2 MONTHS TILL PROGRAM START DATE!

                                   Ci Vediamo Presto Amore Mio!

It's officially two months today until the program in Florence starts...which means it's just a little over a month and a half before I head to Italy! It's literally all I have been thinking about. I'll be heading to Italy around the 20th, to stay with Massimo and his family as always. On the 28th, Evalyn should be arriving in Venice and Massi and I will pick her up from the airport and welcome her to the country! Then the next day, we will all take the train to Florence together and start this awesome journey :) I can't even begin to imagine how amazing it's going to feel when Massi embraces me for the first time, and I know that we will not have to worry about any countdowns until I have to leave for a year. Saying I will feel at home and complete will be an understatement. All I know for sure is that it will all be so surreal, and nobody will be able to bring me down! Time actually seems to be flying this summer; I can't believe it's already been over a month since I've been home and over two weeks since I had my Visa appointment. I  must say, I'm totally okay with that :) It's already almost July, and I know after that time will begin to really fly! It's been so exciting getting to plan everything for the first couple of days, and figure out where I'm going to be living. I can't wait to live with Italians and get completely immersed in the culture! My main challenge that I have been thinking about these days is how I'm actually going to pack for an entire year...since I have always packed for months when I go for just weeks.That will most definitely be my biggest challenge, but I'll somehow figure it out! After five trips, I've become quite skilled at smashing everything I want in my luggage, even if it means carrying a backpack half my size. I just truly am counting the days, and we are down to almost 50! When Massimo and I are down to just 50 days before we see each other, time always flies. And with this next month, having my friends come visit and taking trips to Disneyland and such, I'll be posting my one month before I know it :)

Visa Appointment COMPLETE!

Goodness, the last week sure has been extremely stressful! It's been more than a mission to get all of my paperwork together and in front of me in time for this day. If you didn't already know, applying for a student visa is THE MOST tedious process you could possibly confront when it comes to studying abroad. Not to mention I was told at my orientation that the Italian visa was one of the most difficult to apply for. Go figure. I was also told that most people are turned away the first time that they go to the Consulate, however they are now completely booked for the summer so it would have been impossible for me to make another appointment! That put so much weight on my shoulders, and I was overly paranoid that I wouldn't have everything that I needed. This led me to make farrrr too many copies of everything that I had, and also to take extra paperwork that I didn't even need. I guess it's better to be overly prepared than to miss something, right? :) Another major stressor that came along was that I discovered that I needed to apply for the "corsi singoli" no later than June 17th, in person at the Consulate. The corsi singoli are basically courses that you take at an Italian University, which are COMPLETELY in Italian. They expect a lot from you and if you choose to do it, then you are most certainly not treated like an American student at all, but absolutely like every other Italian student that's among you. This is something that I'm completely nervous for, because clearly I don't want to fall behind due to lack of understanding, however I believe that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will get to truly expand my italian in so many ways! I know that I would regret it if I didn't at least try! Anyway, it was brought to my attention that I had to get this done before the 17th, and the office isn't open on weekends. So today, which was also the day of my appointment, was the only opportunity that I had. I didn't know if I had to make an appointment, so I freaked out a bit...luckily I got a call from the passport agent who sent me all that I needed and told me to just take it all in with my Visa information. I drove down to LA last night and met my parents, and this morning we still had things to take care of beforehand. We got up and ventured out to take care of everything, however the LA traffic was absolutely ridiculous and seriously pushed us on time. By the time we got to the bank, which was our last errand, it was 11:05 and my appointment was at 11:30! We left there at 11:15 and had to fight the traffic to make it a couple miles away, and the entire way I was having a nervous breakdown, basically feeling like I had to puke. This was only because I knew that if we were late for that appointment, they would tell us to reschedule another one, however that would have been impossible because there are none left for the summer. If you guys didn't know beforehand, the Visa is the most important document of the program, it's what lets us into the country and allows us to stay! Without that, I would not be going. So maybe now you understand where my mind was right at this point. We pulled into the parking structure at 11:26 and I got out of my car at 11:29, and literally RAN all the way up there, making it exactly on time. I checked in and everything was fine, with the exception of myself. My hands were shaking with anxiety as I was getting all of my paperwork together, but I finally got it all organized. They called me up and I explained to them of my situation with the corsi singoli, and they took all of my paperwork. The lady that runs the corsi singoli had to leave on an emergency to Italy today, so she wasn't able to see me exactly. So they told me that the only problem with that was that my Visa would just take longer to process. It normally takes about three to four weeks, and now that they have to take care of the corsi singoli it will probably take about 6 weeks, but it will still get to me on time before school :) I was overly prepared and the lady appreciated that, so we gave her everything and were out of there in twenty minutes! It was so much less intimidating than I had originally anticipated, and I was SO relieved once I walked out that door. All the stress that I had worked up to this point is now GONE! I can now work on mostly the fun details to prepare for my departure...and soak up this time of relaxation that I have before I go :) Being one step closer makes me so much more excited to arrive in this beautiful place and to be back in the arms of the love of my life! 74 days! <3

3 MONTHS TILL PROGRAM START DATE!

This city. This Boy. This will be my life.

I am in disbelief that time is flying so fast. Knowing that my program is literally three months from beginning and that I will be leaving a couple weeks before that makes me far too excited. Now that I'm home for the summer, all I can do is plan! My Visa appointment is coming up on June 15th, which is probably just about the most stressful thing any human studying abroad could possibly have to go through. After that is complete I will be home free :) The only other thing is I have to save like CRAZY, which is hard for me to do...especially over the summer when all you want to do is buy new things and go just about everywhere. But I know that I'll make it work :) I don't think I've ever been this happy in my entire life, and the best feeling is knowing that it's actually deserved. This whole process, which began my senior year of high school is now just months within my reach. Massimo Zanesco, my amazing boyfriend who is also my best friend and my rock, will be mine for a whole year. After over two of distance. Life really does have a way of coming all together for the better in the end :)

Finals are OVER.....Recap on the past few weeks!

The last few weeks have been incredibly hectic, but it's nice to finally be DONE with finals and knowing that I won't be back at Sac State for over a year makes me ecstatic! Here's a recap on my past couple weeks:

First of all, I had two orientations for Study Abroad on May 4th and 5th. The first one was held at Sac State, and I met a lot of people...it was nice to hear all the different places where everyone will be studying abroad next year! I even made plans to meet up with some of the other ones that were going to Europe :) Then the next day we had our actual orientation at San Francisco State, where we were given basically most of the information that we need to know for our year abroad. Although we had to wake up far too early, it was so worth it. There were SO many people going to Italy! I can't believe the next time that we'll see them is when we will ACTUALLY be in Florence. All in all, the weekend was a great one, and it actually made this whole experience seem so much more real....and a lot closer at that! Now, we just have to figure out the whole stupid visa process as well as everything financially...those two things are the biggest BITCHES of the entire process. But in the end we know that it will all be worth it :)

The next weekend was my long anticipated going away party. I made these awesome shirts for Evalyn and I to rock at the party, and we looked pretty bad ass :) This was truly an amazing night. It started off with going out to dinner with my tight knit group of friends that I absolutely adore. We went out to Buca de Beppo, an amazing Italian place that I had never been to before. Needless to say it was like the real thing! My friends truly spoiled me that night; they surprised me with a giant Italian flag that they had all signed and paid for my entire dinner. I felt so loved and so lucky! I had also prepared a card for each of them with a picture that I wanted them to keep for the year that I'm away...so that way they CAN'T forget me :) The dinner was full of laughs and tears, and without a doubt I could say that it was one of the most memorable nights of my college experience thus far. These guys have become more like family than friends to me, and this last night that we all got to spend together was so incredibly special! Then, we came back to my apartment to have the party. It was awesome literally getting to see every body that I have gotten the chance to know during my past two years at Sac State in my apartment....it was one bad assss party that's for sure :) Although it ended up getting shut down prematurely due to random ass people that came, from what I DO remember of that night, it was so worth it. Great way to end up Sophomore at Sac State and bring in the joy of my upcoming year abroad! Thanks to everyone again for coming and partying with me before I left!

                                   
                                        Love them more than anything!

                                               
                                    Ciao America! Italia HERE WE COME :)

                                 
                          The wonderful flag that my friends surprised me with...
                      woke up to so many more interesting and drunken signatures
                   the next day. Guess that just gives it more character :) I felt so loved!

Four Months!

It's exactly four months today until my program start date in Florence. Time is flying by faster than I thought! Literally just two weeks left on instruction, three days of finals, and I'm done with this semester. I finally got to mail the paperwork, which was a HUGE lift off of my shoulders. Now that I've secured my spot, I 'just have to move onto the next preparation! There is still so much more to do, but it's slowly falling into place.These days are really difficult at the moment, however I know that it will all work out the way it's supposed to. The one thing that can get through the impossible is the power of love. I just have to keep my head held high and remember the paradise I'll be in in exactly FOUR months from today :)

Note to Self

I need to remind myself to take a breath sometimes and remember that it's all going to work out as it needs to! Today is definitely a lesson learned. I have my physical for studying abroad this afternoon and I need my immunization records, which I have trying to find for the past week. I found out that my previous doctor had moved towns and didn't bring any of his previous records, so then I called where he used to work only to find out it wasn't there anymore and that my documents were more than likely disposed of! This made me freak out, and I didn't know what I was going to do in order to prove I have all the shots that I need to leave the country. I gave one last call to my high school to check if they still kept the alumni records but didn't get ahold on anybody, so I just about gave up and was going to hope for the best. Well, when I woke up this morning I had a message on my phone from my high school that she indeed had my records and faxed them over to me! Last minute, everything fell into place. It's just proof to myself that sometimes I let my anxiety get the best of me, when I really need to just relax and remember that there has never been a time when I haven't accomplished what I wanted, and that it will all fall into place as needed. Today is going to be a good day :)

So close, yet so far....

So it's been exactly 20 days since I left Italy and my love. For some reason, it already feels like it's been a lifetime and even though time is passing so quickly, it feels like forever until I'll see him again! This could be a really long break for us, however I know that the next time I do get to see him, there will be NO goodbyes for over a year. We will finally get to live like we are in a normal relationship (although we are going to be traveling Europe together :) ) and gosh dammit we DESERVE it! We have come so far for this and have worked both our asses off together and apart to make this all work the way that we desired, and we have gotten through the thick and the thin together. As these next months pass, I just have to keep reminding myself that I will get to that point...and once I hug him at the airport knowing that I won't have to worry about time will make it all so completely worth it ;)