Italy 2.0

This morning was absolutely gorgeous. London was all misty and gray, which made all the green seem...greener! I also heard some of the most amazing birds as I walked to the train station. Sadly, I needed this awesome to begin my recovery from last night. First I went for my Indian food, which the place the hostel recommended...eh. I was really rather disappointed overall. Then there was the lack of awesomeness which came from the other people staying at my hostel. While the place itself was rather nice, the people were rather not.
People hung out underneath the dorm windows being loud and drunk until 3 am. This included people leaning out their windows from many different rooms and telling them to "shut up!" repeatedly. Or the couple that decided coming into the room and beginning packing for the next day at 12:30 in the morning was acceptable, and then turned on lights to read. Or the guy that checked in at 2 am and I swear all his belongings were in plastic bags cause all I could hear was "crinklecrinklecrinkle." So essentially I managed to get another cumulative 2 hours of sleep last night. Just to top off my jetlag you know. So I'm a little sleepy today, but that's just going to be how it is.
My train to Gatwick airport had the final destination of Brighton. Being the literary dork I am, all I could really think was weather I'd find myself a militia man like Lydia. Points if you get the reference! The ride was uneventful though, and while I did not find Wickham, I did see whole fields of daffodils along the way. And tons of fabulous little housing areas with all their laundry hanging in the back yards. I love Europe for stuff like that.
Getting into Italy was a little more interesting though...as I signed in, they told me my backpack was considered excess baggage and seemed sure I was going to pitch a fit that I had to pay to check it. This rather made me laugh, since I saw people with whole trolleys overflowing with ginormous suitcases and all I could think was how much it must cost to travel like that if it cost extra to fly my way. Then came passport control in Florence. She looked at my passport for a good several minutes before telling me I was over my 19 days. First off, what 19 days, since I was here 3 months last time and nothing of the sort was ever mentioned to me, and secondly, she was basing this off my Iceland stamp from December. She said it showed that I left Iceland on the 23rd of December. Which I agreed to, while telling her that I left it to go back to the states. Every time I pointed to my return to the US stamp, or my new ones from Iceland/London in the last two days, she would look at me blankly. Finally she understood this was only my 3rd day in Europe this trip, and that I was nowhere near 19 (still don't understand what she was talking about there as those usually apply country by country and I definitely wasn't in Italy that long).
Oh well, I made it in and that's all that matters. That and how stunningly sunny and wonderful it is here now! I'm just sitting in the hostel waiting for my room to be ready so I can ditch my bags and go wander. I've got some train tickets to buy, a city to wander in, and Martha to hang out with! I already stopped and got a sandwich at my favorite focaccia shop and have begun the culinary awesomeness that the next 24 hours will hold.

Back in the EU!

I am officially back in Europe now. I landed in London several hours ago, and it is already going smoother than my first trip. Mostly because I didn't pass out on my bed instantly and sleep through my first afternoon. My hostel seems nice enough, especially considering how little time I will be spending there. I have to leave by 6:30 in the morning to catch my train to catch my plane... But I am very excited that tomorrow I will be in Florence and hanging out with Martha.
This is going to be one very fast paced week though! One night in London, Florence, and Venice respectively. Likely one night in Vienna and about two in Prague. Then it's on to Copenhagen to meet family familiar and new!
I do have to say too, that I think London is really starting to grow on me. I never disliked it, but I also didn't have an affinity with it either. But I really enjoyed walking down the streets this afternoon and people watching (there are some interesting ones here that's for sure!). I think I like this city a little more every time I come here. I do think that a good deal of that is that I am comfortable in this city now. I've walked it enough times and explored enough areas, that I feel good just being here. It's more familiar than other places here.
Very glad I brought zucchini bread with me though. I just think of it in my bag and it makes me happy. I will be happy to depart of Martha's goodies though. Bagels get heavy after awhile! But I will be dumping them off on her rather suspecting person tomorrow. Hopefully we picked out good flavors for her.
Well, I'm off to chug my coffee and then get some delicious Indian Cuisine for dinner. Then it's an early bed for me! My two combined hours on the flight aren't doing me a lot of good at the moment. That's okay though, I'll just blame it all on jet lag. :)

Catching up!

Once again, I've become a slacker in my writing now that I am home. I have actually done some pretty cool things in the last couple weeks, but have just been to lazy to post anything. I've been working at both Finders Keepers and the Ultimate Bagel lately, and just don't seem to feel like taking the time to write once I get home.

Last weekend, John, Don, and I went to Vegas for the WCC tournament. Always a fun trip to take. We stayed in the New York New York this time, and it was a pretty nice hotel. It's amazing how much you notice the cigarette smoke in the buildings though after spending so much time in a smoke free state. Started to make my eyes sting after awhile.

We wandered amongst the different places on the strip, John played some poker, and ate some very good food. John and I went on the roller coaster too, which was pretty cool. I totally wasn't expecting the barrel roll when it happened. One of the better ones I have been on for sure! I loved the people in line for it too. One guy had one of the down to the ground drinks that you have to strap to your neck on. It was almost empty too. I would think that could lead to trouble on the coasters, but oh well.

Then there were the basketball games, which is the whole reason we were there. GU played really well! Very exciting fun games to see. I wasn't very fond of the St. Mary's fans though I must say. I wanted to tell the guy behind me to stop cussing, and knowing me, that takes awhile to get me to that point. Plus he was just mean and rude to boot, as were all the others I encountered, and my friends later told me they had noticed the exact same situation. Totally unnecessary I think. Sadly we only got to see the semi-finals, but we made it home just in time to hear the girls win and to watch the boys game that evening. I'm glad they are playing so well!

This weekend I am up at Schweitzer with Heather and Alex. It's a pretty low key time, as barely any lifts are working so its not really worth my time and money to go rent gear. Still, last night Tanna came over, and Alex's brother was still here and we hung out in their awesometacious snow fort. It has a really steep slide that runs through the fort and through a tunnel down to the trail. You get some serious speed on that thing! Then somehow we ended up in a massive snowball fight ranging all over the hills. Eventually us girls took shelter in the fort using the sled as a roof. It was amusing how long the boys pelted it with snowballs before they realized what we had done.

Tanna, Heather, and I finished the evening chatting and watching the Little Mermaid. Quite satisfying, overall. Heather was laughing at me because I stopped following the conversation at my favorite points in the movie, and got really excited because it doesn't skip like mine does. Small pleasures. And best of all, Heather asked me to be co-maid of honor for her wedding. :) We spent a lot of time talking wedding and just general ideas for what she's thinking.

Today we've played a lot of games and puzzles. At one point we had to try to move my car so Alex's brother could leave. Not super effective. Took us about 30 minutes to get it shifted enough for him to get out, and then he proceeded to get partially stuck too. Makes me look forward to tomorrow though...I know I'll get out, but I think it's going to be a complete adventure doing as such.

Coming home.

Whew, just got home this afternoon. It's been awhile, even before heading to Palm Springs, I only had about 2 days home. I had so much fun in LA though! Got to spend a lot of time with Paula, Rita, Tony, and Leslie, and a little bit with Mia and Gaia. It was especially fun because I usually only get to see them for such brief periods at the lake, and we really got to hang out for awhile.

I got the full tour of LA over those couple days, from Malibu to Pasadena to Beverly Hills and everything in between. We went shopping, hiking, to movies, and had some great meals. Plus there was Tony and Paula's garage Estate sale, which went off with great success. On our hike at Malibu, Paula and I saw dolphins, a seal, and even a whale spouting off the coast. Very exciting and beautiful!

I was really happy that Leslie got to meet Paula and Rita too. The Chapmans always hear me talk about the family, but this is one of the only times they have got to meet them, and the first time they would get to meet someone other than John. Hopefully Leslie and Mia will make it up to Priest Lake this summer. That would be a lot of fun.

The hardest part about coming home though was the weather. This morning when I woke up it was gorgeous and sunny and as I sat looking out the window and basking in the warmth, I was reading my friends facebook posts about the snow in Spokane. Did not make me anxious to get on that plane. And later this week its supposed to get down to 2. That doesn't make me happy after all this time in Southern California. And I think the world agrees with me. My first flight was delayed and then I missed my flight, but turned out I hadn't really...Delta really messed with my head today to say the least. Told me I had missed my flight by 2 minutes and was put on the next one, but when I got to the gate, the one next to it was my original flight, which was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. Still, I made it home.

Loved my greeting when I got here. Lucy cried, and both dogs practically knocked me over in excitement. I missed my puppies! They both spent most of the evening with me, and when I was writing my thank you notes, Riley got up on the bed and curled up practically on top of me. Things like this make it really nice to be home.

LA bound!

What a crazy couple weeks it's been! It's been such a tiring month, that it's strange not to feel so exhausted all the time anymore. Just lots of busy tasks to get done. Then came the possible life changing decisions.
While at Jinnie's brunch, I was potentially offered nannying job in LA. How's that for quick and out of the blue? One month I'm in Europe, the next looking at moving to LA. I was going to do a test run this weekend, but I don't have my car down here, so that's on hold for now. Still, it got me thinking about what to do with my life, and I still have no clue!
None the less, I am currently on a train to LA for just a visit. I've never been here before and am hoping to get a feel for the place to help in my decision making. I do love trains. I always forget, but they always make me so happy when I'm on them. Comfortable and a great way to see places. Just wish there had been more than just this one at 5 am. Still, it is what it is.


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Places to go, Places to see.

And the travel planning begins again. On the menu so far? Vegas to watch some basketball in March, then back to Europe in April. I know I will be seeing Copenhagen followed by a week in Ireland. I'm debating spending an extra week in Ireland, or if I should continue on to Edinburgh with the family. Tough decision. I love Edinburgh, but there are some extra things I want to see in Ireland that we will be missing in that first week.

I'm also trying to figure out if I will head over a week early, but I'd have to decide on one or two places to see, which is a challenge for me. How do you pick just a few out of so many amazing places! Needless to say, no, my last trip did not get the travelbug out of my system yet. Anyone have any suggestions of particularly remarkable places to hit? Any favorites that I may have not seen yet?

And to top it off, it is the same cost to fly from Ireland to Spokane as it is to fly to Niagra Falls and take a train home. The only down side to this one is the weather going across the country this winter. Don't know that it will be worthwhile, and I don't know that there will be any way to find out until the time comes. So I may just wait on that one for another time when I can count on better weather. Decisions decisions! And other possible trips for the year include LA and Florida. I'll have to see about the planning for those as it comes.

On another note, I can't believe it is already time for the Grammy's again. It seems as though it comes by way too early each year. It keeps catching me off guard whenever they advertise for it. Gotta love the red carpet events though. They are always fun to watch. Time again to find out how many bestof outfits I hate and how many worst I love. My tastes never seem to run on season tragically. But hey, vintage is in, maybe I stand a chance...

What to Write

I'm sitting here, watching the humming birds and trying to decide what to write. Gina thinks I should do a post about deciding there is nothing in Europe I can't get here in S. California, or a Jane Austen perspective on a personality trait such as stubbornness, but neither of of them seems to hold too much fascination to me. I want to post something interesting though, as it has been awhile since I posted, as Dana has been kind enough to point out (HI DANA! Have fun procrastinating at work!), but I can't seem to think of anything off the top of my head. I'll keep pondering and hopefully my next post will be more interesting, this is more just one to say "I'm still posting!" for the moment, and a generic summary of highlights of the last couple weeks.

I've spent most my time these last two weeks reading and playing Angry Birds, which I have officially defeated. Sadly. I think that means I spend too much time playing on my ipod. My other humorous anecdote is how I managed to get a pedicure. I spent an afternoon outside with my aunt Meridith and her kids and took the opportunity in the sun to paint my toenails. The next day Meridith said she had booked me a pedicure, because she had never seen anyone paint so much of their skin before...I claim I just wasn't being careful because I was going to be in the pool shortly, and therefore it would all just wear off...kinda...ok, so maybe I just really suck at painting my nails. Still, it makes a good story, and my nails now look fabulous. My whole family informed me that it was a huge difference from when I tried to do it myself. Not a glowing recommendation if I ever wanted to go work in a nail salon. Good thing that's not on my career list.

I also hadn't realized how much I've come to depend on my wireless internet. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to check my ipod to realize I can't. So frustrating really. I keep thinking to myself that Starbucks is only a couple miles down the road, I could easily walk that. But it seems silly to do that just for the internet. They do have some here, you just have to be on the desktop to use it. Such a strange concept in this day and age. I'm half tempted to go buy a wireless router and just hook it up one afternoon. I may yet.

Trying to decide what to do with my next stage of life too after this. Do I want to go back to school? And if so, what will I study, where will I go? I'm leaning towards a business of music degree, but I still have no idea what I will do with it. I'm also leaning towards being a homeless vagabond again. It was quite an enjoyable way of life, though I don't know that my bank account will let me keep it up to much longer. Maybe I'll work for awhile, and then disappear for the summer. I'm thinking about putting an air mattress in the back of my car, and just tootling around seeing the sights. But I have time left to think. I'm going to be hovering down south here for awhile I think. At least it's warm and sunny here!

So, in conclusion. Remember to SUIT UP! and be ready for what comes.

Picture by Jennifer Becker