You know you've made it

Last night I was hanging out with some guys from my ward. We watched the football game and somehow ended up talking about marriage. At my unmarried age, I guess that's just what we do. :) Anyhow, they wanted to hear our "lists". We all shared our 3-5 things that we're looking for in someone and then 3 of us started our own little conversation. It was more about relationships in general and not just a dating relationship.

One thing that came up was being yourself. I feel like this is something that sometimes I really struggle with. I wouldn't say that I'm a fake person, but like most people (I would say), I have a couple levels of me and most people only see the first level. Maybe you'll make it to the second once I get to know you a bit. I should label these levels and determine how many I actually have, but I haven't sat down and thought about it that much. We talked about being with people who you feel comfortable showing your weaknesses. Everyone wants to show their best self, that's natural and there is nothing wrong with that. But we are human and we are not always our best self. We have bad days and life happens. I have determined that you know you've made it as one of my good friends, one of the people I trust and feel comfortable, when I let you see those levels of me that I find to be embarrassing. The moments when I am weak and vulnerable. It takes a lot to get there. For me to have confidence in you that you love me enough, that when the moment is gone, you won't think any less of me.

I know most people wouldn't think less of me for my moments of weakness, but what I know and what I feel don't always line up. I am grateful for the people in my life who fit into this category. They love me, for me. The good, the bad and the ugly. They see my weaknesses and accept them, but don't stick me in a box. They allow me to grow and help me to do so. They listen with love and then grab me by the hand and help me along until I can do it myself.

I can think of so many people in my life who have actual made it to this point. Now that I think of it, maybe it's not that hard after all. For those of you who have seen me in my not so pretty moments and have continued to love me, I thank you. Especially those I sought out. I KNEW I would be safe. I knew I could depend on you to love me and help me through.

Interesting enough, one of the people I was talking with is one of these people. I think I may have blogged about this a couple months ago. I'm pretty sure I did. I don't know if he really understands how much I value his friendship and look to his example in loving others. He is an example of Christ like love and I feel very blessed to have people like him in my life.

Rome 2013

Thursday morning I woke up. Nervous, a bit apprehensive and excited. Laura came and picked me up to take me to the airport. I love getting to the airport hours before your flight so you can make it through security and everything and then it takes 20 minutes and you sit in the terminal for an hour and 40 minutes.
The flight to New York was uneventful. The layover in New York equally uneventful. The flight to Italy was long, but I did manage to sleep for about 6 hours.
Ashley had gotten instructions from their hotel on how to get there from the airport. They looked simple enough and really I only got lost one time. But waiting for the train at the airport and then finding the right metro line and getting my ticket took longer than I think any of us were planning on. I knew they had tickets for the Colosseum for 12:00 and I just watched the time tick by. I had no way to tell them I was almost there. I finally found the place and as I was headed to my room, the lady at the desk asked me if I had seen my friends. I was so shocked and said no. She said, "Oh they just left 5 minutes ago". There was a note on the door for me, that they had waited as long as they could and that I should stay there and rest up. NOT HAPPENING! I didn't just fly to Rome to rest up!
I knew they were headed to the Colosseum so I asked for directions and RAN to the metro station. I figured catching them at the metro stations was my only shot. Once they were actually there I'd be out of luck. I got on the first metro and didn't see them. I started praying right then that some how I'd be able to find them. I ran from the A line metro to the B and was just standing there on the escalator praying when what do I hear but "Cathy?" I looked up and two steps away was my group!!! I almost burst into tears right there on the spot.
That was the topic of the day. "We found Cathy!" "I can't believe we found Cathy!" "Remember that one time we found Cathy!?" Basically God loves me, knows where I am, he hears my prayers and answers them.
The Colosseum was really cool. SO BIG. I was glad that I listened to the people who told me to download the Rick Steves walking tour. Hearing the history of it made it much more interesting. After the Colosseum we headed over to the Forum and Palantine hill. They were also very interesting. After the touring we had some delightful Italian pizza where we had a dream Italian man as our waiter. On our way home we made a stop to see the Spanish steps and then it was time to head back to the hotel. I was glad to have a place to lay my head.

Preparing for Italy

Travel trips from my roommate Kari
 I have some travel tips for you:

These are all based on personal experience:

1-Don't take a sleeping pill if you aren't used to them. Like be to drowsy and half asleep when you get off the long flight and leave your passport on it.
2-If you leave your passport on a plane, try and realize it before you go through security and get stuck between security and immigration and can't leave anywhere.
3-Ask nice people for help. They will get your passport for you off the plane. 
4-have your address written down on paper (a few pieces off paper) Then you can just give it to your taxi driver. The French ones try and SCREW you and pretend you told them wrong.
5-just don't blow dry your hair (unless it is a hairdryer provided by the boat or hotel). I literally blew circuits for an entire left wing of a hotel once. I also burnt three blow dryers on Europe trips. 2011 was a rough year on my hair.
6-pretend you know what you are doing.
7-In Europe men are going to tell you how pretty you are. Even if you haven't showered and have BO. They still will.
8-Enjoy people telling you how lovely you are because you come back to Provo and the men don't  9-don't be a sucker on exchange rates. I once bought a purse for $300 in Germany that I thought I was getting for $50. It is real nice but really! I had confused to different continents rates. It was a really crazy month for me.
10-Go into every H&aM you see. They are just better in DC and Europe.
11- Buy Kari Chocolate
12-Buy Kari Chocolate
13-Buy Kari Chocolate'
14-If you have a CC take it and use that.
15-Always have enough cash on hand to take taxi home.
16-Beware that they will charge for plain old simple water. They have some real European hospitality, NOT.
17-Europeans stink quite often, Don't let your face indicate that they do. Keep calm and don't breath in.
 I wish you were going to Asia. I would have EVEN better tips. Like no matter what they say...don't eat the Ox Tongue! OR never use a public restroom in Malaysia. EVER. You will never recover from that smell.
hahaha here is a great guide from nomadic Matt on girls traveling in Italy.  This line below makes me soooooo jealous of you:
"Let’s cut right to the chase: Italian men are beautiful. The phrase, ‘Tall, dark, and handsome’ was probably coined in Italy. I think most women find Italian men to be easy on the eyes, so if people watching is your thing, then consider heading to Italy. The men here are very suave and make it easy to fall in love with them, which isn’t a bad thing".
To which I replied: I have been asked multiple times if I'm going to kiss an Italian man
And then Kari replied: do it. I will give you $$
me: we'll see if I meet any worth kissing
Kari: just base it off looks. that is all I ask.
99-Pack a carry on that has underwear and a change of clothes.  I traveled with an Exec that failed to do that once and had to be in meetings in windbreaker athletic pants for three days before he retrieved his lost luggage.  Not a great first impression.

Other preparations have including:
-asking my cousin for great places to see and eat since he lived there for 2 years and has been back a few times. His enthusiasm was contagious.
-Having the home teachers give me a blessing to help my anxiety ridden self.
-Using google maps to determine how far apart hotels are so I'm not completely cut off from other people in my group.
-Pre-trip check in.
-Finding a ride to the airport. It pays to have people who love you and who don't work during the day.

Thanks for all your help and excitement. It's gonna be great.