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.....