After looking at my last post I decided I should update my blog for all you avid readers. This past Tuesday was my birthday for starters. The day started like the day before, I got up and helped my brother and Poppie split wood, then I scrubbed our new tile floors to clean them. After that I did nothing till about 3:45 then I got ready for work. I worked till 8:15 and from there I went to meet up with some of my friends to see Robin Hood for $1! And honestly, I would not pay more than $1 to see it. It was long and I could not focus on the movie. It was entertaining, but really there were so much going on all the time I had little idea what was going on. When the movie finally finished, I went home and went to bed. I have not been doing anything awesome this summer like going on vacation or day trips any where. I have been seeing my friends which is always a plus!! Other than spending time with my friends, doing nothing at home, and getting "ready" for Italy, I have been working. I am glad I have a job because I have started buying new clothes and gifts for my trip and my pay checks have allowed me to buy them on my own.

If there is anything I want to do this summer before I go to Italy and summer "ends" (I won't be going back to school like the rest of my friends so I have a few more days of summer :D) would be to go to New York City at least once, Six Flags, Woodstock, My Poppie's camp in northern New York and with that trip I want to go to Canada, and the beach! I mean a real beach with sand and an ocean! But those are just ideas and things I want to do, hopefully I can do some of them.

Now onto the exchange portion of my post. I called the Italian consulate in New York City to try and make an appointment to drop off my application and get my visa. At first I thought it was going to be a little hard with their ridiculous hours and working out with my schedule and my mom's, but I guessed wrong! I called and asked about applying for a student visa and the man on the phone said they were booked for like seven weeks or something and I started feeling a little panicked. I told him I was leaving the 13th of September and he said that was fine and so I set up the appointment on the earliest day they had. The earliest day was September 1st!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me!! He says it takes about 7 to 10 tens, what if it takes more than that?? What will I do then?? After making the appointment I emailed the woman I have been talking to from ASSE and my area representative about how soon the appointment was to my departure date and the woman from ASSE said, "That is too close to your departure date, but I think you will be able to get your visa." Well lets hope so. As for any new news from ASSE there is nothing. I am hoping some new letters or something will come because I have 46 days before I leave and I feel that I am not ready and equipped with the right amount of information and support from ASSE. I want to know what we will do in Milan and how I am getting to my host family and just some over all "lets get ready for life in Italy" stuff. Oh well, I will wait and see if anything new comes in the mail.

I LOVE YOU!!!

This is a special little thank you post to all of my friends!! This past Sunday I thought I was going to some random girls party with one of my best friends, but it turned out to be my own surprise party!!! It was the greatest thing! I got there and all my friends were there (well the ones that could go that is) and seeing everyone made me so happy! I had talked to my mom about planing my own in August (which I am still doing), but my friends have been planing this before school even ended!! And I had no idea. Thinking back it is funny because I would see them all the time in school and I have seen them before this and they knew this whole time....Even my mom! There were times she would be texting my friends about the party while I was in the next room...Oh mom I do love you.

My friends are truly amazing people and deserve a big round of applause. They rented this cabin type place, made food and one of my friends was the DJ, DJB!ROCK! Two of my friends even played some songs, and they sounded great for missing half the band. It was a great night and I had so much fun!! They all signed this amazing notebook (which had The Beatles on it) and wrote wonderful little letters to me, which I read when I got home at one in the morning! People were generous with gifts and money, but all I could have asked for was their support. Thinking about what they did for me makes we want to hug each and everyone of them a thousand times!

I honestly had no idea about the party and I am so glad no one told me or posted it on Facebook, "going to Aly's surprise party." This post is to thank everyone who came to the party, kept the party a wonderful surprise, planned the party, and thank them for just being an incredible friend!! Thank you so much, I love you all!!!!

VISA!!!!

This past week I have been relaxing and working (not at the same time or corse) and waiting for the mail. I called ASSE with some questions and asked about my visa and if I had already received the paperwork, and at that time, I had not. A few days pasted and then the magical day was here! I received another letter from ASSE and in side a little packet of about six papers. I read every single one, to my best ability (one was in Italian and I understood most of it :D) and once I read the papers, quickly I fired up my mac and went onto the Italian consulate's website for New York and found their contact information. I emailed them, the first time I entered the email wrong, and the second, I am still waiting for a reply. The website is a little confusing and not that clear, hence the email. I do not know which application I need to fill out, but I think I found it so I just need to fill it out and deliver it in person! The consulate has weird hours for dropping off applications and to pick up your visa you have to do it on either Tuesday or Thursday between 2 and 3:30pm!!! Thats it!! And to make an appointment you have to call a number and it costs almost $3 a minute! I was aware the getting my visa might be difficult and there would be fee, but I didn't think it would happen like this. Tomorrow I will print my application and work on it with my mom. It should not take long to fill out and then we will plan a day to go to the city and deliver it in person, because you have to.

I have also found another ASSE soon to be exchange student also going to Italy. We have exchanged emails and found each other on Face Book and have been talking about our up coming trips. I am excited to know someone else who is going with ASSE, not to mention Italy as well.

I have officially started counting down and you may know already. At this point in time, 59 days, but because there is only 1 hour till tomorrow, 58 days!!!

"The Best Kind of Prize is a SURprise." - Willy Wonka

I received a letter a few days ago from ASSE about my health insurance, nothing exciting really. It talked about what was covered by ASSE, an insurance card and two ASSE ID card, which are really simple and not that exciting either. The really exciting letter fell into my hands yesterday after I saw Toy Story 3 (which was wonderful, reminded me of my childhood) with two of my best friends. One letter was for my parents congratulating them for allowing me to spend a year in Italy :) Thank you mom and dad!! And the second letter was for me! I thought it was just some more information about my exchange program like what to expect, but to my surprise I was wrong! After opening the envelope, pulling out the letter and unfolding the paper, my eyes scanned the letter. On the front sheet was my flight information!! My last day in America for the next 10 months will be September 13th and I will arrive in Milan on September 14th. I was very happy to finally have confirmation and begin the official countdown (which is 68) but a little upset and annoyed because my school will be starting on the 15th so most likely I will not be there for the first day of school, or second. Once again my emotions are all over the place from happy, to sad, to disbelief, to wonder. Although I have my flight information and know I will be going to Italy in 68 days there is still a feeling that this is not real. I don't know if it ever will. At points yes and when I leave my family and friends I will feel it the most, but once I arrive in Italy it will be a dream come true, something way to good to me true. I can only hope for the best and make to most out of everything.