Seizing the Day

To say the least this summer has not been a typical summer for me. It started out by going to Italy, which is definitely not an every summer occurrence (although I wish it was :)). Likewise, spending my summer in Tuscaloosa doing summer school is also definitely NOT a normal part of summer. I am more used to spending hours on a lake teaching kids how to water ski and wake board while teaching the person and character of Jesus Christ...not a bad summer to live every summer I know!

But for some reason, this summer God had a different plan for me, which was to start my dream of becoming a nurse. They always say following God's plan is not always the easy plan, and boy is that true! When I first got here this summer, I was the farthest thing from happy and decided there was NO way I was going to make it the whole summer. I reached the point in the first week that I thought school would be so impossible that I would go ahead and change my major.

Then I went to my church here in Ttown and heard a life changing sermon on worries and fears. (if you have time I really challenge you to watch this...its AWESOME). After hearing this sermon, I decided my attitude needed to change a little. One of my favorite quotes has always been...Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it...I truly feel that a quote could not fit my life more right now.

This is when my roommate, best friend, crime fighter, and fellow nursing student, Natalie and I decided our ways were going to have to change and we were going to enjoy this summer like it was any summer not in school!

Our first weekend here, we were blessed by the hospitality of Madaline to take us to her lake house and it was so relaxing and beautiful. I am so glad we decided to take a much need break from the books and go relax.

 Natalie Lizzy and Blake hanging out at the lake

 God making himself present when I needed it most!

Blake and I...just a small piece of this earth!

That next week the going got tough as we study for one loooong week for our first nursing test. The coolest part about it was how calm I was going into this test. I usually do not have too bad of test anxiety, but my first big bad nursing test...I figured I would have been freaking out a little more! Natalie, Anna, and I all were blessed my God's grace to have such a peace about the test...and we all ended up doing well...so HOORAY!

That test surely did wipe us out though. That night we went and saw Bridesmaids, which may be one of my new favorite movies, and the rest of the week we relaxed by doing some work but not a lot as well as going to the pool, which was fantastic!!

We ended the week by deciding we needed to treat ourselves to a deliciously meal, and that we did. We went to one of Tuscaloosa's new restaurants called 5. It was such a fun atmosphere, had great food, and great music to dance too (always important).

 Me and Anna, who I love more than I can say you have such a heart of gold!

 Mary Grace, Meredith, Blake, and Anna

 Katie, Me, Natalie, Madaline, and Mary Jordan

 My DELICIOUS meal!

Everyone breaking out their dance moves!

The next day (this past weekend) I anxiously awaited the arrival of my parents. I have never been so ready to see my parents. There is nothing like being so exhausted and burned out on studying and having the luxury of your parents visiting to help you clean your house, treat you to some good food, and enjoy some fun games and movies. 

Friday night my parents arrived and they spoiled me to dinner at Chuck's. I ordered the surf and turf and it was divine. We sat outside and got to enjoy a beautiful evening in Tuscaloosa with great food and great conversation. I honestly had to look around and pause and realize how blessed I am to be raised by my parents! We got back and took some friends to get TCBY and enjoy some yummy ice cream. Then we came home and while everyone watched a scary movie, we played cards...such a team Longosz thing to do!

 The GREATEST man in my life...Daddio!

Rachel, Lizzy, Natalie, Me, and Dad enjoying some TCBY

Saturday morning we got up and went on the river walk and then went to the Paul Bryant Museum, which I had never been too and was pretty cool! Then we came home to conquer the  major tasks of cleaning the 1001 casa. We emptied all the cabinets, vacuumed, mopped, we did it all! Working together it did not take too long, and the feeling of cleanliness after was like none before. I have never appreciated cleanliness so much! We were then so tired from cleaning that we just sat around and watched the U.S. Open all day, which some how my brother and dad have turned me into a golf lover and I now LOVE to watch it. 

Next, we got ready for dinner where mom and dad treated me and my friends to dinner at Depalamas. Again, it was such a great meal and so enjoyable with the company. We asked many questions where everyone had to go around the table and answer and it made it really fun. One of my favorite questions was what would your major or profession be if you could do anything, my answer...A sports commentator...I think it would be so fun to go to all the different football games and interview the players and coaches. DreamLife!

 Girls at Dinner

Me and the Rents!

After dinner, Dad wanted to teach me how to actually make a fire in our grill. Naturally, we were not going to make a fire and then put it out, so my creative parents decided we were going to make s'mores! This was honestly so much fun. It was also bitter sweet because I am used to making s'mores at the lake or at camp and when I looked out I saw the road not a body of water. While I got a little sad about not being at camp, I knew I had to be positive and enjoy the scenery around me as well as the people. Mom, Dad, and I then proceeded to watch the Bucket List, great movie, and go to bed!

We enjoyed an awesome father's day and I was so lucky to be able to actually be with my dad on father's day. If you want to know an A+ kind of guy, just hang out with my dad. I can genuinely say I do not know one person who does not like my dad, nor have I ever heard anyone say something negative about him. He truly is such a blessing and a light in my life, and I would ABSOLUTELY NOT be the person I am today, without him in my life. Thanks Dad for being the man you are and the father to Jay and I. YOUR THE BEST!!

 Everyone roasting some mallows

 Enjoying my perfectly roasted mallow...take notice I was real outdoorsy and used a real stick!

 YUM!

God's Gift to Me!

Lastly, for seizing the day...some of my friends and I recently decided we should make the great investment into some roller blades. Who would have ever thought 8 college girls would go to target late one night and buy roller blades...not I. It was so much fun to bring back the glory days of our childhood, but it was definitely a little hard at first to get back in the swing of things, but it has been so much fun, a worthwhile investment and a great workout!

Seizing the Day in TTown!!

Venice

Well nursing school has begun in full throttle but I knew I had to take a little study break to finish writing about our amazing european adventures!!

Venice- the city with no cars
Our next adventure was Venice. We flew out of the naples airport around 8, which meant we had to get up around 5:30...NOT FUN!! Once we arrived in Venice, we had to go to the public bus...and by bus i mean the public boat because Venice does not use cars. It was literally my favorite part about the hole city you never saw a car. It was so cool and so weird! When we finally arrived, we had to lug our luggage down alleys and over  bridges until we finally arrived at our hotel. We were all exhausted from the early morning so we tried to regroup and relax a little before getting the day started. We finally got to our feet and did what we did best the whole trip... WALKED AROUND. My mom kept telling Jay and I Venice is a city that you just get lost in...well we did a pretty good job of that. All we ever did was follow the signs to S. Marc because we knew that was near our hotel! Here are some pics of us just aimlessly walking around and soaking up the Venice culture!

 Jay, Me, and Dad on one of the many bridges we hung out on

 A really cool view from the bridge in the above pic

 we were pretty worn out...esp. me :))

 What a beautiful place full of gondolas!

Jay doing his thing telling Mom how much he loves her

Naturally, we went back to the hotel to shower and regroup before we left to go get some quality vino before going to my parents favorite restaurant in Venice. The place we went for wine was such a beautiful setting.  It was so surreal to just be sitting with my family in Venice looking at the water aka the streets of Venice. We also had the nice view of a private yacht from Greece that my brother and dad LOVED!! Dinner this night was also very fun! We went to a restaurant that was more where the locals go rather than full of tourists, which made it a unique experience. It would not have been a complete day if we did not end up talking to some stranger, so of course we began to talk to the couple next to us. It was actually really cool because we learned this lady had come to study abroad from America when she was 18 and never returned to the US. She and her husband were so nice and I am so glad we got to talk to them and learn a little more about the Venice culture. We also got to listen to some awesome music from the owner, when he came and made a special appearance during our meal. He was very talented but also a little scary to watch perform (you will understand when you see the pics). The best part of this meal was that my brother showed his selflessness and surprised my parents and paid for our meal. It was such a big surprise to my parents and it was so appreciated. Jay said it was the least he could do since my parents took us on such an amazing vacation. It truly was so sweet and made the meal that more enjoyable for my parents. We walked back and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Also, I just absolutely love the water, so getting to walk by it at night with all the stars...I felt like I was in heaven.

 just hanging out waiting to be told where to go

 BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!

 My INCREDIBLE family...would not change it for anything

 our awesome but scary entertainment

 Dad trying to say thank you for dinner, but Jay wasn't feeling it.

 Love you!

 Jay and Dad drooling at the private yacht

 My two favorite men in this world!

Just celebrated 27 amazing years of marriage and still grinning ear to ear!

The next day we started are day early as always. I was ready to conquer the day because it was our last day in Venice. The first thing we did was go to St. Marc's Church. Naturally, I wore shorts (which they don't really do in Europe, I was just a flaming tourist) which we quickly found out I could not go in with shorts, so my super hero of a mom ran off and found me a really cute scarf that I wrapped around my legs and I was able to go in...THANK GOD! This church was one of the  most amazing places I have seen. The detail of the mosaic inside was unreal. Also, the way the lighting was done, beams of sunlight shown in and it was one of the coolest effects I have ever seen. The church had a great view outside as well. This was a church Jay and I studied in AP art history, so again it was very cool to see something in person that we had learned about. 

 getting our day started!

 View from the top of St. Marc's

 Inside = beautiful

 On top of St. Marc's

The awesome beams of light shining through

Next, we went to a little area called Rialata where we went to a really cool fish market, where there were ALL types of fish, but at least it was fresh. We also visited some fresh fruit stands, the taste of fresh fruit is one of a kind. We were still hungry so naturally we decided to get a crepe with nutella (talk about delicious) Next, we wanted to go to the Frari church, but because we were in Venice it was not that easy to just figure out where to go. We had a few minor detours and had to hop on and off the public boat a few times. We finally arrived at the Frari church, and boy were we glad we did because it was beautiful inside. Like, we did in every church mom lit another candle for her sister Pam to find a steady job, and we are definitely convinced with how many candles we lit she will definitely have a job very soon.

 Enjoying our fresh fruit!

 Fish market

we were a little lost... 

 lighting a candle for Aunt Pam

 More fish!

Enjoying our Crepe!

Dad discovered another church he wanted to see, so that was our next adventure. The fun part about this one was we had to make sure we got in the right public bus because we had to get across the water. It was very cool when we got over there. We got to go up to the top of the church, which was small, but had some awesome views. Unfortunately, the inside of the church was under a lot of renovation and we could not see it all. It was an awesome view just looking at the "main island" from the other side! We also got to see some awesome sail boats here. Not to mention we saw one family cleaning their boat where both the father and son were in a speedo. The Longosz family definitely did not understand why the men in Europe loved to wear speedos...not for us!

 Typical..I love Jay more than he loves me :))

 True brother/sister love

 View from across the island

 View from the top of the church

in front of all the beautiful sailboats

Next on the agenda, was cocktail hour. We found a really nice restaurant right on the water to sit down and finally relax because we were all exhausted. Against everyone's will, I order some traditional caprese and it was the best one we had had on the whole trip and everyone instantly apologizing for telling me not to order food. Now we were ready for nap time/ regrouping for dinner. By the end of the trip, we had a pretty good routine of doing something touristy in the morning, then walking around and grabbing lunch, having a little rest and regrouping time and then going back out for dinner and enjoying the night! The restaurant we went to this second night was pretty good, but the service was awful we definitely felt a little neglected, but its ok the food was good and we enjoyed each others company! 

 Enjoying their cocktails

 We were pretty tired...

 getting artsy

 I thoroughly enjoyed this caprese!

 my ALLSTAR family!

Oh mom...

The next day we woke up and headed to Milan for our final day of the trip. What a bittersweet day. We had had so much fun on the trip and loved being with each other but we were all getting so tired from going all day everyday, and I'm pretty sure dad was ready to stop spending money! To our benefit, a few days before we got to Milan, we had been informed that my dad's secretary found two tickets to the last supper! Since my mom and dad had already seen it, they let Jay and I take the two tickets. The best part was that it was part of a tour group and because we were coming in from out of town we got to miss the whole tour (which apparnently was awful) and we got to jump in when they went to see the Last Supper. It was definitely a very moving painting and I feel blessed I got to see it in person. Next, we walked to "downtown" Milan where the famous church the Duomo was located. WOW. what a church the outside of it is one the most detailed church I have ever seen and the inside was just as cool. Next, we walked in what was their version of phipps mall, but a lot cooler because it was half outside and also located by the Duomo. Inside there was a famous tile where you stuck your heal and spun around three times and made a wish and that wish is always supposed to come true. Mine hasn't come true yet but I am seeing hope of it coming true. We ate a nice lunch by the duomo and then went back to the hotel to hang out and pack because we were leaving early the next morning. We went to dinner at a very local restaurant where we pretty much did not have any say in what we wanted to order. If you asked about one thing, the waiter ranted and raved about it and convinced you to get every course of a meal. It was a good way to spend our last meal in Italy eating the real Italian way! We woke up early the next day to get to the airport to get on our 10.5 hour flight home. It was not as bad as I expected but it was definitely long. 

 in front of the Duomo!

The Phipps of Milan

 Got to the train station WAY too early

 ready for our adventures

 inside the duomo

 making my wish!

 Before our last dinner

 headed home!

so excited for the 10.5 hours ahead of us!

This trip was truly amazing and I still am thanking my parents for so generously taking my brother and I on such an amazing trip where we got to experience so much culture, eat and drink delicious food and vino, grow closer as a family, and just have genuine fun in a new city. Thanks again Mom and Dad, Jay and I truly will never be able to tell you thank you enough!!