Thursday, August 18, 2011
We never made it to Uffizi yesterday, so we went to bed with every intention to get up at 7am and be over there around 8. Instead, we ended up getting there around 9:45am and the line was crazy long, so we spent 8 Euros extra per ticket to get in early with a reserved ticket.
When we got in, we had baby Frommer's with us, which actually has a little guide to Uffizi, and Jason was using that to guide us through. Our tastes and Frommer's tastes must be much different though because some of the things he gave 3 stars to were not very impressive to us. I mostly enjoyed the sculptures, most of which had really long toes. I also liked a couple portraits of Martin Luther and a couple paintings of old people. As per usual in Florence, pictures are not allowed, so we started our day out on a way to another 30 picture day.
After Uffizi, we got a book about it since we couldn't take pictures, grabbed a quick bite to eat, took pictures of Hercules and fake David in the Piazza and headed back to our hotel. All we needed at the hotel was to drop the book off and grab our flex rail pass.
As we headed back to the train station we decided to check out a grocery store. Of course, Jason wanted grapes, then we found strawberry and chocolate milk, followed by the cookie aisle, and really cheap iced tea. We finally found them in the cold case for .58 Euros, when we've been paying 2-3 Euros for them. We also got a Magnum White Chocolate to try and everything cost us 6.40 Euros altogether.
At the train station, while stading in line for ticket service, I found coaster and sent Jason to check them out since we hadn't gotten any coaster yet in Italy. He bought the coasters, which are made of leather (or fake leather) and say Firenze.
When we finally got to the ticket counter, past the departure of the train we wanted on, we found out there were two more departing in the next hour and they are local trains so we could just hop on. So we found the right train to get us to Pisa and after one of the sweatiest 90 minutes of my life we arrived in Pisa at about 3pm.
We walked towards where all the touristy stuff is and after about 15 minutes had our first glimpse of the tower. As we continued walked towards the tower, we saw some postcards, but decided to get some later. There were a lot of bicycle rentals, the kind of bikes like at the Weinhard Hotel, and there were horse and buggies available too like in Florence. Randomly, there were also a lot of hamburger stands in Pisa.
As we approached the tower, it was leaning in our direction so you didn't notice the lean as much as if we had approached it from another direction. We went to the tower because there wasn't a line, but we were sent to a ticket office where you purchase tickets to all of the attractions. So we got tickets for 7:40pm to the tower because that was the earliest time available, and we got tickets for the cathedral and baptistery as well. We went to the cathedral first and it was pretty much the same as most of the cathedrals in Europe that we've seen. Gaudy with lots of unnecessary things.
After the cathedral, we went to the baptistery. It didn't seem like much. Just a big building to get baptized in. We read that the placement of it is important because it opens to a path leading directly into the church, so after someone is baptized, he or she can then have a straight path to the church. We weren't blown away though until one of the workers asked for silence and started to sing. The acoustics in there were crazy! There was a really appealing echo, particularly for Gregorian chants. Jason though that might be his favorite part of our honeymoon so far.
We had time to kill before we could go see Pisa, so we walked along the lines and lines of tourist shops. Mostly we were hoping to find coasters, but I ended up finding a knife that was also a lighter and another lighter with the leaning tower on it.
Then, we decided we should find a place to cool down and hydrate. We went to a pizzeria, but it was like 6 and they said pizza isn't served until 7. Se we ordered salads and water. We ate inside, where it was much cooler, and had the coldest water of our trip so far. It helped us to cool off and then we got our appetite back, so we order lasagna and more amazingly cold water. The lasagna was good, but those 2 liters of water we had were some of the best drinks of my life because it was so refreshing.
It was only 7 by now and we went to look in the official souvenir shop. We got some postcards here and almost got a crucifix as well. However, it was 21 Euros and we decided against it. Then we got in line for the leaning tower.
When we started to climb the stairs it was very disorienting. Far more so than either of imagined it may be. At certain points, even though the stairs were going up, it felt as though we were walking down or at least level. We stopped about halfway up and enjoyed the view from there for a few minutes, then continued to the top. When at the top it really seemed like the tower shouldn't be able to stand. The lean was obvious and it was a bit nerve racking. Then, we found out there were even more stairs to a higher point. They were also very narrow.
On our way back to the rail station, we caught a whiff of burgers cooking and couldn't resist. It actually tasted incredibly good at that moment. When we got to the station we reserved tickets for the 8:10 train to Roma from Firenze. When we got back to our hotel we packed and went to sleep because of the early morning ahead of us.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
I've been really addicted to Twitter lately. I'm not quite sure why, I think since hardly anyone I know is one Twitter, I feel like I've accomplished something if someone in the Twitterverse retweets me. Anyway, I keep trying to get Jason to tweet, and he has a couple of times. But his picture next to his tweets was still an egg. It was annoying me, so I resorted to editing his Twitter profile for him. Clearly it means more to me than it does to him.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Freedom of religion
http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/04/11450-teachers-punished-for-publicly-bowing-his-head-in-prayer/
I enjoy reading articles on Mr. Conservative from time to time. A couple of pages I follow on Facebook tend to post links to some of the more interesting articles. The news he finds tends to flabbergast me. Like the student at a Florida college who got in trouble for not writing Jesus' name on a piece of paper and stomping on it.
Well this article is no different. I find that I have trouble in teaching in the public school system because of things like this. I have one student who is very adamant about the fact that he is an athiest and gets very vocal about the fact that I "can't teach religion," when I ask the class to turn to a an American Spiritual called "Give me that Old Time Religion." Seriously? We are in band, playing a song, that doesn't even have lyrics written for you to see. I'm teaching you to play notes, in a particular key, with the other students, so that eventually we can make music.
Well, if I worked at this school district I'm sure I would have been reprimanded already. When my outgoing atheist takes the Lord's name in vain, I have a habit (gained before I started teaching) of finishing his vulgar use with praise. For example, Student says, "Jesus," "...is Lord of all," I finished. Although, at my school district I did receive an e-mail to all staff telling us to be careful what we post online, so I could still get in trouble. Oh well, public school is not my thing. I want to home school and teach my kids to love on Jesus. I also want to teach them Biblical Hebrew, because everyone should know how to read the Old Testament in its original language. Well, I really want an excuse to keep my own skills up.
I enjoy reading articles on Mr. Conservative from time to time. A couple of pages I follow on Facebook tend to post links to some of the more interesting articles. The news he finds tends to flabbergast me. Like the student at a Florida college who got in trouble for not writing Jesus' name on a piece of paper and stomping on it.
Well this article is no different. I find that I have trouble in teaching in the public school system because of things like this. I have one student who is very adamant about the fact that he is an athiest and gets very vocal about the fact that I "can't teach religion," when I ask the class to turn to a an American Spiritual called "Give me that Old Time Religion." Seriously? We are in band, playing a song, that doesn't even have lyrics written for you to see. I'm teaching you to play notes, in a particular key, with the other students, so that eventually we can make music.
Well, if I worked at this school district I'm sure I would have been reprimanded already. When my outgoing atheist takes the Lord's name in vain, I have a habit (gained before I started teaching) of finishing his vulgar use with praise. For example, Student says, "Jesus," "...is Lord of all," I finished. Although, at my school district I did receive an e-mail to all staff telling us to be careful what we post online, so I could still get in trouble. Oh well, public school is not my thing. I want to home school and teach my kids to love on Jesus. I also want to teach them Biblical Hebrew, because everyone should know how to read the Old Testament in its original language. Well, I really want an excuse to keep my own skills up.
I Love You (Duet)
The following is a love song that I wrote a couple years back. Intended to be sung as a duet. Jason and I haven't quite perfected singing it together yet, but we're working on it.
Girl:
I love that you know just how to make me smile,
and if I say no you'll still walk a mile
just to come to me and look me in the eye,
and tell me that you love me all of the while
Chorus:
and I love you
you know it's true
gonna stay this way
forever and a day
cuz I love you
no one else will do
Guy:
whenever I see you it opens my eyes
to the wonders of the world and the stars in the sky
you brighten my day with the brightest of smiles
and tell me that you'll love me through all of our trials
Chorus
Together:
you make me complete yeah you make me whole
loving you forever now that's my goal
I love you completely with my heart and my soul
I love you and I need you, I just want you to know
Chorus
Guy:
Now as we grow old I'll still open your door
Girl:
and I won't say no only ask you for more
Guy:
I'll take you to dance for a night on the town
Girl:
and I'll always love you, now spin me around
Chorus 2
and I love you
you know it's true
gonna stay this way
forever and a day
cuz I love you
no one else will do
I love you
only you
Girl:
I love that you know just how to make me smile,
and if I say no you'll still walk a mile
just to come to me and look me in the eye,
and tell me that you love me all of the while
Chorus:
and I love you
you know it's true
gonna stay this way
forever and a day
cuz I love you
no one else will do
Guy:
whenever I see you it opens my eyes
to the wonders of the world and the stars in the sky
you brighten my day with the brightest of smiles
and tell me that you'll love me through all of our trials
Chorus
Together:
you make me complete yeah you make me whole
loving you forever now that's my goal
I love you completely with my heart and my soul
I love you and I need you, I just want you to know
Chorus
Guy:
Now as we grow old I'll still open your door
Girl:
and I won't say no only ask you for more
Guy:
I'll take you to dance for a night on the town
Girl:
and I'll always love you, now spin me around
Chorus 2
and I love you
you know it's true
gonna stay this way
forever and a day
cuz I love you
no one else will do
I love you
only you
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Honeymoon Part VII
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The alarm went off at 05:15 playing Europe's "The Final Countdown." I shut it off almost immediately, knowing I had set another, and went back to sleep for another 30 minutes. "Move Along" was our second alarm, and when that woke us up we got out of bed.
We had packed the night before and set out our clothes for the day, so getting ready was quick and easy. The concierge remembered us from the night before when we asked about a taxi and called one for us. Then, he said, "No one is looking, how about an espresso?"
Our taxi arrived shortly and took us to the train station. I went to the counter to get our ticket situation figured out and she knew just what to do. Our tickets were first class and will probably be the only time we ride first class. Unfortunately, even though we had a ticket, we had to pay a reservation fee of 20 Euros.
We were reading our books about Florence for awhile and had both taken dramamine. I started feeling sick, so I went to sleep. When I woke up we were arriving in Florence and Jason was asleep too. We got our bags and exited the train.
We went straight to the taxis after our bad experience in Mestre. The taxi ride was short and cost about 10 Euros, tax was 4 Euros. The hotel seemed nice, Frommer's said even two star placed are amazing here because they are in palaces and other historical buildings. I don't think ours' is that cool, but when we got to our room it was nice, had air conditioning and faced the garden behind the hotel, which also meant it would be quiet. We didn't actually get our room until four hours after we arrived though, so for that time time our luggage was locked in a cage. That option was way better than having to sit in the hotel with our baggage or carry it around town, so I am glad they had the luggage cage.
We asked the concierge the best way to spend 3 or 4 hours and he sent us towards the market and a couple of churches. The first basillica we saw was giant. It had a lot of green stone that looked like it was marble, I'm not sure because we didn't look very closely. We got distracted by the Lindt store. Of course we had to buy some chocolate, so we got a variety to snack on. We ate some of our delicious chocolate as we tried to find a place to eat suggested by Frommer's.
Of course, when we finally found the place, they weren't open yet. It was 11:25 and the lady told us they open at 12:00. Next door was a museum, The Torture Museum: The Florence Dungeon. The audio tour was supposed to take 35 minutes so we thought that would be perfect to kill time before lunch. We were given the student rate because she didn't have enough change for our big bill. We were learning a lot about how people were punished, lack of hygiene, and widespread disease. After the Torture Museum we went next door to eat.
For the first course I got rice and asparagus, Jason had some sort of penne pasta with shredded beef and tomato sauce. Then, I had chicken with some cheese sauce, and Jason had a beef fillet with a hard cheese grated on top. Of course, we shared everything pretty evenly and it was delicious. We had water and a red wine to accompany our meal. We were only going to have water, but the waitress was like, "No vino?" So we decided we should have it after all. It was delicious and we were stuffed. This place was legit, Frommer's did good! A lot of Italians were eating there and the menu we ordered from was hand-written in Italian, so our waitress had to tell us what everything was.
The combination of a full stomach and wine made us quite tired and it was close to 2:00pm, so we headed for our hotel to check in and have a nap.On our way to the hotel, we walked through the market checking things out.
Apparently we needed a nap more than we realized. We went to sleep around 14:30 and didn't get up until 19:00. I think it was a lot because we didn't sleep well in Mestre without air conditioning and couldn't take breaks in the middle of the day to rest there either. It worked out well because most restaurants don't begin serving dinner until late anyway.
Frommer's directed us well earlier, so we went to a place he gave 2-stars for dinner. We had a large lunch and though we would have a light dinner. As always, I was hungrier than Jason and I ordered for us. We got a spaghetti dish with tomato sauce, garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil. I also ordered us rabbit-hunter style (it was in a tomato sauce with olives) and I had still water while Jason had sparkling. The rabbit was better than either of us expected. It was tender and had good flavor when you ate it with the tomato sauce and an olive. The spaghetti was amazing! We think they make their own pasta, which makes sense because Frommer's said they make everything from scratch. While we were dining a band was doing soundcheck, but when we were getting ready to leave, they still hadn't started playing, so we headed back to the hotel rather than trying to stick around a listen to them.
We went a little too far because the street we were supposed to turn on starts out with a different name--they seem to do that a lot here. It was nice though because we ran into a lady that was looking for the same street and got to help her find it as well. We have internet at this hotel, but only in the lobby. So we uploaded some pictures to Facebook so we could update everyone and how awesome everything was going.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
We slept in a bit today, not getting up until around 9am. Jason went down to breakfast without me because my stomach was bothering me. He said breakfast was not any better here than Mestre, so apparently Italians don't do breakfast well.
Around 10:00 we took off for Accademia because Jason thought I sounded most excited to see the real David. This is true. There isn't a ton of attraction to Florence other than David. The line was long and did not appear to be moving, so I continued standing in line and taking pictures of a dog laying in a market cart while Jason went to see if there was a better way. It was now 10:30 and he came back with tickets for 12:00.
Since we had some time to enjoy the city, we decided to check out our tour. It said it wanted us to meet at the train station. While we waited for the tour we grabbed some Italian fast food--pizza and hash browns. The browns worked well for breakfast, so I'm glad he ordered that for us instead of french fries. It was actually the closest thing to a breakfast food that was edible since we arrived in Italy.
The bus finally came to pick us up. The tour wasn't very educational or interesting. Then again, I don't think Florence is as spectacular or as interesting as Paris or Venice, but the food (save for breakfast) has been amazing in Florence thus far. On our tour we went in the hills and saw things we probably wouldn't have seen on foot, including Piazza Michaelangelo with a bronze copy of David and some stellar views. Jason hopped out while we were stopped there and ran, literally ran, to take some pictures. We got off the bus before the end of the tour so we could make it over to Accademia.
Accademia turned out to be really fun. It is a pretty small museum, especially after going to The Louvre, but they have a lot to see. The best parts were the collection of musical instruments and the sculptures. There were a couple of really cool sculptures. One was of a lady who was married to a banker I think, and because people came to know here from the sculpture, it helped her out when she went to a political function. Another sculpture of a woman and a child was interesting to me because the woman wasn't very tall or large, but her feet looked huge! Of course, David was astounding! It was pretty surprising how big he really is, and there is so much detail! You can see not only his true to life muscles, but his veins. I thought the detail of the veins was amazing.
The other neat thing about Accademia is that there are a lot of religious works. So, Jason and I got to talking and I realized he doesn't understand a lot about the historical timeline, particularly that of the church. We talked about how the depictions of Biblical stories in art was important because lay people couldn't read the Bible for themselves.
After touring Accademia it was getting close to 15:00, so we thought we had better eat lunch before places close down. We went to the same place we went for lunch the day before. I had lasagna and Jason got macaroni with ragu. Both were good, but the lasagna was much better. The nice waitress from the day before wasn't working, and the guy working in her place didn't seem to want to work, so unfortunately it wasn't as good as it was the first time.
After lunch we went through the market and I got an apron with my name embroidered on it. We were going to clean up and try to hit up the other big museum in Florence before it closed. However, we talked to our concierge and he said if you go in the morning there isn't much of a line, so we made that our new plan.
Taking advantage of our free time we relaxed in the afternoon. Around 19:30 we headed out to dinner. Jason wanted to go to the same place again so we started to head that way. Instead, we ended up eating where I originally wanted us to eat, Sabatini. Jason didn't want to go there because it seemed expensive and that was true. We were definitely glad we had worn semi-nice clothes, they even asked if we had reservations. The dining room was all indoor and candlelit. Unlike most places in Italy, we didn't sit at the same table as another couple. We had rissoto and asparagus, spaghetti with basil and tomato which had more basil than the last time we got a similar dish, and we shared a beef in a red wine sauce. It was good, but set us back 80 Euros.
The alarm went off at 05:15 playing Europe's "The Final Countdown." I shut it off almost immediately, knowing I had set another, and went back to sleep for another 30 minutes. "Move Along" was our second alarm, and when that woke us up we got out of bed.
We had packed the night before and set out our clothes for the day, so getting ready was quick and easy. The concierge remembered us from the night before when we asked about a taxi and called one for us. Then, he said, "No one is looking, how about an espresso?"
Our taxi arrived shortly and took us to the train station. I went to the counter to get our ticket situation figured out and she knew just what to do. Our tickets were first class and will probably be the only time we ride first class. Unfortunately, even though we had a ticket, we had to pay a reservation fee of 20 Euros.
We were reading our books about Florence for awhile and had both taken dramamine. I started feeling sick, so I went to sleep. When I woke up we were arriving in Florence and Jason was asleep too. We got our bags and exited the train.
We went straight to the taxis after our bad experience in Mestre. The taxi ride was short and cost about 10 Euros, tax was 4 Euros. The hotel seemed nice, Frommer's said even two star placed are amazing here because they are in palaces and other historical buildings. I don't think ours' is that cool, but when we got to our room it was nice, had air conditioning and faced the garden behind the hotel, which also meant it would be quiet. We didn't actually get our room until four hours after we arrived though, so for that time time our luggage was locked in a cage. That option was way better than having to sit in the hotel with our baggage or carry it around town, so I am glad they had the luggage cage.
We asked the concierge the best way to spend 3 or 4 hours and he sent us towards the market and a couple of churches. The first basillica we saw was giant. It had a lot of green stone that looked like it was marble, I'm not sure because we didn't look very closely. We got distracted by the Lindt store. Of course we had to buy some chocolate, so we got a variety to snack on. We ate some of our delicious chocolate as we tried to find a place to eat suggested by Frommer's.
Of course, when we finally found the place, they weren't open yet. It was 11:25 and the lady told us they open at 12:00. Next door was a museum, The Torture Museum: The Florence Dungeon. The audio tour was supposed to take 35 minutes so we thought that would be perfect to kill time before lunch. We were given the student rate because she didn't have enough change for our big bill. We were learning a lot about how people were punished, lack of hygiene, and widespread disease. After the Torture Museum we went next door to eat.
For the first course I got rice and asparagus, Jason had some sort of penne pasta with shredded beef and tomato sauce. Then, I had chicken with some cheese sauce, and Jason had a beef fillet with a hard cheese grated on top. Of course, we shared everything pretty evenly and it was delicious. We had water and a red wine to accompany our meal. We were only going to have water, but the waitress was like, "No vino?" So we decided we should have it after all. It was delicious and we were stuffed. This place was legit, Frommer's did good! A lot of Italians were eating there and the menu we ordered from was hand-written in Italian, so our waitress had to tell us what everything was.
The combination of a full stomach and wine made us quite tired and it was close to 2:00pm, so we headed for our hotel to check in and have a nap.On our way to the hotel, we walked through the market checking things out.
Apparently we needed a nap more than we realized. We went to sleep around 14:30 and didn't get up until 19:00. I think it was a lot because we didn't sleep well in Mestre without air conditioning and couldn't take breaks in the middle of the day to rest there either. It worked out well because most restaurants don't begin serving dinner until late anyway.
Frommer's directed us well earlier, so we went to a place he gave 2-stars for dinner. We had a large lunch and though we would have a light dinner. As always, I was hungrier than Jason and I ordered for us. We got a spaghetti dish with tomato sauce, garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil. I also ordered us rabbit-hunter style (it was in a tomato sauce with olives) and I had still water while Jason had sparkling. The rabbit was better than either of us expected. It was tender and had good flavor when you ate it with the tomato sauce and an olive. The spaghetti was amazing! We think they make their own pasta, which makes sense because Frommer's said they make everything from scratch. While we were dining a band was doing soundcheck, but when we were getting ready to leave, they still hadn't started playing, so we headed back to the hotel rather than trying to stick around a listen to them.
We went a little too far because the street we were supposed to turn on starts out with a different name--they seem to do that a lot here. It was nice though because we ran into a lady that was looking for the same street and got to help her find it as well. We have internet at this hotel, but only in the lobby. So we uploaded some pictures to Facebook so we could update everyone and how awesome everything was going.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
We slept in a bit today, not getting up until around 9am. Jason went down to breakfast without me because my stomach was bothering me. He said breakfast was not any better here than Mestre, so apparently Italians don't do breakfast well.
Around 10:00 we took off for Accademia because Jason thought I sounded most excited to see the real David. This is true. There isn't a ton of attraction to Florence other than David. The line was long and did not appear to be moving, so I continued standing in line and taking pictures of a dog laying in a market cart while Jason went to see if there was a better way. It was now 10:30 and he came back with tickets for 12:00.
Since we had some time to enjoy the city, we decided to check out our tour. It said it wanted us to meet at the train station. While we waited for the tour we grabbed some Italian fast food--pizza and hash browns. The browns worked well for breakfast, so I'm glad he ordered that for us instead of french fries. It was actually the closest thing to a breakfast food that was edible since we arrived in Italy.
The bus finally came to pick us up. The tour wasn't very educational or interesting. Then again, I don't think Florence is as spectacular or as interesting as Paris or Venice, but the food (save for breakfast) has been amazing in Florence thus far. On our tour we went in the hills and saw things we probably wouldn't have seen on foot, including Piazza Michaelangelo with a bronze copy of David and some stellar views. Jason hopped out while we were stopped there and ran, literally ran, to take some pictures. We got off the bus before the end of the tour so we could make it over to Accademia.
Accademia turned out to be really fun. It is a pretty small museum, especially after going to The Louvre, but they have a lot to see. The best parts were the collection of musical instruments and the sculptures. There were a couple of really cool sculptures. One was of a lady who was married to a banker I think, and because people came to know here from the sculpture, it helped her out when she went to a political function. Another sculpture of a woman and a child was interesting to me because the woman wasn't very tall or large, but her feet looked huge! Of course, David was astounding! It was pretty surprising how big he really is, and there is so much detail! You can see not only his true to life muscles, but his veins. I thought the detail of the veins was amazing.
The other neat thing about Accademia is that there are a lot of religious works. So, Jason and I got to talking and I realized he doesn't understand a lot about the historical timeline, particularly that of the church. We talked about how the depictions of Biblical stories in art was important because lay people couldn't read the Bible for themselves.
After touring Accademia it was getting close to 15:00, so we thought we had better eat lunch before places close down. We went to the same place we went for lunch the day before. I had lasagna and Jason got macaroni with ragu. Both were good, but the lasagna was much better. The nice waitress from the day before wasn't working, and the guy working in her place didn't seem to want to work, so unfortunately it wasn't as good as it was the first time.
After lunch we went through the market and I got an apron with my name embroidered on it. We were going to clean up and try to hit up the other big museum in Florence before it closed. However, we talked to our concierge and he said if you go in the morning there isn't much of a line, so we made that our new plan.
Taking advantage of our free time we relaxed in the afternoon. Around 19:30 we headed out to dinner. Jason wanted to go to the same place again so we started to head that way. Instead, we ended up eating where I originally wanted us to eat, Sabatini. Jason didn't want to go there because it seemed expensive and that was true. We were definitely glad we had worn semi-nice clothes, they even asked if we had reservations. The dining room was all indoor and candlelit. Unlike most places in Italy, we didn't sit at the same table as another couple. We had rissoto and asparagus, spaghetti with basil and tomato which had more basil than the last time we got a similar dish, and we shared a beef in a red wine sauce. It was good, but set us back 80 Euros.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Feed
So, I'm reading this trilogy. I forget the name of the trilogy, but the first book is called Feed. Basically all most people hear when I tell them what it is about is that it is a zombie book. Normally everyone quits listen after that. But, the book is less about the zombies, and more about the humans and the way the world works now that zombies are in it.
In this new reality, bloggers provide the source of reliable news. Obviously I would be terrible at that. Not the telling the honest news bit, but blogging on a regular basis. It is a really interesting, if not somewhat disturbing, read. You might want to give it a try, if you are into that sort of thing.
In this new reality, bloggers provide the source of reliable news. Obviously I would be terrible at that. Not the telling the honest news bit, but blogging on a regular basis. It is a really interesting, if not somewhat disturbing, read. You might want to give it a try, if you are into that sort of thing.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Best shopper ever
Apparently, I am the queen of shopping. I have now bought two items recently that were missing parts required to complete their set-up. Jason and I got an L-shaped desk from Staples sometime in January and it had two of the same part rather than opposing pieces to complete the file drawer. Jason has now called them 5 times and we have not received the missing part. Yesterday I bought an exercise ball so that we would have two, plus I lost the pump for my other exercise ball so I needed a pump. Today as I was pumping up the ball just now and after I got it pumped up, I realized there was no plug for the hole. So, like I said, I'm the queen of shopping. haha, I hope you guys do better.
Friday, February 1, 2013
DeVoir moving company
So, last summer we moved a bunch of our stuff to an apartment in Pasco for a new job. Said job wasn't what we wanted, and back to Dayton we went. Then, we moved to College Place, we moved everything to College Place for the hope of a new job and for one of my actual jobs. Now we are back in Dayton after being in limbo between Dayton and CP, as we both have jobs in both towns. Still in limbo, but I really intended to tell you that in light of such events (4 moves within about 6 months and 5 moves in our just shy of 18 month marriage) we have decided to start a professional moving business as we have more experience in moving than basically any other thing in life.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Jane of all trades
If you know me, then you know that I get bored particularly quickly. I've heard that only boring people get bored, but I mostly just have ADD when it comes to sticking with something. Now that makes me sound like I quit everything I start, but that's not the case either. I tend to fall in love with something and get a little intense about it, then I get bored with it for a few months and come back to it.
Thanks to that aspect of my personality, I've delved into playing drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and violin. So far I have stuck with all of those except piano, and I just got my violin. I also took Spanish in high school, Biblical Hebrew in college, and have tried to teach myself ASL. I like to work on computers, am interested in photography, and am an avid gamer.
The only problem with all of these great things, is I don't know how to keep up with all of these interests. It would be ridiculous to practice every instrument every day because I would get burnt out pretty fast, and multiple languages in a day would probably be stressful as well.
I am pretty much the same when it comes to career options too. My mom is right, I want to do more with my life than I have time for.
Thanks to that aspect of my personality, I've delved into playing drums, piano, trumpet, guitar, and violin. So far I have stuck with all of those except piano, and I just got my violin. I also took Spanish in high school, Biblical Hebrew in college, and have tried to teach myself ASL. I like to work on computers, am interested in photography, and am an avid gamer.
The only problem with all of these great things, is I don't know how to keep up with all of these interests. It would be ridiculous to practice every instrument every day because I would get burnt out pretty fast, and multiple languages in a day would probably be stressful as well.
I am pretty much the same when it comes to career options too. My mom is right, I want to do more with my life than I have time for.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
MASH
So I am watching the second season of Dating Rules from my Future Self and they were playing on their iPad with a MASH app. Brought back old memories so I had to download it and try for old time's sake. Apparently Jason and I are going to end up living in a shack in Bora Bora with our 7 kids, driving a Mercedes SLK. Guess we spend our money wisely? Could be a cute shack I suppose, hopefully more than one room in it. Where did we cone up with these things? Also, how did we know about MASH in Dayton and apparently all over the world since it is an app now, because I never saw it on tv and that was before all of our crazy technology.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Honeymoon Part VI
Today was our last day in Venice, and we decided we were going to take our walking tour of Venice. We got up early and took the bus straight to Venice, skipping breakfast of course, due to the fact that it sucked. We got to Piazza San Marco by 8:30. We had to walk a bit from the Rialto water bus stop and it was really interesting to see everything, as people were getting ready to open and very few tourists were out and about. It was even too early for the tourist office that was not yet open, so we wasted a bit more time exploring.
Happily, we found a coffee bar that had doughnuts, so we shared one and a cappuccino. After that, we saw the Hard Rock Cafe Venice, and the door was open, so we went inside. We looked right at the bartender, who said nothing, and started looking around the rock shop. After a couple of minutes, another worker walked in and said they didn't open until 10:00, so we left.
Shortly after leaving the Hard Rock, we saw a gondolier trying to lasso a gondola. It was quite entertaining because he kept missing. The rope really wasn't stiff enough to be a good lasso. He finally got it though and we headed back towards the tourist office for our tour.
At our tour they gave us one ear bud and a walkie-talkie for listening to our tour guide. The tour was educational, but Jason didn't get a lot out of it because he couldn't understand the tour guide. On our tour, they explained how to tell which buildings were older based on architecture. Pointy windows are the oldest buildings, rounded arches are a little less old, and square windows are the newest structures. They were also in the process of reinforcing the Campagnola with titanium to reduce its sinking. Also, Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in Venice and on many postcards you will see pictures on Piazza San Marco with some pretty severe flooding; sometimes the picture even has someone in a boat in the Piazza.
When we finished our tour, we started looking for a place to grab a bite since we never had a proper breakfast. Jason found something that looked good to him, some sort of Foccacia sandwich that was mostly full of cheese. We ate that and continued looking for food while we window shopped. We found a glass shop where Jason wanted to see if they had a bike figure of blown glass, but we found a crucifix instead and got that.
Shortly after that we found a pizza place and got two slices to share, as well as a water and a Nestea. Everything was good, but the funny mushrooms on the one slice freaked me out. I mostly ate the olive pizza. We were pretty full from that, and after resting a bit, grabbed a boat to the Ghetto. On our way to the Jewish Museum, a gondolier asked if we wanted a gondola ride, and after talking a bit we started our 50 minute tour in the smaller canals of the Jewish Ghetto, which are much less crowded and more interesting. Our gondolier was very nice and interesting. We had a nice chat with him and he taught us a lot about Venice. We learned some of the same building facts as on our tour, but Jason could understand our gondolier much better than he understood our tour guide. We also to to ride under the oldest bridge in Venice. He sang us a song too, for no extra charge. The gondola ride was better than we could have hoped and cost 80 Euros.
Then, we went to the Jewish Museum, which wasn't as cool as I had hoped it would be, but we had a clean bathroom so you can't complain about that. We were going to be cutting it close to get from the Ghetto to Piazza San Marco by 14:00 for a free guided tour of the Murano Glass Museum. We only had 17 minutes! In our rushed commute to San Marco, a bird hit me in the face with its wing as it flew past. It was disgusting and scary, but I suppose it is better than it pooping on me. It was a pigeon, and let me tell you, those things are everywhere. So much so that Rick Steves tells you what to do in case a pigeon does poop on you (wait until it dries before you wipe it off.)
We made it to San Marco by 14:05, and they may not have left yet, but we couldn't quite figure out where the meeting point was, so we didn't make it. Our museum pass still worked for the Murano Glass Museum though, so we decided to go after all. We figured out the boats that would take us there and caught the next one. It took 30 minutes to get to Murano and when we did, we almost got off on the wrong stop until we realized one stop is right by the museum. We got off there and checked out a couple of shops on the way to the museum. Like many other places, the museum had a sign that said no photos, so I asked the lady who took our tickets if it meant no photos at all, or just no flash, but she said, "today is OK," so I took pictures. The museum had a lot of cool stuff, like glass from the 1st Century. They also had a piece on loan that looked like a preserved dinner table found somewhere under dirt in a buried city or something.
When we finished looking at the inside of the museum, we rested in the museum garden a bit. Then, because our water was hot and gross, we went back into the bookshop to buy a water and use the toilet. We got a water and Jason thought he got a sparkling water because it was by a brand that makes sparkling water, but it was awful. I can't even describe how bad it was. Jason made me try it because it was so terrible.
After that, we tried to find a place to grab a snack, but didn't see much, so we just got gelato. Jason got peach and chocolate, I got a Magnum ice cream sandwich. Both were quite good and we ate them on the way back to the water bus stop.
The right boat was there and we took it right back, then went to our favorite restaurant where we planned on having dinner. They weren't open, but the sign said they would open again at 18:00, so we waited, and we waited. Jason was not very patient however, so we went to a place run by Asians where we had gotten an iced tea while we were waiting. There we ordered lasagna and ravioli with ham. It was edible, but tasted like it was microwave food. Our place still wasn't open and we were both full, so we got more ice cream of course, and went to the bus stop.
When we got back to our hotel we tried to figure out when we needed to take the train in the morning. It was confusing so we asked our concierge and decided we had better go the the train station to make a reservation. The bus we got on to take us to the station didn't stop there as it said it would, so we asked a nice lady walking her dog how to get there. She didn't understand one word of English, but recognized stazione. She asked if we were walking by walking with her fingers, I said yes. Then, she pointed us to the street we came from and told us to go left there and , "siempre, siempre, siempre!" Basically the whole time she was jabbering in Italian and I just kept nodding my head.
Her directions got us there, but all the tellers were closed. So we had no way of figuring it out. We saw a railroad worker though and asked him. He was nice and pretty much his best advice was that we would have to come back in the morning to take to a ticket clerk. So we thanked him and rode the bus back to the hotel.
Happily, we found a coffee bar that had doughnuts, so we shared one and a cappuccino. After that, we saw the Hard Rock Cafe Venice, and the door was open, so we went inside. We looked right at the bartender, who said nothing, and started looking around the rock shop. After a couple of minutes, another worker walked in and said they didn't open until 10:00, so we left.
Shortly after leaving the Hard Rock, we saw a gondolier trying to lasso a gondola. It was quite entertaining because he kept missing. The rope really wasn't stiff enough to be a good lasso. He finally got it though and we headed back towards the tourist office for our tour.
At our tour they gave us one ear bud and a walkie-talkie for listening to our tour guide. The tour was educational, but Jason didn't get a lot out of it because he couldn't understand the tour guide. On our tour, they explained how to tell which buildings were older based on architecture. Pointy windows are the oldest buildings, rounded arches are a little less old, and square windows are the newest structures. They were also in the process of reinforcing the Campagnola with titanium to reduce its sinking. Also, Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in Venice and on many postcards you will see pictures on Piazza San Marco with some pretty severe flooding; sometimes the picture even has someone in a boat in the Piazza.
When we finished our tour, we started looking for a place to grab a bite since we never had a proper breakfast. Jason found something that looked good to him, some sort of Foccacia sandwich that was mostly full of cheese. We ate that and continued looking for food while we window shopped. We found a glass shop where Jason wanted to see if they had a bike figure of blown glass, but we found a crucifix instead and got that.
Shortly after that we found a pizza place and got two slices to share, as well as a water and a Nestea. Everything was good, but the funny mushrooms on the one slice freaked me out. I mostly ate the olive pizza. We were pretty full from that, and after resting a bit, grabbed a boat to the Ghetto. On our way to the Jewish Museum, a gondolier asked if we wanted a gondola ride, and after talking a bit we started our 50 minute tour in the smaller canals of the Jewish Ghetto, which are much less crowded and more interesting. Our gondolier was very nice and interesting. We had a nice chat with him and he taught us a lot about Venice. We learned some of the same building facts as on our tour, but Jason could understand our gondolier much better than he understood our tour guide. We also to to ride under the oldest bridge in Venice. He sang us a song too, for no extra charge. The gondola ride was better than we could have hoped and cost 80 Euros.
Then, we went to the Jewish Museum, which wasn't as cool as I had hoped it would be, but we had a clean bathroom so you can't complain about that. We were going to be cutting it close to get from the Ghetto to Piazza San Marco by 14:00 for a free guided tour of the Murano Glass Museum. We only had 17 minutes! In our rushed commute to San Marco, a bird hit me in the face with its wing as it flew past. It was disgusting and scary, but I suppose it is better than it pooping on me. It was a pigeon, and let me tell you, those things are everywhere. So much so that Rick Steves tells you what to do in case a pigeon does poop on you (wait until it dries before you wipe it off.)
We made it to San Marco by 14:05, and they may not have left yet, but we couldn't quite figure out where the meeting point was, so we didn't make it. Our museum pass still worked for the Murano Glass Museum though, so we decided to go after all. We figured out the boats that would take us there and caught the next one. It took 30 minutes to get to Murano and when we did, we almost got off on the wrong stop until we realized one stop is right by the museum. We got off there and checked out a couple of shops on the way to the museum. Like many other places, the museum had a sign that said no photos, so I asked the lady who took our tickets if it meant no photos at all, or just no flash, but she said, "today is OK," so I took pictures. The museum had a lot of cool stuff, like glass from the 1st Century. They also had a piece on loan that looked like a preserved dinner table found somewhere under dirt in a buried city or something.
When we finished looking at the inside of the museum, we rested in the museum garden a bit. Then, because our water was hot and gross, we went back into the bookshop to buy a water and use the toilet. We got a water and Jason thought he got a sparkling water because it was by a brand that makes sparkling water, but it was awful. I can't even describe how bad it was. Jason made me try it because it was so terrible.
After that, we tried to find a place to grab a snack, but didn't see much, so we just got gelato. Jason got peach and chocolate, I got a Magnum ice cream sandwich. Both were quite good and we ate them on the way back to the water bus stop.
The right boat was there and we took it right back, then went to our favorite restaurant where we planned on having dinner. They weren't open, but the sign said they would open again at 18:00, so we waited, and we waited. Jason was not very patient however, so we went to a place run by Asians where we had gotten an iced tea while we were waiting. There we ordered lasagna and ravioli with ham. It was edible, but tasted like it was microwave food. Our place still wasn't open and we were both full, so we got more ice cream of course, and went to the bus stop.
When we got back to our hotel we tried to figure out when we needed to take the train in the morning. It was confusing so we asked our concierge and decided we had better go the the train station to make a reservation. The bus we got on to take us to the station didn't stop there as it said it would, so we asked a nice lady walking her dog how to get there. She didn't understand one word of English, but recognized stazione. She asked if we were walking by walking with her fingers, I said yes. Then, she pointed us to the street we came from and told us to go left there and , "siempre, siempre, siempre!" Basically the whole time she was jabbering in Italian and I just kept nodding my head.
Her directions got us there, but all the tellers were closed. So we had no way of figuring it out. We saw a railroad worker though and asked him. He was nice and pretty much his best advice was that we would have to come back in the morning to take to a ticket clerk. So we thanked him and rode the bus back to the hotel.
Lost in my house
So, my last honeymoon entry was about Sunday, August 14, but I don't know where my Venice journal is right now, I just found my Florence journal that has Tuesday on it. Hopefully I will find Venice sometime tonight. Our house is still a bit of a mess, so I guess that gives me even more reason to clean. Maybe Jason can at least remember what journal I wrote in because I don't even remember that. It is possible that I journaled on the computer in Venice so I will check the laptop as well.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Awesome story
So, you know how sometimes someone gets really amped to tell you some awesome story that they just have to share. They give it all this hype before they tell you anything about the story at all so you get really excited about, thinking it must be funny or maybe insightful or at the very least interesting, but then it is all of like two sentences and is a total let down. I just wanted to let you know I am that person.
Quotes
Izzy: "I know how to spell mom! K-I-M!"
Dad singing, "I'll build you a castle 40 feet high." "Whoah!" Izzy exclaims.
Back to blogging
Dear readers:
I have every intention of starting back up on blogging on Monday. Technically I am starting tonight, but I want to resume the Honeymoon blogs because they are incomplete and I don't want to leave anyone hanging. However, I don't have my journals with me right now to do that.
You may think that this is some sort of New Year's Resolution that I have made as it is still decidedly close to the beginning of the year, but it is not. I was going through my office yesterday and organizing things when I stumbled upon my Honeymoon journals and remembered how far behind I was with blogging. So, if you are on the edge of your seat waiting for what is next, I give you my sincerest apologies and promise to bring you more interesting tales. Although, with how long it has been, I'm sure none of you are still on the edge of your seat, so I am sorry for that as well.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you find enjoyment and/or encouragement from it.
In Christ,
Samantha
I have every intention of starting back up on blogging on Monday. Technically I am starting tonight, but I want to resume the Honeymoon blogs because they are incomplete and I don't want to leave anyone hanging. However, I don't have my journals with me right now to do that.
You may think that this is some sort of New Year's Resolution that I have made as it is still decidedly close to the beginning of the year, but it is not. I was going through my office yesterday and organizing things when I stumbled upon my Honeymoon journals and remembered how far behind I was with blogging. So, if you are on the edge of your seat waiting for what is next, I give you my sincerest apologies and promise to bring you more interesting tales. Although, with how long it has been, I'm sure none of you are still on the edge of your seat, so I am sorry for that as well.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you find enjoyment and/or encouragement from it.
In Christ,
Samantha
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