she is lovely.

(Source: middletonlove)

via

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach — waiting for a gift from the sea.

Ann Morrow Lindbergh

weekend galvez

the hubs and i visited the twardowski clan

in good 'ol Galveston for lots of fun in the sun.

i must say that family time is always the sweetest

One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

-Khaled Hosseini

"It’s possible to be a good girl, I’m gonna try to make it cool."

-Reese Witherspoon (via amillionmilestogo)

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
Saint Francis de Sales"
(via prettypic)

(Source: xo-erika)

 

(Source: outcamethesun)

"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy.

A man is not very tired, he is exhausted.

Don’t use very sad, use morose.

Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do."

-Dead Poets Society (1989)

10 Things

1. I can sing the lyrics to tons of songs and I probably
will have no idea who sings it or the what the title is
2. My middle name means "Friend" in French.

3. I wish I was a mermaid.

4. I seriously dislike pants. I wish I could wear dresses every day.

5. I loved to put on plays and recitals for my family when I was 4.

6. The last lines of The Great Gatsby are my favorite in any piece of literature.

7. I really enjoy working out.

8. I am the "baby" of our family by 10 years 

9. Sometimes I think I’m really funny. And by sometimes I mean all the time.

10. I’m obsessed with Texas A&M

Preach it Kelso!

this looks fantastic...

 

and again...i just love this!

hhhmmm...

(via modernhepburn)

oh, how i wish vespas were safe in h-town

don't let her get away

so, funny story...

we had a very nice flight attendant on our plane home

(the long 8 hour plane ride)

she thought Charlie and I were the cutest thing since...i don't know what

towards the end of the trip she asks us if we are on our honeymoon.

I politely reply,

"No, we've actually been married for 4 years."

With that, she looks at Charlie and says,

"Don't you let this little girl get away from you.

You hold on to her.

Hold her hand all through life.

Just like Pooh and Christopher Robin."

exit, flight attendant

I look at Charlie and ask,

"So does this make me Pooh bear?

I don't think I'm a fan of that."

Charlie says,

"How do you think I feel?

I'm Christopher Robin with the short shorts."

H.O.B. on Monday Night

Are we jet lagged?

...you betchya...

did we go to work today anyways?

...you betchya...

did we go to the concert we bought tickets for before we even knew about the Italy trip?

...you betchta...

Matt Kearney made up the sound track for our Australia trip so we just couldn't miss him

Owl City was pretty entertaining too!

What a great Monday night

why i love reading on trips...

"If you take a book with you on a journey,…an odd thing happens: The book begins collecting your memories. And forever after you have only to open that book to be back where you first read it. It will all come into your mind with the very first words: the sights you saw in that place, what it smelled like, the ice cream you ate while you were reading it…yes, books are like flypaper—memories cling to the printed page better than anything else."

▼

Cornelia Funke (Inkheart)
(Source: justbesplendid)

we're back...

this was a wonderful trip

and TONS of new memories were made

Thank you all for following us and for your sweet comments!

We're glad to be back home

feeling a little jet lagged

prevailing:
(by daиiél liиdström)
(via tyler-tyler)

true for traveling and true for life

" When you thought you’d be baking pie and living behind your very own white picket fence you’ll find yourself doing something so entirely different you couldn’t have even imagined it a year before.  There will be moments when you’ll look around and not even recognize your own life…in a good way.
You’ll take a wrong turn and end up in an entirely different city than you intended. You’ll dial the wrong number and end up in love with an entirely different person than you intended.
You won’t do it at the right time.
You’ll be late.
You’ll be early.
You’ll get re-routed.
You’ll get delayed.
You’ll change your mind.
You’ll change your heart.
It’s not going to turn out the way you thought it would.
It will be better."

It’s Not Going To Turn Out The Way You Thought It Would. Click through to read the full post.
(via outcamethesun)

Have your adventures, make your mistakes, and choose your friends poorly — all these make for great stories.

— Chuck Palahniuk

"Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had."
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

home sweet home

Arrivederchi

Yesterday was our last full morning in Venice.

This was the best cappachino of my life!

We took a quick day trip to Padua to visit the University of Padua where Gallielo was on falculty for 18 years and where Capernicus theorized that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe.

WOW!

It's just like College Station but more ancient

We also visited and attended mass at the Basillica.
Here I am standing astride Padua, or Padova as the Italians would say, and Vatican territory.
Technically the basillica is part of the Vatican...who knew?

Check out all of the answered prayers and petitions by St. Anthony!

horsie, ez nice horsie

I didn't get a chance to upload this video to our Verona post

but I do think it's worth the watch.

We knew Verona was know for certain, unique culinary delicacies...

Some of us were fans and some of us weren't

Bella Notte...

We said fairwell to Florence and rode into Venice this afternoon.

The 2 hour train ride went by quickly as we made new friends from Australia.

We checked into our hotel for the night and headed straight for the Rialto Bridge.

We went to a concert featuring Vivaldi's Four Seasons composed in 1723, J. Pachelbel, and I'Inverno...

The costumes were my favorite part!

I felt like an extra on a Pride and Prejudice movie or Julia Roberts at the Opera in Pretty Woman,

(without the whole hooker thing)

Rich Old Lady: "Did you enjoy the show dear?"

Julia: "It was so good I almost peed my pants"

Rich Old Lady: "W-w-what...."

Richard Gear: "She said, 'It was better than 'Pirates of Penzance'"

 And I couldn't help get a little misty eyed when they played La Primavera

Ater the concert we took our first gondola ride.

It was wonderful!
Our gondolier's name was Maximo...
He let me try on his hat...

(please note the beautiful shirt Mama and Uncle Linda painted for me before the trip)
and you better believe I sang into the Venetian night,

"Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night

And we call it bella notte 

Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes

On this lovely bella notte"

Firenze

Our last day in Florence...

Here is the hotel from the movie "A Room With A View".

When we asked if they had any availability we were told they are booked until September!

YOWSA!

Luckily a fancy hotel isn't necessary to find a great view in Florence...

The Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge)

The Fountain of Neptune in Piazza della Signoria which was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici to grand duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565.

The Arno River flowing beneath the bridges of Florence:

Outside of the Duomo

Also known as the Cathedral in Pajamas because of its colorful gothic revival facade added in the 1800s.

Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower)

One of Charlie's favorite sculptures, Benvenuto Cellini's, "Perseus With the Head of Medusa"

And finally a $30 t-shirt that Charlie decided to pose with in lieu of purchasing.

Pisa...not so bene

Not to be a "debbie downer" but our day in Pisa was less than a success.

After leaving our B&B, buying our bus tickets and arriving at the train station

we realized we didn't have our pre-paid train tickets with us.

Okay, so no biggie.

We'll ride the circuit around back to our hotel.

An hour and a half later we are still on that same blasted bus.

But that's not gonna get us down...no siree-bob!

We finally make our way back to the train station, this time with our tickets.

Little did we know that there are several different trains, some with more direct routes, to Pisa.

We somehow pick the slowest one with the most stops.

Oh well, C'est la vie.

We excited just to be on our way to see the tower!

Finally, we have arrived!!

5 minutes after the picture above was taken the rain started.

Our spirits are getting a little dampened at this point, literally.

But you can't keep a good man (or gal) down!

We headed over to climb the famous tower. 

Well, wouldn't you guess it?

You have to buy your tickets to climb the tower in advance

and the next available time isn't for another 4 hours.

Well, rats!

But still, I mean, we're in Pisa, Italy.

Marveling at this famous building.

How bad could things really get?

Up next, how about some good 'ol home cookin' from McDonald's?

Now that our tummies are smiling, we decide to make our way back to Florence.

Only, there are zero, zip, nada taxis in sight.

Anywhere.

After asking a few different people we find out

the taxis stop running at a certain time here in lovely Pisa.

Ok, no biggie.

We'll just take a bus...only there are no tickets to be found anywhere.

So we decide to chance getting a fine and ride without tickets.

(sometimes they check for tickets here and sometimes they don't)

Almost an hour later we are still waiting for a bus.

And the crowd of tired tourists and vendors is swelling by the minute.

Will we even make it on this train at all?

We probably could have walked to the train terminal by now.

Finally we see the bus coming and we push our way through the crowds to secure our standing

room only spot.

Hey, at least we got on, right?

Exhaused and wet we get back to Florence when the rain that was in Pisa

catches up with us.

Thankfully, we got a proverbial bone thrown to us in the form of a local restaurant

with the best dinner we've had all trip.

Thank you LORD!

...what...a...day...

Florence

We made it to our hotel in Florence despite a bus strike

that occured earlier today and caused crazy delays at the train station.

But one of the things italians are known for, i think, are their strikes.

It just wouldn't have been authentic Italy without some form of strike occuring.

The Gelato is fabulous, the blackberry variety is pictured above.

We found a few marble statues in a square.

Charlie made friends with Americo who is credited for mapping the Americas.

Hopefully we can find the original David somewhere in the city.

Tomorrow we're going to take a quick day trip to Pisa

to see the tower.

Now it's time for a quick rest before another busy day starts.

WHEW!

Fair Verona

We wrapped up our last day in Verona

with a final trip to Juliet's house.

It wasn't something that I was particularly interested in but

I am so glad we went.

I love this picture of Cat and her Mama!

Check out all of the love graffiti on the wall behind them.

We added our own names to the thousands of other lovebirds.

This was my favorite city so far and I was a little said to say good-bye.