A Warm Fuzzy Feeling...

Hola readers and leeches...

I have a great opportunity for you all...a chance to help you feel awesome about yourself and help the world all in one easy step.  And no, it doesn't involve Mary Kay, Amway, or Scentsy, and I promise that you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling by participating in my little project or your money back.  

Here's the deal.  I need ties.  Lots and lots of missionary appropriate ties.  

"What," you're probably asking, "is a missionary appropriate tie?"

Pretty much anything goes really, except:

Mickey Mouse ties

SpongeBob SquarePants ties

Ties that say things like "#1 Dad"...or have pictures of your kids on them

Christmas ties

Halloween ties

Ties that look like a fish

Ties with scenes of elk and wolves on them

Dream catcher ties

Roses, avoid roses

Simpsons ties

Ties with sport team logos on them

Basically any tie that if you saw someone wearing in church you'd think to yourself, "what's wrong with that guy?...he always wears the weirdest ties...and not cool weird, just WEIRD."  Those are the types of ties we're trying to avoid.  

The ties don't need to be new as long as they aren't super gross (like with gravy stains), way worn out, or so ugly that a missionary wearing the tie might give a bad name to The Church and/or lower his self-esteem.

They can be old...retro ties are super cool according to most missionaries I know.

Oh, but no bolo ties...sorry cowboy friends.  

Anyway, the ties are being sent to my parents' mission in Brazil where they will be used both for missionaries serving in their mission as well as missionaries serving from their mission.  

Also, if any of you have other missionary clothing or supplies that you just have hanging around your houses and want to go to a good cause we may be able to take that stuff off your hands too.  Things that are always needed for the missionaries are:

Luggage (doesn't need to be fancy...just functional)

White shirts (don't have to be new...just in good condition...short sleeved only please)

Suits and slacks (don't need to be new...just decent)

etc.

If you have any questions about specific items you may have just leave me a comment, email me, or call me (if you're lucky enough to have my number).  

Thanks!

Europe 2010 Liberating Trip of a Lifetime Extravaganza Overview...

I would like to take this moment to give you a little overview of my Europe 2010 Liberating Trip of a Lifetime Extravaganza since I've been posting out of order and you might be a bit confused about where I've been.  Here we go...


On April 21st I luckily got on the first flight from the US to London Heathrow in about a week!...the ash cloud calmed down enough or the airlines put enough pressure on governments or whatever, and my plane was able to fly as expected.


I'll go into more detail later but basically here's my schedule...


Spent a couple of days hanging out in London with my high school friend Corrine, who is now half British.


Met up with my friend Katie, who is living in London for six months and we traveled to Southeastern England for the weekend with a whole bunch of Young Single Adults from London.  


Came back to London and spent the next week traveling all around London and the English countryside.  I went to Salisbury, Brighton, York, Carlisle, Windsor, etc.  


Then headed to Istanbul, Turkey with Katie.


After Istanbul I came back to London and took a self-directed Bridget Jones tour of London.


Then went to the Isle of Man for a couple days.


Then came back to London.


Then flew to Norway with Katie and did the Norway in a Nutshell Tour of the fjords.


Katie then flew back to London and I continued on by train to Sweden.  I crossed Sweden and ended up in Stockholm.  


From Stockholm I took a super cheap cruise to Helsinki, Finland.


And from there a boat to Tallinn, Estonia.


Then back to Helsinki.


Then back to Stockholm for a few days.


Then from Stockholm to Oslo to celebrate May 17th (Norway's national holiday) with some local folk who invited me to spend the day celebrating Norwegian style.


Then down to Denmark for a couple of days there in Copenhagen and in Helsingor.  


And from there an interesting night train to Berlin and then a couple days in Berlin. 


From Berlin I booked it down to Switzerland to meet up with Katie in Interlaken, Switzerland for the weekend.  Went hang-gliding.  Then Katie left and I took some scenic train rides around Switzerland and then headed through France and Luxembourg back up to Trier, Germany.  


From Trier I visited the Rhine River and saw all the beautiful castles there.  I also went up to Cologne to see the giant cathedral where they supposedly have the bones of the Three Kings and paid homage there.  


Then I headed down to Rothenburg, Germany, a super cool medieval city that miraculously survived getting completely destroyed in WWII.  


From Rothenburg I headed to Vienna, Austria where I spent a few days which included a quick side trip to Bratislava, Slovakia.


Then it was down to Ljubljana, Slovenia and then over to Venice, Italy.


From Venice I headed to Verona and then from there back up through the Dolomites region of Italy and back into Switzerland, with a quick stopover in Liechtenstein, and then I took the scenic Bernina Express train ride back down to Italy.  


I traveled past Lake Como, through Milan and into Pisa.  I spent time in Pisa, Florence, and Siena before heading to Rome.


I survived claustrophobia and potential pick-pocketing and was able to see the sights in Rome before flying back to the US of A.  


And now that I've been to Europe seven times and have spent a combined total of approximately four and a half months there I am just now starting to feel like I have scratched the surface on Europe and have seen a nice majority of the continent.  Now maybe when I go back I can slow down a bit and not have to do it turbo style.  


Anyway, I got home and Russell picked me up from the airport and asked me, as he usually does upon my return to the US, "Are you sick of traveling YET?"  To which I replied, "No, not really."


But I am really tired and now have to get back to the real world and maybe start looking for a job now.  I think I have maybe now distanced myself enough from the memories of my last job that I can start to think about selling my soul once again.  We'll see how that goes.  


More trip details to follow...

Ruth* Strikes Again, etc.

Remember Ruth*?  Well, she's up to two strikes with me.  One more strike and she's out.  


So tonight I'm at yet another cousin's wedding reception...fortunately, nearly all 38 of my cousins are married and I won't have many more weddings to attend.  


Anyway, my brother Russell and I were looking for a table to sit at and the only spots open were at Ruth's* table.  I told Russell that I was not sitting at Ruth's* table because I didn't want to be asked if I was "still single," and that I would just wait for another spot to open up.  


But somehow Russell convinced me that it would be okay...that I'd just seen Ruth* ten months earlier and that she would remember that I indeed had that  chronic disease called "singleness" and that she wouldn't mention it.  So we sat down across from Ruth*.


And, sure enough within SECONDS of sitting down Ruth* says to me, "so you're still single right?...wait, no, you're married...no, you're single."  


What I said: "Yes Ruth*, I am STILL SINGLE."  


What I thought: 'Holy crappoly what is wrong with you crazy lady?  Do you not have any other way to categorize or remember people other than STILL SINGLE or NOT STILL SINGLE?  Don't you remember when I saw you ten months ago and you asked me the same question?  And, if I am married then boy do I have the crappiest husband in the ENTIRE WORLD because he is NEVER with me when you see me!!!  What a non-existent jerk!' 


Dear Ruth*, 
I PROMISE that if the miracle of all miracles occurs and I do at some point in my earthly existence end up NOT STILL SINGLE then you will be the first to know, but until then I'm going to AVOID YOU LIKE THE PLAGUE YOU CRAZY FORGETFUL LADY!  And, since I'm told that I'm more likely to be killed by a terrorist than get married in my 3o's (and that statistic was discovered before O. B. Laden was even a household name, so now I'm even MORE LIKELY to be killed by terrorists) I doubt I'll ever speak to you again Ruth*.  So, goodbye and enjoy your seemingly clueless existence in your black and white world of STILL SINGLE and NOT STILL SINGLE.  


Ahhhhhhh I'm just mad that I haven't gotten around to making my "I ask stupid questions" badges.  Maybe I'll anonymously mail one to Ruth* when I get them done.  


Somehow she hasn't yet figured out that my brother Russell is also STILL SINGLE or she'd probably bug him too.  He has enough other clueless/rude people pestering him so it's probably a good thing that Ruth* hasn't honed in on his marital state.  Besides, even if she did, it probably wouldn't bother him...he doesn't seemed to get as bugged by stupid people...I usually get bugged for him.  Like the fact that even though Russell has OWNED a home for TWO years in the ward I grew up in, has lived in the ward his entire life, and has taught Elders Quorum every other week for the last SEVERAL years, they don't have him listed in the ward directory that just came out a couple of months ago.  I guess you don't exist until you exist as a couple.  Ahhhhhhhh I'm so bugged right now!!! I'd better go to bed!


*Name changed not out of the kindness of my heart but to be consistent with past posts.  




Just one more quick story though...


I don't really know where my church records are.  I told my ward in SLC that I was moving in December and to either just send my records back to church headquarters or to my home ward.  And since the lost sheep people in SLC haven't called me yet, I'm assuming that my records are in my home ward, but I don't really know.  


So, a few months ago I was making out a tithing check but didn't know which ward to write it to.  I didn't want to leave the check blank so I just wrote the check out to "God," and then left it in my checkbook until I could find a ward to belong to.  


Yesterday I was at the bank cashing a check and I usually just give the teller my debit card so she can get my account number from that, but I didn't have my debit card with me so I just flipped open my checkbook so she could get the account number.  And there it was front and center...my check made out to God.  As soon as I  noticed it I flipped to the next check but I'm still pretty sure the teller saw it.  Haaaaaaa...I bet she's like "why does this girl have a check written out to God?...how does she think he's going to cash that check?"  


Oh well, I guess I gave her something to laugh/wonder about.  I bet the life of a bank teller is pretty boring (unless the bank gets robbed or something).  


Well, that's all for tonight.  Bye now.
Oh, and don't forget to be nice to single people (and everyone else too). 

Catching Up...Pisa, Florence, Siena and Coming Home

Seven weeks in Europe means I'll be blogging about it for at least seven weeks after! Ahhhhh!  So some of my posts are going to be quick and without a lot of details so in others I can give you all the gory details.  This will be one of the shorter ones in case your attention span is short today...you can continue reading.  

So, here I am in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It is actually pretty cool because it is leaning pretty bad and is also pretty dang old (was started before 1200).  And one thing I didn't know before, was that it isn't like the tower has gradually been leaning a little more every year for the last 800 years...the tower was pretty much a disaster from the first and throughout those 800 years there have been several attempts to fix it or at least stop it from leaning more.  

And pretty much EVERYONE who is at the leaning tower takes a picture like this or some variation of this...

I wasn't going to take one of these pictures because I am the anti-tourist tourist in a lot of ways, but the girl taking my picture really thought I should take the whole "pushing up the leaning tower" picture, so I did.  

The other buildings (religious ones) that are on the same grounds as the Leaning Tower are also very beautiful.  I guess they actually chose good stone to build with and not the type that gets all black and nasty like some churches are built with.  So, I guess they weren't the best at choosing building locations but maybe okay with choosing building materials. 

I climbed the Leaning Tower.  It was pretty cool.  You can really feel how much the building is leaning when you climb up the stairs because you get pushed one way or the other by the lean.  There was a good view from the top of the city of Pisa but really other than the Leaning Tower and surrounding buildings, Pisa is pretty much a piece-a crap...not much else to see or do there.  

I decided to climb it now because probably when I am older and come back to Pisa again:

1) I will not want to climb it,

2) I will have bad knees or a heart condition or be in a Jazzy or something,

3) The tower will have collapsed,

4) The tower will lean even more and will be unsafe for climbing,

5) or, They just won't let you climb it anymore because there are too many people in the world who want to climb it and it is getting ruined.  

So, I did it now...you never know about the future.

In conclusion the lesson learned here is that if you build a building poorly but it is beautiful, it may become famous and make your town rich forever.  

Here I am in Florence...

And here's a picture of Siena...I guess I didn't get any pictures of me in Siena.

I guess Florence and Siena aren't that bad.  I just had such high expectations for them that they disappointed me a bit.  However, I REALLY liked Rome after all and I had low expectations for Rome.  So, maybe the lesson learned here is to have low expectations so you won't be disappointed...AIM LOW AND ACHIEVE!  But Florence and Siena had better food than what I've found in Rome...and cheaper too.  


Well, it's back to the good old United States tomorrow.  About a week and a half ago I actually wanted to stay longer...I even tried to change my plane ticket.  But, now that the time has come I think I'm glad to be going home, because:


#1: I miss this little muchacho and am really hoping he hasn't gotten to that annoying age where he hates everyone but his mom and dad.  

I'm hoping that he'll still like me, and am thinking that he will.  And of course I miss everyone else but older people don't change that fast...this little guy has gone from three months old to five months old in the time I've been away.  


#2: I'm getting low on deodorant and don't know if they sell it here.


#3: I'm out of face powder and so my face is gross and greasy in all my pictures.


#4:  I'm tired.


#5: I should probably look for a job before I run COMPLETELY out of money.


#6: If I stay any longer I may be found face down in a vat of gelato, dead from diabetic shock...and, although that wouldn't be the worst way to go, I'm still young and have things to do and should try not to die of gelato intoxication.


#7: I need to get home and get some Nicorette to help me overcome the second-hand tobacco addiction Europe has given me.  


#8: I want to be home for my cousin Alison's wedding on Saturday...so excited for her...and I want to get home for the 4th of July...I love the 4th of July!


#9: I need a haircut really bad...seven weeks is the MAX I can go between haircuts...it really controls my life because I can't go anywhere for longer than seven weeks!  And for those of you who are saying "why not just get your hair cut while you're on vacation?" have OBVIOUSLY never had a haircut in a foreign country!


Well, that's all I can think of.  It would have been nice if I could have rounded out the list with a number 10 of why I'm glad to be going home but I'm too tired right now to think of anything more.  Oh yeah,


#10: My bed.  I miss my lovely bed.


So this post didn't turn out being too short after all.  I'm not so good at short...I like wordy.  Sorry!


See you all soon!!!!!!!!!!!! (unless I don't know you and then I won't see you soon)

Live from a bathroom in Rome...it's Becca's Blog!

Seriously...the bathroom is the only place where I can find an available outlet to plug in my laptop...this hostel must have been built before the invention of electronics or something. 

Anyway, I just arrived in Rome tonight and the first person I talked to at the hostel got robbed today...not at the hostel, at a plaza, but they got her whole purse.  Great.  WELCOME TO ROME BECCA.  So I guess there are pickpockets EVERYWHERE in this city.  

Supposedly they aren't violent like the little B's in Brazil but the Roman thieves are fast.  So you may or may not get to see any pictures of my Rome experience.  I might just go cameraless.  

I just want to know...who raises these thieves?...I guess other thieves.  I would be so ashamed if I raised a thief.  And the sad/bad thing is that this potential thievery has me giving dirty crusty looks to pretty much everyone I see in Italy...especially the guys.  Which is really sad to me because thus far on this trip I have been assuming that all the people I meet are good people who aren't out to hurt me (unless I get a feeling directing me otherwise)...but in Italy I have kind of been assuming the opposite...that everyone is bad.  By the way, I'm like 99% sure I saw some mafia guys in the subway tonight...they just looked like mafia.  But then tonight on the bus, a nice man, to whom I had previously been giving dirty crusties, gave me great directions to my hostel and he didn't rob me or anything while he was giving me directions and he was really nice.  So, you never know.  

So I don't know what to think about Italy just yet...I haven't made my final judgement.  One minute I love it and want to stay here forever (like when I'm eating gelato or gnocchis or seeing something really cool) and the next minute I hate it (like when I smell a bad smell or get stuck in a big crowd or feel sweaty) and I want to leave ASAP and never come back.  My opinion of Italy is actually quite bipolar.  

Italy is a pretty dirty, disgusting, crowded, stinky, did I say dirty?, place.  It really is.  And it's not like I haven't been to dirty, disgusting, crowded, stinky places before, because I have been to plenty of them, but I just would expect better out of Italy.  I kind of feel like I'm in a developing country in Africa or South America, but I'm not.  I mean the trains are crappy, the buses are crappy, the bathrooms are crappy, etc.  I guess I just would expect a place that is SO touristy to be a little more tourist friendly.  And it is just weird...Italy used to be so CIVILIZED...way ahead of the rest of the world.  Some of the first public health projects for sanitation and clean water occurred in Italy...and so much of the most amazing art in the world came out of Italy...and really early on...when people in Northern Europe were still acting like Barbarians, Italians like Michaelangelo were carving statues like David.  

Oh, and by the way, yesterday I went to see David by Michelangelo in Florence and it was SOOOOOO cool.  Seeing pictures of it does not do it justice at all, but rarely are things as good in pictures as they are in real life.  It was so moving to see it in person and to know that it was carved (or chiseled or whatever you say) over 500 years ago by 26 year-old Michelangelo.  Pretty impressive I'd say.  

The statue is 17 feet tall...I had no idea it was that big until I saw a plaster replica of it in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  I decided that I wanted to see the real deal after seeing the copy.  I am not sure why it is such a moving piece of art...there is just such life and movement in it which seems like an amazing accomplishment to get so much life out of a piece of marble.  

I tagged on to a couple different English speaking tours (one of the benefits of traveling alone...nobody notices one extra person leeching onto a tour) and learned a lot of interesting little facts about the statue...one being that is thought that the statue represents the moment between conscious choice and conscious action.  It is David right before he kills Goliath.  And he looks so confident and powerful and yet so humble at the same time.  I just amazed me how Michelangelo has captured that...in stone...500 years ago.  


Anyway, here's David...

Don't worry if you have kids at home...I edited him for the blog...I've got to stay at a PG-13 rating you know.  I think Michelangelo would understand.  

And, sadly, here's what David looks like today...

39 years after the first McDonald's opened in Europe.  Sad but true.


Anyway, I'll let you know how Italy comes out in my plus or minus rating system in a few days.  I haven't yet had a country come out negative...a few just barely made it to the plus side, but a plus is a plus I guess.  


My friend Corrine and I invented this little game back in 2005 when we were in Amsterdam and came across a really jerky guy at the train station ticket office.  I remember that after leaving the ticket office one of us said, "well, minus 200 points for Holland!"  And thus was born the plus or minus country rating game. It is just kind of a way to feel in control while traveling, even though you aren't...and to just deal with things and move on.  


It's mostly a subconscious rating system.  When traveling with friends we may verbalize once in awhile a plus or minus score when we're feeling particularity strong in one way or the other about something or someone but for the most part it is subconscious.   And when I'm traveling alone I just kind of think the scores to myself.  And nobody is keeping score exactly, but you just know in the end how you feel overall.  


I won't tell you my whole scoring system, as a lot of it is made up along the way, but I'll give you some examples.  


Smell of urine outside -10
Smell of urine inside -20
Smell of urine while I'm eating -50
Smell of urine while I'm eating gelato or gnocchis -100
Dog poo on sidewalk -30
Dog poo inside a building -60
Lady with a mustache +20
Seeing a McDonald's -10 and then +10
Seeing a Disney store outside of Disneyland-20
Seeing something cool +100
Seeing something really cool +200
Being inspired by something I see +400
Meeting someone helpful and or nice +100
Meeting someone really helpful or really nice +200
Encounter with someone rude or creepy -100
Encounter with someone really rude or really creepy -200
Getting something for free +100
Nice hostel or hotel +100
Not so nice hostel or hotel -100
PDA -30
Really disgusting PDA -100
Pigeon pooping on me -100
Pigeons in groups of 10 or more -50
Encounter with a gypsy -70
Actually finding the LDS church building on Sunday in time for church +200
Great food +50
Great gelato +100
Great gnocchis +300
Cigarette smoke in my face -50
Cigarette smoke in my face at just the right time to cover up a bad smell +50
Loogie on sidewalk -20
Loogie inside a building -50
Seeing a loogie hawked -100
Seeing a loogie hawked on an escalator -200
Stepping in gum -100
Sitting in gum -400
Confusing public transport -50 
Well-planned and easy to understand public transport +50
Seeing a good looking guy +20
Seeing a really good looking guy +40
Eye contact and a smile with a good or really good looking guy +100


Anyway, I'm sure there are many more things that I subconsciously use to judge a country on.  


I also sort of do the same with people...plus or minus, plus or minus on and on as my opinions are formed.  And you may say, "Becca, that's so bad to add up everything a person is and does and then just say plus or minus about them," but actually I think it is the nicest way to form opinions about people...a little at a time.  Because I don't want to just have one bad encounter with someone and then not like them anymore...because maybe they were just having a bad day.  So I give people TONS of chances and I hope people do the same for me.  Because we all say and do stupid stuff.  I think the plus or minus game is actually quite fair and forgiving...I mean I have yet to give a country a minus, and I RARELY give people minuses either.  


I won't bore you with the whole list of how I decide whether people are plus or minus in my book, but will just leave you with these few...


Leaves a comment on my blog at least every 5th post +100
Leaves a comment on my blog at least every 10th post +50
Leaves a comment on my blog once every few months +10
Never comments on my blog but tells me that they read my blog when they run into me at the mall -50
Never comments on my blog and then tells me all the grammar and factual errors I've made -100


Well, wish me luck.  Tomorrow it's Becca vs. Rome!