Busy? Me?

There is no way to describe the flood of emotions and happenings that have taken place over the past month, but before I attempt to give you a glimpse of what it has been like to be "me" over the past few weeks, I have a dozen blurbs of advice:

1. Don't try to plan your wedding right after the last semester of your college career
2. DO laugh off wedding nightmares.  It's one day, who cares if you remember to shave your legs or not?  The groom? psh
3. Don't go to Italy right before your wedding
4. DO be nice to your mom, she may just be doing everything for your wedding while you're in Italy
5. DO go the cheaper route when planning your wedding, because last minute expenses add up and it's better tot have a cushion.
6. Don't depend on friends to do everything, it stresses them out and it stresses you out.
7. DO find a super guy, because he'll have to calm you down as you look over your To-Do-before-I-Do list, and he'll need to help with a thing or too (it works best if this "super guy" is also "the groom")
8. DO take extra memory cards when going to Italy, you will fill every.one.you.have.
9. DO have a normal sleep schedule. Don't stay up writing blog posts about being busy / tired
10. DO eat gelato every day while in Italy, because American ice cream is just not the same
11. DO shop for wedding rings before the final month.  oops
12. DO plan some times for rest and friends, you will need it.


Italy was great, but it was the craziest three weeks ever.  Every city in Italy is so different than the others that we went through a small culture shock transition with each move we made (every 2–3 days or so).  I don't mean to sound negative, because I really did love it.  I was a little reluctant to leave at first, but once I was in Italy I was just excited to see more and more; to soak in the culture and the artwork that I was seeing.  However, as ready as I was to explore and see the sights, I was also very ready to return.  Three weeks is a long time, and to be honest, I would rather not leave the country again for the amount of time without Superman.  It was a hard and rather frustrating separation period.

 Me in Assissi—pardon the un-edited photo, I haven't had a spare moment to edit them yet :-/

The view was breathtaking in person—so green!

 In the Vatican <3

Hiking in the Alps :)

Once I was back from Italy, I spent time recovering from the time difference.  I returned at 5:00pm Detroit time, but it was 11:00pm Italy time (and I had been up since 5:00am Italy time!).  I was DEAD TIRED, I can't remember a lot of what actually happened that night—it is all a blur as I struggled to stay awake and soak up as much family, Todd and the English language as I could!

After a day of laundry and catching up on Emails, my mamma finally returned the next evening!  We talked for a little before I had another hang-out night with Todd and my sibs.  The next day brought another whirlwind, this time it was filled with Wedding-To-Dos.  After a moment of panic we got started.  And that's where I've been ever since.  I went today to help the new ADC summer staff figure out what the summer is going to look like for them and hang out with some camp friends for a little while :)  I also got my weekly baby-fix through some time with little Hayleigh!  What a sweetheart :)

Alright, I'm losing it now—my head keeps jerking back up as I recover from a small doze.
More later (hopefully)