I get off from work at 5:00pm every day and always forget to stop by the store and get milk or something. I could get on the site at 11:00am and set it up so that I get a text message on my phone as I'm walking out of the front door of the office reminding me to get the milk. It's easy to use and might come in handy for a few of you.
Nerds like me find these things.
In the meantime I'll be learning a little more about how to incorporate databases into the backend of this webpage. If anyone out there knows how to do this please get in touch with me. I could really use a little head start.
Well, I've found a few good sources that tell a little different story than what we hear on the news every night.
The first site is a blog created by a US soldier stationed in Iraq. He likes to speak his mind, and he looks like he's doing as much as he can to show the American public what's really happening over there. You can find a link to his site here.
This next organization was created by a civilian Aggie who is working for a private company in Iraq. He saw many children in Iraq who are disabled do not have access to wheelchairs and have to spend their entire life in bed or carried around. He began to collect donations and wheelchairs from the US to deliver to Iraq. You can find out more at www.wheelchairsforiraqikids.com
Finally, here is a site that lists "good news in iraq" from various sources.
I don't know what made me go off on the Iraq tangent...I guess I'm just tired of hearing all the bad news from over there. There's no way that we send our finest people over there and nothing good happens. I just wish we heard more about it on tv.
Pics from the France Airport:
France Airport
Airport Ceiling
Weird looking guy on our flight
After dinner I went back to my tiny room. The room size is probably 15 feet by 4 feet. I can literally reach all the way across the room. Check under this post for pics of my room. I fell into bed and was asleep instantly after only getting an hour or two of sleep on the plane.
Today we visited an Italian market. I'd equate it to a flea market in the US, but I think alot more people get their stuff here. There's lots of meat, fish, fresh fruit, and vegatables on sale there. All we bought were a few bottles of water for half a euro each.
For lunch I ate some more pizza (it really is good). Jessica had speghetti, she doesn't think it was as good as Olive Garden, but "it'll do". All meals are eaten with Wine. We also order some bottled water that comes to the table in 1 liter glass containers. You have to say "No Gas" when you order or you'll get sparkling water or as we know it soda water. I guess that's the local favorite.
After lunch we took a nap. We're all still a little jet lagged.
In the evening we learned how to use the Metro which is a system of subways and busses here in town. We crossed the river by subway and got off at Piazza de Popolo. You'll find out more about this place tomorrow.
We then walked to the Spanish steps which really isn't awe inspiring or romantic like the commercials at all. There are a ton of people and street vendors there to sell you stuff. We took a few pictures and moved on.
We were trying to make our way to Trevi Fountain, but the girls wanted to stop and shop at every little store. Of course they had to check out Gucci, Vendi, Dolce and Gabbana, and all the other real high priced stores. There was even one that was called "Expensive". HaHa. The shopping took too long, and it started to rain a little, so we hopped back on the Metro and went back to the hotel.
That night we went to Kayla's hotel (she's staying in a different place with her team) and picked her up to eat. I ate a Calzone and Jessica had more speghetti. We split a half liter of wine for 3 Euros (about $4). More gellato before bed. Then we crashed for the night.
Pics from today:
My bedroom
My bathroom
Let me try to get the pictures up, then I'll tell you a little more about what happened.
These pictures are gonna be HUGE....sorry, nothing I can do right now without access to photoshop.
Overlooking Rome
Overlooking Rome 2 (Vatican in the background)
Overlooking Rome 3
Jessica just seconds before I got on my knee
At this point she still doesn't know what's going on
Here come the tears
Looking at the Ring
Putting it on her finger
First kiss with my fiancee' (she's crying)
Another Pic
Looking at the ring
Showing it off
Close up of us
Every pose possible
Your first look at the ring
At the fountain below the terrace where it happened
Street sign
Looking back
At night
That's all for tonight, it's 3am here and I gotta go to bed
I know most of you are probably want to hear more about the engagement instead of our little daily stuff so I'm going to put up a post that Jessica made on myspace.com. Here's a link... MySpace Link. You need to have an account to see it. If for some reason you can't sign in and create an account, I'm going to put her entry on this page.
Hollis proposed to me on July 30, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. He had plans for the proposal since January and had been waiting to pop the question in Rome. Hollis had the location picked out before our trip to Rome. He picked out the Plaza del Popolo.
Hollis' mom was the first person to know about his plans. Next, he asked my father for my hand in marriage in May. My mom was the next to find out followed by our good friends, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister and her boyfriend, and my Nanie. Everyone knew that it was happening while we were in Rome. My mom was in charge of keeping the ring in Rome until the engagement day.
Hollis' thought that I knew that it would happen in Rome too, so he decided to play a mean little trick on me. One night he showed me his bank account and explained to me that he doesn't have enough money yet, but his account is growing. He went on to explain that my time will come and when it does it will be great, but the time is not now, not while we were in Rome. I accepted the story, but was very disappointed. He then somehow conviced me to do my nails since he knew that I would want to look nice when I got proposed to. He got me good.
On July 29th we decided to go to the Spanish Steps and see what was going on. I had no idea that Hollis was planning on proposing in the plaza next to the Spanish Steps. We walked around and when we came to the Plaza where Hollis was wanting to propose, he convinced my family to not climb the many stairs to overlook Rome today, but to do it another day like tomorrow. We all went along with him, because it looked like it was going to rain. He then took a picture of a hotel that was next to the Plaza and told me that one day that is hotel that we are going to come back and stay out. I didn't think anything of it, and just laughed at him.
The day of the 30th was a normal day. We went sight seeing and saw some old churches around Rome. We looked around until 3:30 and then came back to rest up for dinner. At around 6:00 we decided to go pick up my sister from her hotel , where she was staying with her team, and then go to the Plaza del Popolo and the Trevi Fountain. We took a metro to the Plaza del Popolo and then climbed many stairs to the top of the Plaza. The Plaza is one of the most beautiful places in Rome. When you are standing up there, you can see all of Rome. It overlooks the beautiful city and is so peaceful. It is a breathtaking site. My sister was video taping the area around us, as my dad was taking pictures of me and Hollis. Once my dad stopped taking the pictures, Hollis started talking to me about how much he loved me and how he really wanted to make me so happy and wanted me to have a better time then I already was. Then all of a sudden he got down on a knee and asked me to marry him. I started to cry like a baby along with my mom and sister. We then took some more pictures and my parents took us out to celebrate with a nice dinner.
The ring that Hollis gave me was amazing. He custom designed it himself. He took different parts of all the rings that we had looked at and put them together in one AMAZING ring. He took the two diamond earings that my Nanie gave me a few years ago and used them as round side stones with a princess cut in the middle. There are 10 little diamonds on each side which make the ring sparkle. The ring is PERFECT in every way.
My engagement night was amazing. Hollis took me to the famous Trevi Fountains afterwards so that we could sit by the fountain hold each and talk about the night. It felt like a fairy tale and I love my fiance more than anything in the world. I have had an amazing 6 1/2 years with him so far and I can't wait for many more to come! Thank you to everyone that has meant something in our relationship. It is great to know that you are supported as a couple by amazing friends.