LA for a Day

Just remembered why I love my LA community so much...

Doubled over laughter, the kind that hurts

Lunch at Novel Cafe

Genuine love for one another

Wholefoods Pizza crust with our own topping creations

Plans, plans, and more plans that always get played out. Not the kind that you say "that would be great" but it never happens... but the kind that relaly do happen - and happen often.

Silly Monkeys (for Alana)

Coffee shops

We talk about Jesus alot.

Plenty of Pictures

Discussions of current books we're reading, authors we enjoy, the relationships we're in or used to be in or hope for, 401K plans (yes that was brought up at the dinner table and I thought to myself "I'm way too young for this conversation"), our married friends (Jacqueline Angeline Mowery), ministry, where we want to live, and decorating houses. I think I'm getting old. Well... I am turning 21 on Sunday.

Goals. We have lots.

In a round about way, that was my day today with some of my greatest girl friends ever in LA. And the excitement grows as football games, new ministries, Weekend trips, BBQs, movie marathons, rock climbing excursions, dancing, roommate dinners, midnight praise and worship sessions, and tons of fellowship draw near.

Highschool Group

Last night I went to the 1st Pres highschool youth group to help out. Dino asked if I'd like to volunteer until I go back to school. I know most of the kids from working with the jr. high group (the 7th graders I started with are seniors now) and so I was excited to hang out with them for a bit. And this was a beautiful thing. We closed with worship, and Dino has been great at getting a student-led worship band going. As we were singing, I took a good look at the students singing, playing guitar, piano, etc. and I was so moved... Sara, Daniel, Andy, Peter, Nick, Allison, Tracy, etc... most of them I've known since birth (though I was only 4,5,6 when they were born) and a few of them I've babysat for years. They are beautiful people with great talent and with hearts that love Jesus. I saw it in their faces when they worshiped. In that moment I praised God for them. For their hearts, their faith, their love for each other. They are a good group. Not just the worship band, but the group as a whole. I saw a lot of love in my brothers and sisters. Joy in each other's company. Excitement about life. Newness with a new school year. Freshman who have just entered an unknown territory and yet find their home in the youth group. It's not perfect. They're not perfect. And I'm glad for that. They have good leaders. Dino, Mo, the parents, college volunteers, my mom (she leads a Bible study for the sr. girls and they love her to death. I'm quite proud of her)... Jesus is alive in the group and I pray that the Gospel would penetrate their hearts as they continue to grow in community with one another. I pray that it would continue to be a place where they love God and love people. I pray for struggle and real growth where challenges were met and where God was the only way to overcome. May it be so.

Books

I have gone to Barnes and Noble twice in the past two days. Walking around the store gives me a sense of peace and gladness. I sat and read for awhile. Just finished Jane Eyre (after a long intermission I returned to the book and was delighted with the second half)... I wish I could describe to you the thought and emotion evoked while reading it, but I know not where to begin. I hated characters and grew to love them. It takes a good writer to successfully make you both hate and love their characters. Brings a challenge... from one extreme to the other in the matter of ink written on pages. I'm going to read the Chronicles of Narnia again. Wanting to think like a child. Oh, and Mad OX (Kari Maddox if you will) is to arrive in half an hour. Can't wait!

Self-Love.. and then some

"Discouragement is disenchanted self-love, and self-love may be love of my devotion to Jesus." Oswald Chambers

Found myself discouraged. Discouraged with my faith and what seemed to be lack of growth and of God's evident, tangible presence in my life. Discouraged with being discouraged and wanting so badly to accept grace. Stumbled upon this quote (on August 18th to be exact) and it hit me like a smack in the face...

Was it true that I had begun to love my devotion to Jesus more than Jesus? I think so, and I can explain why and how it is evident in my life. This summer has been an interesting one spiritually. I didn't go to church for 11 weeks. No Calvin Crest to challenge me and stretch me spiritually. Lack of community (although I will say that traveling with Teddy in Europe was an overwhelmingly form of grace) that I have grown used to. Worship was sung to me in my ears on my headset and rarely were there opportunities to sing aloud... not to mention the lack of community singing together. Prayer, though present, was stifled. Almost sounds like a Christian's worst nightmare, but it was so necessary to my faith that it daily astounds me. I had become so consumed with what fed me spiritually and what brought me closer to God (and for good reason), that I grew to love my devotion to Jesus and my actual faith than the core reason of my faith in the first place. Jesus. And when it was stripped away from me, my faith fizzled until I found myself extremely discouraged and for a bit, almost hopeless.

And that's just it. Where must I be in my walk? I must be in a place where Jesus is my love. I ought not be devoted to devotion, but devoted to the One who beckoned me in the first place. And I must find Jesus to be my source... and until He has ordained the vessels which so necessarily nourish me, I will find myself in Him - and Him alone. If you pray for me, pray for this time. It is good. Wierd, but good. And I should also say that home is good. I'm thoroughly enjoying the relaxation, reading, mom's cooking, talking to my parents and bro, and all the great things that come with home. Well that's my "check-in" with you all... there's my heart for you... and with that said, I am at peace and full of hope for what God' doing in me right now.

More updates: I just filled out a volunteer application for Bel Air Presbyterian high school group. I've been out of ministry for a year and I am antsy to get involved again. After 4 years with junior high, and with aspirations of working with highschoolers in the future, I figure it'd be a great opportunity to serve and to continue to discern future plans. Woohoo for senior year of college and not knowing what I'm doing with my life! ;)

Jeannette just called me about the Athletes In Action leadership retreat in September to check on dates. Yep, I'm going to be on leadership for AIA and I'm definately not an athlete through UCLA, but still felt called to the position. When two people are praying about it at the same time and a conversation happens where it just seems like God ordained it, I assume the call. Oh the adventures are to continue soon enough for sure... Might be a little scared at the moment.

Oh, and let's not forget the loan. I get to take out a loan now. More fear. Dad says I'm going to be fine and that most college students have to take out loans and that I should consider it an investment. Ok but that still doesn't change the fact that I will now be in debt and that's a scary thought. Guess it also means I have to think hard about what I want to do with my life. It'll come.

Now if you've read this and you now think I'm a stress case, it's only partially correct. I'm in a good spot. Really.

It's late at night

Had my bowl of bran flakes (in my attempts to eat healthy for a midnight snack) and I'm sitting here chatting to friends. Friends that are dear to my heart and have been for a long time. Tyson, Kari, Liam... They are friends who know me well and know my heart. They've seen me at my best and at my worst, and will still call me friend. Kari's coming to town on Friday and we will have 3/5 of our Outpost team in Bako.

I've been contemplating community lately. It seems as if I have three avenues for community in my life. Highschool/Bako people, Calvin Crest friends, and now LA. In thinking about my future summer and year post graduation (which does not occur until late June by the way), I wonder which community of people I will be called into. Or will it be something new? I like Washington a whole lot. Colorado is beautiful. San Luis Obispo holds special people and is a great place. LA... well that depends who stays. Bakersfield no longer holds a community where I may thrive... Calvin Crest has Outdoor Ed and happens to be my favorite place on earth... Just thoughts for a late night. Not stressful thoughts, but contemplative for sure. C.S. Lewis once advised a young man to move where his friends were (although the wording is much more deliberate and articulated quite in Lewis fashion). He may be right. And yet God is still Sovereign. "These are the hands I've grown to trust." Gives me peace.

I need to go to sleep now. My eyes are droopy and conversations have ended awhile ago. The cereal bowl is in the kitchen and all the lights are off in the house. Tomorrow I get to have lunch with mom and grandma and get my pictures developed from all my vacations. I'm looking forward to it. Good Night.

Last Travel Update

Well I can now say that I am grounded in one place for a month. We just got home last night from our two week road trip to Colorado, and I will be in Bako until the 20th of September when I move back to LA. That's not entirely true... I have a couple trips already planned, so I guess I won't be completely grounded until school starts. I am thankful, however, to say that this will be my last travel entry of the summer. It wouldn't suffice to leave you hanging on the remaining half of the CO trip, so I will fill you in on the second week of the Burdette family roadtrip...

My last entry was made in Crested Butte, CO in a coffee shop where my mom and I hung out for a few hours while the boys experienced 4wd in a jeep... apparently an entirely different experience. Also apparently much scarier, and thus mom and I stayed in town. I hadn't mentioned much about the weather in my entries, so I will tell you now that about 2/3 of our vacation was amidst thunderstorms and rain. Yes. It's all about improvisation (is that even a word?)... Tent camping in the rain has its ups and downs for sure. Unfortunately, our brand new tent was not as water-proof as Coleman advertised it to be. We know this because several items were soaked after a day long downpour. Also, the top of our tent is flat (why they designed it this way we are not sure), and so after a very long downpour, we walked into our tent to discover the top of it had become a container for 4 gallons of water and it was now sagging into the middle of the tent. We have a picture, and it actually does it justice. I'll show it to you once I download all my pics on to Flickr. Well there is more to talk about than just the rain, but it was worth mentioning.

After Crested Butte, it was on to Boulder, the hometown of my beloved cousins Sean and Julie Oldroyd (who I hadn't seen in almost a year and let me tell you, I was having major withdrawals from my cousin who is like a sister to me). What a great time it was to see their home, their workplace, the town, etc. Their "basement home" (but let's be honest here, the word 'basement' doesn't acurately describe their amazing little home that is just perfect for them) is in the middle of several acres of countryside with the most beautiful view when the front door is opened. I think they must pinch themselves because they have been blessed with such a special place to live. Sean and Julie took us around Boulder and we ate at some very fun and delicious restaurants (to be expected with those two). Perhaps the highlight of the Boulder experience was the dinner at the restaurant that both Sean and Julie work at (well temporarily at least). Julie helped us order and as soon as we told the waiter what we wanted, mom, dad, and Patrick went to the kitchen and VIDEOTAPED (yes that's correct, a video camer was taken into the kitchen) Sean making our food. I don't think I've ever seen my mom so excited to see such an event take place! She was torn between wanting to watch Sean make the food and going back to the table to eat the most delicious rolls I have ever had in my life. Alas our food was ready and it was for sure an exquisite meal. The sauce was full of flavor and we completely stuffed ourselves. Dessert was Creme Brulee. Amazing. So a chef was married into our family and I think the Burdettes were just kind of in awe of Sean's talent. He became a big favorite of the fam ;). The next day we went to the University of Colorado for a tour (Pat's looking for colleges and I'm starting to think grad school isn't such a bad idea) with Sean and Julie. Sean's parents both work at CU so we got to visit with them for a bit (and receive free hats!) which was great. We visited Julie's Starbucks (took more pictures) and then were off to Estes Park with the Oldroyds.

The Rocky Mountains. We arrived to the base of Rocky Mountain National Park and went to the visitor's center where it was completely affirmed that the Burdettes had become some of the most indecisive people around. I say that with love. We could not figure out what the heck we wanted to do and Julie was doubled over with laughter because of our silly indecisiveness. A decision was made and we headed up to a campground where we would set up camp for 3 nights (it went from 2 to 1 to 3 nights). The ranger asked us if we wanted "normal" camping or "walk-in" camping. Um hello? What is this thing called "normal?" He proceeded to warn us of bears, isolation, and the hike it would be from the car to the campsite if we chose the walk in. Shoot. We're a rugged family. Who needs normal camping? So we chose the walk in, and the ranger exclaimed, "Wow, you must be hardy people in there." More laughter in the car and another warning about bears from the ranger and we then set off to our campsite which was a great spot amidst some boulders (we like those as Patricks diligently told the ranger) and 60 feet or yards I can't remember from our car. We were thankful we didn't choose normal camping because that was literally on the road. But we're hardy people you see...

We went for a hike to Alberta Falls (we were told to hike to Bear Lake but discovered that to be only 256 ft so we settled for the 2.2 round trip hike) and explored the nicely groomed trail for a bit. Patrick and I both rolled our ankles but Pat's was much worse. What is with us and our injuries? Anyhow, after the hike we went back to the campsite for a delicious meal of spaghetti and s'mores and the Oldroyds were back to Boulder for a day. Well they just wiped us out apparently, because after a night involving a mouse in the tent and my father the hunter, we slept the ENTIRE day away in the tent. Ok, I was in there for a solid 6 hours straight and my family took two very long naps that amounted to the whole day with the exception of eating (of course, could you just hand us our oat bags now please?). I have failed to mention something. At this point in the trip I've become quite sick. My body has been doing I don't know what and my system is all out of wack. I made a list of my symptoms to read to Dr. Ed on the phone and it was quite extensive. My good friend Augmentin came to the rescue, but much of my body is just psycho right now. I won't tell you all the symptoms because they're wierd. But it made me not want to do anything and was really annoying on the trip. Still dealing with it, and hoping home will be the cure. Back to our trip...

The Oldroyds rejoined us the following evening at midnight and set up their perfect two man tent right next to ours. We woke up to deer in the campsite and good company right next door. Pictures, pancakes, and sleepy faces made for our morning and then decisions needed to be made once again. I'll spare you the details, but after much contemplation, we decided to get into the car again and drive along Trail Ridge Road to a cool mountaintop at nearly 13,000 ft. elevation. The 1/4 mile hike up just about did me in but it was worth the effort to see a beautiful scenic view. After cups of Chai and coffee in the cafe located near the trailhead, we made our descent and sadly said goodbye to the Oldroyds (I think we wore them out too) who had to work. By this time, Patrick and I were aching for some physical activity and we desired it to be in the form of climbing, so we found an indoor climbing gym and each went on three climbs. Let me tell you that my brother, on his first time climbing, barely broke a sweat doing a 5.10 with two different overhangs. Who is this kid? I, on the other hand, had not worked out/lifted for at least 8 weeks and hadn't climbed in three months and I got worked. Little bro showed me up big time, but it was so much fun to see him scramble up the wall. The staff couldn't believe how good he was. I'm pretty sure he's going to need to come climbing with me next year cuz the kid's amazing. It was so wonderful to be in my harness again, even if I am completely out of shape at the moment.

Well, after our stay in Estes Park/Rocky Mountains we headed home and here we are. The gear and food still needs to be unpacked, my room is stuffed with all of my entire belongings surrounding my bed, and it's time to live again. I'm still worn out, need lots of sleep, and am antsy to get back to school. You know that too much vacation thing? I think after 8 weeks of traveling it's starting to set in and I just need to BE right now. My body, mind, and soul need rest, and Bako's just the place to get it. Home sweet Home

A Highlight

I forgot to mention one of my favorite moments on Engineer Pass! Tucked away on a green hilltop with beautiful surrounding trees and a stream nearby is the very cabin once owned by Henry David Thoreau... It is quite an adorable cabin and amidst magnificent mountains. No wonder he was inspired to write about nature. As an english minor and as one who loves to read and write, I was ecstatic and dreamt of writing the whole rest of the trail. Aaaah it was beautiful...

An Adventure Around Every Corner

My mom inspired this title. We have spent a couple days 4-wheel driving in the Ouray, CO area, and it has been truly magnificent. And the title pretty much says it all. Literally each time we have turned the corner or gone around a mountain, a new breathtaking view greets us. Whether we are on the very top of a mountain range or on the valley floor driving alongside a bubbling creek, the views have definately been amazing. Lots of green all around, many clouds that hover around the mountain tops, long and narrow waterfalls, ghost towns, Alpine Tundra, vibrant wildflowers, and ginormous mountains have dazzled us each day.

Ok and now it's time to get honest. Soooo mom and I were about to pee our pants on the first trail we took called Engineer's Pass. Let's face it, I can climb on the sides of mountains and be at extreme hights with no problem. Get me in a Tahoe 4-wheel driving on a road that has a steep drop-off a few feet to the right of me and I'm about to die. It started out wiht nervous laughter as we followed a group of experienced jeeps (all older couples by the way) and grew to me literally leaning as far over as possible to the side nearest the mountain. However, the mountainside provided little comfort because of the jagged rocks that lined the road and proved to be obstacles in and of themselves. Wait til you see the pictures! Yes, and then Patrick drove. Now, nothing against my little brother's driving, but he's 16 and I would much prefer my dad's 30 years experience to my brother's less than one year. Anyhow... he drove on a mild road, and did a fine job at it too. That was the first day of 4-wheeling.

Our next day was the 8 hour in the car 4-wheeling excursion and I'll be honest... I was craving a good long hike or some other activity. I was getting sick of the car, and we had to go through that darn hard part of Engineer's Pass again before getting to the other stuff. Cue in dad's great option for mom and I. We walk/run/hike alongside and in front of the vehicle while Patrick drives the hardest parts. Fantastic! I got almost 2 miles in of hiking/running (felt soooo good), mom got to take some video and exercise our legs, and no one freaked out! After awhile it was time to get back into the car and dad asked if I wanted to drive. Well there is no way my little brother is going to drive and I'm not. Heck no. All stereotypes about women driver's had to be proved wrong. So I took the wheel at what I thought to be an easier portion of Engineer's Pass. Wrong. After part of a switchback I arrived at this terrible spot in the very narrow road with a crazy dropoff on the right of us, and large rocks that were now covered with mud and rain (it's been raining almost the whole time). Right. So I obey my dad's directions and get almost over the first hump when it stops going. I'm gassing it and now the tires are spinning. What do I do? Instantly, and I mean instantly, I started crying (yes it's true) and let out a "daddy, I don't want to do this!). HAHA I'm laughing now. My mom is silently having a heart attack in the back seat and my dad lovingly looks over, rubs my back, and says I'm doing just fine. Deep breath. Put it into 4-low and press the gas again. Praise God for 4-low because in a moment I'm over those stupid rocks and on to the next obstacle. After a few minutes we all start laughing at my response to the situation and then I continue to drive for another 45 minutes or so... And now, I appreciate and even enjoy 4-wheel driving much much more. The cliffs no longer scare me, and I know that vehicle can get over anything! 2 more days of driving alongside cliffs and then it's off to Boulder! So excited!

Pray for us, we're all experiencing altitude sickness and other annoying ailments. No car accidents or car troubles so far, it's just our bodies that are taking a beating ;) Ahh another Burdette family adventure. Loving it.

And Now... Colorado and in my realm ;)

Well this will be brief, but once again, for perhaps the last time ever, the Burdette family is roadtripping it for two weeks! So far so good, though we are all exhausted from traveling and can't wait to do some serious hiking/mountain biking/climbing/4wheeling/etc... We arrived in Co. last night and stayed in this amazing mountain town called Durango... an outdoorsy person's haven and Patrick and I can hardly contain our excitement!

I should mention that on our way to Flagstaff we drove through two absolutely incredible thunderstorms. God put on a show for us and it wa dazzling We stayed in Flagstaff for a night and enjoyed Cracker Barrel (a family favorite) for both dinner and breakfast and ventured into the great local coffee shop called Macy's twice... Yes... the search for good food and coffee continues!

Last night we ate at this amazing pizza place and ate the best pizza I've ever had. Seriously. We got a veggie pizza with wheat crust and it was to die for. Dessert was the kicker though. We made Smore's AT OUR TABLE! Literally. They have a little fire stove that they bring to your table and we roasted marshmellows in our chairs in the restaurant. Um ok, maybe the best thing ever! Ever since Outpost I just live for Smore's... and it continues...

I'm excited for more hikes (Pat and I went on a great adventure last night that included some climbing, scooting (on the rear) down a mountainside because it was too steep to walk, and enjoyed the drive through the mountains listening to Dave), more coffee shops, outdoors stoors, hot springs, and just being in the outdoors. I'm in my realm and loving every second :)

Back in America

I return even more independent than when I left. I've always had an independent spirit, but it's something new now. I grew up in many ways this summer. Traveling has taken me to a new step in life. Parts of the world have been discovered, and parts of life preciously uncovered. Independence is a beautiful thing that must be learned and doesn't always come easily.

In six weeks I have: learned to navigate my way through 6 major cities in 4 foreign countries; communicated bits and pieces in 4 languages that are not my own; been responsible for food on a budget with currencies that are unfamiliar and very different from the U.S.; learned to pursue my passions in unknown territory; met and appreciated new people from vastly different backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures; experienced a glimpse of what a marriage (minus physical attraction stuff) can look like when in constant companionship with a person for 24/7 and in circumstances where you just have to get over yourself; made mistakes and learned from them; laugh in every situation; and ultimately continued to learn to trust that God does and will meet your every need and then some... even when it doesn't appear that way at first.

Ever since high school summer has been a time of significant spiritual growth, fruit for the Kingdom, and ministry... I started wondering where the fruit was and how I grew spiritually this summer, and though I'm still not quite sure... I think I grew in that I experienced life and took every situation - good and bad - into God's hands... and trusted that He would be sovereign. I didn't receive any dramatic revelation about life, no Spiritual high (though I'm not a big fan of those anyway except to see how they affect the low times), and no visual fruit of how God used me in another person's life (meaning no avenue for ministry and I didn't see people in my program changed by God really)... BUT ... God is sovereign and I trust His call on my life, and I know this summer was to His glory.

It was six weeks of growth, challenges, disappointments, joy, surprises, awe, struggle, and triumph. I saw parts of the world I never thought I would see, ate foods I that were new to my diet, and I saw history in the making (and that surely includes the Tour de France). If you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would have gone to Europe, I probably would have laughed and had a wistful look on my face... But here I am and there I was. It was His call for me, and though it didn't look like I thought it would, it looked like He knew it would.

Blessed Be Your Name

Italia

I apologize for the lengthy delay in my postings. Expensive internet cafes and lack of time have prevented me from keeping the blog current. So sorry!!! But now that I have a few moments to write, I will describe my adventures in Italy...

Venice: After a 24 hour travel from Prague to Venice (yes it was 24 hours) via train ride, Christie and I arrived to Venice at 11:00pm. We were thrilled to find a delightful hostel with a private room, walls painted with a red wash, elaborate decorations, and even a white curtain around our bed. The icing on the cake was our greeting from the handsome Italian receptionist with great wavy long hair, green eyes, olive skin, and of course a smile that both Christie and I noticed. It was wonderful! We woke up to a fantastic little breakfast in a cute and bright cafe attached to our hotel. Aaaah so wonderful! After breakfast we took a bus to the heart of Venice, and proceeded to take a waterbus on the Grand Canal. We explored the streets (uh canals?) of Venice and were in awe of the picturesque facades that adorned Venice neighborhoods. Nearly each window was decorated with flowers and yes, even clothes hanging on a clothesline. Everything that you imagine Venice to be, it was. We saw the sights (St. Marco's Basilica, Galleria Academia, etc) and wandered through the streets. Walking around was our favorite part because each corner led to a new glimpse into a city that is truly unique. Per my mom's recommendation from the Food Chanel, Christie and I went to Harry's bar to enjoy their famous Ballini (a 15 Euro peach cocktail)... and it was worth every Euro. The drink was incredible and we laughed at the fact that we started drinking at 5:15 pm. We tried to make it last a long time, but it's one of those drinks that you drink fast because it is sooooo good! Anyhow, we wandered around a while longer and enjoyed a simple Italian dinner of cannolini and dessert. Though we really wanted to take a Gondola ride at night, it was quite expensive and we decided to forgo it. Maybe next time... And that was Venice in a nutshell. Beautiful, unique, picturesque, and breathtaking....

Rome: On our way to Rome, Teddy and I tried to educate ourselves on the history of Rome and started opening up our Bibles to discover that Paul had written numerous letters in the New Testament from his prison cell in Rome. Galations, Ephesians, Philippians, the Timothys, Titus, Philemon (?), Colossians, and maybe more that I can't remember. Needless to say, we were stoked to see such a historical place. We arrived with the heaviest luggage in the world, and after walking around for 20 minutes we found our hostel, and were told to go to another hostel, and then finally to the Madonna Hostel... the first and only all-girls hostel in Rome and possible Europe. We were the first to stay there because it was brand new, and it was beautiful! Even though our plans were messed up, God really blessed it and revealed to us just how much His hand had been guiding our every step. The delays, mess-ups, and confusion have all been to His glory and have all blessed us in some way. I think Christie elaborates on this more, so you might want to check her blog. She's a diligent one :). We got to meet up with our friend Hilary (and my roommate next year!) in Rome and stay with her for a few days. It was so much fun to hang out with her, listen to her talk about her travels in Cambridge, and fellowship with a good friend from home. She's pretty great ;).

The first night Christie, Hilary, a girl from Montreal named Chantel, and I walked around Rome at night and saw many of the famous sights including the Colosseum (wow), the Pantheon, several fountains (including Trevi Fountain), the WWI monument, and so much more. We had pizza and gilatto for dinner and had a blast exploring the city. The next day we hit Vatican city in the morning and saw the place where Peter was crucified upside down and Paul was beheaded. Such history! St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistene Chapel were incredible. A lot of walking for sure, but worth it. I almost missed the famous painting of David touching the finger of God, but luckily my partner in crime (Teddy) pointed it out to me... and I secretly snapped a picture before they caught me. After Vatican City, we went to lunch and seperated for a few hours. I walked around, saw some ruins, ate Watermelon off the streets, had some gilatto, and then met the girls at the Colosseum at 4:00pm. We explored the Colosseum. WOW. Absolutely incredible. The structure is magnificent, and to know the history is incredible. I really want to watch Gladiator again... you could almost sense the atmosphere and the tension of the animals in their cages and the gladiators walking around underneath the main floor. The crowds would have been vast and noisy, and the arena about the size of a football field. It was sombering and delightful at the same time. After visiting the Colosseum, Hil, Christie, and I went to dinner and had some more Italian food. The night life was hopping and we partook on a very moderate level and discovered that Italian men are very forward... ugh. On to the next day. Hil and I went shopping, got stuck in a rain storm, laughed a lot and talked over lunch, gilatto, and some more shopping. We met up with Christie and then after some more walking, I desperately needed a nap. I took a three hour nap and finally decided to do it. I treated myself to an all out Italian meal complete with bread, bruschetta, broccoli and pesto pasta, and Tiramasu. It was divine. I was treated like royalty and truly enjoyed every moment of the experience. After dinner I walked around and then went to bed. This morning I woke up at a decent hour and Christie and I went to the ancient city to visit the Mamertine Prison where Paul and Peter were imprisoned. It was sombering and probably my favorite part of Rome. Christie and I talked for hours afterwards about what it must have been like to be in chains, in a dark and cold cell, and to write much of the New Testament. Incredible. I must hurry because time is running out, but I will say that Christie and I had a great last day in Rome. We were treated to a free meal complimentary of Christie's boyfriend's great family and now I am going to pack. I have much to say but no time to say it. Stay tuned for final thoughts before I go to Colorado with the fam. Much love to all!

Brief entry

Hey all, my internet access is extremely limited from here on out, so i am not able to blog as much as i would like to. In fact, i will not write until i have time for a sufficient entry. for now, i am in Rome and I feel like i am living in the Bible right now. Paul, Peter... wow. Venice was awesome. Gilatto is way too conviently placed on the streets, and I have once again relived the summer 15 ;)... haha much love!