Lent: Fasting and Feasting

This morning I was reading my good friend Laura's blog.

She had an AMAZING post about Lent that I had to repost.

and because I haven't taken any new pictures lately, and I'm totally lusting after Italy right now, I figured a few views of Cinque Tierre would be welcome.

Lent-

is a time for fasting

is a time for feasting

it is a time to fast from certain things

and feast on others.

Fast from judging others; feast on Christ indwelling in the them

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light

Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude

Fast from anger; feast on patience

Fast from pessimism; feast on divine order

Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on increasing prayer

Fast from hostility; feast on nonresistance

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal Truth

Fast from discouragement; feast on hope

Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm

Fast from suspicion; feast on truth

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire

Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on sunlight of serenity

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Lent is coming to a close in a few weeks, and while I've given up  desserts and that has definitely been a sacrifice I love the thought of fasting in non- physical or behavioral ways.

I hope I can take these next few weeks and truly transform the way my mind is thinking and processing. 

I want to fast what is not of God and feast on the truths that He has given me.

Be Blessed!

Roman Holiday: Ostia Antica

On our last day in Rome... *gasp, sob, sigh* we headed out to Ostia Antica

It's an amazing town with ancient ruins, it was extremely impressive to see such old ruins and a city of the working class.

The Mosaics on the ground were absolutely fabulouso

The theater

Who's that handsome man?? I'll probably bring him home as my souvenir.

We then made our way into Rome, did some last minute shopping and went to see Mamertime Prison, where Peter and Paul were held, and St. Peter in Chains.

Rick Steves said that Mamertime Prison was donation based... not anymore. 10 bloody euros each for a "multimedia experience"... umm no thanks rip off.

So we made our way to St. Peter in Chains Church

 This church "holds" the chains that held St. Peter.

It also has a statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo

It took him 30 YEARS to make this baby.

30..... years.

seriously.

It was a beautiful church, and a nice way to end our time in Rome.

I'm in a bit of shock realizing that our 2 months of travel is rapidly coming to an end.  Tomorrow we make our way to Finland and Monday we head stateside for the first time in 11 months.  

As awesome as all of this travel as been (and believe me... my jaw is still dropped thinking about all the places we've been) I'm extremely excited to be getting home!

See ya'll soon!

Roman Holiday: 3

We started out our third day with a visit to the Borghese Gallery.

Apparently we were all to flustered to actually take a picture of the outside of the building 

and of course like every fabulous museum we've been too no pictures were allowed inside... bummer.

We saw some INCREDIBLE statues/sculptures, seriously out of this world. I could've stared at them all day, but we had a 2 hour time limit and our stomachs were starting to growl.

We did manage to get one picture of the gardens near the gallery... does that count??

Making a pit stop at the Spanish Steps.. you know they were right there so we figured we might as well.

Piazza del Popolo

Then we took a walk along the Tiber

Back at the capital

And a trip to the Coloseum to get pictures with the gorgeous blue sky behind it

Then we took a night walk (actually these are from a series of nights.. we kept getting rained on!)

Four Rivers Fountain

Our view during dinner last night... complete with live music

I have one handsome dinner partner

Trevi... you are so fabulous, I already miss you.

And the Spanish Steps

Even with 4 full days here, I don't feel like I could ever get enough of Rome.

Looking up and seeing the Coloseum or Trevi fountain... it's just too gorgeous and fascinating to me!

I guess we'll just have to keep on coming back!

Roman Holiday : The Holy See

Considering that day 1 was a huge success in Rome we decided to make day 2 just as amazing.

We hit up The Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica

The Vatican Museum is beyond vast... it's just so HUGE!

It definitely took some walking through and some time to do it all!

The famous torso that has inspired so many other artists... to me it just looks like another torso... but I'm sure it's fabulous :)

I think meandering around the rooms that Raphael did frescoes in was my absolute favorite part.

The sheer size and work involved was absolutely incredible.

The School of Athens. One of the MOST famous frescoes/paintings by Raphael.

As if it couldn't get better... we made our way to the money maker...

The Sistine Chapel

there are no pictures allowed... but...

I got one... complete with Jon's beautiful profile :)

Walk around the Vatican walls and you'll find yourself at

St. Peter's Basilica

some of the biggest churches fit inside of this church... holy crap.

Insane.

Where St. Peter is buried... supposedly

Michelangelo's Pieta

We started to make our way up to the dome

The view from the top was out of this world!

So fabulous!

I love this man.

Another stunning, fantastic day in beautiful Roma...