This is the life.

It's Saturday morning. What I am I doing?

I'm drinking this....

And hanging out with this guy.

Isn't he the cutest? His birthday was on Tuesday. Our little puppy is now two years old!

And yes, we are those people that get our dog a cake and presents on their birthday.

The husband only works a half day today. This afternoon, we are going to the Westport Food Truck Festival.

This will be followed by a get together one of my professors has each year for the graduate program.

Fun times!!

There's No Place Like Nebraska......

What do you when you're sitting at home on a Saturday night, and decide it would be really fun to go to the Omaha Zoo?

You get in your car and go to Omaha, of course. Even if the current time is 9pm and it is a three-hour drive.

This is what we did last weekend.

We found a hotel, a dog sitter, and packed our bags. This all took about 30 minutes. Dropping off the pup ended up taking a little longer, but we were on the road before 10:45.

We arrived in Omaha at 2am.

You may not know this about me, but I am not a morning person. I like to sleep. 

I knew I would be getting up early after getting very little sleep. I wasn't looking forward to that part of the deal, but I wanted to be spontaneous more than I wanted a full night of sleep. At least that is what I kept telling myself. 

I woke up. I was tired. Then, we had a great day in Omaha. The zoo lived up to all the hype, and we thought it was incredibly awesome.

I even faced my fears and snapped a photo of this jellyfish. 

It's true. I'm afraid of jellyfish. But this one was behind glass and it couldn't sting me. 

We also couldn't help being silly in the gift shop. I'm not sure why the giraffe is shorter than the monkey. That doesn't really make sense. We probably should have thought that one out more carefully.

Since we still weren't quite ready to head home after spending the entire day at the zoo, we stopped at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Basically, it's a cool bridge that sits right on the Nebraska/Iowa border. So, we stood in the middle of bridge and took some fun (cheesy) photos. 

And that's the story of a random, super last minute road trip to Nebraska. 

Thesis (Again)

Those tears of stress and frustration in my last post have turned into tears of joy because.....

      I HAVE A THESIS TOPIC!!!

What? Is this real?

It's too good to be true.
Except it is true.

For those that do not know - my graduate degree is in Communication and Leadership.

There is this thing in communications known as interpretive communities. It deals with  groups of people interpreting texts and creating a shared meaning. Sounds fun, right?

You're right, it doesn't.

But it sounds more fun when you're looking at interpretive communities through the lens of HARRY POTTER.

That's right, my thesis is about Harry Potter.

Isn't that awesome?

Now I have to actually do some work.

**resumes crying hysterically***

Thesis

Thesis. Do people actually write those things? Do people ever come out alive on the other side?

The coursework for the class I'm current taking is quite overwhelming. I realize that I'm earning a master's degree, but I've been spoiled the last few terms. 

But the amount of homework isn't the problem. The problem is that this class is my last class. 

My.last.class. 

Does this mean I get to graduate? No, no it doesn't. It means it's time to start my thesis hours. 

What is my thesis topic, you ask? 

I don't know. 

***starts crying hysterically*** 

It's time to get down to work, folks. 

First Friday Fun

Saturday is the best day of the week. Hands down. 

Why? 

There isn't any work on Saturday! Plus, there is still the promise of Sunday, another day off work before Monday starts looming over my head. 

So, while Friday and Sunday are great, Saturday is way better. 

This Friday, however, was Good Friday. This meant that our offices were closed, and it was a very good Friday indeed. 

The morning/afternoon was spent lounging around with my puppy, which is basically my favorite activity. 

Our Friday evening was quite busy. We started out by attending a ThirtyOne sales party, because it was being hosted by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. There were some very cute things, and I might end up buying something, but I haven't decided yet. 

Then, we headed to the Crossroads Art District for First Fridays. We have been meaning to go for quite some time, and it's an item on the list, but we just could never seem to get there. Our friend Paul is a ceramics artist, and he has a studio in the Crossroads and sells his items on First Fridays. Another friend of ours (and my former boss, in my barista days) mixes music and was playing at Paul's studio. 

We needed to make it down there, because Paul is moving to a studio in the West Bottoms, which means this was his (and Joe's) last First Friday. So, we walked around and popped into a few galleries, making sure to see Paul's studio as well. He was vey excited to see us! We loved First Friday and will definitely be back for more, but I am so glad we made it down to one before Paul's studio moved. 

Then, it was off to Erin's for a birthday party. There were drinking and shenanigans involved. 

All in all, it was a great night. I had an awesome time and I crossed an item off the list! 

Ciao Bella (pt. 2)

This post is a little delayed, but I've been busy!

I fully transitioned into my new position, started a new class, and am still working on the assignments for the study abroad class. The study abroad class just happens to be the subject of this post!

I already discussed Rome and Florence. So, that leaves us with Bologna and Venice.

At first, Bologna seemed quite boring, to be honest. There didn't seem to be many restaurants and pubs, and it just wasn't a happening place. We turned out to be wrong. As it turns out, our hotel was not centrally located and quite far from the main city square. So, we just didn't realize everything the city had to offer.

The main city square = awesome. Unfortunately, we didn't have a tour of the city until the day before we were scheduled to leave, so we didn't realize just how awesome the city was until it was time to move on to Venice. Bologna is the food capitol of Italy! We had some culinary delights, and I brought home the most amazing chocolates. The gnocchi with four cheese sauce, seen in this photo, was incredibly rich and delicious.

In Bologna, we conducted interviews with university students about Italian culture and values.  This was the most eye-opening experience of the entire trip. These students, even as college freshmen, were incredibly knowledgable on current events and political issues. They provided me with some great information about the close-knit nature of Italian families. The values the students associated with Italian culture were art, food, and faith.

And, when it was their turn to ask me questions about American culture, they didn't hold back. I was asked to explain the reasons we drive huge, gas-guzzling vehicles and refuse to preserve the environment. I was asked why we don't do more to help Greece, and the reasons we seem to so adamantly oppose government healthcare. It was clear these students are well-aware of all that is happening in the United States.

I do not think the phrase "ignorant American" is too far off the mark. The students informed me that Italians view Americans as self-centered, and they do not think we understand nor care about matters that do not affect us directly. I fear that this statement is, in many cases, a correct one. It has definitely made me think more about the effort I put into learning about current events both inside and outside of the United States. It has motivated me to get outside my comfort zone and expand my knowledge base.

Me, standing in the middle of the Rialto Bridge

Anyway, after Bologna, we took the train to Venice.

Venice! Upon exiting the train station, it felt as if we were stepping into a painting.  A cold painting, but a beautiful one.

We spent one full day exploring San Marco Square and the surrounding area. There are no words to describe the interior of the basilica, which is filled with gold leaf mosaics. We entered at noon, when the sun was high the lights in the church were on - the beauty was enough to bring people to tears.

We spent another day on the Islands of Murano and Burano.

Murano is known for its blown glass. There were shops and factories all over the island. I purchased several pairs of earrings!

Colorful Houses on Burano

Burano is known for its lace. So, of course I purchased some scarves.

All of the houses on Burano are painted in bright, vibrant colors. Out of all the places I was blessed enough to visit, Burano is my favorite place in all of Italy. Everything was just so quiet and charming. I would imagine it would be the absolute perfect place to retire.

So, while that barely scratches the surface of my experience in Italy, that's basically the highlights. I cannot wait until I am able to visit Europe again. Next stop, London and Paris!!