Gone Fishin'

Sorry I missed a day guys. I have been at the lake tubing, fishing, cooking, and lounging in the sun with friends. It was a great weekend filled with relaxing and laughing- two of my favorite things! I love fishing right off the bank (dock in this case) with a cane pole and live crickets. It brings back memories of fishing with my Dad and Sam when I was younger (than I am now- I'm still young :)). Here's a picture of a fish that I caught. The picture was taken by Andrew. Thanks for your contribution babe! I was able to catch quite a few fish so in addition to a relaxing weekend, it was a successful one in terms of fishing.

Andrew!

Sadly, I have yet to post a picture of my most wonderful boyfriend Andrew. So here he is in all of his glory, driving in the car. I think we are at a red light and thus it is ok that his eyes are closed :) Anyways, I love this picture. It captures his silliness, which I love so much. He is gifted at making people smile.

More Kville

After the walk featured in the previous blog, Andrew and I went to visit my cousin's Britt and Ben. Today's picture is of Charlie, their new-ish puppy. She has a cute head tilt when you whistle or make some silly noise. It's pretty hilarious. It was great to see Britt and Ben and Charlie. Britt and Ben will be celebrating their 1st year anniversary of being married this Saturday. Congrats guys!!

Trip to Knoxville

Today Andrew and I took a day and half trip to Knoxville so he could go in to the office for a bit of work and buy some books for his summer classes. After a yummy dinner at Tomato Head with his roommate Eric and his girlfriend Susanne, Andrew and I took a walk by the Tennessee River. It was a gorgeous walk as the sun set on the water. We saw a cute coyote pup (probably not so cute when it grows up), but I didn't get a close up shot of it though I tried. Instead I got this picture of the water. I wish I could have gotten closer to the water, but this turned out to be an alright shot. Anyways, enjoy.

My First Green Smoothie

So appropriate for my first official photo blog, I have a photo of my first green smoothie ever. Green smoothies are part of the "Raw Foods" movement, which emphasizes eating fresh fruits and veggies. One of their more popular recipes is that for the "Green Smoothie," a smoothie made from fresh fruits and veggies. Check out a very simple explanatory website here. Interested in eating healthy this summer, I stumbled upon this idea and with an abundance of strawberries leftover from Sam's graduation parties, I decided to make this my brunch. I used two bananas, a cup or two of strawberries, and some romaine lettuce. Then I blended and chilled in the fridge before drinking. As you can tell, I went heavy on the fruit and light on the veggies and instead of a green smoothie, ended up with a pink one, but it was super tasty. This recipe did make a lot of smoothie so next time I may go with one banana and mine was also a little too chunky so I would blend it a little more next time. That said, it was a very good attempt for the first time in my opinion and I'm sure my body is happy with all its new nutrients. I am going to try to be making lots of these throughout the summer for breakfast and such so be looking out for more pictures. Have a great day!

Back home and settling in...

So I made it back to the US just in time to see my brother, Sam, win the State Championship for baseball for the second year in a row and graduate from high school. Two really great events, which have kept me very busy in addition to hanging out with Andrew and my family and attempting but mostly failing to see some friends. I will be sure to get in touch with everyone soon though!! Life has just been extra busy and exciting.

It took me a bit of time to get adjusted back to the American way of things. The Englishness made my head hurt and with the jetlag and trying to fit in a billion things at once, I got a bit overwhelmed. But that said, though I loved Catania and my semester abroad and would not trade it for anything else, I am so glad to be home! I have decided to continue this blog and though the writing topic will change, I am not going to create a new blog for ease sake. Instead, I am going to keep this one and make it a photo-a-day blog. I was inspired by a family friend to create a blog that posts a photo a day and blogs a bit about it. I love that idea as I love photography and journaling. Though I might try and fail at the one photo a day idea, I am going to try my hardest to keep it updated with as many one a day photos as I can. I hope you will enjoy it and continue to post comments! I love hearing from everyone! Anyways, with all of the festivities lately, I have about a billion pictures. For the blog for today however, I have picked a picture of Sam and I right after the graduation ceremony. I am a very proud big sister! He will be heading to Georgia Tech this fall to play baseball and study a bit ;)

Medea and last Antique Market Extravaganza

Last night we went back to Syracuse (my fourth time) to see Medea, the Greek tragedy. It was great and I thoroughly enjoyed it even if it was in Italian. The actors were really great; I was actually surprised. The weather was also gorgeous which was good since it was in an ancient Greek theater, which is outside. Then this morning, since this is my last Sunday, I made my last trip to the Antique Market that opens every Sunday morning and has been one of my favorite parts about Catania. I grabbed this really cool old cookie tray (see below) that I thought would look great up on a shelf alongside a jar of the sea glass I have been collecting at the different beaches we have visited throughout the semester. Monday through Wednesday we have our finals, so I should get back to studying, but before I do, I want to give a big shout out to my mom and all mom's in general and wish them all a Happy Mother's Day!! I love you, Mom. :) Till later, which may be when I am back in the US since that will be Saturday.... crazy.....

Piazza Armerina and Yummy Dinner

Yesterday, we took our last and final field trip to Piazza Armerina. It is a very well preserved, very big Roman villa with some of the best mosaic examples of this time period in the world. It was absolutely beautiful and fun to see. In addition, the weather has been wonderful- about 76 degrees everyday. Can't get much better than that. I then spent the rest of the afternoon studying for my upcoming exams. And for dinner, we went to the fish market which turns into restaurants at the end of the day. They sell all of the fresh fish they didn't sell during the day. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE! I have pictures and will try to post those soon, but the menu-- for antipasti, I had an insalata polpo (a squid salad). It's basically just fresh squid cut up with lemon. So tasty! Then for my second course, I had Squid Ink Spaghetti, which comes out black, but is so tasty as well! All of these things are very popular in Sicily and very renowned here so I had to try them. They were great. And for the third and final course, I asked which fish the man preferred and he in an attempt to explain went and got three fish from off the ice, still whole and such and brought them to our table. I pointed at one and think I picked Sea Bass or something. Whatever it was, it was fabulous too. They just throw the whole fish on the grill with some sea salt and then bring it out. With all of this, we had some white wine. The dinner was fantastic and the company was great! A lot of the girls I have become really close with here came. It was just a great night as I try to really soak in my last week here in Catania. (Can you believe it?! One week!)

Tonight, we are going to Syracuse to see the Medea performed in Syracuse's ancient Greek theater. There's also a supposedly great museum in Syracuse that we will have time to go to if we want. So I may hit that up or I may have a grinita- an Italian ice dessert that is so wonderful! I like strawberry and lemon mixed. Anyways, have a great weekend everyone! Wish me luck on my exams and prayers are always appreciated!

My New Wallet

So I have been meaning to post a picture of my new wallet that I picked up in Tunisia. I am obsessed with the design and the color. It reminds of summer which is on my mind all the time these days. Anyways, thought I would share some super sweet buys of mine.

Regusa and Modica

I don't know if I am spelling those right (Mario correct me), but today for art history class we went to two Sicilian cities which I have never been to before: Regusa and Modica. They were great, old cities once destroyed by a huge earthquake. Now they are built into the giant rocks of a cliff. They were really interesting and beautiful to see. For class, we saw several beautiful churches. Now I will get to studying for exams- OH MAN! Only 8 days left in Sicily.... soooo bitter sweet.

Also, Andrew just finished his first year of law school yesterday so I want to give a big CoNgRaTs!! to Andrew. yay!

Hope all is well! Hugs and Kisses! (cause everyone needs a couple of those everyday.)

Busy Few Days

Boring again without any pictures, but I wanted to give an update since these last few days have been packed with lots of fun. Thursday, we went to go see Verdi's Ernani, a great tragic opera, at the local and renowned opera house, Teatro Bellini. The house is beautiful inside and out and is only a block or so away from the Centro and in the same Palazza as my favorite gelataria. yumm.... Friday we went on our weekly field trip to Taormina (see previous post about it for pictures). We saw a really awesome Hellenistic/Roman theater in the morning and spent the afternoon at the beach :) The weather was gorgeous, but unfortunately purple jellyfish inhibited our ability to swim. They were really pretty, but really poisonous and EVERYWHERE. It was still nice to hang out on the beach with friends though.

Saturday we went to Lipari, one of the Aeolian Islands off of the north coast of Sicily. Once again, the weather was gorgeous and after riding a hydrofoil to the island, we spent the day at the beach swimming in the clear, cool water and lounging in the sun. I actually got a bit of a tan woohoo!! and also tried the famed granida- Italian ice. So good!! Here's a picture of me and some friends hanging out by the beach.

As for today, I will be spending the day hashing out that one BIG paper I spoke of in my last post. But the sun is once again shining brightly so I may just have to go sit in the courtyard and experience the beautiful Sicilian weather for a bit :)

Favorite blog of the moment: Design Mom Thanks to Aunt Kathy for introducing me. This is actually the blog where I found Design*Sponge. But Design Mom is also great for lots of creative ideas such as food, crafts, and beekeeping. Definitely check it out if you are wanting to be inspired!

Until later, hope all is well at home!