Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad,

Sometimes when I tell people that my father is a truck driver, they often respond by saying "Oh, so you must not see him very much then." I used to nod my head and agree. Then one day I thought, "Well, if it's true that I really don't see Dad that often, how is it that my memory bank is packed and spilling over the brim with memories of doing things with him?" 

There is quite a simple answer to that Dad, and it is one of my very favorite things about you. Whenever you are home, you make sure that we are always doing things as a family. Even if it is just a simple thing like driving to Brigham to get a Slurpee with the grandkids, you are always teaching me that family is the most important thing. Sometimes we just sit on the couch and watch The Andy Griffith Show (well, I should say that I watch The Andy Griffith Show and you "rest your eyes") but those are still some of my favorite memories. I am quite proud of the fact that while most other teenagers at school talk about the silly and superficial sitcoms they follow, I can happily reply that my favorite TV shows are Perry Mason, Hogan's Heroes, The Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres, and many other good-old classics. The saddest part is that they haven't even heard these titles, and I mean "saddest" as a reference to them because they don't know what they are missing out on. 

Another thing that sticks out is the memory of all the 5Ks I have been to in my life. I was about to say "5Ks that I have run in my life," but it's no secret that I haven't always enjoyed them and that I have most often participated a bit less-than enthusiastically. However, I realize now that those memories are always filled with various family members here and there and it's just another reminder to me of how important it is to be with the family. You are always working on ways to make us better people and live our lives in the best way that we can. 

I just realized that if I keep it up like this, I will never finish this letter because so many memories and other qualitites that I love about you keep popping into my head, but I wanted to finish with one of the most important things. I love that you love my mother. I have never doubted that for one second in my life. You are always serving her and planning some sneaky way to surprise her or do something kind for her, and I love participating in these little plots and seeing how happy you make her. Thank you both for being wonderful parents and teaching me the truths of the Gospel. I love you both dearly and I am very excited to see you in a little over a week!

Carol

   ...  

Are y'all still alive?

Dear Mom and family,

It hasn't been that long since that last time I wrote, and almost nothing has happened since then. I have been home by myself a lot in the past couple days and I had been hoping to use the time well to catch up on things that I was behind on and to get a lot done, but actually I wasn't very productive. I have also been a bit sick lately, which didn't help my lethargic mood either. However, I plan on going to bed early tonight and waking up and getting a fresh start bright and early tomorrow morning. Anyway, I haven't heard from you guys in a while so I was just wondering how everybody was doing. Hope everything is well and I will be seeing many of you quite soon!

Carolina

     ...   

Miracoli!

I apologize for not writing for a while, and I know I should try to catch y'all up on what has been going on, but this week I wanted to share a story. It's actually a really long and ugly story, but I'll try to cut down the details. *Spoiler Alert* It has a happy ending. Even though it doesn't seem like it should. Actually I will probably cut out most of the story because it's really not worth re-hashing and the ending is the very best part, but I'm getting ahead of myself. 

I was supposed to board a plane on Monday morning to finally visit Rome, which I have been wanting to see all year. I was so excited for this moment and I had been looking forward to it all week. For the past few weeks, actually. However, something came up and Sunday night I found myself not finishing packing and not preparing to depart the next morning. This is where I will cut out most of the story, because it's the long and ugly part, but there are some details that are important. In the end, the decision to not go was my own because it seemed to be causing so many problems and there were other factors involved, most of which occured that very day. At one point during the day, I found myself praying and begging God to help me understand what to do because I felt sick and confused inside. Asking if I should just call the whole thing off or continue with my efforts, and of course in my heart I was hoping and hoping and hoping and almost expecting for the answer to be to continue. And this is where the "thy will, not mine" part comes in. 

Sometimes God says no. 

However, this is also where the miracle comes in. It was okay. I expected to be disappointed and angry, but the only thing I felt was a calm in my stomach to have finished and cleaned up the matter. I still really want to see Rome, and I still feel like someday I will have that opportunity, but my biggest regret in the whole situation was that the money Mom and Dad had payed for the ticket had been wasted and not the fact that I wasn't able to go to Rome. I thought that maybe the calm would go away after a little while and I kept expecting myself to be mad about it the more I thought about it, but that's not what happened. Many people knew that I was supposed to leave on Monday and seeing that I was still here caused many to ask about the story and wonder what happened, but even telling them about it didn't bring bitter feelings. It was almost funny in a way, watching them react when they heard the story and calmly watching them get angry about it, even though it happened to me. To me that is the miracle. I know that God knows what is best for us, and sometimes He tells us no. It could be because it is not the right thing or the right time, but whatever the reason may be, I know that He has a reason for it. But I also know that when we listen to Him, He makes is easier for us to accept His will and He takes the bitterness out of disappointments. 

Even though I still haven't been to Rome or Venice or the other areas in Italy that I wanted to see, I am still very grateful to have had this chance to be here in Sicily. I have made incredible friendships and learned one million and one things. Every single one of you has helped me get here and I am so grateful to you for that. One of the most important things I have learned this year is how much I truly love my family and how important you all are to me. Sometimes I want to take a picture of the Italians' faces when I tell them how many siblings/nieces/nephews I have, but I wouldn't trade any of you for anything. I love you all dearly and I am excited to see you soon! 

Carolina

    ... 

Buona Festa della Mamma!

Cara Madre,

I've been putting this off almost all day today because I didn't know how or where to start and I wanted it to be just perfect for you, but I can't put it off any longer because I just need to tell you how much I love you! It's been over 8 months since I've personally "stepped into your office" and we've had a chat, so now I'm asking you to step into mine for a minute so I can tell you some pretty darn important things.

1) I love you. Ti voglio un mondo di bene. Je t'adore. I could probably google it in a bunch of other languages but it doesn't change the meaning. I love you, Mom. 

2) I look up to you. And not just because you're almost 4 inches taller than me. I remember watching the movie about President Hinckley in which he is called "a giant among men." Well mother, you are a giant among women. I can't even begin to list all of the reasons why because they are so numerous, but the fact that you're probably not even home from church yet because you're still across the street picking up flowers for all the neighbors and other mothers in the ward who weren't there should help explain what I'm trying to say. You always put everyone else before you even think to think about yourself and your selflessness amazes me every day. 

3) I miss you. I'm sorry I was half-asleep in the airport the day I left and that I didn't give you a proper goodbye and a proper hug, but I am looking forward to June 28 when I can make that up to you. Brace yourself. 

4) Thank you. For everything. 

There are so many other things that I want to say but I know it's going to be time for your Sunday "mid-morning nap" soon so I'll try to keep it short and let you enjoy a peaceful day. I'm a bit far away so I can't do anything about the clean house, but everyday I try to follow your example and become a "wonderful children" that you would like me to be. 

Carol

   ...

PS- I know this picture is a bit blurry, but it's the best one I had with me. 

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

I am really liking that quote today because I'm so far behind on writing that it would probably take me more than a thousand words to catch y'all up to date on everything that I've done since the last time, so I've decided to give you a "Picture Tour" of the important things from this last month instead of writing about them. I'm also suffering from old age and a bit of memory loss that goes with and I probably couldn't even remember what happened last week alone last month, so I hope you enjoy the pictures!

River that runs through Krakow

Carol's in Poland!

Krakow

Polish friends and one of the Italians- bet you 

can't guess which one is the Italian!

Beautiful park behind the Polish

 "White House" where the president lives

There are live peacocks in the park!

Still at the park

Adorable little lost brother who kept speaking to me in Polish- and then waiting

 for me to answer. We did play together a lot though, mostly with the dog. 

The Palace of Science and Culture. Most Polish people don't like it

 because it was a gift from Stalin and was built in his style but it is beautiful.

View of Warsaw from the top of the Palace of Culture and Science

Arbeit Macht Frei

"Work sets you free"

Auschwitz

Auschwitz

Random guy in the mall who was advertising

 for a new store and offered to buy me a coffee

Me and Jessica at the Catania soccer game. They are a 

terrible team but they actually won that day!

Easter egg! The size of my head!

 Me and Jessica and the banana bread we made together

Classmates from school at our luncheon the day after Easter

It was a very peaceful and beautiful day!

Lots of love!

Carolina

     ... 

Hello from Jessica!

Hello!
My name is Jessica and Carol asked me to write to you this week. I will talk about the relation about me and your beautiful and nice daughter/sister. The first time I saw her I thought: "she will never be my friend". I don't know why I thought this, maybe because she was the new one and all my classmates wanted to be her friend. But look now! I have a sister!

When I knew her she was seventeen and it was my fault that she spent her 18th birthday in the hospital where she found an handsome doctor. I ruined her birthday, so I told myself: "I must do something because she will have to have a wonderful memory about this trip in Italy". When she told me that she didn't find herself well in the second family, I had an opportunity to change everything. I asked to my parents and they told me: "yes, of course! We want a new daughter!"

Now she has been in OUR house since one month. She isn't like a sister she is my sister. The things that I love about her are: her accent, her way of behaving with children (my little cousins), the way she cuts fruit, and above all her voice when she sings. She also sings while we brush our teeth. And tonight she must take a shower (she stinks!). No, I'm teasing you. She has a nice porfum (maybe).

I have a theory. I think that everyone have a smell and I called this smell puzza (in a language similar to English that isn't English because it's Jessica's English it means 'stinks'). So everytime I saw her and she saw me we said: "Tu stinks!" And also after shower we stink. What do you think about my scientific theory? I have a free mind, so if you find something wrong tell me everything, because one day I will be famous for this theory.

I don't know how you grew up your daughter but you have done a perfect job. I really hope that one day I will see you and I will thank you for giving me your daughter and also for giving to my family a new daughter/cousins/aunt. All of you will be always in my mind, I will never forget her and you. My house is now your house, you will be welcomed into my home.
I hope she loves me and I'm sure about this: I love her even if she stinks.

Hugs and kisses
Jessica.

... I don't speak no English no more

Dear Mom,

As you know, last week was a sad week for my English. All those essays... Oh well at least that's over and those applications are submitted! Thank you for your help! And also great big thanks to Dad for getting it mailed! Most of the week was spent writing (actually I should say *attempting to write) those essays, so I didn't do much this week. One of my classes was really fun though! I finally convinced my technical design teacher to let me work on something and I've been doing proiezioni ortogonali. I draw a shape/solid in the first square on my sketch paper and then "project" it into the other squares and it becomes how it would look from all the different points of perspective. It's really fun! And I'm actually quite good at visualizing in my mind of how an object looks from all the different sides. I also enjoy math when we do planar geometry because I can really visualize the prisms and angles from a different view and know than an angle really is 90 degrees instead of a little tiny angle of 26 dgrees or something. My design teacher says I'm good at it me that I have a good hand for it, and I also enjoy it so that a bonus!

Saturday was a good day too. These past few days I have been reading Harry Potter and I just finished the second one. I didn't really want to start the third though because for one it takes a lot more time to read in another language but I also didn't want to get too into it like it normally happens when I read a book/series. So I suggested to my friends that we watch the movies instead! Saturday after school we started our "Harry Potter Marathon" and finished the first three movies. It was weird to see them though because they changed some of the names. For example Dumbledore is "Albus Silente" and Snape is "Professore Piton." There are a bunch of other names that were changed and it was almost hard to follow the story (especially in the books) because I didn't know who was doing what. It was a good though to spend time with friends after a week of staying home and working.

Well, March 28 passed and I officially have less than three months left here in Italy. I decided that I would like to read the Book of Mormon in Italian before I come home, or in other words in 3 months.  I am starting at the beginning, but it's an open offer for anyone who would like to join me. Even if you are in 3 Nephi you can read starting in 3rd Nephi and ending in 3rd Nephi. I really believe that it will have a positive effect on my last three months here and will make them more memorable and special. I love you all so very much and I'm grateful to you for your examples!

Carolina
     ...

I think I'll call this post "Life"

Dear Mom,

     It's been quite a "life-ish" week. I don't intend "life-ish" in a lively sense to mean exciting and full of grand, extraordinary events, but almost the opposite actually in the sense that it was quite an ordinary week that seemed just like a normal week in life. And it was great! The more time I spend with my new family and Jessica the more grateful and happy I am to be here and the more I see what a normal life of an Italian student can be like. I've come to enjoy studying more because now I finally have the books to study but I also have someone else studying by my side who can help me if I don't understand a word or a concept. Aside from studying, we also seem to be spending a lot of time sleeping. More often that not these two activities coincide and we find ourselves falling asleep while we study, but even that is fun because Jessica and I will be studying on the couch and I'll wake up with my head in her lap or with hers on my shoulder or with a blanket that a loving mother has brought by to cover us with. I really enjoy living with this family, they make me feel so loved and welcome. The mother left Tuesday for London to stay with her son for about a month, so it's me and Jess and the dad for a bit. He works a lot so it's often just us, but we take care of each other and manage to not burn the house down.

     On Friday we didn't have school because there was an assembly "senza obbligo" and so we planned a picnic in the Villa Bellini. It's a beautiful park in Via Etnea (the Main Street of the city center). Well, it's the closest thing to a park they have here as grass as we know it is practically nonexistent and you can forget about picnic tables or typical playground sets. It was still a great time though as we played frisbee (thank you so much for buying me a frisbee to bring Dad, it has been well-used and appreciated!) and volleyball, as well as playing with numerous children who were attracted by the ball. I hadn't been outdoors to just enjoy the sun for a while and it was so rejuvenating and wonderful! Jessica says I look more tan now, but I think I'm mostly just more pink...

     Saturday we took the bus early to Ragusa to see Ibla and a typical festival at Scicli. It was to celebrate the Holy Family's flight from Egypt, as they explained to us, and there were tons of horses covered in flowers and designs. I felt bad for the horses though because the decorations looked quite heavy. We spent the night in Ragusa with Rotarian families who hosted us for the night and my family there was so kind and they had a beautiful apartment on the 7th floor that overlooked the whole city! In the free time we had for a bit before the festival I took a shower and let my hair dry out on the terrace while I read Harry Potter 2 in Italian with a beautiful panorama behind it.

     All in all it was a very good week and possibly even one of my favorites so far because of it's simplicity and enjoyment in just living it. I'm learning that life (and especially being an exchange student) isn't about all the stupendous things we do or the marvelous things we see, but about doing normal things and enjoying them and finding happiness in just being alive and capable to do the things we do. I love you all so very much and I hope you are all enjoying being part of this great thing called LIFE!

Carolina

     ...

Speaking of enjoying the sun, the picture for this week is a picture a friend of mine took while we were doing just that from the roof of another friend's Chinese restaurant. She put it as the icon of our group message chat with the caption "Carol allo Spiedo." *Hint: spiedo is the spit thing they put chickens and pigs on to roast them. It was then followed by comments such as "Girala! È bene cotta! (Turn her! She's well-cooked!)" I guess they've never seen anyone lay down on a chair before... PS for Valerie- it may look like my socks match but one is green and black stripes and the other is green and yellow. You don't have to worry yet, Italy hasn't changed me that much (:

Cześć! Co tam!

Dear Mom,

Once upon I time, I thought Italian was a difficult language to learn. And then Zuzanna showed up. Oh my heavens to Betsy goodness gracious Polish is impossible! I spent a whole week with a headache just from listening to the Polish kids talk to each other. By the end of the week I learned how to say "Hello! How are you?" Actually I should say I learned how to spell it because it sounds nothing like it looks and my pronunciation is atrocious. It was interesting to meet the Polish kids and learn about their lives though. They speak English incredibly well, which sadly the Italians do not so I also spent the week listening to the Italian kids that were hosting them trying to muddle through conversations with their guests. It was a fun week, but quite tiring and I still don't feel ready to tackle the homework and lessons I missed at school. I did however finally get to see some snow! Our excursion to Etna was the first time I got to touch real snow in almost a year and to be honest I had missed it. I might have thrown a few snowballs, but that's just between me and you...  The weather wasn't typical Sicilian "Island of the Sun" weather and I felt bad for the Polish kids because they were hoping to escape ugly weather, but we managed to see all the things we had planned on. We also went to Taormina and I got to see the Greek Theater again. 

Speaking of homework a minute ago I really should get going so I can attempt to be prepared tomorrow, but I'll try to make up for the short letter with some pictures. They were taken with my phone so they aren't high quality, but they turned out pretty well. I'll put some better ones up when I get them off my real camera. Love you all and miss you bunches! Hope everyone is well! 

Carolina

     ...

Snow and lava!

Finally got to use my coat!

Il Teatro Grecco

This last one is mostly for Mom. My friend's party was on Saturday and I found a piano in the house, which is not a common thing in most Italian houses. I played a few songs for them, including my arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee"

Carol's in front of a Greek temple!

From left to right: Naty (messicana), Mon (taiwanese), Carolina (americana), Inga (tedesca), e Fernanda (messicana) 

I found it! Here's the intriguing title: "Un titolo intrigante"

Dear Mom,

Yello! Today has been such a busy day, I have hardly had a free minute. From the moment I woke up, I was involved in a very serious international affair and my presence was vital to the success of the project. Then my help was needed in the domestic food-service arena. I then partecipated in a heavy-combat competition in a severe environment in which I was constrained to stay for 2 hours. It was brutal and I sustained many injuries, but I survived and made it out alive. I am now writing to you to document this very productive day, I would hate for anyone to forget how busy I have been. In other words, I woke up and was introduced to an aunt in Mauritius (in my pajames, looking absolutely stunning of course), and then I just had to help Jessica eat breakfast in the kitchen. The poor girl was so lonely. Then of course the brutal competition of "Fruit Ninja," which we carried out sitting on the tile floor in the hallway. Most of the injuries were sustatined to my rear end (2 hours on a hard floor can really do some serious damage, you know). I am now recovering on the couch next to Jessica with a portable heater within an arms-length away from us, documenting this historic day for the sake of posterity.

It has actually been a enjoyable Sunday, relaxing around the house and sleeping in. It's my third day with this new family and I wanted to spend time with them, so I didn't go to church today. Next week the Polish girl will be here so I won't be going to church, but I think I'll still be able to go regularly when I can.

-insert- I wrote this Sunday but then kind of forgot to send it, so technically it's not late.

Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is that it was a nice week. I even went to the park and threw a frisbee with Jessica for about an hour, and it was incredibly fun. It's such a simple thing, but it was honestly one of the funnest things I've done here. Well, I love you all dearly and hope everything is well! 

Carolina

    ...

(Still waiting for the intriguing title)

Dear Mom and   (your name here) ,

Wow I can hardly believe a week has passed since I last wrote! But I guess that could be because it's only been 3 days...  I actually do have some interesting things to share though. One of the most exciting things that happened this week is that I have started helping the missionaries teach English lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the church. Even though I have only gone these two times, I'm already really excited about it! It's fun to meet new people and it's also helping my Italian vocabulary. I'm assisting with the beginner's course, but I'm learning that it's actually hard to teach English! (For all those grammar nerds and wordy people in the family, I need a little bit of help. How do you explain when and when not to use "do"? Many foreigners to the English language think that you have to put "do" somewhere in every question, or invert everything single verb to ask a question. For example, I was asked if you can say "Do you are happy?" The answer is obvious to me that it's wrong, but when I tried to explain inversion and "Are you happy?", they wanted to know when to use "do" and when to invert the order of the subject and word. Is there a rule somethere that says when and when not to invert and when to use a helper such as "do" or "will"? Some kind of guide as to which verbs are inverted and which ones are left alone? I can tell them which phrases are right and which are wrong, but I'm not sure how to explain it. Anyway, any input y'all have would be appreciated.)

OnThursday after the lesson, I went to eat dinner with one of the people from the English course and some of the missionaries. Apparently, Catania is quite famous for its horse meat and some of the missionaries were in town from other areas so they wanted to try it. They were all incredulous when they found out that I had never eaten it, so I found myself at the restaurant with them trying horse meat for the first (and maybe last) time in my life. I have to say, it's actaully pretty good but I couldn't help but imagine poor Strawberry and Lady at Scott and Valerie's house, blissfully unaware that I was chomping down on one of their kind. Although to be honest, I have never thought of little Bully Bogeywart when I eat hamburgers. But maybe that's because I have a fear of cows and its almost like a small form of revenge every time I eat a scrumptious burger. Anyway, I hope Strawberry and Lady are doing well and won't hold a grudge against me for eating some long-lost relative of theirs.

My last bit of exciting news comes from yesterday. Despite being at school on a Saturday, at least one good thing came out of it. I got an 8 in my math interrogation! I won't take another page and a half to explain the grading system here and all the horrors of interrogation, but trust me, an 8 is a pretty darn good reason to celebrate. Also for the sake of space, I will try not to talk too much about arancini but I'll answer the questions. One of the really good ones is filled with rice, cheese, and little chunks of ham, but the typical arancino with the sauce, meat, peas, and rice is always a good fall-back if you can't decide. A lot of the smaller places that sell arancini only carry that type. They are normally about the size of a fist or maybe even a tiny bit bigger, but I would love to come try yours Karyn! I'd love to come anyway though, I think some of my niece-phews are forgetting who their favorite aunt is.

I've been downloading the pictures from my camera, but I still haven't reached the ones from the trip to Palermo and Agrigento yet so I will try to put them up sometime this week. I hope everything is going well with everyone and I love you all!

Carolina
     ...    

Sorry I'm late!

20 Feb 2014

Dear Mom. And y'all.

I had planned on updating once a week on Sunday, but I was in Palermo last Sunday and then I got caught up in everyday life, so I apologize for being a bit behind. We spent last Friday-Sunday on a little "Mini-Tour" that Rotary organized, and I was able to see more of the west side of Sicily. One of the incredible things I got to see was Agrigento, the Valley of the Temples. It is quite an experience to be standing in front of Greek Temples! While I was talking to my friend Marlene (an Austrian exchange student) about how many pictures we take of everything, she said something interesting that I've been thinking about for a little while. She was telling me how she likes to have pictures of herself and people she cares about in her photos because you can find gorgeous pictures of any place on the internet, but how many pictures will you find of Carol Burton standing in front of a Greek Temple? I always hated being in the pictures, but it's been fun to look back through them and think "Hey! I was really there!"

Another interesting thing to think about came when I asked someone if he preferred the mountains or the ocean, because I get asked that question quite often here. He responded that it depends on who is there; he said he wouldn't want to go to a beach if he was by himself, but he would love to go with his friends and family. I've have been to many really neat places, and quite a few beaches too, but it really is the company that makes the difference. I think that's one thing Dad has always understood quite well. I was writing a paper for my Italian teacher about the book The Thief Lord because I had just finished reading it in Italian, and the main topic was about every child's dream of being an adult and how many adults wish they could go back to the simplicity of childhood. I think we've all been guilty of this one time or another, but I know it was an eye-opener a few weeks ago to realize that I turned 18 without even realizing it. Oh my heavens to Betsy, I'm old! Maybe it's just the sun lightening my hair, but I think I even found a couple white ones... Time passes so quickly. I officially booked my return flight last week and I will be home on June 28, just a little over 4 months away! That means I've been here for 6 months. How nutty!

Karyn, the Nero di Seppia didn't taste bad, but it was still disconcerting to be eating black spaghetti! I have been eating many things I normally don't eat (in a good and a bad way. Bad because I end up eating a lot of things I don't like, but good because there are some delicious foods that are only found here in Sicily, and I get to eat them!) Some of those things are gli arancini. Delicious! I might be a little fixated on them... I'm learning the conjunctive tenses and hypotheses in Italian, and it gives my English teacher (who is pretty much my Italian teacher) a pretty good laugh when she reads my work because most of my sentecnes and hypotheses are about how happy Americans would be if we had gli arancini in America. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well at home and I love you all dearly!

Carolina
     ...

(Insert intriguing title here)

09 February 2014

Dear Mom. And anyone else who happens to read this.

     I know there are way too many blogs floating around out there and they tend to get lost in the wind, but following the advice of a little bird who shall not be named [B. Crookston... No wait, Becky C...(Karyn please tell me you understood that reference!)] I decided to start writing my weekly updates and putting them here in my lovely little section of the internet. I'm hoping that it will work kind of like Christmas at our house, where I put all my things in this nice little "Carol's Corner" and then some kind soul wanders by later and adds some nice finishing touches. In other words, feel free to comment, I love hearing from you guys!

     Before I can explain why I chose the title that I did, I have to share some exciting news (that I'm pretty sure you've all heard by now, as well as anyone else who happened to run into Mom at the grocery store). I'm going on a mission! I found out for sure when the missionaries came to give me a blessing in the hospital. I was actually there because of a concussion from a little bitty car incident and the blessing was for the headaches, but Heavenly Father answered another prayer also and now I know for sure that I'm going on a mission! I chose the name because I am the "little sis" of the family, but also because I'm going to be a sister missionary and I can use this for my weekly letters while I'm on a mission too. It's so crazy to think about the future!

     Speaking of the future, I have another fun little announcement. After a lot of thought and contemplation, I have finally decided that I will be starting college at USU this fall. In the end, they offered me a good scholarship that can help me graduate without student loans and I know that they also work well with deferments for missionaries. As strange as it may sound, I was also thinking of my future husband, and what better wedding present to give him than entering our marriage debt-free? He might not have the same opportunity, whoever and wherever he may be, but I know that it will bless our future family.

     I don't have any other exciting news, except for being able to eat a Subway sandwich the other day (actually, that might have been more exciting than finally deciding where to go to college but I really shouldn't admit it). Funny story about that though. By the way, I hope you've all eaten before reading this because it's making me hungry just thinking about it. The sandwich I always get at Subway is oven-roasted chicken on Italian herb and cheese bread toasted with Swiss cheese and topped with ranch and lettuce. I found this Subway on the Naval Air Station a little ways away from Catania so everything was written in English, but on that sticker thing with all the names of the bread someone had crossed out "Italian herb and cheese" and written "Parmesan and Oregano." It had never really occured to me that there were actually herbs and cheese on the bread, but it makes sense that the Italians wouldn't think of it as "Italian herb and cheese" but as what it really is, just parmesan and oregano. I'm a little disappointed though, my already-boring sandwich just lot the only exoticness it had. Oh well, I'm sure Mom and Dad are just happy that I'm not just ordering a few slices of turkey on white bread with mayo anymore. Just so you know Dad, I have eaten quite a few crazy things here. I don't think even you would have eaten the pasta al nero di seppia (spaghetti with a black sauce that is made from squid ink) but I can add that to my list of "Funky Things Eaten." I won't even mention all the tomatoes I've eaten here either.

     Well it's getting quite late and I'm too lazy to go back up and change the date to "10 February 2014" so I'll wrap it up for this week. I love you all dearly! Thank you so much for your love and support!

Carolina
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