Into the wild, blue yonder

Welp, here I go. I fly back to Utah in about 9 hours. My bags are all packed and I'm about to shut off my computer. The next post on this blog will be my first email home from the MTC!

Dear family and friends: I LOVE YOU. Write to me, okay?

Here goes nothing :)


Sii sincero - e vai con Dio

This is for real

I got an email on my missionary account today telling me about my mailing address while in the MTC.

WRITE TO ME!!!

Sister Katie Soh
MTC Mailbox #335
ITA-MIL 1102
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT  84604-1793

I'll be in the MTC until November 1. Love me. LOVE ME!

:)

Finest of the flavors

People!

ONE WEEK.

Bring it on.

In West Philadelphia, born and raised

So I went to Philly on Friday. I even ate a legit Philly cheesesteak from a lunch cart downtown! Besides that, however...

...it was a disaster. I don't even want to talk about it. Shoot, I don't even want to think about it.

And you wanna know the worst part?

I'm an Atlanta Braves fan. Curse your 6.5 game lead, Phillies!

How you doin'?

(In reality, the Phillies really are a great team. Heck, my little league softball team was the Phillies! I'd probably even root for them. If only they weren't in the National League...)

Sorella Moda

Well folks, the time has arrived...

...I'm done shopping for mission clothes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HUZZAH!!!!!!!

In celebration, I decided to go ahead with my photo shoot so that I can display the fruits of all my hard work. Also, I hope that maybe this post can be an inspiration to aspiring sister missionaries - you can do it! (And I'll show you how!) I'm aware that the pictues aren't stellar, but you can click on them to make them bigger :)

For each item, I'll give the brand, and if necessary, where the item was purchased. I won't tell you how much I paid for each item because that would be weird, but each item (except the shoes) averages out to around $20.

Siete pronti?? Allora, andiamo!!!

Shirt: Style&co., Macy's

Skirt: Dalia Collection, TJ Maxx (don't judge. I was desperate!)

Necklace: Forever 21

Shoes: Steve Madden (Intyce)

Shirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's

Skirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's (the best thing about this skirt? It has pockets!)

Shirt: Land's End

Skirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's

Jacket: Tahari, Burlington Coat Factory

Skirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's

Shoes: Spring Step (Camelot)

Shirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's

Shirt: Design History, TJ Maxx

Cardigan: Worthington, J.C. Penny's

Skirt: Dress Barn (it's a tweed skirt, so up close it doesn't look just gray)

Shirt: Gap

Belt: Target

Skirt: Eddie Bauer (my aunt gave this skirt to me. She said, "hey, I wore this when I was pregnant, do you want it?" Yeah. And it fits me. So I took it.)

Shirt: Gap

Necklace: the San Lorenzo market in Florence (sorry)

Cardigan: Forever 21 (I also got the same one in a rust orange color)

Skirt: the same Eddie Bauer one

Shoes: Steve Madden (Trouser)

Shirt: Gap

Necklace: New York and Company

Cardigan: Target

Skirt: East 5th, J.C. Penny's

Shirt: Land's End

Skirt: Sister Missionary Mall in Orem

Shirt: Land's End

Skirt: Worthington, J.C. Penny's

Dress: Sharagano, Burlington Coat Factory (by far the hardest item to find)

Well, there ya have it, folks! I think the only thing I didn't get a picture of was that orange cardigan and another gray cardigan, and I also have another skinny belt in a dark teal.

Also, I'm going to Philly tomorrow for my visa! So excited.

You know what all this means, right?

I'M GONNA BE A FORREALZ MISSIONARY!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!

Blazin'

Good news: I found a navy blazer that I LOVE.

Bad news: It's like $200.

Dangit!

BUT. I did get this bag for the mish, and I'm really excited about it.

Two and a half weeks left!

Wanderlust

This is our cat Marcello.

He was a stray and found our house, so we adopted him. That was about two years ago (when this pic was taken) and now he is bigger, but mostly just fatter. 

I love Marcello.

Also, he is weird. He doesn't like cat toys or cat treats, he doesn't purr and he's not very snuggly. Weird, right?

A thought has been creeping around the back of my mind for a while about him. He's so strange as a cat...what if he is really an animagus??? It would totally make sense! The ease of his transition from being a stray to an adopted cat, his distaste for cat-like things, why he likes to sleep in my room, his uncanny ability to show up in my room when I'm about to change clothes or take a shower - it all fits!

I was almost convinced.

That is, until yesterday, when I caught him drinking water out of the potty.

Nope. Definitely NOT an animagus.

Sigh.

Tell me about your childhood...

I only specifically remember reading one story in elementary school. It was about a little human girl who lived on Venus and for some reason the sun only came out once every seven years. I'd tell you the rest, but I don't want to ruin the story for you.

For some reason, I was thinking about that story today. I think it's interesting that of all the stories I read for school, that is the only one I remember (I'm sure my shrink could tell me why). I didn't remember the name of the story or even the name of the little girl, but I remembered what happened, so the story must have had some sort of impact on me. Actually, I know it did.

Anyway, thanks to the internet, I've rediscovered the story. It's a short story called "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury. I read Farenheit 451 two summers ago. Little did I know I had already been exposed to his work.

You can read the story by clicking on the second result from this search - a doc file from the dodea website.

This post is kinda pointless, but I guess I was just wondering if anyone else had read/remembered this story, too.

Send me flowers?

I will be expected to report to the Provo MTC at 1:25pm on Wednesday, August 31, 2011.

Don't believe me?

See for yourself.

Chickety China, the Chinese chicken

Hi. Can we talk about how my MTC report date is four weeks from today?

FOUR WEEKS!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm freaking out! (If you couldn't tell). It's a semi-nervous-but-mostly-excited type of freaking out. If I think about it too much, I freak out even more, so I only occasionally think about how I'm going to be at the MTC while all my friends are across the street at BYU until I peace out and, for the second time in my life, fly to Italy (on an airplane. Yeah. They do that.) and then LIVE there and have a companion with me 24/7 and have to talk to strangers in Italian. Did I mention I'll be living in Italy? IN ITALY. Yeah.

Ok, that's enough of that. How about an update on how my wardrobe is coming together??? (There may be an unofficial mission clothing photo shoot later...we'll see) K great.

As of now I have the following items:
-Skirts: 7 for sure and 3 others that may or may not make the final cut
-Shirts: 3 button-ups and 6 knit tops
-Sweaters: 3 (maybe 4) regular sweaters and 2 cardigans
-Jackets: 2 blazers, my military jacket (from Siena) and my blue coat
-Shoes: the boots and the oxford flats from this post

I have a few other random things that I still need (a toothbrush case, for example), but clothing-wise I will probably only get a few more shirts, a sweater or cardigan or two, maybe one more skirt, a not black blazer and another pair of shoes (in black). That is, if I can find any that I like.

The good news is that I hear that they also sell clothing in Milan so I can get other things there (if time, budget and need permit). Go figure.

Time is the River

I'm not big into poetry, but I like Italian and I've always liked this particular poem. So! I've decided to share it with you :)

Il Destino Degli Uomini
-di Francesco Chiesa

E dissi al fiume: "lasciami passare"!
Rispose il fiume: "e per andar dove?
Anche di là uomini e donne... Il bove
mugghia ugualmente e pugon le zanzare.

Che speri?... L'istesse acque, dolci, amare,
lungo l'altro mio margine! E un dì piove,
un dì fa bello. E la stessa aria muove
la favolosa selva, che ti pare.

Sempre sull'altra sponda il ben che agogni,
uomo; il bene perduto o invano atteso.
Io, freddo, in mezzo, tra il sognante e i sogni...

Sempre, sopra la testa alto sospeso
il tuo fato, se vai, se stai. Per ogni
strada, da trascinar, sempre, il tuo peso".


And now my poor attempt at a translation!

The Destiny of Men
-by Francesco Chiesa

And I said to the river: "let me pass"!
Responded the river: "and where will you go?
Over there are men and women... The ox
lows the same and the mosquitos sting.

What do you hope for?... The same water, delights, love,
along my other side! And one day it rains,
one day the sun shines. And the same air stirs
the wondrous woods, or so it seems to you.

Always on the other bank the Good are yearning,
man; the Good lost or waiting in vain.
I, stoic, in the middle, between the dreamer and the dreams...

Always, hanging high overhead is
your fate, if you go, if you stay. For on every
path, it drags along, always, your load".