May 22nds

Hello Wehrld,

Today (Mayy 22nd) is my 25 day mark. There are 27 days until I come home, which means I'm half-way. Looking back, time really has gone by pretty quickly. We only have a week left of classes (four days, so not even a week), and are leaving our apartments in Florence early on Saturday morning (the 30th). We'll be traveling around to Milan, Venice, Cinqueterra, Nice, and other places for a week and a half. Then 8 days with Mom, Grandma and Aunt Judy and then home! My attitude adjustment has really made me enjoy this trip so much more. I think it's easy to find the faults in any situation. But the perks almost always outweigh the bad things. In this case, they do immensely. I'm having a great time and trying to work hard so I have some art to show for myself when I leave here. I've done two plein air paintings, 2 typography projects, and a lot of sketching so far. Drawing things is such a fun way to experience the historical places we go.

Yesterday we had sketchbook at the Bargello Museum here in Florence. It used to be a prison, then the police headquarters, then they turned it into...an art museum? Seems kind of odd to me, but it was cool to be in a prison. I got some fun sketches in and enjoyed my time with Kelsey Amber and Emmy. They're really fun to talk to. After that I went on a hunt for lasagna with Kelsey, Amber, and Clarke. We have been having a hard time finding a place that sells regular AND vegetarian (for Amber) lasagna. The second place we went to had both, and it was AMAZING. You have to remember that I hold all lasagna to the Stouffer's test...aka if it's equal to or greater than the deliciousness of Stouffer's, it's good lasagna. It passed the test! We were still in sketchbook mode, so we all sat at the outdoor table of a nice restaurant...sketching? Being on  this trip with a bunch of artists is really refreshing for me. We just connect. Sketching at lunch instead of talking is normal for us, and not awkward. We did have a great time, though. I think about 50% of our inside jokes have come from that lunch...and it was yesterday. We met a girl from Texas who was sitting at the table next to us. She was here with friends and they were off doing touristy things. She had already been here and didn't want to do that. I think she thought our sketching was peculiar. Well, Mormons are a peculiar people, right? I guess Mormon artists is just a more peculiar breed.

Kelsey planned a going away party for Chase since he left this morning. He is Bethanne's son, so he didn't come with BYU and was just on vacation. He is such an amazing guy, like his mom. He enjoys everybody and anybody he's with, and has such a good relationship with everybody. We made him a card, and everyone who signed it took forever because we all have so many inside jokes with him. We packed about 20 people into our apartment. It's the biggest out of our group, but we still flowed out into the balcony. We had cookies and gelatto and played "Zip Bong" and Questions. Such simple games are always so fun. 

Today is our day off (YES!) so I am going to Kelsey's to work on my typography project (2 spread magazine based off of the book "Invisible Cities"...he cut it from four to two, seeing as we have absolutely no time to work on our projects). After that we are meeting a group to go see the Santa Croce cathedral. That's the place we saw the Monk Rock concert...legit. It should be a good day.

Maureen, your pregnant pictures are so cute! I can't believe how big that baby is getting, you cutie, you! Also in response to your email (sorry, I totally spaced and don't have reliable internet) I will check up on that and get back to you. I think I have class on wednesday and thursday, but if I have to I can miss a day? No class on friday for sure. I may drop and add classes to fit things, kay?

Matthew, I'm sorry you're sick in Idaho :( It makes me sad that I can't be there to take care of you. Did you get my email? Love you.

Mom, Chelsea Halverson had her baby girl! I don't know when. I just checked myspace and she has pictures up of her. She's on facebook but I don't think she gets on very often. Also Nikki Beddoe (Magana?) had her baby boy, too. I don't know if you remember her or not. She just got married.