The Week

As we flew down the road towards our destination, my stomach twisted.  Would this all be what I had dreamed?

I flashed back in time as we slowed behind the Amish buggies, and I grinned at the sweet little covered heads of two little girls on their way home from church.  But all the while, through all the new scenery and beautiful landscape of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I couldn't focus.  My mind churned back and forth; mingled excitement and nervousness distracted me.

Mom and I pulled into the hotel and lugged our bags upstairs.  I swore I couldn't eat a bite, but found it extremely easy to gobble that delicious lamb and feta burger...

Nerves drove me to distraction and I had to remind myself to breathe evenly as I strode into the lobby to meet some of my friends for the first time.

As I hugged each of those boys, two from my classes, one being a family friend, and one being a brand new friend, any flicker of doubt I had was pinched out.  I was euphoric as I got ready for bed that night, so looking forward to meeting one of my teachers from last year and my very best friends.

The week passed in a whirlwind of meeting new people, positively tackling my best chums with affectionate hugs, and creating memories fantastic enough to last me well into the next gathering.

The founder of my online school and, honestly, the reason I have so many forever-friends, made a great point.  We students of Veritas Press are a new generation.  We came to this gathering with the great anticipation and delight of meeting our best friends; some of us for the first time.

My Spanish teacher from last year noted how beautiful this really is as I cried in the hallway last night.  It wouldn't be right to leave out this aspect of meeting new people and loving on other peers completely!  We, though often apart from our best friends, are nevertheless learning how to love others and to keep friendships. 

I had to leave a while before most, so I missed church and the final picnic.  But the hugs I received last night were each one so meaningful and they made me smile.  I laughed through tears as I held onto these people who mean so much to me, and I thanked God for bringing them all into my life.

I’ll post pictures and go into detail later, but for now, I just wanted to check in and let you know why I was gone.  I’m writing this as I fly away from those friends whom I love, and I’ll admit that there’s a mist beginning to cloud my eyes.  But that week with these people was absolutely worth any pain that the good-byes may have wrought.

I love you, my friends, and I am so blessed that you’re a part of my life.

In which there are copious amounts of exclamation points!

Hello, friends!

I was going to post yesterday, but of course, blogger was shut down for several hours.  At least this time it's not my fault that something technological broke.

I'm not kidding.  I've completely set back a few of my Rhetoric II classes because I just don't understand technology.  We had to do class on Skype one day just so I could get my video to work!  I really don't know what to do with tech... I can work it insofar as to have a blog, go to classes, fiddle with basic HTML; after that, though, I am merely clueless.

So I ask you, friends.  If you have any ideas as to where/how I can get a fun new blog look, please let me know!  I've played with Picnik headers and the built-in template designer, but it's just not right.  I want a second opinion and a fresh eye.  If you have a suggestion, please either comment on this post or email me at pastaandwaffles(at)gmail(dot)com!

Moving on, I'm more busy than I've been in a while.  And I am still working on the next Twilight review installment!  But you guys.  I've got some fantastic things going on right now.

• Studying for final exams
• Taking final exams
• Completely finishing junior year
• Packing up my room and filling a suitcase with enough to last me a few months... while still being under the weight limit for airplanes.  (Hold me.)
• Movers are going to come and box up our belongings.
• In about two weeks, my mom and I are flying to Lancaster, PA, for my online school's end of the year gathering.  I'm so excited about it!
• After the gathering, we will go see my family in Georgia.  And I'll get to seem my favorite puppy in the universe.  And, oh yeah, my brother.  ;)
• Once we've thoroughly steeped in the glory that is the United States of America (I really miss America.  Not to be confused with "Miss America."), we will beheading to Brussels and looking for a house.

So obviously, this is a season of change in my life.  And I'm incredibly thrilled!

I'll get to meet some fantastic people whom I love dearly.  And I think you'd like to get to know them, too.  ;)

Amanda is one of the sweetest girls in the world.  She listens better than anyone I know, and really, truly cares about all of her friends.  Plus, she's completely hilarious.

Emilyann is... how do I explain?  She's incredibly funny.  I mean, girl makes me crack up.  She really likes hippos?  And I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of hug your heart out moments.

Annie is a brilliant photographer, and utterly gorgeous.  She's sweet and funny, and I think we'll have the absolute best time!  Plus, I'd very much like to steal her hair, if I could?  :) Her sweet little sister, her parents, and her great brothers, Santiago and Nikko, will be there too!

Lillian is such a sweetie.  She's got a great sense of style, and I think we're going to have a wonderful time goofing off together!

Lizzie  and Sarah Layne.  I sort of have to put them together, because they're attached at the hip!  I've met Sarah Layne in real life, and she's a doll.  I'll be glad to see their antics!  ;)

And my friends without blogs, Josie, Jordan, Ashley, Alex, and Jon, I can't wait to see y'all!

Sadly enough, my wonderful friends Valentine and Lauren won't be able to go.  I'm so upset about it, but I am determined to find a way to meet them in real life!

And with that, my friends, I will bid you adieu.
You see, my dear readers, I have studying to do!

30 Day Challenge: Day 12 (Almost missed it!!)

A picture of something you love.


I nearly forgot to do today's challenge, I was so busy!  But this one was easy, because I love a lot of things.  So, naturally, I picked the most recent that has absolutely filled my heart with joy.

Right now, I love.......

My dear Amanda.  She is one of the sweetest girls I know, and I think I absolutely realized she was amazing when she posted this on Gmail:

"you are the cheese to my mac, the spaghetti to my meatball, the Carolini to my Mandaroni."


Yes, we made each other's names into pastas.  :)  


That message alone is probably why I had to post this! I love you, Mandaroni!


Now, I'm off to bed. 


Love,

The Dressing Room Door

Hey y'all!  I've got an announcement to make, and I'm absolutely, positively, so very excited about it.

As you know, I'm very girly.  I love all things fashionable.  So, naturally, I tend to make friends with girls who are the same way!  Emilyann, Josie, Lizzie, Amanda, Lauren, Valentine, and I have created a new blog.  It's called The Dressing Room Door, and it's a

collaborative effort, where we post whenever we want and about whatever happens to strike our fashion fancy.


And what better way to really kick off our new blog than with a giveaway?  I've been wanting to do one on this blog for a while, and the timing was perfect because the product I wanted to give away didn't arrive until after we started our blog.  So now we have the perfect way to welcome new readers!

If you'd like to enter this great giveaway, click the button right there to head on over!

30 Day Challenge: Day 10

A picture of the person you do the most screwed up things with.


This one sort of cracked me up and confused me all at once.  I wouldn't say I do a whole lot of "screwed up" things, but I do get a little silly with friends.  Of course.

The hard thing is that, right now, I don't have many face to face friends.  In fact, I only have one, and I never get to see her because she's very busy.  Because I don't speak Italian and I'm the only teen at the church we're attending, and because I'm homeschooled, I'm currently in a little "alone" state in my life.

I'm not really lonely, though I do struggle with that sometimes.  I still have my friends in my online classes to Skype and email, but it's not the same as walking around and acting goofy.

BUT.

My cousin, Mary, and I?  WE are really, really silly.

We've had the extreme good look to find a way to see each other about once a year, pretty much, and we have since we were little. We email, but when we get together, the world needs to look out.  Take a dramamine, universe, because it's going to be a bumpy ride.

We saw each other just a couple of weeks ago, and she won the lobster race held in the driveway at our family reunion.

Photo courtesy of my favorite brother:

Ain't she purty?

We've been known to flat boogie down in the middle of any given store if a good tune comes on, to scream out lyrics to pop music at any given time, scream about Justin Bieber in any given listener's face, nap on the same sofa even though we're too tall and long-legged to do that anymore, laugh about made up words, shorten words such as "adorbs" "presh" and "totes" just to be obnoxious, call each other made up names (lately it's Maroon and Cerulean), and, apparently, cuddle with lobsters.


Love you, girl.  :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 9

A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

This is Lauren.  I've talked about her before on this blog, but I just can't not mention her in this post.  I've had so many people in my life who are encouragers and who have helped my when I need it, but this girl sprang to mind the second I read this challenge.  I chose not to put my parents or God, because those are obviously a given.  :)

I devilishly stole this picture off her blog.  Why don't we have any pictures together?  Well... we've never actually met.  Nope.  We Skype all the time and email back and forth, and I love her to death.

We've cried with each other, we've laughed like crazy people, and we've bridged the 10 hour time difference and found a way to become the best of friends.  I'm, Lord willing, getting the chance to meet her in June, and I absolutely can't wait.

I love you, Lolo, and I want you to know that whatever you go through, I will be there to listen to you and encourage you just like you have done for me so many times.  

Your dear friend,

30 Day Challenge: Day 5

A picture of your favorite memory.

I have so many favorite memories.  But honestly, I don't have a lot of pictures of most of them... so I scoured my mom's old blog, and found this one.  The second I saw it, memories came flooding back and a big smile reached from one side of my face to another.

This was the first real play in which I ever participated.  I was playing the Queen in Cinderella, aka Prince Charming's mother.  I had a great time, and I love those people.

And how about another favorite memory, since this post is short.  :D

This is shortly after I "met" (aka skyped with) my now best friend, Lauren.  It's a screenshot she took of us being goofy.  We were comparing thumbs.  Go figure.

Have a great day!!

I make up for the pizza with all the walking

Today was Lisa's last day here, so we went out and crammed in as much as we could.  I also managed to get a Christmas present for someone in my family.... this is a new record for me in non-procrastination regarding Christmas gift-giving.  Round of applause, please.

Thank you.

These pictures are from yesterday.  I'll post the ones from today later... I'm too lazy exhausted to work on those photos at the moment.  We went to Trastevere, which is the place where the "real" Romans live, and it's beautiful  We went to the Jewish Quarter first, and then to the best pizzeria in all of Italy.  I take all of my visitors there for the artichoke and mozzarella on foccacia pizza. You heard me right.  It's delicious.


To get to Trastevere, we have to cross the most beautiful bridge, the Ponte Garibaldi, that spans over the Tiber.

We really like trying to be fancy photographers.  Obviously.  But Lisa's camera gives me camera jealousy... I just have a measly point and shoot.  (Though for a point and shoot, it rocks off both my socks. 12.1 megapixels of hot pink brilliance.)

Scooting on over to the bakery, we noshed on some pizza.  And when we were at the Jewish Quarter, where I take all my visitors as well, we took pictures of this fountain.

There's a very interesting story behind it, actually.  A young man was gambling with a duke, who happened to be his future father-in-law.  The young man wagered everything, and lost it all, including his fiancée.  He was terribly upset, but quick on his feet.  He bet the duke that if he could put up a fountain in the piazza by morning, the duke would have to give everything back to him.  The duke, of course, laughed in his face and agreed, because who can make and install a fountain overnight?  Little did he know that the man had already had a fountain made and ready to install, and simply had his men put it in a few days earlier than they had planned.  Tricky, tricky.  So, boy gets money, estate, and girl, and duke gets... a new fountain.  The end.

Lastly, I'd like to leave you with a photo of the Teatro di San Marcellus.  It's a beautiful theater, but get this:  it's rumored that Sofia Loren herself owns this apartment.....

Quite neat, is it not?  I would have been more excited if it had been previously owned by Audrey Hepburn.  But a girl can only dream...


Until next time, my friends.

Sincerely,

Gookies!

Gookies:  [gook-ees] - noun:  Magically delicious gingerbread cookies.




Lisa and I made gookies yesterday, and they are delightful.  We decorated them, albeit unprofessionally, and had a blast.  We aren't too adept with the frosting, if you ask me.  Well... Lisa is.  I'm not.


It ain't pretty, folks, but it's real.  It's who I am.


Accept me, though I haven't a lick of talent in the frosting department.  I do have talent in the licking frosting department, but that's a different story.

Basket weaves and polka dots.  You know, the classics.

It's a cookie!  With a heart-like object!  And a tic-tac-toe board!

This reads: "Rull Naaz."  You had to be there.

This is my "gingerbread man".....

....And this is Lisa's.  Which is more convincing?

Lisa- in Pictures!

My friend Lisa is here staying with me, as you know, and she's just a doll for doing so because she's getting married on New Year's Eve!  That's right, she's tying the knot in a mere 25 days, but she sacrificed her time to stay with me.  That's love, everyone.  We met in Hawaii at my church, and she also met her fiance in Hawaii.  Now, she's here with me and we've been having a BLAST!

First thing, we went to the Trevi Fountain at night....

Second, we went to the Colosseum, where we looked around and acted a little bit silly.

Do not enter!

We look a little bit craz.... um, I mean happy!

The next day, we went to the Spanish steps....

And of course we window-shopped all the way down famous Via Del Corso.....

Apparently we also smelled some chestnuts roasting on an open-faced grill.

We went to the Piazza del Popolo and made each other laugh, per usual.

After deciding we were in danger of hypothermia, we stopped in for a coffee at a cafe.  I then remembered that Italians apparently make really thick, yummy hot chocolate, so we ordered that instead.

Good call.

Next day, we went in the Pantheon.

And later, I told Lisa how much I LOVE makeup.... so she let me use her as a model!  She's very photogenic, no?  I took all these pictures just in case I ever need a portfolio if I decide to be a makeup artist, which is always on the table.

For the style above, she wanted something dark, and I added a pop of purple and pink to make it fun.

For this next one, I designed it based on a holiday party, so it's green and shimmery.

And this next one was more vintage with thick liner and red lips.  This was her favorite of the three!

We also went to Florence.  We have both decided we would die to live there!

Happy Lisa!

Amazing street chalk.

The Christmas lights were up!

I was rolling my eyes because there were two people next to me PDA-ing.  That's Italy for you.

The weather was crisp and the river was STUNNING!

Waffles covered in chocolate. 'Nuff said.

Obviously, we take a lot of pictures.  All of these are courtesy of Lisa's amazing camera, but we took turns snapping the shots.  I've got some more coming up later, stay tuned.  

Love,