breakingbadamc: Jesse Pinkman vector art, bitch by Lynne...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:12:43 -0400

breakingbadamc:

Jesse Pinkman vector art, bitch

by Lynne Carty

My friend on Breaking Bad’s tumblr!

tibets: Australian Shepherd puppy covered with clothespins

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:58:07 -0500

tibets:

Australian Shepherd puppy covered with clothespins

laughingsquid: Cat Map, An Interactive Map of All the Cats in...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:56:14 -0500

laughingsquid:

Cat Map, An Interactive Map of All the Cats in the World

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Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:21:56 -0500

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Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:13:56 -0500

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Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:12:42 -0500

auriparus: untitled by :: K a t e :: on Flickr.

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:09:05 -0500

auriparus:

untitled by :: K a t e :: on Flickr.

the-absolute-best-gifs: Via/Follow The Absolute Greatest...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:08:20 -0500

the-absolute-best-gifs:

Via/Follow The Absolute Greatest Posts…ever.

I love this book/movie so much

Mitt Romney

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 09:10:53 -0500

citationneeded:

Following the election defeat, Romney generally kept a low profile,^[397] being observed around La Jolla.

Link

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Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:50:30 -0500

What do to want to do before you die? // Bonnaroo 2012

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:50:27 -0500

What do to want to do before you die? // Bonnaroo 2012

Baltimore skyline April 2012

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:46:51 -0500

Baltimore skyline April 2012

Now I'm back to the start

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:53:39 -0500

I have been home for a few days now, but I still keep thinking about what my friend Carly said right before our ten and a half hour journey back to America. She was sitting behind me and tapped me on the shoulder:

“Siobhan, I just thought of something.”

“What is it?”

“This trip is perfect because it ends. If we were here forever, it wouldn’t be special.”

After she said that, I looked around at the 30 of us from Loyola dominating the back of the plane. I had spent the most amazing four months with these people, who in August, had been complete strangers to me. When we were on the plane, just four short months before, it was much quieter, but now we were screaming across the seats and laughing with each other. It’s crazy how much can change with time.

However, I did not just return with some great new friends. I left in August very shy and terrified of putting myself out there. That lifestyle is exhausting. I learned that no one really cares. And if they do care, then they’re really not that important. I don’t know when this change first hit me, but I would often catch myself just feeling so right. It’s the feeling of missing days before they’re even over. You are aware of all of your senses in that moment. You feel infinite. (Sorry to steal from Charlie in Perks of Being A Wallflower, but I imagine he felt the same when he tried to describe this…)

I can’t thank my host family enough. It takes a certain type of person to bring someone into their own home for an extended period of time. They made the transition easy, and always went above and beyond what they were required to do. They made me feel comfortable when my grandfather passed away the first week, and took care of me when I was sick. My host mom also always let me know where she hid the Nutella - I love her for that. I also love my host dad for making me cacio e pepe, my favorite pasta dish, even though everyone else in the family apparently hates it. Sorry, I didn’t know!

The classes were more demanding than I expected, but God, I learned a lot. I can now look at a church and tell you everything about it. The weird part is, I enjoy doing this? I did not care about church architecture at all coming here - if you asked me, they were all the same. However, I learned to appreciate things that I would have walked right past before. Appreciation has been the real theme of the trip. It is much easier to live your life passively, and to blame others for things that happen. We are in control of our own lives, though. This also goes for my Ancient literature class. I can trace the rise and fall of the Roman empire through authors and tell you who was friends with who. As difficult as it was, I can now appreciate why they offered this class. These authors wrote thousands of years ago, a time before the United States was even a country. It was a time so long ago, I can’t even wrap my mind around it. The fact that we still have these texts to read is incredible. And the writers back then were sometimes funny! It’s weird! How can you be funny in AD 56? But yeah now I can appreciate Catullus and Tacitus for what they’re worth. I don’t love them, but yes I can appreciate them. That’s a big step.

Nothing on this trip was easy, but that’s what makes it worth it. Sure, it would have been simpler to live in the dorms and walk downstairs to class, but instead we were really integrated into the city and learned how to navigate the transportation system. It would have been great to have joked around and skip class all the time, but now we’re home with another language under our belts and a whole wealth of knowledge about the city we were living in.

I don’t think anyone can grow until they are pushed to those limits. Now that I’m home, the more I tell people about my trip, the more I realize how incredibly lucky I am. There are people older than me who have never done this before - people who have never been to Europe, or have never even been on an airplane. I can explain everywhere I went and things I saw, but I can’t express the feelings I had in those places in words. That’s what makes them special - seeing the sun rise over the Vatican on a morning run, or breathing salty air on the ferry back from Capri with the wind in my hair, or finally feeling this carefree, absolute happiness.

I didn’t expect this experience to affect me so greatly. Rome and the people I spent time with there will always have a special place in my heart. Like Carly said, it had to end. Until next time, Roma. Grazie. Ti amo.

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Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:24:55 -0500

nevver: The Uncola

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:12:04 -0500

nevver:

The Uncola

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Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:06:09 -0500

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Tue, 20 Nov 2012 02:49:31 -0500

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Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:16:52 -0400

nevver: Dr. Seuss

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:00:09 -0400

nevver:

Dr. Seuss

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Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:57:59 -0400

Living Is Easy

breakingbadamc: Jesse Pinkman vector art, bitch by Lynne...

tibets: Australian Shepherd puppy covered with clothespins

Australian Shepherd puppy covered with clothespins

laughingsquid: Cat Map, An Interactive Map of All the Cats in...

Photo

Photo

Photo

auriparus: untitled by :: K a t e :: on Flickr.

the-absolute-best-gifs: Via/Follow The Absolute Greatest...

Mitt Romney

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What do to want to do before you die? // Bonnaroo 2012

Baltimore skyline April 2012

Now I'm back to the start

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nevver: The Uncola

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nevver: Dr. Seuss

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