La Vita Italiana

Guess where my family went? A hint: olive vineyards, Florence, pizza, gelato. Of course, it was Italy!!! A five day vacation to what I consider one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Casa Cares, that was what our guest house was called. Located in an olive vineyard. The top left picture is of my favorite window seat which I spent my evenings sitting on and writing in my journal while I looked out upon the breathtaking view.

Here is another trivia, can you guess where this place is on the pictures? I had mentioned it at the beginning. The famous Florence, or Firenze as the Italians call it. I could hardly believe I was actually there in person!

What would a trip to Italy be, without a visit to the beach! I even saw my very first real live jelly fish. Perhaps you are wondering what those stairs down the side of the cliff are. Well, that is how we got down to this quaint cove. It was hard enough climbing it in flip flops, why not throw in a few bags full of beach towels and food.

Italian food is delicious! I had pizza, pasta, and of course the all famous gelato.

What was my favorite part? I cannot narrow it down to one thing. But as to my favorite part of Florence, that I do know. I loved the street markets and bargaining for the best price. As well as all the different varieties of people I saw there. I liked to watched the street artists who were all selling the exact same paintings and there were about two or three on every street. How many pictures of cupids can a person buy? Apparently they thought never enough.

If you look around enough you may catch some humorous shots. Air conditioning, hmmmm, I suppose that would draw people into the shop on a hot day, I just found it a funny sign :) There were people all around taking pictures of each other, I liked getting the picture from a different angle of the various poses, some less normal then others.

I actually had enough courage to ask a police man to pose for a picture with me. Those are really cool hats they had!

Italy is such a fun country, I recommend it as a vacation for everyone!!! With that I shall not end by saying goodbye but rather arrivederci (just don't ask me to pronounce that :P )!!!

Seventeen... Already?!

How time flies, one moment I am a little girl playing with barbies and dressing up, now I am seventeen. When did that happen? It is not time to get sentimental, it is time to CELEBRATE!

Ok, instead of my usual telling of events, instead I will say all the specialness of Seventeen:

Firstly, seventeen is the last year as a "child" before turning eighteen when all the responsibility of voting, University, etc is put upon you. Seventeen sounds much older then sixteen. I'm getting old, oh my!!!!

Secondly, Seventeen is the age in the song "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, not really that significant, but I really like that song so it is to me :)

Seventeen: Seven is the number of perfection, though I don't know how "perfect" of a year it will be, I hope it will be though. It is my last year at home, my last year of being too old to be called a child yet too young to be called an adult, that is why there is the "teen" on the end of my age, meaning "between." Don't quote me on that one, I got it from observation not from research.

(Those are two giant chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream between. It was delicious!)

Lastly, Seventeen is yet another year of my life: to learn new things, to make a difference, to live!

I am very excited for the coming up year with all the adventures it may hold.

...And Then Everything Lit up

All was dark as we made our way to the top of a hill in Holderbank with our friends. We had just finished a nice grill and dessert, now evening drew near. The silent August first night was broken occasionally by a sudden BANG! We reached the top of the hill and stopped, and then...

... everything suddenly was lit up!!!! Fireworks exploded everywhere spraying the sky with color.

The August first celebrations increased as the night grew darker.

Now comes a quick side note: for those who may not know the significance of August first, it is like the American July Fourth. Now, moving on...

After a while, the kids got out some sparklers.

Not everyone completely trusted those sparklers, it had taken me years to finally trust them myself.

It was past eleven when we made our way back home and to bed but were all kept awake late by the continuous fireworks.

I wish you all a late happy August First even if you aren't in Switzerland!

My Birthday Party :D

A weekend full of fun and glee,

A birthday party just for ME!

Two weeks early it may be,

But we still celebrated happily.

My mom was nice enough to bake,

A pink and green frog birthday cake,

The Vanilla and chocolate cake was so good,

That I ate more then I should!

Karina, Linda, and Acacia came,

To have fun with all the game(s).

Us blindfolded, the mörakopf was fed,

watch out! I think I got some on her head!

Lunch at a castle, how fun to grill,

We ate and ate and ate until...

We began a game of sardines, what a thrill!

A lot of fun, I wont forget,

The games, the laughter, not one little bit.

There is so much more I would want to say,

But I wont, you'll just have to come to next years birthday :P