PICHAS!

Right next to our school, on our walking tour of beautiful Pietresanta!

Center city of Pietresanta. So many cute little shops and cool status! Di Vinci and Michelangelo have work here. 

MAURIZIO!!! The amazing night shift worker who has become a good friend (Facebook official) and has taught me so much Italian!

Here's some of the Italian boys we've been playing sand volleyball with. They are awesome! 

GELATO....

My new favorite candy I discovered in our Hotel lobby.

We get the best food here. We are honestly so spoiled, and overfed... We don't mind. The white stuff is Gnocci, and probably my new favorite food.

Braxton and I like to chill on the balcony to his room during the little down time that we have. We don't have so much now that school has started up..

Our first Italian gelato! It's massive! But was free from AIFS 

ITALIA!!

WELCOME TO ITALIA

Sorry about the blog…or the lack of it. 

It's really hard out here to find any Wifi. The only place it is available is in the lobby of where we are staying, and everybody is constantly trying to connect, so it's rare that anyone ever actually gets connected. Plus we have hardly had ANY spare time, which is such a good thing. It has been absolutely amazing here! I can easily say this has already been the best experience of my life, and it has only been a week since I flew out of the US. Braxton says the same.

I have learned so much it's insane. 

We have made friends with so many great people, and have seen so many beautiful things. 

We are staying at The Eden Garden Hotel, which is paradise. It's not the most fancy place, but it is exactly what I pictured Tuscany to be like. The beds are rock hard and the toilets are weird, they have tiny showers and butt cleaners, and I live on the third floor (which is 4 floors up, cause they have a floor zero here) and the elevator doesn't work…. But I haven't even thought of any of that. I am having the absolute best time! The employees here are wonderful, probably the nicest people I have ever met and I have actually made great friends with a couple of them. 

The AIFS staff is perfect as well. They are there to help us 100% of the time, and will go the extra mile to meet our needs, or even just our preferences. They know exactly how to work with our age group (which can be difficult), and they make us feel like a family. I don't know everyone here by name yet, but faces are finally starting to look familiar and it's easy to just hang out with anyone who is near by. We are all here for the same reasons, so we're all pretty accepting of each other. (then again, I've always stayed out of drama, so there probably is some here. but I don't notice it, and that's what's making my experience so perfect!)

PIETRASANTA!!  The city where we are staying….It's breathtaking. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been. And I have had the privilege of living here for a short time, and I still get a week more. Me and Braxton were talking about how we don't want to leave here, but we're sure Florence will be just as wonderful, if not even more. AIFS rented us a beach area, and we have gone every day. We play sand volleyball with some of the Natives and they are the greatest people. They love their soccer, and use their feet and head during the games more than their hands. We actually went right after school today. We ordered uno panino from the cafe, and ate it while we laid out on the beach…PARADISE, I'M TELLING YOU!

 

    

THE PICTURE ON BOTTOM IS THE VIEW FROM MY FREAKING ROOM....YES, THAT IS THE MEDITERRANEAN. IT'S FINE TO BE JEALOUS. 

 We went on a tour of the city after the first day of school, and honestly I've never seen anything more perfect! It's so historic and exotic and ahhhh, just to die for! Pictures will never do this place justice, but it's all I have to show. 

School---Oh my goodness. I wake up at like 6 AM each morning before school even though it doesn't start until 9:00, because I am so excited to go. It blows my mind how much I have learned! Since we are only here for two weeks, we are covering a whole semester's worth of Italian over this time. We have midterms tomorrow and we've only had three days of class! And I feel like I have absorbed everything so well and I'm confident that I will ace the test. It is the best feeling! It's just making sense.. And I think studying French helped me understand the concept of learning a new language, plus they are pretty similar in some ways, so that's definitely a good thing! But in these three days, I have learned more than I did during my three years of French classes. We are thrown into this foreign environment, forced to live the way they do here, and communicate with them. This isn't a tourist area, so nobody really speaks any English here, and to get by we really have no choice but to learn the language and talk to them.

And that honestly is my favorite thing about being here. I go get gelato next door everyday (yeah, NEXT DOOR) and I order it in Italian and it's the best feeling! Yeah they laugh at me sometimes because I screw up, or my accent isn't perfect, or it takes me five minutes to get one word out, etc… but I eventually get there, and they are so nice about it and just happy that I'm willing to try. And it's the best feeling! And makes my gelato that much more rewarding ;) I really am having the best time.

TRUST ME! THERE'S PLENTY MORE PICTURES TO COME, BUT MY PHONE IS 4 STORIES ABOVE ME AND I DON'T WANT TO GET IT. I'LL DO A PICTURE BLOG LATER TONIGHT... SO UNTIL THEN...

CIAO! 

Marry me, London??

There are no words for how physically, mentally, and emotionally tired I am right now....

Oh my goodness. There's no way that I can post about everything that went on today, but everything about today (besides my bleeding, blistered feet) has been absolutely perfect!
My wonderful temporary roommate Crysta and I woke up ridiculously early this morning. I was up at 3:30 and could not get back to sleep, and she woke up at 5! We didn't know what to do with ourselves so we just started getting ready even though we didn't have to meet the others until about 9:00. It was about seven when we decided we were starving, and since we are staying at a Bed and Breakfast, we just headed downstairs! It was the most beautifully amazing hotel breakfast I have ever seen..

So. Freakin. Amazing.
They had the most fabulous fruit bar, with
different yogurts to go with it. I got tons of grape
fruit, and greek yogurt. TO DIE FOR!
There was also fresh warm bread with nutella,
which I heard was delicious, and different meats
and fried eggs....So perfect.

Oh, my roommate's name is Crysta. She is adorable and we really hit it off! We have so many of the same items of clothes, and she's just so nice and I'm glad I got paired with her. I also met this really nice girl named Susan. I ate breakfast with them this morning! Everybody here is nice and I definitely think I'll make some great friends! I wish I was rooming with Crysta the whole time, but I'm not.. She's in the internship program. I have hardly even talked to the girls I am rooming with so I hope that all goes well. It scares me a little bit, but from what I've seen so far, everybody is great!
Anyway-- after breakfast (and sitting at the table for about an hour and a half) we got on the tour bus. We sat on the second floor, which unfortunately wasn't an open top, but it was still way cool and an experience I've never had before! I took over 100 pictures.....I'll put a couple up, but nothing can ever do London justice! For most of our morning tour we actually got off of the bus and walked, which was cooler than being on the bus. Our first stop was actually my favorite:

BUCKINGHAM PALACE!!!

This is where the royal family lives! Absolutely breathtaking.
I was in awe the entire time. We learned that when that flag on
top of the building is raised, it means the Queen is not home,
and it goes down when she is home! Pretty neat.

Here is me and the girls I mentioned earlier. Susan is
on the left, Crysta in the middle, then obviously, me
on the right!! I love my outfit by the way.....

These guards may have been my favorite part of the whole
thing. They are just so cool, and LOOK AT THE GUN HE IS HOLDING!
Our tour guide said if you even attempt to get past, they'll shoot you. No hesitation.
The guy in the corner is Tommy. He is a very cool guy, and is Braxton's roommate!!

Me and Braxton went and did our own exploring after the tour was over, which was at about noon. We planned on going with some friends, but everyone wanted to do different things, and it was our last day here so we decided to go do what we wanted. They just totally dropped us off in the middle of town, and basically told us to explore and find our way back to the hotel. Haha. It was scary at first but we got the hang of things surprisingly quick! We became very familiar with the Tube (their subway system), and first we decided to eat. Thank you everyone who harassed me to get fish and chips...It was the best thing I have ever eaten!

                          

It's obviously massive, me and Braxton shared, and were still overly stuffed! But it was so worth it.

After, we went and visited the Tower of London, which was incredible and was Braxton's favorite part! They have the world's largest diamond there, it's the size of a fist! We saw where King Henry's wives got beheaded and it was just too cool. It was so big that we couldn't even see everything! Our. Feet. Hurt. So. Bad. But we kept going! We walked to Starbucks afterwards and cooled off and charged our cameras, then decided to go to the British Museum. That was free to get in, and was also too large to get through the whole thing, but it was amazing.

PS..words can't describe how much I love being here with Braxton. All of the History here makes him come alive, as it is his passion and what he wants to do with his life. He'll be the greatest History teacher, he knows about everything, he's taught me so much here, and he just enjoys it and has actually made me enjoy it! This kissing picture was HIS idea, by the way!! He told me he wants to have a picture of us kissing in front of all my favorite places on this trip. Isn't that the cutest? This might be my favorite picture of all time. Someone commented on this picture on Instagram saying I'm living the dream, which is so true! Braxton said coming here has always been his dream, and well, he's always been my dream. So it works out perfectly! 

ANYWAY, I'M IN LOVE WITH LONDON. MARRY ME. I'M IN LOVE WITH BRAXTON. MARRY ME. ANNDDD, I'M EXTREMELY TIRED. AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE AT 3 AM TO FLY TO TUSCANY... SO UNTIL NEXT TIME...CIAO! XOXO

DRINKS ON DRINKS ON DRINKS

Day 3:

Today has been surreal. 
Well, I'm not really sure what is considered today exactly. I haven't slept, but two days have passed, but I missed a lot of one day... I don't know. I'm tired and we're going to call it day 3. 
Braxton and I arrived at LAX, which is massive, by the way! We hugged my dad goodbye and security actually went a lot smoother than we thought it would. I'd say we got through in about 15 minutes. We got there five hours early... So we waited at our terminal for a long, long time. Then we got on the plane for an even longer time! We met the other students who departed from LAX during the wait, and they are all super nice! It made me really excited.
Our 10 hour over night flight was...bearable. I've never seen a bigger plane! I was literally in shock. There were three rows of three, and two different entrances and it was just incredible! It was such a bumpy ride which always makes me paranoid, and I probably got about 30 minutes of sleep. (Braxton slept the whole time!) But luckily, we got our little personal TVs with a huge selection of movies and tv shows which I definitely took advantage of, and it helped the ride go a lot quicker! 
We arrived in London at 2:00 PM, went through customs, then took a bus to our hotel. We ended up getting here at about 4:00. Everyone somehow fell asleep on the bus, besides me and Brax. The drive was BEAUTIFUL! London is breathtaking, and a lot different than I thought it would be. It's a massive city, but there's a lot of greenery all over the place. I couldn't take my eyes away from the window, and neither could he!

Here is me and m'love on the plane. Our seats weren't next to each other so luckily the nice lady sitting next to him traded me seats. I wouldn't have survived the flight if we were sitting by ourselves! 


We got to the hotel and the AIFS staff that greeted us were way nice. They let us go upstairs and freshen up, and said meet them at the bar at 6:00 for some drinks...And it begins. Haha. We both knew that everyone's idea of a "good time" would be partying and drinks, but I didn't think the staff would initiate it! And only in the first couple hours! But it's okay, to each their own, but we don't drink so we talked with some of the group that we hadn't met yet, then we went on a walk around the city! We walked a few blocks in each direction just to get an idea of the place. Our hotel isn't in a tourist area at all, but it's still beautiful! Something funny we noticed is all the basketball-type courts, that have soccer goals instead of basketball hoops... It's pretty neat! I realized how starving I was, but kinda felt sick at the same time so I just went to a little convenient store and bought some interesting snack foods:

THEY 
WERE
SO, SO
SO
SO
AMAZING!
I definitely made a good choice. And it only cost me 3 pounds. (the currency, not the weight. Although it easily could have made me gain about 3 pounds as well...)

pounds look like this:

Having this money in our hands made it all seem more real. We are not in the United States anymore, and we are DEFINITELY not in Utah anymore! And it's going to be this way for a long, long time! 
I can't explain how grateful I am that Braxton is here with me. I really don't know what I'd do without him... I'm glad we have the standards that we do, and I don't regret the fact that we choose not to drink and party. I feel like we will have a lot more experiences this way, and we will actually remember them too! ;) 



I am a baby and I already miss my mom and dad. And especially texting my mom! I text her all of the time, usually for no reason, and it probably annoys her. I keep pulling out my phone trying to text her a picture of something because I know how much she loves it here! So it's definitely hard not being able to do that, but there's wifi here at the hotel and I can text her and everyone else while I'm here for the next couple days. Hopefully things continue to work out this way! Also, I can't wait for my parents to come out here with us. This is an experience I definitely want to share with them. It's been a great, odd, surreal, emotional day! And I'm tired. So tired. 
So over and out! 

BYE! XOXO

Tomorrow!

Well we made it!... to California.

This morning was weird. I woke up in a panic thinking that I had missed seeing my siblings off to school, but I had plenty of time to chill with them and say goodbye. Madyson gave me a kiss goodbye which was...nice...Curtis gave me TWO hugs even though I'm pretty sure he couldn't wait for me to leave (he gets to drive my "nice" car while I'm gone so I don't blame him), and Karter gave me a hug then shoved my face into his armpit and said "take a big wiff"!
Ladies and gentlemen: my siblings.
I am going to miss each one of them more than ever! 

Also, I cuddled with my pup for probably an hour and I may have even shed a few tears over it. He's my child.

I did a final packing check before I took a shower, and after, I enjoyed the last use of my favorite hair straightener. (I can't bring mine because of the voltage differences, fingers crossed I can buy one out there ASAP), and then I FaceTimed my best friend Piper. She moved to Portland at the beginning of this month and I miss her beyond belief! But it's way exciting that we are both beginning new adventures in our lives, and we still talk as often as possible. She's super supportive and excited for me to go. :) Dillion and Braxton came over while I was talking with her, and we took a little group picture!

Say hi to Piper!! Isn't she pretty?! Oh and if you grab your magnifying glass, you'll see the three of us in the bottom left corner. 

Braxton, my dad and I drove here to Los Angeles pretty much immediately after we hung up, and the ride went well! Braxton slept the majority of the time, as usual, and me and my dad jammed out to music the whole way. I probably opened and closed my backpack 30 times to double check if I had my wallet and passport, but don't worry, it was there every single time! We stopped in Las Vegas to say bye to my sister and her hubby and little baby fetus Lukas. That put a pit right in my stomach. I just have to keep telling myself that I'll see him through Skype, and I'll get to hold him on his 3 month birthday...And now, LA. My dad has a meeting here tonight, so that's why we left as early as we did. We're relaxing at a hotel right now, emphasis on RELAXING! I am actually relaxed, which is odd. It doesn't seem like we're going, especially not tomorrow. But every ten seconds me and Braxt will look at each other and say "tomorrow".  And I think I'm finally starting to feel prepared. 

AHHHHHH WE GO TOMORROW! 

Side note from Braxton:
Well,... I guess moments like this come only a few times in a life. Emotions are running wild, from missing family and friends back home to excitement for living out my greatest ambitions in life. This is a great time for personal growth and I hope me and Arielle have the best experiences of our lives. 


Ain't he cute?? 

K NIGHT! XOXO

The Day Before.

"Man, oh man" has definitely been my most recent catch phrase. Nothing seems real right now, besides the fact that there has been butterflies in my stomach for the past 48 hours-- that is very real, and I have actually become physically ill because of it. I probably stress more than your average person, and it's not healthy. Or normal. For the past couple months I have basically had the hormones of a pregnant woman (poor Braxton) and have gone from zero to one hundred, then back to zero in a matter of seconds.

Imagine that times one thousand.

That's how it was today. (Again, poor Braxton. Poor everyone.) First thing I did this morning was gargle salt water because of a sudden very sore throat, then I threw up because it was so disgusting. Then I took some Aleve for my sudden pounding headache. Then I calmly wrote down a list of things that needed to be done. It consisted of tasks from figuring out bank accounts, to meeting up with some friends and family to say our goodbyes. Things went pretty well minus the pounding headache and sore throat, which is still going on, by the way. At about noon or so, mama and dad took Braxton and I out to lunch at The Paradise Bakery, which was delicious! Plus it was super cool to hang out with them one last time.

I got the most delicious Cobb Salad and a cup of tomato soup. My two favorite foods. I plan on eating here when I get back home...Haha.

 When we finished lunch plus a couple other errands, I realized it was just about 3:00. Then I realized that I hadn't yet finished packing...Then things weren't so calm. I got home, and I frantically packed. 

AIFS told us to pack as light as possible, which freaked me out. But things seemed to fit pretty well! I filled one huge suitcase to check, plus a carry on, and a backpack. They're all stacked to the top but I'd say I did a pretty good job! 

So I packed... 
Then I unpacked, then I packed again, then I unpacked, then I cried, then packed....Then unpacked and packed again. Then cried some more.
I can honestly say that packing for even a weekend vacation is one of the biggest trials in my life, haha, so you can only imagine how I felt while packing for 3 and 1/2 months! I don't know what the weather is gonna be like. I don't know how fat I'll feel. I don't know what the trends are out there. #firstworldproblems right?? Totally. But it's a toughy.
I needed a break, and the place I always go to unwind is nowhere but the lovely Starbucks! 

It's ridiculous, but this is my favorite place on earth and I'm going to miss it. I've made friends with all the workers, it's super peaceful when I need quiet alone time, and I always cool off (or heat up) here when I just need a break. Not to mention their soy chai tea latte is fab! Oh and thanks to Jordon for the free drink in honor of my last day! ;)  Yum.










Like usual, Starbucks helped. Afterward I visited Braxton's grandparents, Dan, and my best amigo Matthew, then I took a second (or third or fourth....) attempt at packing. Luckily, another best friend Dillion was here to help me out this time around, and I think I finally feel good about everything that is or isn't in my suit case. We'll see how long the feeling lasts!


If I listed every single thing I did today, you'd be bored, and I'd probably fall asleep because I am EXHAUSTED. I am so ready to chill one last night with my family, because as much as I hate to admit it, I am going to miss all of 'em (especially my puppy:) like crazy! 
And obviously I can't spend much quality time with them if I'm sitting here blogging, so until next time... 

GOODNIGHT! XOXO 

Oh just a side note: I absolutely hate how easy it is for guys to pack and all that crap. Notice how Braxton is hardly mentioned. . . He had a pretty chill, normal day. Not fair.