Actions Speak Louder Than Words

One saying you might have heard from me is "Words are hard!" Well, that might not be the case for some, but they have always been difficult for me. Where I fall short in my words, I hope my actions are able to express how I feel. But "why are you telling me this?", you might be thinking.

I don't think I have ever fully expressed how thankful I am that Big Richard is in my life. How can you find the perfect words to tell a person how much he means to you? I knew that I could never find the words that would be perfect enough for me to say, but I also had an idea. This one question could replace all those perfect words that I could never seem to say out loud. 

To some, this might be a surprise and to some this might seem ridiculous. I understand  Never in my life did I think I would ever use the words "adopted." Never in my life would I think that I would lose my Dad either. Never in my life did I think my Mom would ever date someone else! I did not do this out of disrespect to anyone, most importantly my Dad. After spending time away from my family in the spring, I realized how thankful I am to have them in my life. I also realized the importance of doing things that make me happy because life flies by so quickly! Having Big Richard and his family in my life make me HAPPY! I made this decision completely on my own, Mom was completely surprised.......I guess I just always have tokeep her on her toes!  I kept this decision private between my family and only asked permission from my brothers. First, I talked to Henrietta and once he gave me the okay, I talked with Lil Richard and Nick. I had my mind made up and their opinions would be the only ones that would sway my decision. I did not do this in hope to improve my relationship with Big Richard, because that is already there! I am not changing my name, and even if I simply hyphen it, it should not matter. God willing, I will one day be married, and my last name will change anyway!

To wrap this up, how lucky am I to be blessed with not one, but two, amazing men in my life to have as fathers, when some people do not even have one? What a beautiful picture this is of how much my heavenly Father loves me. The fact that the love He has for me, surpasses the love of my Dad and Big Richard actually leaves me speechless. This is something to be celebrated. Big Richard has never tried to take the place of my Dad and always works hard to honor his memory. I truly believe Big Richard was one of my Dad's last gifts to us. 

Lastly, a big thank you to my roommate, Megan, who took our family pictures and helped me pull this off! I snuck up behind her with the sign asking Big Richard if he would adopt me, and she was able to capture all the sweet moments that followed.

"Are you for REAL?

Hugs, 

KayLeigh 

Koffee with KayLeigh - Surviving and Thriving?!?

I can't believe I am half-way done with studying aboard, can you?!? I knew it was going to go by fast, but not this fast! But, I feel like I say that about everything in life the older I get. I miss having coffee/lunch dates with all you peeps. Hence the name, Koffee with KayLeigh! (and because I'm actually starting to like coffee haha) I hope this blog post feels like you are sitting across a table from me hearing what's new in my life. I can't wait till I hear about all the things that have happened from y'all when I get back!

1. School

I guess we can start off with the reason I am in Italy, aka school! Since I am half-way done, that means I survived midterms! Yay! Studying for midterms, honestly, felt like studying for the first round of college tests. At TCU, I'm so used to the structure or what to expect because of past classes or friends who have taken the same class. In Florence, I had no clue what expect..... a whole new ball game! Now that they are over, and have gotten my grades back, I'm more confident about preparing/taking finals at the end of the semester! Now, the nervousness hasn't gone away, because it's moved to a few papers I have due in each of my classes the week before finals. I could do projects all day, but I hate writing papers. I'm so self-conscious about my writings and I procrastinate as along as I can! At the end of the day, I know I will get them done and everything will be fine, I just got to start! Getting in the "study" mood here is more difficult than I thought, but I'm making it work. I never thought I would say this, but I miss the TCU Club Lib! The one here doesn't even come close to it!

2. Home

I laugh when I think about my arrival in Florence. My apartment seemed so far away from everything on that first day! Oh, how I was so wrong!! I couldn't be more happy with the location of our apartment, it's perfect in my mind. It's funny how this apartment has really become my home over the past few months...... or really how much Florence has become my home! I truly miss it SO MUCH when I'm away from it! There has also been a few funny mishaps in the apartment! I have shrunken a sweater, put to much soap in the dishwater, and my phone charger blew up turning the lights in my apartment off. While these things are not anything to spectacular, I think they are some of my favorite memories in Florence. One of my biggest concerns was about washing my clothes! I know that sounds bad, but I'm so used to my big washers and dryers, something Florence does not have. To my surprise, I haven't had any issues with the size of our washer. I will admit, I wear each clothing piece a little bit longer before washing than I do at home. I thought I would also miss my dryer a lot more! My jeans could go for a little shrink, but hanging all my clothes has become so natural! 

3. Food 

If you watch my snap story (@kayleighnava), you probably think the only thing I do is eat! I promise that I do more than that! But there is just so much good food here! Also, Italian food is my favorite, so of course I am in heaven in Italy. Cappuccinos are my new favorite drink, and I didn't even like coffee before Italy! Same thing with croissants! I wouldn't say I didn't like them before, but they weren't my favorite. Come here and have a cornetto al chocolate and your life will be changed. Cornettos are life. Surprisingly, pizza is not my favorite thing I have had here! Don't get me wrong, I have had plenty of amazing pizza. My favorite foods have been the Lampredotto sandwich and Pear Ravioli. Both so good in there own unique way. The lampredotto is so juicy and salty. While the Pear Ravioli is such a surprisingly amazing combination. I will say I do miss meat! Of course it's not like meat isn't available here, but pasta is just so much cheaper. Madi and I are also getting more adventurous with our cooking! We make quite the cooking team here at home. Conads (the grocery store) and the 99 cent store are our jam. We always pick up our staples like rice cakes, peanut butter, chocolate, and cheese. 

4. Traveling

I'll give some more thoughts on traveling later on, but it's so crazy to see the things I have always heard about and dreamed about seeing! It is a pretty surreal experience. Traveling also just puts me so much in awe of our Creator! The beauty in this world points directly to Him! Traveling around Europe also make me more excited to explore Fort Worth back home! Over here, I want to see as much as I can, because who knows when I'll be back! At home they are so many things I don't take advantage of or don't do because I tell myself that they will always be there. My big, Tobi Carter, wrote a blog post about this very topic! She put all my thoughts into words. Here is the link! Okay, now that you have read her article, you can understand how great of a human she is. Speaking about exploring back home, traveling also makes me realize how much of a homebody I am. After a few days of going, going, going I need some time to recharge....... but I guess that is what summer is for, Right?!?

5. Blogging

How I had so many plans for this little blog. I wished I posted more, but I never realized the time and effort it takes to sit down and write a post! Also, I have so many thoughts that sound good in my head, but when I go to write I'm at a loss for words or just forgot that one thought as a whole! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read all my many thoughts! Especially, those travel posts because I feel like I need to write down every detail..... which makes them super long! I'm definitely using this blog as my own little travel diary. While I will keep blogging about my travels, I want to try to work harder this second half of the semester to blog more about the little everyday things that happen in Florence! I just don't want to forget these little memories!

6. Fashion

I always joke that I went from a uniform of green and khaki to a uniform of nike shorts and oversized t-shirts! In Florence, I only wear t-shirts to bed and I left all my nike shorts at home! It's such a strange concept to have to pick out a new outfit each day! I don't think I could have been a public school kid! On the flip side, I do put more together here since I'm actually wearing real clothes and not lounge clothes. I haven't bought many clothing items since arriving in Florence, but it's fun to see the different styles between my two homes. There are some trends here that I love, but if you would have asked me about  before I came here I would hate them. I have also never worn so many sweaters in my life! It might look like I wear the same outfit due to my scarves and trash bag jacket( I read a blog post that referred to those puffy jackets as trash bags and it just made sense ya know??), but I promise I don't! Luckly, I have very few sweaters days left because it is getting warm in Florence! I wore a dress the other day and it felt so weird showing my legs. The first day back to class after spring break, all the girls were wearing shorts, dresses, or sandals. It was so weird to see because I hadn't seen sandals in so long! #texasprobs I was so excited to break out my sandals! While my nikes are my most comfortable walking shoe, I could live in sandals and I haven't had much shoe luck here. (aka blisters!) Well,I got three wears out of my new sandals before the strap broke! I'm hoping I can get them fixed this week, or it looks like I'll just have to buy another pair! 

Thanks for catching up with me!

Hugs, 

KayLeigh 

Bye Bye Waffles

Selfie to prove that I'm all good!

Life Update: 

My friends and I got the news about Belgium while we were walking out of Italian class this morning. My friend had an article about the incident pulled up on her phone, as she was telling us the details. My first thought was there goes my waffles. (I know, I'm a terrible human, sometimes the stomach thinks before the heart) My second thought, was about my roommate, Makenzie. She had actually just spent the weekend in Brussels, and came home late Sunday night. While she had no issues during her weekend in Belgium, I was happy she was home, safe in Florence! I then also received texts telling me I better not head to Belgium any time soon. (aka Mom and Kenny)

This Thursday, if I survive midterms, starts my Spring Break. We are headed to five cities: Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and the fifth city would have been Brussels. We are doing the trip through another student bus company. They emailed us last week, explaining for safety reasons, that we would not being stopping in Brussels. Last night, we received an email that Brussels was back on. Well, as you can guess, we received another email saying that Brussels was back off. The company is also closely monitoring all of our other stops, and making back-up plans if anything would go wrong.   I still feel completely safe going on this trip.We also received emails from TCU and Accent giving us practical advice on how to navigate our future travels. We also have to fill out a form for Accent before leaving Florence, giving all the details of where we will be traveling, where we will be staying, addresses, times, etc.  

I've had a lot of different thoughts today. Thinking about the people of Belgium and what they are feeling. Thinking what if this had happened in Florence. (just a thought.....I feel completely safe in Florence!) I was texting Kenny all my ramblings as usual and she reminded me that something like this could happen in America. Of course, I know this but there is some comfort of being in your home country vs. a foreign one. 

I decided (and was reminded) that you can't let other people steal your joy and that worrying about things will do no good!! (You just get thoughts that make you want to go home and that's no fun!) You only study abroad once, and you can't let your fears get in the way of what you want to do, Life is just to short. We will still be traveling the rest of the semester, paying attention to the news, and planning accordingly. (If God is ready to take me, I know he will!)

Thank you for everyone who has checked on me, today! 

Prayers for Belgium, the rest of Europe, and safe travels! 

Psalm 46

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Hugs, 

KayLeigh

Postcard from Venice, Burano, and Murano

Whatever floats your boat

To be honest, I had mixed feelings about going to Venice. Don't get more wrong, I was excited to go and see a new place - a well known place in Italy. Also, this trip was with Accent, so they handled all those nitty gritty details. At times it almost seemed free, because we weren't paying for transportation or the hotel. (But it was included in the program fee, so not really free...) I had mixed feelings, because I had heard of people who thought Venice was over rated but also of people who LOVED it. Luckily, at the end of the trip I decided that I fall into the latter group of people. 

We started the journey to Venice bright and early Friday morning. Traveling on early mornings makes me thankful that we are only about ten minutes away from the train station! With the number of people on the trip, Accent provided two buses for us. Madi and I, are on the hunt to find the perfect bus seat...... we still haven't found it!

Because there aren’t really any roads in Venice, the bus parked right outside of the city. Then as a group we took the “People Mover” to Venice. (they actually call it the people mover because they don’t have a word that is equivalent.) From the People Mover, we crossed a bridge that was right by the train station. We didn’t have to walk far from our hotel, because it was also next to the train station. At the hotel, our Accent guides checked us into our rooms. Our room was on the last floor, and we had to walk up some narrow stairs to get there. Stairs have slowly become our new BFFs. After getting settled in our rooms, we headed out to lunch with a big group of girls. I had pizza, because when does pizza not sound good and also it’s usually the cheapest on the menu. Because we arrived in Venice earlier than expected, we had time to roam around after lunch.

At 2:30, we arrived back at the Hotel to meet for a walking tour of Venice. They divided us into three small groups and then we were on our way. Within the first few minutes, I realized what people mean when they say it is like a maze! We saw a lot of things on this tour, I wish I could remember every detail but that never happens! I loved these tours, because I learn so many new things, but sometimes it’s information overload.

A school window that we passed! As future educators, Madi and I were excited!

Our tour guide described these windows as "Venetian Gothic"

The beak masks were used by Doctors. The other masks were used by the men in Venice. The shape of the mouth area even altered their voice!

The building Johnny Depp jumps from in The Tourist.

Columns of the Fish Market

These men, shuffle people from one side of the canal to the other all day! 

This picture doesn't have any significance besides the windows. You see these window designs everywhere! I love the simplicity of both. Maybe one day I'll have one of these window designs in my own home!

On the tour, we visited where Marco Polo lived

These cookies you can find in the bakeries around Venice, they are shaped to look like the Grand Canal!

When the tour ended, our Accent guides handed us cards, that ended up being a 72 hour pass to use the public transportation. This was something that came in handy for Saturday. We were free for the rest of the night.  Madi, Kylie, Cheryl, Lainey, Taylor and I headed to a restaurant our tour guide suggested. For five euros, you could take part in this appetizer buffet. We definitely got our five euros worth. After going back to get more food, I felt so American! But other people were doing the same thing too! From dinner, we headed back to our hotel. There is not a lot to do at night in Venice, so we hung out in the hotel. Our friends came to our room to watch a movie, and we just ended up talking till we went to bed! It was one of my favorite nights, because we laughed so much! I also had a major leg cramp in my calf right in the middle of our conversations. That resulted in a lot of laughs as well!

Saturday started with breakfast at the hotel then a tour of St. Mark's Square. We met our tour guides there in the square by the water. The sound of the water was so relaxing! This is the moment when I started to fall in love with Venice. Friday was a gloomy day, but seeing Venice and her glory in the sun sealed the deal. The TCU group for the tour was smaller than Friday's. Some didn't come back, because they didn't care for their tour guide! I guess we lucked out, because we loved ours! With the same guide from the day before we started the tour of the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica. You couldn't take pictures in St. Mark's but the golden walls were breathtaking as they glowed in the light!

The entrance into Venice!

People would put anonymous tips into the mouth. Someone on the other side would read the tips, and investigate into them. 

St. Marks Square in the picture!

Notice something funny about his leg??

The Bridge of Sighs

After our tour, we spent the afternoon exploring the islands Murano and Burano. Our first stop was Murano, known for their glass blowing. We walked around the shops looking at the different glass things. I ended up with some cheese knives. We also saw a glass demonstration that was really neat! He made a vase and a horse. In the process of making the vase, the two workers busted our laughing, none of us where sure the exact reason, but we had fun guessing!

Friends & Food..... what more can you want?!?

Loved the glass roses on this door frame!

From Murano, we headed to Burano, the island of lace. We took vaporettos to all of the islands. (Just think if a boat was a bus, it would be a vaporetto) They were a little slow, sometimes super crowded, but I enjoyed each ride. Something about being on the water is so peaceful! As soon as we docked in Burano, I fell in love. Burano is full of brightly colored houses that just make my heart happy. We walked around Burano taking pictures of the houses, and walking into the shops. The shops are full of  lace to buy! I ended up buying a small lace butterfly, from a shop. It was a little bit more money than I wanted to spend, but the lady was right there working on a pair of lace gloves, so I know it was authentic! Also, once you ask the price and walk away, I feel you are telling them their art/craft isn't worth that much to you. I bought the butterfly because it reminded me of my Daddy! I've seen so many butterfly displays in Florence (I guess you could blame that on spring but..), and seeing them in Burano made me smile! I wished we would of had more time to spend in Burano, but we had to make it back to Venice before the last vaporetto of the day. Truthfully, I wouldn't of minded getting stuck there! 

GO FROGS!

Look at her go!

How I felt about having to leave Burano!

Once we were back in Venice, we headed to Harry's Bar. That morning our tour guide mentioned Harry's as the place where the owner, Giuseppe Cipriani, and Ernest Hemingway invented the Bellini.  We figured it would be a fun to get a Bellini.... in the place where it was invented! Our tour guide had mentioned how pricey some of the caffe's were in St. Mark's Square were, so we imagined that she would have mentioned Harry's was expensive if it was. Well friends, it was expensive. We orginally said a table for dinner, and they took us upstairs. We opened the menu and sorta freaked! The cheapest thing at first glance was nineteen euros and it only went up from there! I didn't want to walk out since they had already taken us upstairs, so I kindly explained we just wanted a bellini and not dinner. Well, the bellini's were 16.50.... each. We decided to each order one and then get out of there as fast as we could! The bellini was pretty excellent (and smelled like my Peach Bellini B&BW's candle) but we for sure won't be going back soon. At least we have a funny story to tell!

At least we got some free olives!

Since we didn't get dinner at Harry's we were on the hunt for dinner! Taylor suggested this to-go pasta place, which is rated #1 on Yelp! We made our way there, and it was the cutest little place! You ordered your pasta, and you got it in a little cup! I decided on seafood, Taylor got meat sauce, and Madi got squid ink pasta( it was black, but so good!). Plus, the pasta was only five euros! We decided the bellini was okay because we had dinner both nights for five euros each meal. With happy stomachs, we headed to our hotel for the night. 

Sunday, we had the day free to explore Venice till we headed back to Florence. Our first mission was to do a Gondola ride! Surprisingly, we walked around a bit before we found a free Gondola! Our gondolier's name was Marco. He was very entertaining for our ride, and even agreed to sing for us! He even answered all of our questions about being a gondolier....like, "have you had anyone fall off?!?" My love for Venice was sealed at every turn down the canals! After our Gondola ride, we walked around Venice and did some shopping!

a vaperetto!

Flag of Venice

The baby was crying... I don't blame him!

It's easy to get lost in Venice, but there are also these signs that point you back to major land marks!

Sunday afternoon, we left Venice and headed back home! We got into around Florence around 5pm, and little earlier than most of our weekend trips. It was a relaxing weekend and I already can't wait to find my way back to Venice one day!

Hugs, 

KayLeigh