Aaron and Elyse Adams

So I want to give you all a quick update on what has been going on since the last time I wrote a blogpost. The only problem is that I have been so busy I haven't had time to, and today I probably have the least amount of time out of any of them so I will try to get to that next week! Today however, is far more important to me; I have the great honor of being in Aaron and Elyse's wedding!

Elyse and Aaron

Just to give a little bit of back story on this all so that the things that I say about the two of them seem valid;

I met Aaron in High School just through being active and involved in some of the same things. He was a cool guy to me that I hung out with just a few times, but never really got to know. It wasn't until about two summers ago when I got a hold of him about some God things that I really got to know him better. One of the greatest things about Aaron is his burning love for God! I find it awesome to have a friend like him who lives his life for God and has never been afraid to show or talk about it!

Aaron at camp with some students

I got to know Elyse, as well as Aaron even more, when a group of us created a small group that met every Wednesday. My first impression of Elyse was that she was far too quiet and reserved for me so the only way I was able to overcome that was by asking her all kinds of questions all of the time that she had to answer and slowly but surely she came around! In fact yesterday was the first day that I say her since I have returned to America and she greeted me with the lovely comment of "I was excited for you to come back because I have missed your hugs!". - This made me smile!

Elyse with their dog Bowen

All of that is somewhat unimportant unless we were just talking about two people independently. RATHER today I am in their WEDDING... so I think it is much more important to talk about the two of them together.

I have never told either of them this before, but after looking at the two of them and the amazing relationship they have I am sure that I would not be able to get married to someone if I didn't feel like our relationship was in the same level of theirs. They have one of those relationships that you look at and just say "they know how to make it work" and by being observant I can see that it is out of love and grace towards one another. I love to take small tips from their relationship to help me learn and improve my own.

BEST OF LUCK YOU TWO AND I LOVE YOU BOTH!

The one thing that amazes me the most about the two of them is when you talk to them about each other separately. Because I have been abroad for the past 9 months I have missed ALL of their engagement, however one of the last things I did before I left for Italy was spend a day with Aaron frisbee golfing and some other things. It was ironically a day or two after Aaron had bought the engagement ring for Elyse. I was blown away about the way he talked about Elyse. The way he places her on a pedestal and lives to honor her is in its own way honorable. Elyse is ironically the same way! She talks so highly of Aaron and respects him so much. I am amazed at the way in which she trusts him and turns to him to make the right decisions for the two of them. She looks to his leadership to lead their relationship and having that open ended trust is awesome.

When you see the two of them together it is very easily to recognize how meant for each other the two of them truly are. It is the way they communicate, the happiness that the two of them bring each other, and most importantly the way the two of them complement each other and make each other better people. They have this burning love for each other that I have seen in very few couples.It's difficult to describe it all without ever seeing because so much of their connection and relationship has to do with just seeing the connection in between the two of them!

I am just incredibly happy for them and excited for them and their future!

The day of their engagement at Hawking Hills State Park.

The Nicest Hotel I Have Ever Stayed At

After traveling around for the past 9 months staying in hostels and eating paninis and all the other cheap food in the world, anything that has a nice shower, you don't have to worry about people stealing your money, and you have food for free then is a great place. However, today we checked in to the Rome Cavalieri and I must say that LIFE IS GOOD!!

The main lobby at the Cavalieri

Three paintings, 7 Million Euros, one awesome sitting area in the lobby!

Because of my parents status with the Hilton hotel chain it allows us to have some really cool benefits. For example; today when we got to the hotel they moved us over to a different lady to check in to the hotel. She gave us fresh orange juice and water. It was highly unneeded, but I enjoyed it very much. The complex here at the hotel is suitable for the Queen of England, but rather we are stuck with hanging out with the ATP tennis players in the Imperial Club at the hotel while they are competing in their tournament here in Rome.

Relaxing in the Imperial lounge overlooking the Vatican this afternoon.

Speaking of the Imperial Club, I am right now seated at an outside table with my Mom, Dad, and my older sister Kortney in the Imperial Club overlooking Rome by nightlight. We are enjoying some desserts, fresh fruit, and Kortney and I have some hot tea as well. It contains some of the wealthiest people I have ever been around and to be honest it makes me a tad bit uncomfortable even though I love it! Perfect example; on our way back to the room (4 minutes ago) my mom and I ran into Maria Sharapova in the hallway.

Aunt Gail and Mom on the outdoor patio.

Kortney up on the rooftop terrace.

I am not saying all of this to sound  like a stuck up, too good for everyone else type of guy because I would never consider myself like that, but rather to say that in the last 2 weeks I have really recognized how fortunate and lucky I am; I have been to 9 countries in Europe and 45+ cities in Italy in the past 8 1/2 months. Now compare that with the fact that I just turned 21 this January and my parents are (well my mom doesn't look a day older than 35) just under 50 and this is their first time in Europe.... BLESSED!

I am going to continue to enjoy the time I have left here (6 days) and be thankful for it all, because unfortunately it is all coming to an end. It has been an awesome 9 months, and I am excited for the next 5 days as well. Rather, this has been an absolutely amazing way to finish up my time here in Italy.

My view while writing this

The Vatican from our hotel

La Mia Famiglia

I apologize that I have not written anything in the past week and a half to two weeks. I have been incredibly busy with last minute activities, and sucking up the last bit of my life here in Italy. With that being said, this blog post is going to be a bit out of order (still need to write about Prague and my last couple weeks of school), but its super important and really exciting so I hope you will let it slide!

Wednesday morning my family arrived in Torino for what is the start or our two week journey around Italy. I had not seen them but through Skype for over 8 months and to be honest it was a tad bit weird when I first saw them. It was sad that they were as tired as they were because they could only last for about 5 hours in Torino, but in that time I was able to show them around the heart of the city and take them to all of my favorite places in the city that were open.

Picking the family up from the bus stop.

We had lunch at what potentially became my favorite place to eat in Torino; a panini shop named I Love Panino. In the last 3 1/2 months that they have been opened I ate there a lot (I was actually their first ever customer) and I have my own panini there! I also took them on a nice 3 hour tour of the city. We stopped off at all of the main piazzas and buildings in the city as well as my favorite gelatoria and visited the river Po. It was nice to show them the city that I had lived in for 9 months in person rather than just through photos or behind me in Skype.

Myself and Claudia and Max.

Showing the family around Torino (Piazza Castello)

Eating at my favorite Gelateria in Torino one last time!

It was a huge teaser to have them show up for 5 hours because after that they left for Milano to go to Venice the next day. I on the other hand had to stay back in Torino to complete my last couple of exams for school. We ended up meeting back up Saturday in Deiva Marina (a small beach town west of the Cinque Terre).

We happened to find out that from Saturday night at 9pm to Sunday night at 9pm there was going to be a train strike and for me it was in some ways a comical way of introducing them to Italy! Either way we managed to get some time in at the Cinque Terre, and made our way to Florence today. I will be going back through once I get back to America to actually blog about these separately, but I just wanted to give a quick update on what all has been going on!

The family in the Cinque Terre

Mom and Dad enjoying themselves!

Boats in dry dock in Manarola.

Aunt Gail and I both on the walk of love... lonely and wishing our better halves were with us!!!

Today we spent the day traveling between the Cinque Terre and Florence, but we were lucky enough to be able to stop off in Pisa and have a look around at the leaning tower as well as the Duomo and baptismal house! Before I had gone to Pisa I had heard a lot of mixed reviews; "stay for 1 hour, take that classic tourist photo and go home." or "Pisa is really cool. You can hang out on the lawn and just soak up the sun and people watch." I must say that it was more like the second to me. I really enjoyed the time we spent there, and in fact after we left I could have spent another 2 or so hours more!

Sibling fun with the tower!

On top of the tower.

The angle on the first floor looking out towards the Cathedral.

I will be writing another blog post when I get a chance. Right now it is 12.17am and tomorrow we have a tour starting at 9am from our hotel. We are going to do a private tour of the Tuscany countryside as well as a vineyard.