"Hey, if you can't have a little fun once in awhile, what's the point of life?"

That is a quote from one of Ryan's Facebook friends about my purple streak.  My sentiments exactly... at least when it comes to putting a purple streak in one's hair.  Just an act of impromptu silliness on my part.  I was inspired in Italy when I saw a rather attractive older woman (well, her hair was attractive) with gray hair and a very pretty purple streak.  She looked so cool... So I thought I'd try a very small one with Ryan's purple dye.

I have to admit I was a nervous wreck about doing Ryan's hair because I didn't want to mess it up.  He's been wanting it done for a long time and I kept putting him off.  So we finally bit the bullet now because we know he won't be at church for most of July, in case anyone finds it offensive, like his colorful clothes.  My very stylish son.  He would fit in nicely in Italy, where men wearing colorful pants is quite the norm.  Even old dudes are seen sporting red or yellow pants.  It's nice to see more men in America bringing out the color in their wardrobes as well.

We had a lot of laughs getting his hair bleached and colored just right...

I couldn't figure out how to get his hair through those tiny little holes in the cap without stabbing his scalp, so we just cut the dang thing open.  The goggles were to keep the bleach from dripping into his eyes, causing blindness, or some other bad eye maladies...  As you can see, Kyle was quite amused.

purple curly-Q

Mom. Cook. Hair Stylist.

Very cool... he will be rocking some good times at Grace next month with this new do.  He might have to wear a hat to Preakness!

On another note, I had the wonderful opportunity of singing at church with my 2 fashionable sons last Sunday.  Even though I messed up a few things, and my voice was shaky and definitely not my best sounding, we all considered it to be hugely successful and we were pleased.  The most important thing was that people liked it.  I was less nervous than last time, even though I had my first ever solo part!! We did You Won't Relent, an awesome song made popular by Jesus Culture.  There were some blunders for sure, like missing my cue to come in.  Of all times to have that happen!!  But I was trying to get the kid doing PowerPoint to advance the slide because he was sitting on the title slide, and when I turned back my cue was gone... but praise God nobody knew when I was supposed to start, and I did come in at the right spot next time around... I just couldn't believe it.  So, because I missed my cue, I started out the song under a pile of nerves... it took everything for me to keep going and to do it was well as I did!!

The whole morning was so amazing, even when I messed up the harmony on I Exalt Thee....ugh!! I don't consider it a fail because I was able to correct it the rest of the way through and it was just fine!

Lots of folks came up to tell us it was good.  My favorite 2 comments were:
"Your mom was awesome!"
"Worship was phenomenal!"

I wish I had a picture or a video or something... but I have nothing to post.  I only have one more chance to sing for a very long time.  I hope it will be wonderful.  I hope it will be better.  I hope it will be a blessing.

Psalm 146:2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

muggy Venice

Venice, where everything is even smaller than it was in Florence. There are no roads, just lots of water, and the tiniest little walkways walled by the surrounding buildings, making you feel as though you are in a maze, or a prison, and you can't get out! It was so hot and muggy, we were all very uncomfortable. As you can see from the picture of Darryl sitting on the toilet, the bathroom was excruciating small.

There are some cool shots here that will give you the impression that Venice is a romantic place to go. Don't be fooled by well taken pictures. haha... there is nothing romantic here. The canals aren't all that clean, and at times there are some unpleasant odors.  The gondola rides are too expensive. All the restaurants serve the same boring, carb-laden, tasteless food at tourist prices. We aren't quite sure why so many people want to experience these cities in Italy.

Weird facts about Italy: 
People smoke, and smoking is permitted anywhere.
Wine and pasta are consumed daily, if not at every meal.
There are no cows, and a scarcity of chickens.
There are no traffic laws.
There are no screens on windows.
Public restrooms are typically for both men and women.
Public restrooms often times don't have toilet seats.
Showers have no shower curtains.
There is no free water served at restaurants.
Bread served with meals is generally done so at a cost, even if you don't request it.

sweating through the maze

Gelato by the canal

Brush teeth at the same time?

water taxi

water taxi

lots of walking

picking petals to throw in the canal

laundry hangs everywhere

friendly local lady in the window

Ryan was able to speak a fair amount of Italian, and also get us around as a personal tour guide.

St. Mark's Square

Gondolas

where do we go now?

New friend from Melbourne, Paul

This is a cool view we had of the Swiss Alps on our flight to Zurich for a stop-over.  We enjoyed some swiss Chocolate while we were there.

Heading back to the U.S., and glad for it!

cooling our feet

Florence and Pisa time

Florence, crowded with teeny little cars, bikes, scooters, motorcycles, and people.  Teeny tiny streets where you have to hop out of the way so you don't get run over and cars park on the sidewalks.  We saw some sites, toured around a bit... tried to find some good food that wasn't ridiculously expense!  Took a couple of train rides, took a bus ride, saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa... lol, met a crazy old tour guide that I was a little afraid of, and ate tons of gelato.  Many memories are now being stored in my heart and shared with you here.

view of Florence

we always wondered how they get out

Gelato!

Walking through a market - Arriving Florence

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Ponte Vecchio

Touring Florence

when in Rome...

...don't do as the Romans do.. haha

Here are just a few shots of our fun times in Rome. If you want all of them, you'd have to go to facebook and look me up.

So, what can I say about Rome? First of all, going there is way over-rated. We took a tour bus around, and we kinda enjoyed that because we got to see a lot that we would have otherwise missed. We have some wonderful memories of our time. We toured the Vatican, which while it is quite impressive, it's also very sad to see how some religions are so over the top with their pomp and rituals. It's crazy.

Listen, it's easy, just trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Mary was not born without sin, she gave birth to a sinless man, but she was not sinless. She needed a Savior just as much and you and I do. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to work for your salvation... you can never do any amount of work good enough to save yourselves. Jesus Christ did all the work for you, He finished it when He laid down his life for you and then took it up again. Trust in Him alone for your salvation.

Colosseum

getting lost in Rome

fast train to Florence

looking for the Opera Hall

Chinese!