Kates is getting hitched!

Currently, Im sitting in a small internet cafe, tears building, energy pumping, and the ipod blasting mellow tunes. no reason in particular, possible PMS, im just emotional. Not in a bad way, just honest. Here i am in the virbrant city of Florence ,Italy, and Ive just been in deep thought all day. Luke has been nothing but genuine and patient with me all day, whats new right?

This probabaly sounds depressing, that is not my intention! Im determined to be honest and respectful to my own life. Who wants to read a blog that doesnt exemplify reality? Personally, I like depth, honesty, and realistic people. My goal is not to sugar coat the adventure but be serious about normal relationships, emotions, and natural human emotions. I may be experiencing the most amazing adventure across the world, but that doesnt take away the katie in me; the human, and FEMALE side. ahhh, with that said, thanks for accepting me the way i am, deep, emotional, and well, fill in the blank with your own interpretation...

Okay! now with the fun stuff, sorry about the venting, i feel much better that Luke isnt the only one to put up with it. He jsut laughs, listens, and engages in my deep talks. Its no nice to have a man that respects me, my thoughts, experiences, and admires me for it. I feel so blessed and lucky to share this journey with him. Weve have been living the dream life; however, it comes with challenges. All beautiful and funny in its own way. Nonetheless, we love each other, and always will. Praise God for his constant protection, and love.

my oh my. See, I dont even try and there you go, three PARAGRAPHS of nonsense, imagine my journal ha. But in all seriousness, i have 29 minutes to try and cram all our exciting journies (sp?) in one. ok, i promised to recap on our Rome adventure, its difficult though when each day is a differnt experience! So we went to St. Peters Basillica. We climbed the stairs (per danny liles advice)and it was incredible. After admiring the Vatican City and waiting atleast 2 hours in line, we climbed over 500 stairs and had the most stunning view of Italy. The history was creepy, in a fascinating way. So often we get so wrapped in our own generation, rarely, we give thought to those even before Christ. It gave and still gives me goosebumps. We both wished we would have researched more prior to our vist, however, we are inspired to visit a library and simply read about world history. The next day, we visited the colleseum. HOLY CRAP that thing is massive. We stepped off the subway and BAM there it was! We took a guided tour and were pleased with the results. We learned a tremendous amount and were simply in awe. We ate paninis and sipped coke and admired the massive structure in addition to taking lots of fun photos that I look forward to posting. Wish I could say more, the details, but theres just too much to share!

Following Rome, we took a random trip to Sorrento, Italy. BEAUTIFUL. The bed and breakfast we stayed at was like a dream come true. We were surrounded by familties, not backpackers. Luckily, we were paying the backpackers price. We were super lucky and soaked in it. We loved the relazxation so much we stayed three nights. We spent a day exploring, drinking wine, and enjoying the beach. Another was spend on Capri; busy, busy, BUSY with tourists. Cool, but we much rather preferred our BnB in teh country overlooking the meditranean.

Following Sorrento, we traveled to Florence, Italy. I was especially excited to come here because this is where Julie VanWagenen studied for a semester. After the stories I heard from her, I couldn{t wait to relate. It lives up to all your stories, Jules! On the way here, I thought it would be an uneventful day of traveling. The journey was a pleasent surprise. We randomly were able to travel first class on the EuroSTAR. Compapred to what we have been venturing on, we were NOT expecting air conditioning or pleasent smelling cabins. THIS WAS AWESOME. we even had treats! We had been so used to traveling, being rushed. As we were playing cards, we put our ipods in, separetly. I listened to the DAvid CrowderBand, it was an excelletn choice while traveling across Italy. The view, the loving glances from luke, and the music made the trip one to remember. Jesus and I had a wonderful moment; like a daddy-daughter date. I was grounded and reminded for my purpose for this trip.

That same day, we visited the Tower of Pisa! DANG! that place was cool, and busy! It{s like disneyñland around all the tourist spots. Its wonderful but hard to enjoy when there is hundreds of people all around you. We attempted to take some really awesome pics but they turned out, um, a group picture of random people ha. IT was still worth experiencing! Luke and I ordered a pizza and two beers and just enjoye our date nmight. Who can complain right???

Today, we RELAXED. we are staying at this awesome hostel and actually really enjpy the vibe here. We took a nap, explored the city, and ate gelato. Tomorrow we are taling a wine tour! Its an all day tour and im very very excited! ive always wanted to go wine tasting and there is no better place than tuscany!!

My time is up in 2 min. I cant edit, or fix my mistyping. opps! not that my emotions are any consideration to you, thanks for reading this anyway. we appreciate your support! more importantly, I thank luke for letting me simply be me, and pushing me to be a better person...


after the wine tour we are heading to Venice! we will be there for about 2 days then we are goibg to Switzerland. We will miss Italy but are looking forwrad to another country. I cant eat anymore pizza or my a** will only get bigger!!

ciao ciao!!!!