is absolutely unbelievable!
Our very first taste of genuine Italian pizza. It was SO worth the travel!
The view from our PERFECT corner hotel room.
The Rialto Bridge. It's got two rows of shops across it, mostly Venetian glass shops. The oldest bridge across the Grand Canal.
Doing some stretches to ease our aching bodies from walking like five billion miles and then we walked five billion more (just to be the man who walks five billion miles....da da da da da da)
Probably my second taste of Gelato. ( 2 down, 143 more to go...)
St Marks square hanging with the flying rats.
It's so incredible. This guy was washing his boat just like I would wash my car. I LOVE VENICE! Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Paris
Paris
Finally we are together again... and in Paris. Seriously.
The Moulin Rouge, in the dirty part of Paris, but still SO cool
There she is... it was TOTALLY love at first sight!
At 10:00 pm she sparkles. I can't believe I was actually there!
I love me some Notre Dame in the morning! 12th century. Amazing!
The famous Rose Windows of Notre Dame
Shopping in the Latin Quarter. Just look at that store... I definitely shopped there.
Dorky tourists. Btw- we DID NOT purchase the berets.
Cute flower market along the street
Courtyard of the Louvre with the Pyramide du Louvre
Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon in the early 1800s 
Escargot which I'm about to eat.....
It took a lot of convincing for me to eat those, but they really weren't bad. Jessica finished her whole plate of them!
Me and tiny little Mona Lisa. Probably the most famous work of art in the world, and it's just kind of.... there.
Another famous lady, Venus de Milo
Night time entertainment... peeping on our boyfriend neighbor
Crepes + Nutella = harty laughs and souvenir pounds
There she is again. Love her.
The coolest metro stop in Paris. It is totally Scrabble, which I love. But really it is all the letters of the French Constitution.
Finally we are together again... and in Paris. Seriously.
The Moulin Rouge, in the dirty part of Paris, but still SO cool
There she is... it was TOTALLY love at first sight!
At 10:00 pm she sparkles. I can't believe I was actually there!
I love me some Notre Dame in the morning! 12th century. Amazing!
The famous Rose Windows of Notre Dame
Shopping in the Latin Quarter. Just look at that store... I definitely shopped there.
Dorky tourists. Btw- we DID NOT purchase the berets.
Cute flower market along the street
Courtyard of the Louvre with the Pyramide du Louvre
Arc de Triomphe, built by Napoleon in the early 1800s 
Escargot which I'm about to eat.....
It took a lot of convincing for me to eat those, but they really weren't bad. Jessica finished her whole plate of them!
Me and tiny little Mona Lisa. Probably the most famous work of art in the world, and it's just kind of.... there.
Another famous lady, Venus de Milo
Night time entertainment... peeping on our boyfriend neighbor
Crepes + Nutella = harty laughs and souvenir pounds
There she is again. Love her.
The coolest metro stop in Paris. It is totally Scrabble, which I love. But really it is all the letters of the French Constitution.Paris... Logged in the travel journal, 450 pics taken, off to ITALY!
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