2012 in review

This year when Mike and I sent out Christmas Cards I decided to send out our Year in Review out too.

Here's what it looked like:

What are some of your highlights from 2012?

A Request

Can we just pretend that I didn't just abandon the blog, and start over?

Okay. 

Well, we'll start over next week. Today I'll just share some pics from the last... couple of months (ouch) so I don't feel so guilty about being so neglectful...

Visiting my stud of a brother after his football game.

Some of the best photos my sisters took of themselves. (I'll have to share some of the silly ones later!)

Camping up by Bryce Canyon with the Boys

Some panoramics of Bryce Canyon.

Artwork from the Russian Exhibit at the Woodbury Art Museum

My friends, Rebekah and Brianna, and I with the Russian Folk Dancers who performed at the Woodbury Art Museum's Opening Night. 

Learning to juice...

and can apples!

Halloween!

 Fall Temple Trips, Walks around Town and Voting!

The 4th of July

The Fourth of July really started the eve before. 

Mike and I were invited by his cousins to a block party. 

There was...

Face Painting

Cotton Candy

Sparklers

Some better than others

And a Dance party!

The next day...

Mike and I woke up at 5:50 this morning to prepare for the Freedom Run.

The Running Group (minus Suzie R.)

Mike and I

The Course

It was a hot day, but this has got to be one of the funnest runs I've ever been on (with the exception of my first run)! For the first mile there were speakers pumping inspirational music and for the majority of the race course there were people lined up on the sidewalks, cheering us on (okay, they were really there for the parade later in the day, but it was still nice of them to cheer for us). 

My time ended being 32:26, which is better than my other times (38:40-1st race, 35:10-2nd), and I beat Mike so I'm pretty proud :). 

At the finish line volunteers handed out medals (cool!) and water bottles. There were Gatorade and water stations, fruit, ice cream, bread and chip stands... it was pretty sweet!

Mike and I after the race

After everyone had had their fill of goodies, we headed down to University Avenue for the parade! Mike needed a 'shower' so he left for home, but he promised he would join up with us for the parade.

Olden Patriots

Navajo Representative

ROTC Rep

 It was so much fun watching the balloons, floats and Utahn State/City Leaders go by. (I made sure to hoop and holler when the UVU President and float came by -represent!) After almost 2 hours into the parade (approximately 2.5 hours after we split ways) Mike showed up for the parade. Within minutes he was bored, so we left.

After we got home and watched a little bit of Independence Day, our friends, Kim and Casey, came over and together we went to Bicentennial Park to play Disc Golf. Now, I've only played the game once before, and never on the field we played on so it was no surprise to me that I completely and utterly lost (with a score of 14 over par). But it was fun anyways (and you know that I'm going to sneak over there and practice every change I get).

Later, we all went over to a (random) Apartment Building's pool. Of course when we got there there was two guys from my old high school playing basketball so Mike HAD to join in. So the boys splashed around while Kim and I chatted to the side. 

After about an hour it was time for us to go, so we said goodbye to Kim and Casey and rushed home to change for our friend's barbecue! It was sooooooo good! After it was over Mike and I were only too happy to take home two heaping plates of left-overs! 

The night was not over yet tho, when we got home we picked up some ice cream and root beer then made our way over to our friends, the Lewis's. There we played games and had floats until the Fireworks began. 

It was awesome!

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.

Songs boys will never understand.

When I was little, Thumbelina came out in VHS.

It was a groundbreaking film in my life.

Never before had I had a crush on an animated character, but the Fairy Prince changed all that.

His and Thumbelina's song, "Let me be your wings", was and still is the song that makes me swoon and think about my true love...

Of course, Mike, my husband, nor his brother or cousin, know or care to understand why this song stirs such emotion inside of me. And I don't really expect anyone else to understand either, but just in case any of you share a similar feeling when you think about this movie I thought I'd share this song with you.

Enjoy!

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 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.

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