Headed to California with Nugget!

In a few hours I will be hopping in a car with my BFF and her baby and driving to California where her house is. I have never done a road trip like this with a friend and I am so excited! It has been a nice several days with my friend, like old times :) Our favorite thing that we used to do was veg on the couch and watch trashy daytime TV. I was so happy to do be able to do this again! 

The weekly stories have been fun to do! I am working on two series right now. One series is the Fear Touch (which will be coming back soon!) and the other is Verona. Verona will have part one this week and I am excited for it. It is a travel, love, self discovery type story. I hope you all enjoy the first part of this series! 

Enjoy some pictures and I will see you all next Monday!

My little Broncos niece! Girl will love her some Denver Broncos!

Such dorks!

She is learning to grab haha!

This kid's face explains it all!

Probably the cutest thing in the world!

Week 4 (26 January- 1 February 2015)

Verona

In the fair city of Verona we set our scene. A fair maiden sits at a fountain, done with love, done with men, done wandering the world in a hopeless dream of achieving a passion she had only read in Shakespeare's play. But what brought this auburn beauty to the city nestled in Northern Italy? Heartache. Never ending, gut wrenching heartache. Her first love at the ripe age of 18 left her for college. No rhyme or reason why. He had applied to a college in New York, was accepted and left her to mend her heart alone without taking her calls or texts. In college she fell in love with a sophisticated older English major. He was tall, handsome and an incredible poet. He also had a secret. He exposed his secret to all his friends and family by announcing he was marrying his best friend, a fellow poet, now that gay marriage had become legalized. Krysta knew this relationship was too good to be true but he really didn't have to pretend their relationship had never existed and announce his new relationship so publicly.

A succession of lovers followed but none stayed. They would all leave for new girls or new jobs or for no reason at all, they would just leave. Eventually the familiar face of her high school sweetheart sauntered back into her life. She was sitting at the local coffee shop studying for finals when his bearded face walked in. He looked like the scholarly New York type and for a moment she hated him but his flash of white teeth and golden hazel eyes softened her. For six months they would date. It would be six months of familiar conversations and complacent attitudes. They were comfortable and she was happy again. One day, she walked her new joyous self home after getting out of classes early. She grabbed a bottle of wine and some dinner so they could have a romantic evening alone. She turned the key to her apartment, walked in and heard the shower going. How splendid! She thought to herself. She could just join him. She walked into the bathroom and immediately regretted in.

“Oh my god! Oh My god!” she yelled as she shut the door and ran to her room. Flying behind her was her boyfriend.

“Krysta wait! Please wait!”

“Who is she? Actually I don't even care, how long has this been going on?”

“Not long, I am sorry, plea...”

“No. Just no. Get out. Please leave. She needs to leave and you need to leave. I don't even care how long or why and anything just go,” she grabbed her keys and the bottle of wine and walked to her friend's apartment. She was devastated. Love was not kind to her and she was ready to give up on it.

Krysta finished school a few months after her boyfriend cheated on her and felt an urge to get away. She needed to wander and find herself. As she was walking home one sunny day she heard some girls chatting about Shakespeare. She had always had a soft spot for the Bard of Avon and so she eavesdropped a little.

“I learned from a friend that there are volunteers in Verona who answer letters people send in to Juliet!” said one girl.

“How incredible would it be to go to such an old city and see the place that inspired Romeo and Juliet!” announced the other. A light bulb went off in Krysta's head. It would be incredible to see Verona. She didn't know much about it besides what she had read in Shakespeare's play but she had a bunch of graduation money and a need to escape. She went home that day, booked a flight, called her family and left for Verona. She made her way to the picturesque town but stopped for nothing until she reached Juliet's house. If she couldn't have love she would guide others to it by volunteering to write letters. She walked to the famous balcony near the famous statue, paused for a moment then walked right into the Juliet's house.

“Boungiorno, parli inglese?”

“Hello dear. I do,” smiled an elderly woman. She had crisp white hair, deep brown eyes and hands that had seen the happiest and saddest days. She offered Krysta a seat and some water, “We are from all over here but I speak the best English,” she said with a wink, “What brings you in to Casa di Guilietta?”

“I heard about the letters and want to volunteer.”

“What is your name? Most importantly what is your story?” Krysta explained to the woman what brought her to Verona, the heartache, the yearning for love, the disappointment, every last drop of her love life to that point then quietly waited for an offer to write letters. After several minutes of contemplative hums and sighs the woman spoke, “It's not quite that easy Krysta.”

“Why not? I know what love is, I know how to write?”

“Sure, sure, you can write but you have no inclining of what love is. You know what love isn't. You know what it shouldn't feel like but you do not know love,” Krysta was a mix of angry and astounded. No one had ever expressed such truth to her.

“How can I prove to you I am ready to be a volunteer?”

“I want you to go to lunch. Spend a couple hours eating fine Italian cuisine and come back when you are full. Do not come back for a couple hours. I will not see you. No go on. See a little slice of Verona,” the woman ushered Krysta out of the house and blew her a kiss goodbye.

She did as the woman told her. She ate pasta made with homemade tomato sauce and aged Parmesan, she had wine that glided smoothly down her throat and warmed her belly, she tasted gelato so creamy and rich she felt as if she were devouring fresh strawberries picked by her own hands. The food was incomparable to anything she had ever tasted. As the sun began to set and exhaustion began to settle in her head, Krysta made her way back to Juliet's house. She noticed on her walk how the blazing orange sunset was made brighter by the red roofs of the city's buildings. For the first time in her life she felt alive. Krysta walked to back to Juliet's house as requested and paused for a moment below the balcony. There were dozens of tourists and a buzz of talking. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful the scenery truly was.

“Ciao Bella! How was your lunch?” asked the woman.

“It was wonderful! I have never had such incredible food. It made my palate feel as if it were tasting food for the first time!”

“Perfect! Now you say you want to volunteer here but you are not ready my dear,” the disappointment on Krysta's face was evident, “Now do not get me wrong, you have felt love but you do not understand love! You must understand loved to help those who write to us. You need to find yourself. I cannot have an unguided soul penning out advice to love lorn subjects. No, no, no I cannot. The ladies and I, we like you. You are the first American to waltz in our door and want to help people find love. Because of this, we have pooled together some money. We receive countless donations but we do not use most of it so we want to send you on a trip to find yourself. Tour Europe. Visit the ancient cities of Italy and Greece, go to La Tomatina in Spain, explore Germany's fairy tale castles, have champagne at the top of the Eiffel tower, see the green lands of Ireland. Go visit as many places as you can muster with the money we give you and return to us once you have a sense of confidence. This is all the guidance we can give you sweet girl. Now be on your way.”

The women blew kisses, gave hugs and shut the door on her. Krysta was stunned. She stood in the doorway of Juliet's house with a parcel full of tips for travel and cash. She had enough money to explore Europe for a year! She could not believe her luck. Normally she did not do things alone but she had traveled this far alone so she knew she could travel more. She went back to her room and decided to heed the advice of the old woman. She needed to figure out who she was and how to love herself before she could find love. She slept soundly that night listening to the sounds of traffic below her window and woke up to church bells ringing in the bright early morning. She packed up her belongings and boarded the train. She picked the Netherlands to explore first. She had heard of their tulips and decided that was a perfect place to start. Her journey to find herself began at the clatter of Italian train tracks.