GGOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!

Yes! Yes! Yes! I just got done peeing my pants after spending an hour biting my tongue and sweating profusely as I watched the U.S.A. team play what could've been their last game in the world cup. But no fretting. They scored in the last four minutes of stoppage time added!!!! I have never been so happy!! I easily used up half my life's store of nerves! If I bit my nails, they would be gone. That's all I'm saying. It was a ridiculous but awesome game. I was perched on a stool in a separate room from the rest of the Collins (who were watching the England game) watching on a laptop with my face like two inches from the screen. Humorous. :)

Anyway. Phewf. Just so much excitement to express to other Americans who will share my glee. Speaking of glee, I watched the whole first season of Glee a couple of weeks ago. I do love it! Such good music and drama. ;)

I get buttloads of crap for being American here. It's ridiculous. Anything bad or undesirable brought up in a conversation somehow gets turned to "That's because you/they are American", "That's because it's from America", "but that's expected from Americans", "all Americans complain", "oh look! A fat person! Must be American", "Oh look! An anorexic person. Must be American", "You BURN your flag if it touches the ground?! That's so stupid". It gets old. I know I am a strong person and I will never cry in front of these accusers, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt my feelings. It's like they're bashing my home and how I've grown up. I promise I think it is a teensy bit of what it must feel like to have racist comments made towards you. At the same time, I have never been more proud to be an American and no matter what people say, they just don't understand. "I Love America!" (said in Chinese accent).

Ha ha another interesting thing is that I am officially clumsy due to my mishaps with the dang cobblestone and brick. I'm always catching my feet on corners and tripping. I now appreciate the beauty of smooth cement. Something we don't think of everyday. :) I have also been stereotyped as a little eater because I hardly ate anything when I got here. I try to explain that it was because I was adjusting to all the change and that I'm well over it now but they just won't have it. So there's my interesting thought.

This week's been fun just hanging with Hayley 24/7. We've gone cycling, to the park, shopping, to lunch at Wagamamas and more and we are now working on a project for artsy fartsy fun, Hayley's forte. I'll keep you updated.

I'm kind of just cruising right now, trying to fill my time with cheap fun cause I have no money. It's proving to be quite a challenge though and Hayley and I are having fun tackling it.

I'm also aware of tender mercies Heavenly Father gives me just when I need them. I imagine Him just placing little presents on my way to school or something, in the form of little notes from home or comments from friends. I LOVE them.

That's my life. Good.

I love love love love love love love love my home and everyone in it or next door. ;)

Danielle. The American.

I Miss my Home

It's as simple as that.

D.E.H.

Okay! So it's been a while. My apologies. I guess I just find it easier and easier to live without such a short connection to my home now. I've been away so long, my life is here right now. It's really crazy. But don't worry, I think about my true home at least seven times a day. I miss it so! But in the meantime, I have been having some fun. Since Italy a lot has happened. We shall start with the weekend right after Italy.

Friday:

I worked and then later that night, Me, Ellie and Hayley (that's what D.E.H. stands for by the way, Danielle, Ellie, Hayley) headed to the chapel for an institute dance. This is the equivalent of a stake dance back home just with a bit dirtier music. :) I was so excited because I hadn't gotten my groove on in forever and you guys know how I have an innate need to move my body. :) Anyway, we get there and I start dancing. I go crazy right? But it's pretty normal for me but for these English blokes it's a bit out of control. They just stop dancing completely and watch me and laugh. They thought I was a hoot. It was really fun and I had a fabulous time getting drenched in sweat. Here's a picture:

We wore fabulous glasses. Naturally. You may notice that my specs are not like the others and that is because I left my bag which had my glasses and a newly purchased top in it on the bus! Never to be seen again! Rough.

Saturday:

I work and then come home early to prep for a youth water activity. It was so much fun! We went kayaking on this mini lake they have. It was loads of fun and we all fell in in the end. Into this nasty stagnant water. Great! After that D, E, H and others gathered for a friendly viewing of the U.S. vs. England football match! This was so much fun as well because, being American, I was the only one cheering for the U.S. and got plenty of mouth for doing so. Anytime I said anything it was immediately followed by "Shut up!" from a man named Peter. It was great! And it was even better when we scored and ended up drawing with England! HAH! It was perfect really. :)

This last week has been nice as well. I am starting to really miss home but I know I'm going to miss here once I leave. Especially since me, Ellie and Hayley have become such good friends. I love them both. We play everyday and do random things. For example, on Wednesday we went to Harborne to some charity shops and it was fantastic. Charity shops are the equivalent of mini D.I.s! Naturally i adore and had so much fun! Afterwards we got fake eyelashes and nasty nails and applied those while watching films. I also got my package that day that I had been looking forward to so very much. All those who contributed, thank you so so so so so so so much! I absolutely LOVED it! It was like someone sent me a little piece of home to help me with this last stretch here.

Me and Hayley are getting along really well and I can tell that she misses a sister. She's gets lonely because she is the only child at home and even her parents work all day sometimes so she's completely alone at home. I think me being here makes her happy. And it definitely makes me happy having a "sister" away from home. I have included some pictures of our most recent adventures for you all to see. :)

Ellie and nails.

Hayley and nails.

Me jumping on and waking Hayley and Ellie after their sleepover. They looked awesome!

Me and my beloved package!

Fake eyelashes do wonders for your eye size. :) oh how i miss mine.

Nasty nails!

Since then I have just been hanging out with Hayley, watching films, eating crap and working occasionally. If you haven't noticed, I work a lot less now because everyone's hours have been cut. I think the hotel is just not as busy as they thought. Which gives me lots more time to travel and explore but at the same time it takes away all the funds that I would make such trips with. Slight dilemma.

This weekend I watched another England game, horrible, and attended a ward EFY fundraiser. It was lots of fun! We painted our faces, had burgers and I bought these fabulous suitcases from the auction! Here are the beauties:

So naturally, old luggage must be photographed complete with old clothes, setting and color. :) But these suitcases are seventy years old! Brought over from Scotland by a lady in the ward when she was twenty! She also said that during the war she sat on the dark one for twenty six hours on a train because there were no seats! They have story! I love them!

Me and Ethan sporting our rivaling country's colors.

These are Moams. They are officially my favorite sweet here. They're pretty much exactly like Mambas but they come in all different forms and flavors. Mwah!

Other than that, my life is just full of decisions and my mind is crammed with so many thoughts that I can't seem to write them all down. It's just crazy how we live lives where on one hand we have the world and all worldly things and then we have spiritual and eternal perspectives. sometimes they conflict and it causes my head to spin. I'm so glad to have a spiritual life because otherwise I would be stuck completely in the world which, from what I've seen, could be terrible. Let's just say I THINK a lot in my spare time. Well, that's my life right now. It's good as always! I love you all and miss miss miss you!

Love, The next great thinker

Too Blessed?

Do you ever feel like the world is a gift? Like it's the best place ever? Like you are too blessed?

I do.

What makes me so deserving of happiness?

What makes me deserving of hugs and kisses? Purple skittles and laughter? High places and fresh air?

Who am I to be blessed with two sisters, two brothers, two parents?

How come I have best friends and the ability to walk?

Why do I get the green light when I'm in a hurry?

Who decided to give ME the confidence to be who I am no matter what?

Why was I born in a time where movies with happy endings that make you cry exist?

I'm not really sure.

I know it's because I have a dad in heaven that loves me more than all of these things.

But why?

I may never know.

I'll just have to live with the fact that I am far too blessed and maybe share my gifts with those who may not feel quite the same way.

I love life, knowledge and all of you! I see a happy ending at the end of my movie. :)

Italy? Yes. For Real? YES!

Yes, I went to Italy and Yes, it is one of the most gorgeous places on the earth! It was so amazingly fab to see Kats and it was well worth the buttload of money I paid to go. Like, when's the next time I'm going to have a week off to visit Italy, one country over? That was my thinking. So to tell you about Italy I shall proceed to tell the story of my life while I was there. Here goes:

Day 1- I set off on a plane at six in the morning on Sunday. I was sad cause I missed church again, but Vanessa said a prayer before I left and reminded me it was the sabbath and I didn't forget. I flew from Birmingham to Amsterdam and from there to Rome. They were short flights so it wasn't bad. I also bought Dear John to read on the way as well and that was a great idea. From Rome I flew to Pisa and that whole trip took about eight hours, in which time I started and finished the book. :) I was slightly disappointed in the ending but oh well. So I got to Pisa with little incident but panicked as soon as I got to the airport. A- I couldn't read any of the signs and I had a vague description of where I was supposed to go. B- I all of a sudden realized "what if my phone doesn't work here?" C- I didn't have any way to contact Kats so I just had to wait for her call. Panic! So I wandered around for a bit trying to find my way to the train station. Feeling worried, I prayed that Katie would call soon so that I would be saved and no joke, like three minutes later my phone rings. Relief rushed through me as I said hello and was then guided to the train station by Kats. Once at the station, I was still thoroughly lost but I did my best to understand the signs and asked people what to do and got to Siena no problem. I was rather proud. At Siena I found Kats and we ran and embraced each other whilst screaming and attracting loads of attention. So great. It was so so good to see her and I was immediately sure that what I was doing was right and totally worth it. I met her group of ten girls and two boys who are all absolutely FABULOUS! I love them all! and the best part is that they go to BYU, have American accents and I will see them again after I leave! Fantastic! I also stayed at their apartment and you wouldn't believe how fabulous it was. It was straight out of a movie flat with four bathrooms, six rooms and two kitchens. Just like any film you see set in Italy or France with the cool couches and windows. Oh! I forgot to take pictures but I adored that place. I won't go into to much detail about the rest of the trip, I just show you.

Day 2- After I settled in no problem, me and Kats went out for a little day on the town of Siena. She showed me all the cool sights and the GORGEOUS views and the blissness that is Italy. I had real Italian pizza and gelato and sweat about ten gallons. It was about 30 degrees Celcius and so humid. I loved it though.

Pizza in the Piazza!

Typical view of the city

Unreal!

Every street looks like this! Bliss! I kept waiting for the director to come out and yell "Cut!"

They have escalators to get from the bottom of the city to the top! I know! Amidst all the ancient stucco and bricks there's randomly some super modern escalators.

El Duomo

Cutest truck I have EVER seen!

Large bread we're having, isn't it.

Piazza del Campo, the main Piazza in Siena. Huge and spacious and everyone just sits on the ground there and chills.

SO CUTE!

Kats and Kari and Jerom and an awesome fountain.

That night we had Chinese with the gang and just hug out.

Day 3- We go to Monterigionni. A typical, beautiful Italian city on a hill. Oh and an abandoned castle on the way. Oh and a church. :)

Reading some J-14 mag in Italy before setting out.

You wouldn't know it but we risked our lives climbing on beams three stories up to get these pictures. :)

It rained and we got soaked but it was even better for it!

Gorgeous flowers left and right.

Monterigionni from a distance. City on a Hill I tell ya.

I could easily be happy living in this house.

Day 4- BEACH!

Unreal beach in Fillonica

Sydnee, Me, Kats and Hil.

Playing in the sand.

Eating Gelato. We did this multiple times a day.

Oh my goodness! Everywhere in Italy you have to PAY to go to the bathroom. Exhibit A.

Just a gorgeous view from the plane to Italy.

On the way home I got to see the leaning tower of Pisa and the Eiffel tower in one flight! So cool!

I had to say goodbye on Thursday but it was easy because we are now confident, experienced, courageous women who live on our own everyday. Although Kats' experience is so much different then mine, seeing as she's never alone with her twelve American fellows and I am alone all the time (don't get me wrong I do have friends but it is completely different to Kats), they are perfect for each of us and we are so much better for them. SO AMAZING! That's my trip in a nutshell and I had a blast. I shall sign off with a video of Kats and me in Monterigionni. Ciao!