Snow Day and what it brings...

Ok, so I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was hit with the snow, freezing temps, and freezing rain recently. I actually don't mind it much. One thing I didn't find myself fond of was the freezing temperatures that caused my car to be covered in this thick layer of ice I found yesterday morning. Just the thought of having to deal with it... wasn't exactly thrilling. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. I love watching it fall. Having some hot cocoa while it happens and see how beautiful it truly is. I love taking pictures of it, etc.

(granted, these were taken with my phone -not the best quality, but it was pretty :)

The consequences is what I don't like. I don't want to complain any more, but lets just say this is what many people around the East coast had to deal with the past couple of days...

(I think the only good thing about having a thick coat of ice on the car is that you can take out any aggressions during that time. Granted, being still gentle with your car so you don't damage it.)

Therefore, it makes me realize how thankful I am that in a few months, I'll be flying to a nice decent vacation that I think is well deserved! :)

80+ days to go...

Part of the plan

I don't know what it is about 2009, but it's like Obama said during his campaign: It's time for Change. Before I go on to today's post, I do have to say that watching his inauguration yesterday was awesome! I can definitely see how he's inspired an entire country to come together and in spite of the status of the country, I know that God will use Obama for the country to come out of the rut it's in. We must trust in God and believe He's got great plans for the U.S.A., but the American people definitely need to understand things cannot be changed to become a prosperous country in one day, a week, a month or a year. It takes time.

Anyway, enough of my rant... I'm sure everyone knows that. My blog is meant to talk about my days 'til my first European trip, which will happen in about 3 months! Wow! The days are definitely passing by faster!

Part of my plan to prepare for my trip is to get healthier. I'm not in the greatest of shape and to be honest, I haven't really been most of my life. Again, I don't know what it is about 2009, but it's definitely a year of change. A positive one, of course. My motivations to get healthier are not only to feel good about myself physically, but for my own health also. Mainly I've decided on removing my old habits for my own benefit. I have to take care of myself. Besides, I'm a daughter of the Almighty and as such, I have to remember that His spirit lives in me, thus my body is a temple that I need to take care of. I need to be healthy in body, mind and spirit. It all works together and one cannot function well without the other. While I won't bore you with specifics of my "getting healthy in '09" plan, I can definitely say that my number one inspiration is God. He has definitely helped me in being able to quit the bad habits and instead replace them with healthy ones or trying to, at least.

I'm only in week 3, but I feel a difference. You know how often people say how working out makes them feel energized? It's TRUE! All the stress is released and while it can be exhausting... the feeling you get of knowing you've gotten a step closer to becoming a healthier person, makes you want to continue. At least that's how I feel. I can definitely say that although my relationship with exercise has been a love/hate relationship for many years... I'm definitely starting to like it more than I used to. Granted, it's not all the time, but little by little it's getting better. I do have my days where I go "ah, I can skip it today! It won't hurt." Which isn't the greatest idea sometimes, but I guess I can have them once in a while, right?

I also keep in mind that quitting junk food, while it's comforting and somewhat delicious, I don't want to keep putting toxins in my body. I don't want to keep putting unhealthy fats and empty calories in my body. I want my body to function to its fullest by consuming what it's healthy. So cliché, I know... but once you find that something that opens your eyes and makes you realize what you're doing to your body, the only one you have, it's a slap in the face. All I can say is, I'm glad that God allowed me to see what I refused to see for myself for too long. Besides, my other inspiration is the reward of the yummy food I'll be able to taste in my European medley coming up. How awesome is that!? :) Not to mention that I want to feel proud of myself by the time I celebrate my 25th birthday!

Okay, okay, enough of the getting healthy post. I will continue my plan and update you sporadically.

I bid you adieu for now.

Lets give this a shot.

Ok, here we go...
This is my second attempt at keeping a blog. I first created one by request for a trip to Los Angeles. Not that big of a deal, right? It was, but that was about 4 years ago and another blog that failed. Miserably.
Anyway, the reason for starting a new blog is much more significant, so I think this one has a higher success rate!

It'll be my first trip to Europe to one of the countries I've longed to visit for YEARS. Luckily, I'm going to with one of my best friends. Country of choice? Italy. We've shared this dream for quite some time and we're ecstatic that we're blessed to be going together and that it's FINALLY happening!

I've known Paula for, gosh, I want to say 8 years. She may correct me, but for the time being, lets stick to 8 years. Throughout our years of friendship we always said we'd go together. Years came and went, granted we weren't in a financial situation where we could both say "Let's go to Italy this year," but we knew we'd make it. I don't know why, but sometime late last year something within me just said "2009 is it! I don't know how or when, but I'm going to make it happen! Italy, HERE I COME!" So I told Paula, she jumped on the enthusiastic wagon and joined in my desire to finally make it happen.

We began looking at flights, week by week. Prices were high, so we kept looking. Finally we were able to find a reasonable price for both of us. We booked our flights in October for a Spring trip. I also thought it'd be a great opportunity to use it as an additional excuse to celebrate my birthday. What could be better than celebrating my birthday in a place I've dreamed of going to for so long?! You may be thinking, why this birthday? What makes it so different than my previous ones? Well, I know a lot of people will roll their eyes for what I'm going to say, but I think to some point you might understand. I will be turning 25. 2-5. That's a quarter of a century! That's a BIG number. To me, at least. Oh, I know I'm still young, but it's a big number, nonetheless.

So, here I am... in a few months, this trip is going to become a reality. What a blessing, indeed! I still cannot believe it and I probably still won't believe it until I'm actually there. Being able to see Italy in all its beauty!

Ah, but it doesn't just end there. Of course we'll be taking advantage that we'll be in Europe and visit as many countries as time and our wallets allow us to see! If you have any tips, please feel free to drop a line and all suggestions are appreciated!