Just following those hats around Rome

Well for starters, I had really good intentions to blog while I was in Rome, but I haven't really held up to that. I have just been so exhausted that I haven't had the time. We flew from Birmingham to Charlotte on Tuesday morning. The plane ride was less than an hour, and really smooth. After that, we rode from Charlotte to Italy on a flight that lasted nine hours. The ride was soooooo long, but it was rather smooth. I tried to sleep on the plane but I didn't have too much luck because every time Kyle moved, he woke me up. It was really strange to see the  up, then set, then come up again all in nine hours. When we had about an hour left on our flight, we flew over some beautiful mountains that were breath taking. It was really enjoyable to look out the windows on the ride in to Italy. When we got into Rome, we took a taxi from the airport to Residence Candia. Our first impressions of Rome were not too good. It reminded us of Mexico because it looked so dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. We checked into the hotel, and our rooms are surprisingly nice. We both have two roommates. I am rooming with Beth from JSU and Kalynn from GSU.

After we got settled into the hotel, Drs. Beezly and Prudlo took us on our first tour. We went to Castle St. Angelo. This changed our entire first impressions of Rome. The view from the top of the castle is breath-taking!! everything about the castle reminded me of Angels and Demons. I loved that they chose to take us there first because so far it has really set the tone for the whole trip. It gave us something to look forward to because we were able to pick out other places that we really wanted to go. Later that night, the professors took us to dinner at a little family restaurant down the street from the hotel. The food was divine, but the jetlag was seriously starting to settle in. I also gave my first attempt at "acquiring" the taste for wine. It still isn't my favorite, but I am coming around. It was really great to get into bed on day one. I had amazing sleep because essentially I hadn't slept in over 24 hours.

On day two, I woke up a little late, but I still had time to experience my first Italian breakfast--cappuccino and a pastry. It was divine. We followed those hats that we can't hardly keep up with (the professors) to Palatine Hill: the birthplace of Roman civilization. The rulers of Rome lived on the Hill, and it is one of the seven hills of Rome--the highest actually. Later that night, we decided to visit the Trevi Fountain. It is said that if you throw a coin in with your right hand over your left shoulder that you will come back to Rome one day--we will just have to see how true that is. We ended up going to a Scottish pub near the fountain, and the Metro stopped running because it was after 9pm. We had to take the bus back to our hotel, but we got so lost along the way. We ended up getting on the wrong  night bus that took us literally all the way across town! We were on the bus and an German/Chicago girl asked the locals where Cipro (our Metro stop) was, and every single local literally pointed in the opposite direction! We had to get off that bus and talk to more locals (with combined English, Spanish, and French) to figure out how and where to get on the correct bus. We ended up finding it, and we made it back to our hotel around 1:30 am. It was hilarious, and we really had a great time.

Onto day three. ...Day three we went to Ostia. Ostia is a little part of Rome near the sea that is where most of the commoners lived. We saw the remains of the baths, theater, toilets, bar, restaurant, etc. It was really neat, but SUPER hot!!! On the was back from Ostia, I got one of the best chicken salad sandwiches I have ever had, then I came back and took a nap. In the afternoon, We visited the Colosseum. It was an awesome site to see. It is basically the ruins for a huge stadium. It is beautiful, and I cannot wait to go back and see it at night. Later that night, we went out with a bunch of JSU students to the first restaurant that the professors first took us to. It was wonderful. We had a nice pleasant dinner that lasted over two hours. It made me feel like a real Italian because Italians eat like 1 million courses and drink a ton of wine so it takes them forever. We had so much fun just chilling and talking with everyone.

For Saturday, we traveled to Florence, Italy. We had to ride a train to get there. On the way there, we rode "the fast train." It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but we had standing room only seating so we stood in the bar area the entire time. Drs. Prudlo and Beezley gave us tours around the city. We saw many beautiful basilicas and walked all over the town. After lunch, we went to a basilica that had the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, and Galileo. It was pretty cool to see their tombs. Florence also had some really great shopping markets. We were so tired that we decided to take the "slow train" back to Rome. The slow train=four hours!!! We bought first class tickets because they were cheaper than the fast train.

Florence was a great end to a wonderful week. It is Sunday now, and it had been a very chillaxing day. It rained today, but it was nice to have an excuse to relax. I am enjoying this adventure; it has been an amazing experience!!! 

Blessings!!!

Just Three More Days Until I Live Like a Roman for Three Weeks...

So, when I began my blog at the beginning of the semester, the two main reasons I wanted to start it was 1.) to share my wedding plans, and 2.) to share my trip to Rome, Italy.

Well, it's Saturday, and I have just three more days until we leave for Rome. I have most everything packed; however, I have a good bit of room (to me, anyways) left in my suitcase. I am pretty proud of myself for packing so lightly for three weeks!! (Maybe I should hold off on the bragging until I am completely and fully packed!) I am pretty sure I packed twice as much stuff when Kyle and I went to Mexico last summer for five days.

It is a miracle I actually have down time. You see, not only was this week "packing week," but it was also "moving week." I had to pack up my entire room from the Wesley Foundation and move everything to mine, Holly's and Austin's new house in Jacksonville. It's an older, ugly little orange house, but it's pretty cute on the inside. But, back to the point, Moving isn't an easy task, but fortunately, I got everything boxed up, moved, and unpacked just in enough time to pack half of it back up for the trip. I have had my excitement for the trip masked by the stress of moving for the past few weeks; however, at the "three days to go mark," I am very excited and hopeful for this trip. I know we are going to have one of the best three weeks of our lives--no work, no worries, no school (not in a classroom, anyways), lots of rich food, great wine, and lots of culture! I am getting more and more excited just thinking about it!!

Oh, and this week also marked the "one year to go" mark for mine and Kyle's wedding! I can't believe after four and one half years that we have less than one year until we say "I do!"

Blessings!!

A Lifetime in the Making: Wedding Plans & Ideas

Casey/Bryan Wedding-May 5, 2012

Camp Sumatanga

Kyle and I have been together since November of 2006. Kyle proposed during my first semester at JSU, and he eventually began school here as well. Over the past four years, we have grown up together and come to realize how awesome of a ministry we can have  together. I will graduate this December with a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education, English. Kyle is a History major, and he will graduate in the next few years. He has been appointed by the United Methodist Church to a small church in Leesburg; he will begin his time there this June. In a few years, he plans to attend seminary. We are so excited about this new stage in life, and  we can't wait to further our ministry together. By the time May rolls around, Kyle and I will have been together almost six years. We cannot wait to take our vows with all of our friends and family around us. We have begun the wedding planning, and we are more excited than ever. We would love to hear what you think--so hear it goes...

Ideas in Pictures

Colors: Deep Purple and Light Green

Theme: Shabby/Chic. We like how these pics have the shabby chic feel to them.

Candy Bar: We love the idea of a candy bar for the guest favor. We like how these go with my color scheme, but they do not really go with the shabby/chic theme all that well; they’re too modern.

Coffee Bar: The idea we have is this: we want my guests to be able to go to the bar to order coffee drinks instead of alcohol. we would like to have three or four different coffee drinks that they can choose from. We like the ideas of these pics but none of them really capture what we are thinking. We really want it to be like going up to the counter in a coffee shop and telling the order to the barista.

Suitcases as Decoration: Kyle and I love to travel. We went to Mexico last summer, and we are traveling to Italy for three weeks this year. We wanted to capture our love for travel in some aspect of our wedding. We thought that we could incorporate antique suitcases into the shabby/chic theme. We were thinking that some of them could have flower arrangements; we could use one to hold the going away things (sparklers, maybe?);  and then, I like how this pic uses the suitcase (the pic and the suitcase are REALLY ugly! The suitcases we have purchased are a lot nicer and more vintage looking, and certainly not the tacky blue). I just like how they have the line with “cards” on it.

This is one of the suitcases we have actually purchased. We are hoping to have about ten total at the reception.

Table decorations: We have collected antique green and purple (to go with the color scheme) glasses, pitchers, bowls, etc to make flower arrangements in and go on all of the tables at the reception. 

Table Clothes: We have also purchased several different lace table clothes to be put over the standard table clothes. All of the lace clothes we have purchased are different and they vary in sizes, shapes, and patterns. They are all off white/ivory.

Flowers: I want all of the centerpieces and bouquets to be done with white lily and white hydrangea. Maybe some purple added in—I haven’t decided.

Cake: I know we want a huge cake with a giant bow tied around the middle. I like the colors and patterns of the first cake plus the size of the bow on the second and the shape of the third.  feel like the bow goes well with the theme. ….and I love bows!

For the bridesmaids: This dress in purple, not the green. I really love this dress because of the bow. This dress isn’t a definite, but it gives a better idea of the look we are going for.

The Location: Camp Sumatanga. CS is a very special place to me and Kyle. We have chosen to get married by the lake. We hope to have an arbor, but we want the cross (not seen in this pic) to be in the background of all the pics. We want white chairs at the ceremony. For the reception, we have chosen to have it in the Hutto Auditorium at CS. It is a beautiful building with pine walls and ceilings. The only problem is that there is a huge stage that I have no clue what to do with! Follow the links to see the location!

The wedding site in Spring:  http://sumatanga.org/Facilities/LakesideFacilities.aspx#

Hutto: file:///C:/Users/Leann/Pictures/Wedding%20Ideas/Hutto%20Auditorium.htm

Hutto stage: http://sumatanga.org/Facilities/HuttoAuditorium.aspx

These are probably all minute details, but these are the things we know we really want. I am open to any ideas and suggestions to make our day even better! I definitely feel like we have captured the shabby part, and I am hoping that you can help us make it even more chic! 

Blessings, 

Leann

Smile! You're on the SCAM camera.

I went to the Southern Bridal Show in Birmingham with my mom and my mimi. We had a lot of fun. Basically, I walked around and signed up for free giveaways. lol. …and as of a result of all that, we won a free weekend vacation!!! Sound too good to be true? …it was. In order to get the free weekend, we had to go to Birmingham the next weekend to a show that sold cookware. We didn’t have to purchase anything to get the trip, but everything they were showing us just seemed so cool! This man presented this awesome cookware that was all around healthier for you. It was not made of any of the materials that cause cancer or Alzheimer's like other cookware. The cookware cooked out all of the oil and fats. They even poured the fat out into a cup of ice! ....That was going into my body! Gross! You could just put your food in the pot or pan, and it would whistle when it was done …I mean, the cookware whistled when the food was done--WOW! Ok, so I know it sounds dumb now, but I promise you it sounded good at the time. So, if you became a customer of the Carico cookware that night, you got a 5 day 4 night cruise in addition to the other weekend trip. AWESOME! …not! Anyways, we became a customer of this cookware, and we were really excited about it the whole ride home. We even got free wedding bands, too because we paid the tax in cash. So, once I drop Kyle off at his car (we left from his work) I really started thinking about this whole deal. I started to get nervous and realize that it was a really impulsive decision that we made. (This cookware was WAY WAY WAY too expensive, and we should not have bought it, with or without all the free stuff.) I tell Kyle how I feel once we get back to Jacksonville. He tries to reassure me for a while, but then he starts looking up articles about Carico. I can’t take it so I go to bed. He calls me back into his room a little while later. I think it is to reassure me about the situation, but instead, he found an article that someone had written that recounted our WHOLE experience—from the time I got the call, to the cruise, to the whistle, to the type of pots and pans, EVERYTHING!!! It made Kyle sick. We realized that we were scammed. Not that the company wasn’t legit, but just that they get you to come to their seminar, not telling you what they sell, so you will only see one side of the story when you buy it. Luckily, in that article that we read, the lady mentioned that there was a 3-day cancelation period. We have filled out the cancelation paper and overnighted it to the place in Florida, but we are still worried that everything is not going to work out. When Kyle call talked to a representative about it, he said we could keep the weekend vacation for coming to the seminar. We shipped it ALL back, though; we don’t want any part of their company. I wrote them a $260 check for the taxes, and we are hoping that I get all of it back! So, lesson learned: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! 

A Ministry of Presence

As I have matured and grown older, both in age and faith, I have come to understand that there are different kinds of ministries.  There are the most obvious and well known types such as pasturing a church, serving on a church committee, being a missionary, etc., but within the past six months, I have been introduced to a different, not as obvious, type of ministry: A Ministry of Presence.

I was first introduced to this concept of a Ministry of Presence a few months ago when I was discussing a worship service held at Jacksonville State University’s Wesley Foundation. As a resident at the Wesley Foundation, I was discussing the low attendance for that night’s Mosaic with some of my peers and the campus minister. The concern and disappointment over the low turnout inspired mine and my peers’ conversations that night; as we were discussing, someone briefly mentioned how much of an impact someone’s presence can be. Our campus minister went on to explain what an effective ministry and opportunity a Ministry of Presence can be.

Our campus minister explained it like this: a Ministry of Presence can be as simple as showing up to an event. For example, when the Wesley Foundation hosts their weekly worship service, Mosaic, it means a lot to have several people in the room. Presence holds value because new people that come to the worship service are welcomed more by a room full of people rather than by an empty, cold room. This concept made sense. As a former “follower,” I would never go anywhere alone. I was terrified of having to be outgoing. I could relate to how much more welcoming a room full of people is than an empty one where only one person seems to be in attendance.

So after this first mention of Ministry of Presence, I also began seeing this concept “pop-up” in other areas of my life. Also at the Wesley Foundation this past semester, I taught a bible study on Monday nights based on the book by Gary Chapman entitled, The Five Love Languages. Two of the love languages—Acts of Service and Quality Time—come into play concerning Ministry of Presence. Not only do these relate to our love lives, but they also spill over into our relationships with our friends and family. Let me explain. When someone you know loses someone they love due to death, often times we spend time with that person in order to comfort them and to help make them feel better; I would call this comfort session Quality Time. However, if an acquaintance loses someone they love due to death, it is often times common for us to attend a funeral in recognition of the friend’s loss; this is what I would consider an Act of Service. You are showing your friend (or whoever) that you acknowledge their loss by being PRESENT at the funeral home—hence, Ministry of Presence.

With all of that being said about Ministry of Presence, I have not fully understood or comprehended what exactly this ministry encompassed until this past December. Let me explain. My fiancé, Kyle, has had a rough semester both with school and with his family life. His older brother was recently admitted to drug rehab for taking prescription pain medication, and due to his admittance into rehab, he was not able to attend all of the holiday functions as he normally did in his past 25 years. He missed Thanksgiving, Christmas, his 26^th Birthday, and New Year’s, and although Kyle would not take his brother’s presence over his health and safety, he still missed his brother during the usually fun and joyous holiday season. So, needless to say, the holidays for Kyle were rough. So, on Christmas Eve, Kyle’s granny always hosts their family’s festivities, and Kyle and I had just turned down the road he and his granny lived on. I looked at him as we drove down that road, and I fully understood what it meant to embody a Ministry of Presence. I knew that there was nothing I could do or say to make the Christmas season of 2010 any better—nothing was going to fill the absence of his brother. The best and only thing I could do for Kyle was to be in his presence. He needed me—My Ministry of Presence.