Post-Christmas

Christmas has passed and I got a good bit of presents that will help me pack for Italy :) Let's see...a nice, warm jacket, a thermal shirt and pants, knit hats, boots, socks...notice a pattern? Hopefully I'll be toasty in Italia! I also got a nice point-and-shoot camera so that I can travel light, as opposed to lugging around my massive Nikon D60.  


I'm hoping to test out the warmth capabilities of a few of my new clothes tomorrow at camp as we get ready for our Third Annual Christmas Tree Burning! It's supposed to be mid-high 40s and low 50s all day, so it should be similar to Certaldo weather.


There are less than 30 days until I board the plane and start this Italian adventure! It STILL feels unreal. Maybe when I'm stuck at home and everyone else is back at school it'll sink in, but right now I'll just enjoy having my friends and family all around me.  Last night was quite possibly one of the best nights EVER.  We gathered at the Piselli's for Joe's graduation party and it was more like an overdue family hangout session with my best friends and their families.  We're all basically one family, it's great. The night ended with us serenading baby Lillian and then singing out a bunch of amazing hymnals. It was wonderful.  These are the moments that I want to remember when I start to feel a bit homesick in Italy. Plus, I'll be able to pull up the video I recorded of us singing Isaiah 43 and start singing along. 


Well, I should probably get to bed so I can wake up early tomorrow and head to camp!

40 days!

In about a month and ten days (or 40 days, 9hrs, and 25mins according to my countdown) I will be departing for Roma to spend my Spring semester in Italia!  We'll spend a good chunk of time in the small hilltop village of Certaldo, near Tuscany, but of course we'll take trips here and there around Italy. Not to mention, some weekends we'll be able to travel all around Europe!  Can you say, "trip of a lifetime"?

Fall semester is over, finals taken, and I'm home for a long while.  Now to relax, hangout, enjoy, and plan/pack for ITALY :) I keep wondering what in the world I should pack...a significant downgrade in my wardrobe is necessary, but that's a given, and warm layers are a must.  I've heard that Certaldo weather isn't much different than Greenville, but for all of our sakes I hope that that statement isn't entirely true.  Greenville weather is extremely "bipolar" (to quote a much used phrase by my friends and I).  I'd prefer the weather to just stay cold if it's going to be cold.

Anyways, I couldn't be more excited to have this opportunity!  I was skeptical at first that I wouldn't be able to go or shouldn't go; but through prayer and the encouragement of my friends and family I now know that I'm meant to take this journey!  It still feels so surreal even though the moment is almost here.  It's almost like, "Oh, this is just a vacation...10 days tops"...NOPE. Three months! Our itinerary is so excitingly unreal! In conversations about my trip, I love mentioning the casual day plan about our "possible afternoon trip to Pisa" in February.  You know, just a casual trip. How unreal???

It's safe to say I'm thoroughly excited and can't wait to get this semester abroad going! But first, Christmas and New Years!!