Cheers!

Sooo! Cheers from Ireland! It's been a fabulous time so far...been overseas almost a whole month now, about two weeks here in Dublin and another two in Italy. Italy was fantastic...it was like one big long date with Travis, and oh yeah, the group too...but luckily we had plenty of time to ourselves as well. Went to Rome, Florence and Milan...same three places I visited last time I went abroad, but it was great to be in those places again...never thought I'd make it back there! Never say never, I suppose! This time I know I'll be back....the food was o0o00o0rgasmic!

  Mmm salmon pennette at Hotel California in Rome! I have a ton of pictures from Rome, but this is the one I chose today...ok, one more..


You may recognize this as St. Peter's Square (even though it looks quite circular to me!) We climbed over 500 steps to get to the top of the basilica...it was worth it, needless to say. Did I mention we had mass with the Pope? That was definitely something to write home about.

I wish I kept up more on my journaling this past month, so much to post!
Here's a picture of the Arno River in Florence....this spot in particular is one of my favorites in the world.


It's so charming in Italy. My friend Jess said it best, "They way they celebrate life over there is spectacular." Sure it's just as dirty as any city, and gypsy-ridden, but anywhere you look is immactulately picture-esque...and incredibly romantic, I must say.

Perhaps I am quite partial to the romance in Italy because Travis and I went ring shopping in Milan, at his request that he wanted to buy me one...Is it terribly cliche to say I have never been so sure of anything in my life?? Not that I didn't already know he is my companion for life...After a lovely little dinner together, we took a walk and passed a jewelry store that had a pretty eclectic selection of new and vintage jewelry...I saw one I liked in the window, so Travis said let's take a walk to the hotel to get the debit card, just in case. That was 10 to 5. I told myself (and the butterflies in my tummy) that I'd take it as a sign if they were still open when we returned. On the way out of the hotel we ran into a kid from our group who wanted to stop and chat with us, and I remember thinking COME ON! WE'VE GOTTA GO!!!

They were still open. The tried the ring in the window and it was a little too big, and didn't make my heart go pitter-patter...so we kept looking. And, oh! That one is pretty...is that vintage??? Guess what?!

A perfect fit. My heart was beyond pitter-patter at this point. We paid and Travis tucked it away in his coat, and I was unsure of when I'd see it again, but still enthralled nonetheless! Was this really happening?! So we meandered through the streets, as the sun was setting, hand in hand...picked up a bottle of champagne and headed back to the room where we celebrated with our bubbly and a lovely game of Scrabble...

Cut to two days ago...Sunday afternoon in the park, St. Stephens Green here in Dublin, feeding the duckies (my favorite!!) our stale pitas and watching an extremely playful dog chase his boomerang in and out of the water...Travis knelt in the mud and said "honey, I'm ready..."

The spot where he popped the question

Our first photo as an engaged couple!

This is one is pretty self-explanatory.


Well, guess what! I'm ready too!!! Just talking about it is so exciting...making plans and all that...

I guess 'tis all for this entry, hopefully more soon to come...there is so much more to write about our experience in Dublin so far, and Italy too!