photos of italy ... finally!

well friends, as per jenny's suggestion, i have posted my pictures of italy on my flickr page. please feel free to go there and view them and make comments! it turns out that i had already signed up for flickr back in my college days and had forgotten about it. i didn't post any pictures so i don't know why or when i signed up! i uploaded quite a few more (102 to be precise) than i was going to when i tried to post them on here. but i did go through them and feel as though i did quite a bit of narrowing down since i had over 350. i hope you enjoy perusing them as much as i enjoyed taking them!

i didn't know yogurt would freeze

but yes, yes it will when it is pushed all the to the back of the refrigerator and left under the temperature control thingamajig.

here's another option

i went to my collages option and made this. it's not ideal. in fact, i tried to go back and do something else. but when i made this, it deselected all the pictures i had held in my tray. now i have to go back through and pick them again. i'm going to bed now. maybe i'll try again tomorrow.

i think i need to figure out a new way to post photos to my blog

earlier i said "words cannot describe"

and they still can't. so i thought i'd try pictures. a lot of pictures. i loved italy. i miss it. i wish i knew how to tell you. but i can only show you. and it still doesn't come close to what i want to share.


this is the duomo in florence. i saw this everyday. it helped me to get my bearings and even help me to be able to navigate the city without a map by my third day there. i can't imagine being able to see something so beautiful every day of my life.








this is also part of the duomo.



ahhh yes. my first taste of gelato in italy. my friend colin even took me to the very best place in florence. he swears by it. i soon found out why.







this is the synagogue in florence. it's breathtaking. strange because there are less than 40 registered jews in florence. or so i hear.












okay, so at this very moment i am the saddest kid in the world. i went through and picked out probably about 30 of my favorite pictures to post in this blog. and now i come to find that picasa has only put these four in the post. i so much wanted to share with my blog readers all these pictures. i don't know what to do right now because i'm tired and about to go to bed. i'll mull it over and maybe we'll see whatever plan i improvise. meanwhile, if you're a facebooker, all my pictures are posted on there and you can feel free to peruse them. although i think there is something to be said by seeing the specific pictures the photographer chooses as their favorites. it really gives a certain flavor to the experience. dang, i'm really sad. i had some nice photos to share with you (though i will admit that it's not too difficult to take a beautiful picture in italy ... just point and click and you're going to get something amazing)

i'm having a good God day

so, since i've been to seminary, i have in general felt more spiritually dry and even spiritually anorexic. i don't often get much God in. for a while, i was probably ignoring but now i'm trying to figure out how to get back. and i realize that i won't probably feel the same way i felt in college any time soon but i have faith that my relationship will continue to grow if i just keep on keeping on. this is where i especially love the example of john wesley. he totally knew about this feeling. but he kept going because he knew that it was better than doing nothing and hoped it might all eventually lead to something. and it did. all this to say that i'm having a very in tune to God day. true, it's not a life-shattering heart-warming experience. but i have been feeling a good glow all day and this is quite significant to me. i'm revelling in it. basking. soaking it up while i can.

some of the highlights that i think helped lead to this point:
first, we had two guest speakers in my pastoral care of adolescents class, a pastor and his gay son. they spoke about how the coming out process affected them both and how the church they were at played into it all. it was just very encouraging and hopeful for me to hear their stories and how they have changed and grown. it gives me hope for those i sometimes write off in my head as not having hope. it was just a powerful story and i appreciate their willingness to share it.

second, i had an interview at a church for an interneship next year. i felt very comfortable with both the pastor and the elder. it seemed like it would be a good fit. usually, i don't feel so good after i leave an interview. the one other time i did feel so good was after my interview at tisdale umc where i ended up working for three years. i really really really hope this works out. i pray that this may be the place God is calling me. and it makes me have joy that i am again praying and trying to find out where God wants me. significant improvements.

third, and this one may seem a bit silly, i heard the tobymac song "made to love" on the radio. generally, i think tobymac is a little ridiculous but i'm finding i really do enjoy the substance of some of his songs. this song in particular seems to be exactly what i'm feeling. "whatever happened to a passion i could live for; what became of the flame that made me feel more; and when did I forget that ... i was made to love you, i was made to find you, i was made just for you, made to adore you, i was made to love and be loved by you." so good. so what i feel.

and all this added to my continuing high of italy. italy was fantastic, wonderful, amazing, indescribable. but i promise that i will try to describe it some time for you. or at least tell you what i did.

peace.

i'm in italy!!!!

words cannot describe.

can you imagine?!

two days from now i'll be in beautiful italy where the wine will flow, the gelato will be eaten, a good friend will be visited and the temperature is in the 60's. i can not wait. i may even try some italian coffee because i hear it's amazing, even for those with a coffee aversion like myself. plus i just think it would be simply divine to sit at a little cafe in sunny tuscany and look out at the piazza and just be happy with the world.

okay, maybe i'm rubbing it in now. i'm really not trying to gloat. i just haven't really realized that i'm leaving tomorrow and i'm trying to paint the picture so that i can get a handle on it. really what i should be doing is writing my resume, writing a paper and calling field ed. sites. even packing would be more productive than sitting around in my pajamas blogging.

but it's still early for me since i went to bed at 3. i was woken up earlier than i anticipated this morning. to bells ringing. in my ears. from the fire alarm in my hallway. i leapt out of bed and tried to figure out what to do and where the smoke was coming from. thankfully krista knew and was able to remedy the situation quickly. but we still had to listen to the fire alarm for at least five more minutes and had to leave open our door for the smoke to clear. so i've learned that after loud, repeated noise and cold feet, i can not go back to sleep.

friends, some advice: don't leave the tea kettle on the burner. apparently, when all the water/steam is gone, it is possible that the lid will melt down the side of the pot and land on your burner, creating quite an unpleasant smell and lots of smoke.

free laundry!

that's right friends. it's that time in the semester when i am dogsitting again! i love it. ruth keeps me on my toes. the owners have started letting her sleep in their room on the floor. i thought that was nice. until i realized that ruth snores like a lumberjack. it's unbelievable. finally, i had to take her downstairs so she could sleep on her couch. poor ruth. i did feel a little guilty. until i finally fell asleep.