.. a dream come true, from art history that is ..

the next morning we woke up so late, like 10:30. we slept 14 hours. it was great. i felt so new. we got up and dressed and on our way. we missed the breakfast in the hotel so we found a McDonald's near by and had some pastries. they were great. after that we walked to the Colosseum. my all time favorite site, that i couldn't wait to see. i have been studying about this monumental place for years and couldn't wait to get there. we walked down a street and at the end sat the beauty.



it was breath taking. i couldn't believe that i was there standing in front of this monumental structure. we stood outside for a moment to grasp the glory. we were approached by a tour guide who said he could get us in for 20 euro and walk us around the Colosseum with a English speaking tour guide and we could skip the line. we decided to do it. so glad we did.

we got inside and started to see the beauty that was all around. this place is amazing. it was built so long ago and for it to still be standing is an amazing feat alone. we walked around with a cute roman woman who spoke pretty good English, a little broken, but still good. we heard of all the stories of how it was built and used through the years, a review for me, interesting to hear all the details. then we were turned loose to check it out ourselves. we walked around and saw all of it and all the pieces of marble that they have preserved.


{a 180 from inside, in the mid left you can see the marble seats}


{360 composite, pretty neat to see}


{look ma, i'm a giant!}

we stood inside the bookstore for a bit, mostly for the air conditioning, but read all the books. we then found a water fountain and filled our water bottles. all the fountains in rome are purified filtered water and you can fill up at any of them. tastes just like filtered water. it is amazing. after this we spent some time at the arch of Constantine and then walked past the palatine hill and the roman forum, they were both under construction. eww. we saw Trajan's column and Trajan's forum.




it was amazing. we then decided to do some shopping. we found a clothing store that cody fell in love with so we spent a good hour in there while he found clothes. then the shops all started to close, so we figured it was time to go. so we left and found a great restaurant on the shopping street called cucina italia. we went in and had pizza. italy's pizza is by far the best i have ever had. amazing. after dinner we walked to the trevi fountain, i wanted to see the fountain at night. we ended up finding a little gelato shop called gelateria valentino's. it is owned by a cute little couple, they are delightful. we tried some of their gelato and walked home. 

my dream came true, i saw the Colosseum. something i thought i would never see in my life time. truly wonderful and beautiful. 

.. a little new york, long flight and two dazed tourists ..

so day two. we had been able to sleep for about 4 1/2 hours and slip in a shower, which i was so grateful for. we made it back to the airport at about 6:45 and walked to the gate. this time things looked better, which was good cause the flight to rome left new york at 7:30 we needed to make it there. we were able to make it on the flight, phew. we got seated in bulkhead, which if we don't get first class that is my second choice. we got seated to this really nice guy. he talked to me the whole way to new york. he is a neurologist (I think more the pathology way) but he sits in surgeries while patients are being operated on and his job is to make sure that the surgeon doesn't damage any nerves or brain / brain stem function. it was rad to hear all about his job and surgeries and the crazy things he had seen. I asked him about his craziest surgery and he said it was a guy who got a tumor on his brain stem where it attached to the brain, it had finger like tentacles that had wrapped around the stem and attached in. he said it took 2 days to do, day one was just cutting and removing the bone and exposing it all. and then wrapping him up and day two was removal. They got 60% and upped his life expectancy by a decade or two. crazy. talk about a nice flight.

we got to new york around 3:30p and we had 4 hours to chill until the next flight left. so we found our next gate, and then decided food was in order. so we found a chili's too in our concourse and sat down for a bite. cody of course had to face the window to watch the planes. it got so bad that he actually got up and left me at the table so he could go look at them. boys. after lunch we went for a walk and explored the whole airport, cody drooled over planes.


{on our walk}
we ended up in the food court next to the runway so he could watch what else, planes. after 3 and a half hours of this we walked to our gate. and as usual waited.

{a pigeon in the food court.. strange little birdy}

we got called up pretty early on in the boarding to find out that we had a seat! YAY!


{ticket}

i hurried to put on sweatpants, i mean come on 8 hours on a plane, i want comfort! we boarded the plane and discovered that we had got business class. i have never sat there before, i was excited and overwhelmed all at once.


{please don't mind i look gross, it was a very long day}

i got comfy and wanted to go to sleep, but i stayed awake to eat and watch wanderlust, hilarious movie by the way, and then i crashed in my lay flat seat.


{eating dinner, i had short ribs}




{dessert, mine on top ice cream sundae, and cody's cream puffs}


{and i'm out, my fav is the creeper dude in the background, classic!}


we arrived in rome around 10 am there and de planed. we sat in a line for about 30 minutes to get through immigration and soon we were in. we found our way to the train station and got tickets. and then worst train ride ever. it was a half hour ride in a train that didn't have air conditioning. oh and did i mention that it was 95 degrees with 90% humidity. heat + no air conditioning + sweatpants = hot sweaty sicky girl. from the train station we transferred to a subway. only after 20 minutes and attempting to talk to a sweet italian woman to find out that the subway was under construction and we had to get on a bus. adventures. we got to our hotel, showered and were back on the streets in attempt to stay awake as long as possible. we walked to the piazza navona, pantheon, city center, and trevi fountain.


{me at trevi fountain, it was packed!}


{ this is a freeze frame from a video, I had to hurry cause there was only a 2 second space before someone walked in front of me again.. ugh}

beautiful. i was in awe! we ate at the hard rock, a tradition we have when we travel, and called it a night. we were both showered and in bed by 8:30. jet lag.. ugh. it was a crazy way to get there but it was a blast.

.. saluto roma ..

so a few weeks ago i told cody he was taking me on a vacation, since it has been a year since our last vacation together, and that i didn't care where we went just that i could relax and not be attached to a phone or computer. to just get away. so after much debate we have landed on the choice of going to rome. ooo i am so excited. i have never been to rome, it's been on my wish list forever i can't hardly wait to go. here is where you come in. i have never been there, and i need to know what i just HAVE to see. so far on my list are

. colosseum

. trevi fountain

. vatican city

. st. peter's basillica

. pantheon

. sistine chapel

. spanish steps

. roman forum

. catacombs

we are thinking of staying near the spanish steps, since we found a good deal and from what we have read it is a good central place for getting to other things. so.. people share your advice. we are going mid- august, help me out if you would please :)

. a graduation trip .

so i feel old, my youngest brother j* is graduating from high school this year. it is strange. after much debate cody and i decided that we would take j* on a trip of his choice for his graduation present. he chose washington dc. so it was on. the week we decided to go, cody ended up scheduling his check ride {this is for another post} so he couldn't go with us so he could study it up. so the last week of march it was on. here are some pictures from our trip.

so day one we got into baltimore around 5:30, by the time we rode the train into down town and then to the hotel we were starving. 

{ticket}

we had breakfast at 8 am utah time and that was the last meal we had. so we trekked to capitol city brewery, it is amazing and waited for a table. it was the best meal. j* got a bloody nose in the middle of dinner, and had to have a tissue up his nose all through dinner. 

{bloody nosed j*}

we walked around and just ended up going back and go to bed. We were pooped. 

{this rad fire station is next to our hotel, it is historic like one of the first in the city}

the next morning we got up and ran to the national air and space museum and walked through that and the museum of natural history. 

{national air and space museum runway, this is for cody}

{the spirit of st louis at the national air and space museum}

{mammoth at the natural history museum}

both so cool. after the museums we went to potbellys sandwich works which is also delightful. we then decided to hit up all the monuments. we started at the jefferson and walked to fdr, mlk, lincoln, korean war, world war 2, and the washington monument.

{MLK memorial}

{washington monument at night}

{at the lincoln memorial}

{washington monument from the lincoln}

{the cherry blossoms at the FDR monument, it was the 100 yr anniversary of the blossoms!}

 by this time we walked to the white house and checked that out and then we went to dinner at the hard rock cafe. yum! after this we stopped in to crumbs and got some cupcakes to try and headed back. the cupcakes were delicious!

{crumbs}

the next morning we tried to get into Ford's theater but the tickets were sold out. sad. so we decided to shop instead. we checked out a whole street and ended up finding the spy museum. it was pretty cool, but we didn't have time to go through it so we just checked out the store. 

{watch out for the gnome}

then we headed back packed up and headed to the airport. 

{us on the way to the airport, it was j* first time on a subway, don't mind that he smiles nice and i am retarded. it was a day}

since we travel standby we have to wait to see if we can make it. turns out we didn't. but we had to make a backup plan. we flew to nyc for the night, our chances of getting out were better. so we got to nyc, checked into a hotel and then went to times square. we ate at hard rock and walked around.

{us at the hard rock, apparently i only have one face}

 j* started to get sick so we headed back. turns out the express train we got on turned into a local at night and what should have taken us 30 minutes turned into 2 hours. killer. we got to the hotel around 1 and we had to be up and out to the airport by 5. 4 hours of sleep yum. 

the next day we got up and to the airport and we didn't make the first flight so, we got breakfast and then j* crashed on the floor on our luggage. i spent time watching a set of birds eating crumbs left behind by the most cute girl. 

{ the little birdie who brought me 4 hours of entertainment}

we made it on the second flight home and lets just say i am still not caught up on sleep. 

but it was a blast!

happy graduation j*!

and if you didn't hear, he got a full ride scholarship to UVU that can be renewed if he keeps a 3.0. he starts this fall!

.. planes, planes and more planes. did i mention planes? ..

the last stop on our cruise was to st. maarten. cody had done alot of research on this island and couldn't wait until we could get there. if we could have stayed there the whole time i am sure he would have loved it. we woke up around 7 and ate breakfast and were off the boat as soon as they would let us. 9am. we found a taxi driver that would take us to the infamous beach, Maho beach. he drove us around the island to the french side, this island is half and half one side is dutch the other french. he dropped us off at the beach around 10 and we stayed there until 2p. yeah, lived there you could say. here is why.. 

{welcome to st. maarten!}

cody, as you know is a pilot and studying to be one so naturally this would be the ultimate island/ beach for him. so we stayed there all day.


{m* & cody waiting for the plane}

lucky for us girls the beach and water were way nice and so it wasn't terrible being there for a while. we watched about a million planes land and take off, ok probably like 20 but still.. a lot.


{girls r to l c*, e* & me}



{we could hear it and didn't know how close it was until right after this picture}


{side view so you can see how close it gets..}

 the boys even got daring and went and held onto the fence when the planes took off and got sand blasted in the process. goofballs. after being there the better part of the day we left.


{board is updated daily with the flights coming in}

 we stopped at a mcdonald's there cause we were all hungry and needed to decide what to do. m* and e* wanted to go to a nude beach and t* and c* wanted to get on the ship and cody and i just wanted to shop. so we were tossed. well we asked the cab driver if he could take t* and c* to the boat and then just drop cody and i off near town and we would walk and then drive m* and e* to the nude beach. sounded great, until we hit traffic. we sat for a while in just a line of cars waiting to get out of the town. they only had a one lane road so no way to side track that one.


{girls in the back of the van!}

so, after debate m* and e* decided it wasn't worth the risk of being late to the boat to go see the beach. so we found another flea market and they got out with us. t* and c* went back to the boat. we shopped for about 45 minutes. way cool shopping, i wish we had more time there. we started to walk back and then realized that we had about 15 minutes to get on board.


{took this right before warning honk}

we entered the harbor and heard the ship honk giving us a warning to get on in 10 minutes or they were leaving. so we ran. we made it on, barely. after getting on we headed straight for the pools and showers to get all the sand off from maho. after we dipped in the pool we showered up for dinner.

tonight was a special night, it was our last dinner on the ship. we had grown to really like mario and jr. they were awesome. predicted our needs and were fun to add to it. so we decided to give them an extra tip on top of what we were charged for already. when the guys pulled out money to give to them, mario started to cry. he didn't want to take it but we told him we wanted him to have it. he told us that it meant a lot and he was so grateful for it. it touched my heart, i felt so bad. he has a family and kids that live in nicaragua that he never gets to see because he is on the ship and he just sends money for them to live. how sad! so we were all emotional. after this we decided to cheer up with another stop at the comedy club. after an half hour show cody and i headed back to the room to pack. our flight we were trying to catch left at 11 and we had to be off the boat by 8 to make it in time. so we packed and hit the hay. we got up the next morning around 6.

we did the self assist off the boat which was nice cause we each only had a backpack and a carry on bag. however some people trying to get off with us had like 17 bags and kids, what were they thinking. the cruise offered to take your luggage off and have it for you when you got off. should have done that crazy lady. we found a cab to take us to the airport and got there around 7:30. we got through all the customs and what not and to the gates. we realized there were two flights that left at 9 and 9:30 that we could try and catch. so we decided to try for it. we missed the atlanta flight, it was full and ended up making the NYC flight, yep 3 weeks in a row in new york. love my life. we didn't get to sit next to each other but that is alright. we made it to new york and ran straight to the direct flight to salt lake. it was pretty tight and some how we both made it on and sat next to each other. what are the odds? we got home around 6 and to our house by 7. it was so nice to be home but i seriously missed the vacation.

so we highly recommend a cruise if you haven't been on one. it rocked. we for sure will be doing another one!

.. take a picture, it will only cost you $20 ..

so since i had bad heat rash and the last day of the cruise was st. maarten and cody was dying to go there we decided that on st. kitts we would stay out of the sun and have an easy day so my heat rash would go away or drop a bunch so i could have more fun on st. maarten. so e*,m*, t* and c* all went to a beach and we stayed close to the ship.



we got off and walked around the shops there. immediately a guy with 2 baby monkeys walks up and drops them in cody's arms. he tells us to take a picture.



so we do, then he takes them and moves them a few more times and more pictures,




then he puts them on me.


oh yeah, nice. the little on clenched on to my boob, nice and the older one went for my earrings.





what the? the guy took them back and then told us we owed him $20. for reals? lame-o. cody paid it although not sure why we gave him $20. any how we walked around the marina and shopped a bit. we stopped at a handmade ice cream parlor and got a scoop. really good ice cream!

{cody also go a lime soda, he said it was the best the whole trip}

after the ice cream we shopped a bit more






{cody read this as "comin" powder and laughed for a good 5 minutes in the store, perv}

and then went back on the boat. we decided to take a nap and ended up sleeping for 2 hours, but it was so nice! we got up and ready for dinner and met the rest of the gang at the dining room. we ate and somehow the girls got duped into doing a dance with the waiters, something they did every night. our waiter mario thought it was fun to pick on us and have us dance with him every night. so he would pick either a person, the guys or the girls. it was our night. so we danced and laughed the whole time. too funny!!

after dinner we decided to try the comedy show, the previous comedians had gotten off the boat in barbados and st. lucia and there were a few nights we didn't have one there. so we decided to try them. the dude sucked so bad, no one in the whole club laughed at his jokes. too sad. we got up and left about 10 minutes in. we decided we would go to the magic show in the theater. the magician is named rand woodbury. he was actually pretty good and funny to watch. the show was about an hour and a half and great. after the show we walked on all the decks and checked out the mini golf they had on the top of the boat. c* and i went to level 3 and walked out there where the water was close and lit a nice blue. 

then it was time to hit the hay cause the next day was st. maarten and i had already been told we were to be up and going by 6:30 so we could be off as soon as they would let us..