Longboarding!!

When we leave home and go to college we are always tempted to try new things. Ok maybe not always but for me I love to try new things especially when it falls in a category like sports or adrenaline rush. Yes, one day I do want to go skydiving, this however is nothing like skydiving. There are no planes, and no parachutes and the landing is not always graceful. The only similarities between the two would be that you are potentially risking your life and you definitely will fall. Longboarding is a great sport that I recently discovered a passion for. So instead of drugs and alcohol I decided to give longboarding a try. 


Some of you reading this probably have no idea what longboarding is. You might even think I am wasting my time learning how to longboard when I should be "studying" but let's be honest who really "studies" in college? Here's a brief history about longboarding compliments of wikipedia (and we all know how reliable this source is.) Longboarding is an offshoot of street skating, but, like all board sports, its roots lie in surfing. Developed as a single sport on the west coast in the 1950s, by the 1990s, Longboards and Skateboards branched off into their respective disciplines. With the right setup, a longboard can give the feeling of surfing on hard smooth surfaces. There you have it simple enough, longboarding is similar to surfing and snowboarding for that matter. 


Anyway let me get on with why I enjoy longboarding. Last semester I met this great guy Brad, he loves longboarding it is essentially his addiction, or I guess I could say it is his hobby. Brad enjoys longboarding so much that he shares it with the people he meets. So one day he took me longboarding what a great friend. It was my first time and I loved it. When I was younger I used to enjoy skateboarding...I mean attempting to skateboard. Longboarding is similar to skateboarding but longboarding is so much easier for me to grasp. Longboarding is both challenging but relieving, when I am longboarding I can escape from all the stresses in my life and just ride. So in short I enjoy longboarding because one my good friend introduced the sport to me and two because it is a good way for me to relieve stress. 


It took me one time to realize how much I love to longboard. Ok so maybe I went that first time because I thought Brad was cute and I definitely wanted to impress him. After I went I just enjoyed learning new tricks and ways to longboard. I am in no way educated in longboarding (hence my major interior design) this is when Brad became my coach. After one time of longboarding I was hooked and ready to learn. 


Unfortunately last semester I was not able to go longboarding as much as I would have liked. Last semester was hectic, I had projects and well this really time consuming job. Sad day :/ 


This semester however I have had the privilege to go longboarding more. Although Brad and I are not as  "friendly" (if you catch my drift) as we used to be we still enjoy longboarding together. This semester I bought my own longboard and I LOVE IT!! I received my longboard in the mail today, in short: Today has been a great day!!! So Brad, Kelsie and I went out longboarding it was amazing. I cannot describe in words how it feels to be on a longboard but I strongly suggest that you all try it at least once in your lifetime. 


Tonight Brad and I went longboarding again. Brad assumed the role of my coach again and I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice he is making to teach me how to be better at longboarding. Yes, it is nice to go longboarding alone to clear your head but it is an unforgettable experience when you have a friend by your side helping you and encouraging you to do better. Thank you Brad, if you are even reading this. Tonight I practiced sliding and yes I fell one or two times, there are indeed bruises to prove my hard work, or clumsiness. 

This is Brad Longboarding

Hopefully you are all contemplating longboarding now. I will be the first to tell you to stop thinking about it and to get out there and do it!! Follow the simple advice from Nike "JUST DO IT" You will never know if you have a hidden love for longboarding if you don't try it. Brad is a great teacher and he loves to take people longboarding, if you are interested I am sure he would love to help. Because of longboarding I have made a great friend and creating priceless memories. Like I mentioned before college is all about trying new things and in this case I am so glad that I took the challenge and went longboarding. 

My lovely Longboard came today 

CHECK OUT MY LONGBOARD!! 

my longboard is a custom Bustin Board
and this  is the signature and date of the person
who assembled mine :)

Me and Brad : MY COACH and a friendship I really cherish

catch up session

Wow! It has been a long time since I have posted to my blog. I've decided to change this. I know most people started following my blog to see what I was doing in Europe but what I am doing at Utah State University is just as exciting.

First I need to get you up to speed on what is going on in my life right now.

Last semester was CRAZY to say the least.

I was excited to move back up to Logan and reunite with my best friends Kelsie and Stephanie. We started off the semester very optimistically, we wanted to step outside the box and meet new people. And that is exactly what we did. Last semester I made many new friends, some who live on campus with me and some who live off campus.

Not only did I make lifelong friendships but I also met a boy. It was great while it lasted. Relationships are always hard, which is exactly why I don't mind waiting until after I graduate to get married.

So far my social life was going great.

Along with starting the year off great with new friends I was able to begin as a Sophomore in the Interior Design program here at USU.  I am so grateful that I was accepted into the program and that I have been able to learn so much!

As a sophomore in the program there are certain things expected of you to learn. Here is my class schedule for last semester: Interior Design Professional Seminar, Architectural Graphics I, Computer Aided Drafting and Design I, Zumba, Institute and Intelligent Life in the Universe.

This schedule was great! I loved everything about my classes, minus intelligent life I honestly couldn't care less about "aliens" I just needed the class so I can graduate.

So now you kind of understand my social life, and my school life. Another big influence on my life last semester was my job. I worked "part time" at Cafe Rio. I met many great people from working there.

I also had the privilege to serve as an Ambassador for my scholarship.

So last semester was pretty busy trying to manage church, school, friends and work. But somehow I managed.

And to top it all off my little sister Camilla turned 8, which meant she had the amazing experience of being baptized!!

This in short is the summary of my Fall Semester of 2011. Jam packed with ups and downs, tears and laughter, funny stories, arguments, apologies, roommates, things that are quotable, love, crushes, heartache, friends, homework, homework and more homework, work, activities, dates, dances, True Aggie night, long boarding, and sports.To sum it up I have been living the life of a typical college student here at Utah State University.

Gallon Challenge with Eric

How much I had left before I puked

Spa day with the guys -Travis, Brad and Eric 

The boys cleaning our bathroom that they made very dirty after the mud run

the paint dance with Kari, Brad, Steph, and Lexi

Me and Steph after the paint Dance

Frat Party with Andrea

Halloween Dance Party

The Howl

Cleaning the Sink at Angies with Kelsie, Jesse, The Tay and Steve

Bike ride with Ashley

Football with Brad, Steph, Ashley and Victoria

Tandem Bike Ride with The Tay and Brad 

Country Swing Dancing with Ashley

Cuddling with Steph

Baby Shower for Steph's Sister Cristina with Kels and Steph

Late night Studio with Ashley 

Me at Work 

Taking a nap with Kels 

I ended the semester with new friends, new experiences and plenty of memories!

Sketches!!

One huge part of study abroad was sketching. We sketched everywhere!! Here are five of my sketches that are my favorite!

ENJOY!!

The End is Near

This morning we were startled by a knock at the door. It was PHIL! He was safe! It was good to see that he was ok. He explained his traveling adventure to us, poor guy had to sleep in the train station.

Our Hotel

Today was our last full day. Sad. Since we have already seen everything we decided to go shopping today, to get the rest of our souvenirs. Plus we all wanted to buy ties, and that was number one on our list of things to do. We found this really cute shop for ties, and the owner was really charming. I found the perfect ties for my dad and brother! 100% silk ties, yes I love my brothers and of course I love my dad! After buying ties we found some leather that was on sale and well I got two bags. I felt a little spoiled at this point.

After eating some lunch, which was my traditional dish of spaghetti we went for some gelato. We had 2 places that we went to almost every day while we were in Rome. One was for great Italian food and the other was for delicious gelato.

The place we always ate 

my last lunch in Rome 

Where we always had Gelato

While we were eating gelato we realized that there was a barber shop next door. With a little convincing Griffin got his hair cut. He was a little nervous since they didn't speak english but in the end he came out looking sharp. This idea of getting an Italian hair cut rubbed off on Steph and I. We ultimately decided to get our hair cut. We went to a small shop but it was booked for a week.

Griffin getting his hair cut 

We walked on and found a place after asking some people where to go. So we got our hair cut. It was really interesting. At first I was willing to be adventurous but, when they wanted to cut all my hair off I had to draw the line I am not that adventurous when it comes to my locks. Since I didn't want to pay for the wash the lady straightened my hair. Her technique was different compared to the hair cuts I have gotten in America. The first "cut" was done with an electric razor that is used for buzz cuts on boys. Next she used scissors, then she thinned out my hair. At the end it looked like a small puppy on the floor,  I had no idea I had that much hair on my head. In the end I liked my hair cut, and I loves Steph's too! And then Mary decided to get hers cut as well. Mary's hair was AMAZING! Loved it!

In the end it was worth the money spent to have an Italian hair cut.

When we finished shopping we all came together for our last supper? When I put it that way it sounds spiritual, so at our last meal together we were able to laugh, talk and just enjoy each others company. I sure have made some life long friends on this trip!

4th of July at Vatican City

Happy 4th of July! I almost don't feel American being in Italy on the 4th of July. Don't worry we were invited to many parties celebrating the 4th of July but we passed them up. Instead we went to Vatican City.

We left early this morning to get there. When we arrived we were hounded by people trying to persuade us to go on a tour with them, I honestly don't think they understood the word NO. We actually decided to play a joke on one of them because we were tired of them bothering us. When he asked if wanted to go on the tour we asked him if there would be Otter Pops he was like "what?" that answered our question, it was a good laugh. The line was really long, it was like waiting in line for a roller coaster times ten. We were waiting in line for Musei Vaticani and the Sistine Chapel first.

The lines 

We finally got inside and it was incredible! This is my favorite museum of all the museums so far. The only problem is that I am "museumed" out at this point so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. The works inside were remarkable.

Cool Interiors of Musei Vaticani

piece from Musei Vaticani

Dog at Musei Vaticani

see nothing ever goes out of style ;)

After walking through the museum we made it to the Sistine Chapel, which is best known for the Michelangelo piece titled, "The creation of Adam." Let me tell you it was breathtaking. They were really strict about cameras so I wasn't able to take a picture. Although there were a lot of people taking pictures I felt it would be disrespectful. Walking inside the Sistine Chapel was like walking into a painting it was beautiful!

View from window (sistine chapel)

View of Sistine Chapel 

While we were in the museum we lost 3 people on accident. So we went looking. We found 2 out of 3. 1 was still lost when we exited the museum. Poor Elyse we had no idea where she could be and it's not like we were in a small museum. The Vatican is HUGE! Plus we had no idea if she had left or not. So after waiting for her for a while we decided to move on to St. Peter's Square.

a view from outside the window at Musei Vaticani

Famous Spiral Staircase

Famous Spiral Staircase

Musei Vaticani

St. Peter's Square is incredible! When most people think of the Vatican this is what they think. St. Peter's Square is HUGE and there were GIANT PICTURES of the POPE. It was definitely the place to be if I were catholic. We decided to take a break for a little bit, then we got in line to enter St. Peter's Basilica. We were most interested in climbing to the top of the dome so that's what we did first.

St. Peter's Square

St. Peters Basilica

THAT's ME

St. Peters

The Guards 

The Pope

The view from the top was a site worth seeing!! I loved it! When were coming back down it was funny because we happened to interrupt a little romance between the guard and some girl. I think I got it on video by accident too.

A view of St. Peter's Square from the top

After going to the top we decided to look around. I cannot describe in words the details and beauty of St. Peters.

A view of the interiors 

The Vatican City was really cool and I am thrilled that I was able to see it.

Next we decided to take the bus back, unfortunately we got on the wrong bus so it was a long bus ride to the middle of no where, but the adventure is worth it in the end. It is all a learning process.

Probably the coolest store I have ever seen, just look at the name :) 

When we made it back home we went out for dinner. We got the usual, Pizza. Tonight was real fun at dinner! We really bonded and got to know each other better. It was a great Sunday Dinner. Then towards the end of the dinner Elyse told us about Phil being on his way, so we all went to the train station to look for him. It was midnight or so when we got there and well everything was shut down, the metro, the buses, and the trains so the only way Phil would have gotten to Rome would be taxi and no one has money for that. We were looking for Phil for a couple hours, then finally came back to the hotel to sleep. I sure hope he is ok.