back from Italy! :)

what an adventure these past few weeks have been..

before i left for italy, i spent some lovely time with a lovely gentleman. it has been a pleasure learning and growing by his side.

my trip began with a very bumpy flight over to london.. thankfully i was traveling with my friend val who i could grab if i got scared.. i love flying, but every time i have to get used to going through some rough terbulance. i got over it :) we made it to pisa safe and sound, but there was one problem.. we were traveling separate from the other part of our group and their flights got delayed. while we were supposed to meet them at the air port we ended up meeting them 4 hours later at our B&B in the town of Lucca. needless to say, val and i found our way around and made it to the B&B.. we are quite the travelers :)

we stayed in Lucca for a night and toured the city and had our first of many great meals. from Lucca we went and stayed in another B&B in Levanto, which is a city outside of the Cinque Terra. did some sight seeing and hiking the next few days. italy is full of beautiful architecture and beautiful landscapes. a highlight of my time in Levanto was a morning at breakfast when i was reading my Bible and was interrupted to my friend Kat giving me a gift Stephen had given her to give to me on our 6th month anniversary. i know, he is a special man! another highlight was hiking the via del amore (the lover's lane). it is a cute little hike full of graffti all about love. there is a seat where couples can sit and there are many many locks locked all over the fencing and wires to symbolize their love locking together forever :)

we stayed in Vernazza one night and did some shopping and had a beautiful meal on the cliffs of the city. next, we traveled to Venice for 3 nights.. it is a beautiful city, but full of tourists. i guess i can't be mad because i was a tourist myself. haha stayed in a beautiful B&B that was 1,500 years old.. they don't make em like that in america! haha experienced the beauty and romance of the city. it was a wonderful trip. i loveeeeeeeeeeee the italian way of eating and sitting for hours at meals. had my first dish of wine and cheese.. of course if you know me i fell in love.

british airways in fact went on strike causing val and i to be possibly be stranded in italy, but thankfully Lori's hubby Mark came to our rescue and had our flights switched.. we were on a better airline and arrived 4 hours earlier back to the states, which allowed me to have dinner with my love and get back to the ranch at a decent hour to catch up on my sleep. man, it is so awesome to look back and see where the Lord's hands were at work... it could have been a disaster, but he turned a not so good situation into a wonderful one.

Lord, thank you for providing for me and my trip and having you hand at work every part of the way. Amen.

beth.