This Is Our Someday

This post is dedicated to my amazingly talented friend, James Maslow, for his first album hitting iTunes and being number one the first day! If you don't already know the band Big Time Rush, from the Nickelodeon TV show with the same title (why wouldn't you? If you know me, then you know of them) then check it out! So James, I am so proud of you and even though I am halfway around the world, my thoughts, prayers, pride, and excitement is all for you!

So proud! James is second from the left (for those who don't already know who I'm so proud of)

Now back to life in Italy, which is, as always, a dream come true. This past weekend I had a wonderful friend from home, Annie Heathorn, come up from her study abroad program in Rome to spend some quality time with me. We had a wonderful time riding bikes, eating good food, and seeing the city from the top of the Duomo. Duomo means "cathedral" in Italian, so you can imagine many churches are named such. However, in Firenze "Duomo" refers to the massive church in the center of town (it's the one you can see in every picture of Florence). We made the very claustrophobic climb between the two walls that make up the dome and experienced an amazing sight. We picked a gorgeous clear day to go up there and could see so far out into the hills of Tuscany. It was wonderful!

Made it to the top of the Dome!

The next day we rode bikes all around the city and out into a little of the surrounding, less crowded area. It is a miracle we did not get hit in the city; there are so many people and cars don't really care if you are in the way. However, once we got out into the less dense area it was perfect. We found a few parks, played on some swings, climbed a totem pole, sat along the Arno (the river that runs through the city) to watch the sunset. It was perfect.

Sunday came and Annie had to leave, but the sadness was lessened by the fact that my parents arrived! We spent a little time walking around the Boboli gardens, and getting dinner; it was wonderful to see them, even though they were very jet lagged! I'm looking forward to a wonderful week with them, taking them to my favorite places and showing them my life here in Italy. I no longer feel like I'm visiting this wonderful place; this is now my home and I absolutely love it!

Me and dad :) Pretty sure I'm making fun of him for something right then

"Someday is what we make it. Someday is right here and now. Why wait? Cause this is our someday." Big Time Rush