Italy!!!

It is the Sunday before Memorial Day (A day off in other words...hehe) and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to tell you about my Spring Break this past March!

There are two places I want to visit most in this world and that is Italy and the Philippines. This past March one of my dreams came true! I got to go on a ten day trip to Italy! Along with my Grandmother, Aunt Rosa, Uncle Mario, and brother, I got the chance to visit Rome, Florence, and Venice.

On May 6th, we set off on our journey...

We left Florida and flew to Great Britain, where we had our first and only lay over. We had about 7 hours in London so we quickly jumped on a double decker bus and took a 2 hour tour of the city. It was so beautiful!

Oh...and it was about 20 degrees outside....what a change from the weather in Florida!

After our tour we headed back to the airport to finally take our flight to Rome!

A tidbit about myself, I have always been fascinated with the Roman civilization. I even took an entire course on Roman history! So, as you can imagine, I was beyond ecstatic!

When we finally landed in Rome, I remember my heart was racing, because I couldn't believe that I was actually in Italy. We gathered our luggage and were picked up and driven to our hotel called Piranese. After we settled, we all went for a walk to find a place to eat.

Walking in Italy, is definitely nothing like walking here in Florida. Everywhere you turned there were ancient buildings. It was so beautiful! We finally found a place to eat called PizzaRe. It was so interesting to me because their pizza definitely didn't taste like our pizza here and their Coke cans were tall and skinny.

We went to bed early that night because we were exhausted from traveling and want to refuel our energy for our first tour the next day, which was a Monday, of the Vatican City!

The next morning, bright and early, we had breakfast at the hotel and then were picked up by our tour guide. When we first arrived outside of the Vatican our tour guide gave us the history of the city. He told us about the Sistine Chapel, about all of the Roman art that we were going to see, and about St. Peter's Basilica. Did you know that there are over 70,000 pieces of Roman art that has been found?

I was amazed at how detailed the Roman sculptures were and at how big some of them were! After walking through most of the city, our tour guide brought us to the Sistine Chapel. There are no words to describe how overwhelming that experience was. I remember walking in and tears suddenly streaming down my face. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

We then went to St. Peter's Basilica. It was huge! It was so much bigger than I ever thought or even imagined!

We toured much more of Rome, the following day, but there is so much that I want to share, that I will only share the highlights!

That following Wednesday, my family and I headed back to St. Peter's Basilica to attend a Papal audience. This was such a beautiful and moving experience for me. There were thousands upon thousands of people who came to attend this prayer service, which was said in many different languages.

That same afternoon, we boarded a train to take us to Florence. Florence, is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen. We took a tour of the city and did some shopping there as well.

We found a cafe in Florence that we would always stop by for cappuccinos and espressos. I always found myself wanting a pastry. Haha

While we were in Florence, we took a trip to Siena, where we took another tour of the city and then we had a lunch while in Tuscany overlooking a beautiful vineyard. Then we got to see the leaning tower of Piza!

The next day we took another train to the city of Venice. Venice was such an interesting city to behold because there were no vehicles. As you know, in order to get anywhere in Venice, you either walk, or take a boat. I got the chance to ride a gondola!

My brother...so stylish...

And of course, there was no way I was going to leave Italy without having gelato! (Actually...I had gelato almost everyday I was in Italy...haha)

The next morning, we packed our things, and took a cab (a boat) to the airport for our flight to Gatwick, England, which was where we were to depart for Florida. While in Gatwick, I dropped some mail in their red mailbox and took some random pictures of some of the signs. I thought their sign for a girl was so cute...it had a balloon skirt...haha

After our 9 hour flight from Gatwick to Orlando, my entire family visited us at my house to hear about our experience.

Italy was more than a dream come true. It exceeded every expectation I had. I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to go. It was so beautiful and I will never forget my experience!

Zellwood Corn Festival

Yesterday, Saturday, May 29th, I went to Apopka to help the mayor and other city officials make the opening remarks for the Zellwood Corn Festival. Every year the Northwest Orange Improvement Association hosts this event and this year was the 36th! I was able to catch up with the mayor and was able to meet with many of the people that came out to Zellwood to enjoy the festival. I even got to eat some corn! It was so delicious!

Harriett's Favorite Things

On April 27th, I had the opportunity to walk in a fashion show for a event called Harriett's Favorite Things. Harriett's Favorite Things was a fundraising event for Florida Hospital. Harriett is a woman who lost her sister to breast cancer and is a big advocate for breast cancer research. She designs and sells beautiful capes and along with a group of girls (all titleholders), I got to model the fabulous capes! It was so much fun! We also got to have lunch at the venue. It was so delicious!

The Miss Florida Outstanding Teen Pageant Weekend

Hello All!

Time really does fly! I can't believe it is already the tenth of May! This year has been fling by so quickly.

During the weekend of April 23rd-25th, the Miss Florida Outstanding Teen Pageant took place in Dade City, Florida. My sister, Miss Apopka Foliage Outstanding Teen competed and she did an amazing job. She took my breath away when she came out on stage in her yellow evening dress. She carried herself with so much grace. She was awarded the Scholastic Achievement Award and I am so proud of her! Congratulations to MaryKatherine Fechtel on her outstanding performance and on becoming Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen 2010!

Many of the miss contestants came to support the teens. It was great to reconnect with some of the other veterans and to meet many of the newbies! My Sunshine Princesses came to support my sister as well!

On the morning of April 24th, the day of the Teen Finals, I left Dade City and drove to Apopka to attend the Annual Apopka Arts and Foliage Festival. I gave some opening remarks and got to cut the ribbon with others to start off the festival. It was my first ribbon cutting experience and I was so thrilled to have the opportunity to do it!

The next day, the Florida Sweeps Pageant was held. I attended the pageant with my family. Congratulations to the five beautiful young ladies who won! Below is a photo of my sister and I with the owners of Regalia Magnificent Apparel, David Lang and Carry O'Neal, at the Sweeps Pageant.

College Shadow Day

Hello All!

My my my! What a busy semester this has been for me! I have been volunteering as a Junior Achievement leader and working on preparing for College Shadow Day, which is a big event at the University of Central Florida. Every year, 500 seventh graders visit the campus to get an inside look at the different departments that UCF has to offer. Athletes, professors, and other UCF organizations come out to speak about their experiences at the school as well as the many opportunities that are available for future students. College Shadow Day is an opportunity to inspire these seventh graders to pursue a higher education. It is also a chance for UCF to share with these students the benefits of scholarships and financial aid.

With a team of other people, I was responsible for putting together the lunch for all the the visiting students and volunteers at this event. Throughout the entire semester my team and I set out in search of sponsors and donations to come up with 700 bagged lunches and beverages. This was no easy task! Over a course of three and a half months, our team was successful at providing all College Shadow Day attendees with a sub and chips from Firehouse Subs, a choice of water or juice, and finally Jeremiah's Italian Ice for dessert! Below are a few pictures from the event:

C.A.R.E. Cozies

Hello Friends!

Last night my youth group created C.A.R.E. Cozies. We were joined by my good friend Dave Abbott, a snow bird from Michigan. For a few members of my youth group, it was their first time creating C.A.R.E. Cozies. They had a great time conversing and creating the blankets. We will be delivering them within the next few weeks!

Great News!

A sorority at the University of Florida, Kappa Alpha Theta, invited a local girl scout troupe to come and create C.A.R.E. Cozies at their sorority house. After they created the blankets they delivered them to the Park Meadows Nursing Home in Gainesville, Florida. I will be receiving pictures very soon from one of the members of the sorority and I will post them as soon as I can!

A girl scout troupe in St. Cloud, Florida, also created C.A.R.E. Cozies!

It is so exciting to witness the growth of my C.A.R.E. Cozy project!