Does the title look familiar? I used the same for 2013! Yeah well, I guess it may just become an annual thing. This year... I can scarcely believe it's nearly done, didn't it just start?

 In 2014 Graham and I: went zipling, 

threw Graham a surprise birthday party, 

Graham was given a permanent position at Merrill Lynch, 

went on our first plane trip to Arizona together, 

took my siblings to Miami/ Ft Laud, 

celebrated our first anniversary, 

flew to Washington DC, 

found out Listi was serving a mission, 

celebrated multiple weddings,

Graham was called to be the Elder's Qorum Pres,

relived my childhood by vacationing in Fernandina, 

learned we would become an Aunt& Uncle,

I joined Mama in taking Listi to the Provo,UT MTC,

I was called to be a counselor in Young Women 

we visited Disney 10 times before our season passes expired,

traveled to the Keys with friends, snorkeled on said Keys,

visited Graham's personal utopia up on the Blue Ridge Parkway,

I quit my job to focus on school, we welcomed many babies, 

we lost a special Grandma and another great friend, 

we survived our first international trip in Italy and

we've had the best year yet.

http://flipagram.com/f/OS1F5dvh4C

^

The following is a quick picture recap of this past year.

    Our family has been blessed, our own small one and our extended ones, I am so grateful for that! Every year I can't help but marvel and think: Wow! What a year! We've grew so much, we've traveled more than I thought possible and I love Graham more now than ever.& I truly, truly adore our teeny, small, 2 person family- we're all we've got and I have cherished our first full year from start to finish together. I am so often reminded that he is the one for me.

    I have a few goals for 2015- finish my Bachelor's degree, fulfill my calling to the highest extent, do laundry quicker, gossip less, find peace with all that irks me and bring more joy to those who surround me. I hope to do all of those things, but I know if I can just learn a little bit more and do a little bit better, I'll be alright.

    Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this year better. I'm engulfed in gratitude. 

Observations on being a Tourist in Italy

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MONEY

~The money used here is the Euro (€). The Euro is worth 1.2 to 1 US Dollar. So in other words, just changing money is expensive! Not to mention unless you find ATM's that are in associate with your bank, you have to be a standard service fee (around $10).

-Using a typical foreign credit card racks up fees for every use, while a travel credit card does not require a conversion fee. 

-Everything here is pricy. Water is never free at restaurants, a typical Sprite bottle averages 3 € and even knock-off purses are sold at 45 Euro.

-To go to a public restroom, whether at McDonald's or a train station, can cost .60-1€!! Talk about culture shock.

-There are no sales taxes, if listed at a price it is guaranteed, which is a nice change.

-We only found one location, a Venetian supermarket, who used .01 or .02 coins, everyone else rounds to the nearest .50.

RESTAURANTS 

-Most cafe shops require extra if you wish to sit down. For instance, a cannoli was sold for 4 Euro to go or either 8 Euro to sit.

-Never tip at restaurants, the receipt will show a "coperto/service" charge which will automatically pay the waiter. We have averaged 2-3 Euro per person at mid-sized restaurants.

-They refer to "to go" as "take away," most shops have lots of signs written in English saying that phrase. 

-Music in most Italian shops are the Top 20 ones, sung entirely in English.

-Fettuccine Alfredo is strictly American :(  But we did find one place in Venice who served it! 

 -There are just as many gelato shops as there are restaurants! They generally don't allow taste testing. 

TRANSPORTATION

-There is a wide variety of great transport here! Trains, Metro, Buses, Trams, Watertaxis.

-Beware, if you're relying entirely on your English you need to prepare for the inevitable: most workers know FEW English words in the Metro. The majority is a lot of hand motions and slow Italian pronunciations. 

-There are a few classes of trains, super slow regional ones or very efficient slightly-less-than-luxury ones, depending on a budget, the latter is so much more spacious.

-To buy Metro tickets you must either have no more than 6€ in change or buy a pass from a Tobacco shop. Our 20€ and 50€ kept spitting out until someone finally translated. And if you go to a Tobacco shop, they require an additional purchase before selling the Metro pass! It's jumping through hoops for sure.

-I would never suggest renting a car. The lanes are very difficult to understand, and it isn't necessary with so many other cheaper options. Also, we have seen approximately 0 gas stations! 

-Trains are absolutely on time! If it says it's pulling out at 1:32, it will depart precisely then. Arrive with plenty of time to find which platform and to see if there are any changes. 

-There are WAY more mopeds than cars here, with fearless drivers. They have perplexed us since we arrived. They weave between cars (as in like 3 feet of space), then they jet out in front of buses. These drivers seem follow both pedestrian AND vehicle rules, but won't hesitate to break them either. They do not think twice to slam on their small horns.

-Some of the best views come from the trains! Try to books a window seat and have the camera ready.

-Gondola rides are very expensive, but gondoliers are willing to bargain during low seasons. It's also a great way to travel through the smaller canals and see the Grand Canal.

WALKING 

-If you're walking, go straight to the Tobacco shop in the station and BUY A MAP. I (stupidly) thought step by step directions would suffice but nope! Get a map the moment you arrive. 

-Streets are set up much differently than in the US. Some may be 6 lanes and bustling with traffic, others are small enough to only allow a single car.

-Street signs are put on marble plaques on one side of the wall. The frustrating part is that it isn't always located at the beginning of every street. Sometimes you have to walk to the end of that street or the next street over to find where you are.

-An iPhone GPS won't work in Venice! The streets are way too small and connected. Plan on getting lost here several times a day! 

-Also, big point of references! The conjunction of streets that forms a 

big square are called "Piazzale" and streets are signified by the first term being "Via" or "Calle." Unless you're in Venice where "Donte" refers to the bridge, "Sestiere" is a neighborhood and "Rio" a river.

SCAM ARTISTS

-Pickpockets are notorious here, many locals and other tourists warned us to be aware, particularly at train stations/metros.

-There are many people who will try to sell you a free ticket to speak with Information (there are usually waits though) or used Metro passes- remember you are responsible for looking out for your own best interest, not everyone else.

-Outside of EVERY tourist location there is a large amount of people trying to sell: extended camera holders, umbrellas (when raining), enlarged pictures, caricatures, books or flowers. There are usually about 10 people competing within each item at every location. It can be so overwhelmingly annoying to repeatedly reject each person when trying to enjoy yourself.

-The streets are full of beggars who definitely are working the system. Generally they are located in the tourist spots, very near churches. We offered an old man with 2 small coins in his hat just a little bit of our change, walked by him an hour later with just the 2 small coins still in there, so he had been pocketing all of the gains he had made, and was still showing his original 2 coins.

-Also if you innocently try to take your picture beware of people offering to "help." We thought it was another kind tourist taking our picture by the Grand Canal but no! About two photos in I realized he wanted money. Oh well, that well-spent.

BUILDINGS

-The number of apartments far outweighs the number of homes. For an entire week we didn't see any noticeable houses until we passed through the countryside.

-The people have great views because they build many places on upward hills and mountains. These are always exceptionally beautiful!

-The main color on buildings is a mixture between a cream and a yellow, but some coastal areas are filled with color! One of the reasons we loved Cinque Terre so much is because all of the buildings touching were painted a different shade of yellow, pink, red, orange, green and blue.

-Once again, Venice needs a category all on its own because it is just so unique. There are so many buildings crammed together, the streets may be spacious and long or five feet wide alleyways. 

U.S. CONVENIENCES

-Some days we just wanted to snack instead of buying big meals, where back home we would have just relied on gas stations to purchase things. Here, the best places to stop are Tobacco shops, for smaller priced items.

-The only fast-food chains we have seen are McDonald's (sans dollar menu), found in every main train station, and an occasional Burger King. Instead, they have a variety of sandwich shops. 

-Police and Ambulances are heard ALL the time with a very high pitch wailing, a siren, the sound is much different from America's.

-After going up thousands (!!!) of steps, we only took 1 elevator the entire trip! There is a big shortage of those things.

PEOPLE

-The younger generation speak either very good or broken English, as it is a requirement in school. In need we have used them! Although, be prepared, all know the F word! 

-There is a lot of turmoil and unrest between the government and the people. We arrived in Milan during a large protest and in Cinque Terre we stayed during a train strike. The causes were due to the lack of jobs, according to those we asked.

-The same as anywhere, there are some very helpful individuals and very rude ones. The more they try to sell to you, the more complementary they become! "Bella! Bella!"

-Again, if asking for directions, don't expect everyone to respond in English. It's just ain't happening. Use a map and expect hand signals, as well as minimal understanding. 

-Smokers are everywhere! Outside, in shops, standing exceptionally close to your face. No Surgeon General warnings here, there must be some sort of ties from the government to Tobacco shops, which are a hub for many things. 

- 

A tribute to Nicole Torpea

I don't even know where to begin. 

    Never, ever did I think that I would find myself in this particular situation. One of the scariest and most devastating phone calls a person can receive is hearing of the death of a loved one... But that happened late yesterday evening. In a quick instant, one of the closest friends I've ever had, tragically lost her life. A somber state of shock for all of us who knew and loved her.
     Nicole was a red headed fire pistol who'd speak her mind in an instant. She had a no-nonsense approach at life, coupled with sheer adoration for animals. She bore hard things with strength. She laughed loud and frequent. She was filled with intelligence, witty comebacks always at the ready. She worked and loved hard.
    It's hard to write a few lines on her countenance. What more should I say? How she spend every weekend with me from seventh grade until we were college students? How talented of a writer she was? How proud she was to earn her Medical Assistant degree? How loyal of a friend she was? How many of the craziest experiences in my life happened with her? How much she loved Mexican food? How we both cried pitifully to each other throughout her years? How much she shopped at Rue 21? How I told her every minute detail of my life? There are so many things that I want everyone to know about her, because she was a wonderful person.
    I'll never be able to sum her up in a little blog post. She was larger than life, and there is so much more that I wish she could have experienced. Her passing is far too early. The biggest comfort I heard was offered to me from her own brother, "I think she would of wanted us to remember the times we had together instead of focusing on the ones she didn't have."
   I think that's true. And her and I (usually with Miranda) shared many great times together. Hundreds, thousands! When you're together as much as we were growing up, you can't help but have anything but. When you've only got one shot at life, you better make it worthwhile.... and she did!



    I wanted to share a few pictures, but as I looked, we had far too many memories (accompanied by too much fun) to condense. And I have many memories of eye-rolling to her Tim McGraw tunes she loved. :)
    So with that I say: The earth lost a great, fun and caring person yesterday. Nicole will be so missed by so many people. I'm grateful for all of the fantastic and heart- wrenching times we shared together, they'll be imprinted upon my heart always. What a life she had! I know we will be reunited again one day. I am so grateful to know that there is a plan for us to overcome death. I love you Nicole!

North Carolina pt. 2

Another time of taking way too long to complete a thought :)

   So, here we go, my (with a little of Graham’s input) overall thoughts of North Carolina. When planning this trip, the most minimal planning of a lifetime, Graham decided to keep it simple by visiting: Chimney Rock, Asheville and Linville. These cities are rather close together, about 45 minutes from CR-Ashe and Ashe-Lin, so it kept us on a easy quest.

    We left late Wednesday, the 22^nd of October, so we could wake up the morning of my birthday in Columbia, South Carolina. The 4 hour drive didn't put us off in the least as we listened to the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After waking the sleeping lobby-man, who apparently lives in the hotel, we were in for the night. Thursday morning Graham and I celebrated my birthday with my request to visit the Columbia LDS Temple! It was the first time either of us had ever seen it, and it was quite a surprise. Barely 10,000 feet, this is one of the smallest temples in the world  (but not the smallest). This little temple was nestled in a side street very close between a few homes. It was just so cute and tiny! Unfortunately, it was so small that we had a difficult time getting it into one picture, mostly due to the fact that if we stepped away we would be overtaken by trees. But still! Darling. (And one less temple off of our list!) 

    After we left the temple, we made a beeline for Chimney Rock, North Carolina. Since we had made our temple trip early enough, we had plenty of daylight when we arrived. We were given a map of all of the things to do and we selected 4 of the 5 walking trails and left. We really, really enjoyed our time here. At first we hiked up the rock and stared at the utterly magnificent view, seriously, check out the first picture below on the left, it was gorgeous! Then we followed the advice of a guide and walked to the most anticlimactic waterfall in all of existence, it took about 15 minutes of an uphill climb to get there and as right behind us a little boy reached the view of the waterfall and said incredulously, "this is it?" Kids, man, they're honest. The remainder of our time we trekked over everywhere else to enjoy the views provided by this place. In all, I would give it a solid 5/5 stars for having everything a good national park should: scenic destinations, wildlife and a variety of easy and more difficult trails.

       Leaving Chimney Rock we drove for, maybe, 40 minutes to get to Asheville, where we would be staying for two nights. As soon as we arrived we drove straight to the downtown area. There was no parking anywhere except for a parking garage, so we begrudgingly gave a man with a suit coat and camouflage shorts our $6 to actually get somewhere. We started off walking around for about 10 minutes until, at my insistence over the cold, we entered the Japanese steakhouse we planned to eat at. Our dinner was successful and as soon as it was finished Graham was just itching to see what was in downtown Asheville, so we wandered around for a little bit longer, but at this time we didn't have a jacket and the weather was about 50 degrees (keep in mind the night before we were in 80 degrees Florida weather). So we popped into a recommended French Broad Chocolates, after all it was my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY (23 on the 23rd), for a birthday treat! I snagged a caramel creme brulee and all was right with the world. After this delicious expedition we wrapped up our first day of vacation.

    Also, Listi sent me a message on my birthday, which I sadly didn't see until after my birthday! She just happened to have a training online for something to do with her missionary work, so she was slightly disobedient (she spelled it wrong in her message, ha) by emailing me!

That's it for now, time to wrap up some homework. :)

Honoring Cathy

    Yesterday, November 10^th, we laid Graham’s Grandma Cathy to rest. The past few days have felt so hectic, but have been filled with love and family. It wouldn't feel right to skip over the details in regards to one of the best Alexander's I know.

    On Thursday, the 6^th, I had the day off, so I drove Graham to his job and worked on some homework that was due. Within a few hours it was apparent that some changes had occurred in Cathy’s condition at the ICU and we were all asked to immediately come in. Graham’s immediate family members (the ones who live in town) joined us by her bedside in saying our goodbyes. It was my first experience of being with a person during such an important time, as such I was emotional and deeply saddened. But I can vouch for the spirit in the room that perceptibly changed as one by one we shared our favorite ‘Cathy story;’ everyone giggled or smiled and we all thought loving of the lady who had invested so much in each of us.

     In the following day more family came to town, there were more details shared about specific things in her life, more picture albums scoured through. To celebrate her life, we attended a really personal, detailed wake. Later, the funeral was a perfect homage to her life; Graham was the first of 3 speakers from the family. His talk, occasionally touched with overwhelming sentiment, gave example after example of her love for him. His beloved, so so beloved, Grandma Cathy was his true friend. We rounded out the service with one of my favorite hymns:

"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!"

     Visiting her house the first time after it happened, I found our Christmas gift we’d given her the year before… And it made me think about her last year, which we clearly didn't know it would be at the time, and how frequently it seemed we were able to do things as a family. What a magnificent blessing. At the end of everything, I told Granddad just how special everything was, truly how superb each part was. I couldn't help but weep when he responded, “I just really wanted to honor Cathy.”  And it just so happened, I think she was.

Oh Cathy, you will surely be missed.

Until we meet again.

We love you.

North Carolina pt. 1

    Ask Graham where he wants to live, just go on up one day and ask. The answer is always, always the same- North Carolina. I just ignore it and say Georgia/Florida are the only two places I'll ever call home. But he's adamant about so many of the things found in that surprising state. In truth, it's easy to see why now upon realizing his obsession began as a child, when he toured the Blue Ridge Parkway every other summer. His intriguing love of scenic views has only escalated since, and when we found out he had 3 unclaimed vacation days we decided to schedule it around my birthday up in the Asheville area.
    I'll sum it up with much more interesting words when I have time. In the meantime? Crank your volume up to hear a melody from Mr. Alexander himself whilst viewing all of the important parts of our escapade. And of course my audio is from my favorite band, Kings of Leon.




    I'll be honest, it's a pretty impressive place :)

Florida Gators 10/18

    That's my man. ;) Of course he isn't always a Quasimodo look-a-like but he certainly achieved it during a photo I took at the Florida Gator game. Yesterday we went with the biggest of all UF champion I know, a Mr. Ed Alexander, father-in-law. The grandiose arm chomps might have been for naught, since Missouri severely defeated them, but regardless I truly had a wonderful time.

    Many moons ago, the Gator games provided a fun and free date for the two of us. I'd go, with a limited knowledge of the pigskin, and ask relentless questions while yelling on as a good things happened for the team (and sometimes, on accident, bad things). But, not being a huge fan, wins and losses are both received fine. Fast forward, the same proves to be true!

    I knew buying these metallic orange britches would come in handy someday!