Ahhhhh....Florence.

Such a delight. Here we are immersed in the city...loving everything. Such as...the grocery stores (one of my favourite things), the cute bikes, friends we meet throughout the day. We saw a Crucifix carved by Michaelangelo out of wood (one of two in the world) in a little Church across the river. And we were on top of the world...or it seemed as we gazed over Florence during the Sunset with our Magnum Bars.

And now the quote of the day:

Just living is not enough...one must have Sunshine, freedom and a little flower.


-Hans Christian Andersen

Today my favorite event of my whole stay in Rome happened. Before we headed for Pisa and Florence we went down a very narrow road in our very huge bus. We went to an apartment neibourhood where nestled by the curb was a little sign the read " the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints" in Italian. We met sweet to the core people there. For instance, one little lady who insisted on blowing us kisses! We filled half the seats of their humble congregation with our group of 50 byu-I students. They were so excited an joyful-a baptism took place today. I could feel the love the people felt for every person there. They even translated the entire hour long sacrament meeting into Italian. But above all I could feel the sweet love they had for their Heavenly Father. The saints in rome were a powerful testimony of faith and courage for me. I smiled the whole time I was there. I beamed. The church is really the same everywhere. I adored singing with them in Italian with their Italian hymnbooks! There was such a great spirit there. I left Rome feeling wonderful and grateful.

ROME!!


The eternal city.


The place obsessed with memory.


Can I just say, it feels like an absolute dream...and I have only been here for two days. We are staying at a convent with the most gorgeous tall long windows that open out to the street. There are gardens on top of all the coloured tall buildings. There is coconut Gelato.

Completely delicious Gnocchi! Loved it. And the waiter loved that I am from Canada

 Walked on the oldest road in Rome...history is everywhere.

Yeah, way good.

These reminded me of you, Mama!

The Pumpkin cookies of Halloween! 

More adventure awaits.

Idaho is full of delight and wonder. Really though. At first it seems kind of bland and flat compared to the lushness of Northwestern Ontario, but when you look the right way, Idaho can sure be wonderful. For instance, a great pastime is pulling pranks. Nice pranks of course, something that may be funny or just silly. This brick wall marks the spot where Meredith and I first met and lived together. See our initials? This is also where we became budding pranksters.

  

To begin, we take casual photos just down the hall from our old cave-dorm (we called it the castle) apartment. We had a very lovely adventure planned for the Sabbath...it involved delivering cakes, chocolates, lasagna, apples and tumbleweeds to several fellow BYU-I folks. Of course, we rode in my absolute favourite vehicle: TJ's adorable white truck.  

Here's an example. The tumbleweed prank that had a wonderful sign and or course some cake to go along with it. This is definately an Idaho hit. Who wouldn't want a tumbleweed left and their door with two giggling girls running off in the distance?

There you have it. One of the things I have learned here in Idaho is to be a Professional Prankster. And it's been great.

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

especially when you're picking wildflowers with dear friends up the Idaho-sky-filled-hill to the Rexburg Temple.

So wonderful.

The best preparation for Europe...
While packing this evening, my cousin and I were in my room sorting through my coloured pearls. She was talking about my new backpack and where things went. "....Oh yes, the money is in the inside hidden pockets, then it's less likely I'll be stolen from." She replied, "Stolen from! Josie, you're going to the city of love where you will meet your husband with a Scottish accent and he will say, pip pip cheerio and all those merry things and he will ask your hand and you will say yes because he is a jolly guy."

Preparation: Complete.