Planning a trip to Italy

Well. Its decided. We talked and talked and talked about wanting to go- so we're making it happen! Michael and I are planning a trip to Italy for 2014! We bought a Frommer's guide for the whole country to get some general knowledge. Now that we have planned out the places we want to go, we will invest in some books for those specific places to get some more information on each place. We will touch down in Rome, and spend a couple of night there. We will take some day trips down to Naples and Pomeii, then up to Tuscany to spend some time in Florence. We will make a short stop in Bologna on our way north to Venice. The next couple of days will be spent in Venice, with a day trip through Padua and Verona. We will either drive back down to Rome for the flight home or find something to fly out from Venice. A good deal of the trip are on train lines, so for the day trips we may be able to rent a couple bikes and head down on the trains. We're really aiming to only have 2 hotels- possible 3. Primarily in Rome and Venice since those trips are for a couple of days.

There is so much planning involved! Michael is going to work on getting his passport soon, and I will be checking in to mine to see the expiration date. I am starting to look in to air fare to get a feel for how much we'll need to set aside. I found a website, Yapata, that when the date gets closer to booking the flight I will upload our parameters and it does the search for me. When it finds an all time low deal it will email me. Then what's amazing is after you buy, it continues to search. If something comes in lower before your trip they give you refund for the difference.

We figure around $4000 per person for air fare, hotels, and a car. We intend to save that first bit over the next year. Our goal from 2013 until the trip is to save for any food money, souvenir cash, bus/train tickets, bike rentals, etc. I am hoping that in the mean time I can find a way to save up for my upgraded camera as well. We already have a video camera, so that is set.

We hope to be able to utilize my parent's time share for at least one of the hotels. The books we are getting also have a lot of suggestions for traveling such as hostels, bed and breakfasts, and sponsored visits (where you pay a family for a room in their home and they cook you your meals.)

We have Rosetta Stone Italian that we are making a schedule for (probably twice a week, half hour a day to start. It gives a lot of information in that amount of time.) We also have flash cards to cut out and use, practice books with games and matching/filling in the blanks to test our knowledge and spelling, and we have stickers up all over the house. They have pronunciation written on them with the actual word, and I went through and put the english translation on each sticker. La lampada, for example, I learned is "light" or "lamp" and it is on a light switch I use daily. My ultimate goal before I go is to be able to go to Powell's books, buy the Italian translation of Harry Potter, and read through it well enough to grasp what I am reading. Since I know the book well in English I will be able to tell what I am struggling with to translate.

The exchange rate this year isn't as bad as I suspected it would be. It's $1.30 to every 1 Euro. Hopefully in the next couple of years our economy will take a miraculous upswing and improve the rates. (Hey- a girl can dream!)

I already know that in packing for the trip I will need to pack my clothes in a small suitcase, pack that suitcase in a big suitcase, and pay for an extra bag home. It will be full of souvenirs. I am so positive of that.

I haven't been more excited about anything in a long time! I really believe that this is do-able in 2 years and I can hardly contain myself!

Anxious Apartment Anxiety

It has been far too long since I sat down to blog, so I figured I would update you on the search for an apartment for Michael and myself.

After asking some preliminary questions I am awaiting a reponse from the complex that Michael and I are going to try for. After we get some answers we will be applying- and man am I terrified! I don't want to get rejected- I want to move out SO badly! I love my family and my space but I need a home that's mine. It's time. Plus I am constantly envisioning what it will be like to live with the love of my life.

I have several DIY projects that I am anxious to start NOW but I have to remind myself to take my time- if I do all the projects before I move in I'll have less money when we get there, and less to do! A short list of these projects are, a continuation of my already mid-way vintage bathroom project (as some may remember from earlier posts,) a scrabble tile table top for an end table, and an entertainment center tv stand thing that Michael got ahold of. I am going to convert the top to be like a bay window seat almost and eventually get some cusions on top to sit on- plus he and I are going to sand it and refinish it. Of course I am also thinking of all kinds of other projects- One of which is to tackle a chair I use at a desk- I plan on re-upholstering the seat and sanding down and repainting the rest.

I am just so stoked to get started on our home!

I am over the moon blissfully happy, and I know Michael feels the same. Now as long as the application process goes well, we will be on our way to our life together!

Love: Is There An End?

Does a person ever really fall out of love? Or does that love get buried within your heart quietly in the background?
People say that once you love someone you never really stop, that a part of you always will love them. But is that the truth? Is it possible to fall out of love?
On the other hand, maybe when you're able to stop loving someone you never really loved them to begin with- you just thought you did.
These are some things on my mind today.
I am in the camp that hopes it is possible to fall out of love. And I don't just mean begin loving them a different way- I mean stop loving all together.

With love, or something like it.

Word(s) of the Day

Word of the Day:

Petrichor: How the air smells after it rains. This only occurs after rain hits the ground that has been dry for some time. And when you smell it right before it rains? That is because you are smelling the air being carried downwind from where it has already started.

Finally. A name for the scent I love so much!


Also, my favorite Sesame Street character Snuffleupagus (who to my knowledge is NO LONG ON THE SHOW :( ,) has a first name. That first name is Aloysius.



With love!

Sometimes You Just Have to Make Things Happen

Sometimes in life you just have to make things happen for yourself. Sitting back waiting for life to give you things doesn't always work. In fact, I would venture to say it rarely works!

I am being as proactive as I can with my professional life. I got a leg up with the interviews I am doing, but after the first one it was all on me! And now I am having my 3rd interview today. They called me only hours after my panel interview (stage 2) to set this up! That has to be a good sign! After today, if it goes well, there is one more interview I have to do. I hope I get this. I am really trying!

Also, I made my Etsy page. I've only sold a couple of things so far, but my views go up every week, so I keep it positive and know it's only a matter of time before someone else wants something I have created.

Then just today, I submitted my work to an art showcase coming up in Portland. I answered an ad on craigslist about it a few weeks ago, and I got an email back encouraging me to officially submit because she "really digs my photography!" I hope I get picked because this would be my first showcase :)

I am really trying to kick things in to gear for myself. And not just for myself. I have more motivation now. My boyfriend and I want to start our life together and I know that if I can make things happen professionally it just brings us one step closer. He and I want so badly to live together- we have plans for our future and moving in the first step. ;) So now I am not just working for myself- I am working for us. For our relationship. And I work at it every day to make sure it's all that it needs to be. But what's great, is that it doesn't require much effort at all!

Anyway, the message I am sending here is this: Even though things are slow going right now, and it's easy to get discouraged, I just continue to pick myself up and keep pushing. I have the motivation, and the passion. And I know that if I keep on this path, the universe will provide. Things happen for people who try for it. Who deserve it. And man, do I ever.

With love.

Quote of the Early Morning

"It is impossible to live without failing, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all- in which case, you fail by default." (Dont know who to credit- sorry!)

Want.

Anxious for it all to happen. I want it now. Not later. Not someday. But right now.