i totally take back my last story about the rice krispie treats… let them sit out a little longer and they taste just fine

So, as it turns out… if you make rice krispie treats out of stale rice krispies… all you will end up with are stale rice krispie treats. We thought, oh, maybe since the’re just crunchy anyway you wont be able to tell the difference, but I just finished making them (from kendra’s rice krispies from who knows how long ago — i dont even want to know) and sure enough the aforementioned hypothesis is entirely false.

This was a while ago, but still worth mentioning: my physics professor lit himself on fire during lecture! not on purpose of course, but he was demonstrating an experiment and the guy that came into the class to run the experiment said that it hadn’t worked for the previous class, so he went ahead and added a little more ethanol (it was a rocket propulsion-type experiment). Well, my professor was standing behind the “rocket” when he started the experiment, flames shot out, and before anyone realized what was going on, my professor was in flames. Luckily, it turned out fine and he put the fire out relatively quickly, but afterward he had to ask the class if he still had eyebrows…

Tomorrow morning is my registration for spring quarter classes already. I guess not ‘already’ since I am behind about everyone else in my school, but yea… the lab that I need to get into has one space left. I register at 7:40. Registration starts at 7:00, meaning there is pretty much no way I will get in, but here’s hoping. Kendra and I are perpetually confused as to why we have so many problems with scheduling when no one else seems to have a problem at all. With that, the physics and bio classes that I need overlap too, so I have to pick one. sucks. I went to the chem department to get an advising appointment on friday after finally looking at the schedule of classes, for some reason thinking they would be able to get me in before monday morning. Sure enough, everything was full, and so I have an appointment on monday at 10:30…after i have already registered. They are also having a chem advising session monday night that I’m going to… and somewhere in between registering and going to my meeting with the advisor, I have work on monday morning as well. good times.

This weekend was fun. Kendra hosted a dinner party (I wasn’t sure if I could make it, but after some convincing I gave in and went…home…after class…and there they were). My little mini-Martha did all the cooking, which was wonderful!



Bethany brought the bread, which was cut prefectly (that was my contribution). We had dinner, wine, and a mario kart tournament. woooo.

 










Saturday morning was the first time I had gone out to breakfast since I got back. mmm… breakfast. best meal of the day.

in loving memory

if you are from lake county you probably heard the news of what happened the other day and may still be in disbelief. after being told what happened, i was in complete shock and it wasn’t until i was off the phone did i realize what i had actually just heard. i got to see her over christmas but before that i can’t say i remember the last time. we may not have been the best of friends, but from the times that we did hang out over the years, i came to love her for all that she was, which was a truly amazing person. in all honesty, its rare that you find someone so genuine. i know this was a long time ago and may seem trivial, but i remember one time specifically when we were at a party (back when i definately did not drink or anything of the sort) and despite my feelings of uncertainty for being there she was the one that made me realize that it was ok. she was so comfortable with being herself and she made me feel the same. through the years to follow, that truth she had in herself and those around her was never lost. before this last year, i hadn’t ever really experienced this feeling of loss. but, when something like this happens, and someone goes on before their time, it automatically leads you to ask ‘why?’. if we knew the answer to that question, maybe we would understand life a little more. but there is no good reason for things to happen as they do; for bad things to happen to such good people. life is unexpected, and sometimes, frankly, it sucks.

to jessica: there are so many people right now that would do anything in their power to change what happened. it was definitely not your time. wherever you are, looking down on all of this, i hope you know how many lives you affected in such a positive way. you will be loved and remembered. forever. sempre.

to my family and to my friends including all of you that i have lost touch with or dont talk to very often, and to those people that have come into my life for moments along the way and to those that have gone on but will always be here in spirit: even if you never read this or even if we never see each other or never talk, i hope you know that i am glad to have you in my life and memories. thank you for being a part of keeping me and everyone else from the crazy place this world would be without you.

happy groundhog day! woooo …check it out!

so.. in bio today i learned about the bobtail squid…it can cancel out its own shadow to protect itself because of the bacteria that lives on its body and creates light. how cool is that!

hmm… ok… that’s all i’ve got…. gotta go thursday night hot tubbin!

oh, and i’m way excited for the amazing race to start.. good show … emily and i are soooo going on that show one of these years

I’ve been having really strange dreams lately. I’m not actually sure at all what they are about, but I know that in a few of them I was back in Italy. So.. not really related to that at all but just because I am distracting myself from doing more productive things (namely, going to bed)… I decided to put together a random selection of some of my favorite Italy pics… non-people pics.

also, even tho it’s late because I dont write in here all that often… gotta say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dan… which was a couple of days ago! another one thats 21! AND, since there are so many people getting married these days, or at least setting the date, gotta say congrats (or good luck or best wishes or whatever it is you say to people getting married) to all of them (i dont think i can even list them all…wow…its crazy)!

But anyway… here are some of my favorite pictures and places:

View of Siena and the hills of Toscana from the tower in Siena

Another view from the tower…. Il Campo

Part of Cinque Terre…. definately one of the most beautiful places in the world

A random church in Pisa

Sunset on the bridge that takes you to the Leaning Tower

Lucca… a small city with it’s walls still perfectly intact

Staircase in Genova

Sunny day in Firenze

On the same day in Florence

The car Enzo Ferrari tributed to his son Dino at the Ferrari Museum

Part of a random student protest in Bologna, home of the oldest university in the world

Inside Il Grotto Azzuro on Capri

The haunted fountain (as Cindy and I like to call it) in Empoli

Pet Cemetery in Dublin

Sunny day overlooking the Alps

One of the many canals in Venezia

Ride a gondola in Venezia

Torino, home of the 2006 winter olympics

Ceremony for the passing on of the Olympic Torch in Siena

Overlooking the shore of Sorrento

On top of the world in San Marino

Almost sunset on the beach in the south of France

The shoreline of Nice

Some interesting plants in Monaco

The beach in Positano on the Amalfi Coast

Inside the cheese factory in Parma

PACE

A good show of German architecture in Munich

It’s amazing how Rome can make you feel so small

On The Spanish Steps

Being blessed by the Pope on Sunday in Rome

Christmas in Rome

well, that’s all for now… im going to go do some ochem and go to sleep! tomorrow is friday… the boys are heading off to vegas, so we’re having a GIRLS NIGHT… that is, after I once again have class until 8pm on friday. good times

oh, I amost forgot… today, Kendra and I were having a discussion about the difference between Topher, Jake, and Tobey (dont feel like doing last names)… and even thought I may be able to tell the difference between them when I look at their pictures. this kendra failed after I made her this:

but yea, it really is true… i can tell if it’s topher (probably just because I think his name is so awesome) but the other two i really do get mixed up. we looked at their filmographies… and i could have sworn that some of them were wrong.. ha, all along I thought it was the other one in certain movies. and, actually, for a while i just thought they were the exact same person.

So, just the other night… kendra, brant, and I were watching Red Eye (which by the way I had been wanting to watch for a while because of the stupid preview for it that came on every two seconds when I was trying to watch something else the other day and even though kendra had seen it she wouldn’t tell me anything about it and rented it instead). But yea, in one of the most intense, edge-of-your-seat, what’s going on!?!-type moments… one of our mouse traps went off. haha… kendra freaked out and wouldn’t let us look until the movie was over… so, after the movie, kendra ran over to the kitchen and hid from the mouse on top of the table while brant and i went over to see what had happened. sadly, it was just the phone cord that had fallen off the wall where we had taped it up so nicely with blue tape… maybe next time we will catch out little friend…

But, from all of this mouse/rat drama… kendra has come to the conclusion that i am the husband of the household. lol… so here is our happy little family: i am the husband who comes home late and takes care of things around the house, kendra is the cook and the wife that is cheating on her husband (with brant), and courtney is the daughter that is always off gallivanting somewhere.

(kendra now has me hooked on felicity… great show)

From “The Burrow” to “The Mouse House”

yep…that’s what Brant recently named our new place here in SD. we have a little friend. we set out traps… and the little guy just set them off, ate the peanut butter, and ran. We hear him sometimes. Or at least we think it’s him (or her!). but yea, that is still a work in progress…

oooo… you know what today is!?!

COLLEEN’S BIRTHDAY!!!!

happy birthday colleen. you are 21!!! (old)… love you!

so last weekend we went to ireland, and it was amazing. we went on a city tour, on a tour of the guinness factory, and then on a tour of the country as well. as you might expect, there were huge green rolling hills (we went to these beautiful gardens on the country tour) … but there were signs everywhere that said “keep off the grass” (yes.. english! ahhh lol) but yea, we really wanted to run out there and roll down hills and pretty much just go frolic in the green-ness… but no, we couldn’t.

but, instead of going on and on about my trip, i would rather make a note about what i did today after class. i’ve thought about getting my hair cut here before, but never actually wanted to do it because i was always too scared. well today for some reason i got the urge to go and get it cut. i mean, the program is almost done and im going home, i might as well do it, right? well they are really into layers here… and as i sat in the chair about to hyperventilate as i watched my hair fall to the floor, all i could think about was that soon i would have a mullet…! Well, it didn’t turn out quite like a mullet… but as courtney says, i have turned into farrah fawcett, but maybe a little more italian-looking because she left the back super long but the top is super short. (it is totally for laura though, she is the one who wanted me to get my hair cut here… actually i kinda felt like i was cheating on here getting my hair cut by someone else…) but so yea, i went back a few decades… and my hair is crazy-like. but, hey… its a change. im not saying that i dont like it… i mean, its actually only a little variation of what i normally get. bethany and i were talking about that one time how we are boring and get the same haircut every time. layers. sometimes a little shorter, sometimes a little longer, but overall… its always the same. and i guess there isn’t really much else that you can do with it unless you chop it all off and i am definately not doing that anytime soon. but anyway, i guess i will stop rambling on about my hair, and i have to go, we are going to have a little movie night thing and watch sliding doors. mom, if you happen to be reading this, thanks again for the movies (and my computer). actually, i think a lot of people in the eap program thank you for the movies… they have been getting around…

ciao ciao

see my new pic… i know, i know… i am SO ghetto… g-unit for life, thats right

Currently Listening To: Christmas Music!

yay for visitors!

so the fam came… we had some good times here in siena and in pisa where we did the traditional holding-up-the-tower pics… ha and after they toured italy and came back here i gave them a running tour of siena since they only had an hour

courtney’s friends (now my friends too i think… lol) came and stayed with us for a week and that was awesome.

everyone left though. the fam isnt actually leaving italy until wednesday i think, but the others left for home yesterday

this last friday, a group of us left for torino… had a few issues with the train of course (because of a train crash, we left an hour later than we were supposed to from siena, had a few more transfers and then missed our train in genova by 40 minutes or something like that.. very sad) so yea, we had to hang out there for the night but it was insanely freeeeeezing cold. i dont know why we always end up in genova, but for some reason we do. we walked around and found a bar/restaurant type place and stayed there till they kicked us out and then wandered back over to the train station. i realized i actually really liked genova, so it wasnt too bad to be back to see it again lol (even tho i would rather have not). tried to sleep, but it was kinda too cold for that, so i walked up and down along the railway where there were no people or trains… then we wandered around the train staiton for a while.. up and down stairs.. found a corridor that was almost kinda warm… sat in a room for a while playing games… and finally the next morning our train came. nick has family friends with a house in torino.. so we got to stay there… wouldn’t that be nice to have houses all over the world. but yea, they were nice enough to let us stay there so that was awesome. but since i had to be back in siena on sunday, we (the girls) slept for a few hours and then got up to wander around the city. it was so exciting, they had signs up for Torino 2006 and they had awesome lights up on all the streets. we went to a museum that went through the history of cinema.. it was one of the most exciting museums i have been to… the set up of it was just really nice and they had really comfortable chairs where jessica fell asleep.. ha

so yea, then we asked a lady where to find the olympic sites and she gave us directions to a few spots, but we didnt really find much to see. there was a lot of construction though, so it will be awesome to see how it looks once the olympics start. then we just hung out for a while at the house which was so nice… to just dit down on a couch and watch tv, and they had a bunch of games, so we played a few of those. we went out to dinner…. i ate some very tasty spaghetti… and i was off… back to the train station… got back to siena yesterday morning, ran home (literally… with my bag and all… that was my workout for the day), took a shower, and went to meet my family in the campo.

today i got asked to teach another class… so now courtney and i are doing a 5th grade class on mondays (even tho there aren’t really that many left.. thats ok). they are adorable, and surprisingly well behaved.

tomorrow we are going to the opera in florence. should be fun.. i just have to figure out what to wear! i brought a dress with me to wear but i dont think i want to wear it… i might freeze to death! oh well.. i guess ill figure that out tomorrow as i freak out like 20 minutes before we leave… as usual

so.. i love hearing about first impressions. a few of us were walking back from our ESL classes today telling stories about what we thought of each other in the beginning of the program. and its true, usually when you look back you realize you were completely wrong about most people… sometimes first impressions are alright and you still feel the same way about the person (good or bad) but you really can never trust what you think of people when you first meet them! i think i need to start writing down more of what i think of people as soon as i meet them… then if we become better friends later or whatever i can look back and see how different they really are from what i thought.

so my time here is almost over! its insane. im not even sure how im feeling right now. insanely sad, excited… everything… but yea, only 3 more weeks and ill be back home! wooo… and i decided that we need to have a christmas party (or a get-together-ish thing of some sort) so if anyone happens to be reading this that is my friend that is going to be in lakeport around christmas time… im just letting you know now that we need to do that… not need… we are… yep yep… or as riss would say – yippy skippy

i dont think theres much else new going on in my life right now. im very tired at the moment, there’s that. but i dont think anyone really cares about that. oh one thing, i am now in charge of the slideshow for the program.. of course no one was volunteering so i didn’t want there not to be one, and so i went in and said i would do it (even tho of course after that a bunch of other people said they were planning on doing it too)…but so yea, they put in the bulletin that i had saved the day (and that people need to send in pics) and the same message has been in there for a while now, so every morning i hear something from someone about saving the day again…lol

i have been putting it off long enough… so here i go… gotta study some italian for my test tomorrow. i think i have reached the point where i know i will be going home soon and that im not going to get to use my italian anymore so i have a hard time getting myself to do it.

ciao ciao

-xoxo-ky-

va bene per tutti?

oh my goodness… we are going to have visitors  in like 2 days!!!! yep yep.. the whole fam is on their way (mom,dad,sis,spanky,grandma,auntie) ha… they are getting into florence friday afternoon! how exciting! then saturday courtney’s friends Josh and Jess are going to be here too! for a week! woooooo  …we just have to clean our aparmtent and we’ll be good to go… any maybe buy some food cause we dont have any… and maybe some light bulbs… cause we cant see

yea, so its very sad. i just finished doing dishes. but just the other day our light went out in the kitchen so you cant see ANYTHING if you go in there. so.. i stole the lamp from the desk and used it in the kitchen just so i could see to do the dishes… then moved it back when i was done. we are so sad. one of these days we really need to buy some light bulbs.. but we just havent gotten around to it yet.

anyway.. last weekend was Venice. marilyn met us there which was awesome. im so glad we actually planned something together. anyway, we pretty much went to all different museums all weekend.. and churches… and we rode a boat thing down the Grand Canal. it was really cold there… and foggy. but it was still a lot of fun and the museums were very exciting. we went to the Palazzo Ducale, St.Marks Basilica, Museo Correr, The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Ca’Pesaro, and another one that i dont remember the name of that had fasion and furniture. the Ca’Pesaro was my favorite. we spent quite a while in St. Mark’s Square where the pidgeons were insane. i got a video of them that is really creepy…

So, I finally got my ESL internship here. im only going to be able to do it a few times because its once a week for an hour, but its going to go well, i think. I am teaching a middle school class with 22 13-year olds. at least im not alone though. another girl from my program, Sarah, is working with me. wooo.. how exciting

ciao ciao… must go study… maybe