You know that gross feeling where your stomach is in your chest and you feel like you are going to bust at any minute, whether it be from too much caffeine or maybe a overwhelming panic episode. Well, that is me right now. ha
I don't really understand where these things come from seeing as how the things I panic or worry about are completely avoidable and able to be healed or fixed. I blame the coffee. This summer has been off to a good start, enjoying time with friends and family but I still have this feeling of something missing. I feel like something is going to happen, lets call it my intuitive spirit.. I just hope its good, I think I need something good.

O Holy night.

Just wanted to let you know that I not only got one snuggie for Christmas.... but two. So genius those snuggie people.

what a whirl-wind!!!!

So euro-term is over now and i surprised my friends and brother by coming home early because im sneaky like that.. but I will talk about that a little later. I'm sorry it has been so long since I last updated but life has been crazy! I went to Bern and Luzern switzerland with scott krueger, kristin, gabby, rachel, and megan and we had a great time. Both cities were really beautiful and we got to explore and see a bunch of really cool things. Some went and played in the snow when we were in luzern and me and meg explored the city and it was really fun! The girls got to play a really great prank on scott and the weekend was just spent relaxing and enjoying eachother. The weekend after that was the last one before the end of our trip and me and scott lingner decided to go to munich which was really fun! We stayed in a place called the easy palace which is the closest hostel to the octoberfest field which was cool to see. We got to walk around the city and see cool Christmas decorations and watch people iceskate it was really cool! The next day we went to this huge park called the english gardens and we walked around and saw river surfing which is like an amazing man made surfing spot underneith a bridge powered by fast rapids and it was amazing! After the gardens we went to this really amazing contemporary art museum which basically had a piece from almost every pioneer of contemporary art and we spent a long time there! At nights we just relaxed and watched friends, house and movies and it was relaxing and really fun. The last week of Paris was spent finishing up school stuff which included writing papers, photo stuff, and soaking up every last min. of eachother. On Thanksgiving we had our last family dinner at a nice resteraunt and it was so great being together all dressed up on the Champs with Christmas decorations all around celebrating Thanksgiving and eachother! The weeked after was spent packing and saying goodbye and loving on eachother, not to mention scotts 21st birthday which was spent exploring Christmas festivals and friends! After saying goodbye to everyone gabby and I awoke early and headed back to Barcelona because gabby hadn't gone with us the first time. Everything was good and we were on our way but we had to make one stop on the train in Montpellier. Well, i'm just gunna skip all the details and say my backpack was stolen off the train in that city and in it was my two little cameras which contained unloaded pictures and my computer! I was devastated, but I realized that its just stuff and life will move on, but I was bummed and am still bummed to lose my pictures but hopefully I will get them back soon by stealing from friends! Me and gabby made it to barcelona and had a great time! We got to explore some amazing parks and architecture and got to eat some delicious mexican food. We walked an obscene amount and so we both were tired and got to relax and enjoy eachother at the end of our days. We met a sad man named sergio and I actually made a sheep noise at someone trying to explain in english something we needed to find. I love gabby and we had a ton of fun together! We went back to the fiap when we got back to Paris and it was so sad and depressing without everyone we loved there. The next morning I woke up so early and got on a plane and headed home! I got here and drove straight to Point Loma to Miguels to surprise my best friends and my brother. It couldnt have gone more perfectly! I love being home but i miss Europe and my friends a ton! I will update in a few days with reflections from my trip! One thing I know for sure and I have learned throughout the trip that God is faithful, and despight heartache, trouble, saddness, and dissapointment, there will be promises fufilled and joy restored in time and I am thankful for everything He has blessed me with in my life!

ps. im sorry there are no pictures and I hope everyone made it through this looooong post!

Love always and so glad to be home.

The last Few weeks of my life.

Studying abroad is a lot different than I expected it to be. I feel so blessed to be with such amazing people day in and day out and although I miss home like crazy and I cannot wait to go back. I know I am going to miss seeing these beautiful people everyday. My last post said I went to Aix and Marseille and indeed I did. Aix is like a fairy tale land complete with quite possibly the best looking people I have ever seen in my life. It is a city full of character and fountains that run from a natural hotspring so most of them are potable! so crazy. We got to go to cezanne's studio which has been such a cool parralell now seeing his work in Paris and seeing where it was created. Such inspiration.. The coolest part about Aix though i'd have to say is the fact that my wonderful big brother danny studied here a few summers ago and I got to catch a glimpse of some place that is so near and dear to his heart. We stayed in this amazing hotel/ appartment complete with kitchen so we cooked some tomatoe soup and grilled cheese which is enough to make anyone happy who has been living off FIAP caf food. So after a few wonderful days of exploring in Aix we head to Marseille which is only like 45 min away. Our plan was to spend the day there and catch a train back to Paris sunday night... Well, there were no trains left so we decided to sleep in the train station after a fun day mind you of boat rides and really good tasting french fast food. So as we are bunkering down in the train station for the night I text my mom and let her know what is going on just so someone knows where we are and she being the amazing mother she is refuses to let us sleep out in the cold and in the danger zone... haha so anyways, she gets us a hotel for the night and we woke up bright and ealry and caught the train to Paris then. The next few weeks after that in Paris have been full of exploring, painting, drawing, halloween, being sick, Heroes, Friends, and watching the leaves change colors! This past weekend megan condon, scott, rachel and I went to Barcelona and had a terrific time. We got to go to a wonderful Van Gogh Museum that literally takes you through every stage of his life as an artist. We saw some beautiful architecture and our hotel was right on Las Ramblas which is like the main busy street there. Also in Barcelona we went to the contemporary art museum which contained some really interesting works of Rauchenberg, Klein, Motherwell, and cage just to name a few. We did some shopping because everything there was way cheaper than Paris and we had 2 great dinners consisting of Hard Rock Cafe and MEXICAN FOOD. Yes you heard right, we did find delicious burritos in Europe! :) Anyways, thats the main gist of my life these days and I hope you enjoyed it! Love you and miss you all!

ps. Hopefully Pics from Barcelona will be up soon!!

short recap...more later!!

My past few weeks..
more later I promise!
Momma came to visit!!
I went to Aix and Marseille with gabby, anne, meg and scott!
I have been trying to acclimate to life in Paris which is hard but cool and exciting and new!

Rome,Vienna,Paris

Ok guys! Sorry I have not been able to bring myself to sitting down and compiling my thoughts and activities for the last couple of weeks. Rome was pretty fun. I am not going to lie the first couple days I was pretty homesick and I think it was largely attributed to feeling so at home in Italy and the last time I was there I was with my whole family so it was little hard but still fun! Some highlights from Rome included but were not limited to: Colesseum (night and day time!), Saint Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, reading Paul’s letter to the Romans in the roman forum, The Trevi fountain (at night and day! But especially at night! Sooo fun), watching movies at night and listening to the rain and thunder, good Asian food across the street, Papa Germano our hotel’s owner, GELATO, wonderful parks with grass! the Spanish steps, beautiful church’s and paintings, and singing to some sweet tunes being jammed on the guitar by some wonderful friends! Rome was great but I was so stoked on leaving to experience something new and fresh.. VIENNA. Apparently the place we were suppose to stay originally like months ago couldn’t take us so we got to stay in this beyond amazing place that was outside the main city next to this huge beautiful green park. Vienna was actually breezy and it felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the humidity and hotness of Italy. I think it may be my new favorite place besides Cinqueterre so far! We got to see the Venus of Willendorf, which is the first piece of art like ever! A bunch of us went to the amazing 8 story modern art museum and got to explore and absorb for hours and it was beautiful. Vienna also held long afternoons of writing and Frisbee and nights of good talks and music and friends marathons! Vienna was just such a nice change and things really seemed to calm down and relax a bit which was nice. Instead of traveling on our long weekend everyone just relaxed and did their own thing and it was perfect. So after a long overnight train we get to Paris and it has been really fun so far. We are staying in a place called FIAP Jean Monet and it has felt so good to be able to unpack and make myself at home a little bit. We have started painted and drawing with a lady named Cathy at her art studio and it has been amazing. Our first day of drawing we got to work with a nude model named Stephanie and work with gesture and contour. It was really interesting and effective in our quest to learn how to make beautiful forms. We have this amazing park down the street and I fully intend on using it quite often for walking and Frisbee and good talks and I am so excited! This past weekend we went to this all night art festival-like thing across Paris called Nuit Blanche. We got to see some amazing pieces and got to hang out and be immersed in Parisian culture until like 5:30am. It was pretty amazing but not everything I expected it to be. On Sunday we went to an English speaking church in this really nice part of town and got to eat dinner with and meet a whole bunch of amazing people. I am really excited to hang out with them again and build connections and relationships with people around the world. The next day we got our Lourve year passes (yes a whole year!) and we made another Canadian friend in Starbucks. People traveling are so friendly! At the FIAP we have been exploring and resting and everyone is getting sick! Hopefully the slower pace of classes and life now will allow all of us to sit back and get better. Hope everything is well back home or wherever you are and know I miss you and love you all!

Ciao Ciao

I will post pictures tomorrow I promise but I will leave you with just a couple to hold you over!



Oh my loyal followers! I am so sorry I have not been as attentive to my blog these past couple weeks, as I should have! It has been insane and I have not wanted to sit down at a computer and process everything I have done! But I guess I will just for you! :)
So after leaving London we hop on a train to Paris just for a day so we can drop off our heavy winter clothes in our art studio. (Which is so amazing by the way and our teacher is such a free spirit and I love her!) We stayed in this little hostel called "Aloha" hostel I believe and it was great. We got to explore a little bit and Eugene took us all out to dinner and I tried escargot (not for the first time surprisingly) and some other foreign dish. They both were delicious and I am really trying to expand my horizon. So after leaving Paris, feeling about a huge suitcase lighter we head to Venice, which was absolutely unbelievable. Everyday was like art overload and even on our day off me and a couple friends just went and consumed more art, along with sitting in a local square for a hour and watching people and just talking about life. A few highlights from Venice included listening to dueling orchestras in St. Marks square at night, The Biennale (all 3 full days we went), swimming and exploring at the Lido, Listening to some live music as some random rallies, endless amounts of gelato, Family dinners where we all cooked for each other to save money, girls night in which included dessert and a good movie, and my absolute favorite part was being led by our lit prof and his wife on our last night to a secluded dock overlooking the canal. Scott, john, and Aubrey and I played music there and met some interesting people and a couple of us just stayed playing music and talking until like 2 or 3. Venice is a really amazing place and I was so thankful and blessed to have shared it with the wonderful people I am with. So after a week in Venice we left and arrived in Florence (which may be one of my favorite places. just maybe). For such a small place it has been surprisingly hard to get around and remember where we live but it has been an adventure! We have been walking non-stop and it feels so good to rely on something other than cars. In Florence we have been to the Uffizi gallery, the Academia, and have seen countless beautiful churches and the ever-breathtaking Duemo. There is so much history everywhere you look here and it is absolutely breathtaking. Class this week has been in my room because we have the biggest one with 6 girls and it has been great to basically just sit in bed during it. :) I am learning to really appreciate poetry and literature and see the correlation between that and art. My favorite night in Florence thus far was last night where after walking up to a beautiful overlook called Shakesphere's hill I believe, a few friends stayed and watched the sunset on these massive steps and listened to some amazing music. Even after more left a few of us just stayed and watched the city light up and talk and just all grow together in life and love and friendship as cheesy as it sounds and it was pretty wonderful. Yesterday was kind of a weird day for me, so just being able to experience something so breathtaking and God inspired in my opinion really turned it around. After I got home we finalized plans for today, which was a day off. We decided to sleep in just a tad and then head to Pisa and Chinqueterra. Now I know you are probably saying what the heck is that?! I know, I know, I was too! But it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Located right on the Mediterranean or something of that nature is an Italian City called Chinqueterra. This consists of 5 different towns, which you can hike through. Me, gabby, Rachel, john, aubs, and scott decided to do one 2 hour hike which was pretty hard but incredibly worth it and it lead us to this breathtaking city with colorful buildings and crystal blue water. It was basically a fairy tale land. (I will try and post pictures tomorrow!) We went swimming and talked and relaxed and just enjoyed each other’s presence and it was pretty much the perfect day. A little later our friends Sean and Scott joined us and we had dinner at the beautiful restaurant right on the cliff (where almost all of us got something with pesto in it because they are famous for it) and we got gelato and started our long train adventure back to Florence. I gave you a very condensed version of my last two weeks but I hope it will suffice especially because will try and post a bunch of pictures tomorrow when I am not entirely exhausted! Tomorrow morning I will be attending church right outside the city, which my old babysitter and her husband started apparently. I am pretty stoked and I hope and pray that I will continue to open my heart and my mind to all the wonderful things God is revealing to me through this trip and these outstanding people I am with.

ps. If you have any questions about any of this please ask away! I would love to tell you about it!

pss. me and my friend scott are learning about a bizzillion songs on his guitar so maybe we will post some kind of video alluding to that soonish if you are lucky...


love always,
Dana beth