Ketchup...costs 10 cents extra

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Too much has been happening and the internet is far too slow to keep up.
Lucky for you I've had a relaxing Saturday with enough free time to wait for pictures to load.
So, now as I sit in my favorite chair in our living room I will attempt to catch you up on the past few weeks.

Let's start off with a little roommate (plus Drew) trip down South.
We had been planning this for a while and despite unfavorable weather we trained 6 hours to Salerno on Friday afternoon.

Life in the South works on an entirely different schedule and we learned that right away.
We arrived at the train station at midnight, dropped our bags off and headed back out to party like Italians.
We crashed at 4 am.
This is a rare occassion.
I don't think I've even known that 2 am existed for months.

In the morning we headed out to Positano on the Amalfi coast.

One very rainy and windy ferry ride later we ended up in one of the cutest towns I've seen while being in Italy.


I'm in love with boats.
We had Mario and Nate to show us around.

We played games on the beach and met some guy who works for Spongebob on the ferry back.
Wonderfully unexpected perfect day. We were very sad to leave.


But the goodness wasn't over.
We went to this fantastic restaurant that night.
Drew had been telling us about this place for a week.
It didn't disappoint.
Three hours of constant food. Plate after plate of yumminess.

Drew was in heaven.

In the words of Kelly, "best meal I've ever eaten."

Back in Tuscany the next week, ministry was really fun.
Kelly and I have started to look at the Bible with our friends, Eni and Blerta.

These girls are so excited to understand more about Jesus.
The Gospel is new to them and I can see the wheels turning as we explained how Jesus did it all. We do nothing but hear and believe. The idea of not working your way to salvation is freeing but it takes time to process. We will continue to meet with them on Thursdays--so keep praying for the Truth to sink in.


We also took a team trip to Umbria.
We rented cars and headed out to see the sights.

I think we racked up 6 towns in two days.
Lunch in Perugia, touring Gubbio, dinner in Assisi.
We got a little crazy in St. Francis' hometown.

I wonder how he felt about cheerleaders?!
Then we drove to Collepino--the tiniest town ever with one restaurant.
Of course, it was closed on Thursdays--the one day we were there.
So, we drove on. Starving at this point to a town called Spello.
Spello was a ghost town too.
All of our stomachs were growling but the boys were on a mission to find food.
Ryan even ran ahead to check out some windy roads.

What a guy.
We finally ate and then checked out Spoleto before heading back to Florence.
I'm telling you--we saw Umbria. All of it.
And to top of the road trip, we stopped and got Burger King.
So strange, but such a treat to us.
The whole "auto-grill" experience is still very foreign and paying for ketchup is a rip-off, but...

French fries in a car!
Feels like America!

Last on my crazy agenda was my sweet friend Ilaria's graduation.



She finished what we would consider undergrad on Friday by presenting her thesis.
Lea Anne and I were able to experience a truly Italian celebration.
Spumante immediately after her presentation, a laurel wreath for the graduate, silly games, aperitivo for all the guests, and of course the mandatory graduation balloon launch.

Crazy afternoon!

I love the spring in Italy.
It may not include a ton of free time, but it's always full of surprises.