Day 9

**Written May 16th, 2009 about the day before, while on my study abroad in Italy**

I've been waking up pretty early all week long. Yesterday Nancy asked me if she could borrow my notes to compare with hers, she said she'd wake up around 5:45am to go over them but when I woke up at 6:30am she was still sleeping. I tried waking her but she wanted to sleep in til 7am so I let her be. :)

I went outside to check on the laundry that I had laid out the night before and it was all wet! I had forgotten about the morning dew so I'm going to have to leave them out again today so that they re-dry. 

 ***

Steve's nephew met us in Barberini Piazzo after breakfast and continued on with us to Santa Susanna and Santa Maria, two churches with huge facades. Inside the churches were amazing (overdone of course, but never the less beautiful)! One of the girls, Tempest, had a report on the Vittoria so we all sat down in the pew as she told us of the story of Saint Theresa (the statue that resides to the left of the altar).

Just in case you were wondering, St. Theresa had a "vision" in which an angel (who apparently was very beautiful, and high-ranking as angels go) came at her with an iron-tipped arrow and stabbed her repeatedly in the heart. After the vision occurred she later wrote in an journal that it was agonizing, but at the same time, ecstasy itself. 

Any how.... The next building we went to was the San Carlo. 

A totally Baroque building that has got to be one of the coolest places I have ever been!). It was constructed with ablsolutely NO right angles! It's completely made up of concave and convex-es. 

The next building we went to was the San Pietro in Vincoli. It had some eerie tombstones, one had two skeletons holding up a portrait of the dead guy, while the other had the grim reaper. Also in the church was the tomb of Pope Julius II. It was designed by Michelangelo and was one of the few pieces of artwork that Michelangelo both started and "finished". It took him over 40 years to complete because he was also commissioned to do 50 other works of art at the same time.

After leaving the church everyone went around the corner to get a bite to eat and then we split into two groups: one that went to the catacombs and the other (the one I was in) to Villa Borghese and the Soccer Stadium. However, by the time we got off the metro at Flaminio Piazza it was raining so we decided to skip the Villa Borghese and move on to the Olympic Soccer Stadium, Stadio Olimpico. However, when we got there it was all locked up so we went to a small park instead and listened to some music.

Day 8

**Written May 14th 2009 while studying abroad in Italy**

This morning we had to be out the door by 7:15 so that we could get into the Vatican Museum right as it opened! I packed a small lunch and brought a couple of euros to buy Vatican Stamps. The Vatican was only a couple of blocks away from our hotel so we walked over there and waited in line outside it's walls.

Around 8:20am the doors were opened and the Vatican Guards let us in. 

Once inside we went straight to the Egyptian Art display,

then we traveled to the Assyrian Department...

and then on to the Roman/Greek Exhibits.

There is something about seeing the progressopm pf art through sculpture that is just so moving. We advanced from Polykleitos's "Spearbearer" to Lysippos's "Scraper" to the "Laocoon and his Sons" a masterpiece of emotion and drama!

(I love the emotional turmoil that is so evident on Laocoon's face!)

We then moved through the painting gallery. we saw pieces by Giotto, Giovanni, Perugino, Rafael (!!-It was beautiful, the moment ou stepped into the room holding his works your mind just stops working for a moment. His works of art are so beautiful that it's hard to leave the room...), Poussin and Caravaggio. 

From there we moved into the Sistine Chapel (!!), in one of the rooms along the way we saw the School of Athens  (which was bigger that I had imagined it would be)! 

It was life-sized and brilliantly colored! 

But oh, the Sistine Chapel! 

It was beautiful. Michaelangelo really outdid himself... the twisting, bold figures, the mannerism, the bright colors and creative uses of light and dark was beyond anything I think I've ever seen before. We stayed for about 45 minutes, gazing in awe at the various biblical scenes depicted above us. 

On an adjacent wall was the Last Judgement, which was also done by Michaelangelo. This one piece was completed 25 years after the Sistine Chapel and is a complete maze of twisting torsos, anguish and... nudity. It was still beautiful however, and definitely moving (one figure's face still haunts me)!

After leaving the museum we all bought some stamps and for those who didn't have the addresses they needed, parted ways. I went with Nancy and Natalie to the Flea Market outside the Vatican's walls where I found candied peanuts(!) but since I didn't not have more cash on me (I spent it all on stamps) I'll just have to come back tomorrow for some!

After the Market, Steve took us all out for some gelatto. Afterwards I got some laundry done (with soap and water in the sink) and we had a delicious dinner. 

Not to shabby of a day :)

Day 7

**Written May 13th, 2009**

Today we got up early and crisscrossed town all day!

We left the hotel around 8:30am and took the metro to Termini, where we then took a bus to the Mausoleum of Santa Constanza  While we were there our professor pointed out all the 'pagan artwork' along the walls. 

Mosaic in Santa Constanza

It was interesting to hear how the Christians, whenever they brought Christianity to various people, didn't necessarily rip out all the old traditions. Instead they would merely put a Christianic spin on it, thus they could turn any pagan artwork into Christian artwork just by saying it was so.

Next we went to the St. Agnese Church (which had many beautiful paintings)

Inside St. Agnese

 then we went to St John Lateran.

The baptistry in St John Lateran was from the 14th century and at that time, it was the only baptistry in Rome so everyone went there to be baptized! We went into the central basilica, as well as the cathedral of the church, and to say that this place was big would be a gross understatement!

The Doors to St. John Lateran

Gigantic Statues of the 12 apostles lined the navel of St. John Lateran, and above each apostle lay a relief depicting some aspect of Christ's Life, and above that was a painting of one of the prophets from the Old Testament.

Peter

The entire Cathedral was dedicated to St Peter (I'm sorry, I can't remember which one), and the gold leafed ceiling was incredible (as well as the tiled floor)!

After leaving the Cathedral we went to St Mary's Basilica (where Bernini was buried) and gazed at the Arch of Triumph (the arch dedicated to the triumph of Christianity over paganism).

After all that we tried to visit The Catacombs  as a group, but it turns out they are closed on Wednesdays, which we didn't figure out until after we had taken the bus out there so we were stuck out on the outskirts of Rome for an hour until the next bus could come by and take us back to the city.

It was late when we returned to our hotel so we rushed through dinner and then collapsed in bed. On the upside, since Steve felt bad that we weren't able to get to the Catacombs we'll be getting some gelato tomorrow!

Day 6

**This post was written on May 12, 2009 in Rome, Italy while I was on a Study Abroad.**

This morning we went to Capitoline Hill. Someone was running for Mayor so there were tons of yellow balloons, tents, flags, free hats, food and pictures of the Candidate, so the place was really buzzing when we sat down to take notes.

Running for Mayor

The Capitoline Hill Museum was pretty cool itself, it was the first time on our trip that we'd actually gone inside a museum and it didn't disappoint. In the foyer were the remaining parts of a 30 ft. statue of Constantine that was taken from the Roman Forum Ruins (that lay at below Capitoline Hill), all that was left was his hands, feet, fore arm and head.

Kate, McKenzie, Megan and Celise posing with the Forearem

There was artwork from all over the Roman empire and if you traveled below ground you saw some tombstones and early pieces of literature. One of the coolest sculptures we saw within the museum was the Dying Gaul. It was created sometime between 170-175 BC, as part of a collection of art pieces, and it is of a man who has just fallen to the ground. His face is wrought with this surprised/angry expression as if he were thinking to himself "I don't understand, how is it possible that I'm dying right now?!" It just spoke to me!

After we left the museum we went to the Theatre of Marcellus (which apparently you can rent!), and then we went to the PANTHEON!!

Inside the Pantheon

It was slightly smaller than I thought it'd be, but it was still amazing! Just walking between the pillars to get to the front doors was insane. You feel so small and insignificant, but then you walk inside and this peace just envelopes you...

After we visited the Pantheon everyone split into mini groups to go out to eat and do as we pleased. Nancy and I got some paninis across the plaza and then we went to the Piazza Navona. (On the way we found a cute gourmet chocolate store where we bought some treats.) The Fountain of the Four Rivers is in the piazza, as well as 30-50 artists with their various stands and artwork. We spent about 30 minutes looking around and then we went home to the hotel. It had been a long day so we both crashed once we made it back to our temporary home.

Day 5

**This post was written on May 11, 2009 in Rome, Italy while I was on a Study Abroad.**

Today we were supposed to wake up bright and early to catch the train at 8:15 to Assisi. Yeah, that didn't work out quite as planned. Everyone woke up at 7 (15 minutes before we were supposed to meet in the Hotel Lobby) so we were all rushing to cram food into our mouths (and into our pockets) before we booked it out of the hotel.

The train ride took about 2 hours but the scenery was so beautiful that we were excited to be there!

At the Train Station in Assisi

From the Train Station we took a (really crowded) bus up to the little town of Assisi, the home of St. Francis.

We began our lesson on the steps of the Basilica di St. Francesco.

In front of the Basilica di Francesco

St. Francis grew up in a well-to-do household so life was pretty easy going for him; but when he learned about the church and was converted to the Catholic Church he forsook everything he had. He then had a dream where a variation of the cross appeared unto hum and asked him to restore his house which had begun to fall in disarray.

Saint Francis understood the house to be the spirituality of the followers of Christ so he began a sect of the church that made a vow of poverty and service. He also began a translation of all Church doctrine into the local dialect and preached that Christ was a young man who loved, and cared about ALL men.

 The poor people flocked to the message of Saint Francis, and after he died, young and old would pilgrimage to his grave to receive blessings from the Saint (This was the first time that it was believed that a saint could grant blessings after death in the form of open sainthood.). The pope saw this as a wonderful opportunity to become wealthy so built a large, lavish cathedral right over St. Francis's grave. The pope then built a palace overlooking the Cathedral so that everyone would know that HE was responsible for making St Francis's church the way it is today.

Our Study group took a tour through the Cathedral, stopping at St. Francis's grave (which is fairly plain, as I imagine he would have wanted it to be) and moved into the basilica, which was filled with massive works of art! The first art piece was the Crucifition by Cimabue.The artwork itself had diminished so much that you could hardly see any color, all that was left was the high and low lights, causing all the individuals in the piece to look gaunt and haunting. All of the saints (including Christ) had halos that protruded out of the wall.

Christ was bent in such a way on the cross that his body looked like the letter "C" (and someone was gripping his left foot, at least that is how it appeared at the time). Christ, himself, was dead. He wasn't sleeping peacefully, or in agony, or just standing there, and you could tell that he had gone through a crazy ordeal.

The next large piece that we saw was a series of frescoes by Giotto that depicted the life of St. Francis. There were 28 in all, and they were all about 10' x 15' spanning the entire length of the basilica. They started with his birth, then  his conversion to Christianity, then of his dream of the cross and the message that came with it all the way to his death and sainthood. The Frescoes were very detailed although not to scale, but it was quite realistic non-the-less.

When we left the church Steve (our Professor) took Nancy, Brianna, McKenzie and I out to eat. We sent to the little place hidden down a stairway right off the main road. I had the lasagna (the noodles there in were cooked so well it was like cutting into butter) and this pasta with Alfredo sauce and meat, it was all delicious!

Brianna, Steve, Nancy, McKenzie and I after Lunch

After lunch we parted ways and Nancy and I went walking all over. Up and down the little pathways, stopping now and then to take pictures and goof off.

Posing for our mini Photoshoot

We all got together again to take a tour through the Basilica of St. Claire which sported the original cross that St. Francis had dreamed about, as well as a copy of the cross we saw in the Crucifixion by Cimabue (pretty interesting). Then we left Assisi shortly thereafter, boarding the  bus to the train station and the taking the train back to Rome, just in time for dinner.

Map of Rome

I was just thinking that you may like to have a visual of where everything is in Rome!

Most hotels will have complimentary maps, like this one, for their guests (our hotel had a nice one very similar to this), so if you plan on going to Rome you may not need to bring a map (or you can take one from your hotel home as a little souvenir).

I like this map better than most because it includes mini images of the bigger tourist spots and it includes the metro. Feel free to take a look at this page as you read my other posts about our travels throughout Rome. It will help you to get a better idea of where we went and how much walking was done each day!

Days 3 and 4

On Saturday I didn't write in my journal about our travels, but I know that we visited the Spanish steps, the Trevi Fountain. the Bocca della Verita.

Nancy hoping her hand doesn't get bitten off

  Around Lunch time we broke up into groups to explore the city. Nancy, Kate and I went to the Piaza de Popolo. There was some celebration going on and there were Police, and people everywhere. So after walking around a bit we walked up the hill overlooking the Plaza.

 Above the Plaza was the entrance to a parkish place called the Villa Borghese Gardens. It was beautiful! For lunch the three of us ate pizza and salad at an outdoor restaurant near the entrance to the park.

We split this and the little bowl of salad in the top corner (plus there was bread).

The rest of the day we spent exploring the nearby area (and trying to find our way back to the apartment).

........
**This post was written on May 11, 2009 in Rome, Italy while I was on a Study Abroad.**

On Sunday we would have gone to church but it was Stake Conference for all the surrounding wards (and the building where Stake Conference was at was too far away for us to go), so instead a couple of us went to Palentine Hill to check out the emporer's summer house and his view over the Chariot Races.

Pretending we're a Roman Family enjoying the Chariot Races

It was pretty cool looking at the remains of the emperor's house, but it what was even cooler was the queen's house right next door! In the Queen's home there were frescoes that were still in remarkable shape from that time period! 

The Queen's house

Frescoes from the Queen's home

Below some of the emperor's house was the skeleton of another home that was built back in 1 AD!

The emperor's courtyard/garden overlooked the Roman Forum and over half of Rome! It was gorgeous!

After everyone was finished with Palentine Hill we went back to the hotel for our swimsuits and then headed down to the beach! We took a train out to the coast and then walked the rest of the way to the beach and boy was it PACKED!! There were women (that were just about naked) and men (in speedos, of course) all over the place, we could hardly find a spot to fit all of us, but after some searching we found on eventually.

Practically everyone wanted to sunbathe so only Hilary and I ventured out into the water. After a little while we decided to take a little walk along the beach. Nancy then joined us, so we all went for a little stroll. Along the way we ran into a bunch of local boys who wanted us to stick around and flirt with them, but we just ignored them and soon enough they were gone. We walked pretty far and took some fun pictures , but I was glad when we decided to head back. All in all it was a great day!  

Hilary and I

Playing in the Wake

Day Two

The following was written on May 7th, our first, Official day of Study Abroad. 

When we woke up this morning two of the beds (that we had laid out for our slumber party on the balcony) were damp from the morning dew, so I was regretting putting them back onto the bed frames (and jealous of the girls who wouldn't have to sleep on wet mattresses the following night). However, I wasn't about to leave them outside so we brought them back into the room. A little while later Kate and I wet to the Market and bought some fresh strawberries and a hunk of cheese to eat on Sunday that way we wouldn't have to buy anything on the Sabbath.

While we were at the market it felt so good to be able to communicate with the women who owned the cheese stand inorder to get exactly what I wanted (even if my Italian was archaic at best).

After breakfast (which was complimentary from the Hotel), everyone met together to start the official FIRST day of the Study Abroad. Our first stop was the Roman Forum so we had to take the metro from our part of town to the Historic District. When we got off the Metro and stepped outside the first thing we saw was the Roman Colosseum!

It was right outside of the entrance, looming over everything! It was bigger than I had ever imagined it to be and was beyond any physical description I could ever muster.

After standing in awe for about 5 minutes we started to walk to our first subject, an even greater amazement in itself, the Roman Forum. In the area it was amazing to see the layers of history right before us! There was the Roman Forum on top of which was another building which was topped by a modern museum/senate building! Below everything you could see the ruins of a basilica and a row of columns that led up to a bunch of free standing ancient buildings. There were trees everywhere, like the kind you see in Lion King, and just looking over everything made me want to put on a toga and prance around like a lunatic.

We entered the area from the left side and went right into the excavated area! Once inside we went tot he Arch of Septimius Severus (A tribute t the God of Victory), and sat down smack in front of it for our first lesson.

We learned about the myths surrounding the start of Rome (aka Romulus and Remus) and what buildings we were sitting amongst. It was really cool listening to how history unfolded upon the very ground we were sitting upon (my one complaint throughout the entire thing was that our professor was talking so fact I could hardly keep up in my notes!)

After the lesson we got up and explored the area. First we went to the Curia, which was where all the Senates were heal (back when there was only 600) and that now held statues of Vesuvius, and a couple of his heads (from previous statues) and then continued our walk through the forum.

Curia to the Right

We passed a basilica, a pagan church that had been Christianized, and several other ruins that looked like some sort of amphitheater, or courtyard. When we got to the end we turned to our right and went up a hill where we face to face with the Roman Forum. And let me just tell you it was HUGE!!!

The Roman Forum

(For some reason when we had started out I had believed that the Colosseum had been the biggest piece of architecture that the Romans had ever built, but boy was I wrong!) The Roman Forum had to have at least the same square footage, but it would have been MUCH taller! It was breathtaking to think that a people so long ago would have been able to build something so massive with only their hands a their strength of will... crazy!

After another lesson we moved on to the student reports. The first on was given by Sarah T, on the Arch of Titus,

 then we walked over to the Arch of Constantine,

 where Sarah E. gave her report, then it was my turn!

The two girls before me had both done okay jobs, but after their presentation our professor had to fill in a little (but that's to be expected with how much history everything has). When it was my turn to present (on the Colosseum) I was a little nervous, but I just dove right in and tried to get everyone as excited as I was to enter it. When I first started giving the presentation I noticed a woman standing close to our group, listening to what I had to say. About midway through she was joined by her husband and they both sat down and listened to the rest of my presentation :)

After I was done, I turned to Steve, our professor, to indicate that he could take over and fill in on anything that I had missed, but instead he stood up and motioned everyone towards the amphitheater (woohoo! Go me for doing such a great job that he didn't have to add anything else!).

When we got inside, I was moved by the majesty of the Colosseum. Everything that I had studied, dreamt and imagined was up close and personal! As we walked along the first floor, gazing upon the aging ruins both inside and out, we took pictures and I was able to answer everyone's questions about the building (boy did that feel good!).

After we excited the Colosseum we walked over to the Column of Trajan, where another report was given (this one by Brooke), and then we learned about the Imperial Forum which encased the basilica ulpia, the market of Tajan and the Column of Trajan. Once again it was amazing to listen of how history unfolded upon the grounds/buildings that you were looking upon. (In my mind's eye I could see the tearing down of Temples and the erecting of massive pieces of architecture and I was blown away at the growth and power of Rome.)

After our discussion was over we were free to explore as we pleased. A big group of us decided to grab some paninis and visit the Church of the Capuccini-"Santa Maria della Concezione". It was a crypt filled with the skulls and bones of priests that had been dissembled and used to to decorate the ceilings, walls and floors in intricate designs, as if you were in a real cathedral. There were four rooms connected to each other by a walkway; in each of the rooms there would be a gruesome scene being played out, usually involving skeletons in habits set up against a wall of Human skulls ( on the ground there were fake graves with roses scattered across them).

It was one of the most horrific scenes I had ever seen. Just walking into that "church" I felt sick in my heart and my stomached was tight the whole way through, the entire thing did not feel right. On top of it all the owners of the "church" began to play Christian music over these loud speakers hung throughout the rooms, as iff it was okay to display these men's bodies in such a way as long as they played spiritual music.

I left the scene as soon as I could and waited outside for the rest of the girls. Above the church of bones was an actual Christian Church, inside there was a choir practicing, so I sat down and listened to them.

I can't quite say that I felt the spirit in there but it was soothing just the same. After everyone else got back from viewing the bone church, we split up into two groups (one that wanted to continue exploring the city and one that would go back to the hotel). I went back to the hotel with a couple of other girls and then proceeded to the Internet Cafe which was just down the street so that I could send the pictures I had taken home.

After Dinner that night the majority of us went to the Trevi Fountain followed by the Spanish Steps.

In front of the Trevi Fountain

 Both places were packed with people, but it was fun never the less.While we were sitting on the Spanish Steps a group of Russians came over and started flirting with some of the girls. We soon realized that the only male in our group had served a mission in Russia so before he knew what was happening he was roped into singing a russian drinking song with the guys. It was pretty funny.

The Russians and Us on the Spanish Steps

Day 1

**This post is the first of a series called "Tourist Attractions" in which I write about MY Study Abroad experience, and those of others.**


*This post was a journal entry written on May 7th, 2009, the day after my Study Abroad group arrived in Rome, Italy.*


Yesterday, Mom, the little girls and the boys (basically all my siblings) took me to the airport. I was a little nervous so I forgot to say goodbye as I rushed to catch my first flight (out of three) to Italy.

The first flight was good. I cried a little bit (because I realized that I forgot to say goodbye to my family and because I had a crappy seat and couldn't extend my legs), but the flight went by fast and I was able to get off and find the boarding area for my second flight just fine. My second flight was delayed about 40 minutes so I had plenty of down time, which I spent laying around and looking up words in my Italian/English Dictionary. Since we had such a late take-off with my second flight when we arrived in Philadelphia (to catch the next flight to Italy) we had to book it to the next terminal in order to board our flight to Rome. I say we because I met six of the other Study Abroad girls on the second flight, so I wasn't alone in running through the airport (thank goodness)!

The last flight kind of sucked. I was stuck between two older men. One spent the entire time sleeping and the other had his headphones on the entire time and refused to acknowledge my existence. I swallowed a sleeping pill the moment I boarded (as my mom had suggested), but tried to stay awake until after we ate dinner. After dinner however, I was out (although I could never truly get comfortable, so I drifted in and out of sleep a lot)!

We arrived in Rome at about 10 AM, and after picking up our luggage proceeded to wait for the rest of our Study Abroad group to arrive from their various flights. Megan (one of the girls from my flight) accidently left her laptop on the plane, so even after everyone was ready we had to wait a little while longer while she went to talk to some Airport Employees. They didn't see her laptop so she gave them her information just in case and then we left.

The airport is quite a ways away from Central Rome so we had to take a bus into the city. The bus ride itself was pretty uneventful, but it sure was interesting seeing to see the popular European cars which, as my friend Nancy put it, had no butts. Also, all the motorcyclists were crazy! They'd zoom over the dividing line into on-coming traffic, swerve all over the highway lanes and basically did whatever they wanted!

Before we left for Italy, Steve had told us that Italians had no respect for the female body so we should prepare ourselves for advertisements in which the woman's breasts would be in full view, however we were lucky enough not to see anything like that (for which I'm truly grateful).

When we arrived at the hotel we discovered that our Study Abroad group had basically rented out the entire top floor, causing everyone to have access to a balcony. I roomed with Nancy, Kate and Celeste and it was a BLAST just getting to know each other as we settled in.

Nancy, Kate, Me and Celeste

The hotel staff offered to serve us Lunch (On the House), which we gratefully accepted. After we all had our fill everyone split up into groups, some of us took a nap, others went to the near-by internet cafe and other unpacked (I reviewed the readings we would go over later).

Kate, Me and Celeste looking over our balcony

Around 4pm Steve took us all out for a little tour of the city, We took a stroll down to The Vatican City (which is closed off from the Rome by a huge, slanting wall) and then we got Gelato (best invention ever)! At 7pm we ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant. We were served soup (I believe it was minestrone), some type of beef, and string beans. For dessert they served us a small portion of tiramisu. It was all soooo good!

After dinner we all got together and played card games. It was so nice outside that we decided to sleep out on the balcony. We drug out all of our mattresses and slid them next to each other so that some girls from the other rooms could join us. Before going to sleep I took a shower, so when I was finally ready to pick a sleeping spot there wasn't much left. So I ended up at the edge of the mattress row with the corner of a blanket draped over me.

Needless to say, I was freezing all night long (sigh).

*Day 2 of the Study Abroad trip will be presented next Tuesday!*

Tales of a Tourist

Recently (only, not so recently) I have been dreaming about the adventures Mike and I (and possibly our children too) will have in Europe! We have both decided that this is the year; 2012 will not end before we go to Europe and spend some time traipsing about!!

So in order to prepare myself I've begun looking around at the Personal Blogs of Individuals living abroad (in London, Paris, Madrid... etc), and as I've been looking around I realized that there is another resource that I have not been utilizing...

MY journal from when I studied abroad! After all, I didn't just take pictures, but I wrote in my journal EVERY day! Who knows what goodies lie in there that I could be sharing with the world!

So I've decided to start sharing mini episodes of my traveling experience with you!

Starting next Tuesday I will be sharing an entry a week from my precious journal, along with some photos that both I and my fellow travelers took!

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!

Holy Guacamole!

What an eventful weekend!

So as you know, Mike and I left for California on Friday.

At 8am (not 6- that was just WAY too early) we met up with Mike's cousin Jordan and started our caravan to Cali. As we were leaving I found out that at that exact moment my Dad and brothers were on their way from Nevada to Utah so we made plans to meet up with each other in Beaver to say hi as we wouldn't be seeing them in Nevada as we had hoped.

Mike, concentrated on driving

Well, about 45 minutes into our drive Mike's and my car broke down. Luckily we were able to pull it over to the side of the road but it wasn't going to move after that. Jordan, after realizing we weren't in the caravan anymore pulled over to the side of the road and began to drive backwards (at 40 mph) along the freeway to meet up with us.

Before the break down

After a lot of revving the engine and contemplating what was wrong with the vehicle we called our Insurance agents and made plans for a tow truck to come and take our car back to the house.

After calling our family in California and letting them know what happened Mike's mother and sister quickly arranged for an airplane flight for us to take on Monday to get back home. In the mean time Mike and I loaded our luggage in his cousin's car (at the expense of another cousin's bedding/luggage). The rest of the drive went fairly seamlessly and we actually enjoyed the extra time together.

Over the weekend we stayed with Valerie and Steve, Mike's sister and brother-in-law. They were SO kind and welcoming! They encouraged us to use their hot tub and watch t.v., Valerie drove 25 minutes away to get some Tacolita fmous tacos for all of us AND Mike's and my favorite cereal... It was incredible!

A fun statue by Val and Steve's house

The spanish park also by Val and Steve's house

On Saturday Mike's mom, him and I went to the LA temple for his best friend's wedding. It was a beautiful day and the couple looked incredible!

happy couple

Handsome Mike

After a luncheon, the reception and a brief stop at a halloween/birthday party (complete with a taco truck) Mike and I were exhausted!

Sunday we went to TWO mission home comings and then spent the rest of the day with family. 

We played Phase 10, UNO, Scum and ate a lot of good food with each other. 

It was incredible.

Then, Mike and I realized I did not have my driver's licence on me. It wasn't in my purse, I couldn't be sure whether it was at home and to my dismay I did not have ANY documents with my name printed on them!!

At the time I wasn't too worried about the consequences, but after talking with the rest of the family I started to worry about whether or not I would be allowed on the plane. So I looked up the Airport's Customer Service and called to speak with the Manager of that Airport's TSA. The phone operated machine stated that the office wouldn't be open until 9am (a full hour after my flight was supposed to depart). So I left a voice message and then prayed that somebody would be able to help me at the airport, but just in case I was ready to change my flight.

Monday morning, Mike, his mother and I left Val's at 6am to the airport. About 40 minutes later we were at the gate and I told the security lady my situation. She radioed her boss and together the four of us waited for my verdict...

When the Manager arrived she had me fill out a form stating my name and address and then she began an interview intended to determine whether I was who I said I was... or not. 

It wasn't particularly lengthy but I was glad when it was over. Afterwards, Mike and I were 'randomly' selected for additional screening and we were done! 

After it was all over I was famished! I scarfed down half of the snacks we brought and then waited with Mike and his mother for our plane. It was a particularly foggy morning so our flight was delayed almost 2 hours! 

We finally arrived in Utah around 12:30 and had to hurry home and then to work in order for me to make it to my first day at my brand new job!

I was supposed to bring my driver's licence and birth certificate, but after searching the car and the house I had to leave without my driver's licence (the item that I thought I had left at home). 

My driver's licence is still currently on the lam but fortunately I still have my new job and the car's going be looked at on Friday. So if everything goes well, life will be back to normal by the end of the week...

maybe.