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beepboop @ 2008-07-05T13:49:00

2008-07-05T18:49:40Z

saw wall-e yesterday. such a good/cute movie.
go see it!

and tomorrow is our 15th anniversary! :D
wow.

15.

beepboop @ 2008-07-05T11:26:00

2008-07-05T16:26:16Z

.

you know where to find these + more.

beepboop @ 2008-07-03T11:25:00

2008-07-03T16:25:39Z

got another call from delta airlines from the huntsville airport!
they have our last missing bag!

it's gonna be delivered, she said. yay!

now i just hope that rusty & ginny (the couple who flew with us) get their luggage. united lost theirs as well. i think i forgot to mention that in my big posts.

beepboop @ 2008-06-30T21:15:00

2008-07-01T02:15:39Z

before i try to start continuing about the rest of the trip, i'll add something i forgot.

*on the delta flight to rome, 2 seats in front of jason & i, there sat paul o'neill & his family. he was a baseball player. and when we got to our hotel in rome, they were staying there!

day six: thursday

breakfast in hotel.

went out walking to try and find some clothes since we still have no luggage.
we finally find somewhere and jason gets pants, 2 shirts. i get a dress, a shirt & some capris. i'll get pics of them later.
and i got pics of when we had to wash our clothes in the hotel sink and hang them to dry from chairs, a luggage rack & a fancy chandelier! proof.

we (jason, me, dani, nate, rusty & ginny) walk and stop by a beautiful church. don't remember the name of it :(
we walk some more. i love all the street vendors. here is one.
jason spots this store and i have to get a pic.
we walk around the spanish steps area.
we sit around this big pillar with a statue of Mary at the top. while sitting there, i ask for her prayers about us getting our luggage.
we all start heading back towards the hotel and decide to go find something to eat.
we stop at this cool little place not too far from the hotel.
the best pizza. oh my gosh!
i'd go back just to eat there again!

we go back to the hotel. i get a pic of the bidet.

we get ready to go out for dinner to a place that overlooks part of the city.
we pick out a table to sit at. we get the one with no direct sunlight :)
this is the view we had while the sun was setting. lovely, huh?
the food was really good.

after we got back to the hotel, we decided to walk around. we pass this neat little blue wine shop.

go back to the hotel later and go to sleep.

day seven: friday

breakfast in hotel.
we go to see if anyone has any word on our luggage.

what?! one bag is at the airport in rome?! a driver (steven) in a cool mercedes will take us there at noon?! heck yeah!!
remember the prayers i said the day before? :) thanks mama!!!

jason and i hang out til noon to meet our driver and head to the airport.
we get there and we meet piero (which i think his name might have been pietro aka: peter, now that i think about it).
only the one who's name the luggage is in can go for some reason. and it was my name.
so jason had to wait in the airport til we got back.
i was scared cuz pietro said i would have to go with him and talk to customs and the police! yikes.
but he went with me, we found the luggage (and thankfully it was the one with our formal clothes in it!) and did all the talking and even carried the luggage for me. very sweet guy. i should have gotten a pic of him!
so, we get the luggage and go back to meet jason and go back to the hotel.

jason and i go to another little pizza place close to the hotel and get some good pizza. i didn't bring my camera, and i wish i had :(

we eventually go back to the hotel, get dressed up and meet up with the gang to go to the formal dinner at villa miani. we get there and there is an open bar. this happened at other places too. you could order anything you want!
and there was also a trio of guys playing music and singing. they were so funny and awesome!
the food was really good.
our waiter would serve me first and lean in real far when he put the plate down. when we finished the first course, he got behind me, and with one arm around and in front of me, he grabbed the empty plate and with the other arm around and in front of me, he placed a clean plate in front of me. he might as well have hugged me! i think he liked the view....my dress was kinda low cut (didn't realize how low it would be when sitting!) so the girls were showing a bit!
then after i finished my red wine, i got his attention and asked for more. when he got to me, he leaned in real close, poured the wine and asked "you like the red wine madam?" in a slow, deep italian voice. jason said he (the waiter) was my boyfriend from then on. ha!
he was an older man.

when it got dark, i spotted the moon coming up over the city. it was my favorite kind of moon...where it's huge and deep orange. this moon almost looked reddish as it was peeking above the buildings in the distance! it was gorgeous!

some guy (i think he was a tour group leader or something) came up to me after i was taking pics of the moon and asked me if i got some good shots. then he proceeded to tell me about the areas that we could see. and that how the volcanic ash in the soil is what makes the wine so good :)

then a fireworks show happened right there! we saw it the night before from the other dinner we were at.
what a fun night!!!

day eight: saturday

i think we missed breakfast this morning. but we slept late, so lunch was soon approaching.
we meet in the hotel lobby to get on a bus to "cross the tiber" and head for lunch at papa rex. mmm...pizza.
the menu.
the tiramisu!

on to the vatican!

the vatican walls!
enter into vatican city!

the museum was beautiful, the floor was cool, the ceilings were awesome, the statues were interesting, this, this, this, and this were cool, but i wish we'd skipped it and stayed in st. peter's :)
the sistine chapel (no photos) was amazing. but it was packed with people, very hot and noisy :(
st. peter's square was cool. and i saw the pope's apartment!..from the outside :)
our tour was so rushed :(
we barely had time to look around.
what i saw of it was breathtaking, though.
just to be there was awesome.
i got to touch the bronze foot of st. peter! the photo i got was blurry. there were so many people and i had to keep moving or i'd get lost!
st. peter's is such a beautiful place. wow.
i wanna go back.

day nine: sunday

woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my...oh wait.
breakfast.
caught a ride to the airport, got on a plane, and flew over france & the snowy alps, englnad, ireland, and then came down over nova scotia, new york and then to atlanta. then a small plane to huntsville. the camera battery died after the alps.

now i'm here...and i think i'm fully over the time change now.
sorry it took so long to finish this! was busy/tired/busy & busy.

oh, if you hadn't noticed, there are 329 photos of the trip on flickr.

beepboop @ 2008-06-29T10:42:00

2008-06-29T15:42:33Z

just got a call from delta airlines.

one of our bags is at the airport! :D

yay!!!!! we're going to pick it up after church.

i wonder if the other one is still in korea?

beepboop @ 2008-06-28T07:53:00

2008-06-28T12:53:01Z

i haven't even made an attempt to look at lj yet. i'll never be able to catch up.

i hope all is well with you guys.

beepboop @ 2008-06-24T17:00:00

2008-06-24T22:00:22Z

i'm only posting a few days for now. i'll do the rest thursday, maybe. i'm just gonna be too busy til then.

i'll try to condense the stories if i can. and i'm sure i am leaving stuff out or mixing it up.

day one: saturday

get to the airport. get to the united airlines counter.
meet up with ginny & rusty (our flying companions...who were great company, btw!)
flight gets delayed 4 hours due to bad weather at the washington airport.

after finally getting on the small plane, we head to washington. y'all, i was so scared. i had no idea what to expect. when we took off, i was taking pics and crying at the same time. lol. photography is now truly theraputic to me :)

we finally arrive in washington.
we are supposed to catch a flight from there to germany.
nope. not gonna happen.

this is where the nightmare began.

we ended up having to switch airlines and destinations.
delay after delay, we were gonna have to sleep on the airport floor.
finally got the travel folks to get us a cab & hotel at 3am in reston, va.

ugh.

day two: sunday

should have been in rome by now...

get up, grab some breakfast at panera in the hotel.
meet up with ginny & rusty again.

get back to the airport to catch a flight from washington to cincinnati.
get to cincinnati and wait a while.

finally get our delta flight straight to rome (instead of florence first).
the plus side is that we got business class. that is awesome.
but thanks to united, we have no idea what hapened with our luggage. united sucks. big time.

anyway, the flight was nice. the moon was beautiful as it reflected off the atlantic.

i hate cabin pressure changes. ew.

day three: monday

by now, i have lost track of what day it is.

i see italy from above. i cry. it's beautiful.
we land. no sign of luggage.

allied europe wisks us off to florence in a mercedes van. i tell you, they are AWESOME. kudos to the drivers (renaldo & steven) and to daniella & piero who will never see this. the drivers sped through traffic like butter on a hot corn cob. i LOVE how italians drive!

on the way to florence, which is a beautiful drive, we stop at the "truck stop in the sky". we have no idea what is going on. renaldo's english isn't too good, but he's cool looking. he looks like he's in the mob. anyway, he parks, gets out and says we'll get out for 30-40 minutes.
we have no idea why.
so back to the truck stop place; this place is weird. it's like a bridge going across the highway, but it's full of stores and eateries.
we have no euros yet, so we walk around. ginny & i find the bathrooms.

oh. my. word.

talk about scary.
i had to squat over the toilet. it had no lid to sit on. and i could not flush it. i pushed the big thing on the wall, but nothing happened. we left from there and renaldo was looking for us.
i guess he realizes we don't have any euros and we leave.
ginny & i can't stop laughing about the bathrooms.

we get to florence, go into the hotel (gorgeous!) and meet our other friends. a day & a half late, but we're there.
we are told that we have to a fitting for renaissance clothing.
by now, i was NOT in the mood for this. we're tired, hot, in a strange place, being rushed, looking for our luggage, etc.
we get to our room. no luggage there.

go back down for a fitting. jason gets a very cool looking piece.
can't find anything to fit my fat butt. actually, my shoulders. apparently they're kinda wide.
after trying to find me a dress, they just give up on me and give me a stupid robe. it looks like what the men have been picking out.
i hated it. i got up to the room and cried.
hormones are raging by now. yes, "she" showed up the day we left for the airport. sorry guys.
jason and i argue. he goes to a friends' room.
dani (my friend and whose home we go to for new years) comes to my room, tells me to get that ugly robe and come with her.
idunno what she did but it eventually got me a dress.
some cool old italian woman had taken my measurements at some point and told me to be back the next day.

we go out for dinner. can't dress up, and everyone feels sorry for us.
i don't even remember where we went to eat that night. it's all a blur.

day four: tuesday

still no sign of luggage.

breakfast in the hotel. pretty good.

we go out walking around. i loved doing this even though it was hot.
we then meet the rest of the big group at 'trattoria 4 leoni' or 'the 4 lions' for a huge lunch.
here's the menu

walk some more, then head back to the hotel to put on our renaissance outfits.
we all get on busses and head to villa petraia that overlooks florence. wow.
we are treated like royalty! it was almost ridiculous!

almost :)

menu here & here.

after we leave, we put our old clothes back on, meet up with our 4 friends head to a cool little bar called the moonlight coffee & pub.

day five: wednesday

still no luggage. people are really feeling sorry for us now.

we walk around with the 4 other friends. we go into the church beside the hotel. can't remember the name of it right now, but what a breathtakingly beautiful place!

we meet back in the hotel to go out with the group for a train ride to florence.
we stop at le lanterne for lunch. weird food there.

anyway, then we head out for a tour at some big beautiful mansion.
then we head to our hotel in rome. it has padded walls. hehe.
we were greeted with a bottle of wine on the dresser! yum.

i don't remember where we ate for supper.

but later that night, the 6 of us went out for beer & stuff.

to be continued.....

beepboop @ 2008-06-24T10:35:00

2008-06-24T15:35:33Z

i am uploading photos to flickr. only about 200.

i didn't get alot of "artsy" shots...i just took pics. i'll explain later, but we were very rushed and i didn't have time to get really good photos :(

beepboop @ 2008-06-23T07:01:00

2008-06-23T12:01:10Z

i am moving all my photos over from my mem stick.

2001 photos from italy! wow.
of course, not all of them turned out right, but still. i have alot of memories.:)

beepboop @ 2008-06-22T21:21:00

2008-06-23T02:21:13Z

just got in a couple of hours ago.

too tired to say any more right now.

a hint

2008-06-15T15:17:02Z

a hint
Originally uploaded by House Of Sims

more later.

:D

beepboop @ 2008-06-14T11:29:00

2008-06-14T16:29:03Z

i will be away for a while. some of you know why. some of you don't.
i may or may not post while away.

if you NEED me, please email me (houseofsims@gmail.com)

picturing_food mods, help me keep an eye on things. thank you!

God bless you all.

if you don't know where i'm going, you will prolly find out soon! keep watching for a possible post. :)

ok, gotta leave now!

beepboop @ 2008-06-13T20:14:00

2008-06-14T01:14:01Z

beepboop @ 2008-06-12T23:39:00

2008-06-13T04:39:32Z

Rules:

You can only use one word and it's not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

Here's mine: and no, i'm not using just one word :P

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Where is your significant other? on the couch with his laptop

3. Your hair? short, burgandy and very naturally curly today!

4. Your mother? loved & missed. i need to call her tomorrow.

5. Your father? is coming by here tomorrow to get the boys.

6. Your favorite thing? photography

7. Your dream last night? don't remember my dreams very often

8. Your dream/goal? where i'm headed to saturday

9. The room you're in? livingroom

10. Your fear? driving at night while it rains

11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? where i'm going on saturday

12. Where were you last night? here, getting things in order

13. What you're not? not quite done getting things in order

14. Muffins? lemon poppyseed or the lowfat pumpkin ones from atlanta bread co.

15. One of your wish list items? macro lens & the $400 flash

16. Where you grew up? cullman, alabama

17. The last thing you did? poured a glass of red wine

18. What are you wearing? capris & a threadless tee

19. Your TV? has a black screen because it's off

20. Your pet? an anti-social cat, an affectionate little dog and a scared turtle

21. Your computer? desktop & laptop

22 Your life? i am so extremely blessed right now.

23. Your mood? tired/anxious/excited/

24. Missing someone? mom/sisters

25. Your car? dirty dirty jeep. it needs a really good handwashing

26. Something you're not wearing? shoes or socks

27. Your summer? will be the best ever.

28. Your favorite color? black

29. When is the last time you laughed? had a good laugh in the jeep on the way back from lane bryant talking about poop with the kids.

30. Last time you cried? today in the confessional

31. Who will resend this? or repost...idunno. whoever wants to do it.

beepboop @ 2008-06-12T12:16:00

2008-06-12T17:16:36Z

my dad called me yesterday to tell me that he saw some of my photos on a local tv news station (ch. 19) last week.
i had sent some in a while back and it looks like they used them! :)

tomorrow, he's coming to get the kids for the whole weekend.

beepboop @ 2008-06-10T20:58:00

2008-06-11T01:58:01Z

.

you know where to find these + more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-10T15:05:00

2008-06-10T20:05:29Z

got my hair cut.

and of course, like usual, it ended up shorter than i wanted. :(
i showed her the picture. and told her i have some natural wave to my hair.

i take off my glasses while i get my hair cut cuz they get in the way, and i'm blind without them, so i can't see what the girl is doing.

anyway, it'll be cooler (temp wise) though!

idunno if i'll post pics or not.

edit: i went and straightened it and it looks ok, i guess. just not what i hoped for.
i think once it grows out a couple of inches (which won't take long with my hair) it'll look alot better.

beepboop @ 2008-06-09T14:47:00

2008-06-09T19:46:59Z

here are some photos from our parish picnic that happened on sunday. it was so hot, but at least we had shade & a breeze (and in some cases, water poured on heads)!
.

you know where to find these + a bunch more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T23:05:00

2008-06-08T04:04:59Z

this is how i want my hair:

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T22:10:00

2008-06-08T03:10:11Z

.

you know where to find these + a few more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T22:06:00

2008-06-08T03:06:02Z

.

you know where to find these + a few more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T21:31:00

2008-06-08T02:31:45Z

.

you know where to find these + a few more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T21:15:00

2008-06-08T02:15:23Z

.

you know where to find these + a few more.

beepboop @ 2008-06-07T10:34:00

2008-06-07T15:34:41Z

As a 1930s wife, I am
Average

Take the test!

beepboop @ 2008-06-06T08:51:00

2008-06-06T13:51:29Z

1. What's your weather? HOT, humid and sunny.
2. Where are you on your way to? i'd like to be on my way to the shower.
3. Are you good with directions? somewhat
4. Do you know your neighbors? not really
5. What do you smell? nothing at the moment

Appetizer
When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup? i like to pour it in a glass that has ice in it
Soup
What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch? none, really. i like sleep too much
Salad
Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant. just one? i can't do that.
Main Course
Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas? i only use gas to go to work one day a week. and i ride with jason. but i'm not sure i'd wanna do 4 10-hour days!
Dessert
If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself? something to do with a camera, cuz i'll take a photo of anything.

1. When was the last time you had your hands in dirt? too long. i wish i had a small garden.
2. When was the last time you had your hands in clay? i felt of clay just a couple of days ago. alex bought a big 25 lb. bag of it from a pottery place.
3. When was the last time you had your feet in mud? ew. idunno
4. When was the last time you had your feet in sand? at the beach...years ago.
5. What part of your life could use a serious cleansing? prayer

1. What’s something people do in public that really annoys you, even though it’s probably not a big deal? poop in public restrooms and then NOT FLUSH. GROSS!
2. How readily do you ask strangers to stop their annoying behavior? never
3. What’s something you do in public that probably annoys others? i hope nothing.
4. What’s your theory about why it’s so easy to get annoyed when one is behind the wheel of a vehicle? election signs? flashing billboards? stupid drivers? cars that have huge rims? (and even worse when said car has 20" painted on the trunk to let you know just how big the rims are in case you were wondering) people texting while driving? people who honk their horn if you don't go as soon as the light turns green? idunno...you tell me!
5. What regular, minor annoyance have you learned to tolerate? i don't think i will ever tolerate the fil. i just can't get along too well with him.