The Life of Karen

update

2008-12-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It has been a long time since Ive posted and I have very exciting news.... I got my call to Ukraine Donetsk, Russian speaking! Everyone knows this already, but I had to officially post it. I couldnt ask for a more perfect place for me, I am ready for the challenge of the language, and Im ready to fight the cold weather as well. At the same time the people are in a state where they are ready for the gospel. My Mission President emailed me and he said that Ukraine has been prepared for the gospel. I know there are people that I have been fore-ordained to find and teach to. I hear that the mission includes a lot of community service opportunities. I look forward to serving in the orphanages, those poor babies never get held. I cant believe how fast time is flying I received my call over a month ago, before I know I will be saying goodbye to everyone entering in to the MTC.
Im still working full time at Itok, Seth is starting here in about a week, it will be fun to work with him again. He'll be replacing me on this team, I love my co-workers.
And of course right before the mission, I all of a sudden have a lot of dating opportunities, but this doesnt hold me back, just makes life more fun.
I plan on using this blog on my mission, it will be a happening site once Im out in the field. love you all.........Kerns

Missionary Update

2008-09-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Helloo!! Its been quite a while! Im sure you are all having a Karen famine. :) Life is just too crazy to keep up with this blog, but my sister has convinced me to post my missionary pics so here I am.

To give you an update about my life in general: I am working full time at Itok, which is a computer support company. I am learning so much about computers! I love it. Everyday I learn something new on how to fix them. What I do is sell support to people who need their computer fixed, and we fix it remotely. I love commission. It is a fast paced stressful job, but that is the work setting that I thrive in. I love the competition at work, I am the only girl on the sales team, which has given me a great opportunity to dominate over every guy on the team. They were flabbergasted when I came in and took over, haha this makes work fun.

Mission papers are about in. I have been at the doctor's office every single day this past week, I look like a drug addict with how many holes are in my arms, lots of shots. But it is finished, now we are just waiting on the Doctor's office to send the papers in. Then I have a Stake President interview then they are on their way. I need guesses from everyone on where they think I will be serving, whoever wins I will promise to write them every week, JK, Ill do that anyways. I love my family and friends so much, life right now is full and rich with all the wonderful people in my life. I know God is preparing meto serve, I feel my heart changing as I study every day. I can't wait to participate full time in His great work.

Love you all, Karen

2008-07-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hey family,

It was great to hang with you all this weekend, we had quite a fun night on Saturday as we tried to create a movie for Funniest Home Videos. Out of all the years we've spent watching that show, its about time we had our big break. We all took turns falling into the pool and Laura's looked the most real, but Ruthanne's is hilarious because she actually paused then dived into the pool like it was some accident haha. I love my fam.

Tomorrow Dad is taking Andy and I golfing early in the morning, then Im taking Andy down to seven peaks with Laura. Mom is going to girls camp with Marie, and Dad will be in Nevada so its just me and Andy this week. We are going to have a grand ol time.

Coleen told me about blog booking, where I can actually get all of my blogs bound into a book, so Im going to try and update this a little more, and I hear you can actually blog on your mission. Speaking of that, I told my bishop I am serving, he is so excited. I also got called as a ward missionary to practice, Im going to try and take this calling seriously, there are about 150 inactive people in our ward boundaries.

Thanks for such a fun weekend familio... Love you, Karen

Thrilling Recent Events in the The Life of Karen

2008-07-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hello fans...

A few recent events have definitely got things spiced up... you are in for a treat today.

I have now found something to do to fill my glutenous lifestyle of lounging. I got a job!!! I work at Comcast with Laura, and its great! I love everyone that I work with ( even the weird ones because they are entertaining) and there is a potential opportunity to move up to a high paying sweet position... I will not rest until Im sitting in the desk of that position with a fat wallet. Money is my only motivation right now.... I only have thousands and thousands to earn so I can get the heck out of here on a mish.. but I have loved living at home, I love my family so much! Dad took us golfing the other day, I did pretty well, so did Andy, dad got a 42, he is an excellent golf player.. I am lucky to have personal training and coaching from him.

And of course I have got to tell you about my awesome nightlife... there is never a dull moment once the clock strikes 8.... I have been able to see my roommates a lot, going to fairs, raintree hangouts, drive ins, golfing etc. I have a great guy to hang with too that fills up a lot of my time. He will be leaving to England soon, ( a country I may possibly visit in the next few months)..

I have a new niece named Sophie who I adore, she is beautiful. Its so exciting to invite her into our ever growing family, she is loved so much.

I want to remind the normal people out there ( my family) of the extreme sarcasm behind much of this :)

Tomorrow I am going to the Stadium of fire for the fourth,

I am so proud to be an American, I live in the best country in the world. I am so thankful for all of my opportunities and freedoms. Im excited to celebrate this tomorrow! I will post about it..

Georgia : a no go

2008-06-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

So hello again everyone.. now that Im home and well traveled its about time I updated this blog. Im sure you all wondered what the in the world I have been up to. Well as most of you know, I decided to go out to Georgia to sell pest control. This is something that I had been planning on for months, but strangely a few days before I was going to fly out I had all of these doubts. I pushed those aside and went out anyways thinking if I forced myself it would feel right eventually. But you cant do summer sales on that kind of an attitude. You have to give your all, or you cant do it at all. I was seeing an end coming quickly after the first day, so I figured its better to back out now before I get invested in the team. Anyways Im home now, but I had a really really nice week with Coleen, Seth and Ethan. They are such a happy, loving family. I have a greater respect for both of them and what they do. Seth is an extremely hard worker, and Coleen is a loving selfless mother. I was able to expereince both of their roles out there. Coleen and I hit the pool a lot, we all played back alley, ( I told ya'll DONT mess with me :) ) and I babysat Ethan while Coleen sold (she still hasn't lost her mad sales skills) , and enjoyed catching up with Coleen and Seth, Im going to miss them.
So here I am, jobless.......... I have applied at Ruthanne and Coleen's old job, Im waiting to hear back. I really need to get employed asap. Because of my decision to stay home I accepted that I will have to delay my mish a bit to earn enough money, thats ok, Ill suffer the consequences.
Its really good to be back with family and friends. I have a nice summer ahead of me. Unfortunately this blog wont be as interesting, so Im sorry about those lowlife stalkers out there that thrive off of my posts... Maybe you are now forced to go get your own life. Ill keep you up to date on the job search.. love you all!

Island of Capri, Opera, last stroll..

2008-05-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hey internet is back up, thanks for all your comments and emails! I think I have a better idea of what missionaries are talking about when they say they live for mail and contact from their family. So the other day was capri, here are a couple pics.

The opera house (teatro del'opera) was awesome. It was a huge theater, it reminded me of the theater in the Phantom of the Opera. We had our own personal booth on the third floor with a pretty good view of the stage. We got all dressed up and felt like VIP. It was a beautiful ballet about two lovers, we really enjoyed it.

After the ballet, we walked around ancient Rome a bit, taking one of our last strolls, I posted a few photos of it.

I went to Pompeii today it was so great, Ill post tomorrow. Goodnight.

Last few days

2008-05-23T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, I havent been able to post very easily the last week or so because my wireless internet is unpredictable, so Im using the hotels computer now. Ill try and post tomorrow some pics of what Ive been up to.
Yesterday we went to the Island of Capri off the coast of Napols. This is a really tiny island, that is lush green with steeping cliffs. I heard there was some great cliff jumping and hikes but we didnt realize how much traveling time it would take to get there and back so we didnt have much time on the island. We took a two hour train ride to Napels, then a hour and a half boat ride. The train ride was nice because we met some nice Italians, and it was nice to get out of the city and see some pretty green scenery, lots of beautiful vineyards. Then the boat ride was relaxing as we coasted across the Mediteranean. The Island was absolutely beautiful, even better than Hawaii!! We lounged on a really nice beach, and layed out while the water washed up on our feet.
All last year when I was working at that phone job, I had a picture of gorgeous beach in my cubicle that I would daydream about, it was my motivation. And yesterday there I was inside that picture Ive been dreaming about!

Today we are getting some last minute shopping done, and also seeing the Mouth of Truth, (supposedly bites your hand off if you lie)... then we are going to an Italian opera tonight! wahoo Im very excited. then tomorrow we are going to Pompeii and Naples.. Cant wait to see all of you. There has been some drama with one of the girls, and she is just flipping out at everyone, Im very ready to ecsape the drama, but I know these last few days will be great.

Love,Karen

Tiber River

2008-05-20T02:06:00.000-07:00

Ciao. Yesterday only Emily and I made it out of the hotel because Shell is in Germany and Meg is sick, so I didn't want to see anything major or else the other girls would feel left out. So Emily and I started navigating around, and it actually ended up being one of my favorite days. First I thought it would be neat to go see the Jewish ghetto. This is where the pope banished the Jews to a 3 block radius, and they were forced to live there for 300 years in this walled ghetto. Because the Jews couldn't expand horizontally they built vertical additions to their houses which created dark and narrow streets full of filth. The Roman ghetto was poverty stricken. The pope banished them to this undesirable part of the city because it was next to the Tiber river which flooded regularly.

Next we made our way passed the ghetto and found an ancient theater. This is called Teatro de Marcelo. This was built in around 70 BC! It held operas, plays and an occasional execution.

Then we were at the Tiber River which was beautiful. We took the bridge across to Tiber Island which is a manmade little Island in the middle of the Tiber. I found a boat and we paid to get a nice ride around the river. It came with an audio tour so I was able to learn about the history of the river, and all the fancy bridges built on it. We listened to Italian music as we enjoyed a nice relaxing ride up the river. The boat took us right up to Castel Sant'Angelo, which was a fortress for the popes that I have been wanting to go see. We climbed up to the bridge and made our way to the huge Castel only to find it's closed on Mondays. That's ok, Ill go back with shell and meg. My book says that the view from the top of the Castel is more soaring and dramatic than the finale of a opera! so Ill be back there. Then we stopped at a little cafe and ate a late lunch. (We're so used to the constant dull ache of hunger, that we forget to eat). We did some shopping, I got some more souvenirs and gifts for you all.. then we got back on the boat, sailed some more, made our way back to the ghetto stop and then headed home to starving Meghan.

Rome is so beautiful, everyday is a new adventure.

Capitoline Museums

2008-05-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

A view from Capitoline hill overlooking the arch of Titus, and the ruins.
Legendary She-wolf statue feeding the future founders of Rome.
Original Marcus Aurelius statue
Bon apetit!
This statue must have bee huge at one point. It is of Constantine

Hey Fam, I know I have so many faithful readers that have been dying for my next post, so Im sorry about the delay. :) jk.. We have hit a few ruff patches the last couple of days, but I still have been enjoying myself.

Yesterday, after getting a police ticket for our expired metro passes, we were trying to recover from the blow of 200 euros being taken from us, so I thought that a trip to Capitoline hill would make us feel better.

There are seven famous hills in Rome (actaully 8, but Romans are very superstitious and seven sounds better for lucks sake) and Capitoline is one of them, and of course Palatine which Ive posted. Capitoline hill looks over all of the ruins of the Roman forum, and has a really impressive palazza on top which Michelangelo designed where another statue of Marcus Aurelius stands in the middle. Surrounding the palazza are the buildings he designed also, which are now capitoline museums. We took an hour meandering around the hill because of the great viewpoint before entering one of Rome's most famous museums.

Im sure you have all heard about the legend of the she-wolf, and here we saw the original, famous statue that I had to study this year of the she-wolf and Romulus and Remus drinking from it. We also saw dozens of original statues from the Hellenistic era, evolving to the bronze age and forward, it was interesting to see how due to the current events in religion, or politics, the art would change as well. It was neat to be able to peruse and analyze the sculptures up closely. We saw the original statue of Marcus Aurelius inside the museum, ( the duplicate is outside in the palazza). This statue was done in bronze, (its now tarnished badly) and it had a powerful presence because of the prouncing horse that Marcus is riding. Marcus was very important in Roman's history for expanding the empire vastly, he was also a philosopher.

Anyways, Im dozing off to bed, tomorrow we are going to a beautiful oasis that the Romans go to escape the tourists. We had an insider tell us about this secret spot. I hope Ill be able to follow his directions on how to get there.

Today we attempted to go to church, we tried to save 40 euro on a taxi by going on the buses, which were unpredictable and confusing so we never made it to church, bummer.

I love and miss everyone, cant wait to see you all when I get home. We should go golfing, or fishing. Something fun. When will you guys be on the Zions trip?

I hope mom and dad have a great time together in Heber Valley. Happy Anniversary!

Only one more week until Im home, see you all very soon.

Vatican City

2008-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Vatican City!! I was saving this fun day for later and I've been so excited. We saw the Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums. We crossed over into the smallest country in the world ( Vatican ) and had a tour guide take us through the heart of the Catholic Church. I had read a book about Michelangelo on the metro towards Vatican so I was so excited to see his finest pieces of art and sculpture. I was able to see the beautiful ceiling of Sistine Chapel that Michelangelo painted 500 years ago. It took him 4 years to complete, and it was really beautiful. It shows scenes from the creation, (most famous one is The Creation of Adam, where God touches Adams finger), and then it leads you through scenes in the bible towards his famous Last Judgment which takes up the entire back wall of the chapel. In this scene there is Christ in the center judging, while angels are pulling people up to heaven, and demons pulling people down to hell. Michelangelo drew himself into the painting, (and those who he hated he drew them burning in hell).

Then we saw my all time favorite work of art: The Pieta by Michelangelo. This is the sculpture that shows Mary holding Christ after he was taken off the cross. It almost brought me to tears, because there is so much emotion expressed. Christ's limp body in Mary's arms.

There are no words to express how breathtaking and gigantic St Peter's basilica was. My camera can't come close to capturing the immense beauty. We entered at perfect timing because there was some religious service going on and the organs were bellowing through the basilica. It was an amazing experience. Tomorrow we are going back to the Vatican to get a better look at the museums because our tour guide was a blundering idiot. He didn't teach us anything. He would go up to a large sculpture and all he would say was "now here we have a significant piece of artwork". and thats it. He was trying to talk about a bronze sculpture of caesar and he said" you can note the bronzy.. bronze sculpture here". We were ticked, I could have given that tour better than he did, but it was still entertaining seeing him awkwardly try to pretend he knew what he was talking about. Ill post more of Vatican tomorrow.

The fall of Karen

2008-05-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

Before the tour started the other day I was filling up my water bottle at a fountain and I slipped and landed on my back. My friends said within a split second I was suddenly on the ground. Somehow I banged my shin on the way down and the bone was showing. No blood was coming out just a white bone, it started swelling badly, the picture above shows how much it was sticking out. I think Ill only show the profile shot of the leg. My other foot got a bad cut, but I didn't think anyone would appreciate looking at that. Not only did I fall, but I fell in muddy water. I was pretty ticked, but I tried not to let it effect our day, although I was limping around the tour.

Palatine Hill

2008-05-12T02:24:00.000-07:00

Shelley and I bowing in front of where the emperor's throne used to sit in the throne room.
This was an open courtyard in the middle of Domitian's palace. the ring at the end of the courtyard was his personal mini arena where he would watch gladiators fight. The semi circle structure in the left of the picture was his personal booth where only he and his wife would sit to watch the game. The rest of the spectators would sit around the back of the courtyard.
This was Augustus' personal room. The mosaics on the walls are still preserved! Only a few tourists could come in this room at a time, it was just recently opened up to the public last year.
Another view of palatine hill. This entire picture is still not as big as the mansion was, it literally covered acres.
This tree on the hill was actually a man made island that was surrounded by water. Domitian wanted to have a island in the middle of his house to bask on.
Here is a statue of Hermes which was found in Mussolini's house. Mussolini had a summer house built on palatine hill in the 20th century, and now it is used as a museum.

The palatine hill is where Rome has it's origins. According to Roman mythology this is where Romulus and Remus the twin brothers were found by the she-wolf and taken care of by it. Romulus and Remus end of getting into a fight, and Romulus slays Remus and that's how Rome got it's name from Romulus.

We had a guided tour on this hill, and learned a lot. We saw and walked through the ruins of Augustus( 63 BC-14) and Domitian's (51-96 AD) palaces. These two emperors built gigantic mansions that covered this hill, and the guide took us through where the different rooms in the mansion used to be.

It was really neat to think that we were walking through the personal rooms of the most powerful rulers on earth.

Happy Mothers Day Mom

2008-05-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

I want to tell my Mom how much I love her. She is an amazing woman. When I think of the perfect woman that I aspire to be I look to her as my example. My mom has a heart of gold, she would give up anything to see others happy. She lives her life as a true christian, she is very Christlike. Her life is a complete act of service, she is a wonder woman to have sacrificed and given so much to raise eight of us into who we are. After being away and moved out more this year I have realized just how lucky I am to have her, and I know that I will continue to be awed at how much she did when I start my own family. She carries herself like a loving, woman of God. Her testimony is expressed by the way she lives her life.

Mom, I am amazed at who you are. Thank you so much for your patience over the years and constant love for me. I'm so grateful that God sent me to such amazing parents. I love you!

The Colosseum

2008-05-10T23:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got a 2 hour tour through the Colosseum and it was awesome. We had just watched Gladiator the night before to get us excited for it, so when we were inside we could just imagine the throngs of people shouting "maximus". The Colosseum was built by the emperor Vespasion for the people to enjoy, he died before it was built in 80 AD. It has been standing for almost 20 centuries, but it was only used for the first 4 centuries for the games. The Colosseum is so idolized, but it was really used for horrible purposes. Over 3,000 gladiators died in that arena, and 6000 animals. But that is what the crowd loved to see. It had a wooden floor, with sand over it. The purpose of the sand was to soak up the blood. (thats where we get the name 'arena' from, it means sand on the floor). The women would sit on the very top level for two reasons: they were lower class, and because the blood would spray on them if they were any lower!

In the pictures you can see the open floor of the colosseum, these were the little rooms and halls where the gladiators and animals would wait underneath until they were raised up on the floor. All the seats haven't been preserved (because they were made of marble, and the Vatican took all the marble from the colosseum) so you have to use your imagination of what it must have looked like. Part of the colosseum has collapsed because of iron robbers who came in and took some 3 tons of iron clamps that held the limestone together, (thats why there are holes all over the colosseum). So when a earthquake hit, part of the colosseum couldn't stay up. It was partially restored with brick, but everything else has not been modified.

The reason why the bloody games stopped was because of the rise of Christianity. The emperor Constantine was christian, and they put up the arch of constantine next to the Colosseum to show the triumph over paganism, and the legalization of christianity.

We brought lunch and ate within the colosseum, trying to imagine what it must have been like. It was really exciting!

Mamertime Prison and our 3 person bike ride

2008-05-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Mamertime prison was really neat because this one celled prison was where the apostles Peter and Paul were imprisoned while in Rome preaching. We were in the cell where they had to sit and rot for who knows how long. My camera ran out of batteries once I got in there so I will have to post more later from my friends cameras, but you can see in the pic above of the front of the prison where it says apostoli paulo.. While down there shelley discovered a huge spider as big as her hand down a crack, thats when we booked it out of there.

While walking around ancient rome we decided to rent a 3 person bike, we all piled on and I was the only one that could pump and steer, my legs were burning and I was drenched in sweat when I was done. It ended up being a really bad idea because we couldnt make it up curves or across cobblestone streets, so we ended up going around in circles as people dodged out of our way. The arch of Constantine is behind us in one of those pics.

Circus Maximus and Palazza Navona

2008-05-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

Hey family, yesterday we went to see Circus Maximus which was a huge oval shaped stadium that Julius Caesar had built to hold games like chariot racing around 50 AD. In comparison to the colosseum which held 85,000 spectators, Circus Maximus held 300,000. Not much remains of it, except for the the ringed shaped arena, the steep hills where the spectators sat, and the starting gates where the chariots lined up (in the pic above). The ruins in the background of the ring was a imperial hill where caesar and other elite people sat to watch.

Palazza Navona is our favorite place to hang out. We have been here twice already. There is a picture of us goofing off, making fools of ourselves. There is usually live italian music playing and we sit and eat gelato as we listen. It has a huge beautiful church overlooking the palazza, and large fountains around as well.

The Pantheon

2008-05-08T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Pantheon was incredible. This was the architectural masterpiece that has stood since 125 AD. It is the best preserved ancient building in the world. The dome is gigantic, and its boggled people's minds on how its been able to stand its own weight all through the centuries, they concluded that the concrete was replaced by pumice rock which is lighter in weight towards the top. The walls are 19 feet thick to hold up the dome. Because of the thickness of the walls, there could be no windows, so there was an oculus (the all seeing eye) put in at the top shedding the only light in the whole building. When it rains the rain falls through the hole into some small drains on the marble floor. The Pantheon was richly decorated, we paid a few euro to get an audio guide tour through it. Raphael's tomb is buried inside, he requested that he was buried here. We stopped for some food outside the Pantheon, I had some lasagna it was to die for.

Underground Rome at San Clemente Church

2008-05-06T02:53:00.000-07:00

We saw a lot of underground Rome today, what it was really like 2000 years ago. At San Clemente there are three layers of churches. San Clemente is the best place in Rome to understand the city's archaeological evolution. You descend 60 feet through medieval and paleo-christian layers to the lowest level where followers of the ancient cult of Mithras met and performed rituals. The top level is of the pictures I took above, this church was built in the 12 century, the second level was built in the fourth century, and bottom level was a 1st century chruch. The early christians were persecuted in Rome because the dominating religion was Paganism. So the early christians had to meet in church houses(which is the bottom level) to hide from their persecutors. Then when Christianity overcame paganism thanks to the emperor who converted Rome to christianity the churches slowly evolved into what it was today. You can see the picture of the Christ and the lambs in the apse, I studied this picture in class, the 12 lambs represent the 12 apostles, and at the top is a hand representing the hand of God. Early christian churches had flat ceilings because they didn't have the archaeogical advancements back then to make domed ceilings. It's too bad we can't take any pictures down there, there is still artwork of frescoes, and the old chapel where the first christians met.

You can see us eating pizza outside the Colosseum, classic.

Oasis number 2, and Case Romane

2008-05-06T02:37:00.000-07:00

We were on our way to Case Romane and I got lost again, we took 3 wrong buses, I finally asked the bus driver and he made a special stop for us and plopped us off on a random street (probably to just get rid of us) so we started walking around and ran into our Oasis number 2! you can see from the pictures how gorgeous this is. We met an Italian boy here, when I wasn't looking he came up behind me and whispered in my ear in a deep voice with an italian accent "you are very beautiful". Thanks to him we realized we were really close to our destination of Case Romane, this place was so interesting. Recent excavations within the last hundred years revealed 1st century AD roman houses that still have wall frescoes. We went deep into the earth and walked through Roman houses and streets that were walked almost 2000 years ago. They have not been modified at all, it was so awesome! We were seeing what Rome was really like when it ruled the Earth. You werent allowed to take pictures here either so I had to sneak one. You can see some oil lamps that they found from 2000 years ago as well, like the ones the ten virgins used.

The Crypt of the Capuchin Monks

2008-05-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

This was awesome!! This church was decorated with thousands of artfully arranged monks' bones. Each chapel was a bizarre diorama where propped up monks, still in their skin and cassocks strike poses. Each room was a different body part. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I snuck one right before I left of the chapel full of pelvis bones. It was so eery to think there were 4000 dead monks here, and they all used to walk the church ( the church in the picture above) in their brown robes.

Mediterranean Beach!!

2008-05-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

Buongiorno! ok Im so glad to see you all have been reading my blog! Now that I have some faithful subscribers Ill make sure to blog more. So on Sunday we weren't sure where any LDS chapel was ( we now know thanks to Dad) so we decided to take it easy and go to the beach for the day. It was pretty hot that day, about 85-90 degrees, so it was a perfect day to hit the beach. We were trying to ask our hotel guy how to get there and all he could answer was in italian (the hotel people are so annoyed by us) so I had to figure it out, but it was surprisingly easy. We were afraid that it would be a nude beach but we didnt see one nudester. It cost money to get into the beach which stinks, but it was very relaxing and great to hear the waves, and soak up the sun.

Column of Marcus Aurelius and the Sundial

2008-05-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

The Column of Marcus Aurelius and the Sundial were great. This Column has been standing since around 100 AD in its original location and it's huge. It has inscription of relief of Marcus' life and triumphs, (he was a emperor of Rome in 100 AD), and then his statue on top.The holes in it are there to shed light into the interior staircase that winds to the top. This sundial was really neat, it is 2600 years old and still standing! The Etruscans used it, it was the center of their city. (Etruscans were the first habitants of Rome before it was taken over by the Romans 2600 years ago)

Basilica del Ambrogio Carlo

2008-05-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

This last Basilica was completely amazing, I wasnt even planning on seeing this either we just ran into it. Thats whats nice about Rome, literally everywhere you look is picturesque, and every nick and cranny of the city has history and meaning behind it. You could simply start walking without any agenda and you will run into something interesting.

It is very quiet and reverent inside the cathedrals. People were praying and worshipping. Meghan was wearing a tanktop which was immodest so they wouldnt let her inside.

All of the paintings and sculpture portray Christ's death pretty morbidly, they focus completely on his death, and never on his resurrection. There were also a lot of paintings of the Madonna.

Oasis

2008-05-04T03:07:00.000-07:00

While I was trying to find the Presidents Palace I went down some wrong streets and happened to fall upon what we call 'our oasis'. We found a hidden garden with beautiful statues and trees and walkways. We lounged here for a hour, until the sprinklers turned on while we were napping. Then we boosted Meghan up onto this ledge to pose like a statue, until a guard was coming and Meg had to jump down and run away.

Trevi Fountain

2008-05-04T02:40:00.000-07:00

The Romans used to have to bring water into the city by Aqueducts, which were one of the greatest engineering feats, which would bring water in from 20-40 miles away. It was Roman custom to create a beautiful fountain at the endpoint of the aqueduct that brought water into the city, and this is where the Trevi Fountain was built.

This fountain was in a hidden location, although it is huge. I turned around a corner from a small street and it jumped out at us. The fountain was absolutely stunning. It is 85 feet high, and has a very wild ambitious scene of Neptune the sea god and two tritons taming their horses. One horse is springing forward, and the other is more calm which represents the two moods of the sea. It is a tradition to throw a coin over your left shoulder to ensure a safe trip home. I read that over 3000 euros are thrown in each day and they empty it out at night and give the money to the poor. This is the largest fountain in Rome.

Piazza Dei Monti

2008-05-04T02:25:00.001-07:00

At the top of the staircase was a beautiful church, this is our first cathedral visit (there are over 600 cathedrals in Rome). So we were awed by it, we had no idea how miniscule it would appear to be compared to the basilica we saw later that day. I studied about the painting called St Michael the Archangel in school and I saw it at this cathedral. ( Picture of Michael in red robes) I love it when I can identify a picture and understand its significance. Here is an outside view of this church that overlooks the Spanish Steps as well. I have an awesome video of the church but it wont upload for some reason.

Spanish Steps

2008-05-04T02:17:00.000-07:00

Our first stop off the Metro was The Spanish Steps, these were sweeping steps that are famous in history for connecting two major areas of the city: The Piazza Di Spagna at the base and The Piazza dei Monti at the top, this top Piazza was dominated by the French in 1723 so the building of these steps represented a union and peace treaty. This staircase (scalinata in Italian) is the longest, widest staircase in all of Europe.

Buon Journo

2008-05-04T02:16:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful morning in Italy! I am feeling rested and refreshed after a big site seeing day yesterday. I had my first tour through Roman streets and it was amazing. Yesterday I was overwhelmed because it was on my shoulders to figure out the entire metro and bus system (in Italian), but Im proud to say that I mastered it by the end of the day. We made our way around Rome just fine, and I even was able to make my way through all the twisting streets pretty well. I LOVE it here. Im going to show some pictures and explain each one...

We made it

2008-05-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!! I made it!! It took 24 hours of traveling to get to our hotel, it was one heck of a ordeal to get over here. But it is so great to be here in Rome. This city is classic and beautiful. Just driving through to our hotel we were awed with the beauty of
the buildings, very antigue looking, and how green it is. I feel like the city is rich with culture. Classic cobblestone streets and everything. All that I have seen of Rome was from our taxi window, tomorrow we are going to the Trevi Fountain and the pantheon.
Only problem is our hotel charges a ton for wireless access internet, so Im going to have to find some cafe hotspot nearby that I can use at night or in the mornings. It was a very long trip here, one thing after another. We thought they lost our luggage that took a couple hours to figure out ( we found it), then we couldnt find Emily, that took an hour, then we were waiting for our hotel to come pick us up for over an hour, and they never showed up, so we had to bargain for a good taxi rate with different drivers (they all were trying to take advantage of us because we look like dumb americans) but we found a guy to take us for 70 euros, which was the cheapest offer, bites. Then we got here and slept for 7 hours. Im just a little overwhelmed but when we were driving through the city it was beautiful. Just like the classic Italy I imagined, I love it.
My friends are pretty high maintenance, they just cant deal with things going wrong, they expected some type of grand entrance into Italy I guess. I am going to start a no complaining rule. I wish I could travel with my family! I dont have much to tell today, just want to let you know I arrived safely. I love you all, chow.

24 hour countdown until Rome!

2008-04-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up, and I instantly was shocked/so excited because Rome is one day away. I cannot believe its already here. I booked this trip 9 months ago so it has always felt like an eternity away. Its come up on me extremely fast, now I hope time will slow down so it doesn't fly by when Im there. I will soak up every moment and enjoy it as much as possible. I have never been outside the United States so this is going to be a whole new world for me. I've been told that living in another country opens up your eyes and changes your perspective on life. I've just been living my little life over in Utah when there is such a BIG world out there hustling around that I never knew about. Im so excited to burst from this bubble and explore one of the most ancient cities in the world. To be honest, Im mostly overwhelmed due to lack of planning and preparing. All I have is a Frommers guide to Rome which is really handy for a tourist to know how to get around, and all what to see. But as far as studying, I have not scratched the surface. But it is ok, every morning when I wake up I told my girls Im going with that we will have a history lesson. Im going to study everything out in detail of what we are going to see that day on my laptop, then teach it all to them. This trip is going to be very educational. I want to let my family know how much I love them, and how much Ill miss them. asta lavista familia!! Rome here I come!

My first blog!!!

2008-04-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Im officially a blogster! Ive finally been sucked into the world of blogging, where I will publish my entire life to the abyss of cyberspace. This is going to be a great way to document my trips for family and friends, and then I will have a great record to print off and keep for years. I want to take everyone through a tour of Rome as I embark on this new adventure. I will post daily every experience, so buckle up here we go! Any other bored people out there that take an interest in my life, feel free to stalk me! my life is an open book for all the world to see. From school, boys, traveling, summer sales, mission, friends I hope I can keep you all entertained!