Cinque Terre.black and white style.

Janet y Cam

Janet is one of my all time favorite people.  She's probably in the top 10 of my favorite people ever.  the boy and I had a lot of fun at her wedding reception!... He was excited because she's pretty much famous (and because she's one of my best friends... naturally!)  

love you, Janet!  You are such a beautiful bride!  I wish you and Cam all the best!  xoxo!

hahah. that smile is classic.

I don't know what face that is....but i still really like what's going on here... ha.

i love love love this picture!  for the record... we matched on accident, okay?

drinkin' our italian sodas! 

sweet props at the photo booth!

fishy foto shoot

ha.  one day we decided we wanted to be creative.  this is what we came up with.  not going to lie, we had a ton of fun painting each others faces and taking silly fotos.  so.. definitely try this at home! 

 

Pisa.

Pisa.  Oh man. This was on my list of places I was most excited to visit.  And I vow to never ever go back.  It was wayy sketchy.  I won't go into details... let's just say there was a crazy lady coming off crack cocaine and punching walls and yelling at demons... cool!  (that's not even everything that went down in good ol' Pisa...)  ..creepy business, i tell you!

brooke and i on the train to Pisa!  note my Captain EO backpack pin... :)

ash and nat

just kicking over the tower with my mighty strength...

literal fountain for drinking water....

Florence highlights part I

Mid laughter fit... this was our second course.  After we just finished eating a huge plate of pasta... what do they

Me and Angel in front of Michelangelo's tomb at the church of Santa Croce

NO PHOTO NO FLASH!

watercolors

I have been itching for months now to break out my watercolors.  I've really wanted to try doing portraits and fashion illustrations in watercolor.  This is my first attempt at painting people.  Obviously I need more practice, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!  I'm really excited to keep practicing.

Can you guess who this is?.. If not, I won't be offended.  Like I said; I need practice!  :)

a little lesson in Italian

My dad speaks Spanish fluently, and I took 3 years of it in high school...so I grew up pronouncing any language that wasn't English the way I would pronounce Spanish..  When I went to Italy, I was pronouncing things so completely wrong.  It was very sad.

Well, happy news!  I learned a thing or two when I was abroad. (amazing.)  Here's a little lesson in pronouncing things the correct way!

c or cc: ch sound  fettuccine fet-tuh-chee-nee.  Cipro cheap-row
ch: k sound Michele mi-kay-lay
sc: sh sound. uscita (which means exit)  oo-shee-tuh
gn: ñ sound.  lasagna luh-zah-nyuh.  spagna spah-nyuh

other tricky words:

gnocchi: nyoh-key
cinque: cheen-kway

and one of my favorite words:
gelato!  jell-ah-toe

enjoy your Sunday

This is an excerpt taken from a post written by sweet Hilary.  She's currently serving an LDS mission in Ecuador.  I was reading her blog earlier this week and found this post again... oh my gosh, totally made my day.  Thought I'd share it here.  Mostly for my posterity and for when I print out my blog at the end of this month!.. Hooray!
 
I thought I would dedicate a post to two girls who have really taught me to go for my dreams (cheesy, yes, but I just feel the need to thank them).
First, Erin Spencer.
Erin has been someone I've looked up to since as far back as when I was 15. (The first time I ever saw her, she and her sister Anna were playing a violin for people right outside the doors of the seminary building. Most were confused, but those who could grasp their spontaneous sense of humor laughed along.) Once I started working at T.A. Erin and I became close friends. Erin is someone I go to for advice on everything- from my pageant skit to my lesson in church. She is one girl I've always wanted to be more like and better friends with.
Erin is good example to me of doing everything you can to accomplish your goals and dreams. She's always been in tune with the spirit and followed what she felt was best for her. She has many opportunities open up to her because she has taken every step she could to get to where she wants to be.
And whenever I tell her how awesome she is, she always reciprocates. It's cool to know she thinks I can be awesome too.

I am so grateful for friends like Hilary.  I think she is amazing in every way possible and know that she will do wonders in Ecuador.  I'm thankful she shared this on her blog!  It's always really nice to hear nice things about yourself I think.  Anyway.  Enjoy your Sunday! 

Rome: highlights part II

note the traffic light telling me when it's okay to cross..

Devin and I