Not so funny April Fools

I just wanted to share this.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!! He has Risen!!!! Halleluiah!! 

Ciao! Bonjour! Hello!

Well, I am back home from my 12 day wurlwind adventure! We had a wonderful time but it was very tireing, stressful at times and I was very ready to be back home. I missed my husband so much and my pets!! If you don't care to know what we did on our trip day by day, then I am warning you now = ) It may be long but I will definitly paraphrase and try to not be a bore!

Day 1-2
We had to be at the Jackson, MS airport at about 8:00 for our 11:00 flight...yes 3 hours early. We sat around for a very long time with our group. We had 8 students and 3 adults. I hadn't met any of them except for my sister-in-law, of course. Everyone seemed very nice and I was optomistic that this trip was going to go very well. Saying "goodbye" to my husband was tough but it had to happen. The flight from Jackson to Atlanta went smoothly and everyone was very excited to get on the next plane, which was to Rome!

We were ver excited once we got on the plane to Rome! The plan was to sleep on the plane since we would arrive to Rome at 7am and hit the ground running with our tour guide once we got there. After 3 movies, 1 attempt at watching a foreign film to induce somnolence, 3 attempts at listening to "sleep inducing" radio station, and later and no sleep... we arrived in Roma!! We met our tour guide Franchesca and hit the ground running! The two other schools had not made it to Rome yet so we got a private day in Rome to explore! It was wonderful!! We saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and had galato! Can't get much better than that!

Trevi Fountain

me with 24+ hours of no sleep

We had a wonderful day in Rome and met up with the other two schools (from Houston and Pheonix) that evening at the aiport. We then went to the hotel for dinner. The next day we went to the Vatican!

Day 3- Vatican

We got up early and went for a day at Vatican City. We were there at an interesting time because there was no Pope (Because Pope Benadict resigned) and the city/country was getting ready for the conclave to elect another pope in the next couple of days. Because of the up coming conclave, we were not allowed to go to the Sistine Chapel = (. We did go through the Vatican Museum and went into St. Peter's Bacillica! It was absolutly beautiful and every piece of artwork was done in mosaic, not paint!

Vatican City

St. Peter's Bacillica

Swiss Guards

We spent all morning and mid afternoon at the Vatican, we bought some rosaries and got them blessed by the clergy at the Vatican. Then, a few of us went for a mid-afternoon trip to the Roman Catacombs. Miles and miles of catacombs stretch across the earth under Rome. It was really neat. We then went the St. Paul's Bacillica where we saw the mosaic portrais of all of the Pope's. A light is always shining on the current pope and once a new pope is elected then the light goes out. The light was shining on Pope Benadict even though he stepped down. We had a frustrating time here with the other members of the other schools. Even after spending all day at the Vatican, some students thought it would be funny to take time out of our tour guide's schedule to ask what the Pope actually did, if he can get married or have sex, etc. Even though the guide explained everything about the Pope earlier. They also asked questions like "Isn't Latin what Indians speak?" I had to pass that special one on to my hubby when I talk to him that night. We then spent an "evening in Rome". We had free time and the bus picked us back up at 10:30 from the Trevi Fountain. it was amazing to see the sights at night!

Day 4- Colosseum, Roman Forum and off to Florence

We got up early and went to the Colosseum! I was so amazing to see it after growing up seeing it only in post cards and pictures! It is so big!! And if I ever doubted that I was in Rome...well I believed it after seeing the Colosseum! Then we walked in the rain to the Roman Forum I can't really say what is in the forum because it was raining and we were all running around like we would melt. But, Hey! It was Rome rain! Then after lunch we got on the bus and drove to Florence, Italy!!



I asked Grace to take a picture of me infront of the Colosseum...infront of scafolding infront of the Colosseum haha!

Day 5- Rain in Florence!

We spent a long rainy day in Florence next. Florence was probably my favorite place, even though it was cold a rainy. I loved that it was a small tuscan city and had cobblestone everywhere. Plus we saw the hunk that is the statue of David!!! Can I saw hubba hubba?!? But searously...it was just amazing! There was a remake of David infront of a church in the middle of town and it just paled in comparison with the real/original one. I wish we could have taken pictures. At the train station this evening we found out the new pope had been elected! Pope Francis! Then we went on the night train to Paris!

Umbrella Tent!



Our group



Day 6-7 Paris

We made it into Paris the next afternoon where we went to the hotel to clean up. We had very little time to eat lunch before we were off to Paris city center, so we ate at McDonalds...I know, I know! We thought long and hard and it was McDonalds or nothing..I had never felt more American! I did get something that we don't have at our McDonalds though, so that made me feel a little better! We took the Paris subway (this is hard with 46 people who don't speak french) in to Paris to go to the Louvre! We only had 1 hour in the Louvre. Usualy people set aside like 3 days to see the Louvre...we had 1 hour. We did see the high lights like the Mona Lisa, Venus, Nike...It was probably good for me because I don't know much about art so it all looks good to me and I get overwhelmed. Once statue really struck me, I ended up getting a print of it--Cupid. That evening we had dinner and took the subway back to the Hotel. The next day we took a bus tour that made me car sick. It was a lot of "on the left, now on the right, no look on the left!!". Plus, they only gave us 15 minutes at the Eiffel Tower, which is rediculous! We finily said "well, they won't leave us" so we stayed there 30 minutes : ). After the tour we went to visit the Palace of Versailles. It was very nice but cold. It was cool to see the gardens convered in snow. Then we had dinner and went back to the hotel. Well, first we back to McDonals for free WiFi.





Cupid

Day 8-9 Normandy and Paris

The next day we got up real early and took a bus to Normandy to see the D-Day monuments and museum. It was amazing and overwhelming to actually be at a place where D-Day occured and so many people lost their lives. I learned all about WWII in school but to actually be on the soil that it occured...it was amazing. We went to the American Cemetary and then a museum. I started feeling quite sick when we got to Normandy, with a cold. My energy was very low and I hadn't slept well. I hated feeling so bad on this trip, but knowing that I couldn't just go a sleep for fear of missing something I may not ever get a chance to see again. After spending the night in Normandy, we went back to Paris for an evening so we could leave for London the next day. Once in Paris we had dinner and took a boat ride down the river to see the sights at night. The Eiffel Tower at night is AMAZING!! 





Day 10-12

The next day we took a train London! It was really neating taking a train through the Chunnel...starting in France and then coming out in England. The first day we dropped our stuff off at the Hotel and then took the subway to Picadilly Circus so we could eat lunch and go to the National Museum. It was raining and cold but we had a good time. We saw a lot of Van Gough and Monet paintings. It's pretty surreal to see all of those famous paintings in person. Our Mississippi group's tour director was an art teacher so I went around with him so he could help me appreciate the art a little more. It think it worked. We only had 1.5 hours in there so we had to be quick! Then we went to a pub and had fish and chips! It took everyone a while to get used to being able to understand those around us and realizing that they can understand what you are saying as well. Many of us had to start sensoring ourselves because people could now understand what we were saying. The next day we toured the Tour of London, took a walking tour of London and saw the musical Wicked! It was such a great musical!! The whole day and time we spent in London was great. It was my second time to be in London so I had seen some of the sights before, but it was great seeing it again! We left very early the next day for our plane ride home!!

good advice for the London subway



Over all I had a wonderful trip!! Going on a vacation in a tour group is definilty not my cup of tea but there is no way we could have seen everything we saw in a short ammount of time if we weren't in a tour. I would love to go back to these places one day. I can say this though...I am proud to be from the USA! We may not see it but we are SPOILED!!! Especially in our restaurants and hotels. Glad to be Home!!!

Addio! Au revoir! Cheerio!

Well, I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for a 12 day whirlwind trip to Europe!

 Like I mentioned in previous entry, I will be chaperoning my sister-In-Law and 7 other classmates. Thankfully there will be two other adults going as well. I am all packed up and ready, luggage weighs 46lbs so I'm good! I am definitely at the nervous/anxious stage. I am, of course, thinking of what all could go wrong and definitely focusing on that. I am also in disbelief that I will be in Rome on Sunday.

I am going to miss my husband SO MUCH! I don't think I have been away from in for more than a couple of days since we have been married. We had a wonderful day today before he went to work. We cuddled, shot the B.B. Gun and played with the dogs some...and cuddled with our cats some more. I love him so much!

I just wanted to goodbye post before I leave! See you in 12 days!

GOODBYE! ADDIO! AU REVOIR! CHEERIO!

My BFF Had a BayBay!

I haven't posted in a little while, so I thought I would jot a few things down.

When it comes to my weight loss challenge it is hit or miss. When I did the official weigh in last Thursday, and I had gained like 0.3lb...basically the same. But when I weighed myself last night I had lost about 2 more Lbs, so I don't know where I stand at the moment. I really haven't been eating well over the weekend so I should probably pay more attention to what I eat. I did do a 4 mile walk today with my dogs which was real nice and peaceful!

Nothing new with baby making stuff. I did finally start my period on my own after 41 days (yay!). I actually started the day I wrote my last post...I clicked "Save" and "Publish", went to the rest room and there she was! This is good for me because I know now that I can at least start a period on my own. This, of course, does not mean I ovulate, but I can at least do something on my own. So, once I start my next cycle on my own we will start on fertility treatments! I am super excited because the pills (Femara) will help with egg development, the Trigger shot will ensure I actually release the egg by giving me an LH surge (this is what I am most excited about because I believe the lack of LH surge is my whole problem and if this shot will fix it then BAM!), and then the actual Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) will ensure that only the strong sperm will be used and it will be inserted directly into my uterus just waiting on an egg (or two) to fertilize!!This still feels really far off because my last cycle took FOREVER. My husband has just been AMAZING! I asked him if he would like to be with me during that actual IUI and he had the perfect response! He said "you mean me be there during the possible conception of our baby? Of course I will be there!" Isn't he just the best!?!

My Best friend had a baby on Friday March, 1, 2013!! I have been so happy for her during her whole pregnancy and have really put my baby energy into her. Baby Grayson Alan was born at 6:09pm weighing in at 6lb12oz via C Section. Her blood pressure was elevated and amniotic fluid was low so she had to go into the hospital to be induced. She didn't respond to the induction medication so she had a C Section. Baby Grayson is so incredibly perfect! She lives a couple of hours away so I went and saw her the next day (Saturday) and got to hold baby Grayson and spend some time with my BFF and her husband (whom I have known since elementary school)! It is so amazing that a woman can create a baby, a life!, and then give that baby nutrition through milk from a breast.

 I leave for Europe on Saturday!! Less than a week!! I am going to be a chaperone for my 16 year old sister in-law's high school class. It will be me, 2 other chaperones, and 8 teenagers! Ahhh!! I just pray I don't lose anyone! I am so excited about going. I have been to Great Britain before but never to France or Italy. On Saturday we will be flying to Rome, spend some time there and at the Vatican. After a couple of days we will go to Florence. Then after a few days we will take an overnight train to Paris! We will also go to Normandy for a day and head back to Paris. Our final destination will be London. It will be a 12 day long whirlwind of tours, foreign language, foreign money and walking. A. LOT. OF. WALKING! I am so glad these students will get to experience this and I am thankful that my husband said it was ok that I go as well!