Food Coma.

Hi everyone! I'm continually amazed at the beautiful weather and chances for growth that the Lord has given me here. What a life! 

And for you my Russian friend:

Привет всем! Я не перестаю удивляться прекрасной погодой ишансы на рост, чтобы Господь дал мне здесь. Что за жизнь!

Something I learned about myself:

It isn’t all about capturing the moment. Now don’t get me wrong, I love having my camera, I love taking pictures of all the beautiful things I have been able to witness here, and I l-o-v-e taking pictures with the wonderful people that the Lord has put in my life here. But, as I was walking today to go to the Angelus, I realized that I forgot my camera.  As I continued on walking (and ran into a large group of tourists . . .oops), I felt a sense of peace about not being able to document my little afternoon adventure. While I realize that it is important to capture the memories as they’re happening; there is also something to be said about just savoring the moments without the fear of documenting them. 

The Best Thing That I Ate:

More like what didn’t I eat . . .As you will read below, we went to a mozzarella farm this weekend located a few hours outside of Rome which was absolutely amazing. We sat down to lunch and there is NO WAY I could have prepared myself for what was about to happen. What started off as a platter with a few cheeses and fresh meat turned into MORE meat and cheese, vegetables, honey, BREAD—and that was just the first course! Then we got pasta (more yum) and a meat course. Now, I’m not a huge meat eater, but I am a carb eater so I loved the potatoes that came with it! Just when we thought we couldn’t eat any more, we got what we thought was our last course—fruit. We. Were. So. Wrong. We were slipping deeper and deeper into our food coma when they walked out with desserts. Obviously, I wasn’t going to let anything go to waste so I just had to eat all of the desserts that they offered me. And no meal would be complete without espresso . . .and Italian dessert liqueur. Oofta. Aren’t you full after hearing that?

Obviously, it is normal to hold a ball of
 mozzarella and take a picture with it. . .

This is what we thought was our first course, how wrong we were. 

I never know what I am eating, but it is almost always good. 

At this point, I was almost on the ground passed out from so much
food, but I mustered up my strength to finish this dessert. I know, such a champ. 

An Adventure I Went On:

Mozzarella farm. Our awesome program offered us a day trip to the countryside to go and visit a mozzarella farm! We got to tour the little factory where they make the homemade mozzarella, and the best part was hands down seeing the animals. Before I went into my food coma, we got to run around and pet/visit all the precious little animals. I kept on telling all the east-coasters that being on the farm reminded me of Minnesota, because of course we all live on farms. The scary thing? Some of them believed me . . .But all in all it was a wonderful day, it was such a blessing to be able to spend some time away from the city and spend some time with wonderful friends!

YUM! 

Just too cute for words.                                                      

Made a new friend. 

This puppy was so stinkin cute. Made me miss my dog.
But honestly, I chose this picture because I like my hair in it. . .          

The Craziest/Most Interesting Thing That I Saw:

St. Peter’s Square. Now, this place is always interesting, but today at the Angelus with the Holy Father it was PACKED. And not just really full, it was really full with aallllll kinds of people. Now, generally, when I am in situations like this I am on the prowl for other Americans. This usually manifests itself in me speaking VERY LOUDLY in English or talking VERY LOUDLY about how much I love America, in particular the Midwest. Usually this just results in weird looks from people that clearly aren’t from America or the Midwest, but still, it is worth a try . . .Anyways, there were people from ALL OVER in town for the Consistory, my friend Alyssa was right when she compared it to the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride at Disneyworld. The highlight though? Volunteering myself to take a picture of the group of twenty Indian priests with what looked to be a very important man. I may or may not have yelled “What a good looking group!” Inappropriate for a group of priests who I don't know? Maybe.