Postcards from Italy +++ much more!

Looong overdue update! Here are some various pictures from the past few weeks.
Italy:
The Coliseum, obv.

Bernini Fountain. Love me some merman.

Vatican City, looking quite foreboding.

Some REALLY OLD ruins.

Hey look! I found where the Pope sleeps!

St. Peter's Basilica

Trevi Fountain. Bad shot, but I was impatient.

The view from our hotel window.

Back in Amsterdam:
I think this is one of the coolest pictures I have taken yet!

Flower Market.

Keukenhof. A day trip to see the tulips!








My mom leaves tomorrow. It's been fun but I'm ready to be on my own again. Plus I miss riding my bike.
Queen's Day is on Thursday! DRUNK LAUREN WILL OVERTAKE THE STREETS.
I go to Paris on May 2nd to see Cooper!
I found out that Zahra is coming to stay with me in June. and Jenni is coming at the end of June and into July and we are going to Germany. Sooooo excited. I am a lucky girl to be able to see so many friends and family while here.
Planning my trip to Michigan this summer!! and the boys are coming to Tennessee too.
My first half of the summer will be spent in Greece, Germany, and Amsterdam. The second half I get to see my favorite boys twice! and reunite with all my wonderful friends back home!
My life is amazing.

...

When I look back at the pictures of you, the memories...I feel nothing.

I actually got a little homesick yesterday, but I feel a lot better today. I miss just picking up the phone at night to call a friend. And none of you damn losers will get Skype. The only people I talk to on a regular basis are my parents and my Michigan boys. Wouldn't have it any other way, though!

Updates: Mama gets here in TWO DAYS! I can't wait for the hug.
Rome on FRIDAY!
I booked my trip to Santorini, Greece. BEHOLD:

yay!
Queen's Day is in two weeks!
and I see Cooper Pooper in 2.5 weeks!
and the weather has been amazing!
I love my life.

also: you know that feeling when you are talking to someone who seriously makes you laugh all the time? It's like butterflies and euphoria. Yeah. I like that feeling :)

Norwayyyy!

WTF. Let's go to Norway, now.

rant of sorts

It really bothers me how harshly people are judged sometimes. Not in every case, or hopefully even most cases, but it seems to me like Christians are some of the most judgmental people I know. (like I said, this is not the case all the time, or even most of the time). But a Christian has no right to judge someone who chooses to be agnostic, atheist, Jewish, Buddhist, and so on. I was raised Christian and went to a Christian school for nine years. What I learned from the teachings and belief system is that the most important rule is to love and be loved. and that the only one who can ever judge is God. Just because someone is not a Christian does not mean they do not have a good heart and extremely high morals. Being atheist does not mean someone is an evil, corrupt, lyin', stealin' lady of the night. In fact, my best friend, who happens to be atheist, is one of the most good-hearted girls I have ever had the pleasure to have in my life.
With me and my friend, deciding to not be a Christian was a choice, influenced by nothing other than our own personal beliefs. That doesn't mean that all "christian" morals fly out the window when one makes this decision. I consider myself very well-versed in Christianity and the Bible, but just because I don't accept it as my faith and religion doesn't mean I didn't learn anything from the teachings.
Really, what is important is having a good heart. As the bible says, see the plank in your eye before you focus on a speck of sawdust in your neighbor's eye.

ANYWAY- glad I got that off my chest.

Kat is in town!! We went to the Anne Frank house yesterday, which was extremely moving. It gave me chills to stand in her room, with the cut-outs from magazines she used to decorate the walls still there.
Tonight is Euro beer night! Kat's two friends come into town this evening, so we should have fun times. So much stuff to do, so little time.
Amsterdam is the coolest city ever. It's a city of letting go, moving on, and being HAPPY. At least for me :)