Tutti Bene! (All Good!)

As I think about the 4, days I have left as a 23 year old, I can’t believe how fast another year has gone by since my last birthday! Eating pizza with Erin and Bryce in Old Town Alexandria Virginia seems like barely yesterday! As I think of all the time that has passed since I last blogged, I can not help but smile, and it has been a good week full of more adventures and some good ol’ ridiculous fun.

Every adventure will teach us something if we allow it to and amongst the many adventures I have had out here, the biggest lesson that I am learning relates to everybody, to life, to a *gulp*…career. Are you ready for the silliest lesson of all? You have to make life fun, you have to take the daily chores of ANY job, any activity and bring fun into it. I have known for a long time that I need fun in my life, it is a crucial part of my health; what I have learned this week only confirms that knowledge. I can be the one to make the fun…it doesn’t always have to come from someone else’s creativity (although that is sometimes even more fun!). Whether you are in a big city alone, lost in the woods, in the middle of tim-buck-two with one friend, or at a party with all your closest friends, the only way to make it something special is to create memories. Generally speaking, the best memories are of spontaneous fun. Even at work, it is possible to turn drudgery into memories, great memories. Let me explain:

1. Monastery – Wednesday afternoon we again visited Siena. Today’s mission: clothes, souveniers, gelato, groceries, check email for advice on a big decision, more memories. Mission accomplished. Nothing of drama happened that I can remember except one silly moment. Since the afternoon was more relaxed without any major agenda, Claire and I found a spot in the shade under a tree in the grass outside of San Domenica. I was doodling in my journal, and Claire taking pictures of the pigeons. As we stopped our activities and just rested in the moment we were suddenly taken by surprise in a most unexpected way!! Out of nowhere we both felt cold water falling on us. The sprinklers turned on! I jumped up at a speed I did not know I was capable of. We must have looked pretty silly. And then before we were even out of the grass the sprinklers turned off. Only us…haha. The day went by quickly after that. Thomas picked us up to take us to a Benedictine Monastery called Monte Oliveto Maggiore…way awesome!! It kind of reminded me of some retreat centers in Colorado, filled with pine trees and shaded paths and the whole area had a certain peace about it. We stayed to listen to the monks pray Vespers (I couldn’t really join in due to language barrier and really not knowing the parts…even in English). Even though I could not verbally join in, my heart did, and again I was able to marvel at the universal-ness of the Catholic Church. They carried the same tune that I’ve heard at Vigil Praise (flat tune with small fluctuations per line). How cool is it that so many religious pray the same thing every day?! Prayer and praise is constantly happening throughout the world, especially with the time zones…LOVE IT! After Vespers I prayed some more and then got to meet one of the monks…he was from Africa, so cool!! During that chat I realized that Thomas views himself as my father figure while I am out here, which put a smile in my heart...I am very blessed indeed. On the drive home Claire and I both took tons of pictures and even saw a real life sheep herder with his staff and dog…fun! Oh, side note: The word Torre means tower. The monastery had a restaurant in its tower. Torre is my favorite contrada…at first I thought we were visiting the spot the contrada was named after. But then I learned the translation and well, it was still an awesome tower. :). means Tower. Another side note: While in Siena souvenir shopping, I finally bought a flag…for Torre…so excited to wear it in 2 weeks at the Palio!!
2. Grain fights – Our grain is delivered in the back of a trailer, like a flatbed trailer. Middle of last week we were running low and when you are skimping while feeding to try to make the grain last as long as possible, seeing a full trailer of more grain is a very exciting thing indeed! Frequently on grain delivery day (or hay delivery day for that matter) you can hear either Claire or I yelling across the courtyard…WE HAVE GRAIN!!!!!!! (or HAY if that is the case). Wednesday night, upon returning from the Monastery, we had grain…WOOO! After our fun drive snapping pictures of the country side, Claire looked at me and said, wannna? YES! So out came the camera and into the trailer we climbed. Well, half way in, Claire had the ingenious idea to make grain angels instead of just taking a snapshot. So…I changed the setting to video and we made grain angels. (FYI – that video is hilarious! I hope to share it soon!). After realizing that our attempts were an epic fail, we laughed. Claire became an instigator (not me, for once!) and threw grain on me! I threw some back on her and by the end we were both rolling with laughter, covered in dust and grain sticking to our hair and clothes. Definitely a great night. The next morning…
3. Hay bales – Going along with being camera happy, both Claire and I have been wanting to take a picture with the hay bales in the barn for a long time. Last night (Sunday night) when we got a new load of hay, we decided to do something about this desire. We set up the timer and my battery died. Of course. Plan B. On Claire’s camera we started to have some serious fun. What started off as a climb onto the bale as fast as you can to sit and pose before the timer ends quickly turned into a pitchfork fightin’ face makin’, jumpin’, laughin’ good time. I think I jumped off the hay bales at least five times. Side note: I am terrified to jump off a tiny wall, and suddenly after one spontaneous adrenaline sparked leap off the bale I have found that I really enjoy flying through the air from heights…even if my landings are a little rough. Miraculously, I sustained zero serious injuries. To say the least, we now have about fifty pictures on the bales…yay!
4. Rain ride – During all this fun it has been ferociously, nearly unbearably hot. Imagine this heat and then waking up one morning and looking into the sky to find giant thunderheads and a cool breeze in the air after four weeks of this intense melting heat. Nice change eh? And then…as you start your morning chores you hear that first rumble. Sigh of contentment. That is how this morning (Monday) started for me. After feeding, we went for a ride with the rolling dark clouds threatening to let loose, hoping to get wet. Mission accomplished. The sky poured buckets on us and smiling from ear to ear we rode down the road. As we walked on the tree covered path I looked ahead to the mountains now covered with clouds and watched the rain fall, feeling the water seep into my jeans, drip off my helmet, into my eyes and roll down my face. I heard the patter of it finding its way to the ground through the trees and marveled at the freshness of the air. When we got off the main road and onto our favorite trail, we cantered. I love this trail anyways, but cantering/galloping with water pelting your face, the drops falling from your eyelashes and the sound of the rain drowning out the pounding of hooves all the while ducking under low branches and watching the green bushes flash by you as you run over the grass covered trail is a whole other ball game. I could not stop smiling. PRAISE GOD! After an hour and a half I was a drowned rat, content as could be, even on the cold side for once and completely thrilled that I chose to enjoy the rain in person and not from behind a window.

So…moral of the story? Bring fun into everything you do!! I mean really…what is more fun then riding horses in the rain, in the mountains, in Italy, more fun then making grain angels or jumping off of giant round hay bales?! I guess my adventurous side is bound to find something…sky diving? Swimming with great white sharks? Learning to jump on skiis? Walking the streets of Africa? Feeding wild giraffes? Who knows...maybe something will happen this weekend…because my 24th birthday is in FOUR days! Yikes. Thankfully Vittorio is letting us take a long weekend to go travel. After much searching for the perfect destination the last few weeks, it has been found. I am going to see the real life Matterhorn!!! I can not wait! I am sure that this weekend is bound to be full of adventures because well, I am me...ridiculous, spontaneous, and crazy…and I love living a great story. It will be my first time staying in a hostel, and that is bound to have some story in itself!

As always, there is so much more that I am sure I have forgotten, so much more I wish I could put into words, and so much more that would draw this entry out into a novel. (Although I bet by now all these blogs could be a novel…hmmm). Oh yeah, more for my own memory sake…this week we also galloped through a field of cows! It was fantastic going face to face with a bull on a horse…I was a little nervous, but my trusty horse kept me safe. . For those of you who have lives to maintain while supporting me out here by reading these stories, I am going to end it here…the important events of the week have been shared. So…as my future is seemingly nothing to be afraid of (which I give full rights to myself now to allow that to change as time goes on…), as I get ready to celebrate another fantastic year of life, and as I count my blessing and the adventures I have been blessed to have so far, all I can say about life is TUTTI BENE!

Lessons learned…some of which I apparently needed to learn again, haha…noted by a *:
- MAKE LIFE FUN!
- *Church is my universal/global home
- Cows are fun, especially in fields…I still want to go cow tipping
- Food in Siena is much better off the beaten track…never buy food in any city at a restaurant near a tourist attraction…overpriced, small serving, mediocre quality.
- *It will still rain whenever you are in dire need of doing laundry
- *Never wait until all your clothes are dirty to do laundry…always have a spare outfit for when you get drenched in the rain and all your clothes are wet in the washer…and when you don’t have that spare outfit, smile about being wet all day due to your lack of thinking ahead, haha
- Flip flops are AWESOME!! (both in the mail and to keep your feet clean)
- You will never really get used to early alarm clocks
- I still LOVE rain (almost as much here in the summer as snow in Colorado!)
- Spontaneous grain wars are a blast
- Custom timers on cameras are a great invention!