a little inspiration

The past couple weeks I've been trying to get up early and go for a walk.

Every morning I really don't feel like it.

Every morning the bed is so warm and comfy.

Every morning it's a chore to actually get out of bed.

However, once I'm outside...

There's no one else around,

There's a crisp breeze that wakes me up,

There's a different color on every tree,

And I say to myself, why didn't I do this yesterday?

Allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Cara Reinelt.

For those of you who know me well, my name is Cara Simpson Reinelt


For those of you who know me very well, my name is Cara Symonds Reinelt


and For those of you who know me better than anyone (mom) my name is Cara Simpson Symonds Simpson Reinelt (there is a story behind that, and in no way does it involve the law).

I like food.

A LOT

If I have a good day- I'll treat myself to something sweet because I've earned it.

If I have a bad day- I'll have some unhealthy (but very tasty) comfort food and then I'll have something sweet because I've earned it.

My favorite is any simple carbohydrate of any kind. If I could have a sandwich made of potato, rice, bread and pasta with a side order of popcorn...it would be a perfect day, and that would deserve another treat!!

Before leaving Germany, I made the very grave error of stepping in the scale.

The Result?









'nuf said.


Another thing about me...
I don't usually like drawing very personal attention to myself.
So this is how it's going to go...


ME?
I've decided to work really hard to not eat my potato, rice, pasta and popcorn sandwiches and lose 50lbs. (okay, just writing that number down and putting out there for the world - and I do mean world because I googled myself yesterday and I actually come up several times thanks to this blog - to see, makes me slightly nauseated).



YOU?
you won't mention any thing about it.

Just knowing that you know will be enough.




So there you go. Just before Thanksgiving and Halloween and Christmas, I've decided to swear off simple sugars and starch. I don't think that's the only swearing I'll be doing.

only 1334 more pictures to go....

If a one picture says a thousand words....

then we have about 1,354,000 things to say.

THANK YOU

We are at home now. Leaving Europe was very hard. The morning we left Italy I'll admit, I was a little bit surly-there would be no more gelato, no more foccacia, no more "Grazie's" or "Ciao's". Italy was so beautiful, colorful, educational, delicious and a home away from home. Everything is built into the mountains in the Cinque Terra and therefore, everything is either up or down. There were steps and hills all over the place (Terri you would have loved it). The houses were so colorful and everyones' laundry was hanging off their balcony-and when we did laundry, we did the same-although I cleverly hid my underpants on the row behind Marks shirts. The ocean was amazing and if you know me at all, you know how hard it was to leave that behind.

Leaving Germany was hard for different reasons. The difference was that Italy had amazing scenery, but Germany also has incredible history. The buildings and the architecture are something that if the opportunity to see, you should. Germany also has some of the greatest people that you will ever meet and I would like to say thank you to those people.

Thank you Alex, Andreas, Jannis, Heidi, Bernd, Franz, Sabine, Melly, Vitor, Heinz and Eva.
You let us stay with you and your home became our home. It was amazing to see some of you all in your country for a change and it was great to meet others for the first time. Mark and I are so lucky to have friends and family such as yourselves. Thank you for showing all that there was to see, driving us around endlessly, and doing things with us that you must have done a thousand time before.

There were three women in tears at the airport, and it is still sad to think that I won't see my new friends for another 2 years, but I want you all to know how much we love you all and appreciate everything you did. We hope that we will be able to repay you in 2009.
Love to all,
Mark and Cara

Worth the wait...

Mark and I hopped the train to Florence (Firenze) yesterday, to take the the 3 hour journey to the Academia that is home to Michelangelo's "David".

After sneaking into 1st class (which is worth it) and changing trains in Pisa, we arrived at about noon. At first I was not entirely impressed with Florence, there were so many people around and it was hard to get your bearings. Mark found our way with a free map from McDonalds which, by the way is where you can "taste the American breakfast" (egg mcmuffin and a hashbrown) between 6-11 a.m.

Thankfully, Mark had made reservations for the Academia over the Internet because the wait for people lined up down the street was about 3-4 blocks. As we walk in I wasn't prepared to blown away by the art and sculptures that were on display, but I was.

We walk around the corner and see magnificent paintings, art and figures in plaster and marble and out of the corner of my eye I see him. I feel goosebumps all over and there's a chill that wasn't due to the air conditioning. I can't look, I want to take in the other sculptures that Michelangelo had done first and give them the time it takes to truly appreciate the work that went into them. But then....

I look up and at the end of the gallery, under a dome shaped roof of windows stood David. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. As we walk around him, everything is perfect from the veins in his hands to the tendon behind his knee. Carved from one block of marble he makes an intimidating figure and if you look long enough, you could swear he was breathing. I cannot look any longer and as I start to cry I ask Mark if I can hide in his shirt so that I don't look like the crazy Canadian girl who appears to be having a miserable time in Italy. It was a one in a million experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

We get back on the train (no first class this time) and after, three hours, 2 transfers, and some chicken Mcnuggets, we arrive home.

6 hours of transit, 7 hours of walking and one amazing piece of marble carved to perfection.

Thank you Firenze.

the Euro"peeing" tour part II

P.S. the bathrooms in Italy, not so great.