Last Christmas...

(This is one of my favorite pictures for many reasons. 1) My sister and I are SO stylin' 2) I have the chubbiest cheek smile going on and 3) Apparently at this point in the Christmas festivities I decided that I was going to sit in the new stroller for my baby... if you look closely you can see that I am sitting on top of the baby.) Yep, the baby doll mother of the year award goes to me!

I think it's funny some of the things that we carry over from our childhood. For me it is the little things, like Stella D'oro breakfast treats when my stomach is upset (this was my mom's cure-all treatment for an upset stomach), coordinating pajama's for my mom, sister and I at the holidays, and lyrics to songs. Lyrics to songs?? What? Did you read that right? Yep, I find that since I was little I have never questioned 5 year old Katie's translations of songs, which leads to some pretty funny mix-ups. My all time favorite is associated with a Christmas classic, Wham's "Last Christmas."

And yes, I do think that it is a classic. I think that another thing I carried over from my childhood is my taste in Christmas music. Little Katie enjoyed all songs that had enough of a beat to allow me to run around the house "dancing" and trying to get my cat to dance with me. We had this fantastic layout when I was little where there was basically a track through the middle of the house. You could start running in the living room, go through the kitchen, the dinning room and the foyer and end up back in the living room. Lucky for my parents I did this quite often and for quite long periods of time. I am sure they enjoyed it.

Anyways, back to Wham. At some point during the holiday season last year I stopped to actually listen to the words as opposed to mindlessly repeating what I have had stored away in my brain and I realized that I had made a mistake in my 5 year old translation. The part of the song that actually goes, "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special," I had, up until last year, sung along singing "This year, to semi frontiers..." What? To semi frontiers?!?!? Yeah, I can't explain my reasoning, that would require a time machine, but I bet I would have a pretty good explanation.

Since this discovery, I have started to pay a bit more attention to the songs I am singing and have found some other funny gems (I think everyone should pay close attention to Lily Allen's "Not Fair." It was huge this summer in Italy, and I am guessing they didn't really get the translation either, or there would have been more laughs.).

Here are a few of the Ogden girl Christmas photo classics to brighten up your Christmas week:

I can't explain what we are doing here. We are on the mantle (which was also our "stage") and I suppose I was so incredibly happy with something that I needed to use my hands to get the most out of my smile. Perhaps I was super excited about my little house on the prairie dress? I hope not. (the haircut will have to be explained at another time)

I include this photo not only to show off my awesome wheels, but to also showcase my sister's range of smiles. For those of you that are not experts in the translation of Kelly smiles, this one is a hybrid between "you caught me doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing" and "I am still contemplating how to finish what it was you caught me doing." The worried look on my face makes me worry for what happens next. :-) Just kidding Kelly!

This is a testament to my ability to spot the creepy guys in places. I guess it was a talent I picked up early, I mean look at that Santa's face... Creepy!! Also, my mom is rocking the Farrah Fawcett hair! Bravo mom!

Every Christmas that included My Little Pony's as a gift is worth a cheesy smile! :-)

This is, by far, my favorite Christmas picture ever! It is photographic evidence of "we woke up too early and have hit a wall". I can almost hear my parents giggling as they took this.

This may not be "Christmas" (however, the inclusion of a sweatshirt does mean we were in the "cold season" in Florida), but this is one of my favorite pictures of Kelly and I, and it gives you a visual of the kitchen to dining room turn of my "track" that I mentioned earlier.

And we end with a sweet one. My sister and I on our first Christmas together. And yes, we are wearing matching dresses... as a matter of fact we decided to revive that tradition this year, so if you see us on Christmas Eve take notice! (we did decide to opt for different colors of the same dress, but it still counts!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! STAY SAFE!

Is it really a good thing?

The Holidays are upon us, bringing us packed parking lots, screaming children and way too many get togethers with people we enjoy not having to see the rest of the year. However, this is not a gripe about the holiday kind of post, in spite of all the craziness I actually enjoy the holidays. It is the one time of the year that I get to see my sister with any regularity, and lots of friends that I don't get too see to often I get to see now.

The purpose of this post is to explain my problem with one thing, one person, one woman in particular.... who???.... who else, Martha Stewart. I started my friendship with Martha Stewart at a young age, I was that girl that really did want to make pies from scratch, etc. One year when I was about 13 all I wanted for Christmas was a stand mixer and some other baking accessories. When K-Mart started carrying Martha Stewart items I was in heaven, I too could own all of the many items that she used to make her house and projects perfect.

My parents never minded because I would end up reorganizing their linen closets, pantry, etc following the "rules" set forth by Martha. However, overtime our friendship became strained. It started with small things, you know me not thinking that hand washing a sweater utilizing 3 sinks and about 10 towels was worth it. Then I started to find some of her craft ideas either unattainable for me or flat out ridiculous. As the years passed I started to realize that Martha was evil. She presented a view of life that was completely impossible for the normal person, and yet she mocked us for not attaining it.

Our final falling out occurred when she went to Camp Cupcake. I can't say I care about why she was in jail, but I enjoyed having a real reason to not like her.

I have managed to keep my Martha annoyance to a minimum and avoid her. I find her daughter's new show hilarious and watch "Whatever Martha" whenever I come across it. I have to admit I probably wouldn't mind the person, but I do mind the brand that is Martha Stewart.

Sadly all of my tactics that I have in place to avoid Ms. Stewart cannot safeguard me forever. The other night I ate a dove chocolate and was eagerly waiting to see what kind of wisdom the Dove promises would impart on me (for those of you that don't know, Dove promises are little sayings on the inside of the wrapper) when I saw the following:
"Turn old toys into nostalgic ornaments. Martha Stewart" WHAT???

What on Earth were the good people at Dove chocolates thinking when they decided to use Martha Stewart as the Promise writer for the holidays?? Obviously they weren't thinking too clearly. When the holidays come women typically resort to the Dove chocolates when they have hit their limit. This typically occurs on the night when the presents have to be wrapped following a day of shopping for last minute gifts all while mentally preparing for all the things to come the following day. This is when someone will reach for the chocolate, when their Christmas is spiraling out of control, and WHO is going to comfort them??? Martha? Nope, she is going to taunt them. Why didn't they think to grab Timmy's old radio flyer and tie it to the tree? That's what Martha would do.

So yes, Martha is back on my naughty list. Not so much for me, but for the wellbeing of all people everywhere this holiday season. :-)

Freakin' Cold Runnings

I know I have been neglecting you, I am a horrible blog mother. The only real "excuse" I have is that I haven't been doing much. I finished up my thesis, went to visit some family in New Jersey, and went to the Art Basel fair in Miami. I suppose any of these things could have been blogged about, but I have become horrible at taking pictures and figuring out what is worthy to post, so I apologize. However since it is the season to be giving I have not come to this post empty handed. Sadly, I did not get you all that luxury car you have been lusting after, or the blueray player, or the Jimmy Choo's, but what I did get you is a new blog format.

I realize that if I use my Amelia adventures as the benchmark of whether to post or not, I will never post again. I mean Amelia is like when Dorothy woke up in Oz in pure technicolor glory, and now that I am back in black and white on the farm how can it ever compare? So, I have decided to share with you some of the random thoughts that come in my head to see what you all have to say about them. I encourage participation (and if you are anything like my students, by saying this I have just cut participation down to about 2% of people) so please feel free to post your ideas too.

So yes, my Christmas gift to all of you is a peek into my mind and the odd things that run around inside there. :-)

Having spent some time in the North recently (where all of my friends and family could see what a wimp I am when it comes to cold weather) I understand that there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't understand. I don't understand how to dress warm. In Florida you can buy sweaters, sure you can! However, the purpose of the sweaters you can buy here is fashion, plain and simple, not warmth. So I get very confused when trying to amend my Florida wardrobe for Northern temperatures. I know, LAYER, and believe me I do, but it is still a trifle hard to pack within the 50lb limit and bring everything I need to layer.

Moving on. This is not something I don't understand, but something I do find worth noting, the igloos in all towns near the major highways that have salt in them. I know you need to have salt to de-ice the roads, but igloos of salt look weird to me, the out of town guest. I always wonder if there is a equivalent to the igloos in Florida... is there something that doesn't even make it on my radar that you guys would say, hey screw our igloos you guys have __________? I wonder.

Next, how do you stop your nose from running? ALL THE TIME!?!!?! And more importantly why does the nose start running when it is cold, when you are outside with gloves on, and when you really can't find a lady-like way of holding a tissue because you have gloves on and they aren't allowing you the typical dexterity you enjoy without gloves???

I could go on for days, but I will stop here and try to focus on why I started this rant. Again, I know there are a lot of things about cold weather that I just don't get, but can anyone explain to me why there is always a lone jogger whenever pictures of record snowfalls are recorded?? I would like to direct your attention to the photo above. That was taken this morning in Wisconsin and smack dab in the middle of the photo is a jogger. What are they thinking? Is this some kind of extreme sport I don't know about? Do news trucks employ joggers to make their snowy photos more interesting? And more importantly how does one jog in temperatures like that? My throat starts to burn when it gets in the 50's.

Maybe it's something I don't understand at all... maybe because you can't drive until they plow the roads this person is merely trying to be a good employee and get to work? Maybe they are training for a triathlon in the arctic circle?

So there you have it, the first peek into the mind of Katie, I'd like to welcome you and ask that you keep your hands to yourself and don't touch anything, we don't know how stable this brain of mine is. :-)

Bee-u-tiful!

Aunt Patty, My Mom, Aunt Laura, Me & Aunt Cassie

(yeah, we are SUPER cool in our matching pajama's for "girls night")

A year ago today I lost one of the most influential women in my life, my Aunt Laura. This year I realized that I had options for how I would handle this day. 1) I could be “down in the dumps.” You know watch all those sad movies where people die of cancer (Step Mom, My Life, etc.). However, I am not really a watch sad movies to make me feel awful kind of a person, so I crossed this one off of my list. 2) I could ignore the day. 3) I could remember all of the great stories and feel just a little bit sad, but somehow happy. I went with option #3 and decided that it would be worth sharing with you guys.

My Aunt Laura was quite possibly one of the most wonderful women I have ever known, and here are a few things she taught me:

1. While she herself may have been in need of things, she was still the first person to offer the shirt off of her back to another person.

2. No matter how bad you are doing/feeling, there is always someone that is doing worse. You should try to make those people feel better; in the end it will make you feel better too.

Example: While going to her daily radiation appointments, my Aunt would often seek out other patients in the waiting room to lend them an ear or just be supportive. She made friends as easily as blinking.

3. HAVE FUN!!! If you were to talk to my Aunt’s friends you would find that each one of them has no less than 50 stories of funny adventures, and perhaps just as many fun but slightly devious stories.

One of my favorite stories?

One night while visiting her at the hospital, we were watching a romantic comedy and eating some chocolate (you can’t have one without the other). She had one of those fun sized snickers and it had accidentally dropped in her bed when she wasn’t looking. When she got up to walk around a bit we found it and couldn’t stop laughing (think about it… snickers… on white sheets… maybe it didn’t look like a candy bar anymore?). So what did we do? Did we clean it up like the adults we are and act like it had never happened? Of course not, we waited for the nurse to come in and tried very hard not to pay attention or laugh once she discovered the item. All three of us had a good laugh.

4. Look for the best in people. Even if we were to come across a particularly not nice person, she would always find some redeeming quality about them.

5. Do not smoke! My aunt developed her lung cancer after a life of smoking.

6. Laugh at yourself. And not in the “I’m going to laugh first so you can’t make fun of me” laugh at yourself, but the seriously enjoy when you do funny things kind of laugh at yourself.

7. Change the words to songs to make then just a little bit funnier. One of my earliest memories of my aunt consisted of my sister and I in her cool car driving around singing our versions of songs on the radio. My aunt was always super cool!

8. Getting into a little bit of trouble can be fun.

9. Family and friends are the most valuable things you can have in your life.

10. Keep your head up so you can see all the good things coming your way, if you keep your head down in the dumps you don’t know what you might miss.

11. When someone says, “I’ll be right back.” Answer “I’ll be left front!” hehehe always makes me giggle.

This in no way encompasses all that my aunt taught me, nor does it adequately communicate her fun and caring nature. However these are a few of things that make me stop and think twice and I thought they might be worthwhile to you all as well.

Wicked Awesome!

My arrival back in the United States was very eventful. The main thing centered around my parents surprising me by having my sister in town. The funny thing is that we like to surprise each other by showing up in different places (I have shown up at a show she was playing in Las Vegas and made her cry, she showed up at a restaurant in Tampa and made me cry, you know things like that), so they tried to do that this time..tried being the keyword.

I got off of the plane in Tampa, got on the tram and headed to the main terminal. At the Tampa Airport, when you get off the tram you walk directly through the families that are waiting and my family was not there (Which is not uncommon, we typically do not do the meet in the airport meeting area, we meet at baggage.). So I headed down to baggage just a little sleep deprived and hungry. As I was walking to the belt to get my luggage I saw this cute dog and thought, weird, that looks like my sister's dog Quito... then I followed the leash and thought, weird, that looks like my sister. Then I panicked and thought I got on the wrong plane and was in LA (yes I was that tired, 20 hours traveling can do that do a person), finally I realized it was my sister in Tampa.

In the end I surprised her! They didn't know that my plane had arrived and my mom and dad must have just missed me and were waiting upstairs and then my sister was going to surprise me at the belt. :-) So in the end I got to surprise them all.

The next two weeks were a blur hanging out with my family, seeing my friends, and getting my final papers done to turn in.

After all of that I headed back to the airport to head to Bahston to meet with Lindsey, Michael (her boyfriend) and Michel (her roommate) and to head to some of the amazing cultural spots... like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (which happens to be the scene of the most notorious art crime in history).

I REALLY enjoyed the Boston accent. One day I will get to pahk my cah in hahvid yahd. :-)

This is the Boston MFA.

We spent a good amount of time at the MFA. They are remodeling so things were a bit jumbled which made it a bit more difficult to stay focused, but I think we hit the high points.

Michael really loved this lady.

This is the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum. This museum is wonderful for many reasons. Reason number one it is the site of the largest art theft in history (arguably the largest theft in history). (maybe I shouldn't say that is why it is wonderful... maybe that's why it is so interesting?) Find out more here Isabella Theft.

Another reason I like this museum is that is was the complete work of one woman. Nowhere else is there a museum that was designed, created, curated and named after the same woman. I am confident that if she was still alive I would want to hang out with her, since she seems to have had the perfect balance of culture and crazy fun. Her museum is wonderful because everything in the museum was placed by her and is not allowed to be changed. If you don't like white walled gallery space museums you will LOVE this museum.

I may also be a bit biased towards the museum because one of our professors from this summer is the head of security and pretty entertaining, so we get a pretty cool tour.

You aren't allowed to take pictures inside of the museum, so to see images go here.

After the museum we all went to dinner at this fantastic Italian Restaurant and got dessert at Mike's Pastry. Yummmy cannoli.

We didn't enjoy amazing weather while in Boston, but had a lot of fun. Here are some random night shots of the city.

Oh the Boston accent, it even makes it on their signs. The boys trying to point out the spelling take one.

A slightly goofy take two.

The haaabah.

Lindsey had to use the restroom and they have these really cool freestanding restrooms that you can use for a quarter... but she wasn't exactly sold on the idea. Here she is reluctantly waving goodbye.

After you use the restroom the entire thing gets sprayed down. We were listening to make sure that really happened.

The Aquarium!!

We made friends with the penguins. They were adorable.

Here are some jellyfish. They tend to creep me out, but I acknowledge that they are pretty cool.

A different kind of jellyfish.

Close up... creeeeeepy!

A seahorse. I think seahorses are awesome! Two fun facts: seahorses typically mate for life AND the males carry the eggs until birth. Niiiice!

A sea turtle.

In the middle of the aquarium they have this huge cylinder aquarium that goes from the ceiling to the first floor. There is a spiral ramp that goes around the entire thing with lots of observation windows. Each time we would move windows in one area this little fish would find us.

Outside of the aquarium. Another beautiful day. :-)

I really enjoyed that the buildings disappeared in the clouds. That is too cool. I want to be on the top floor of one of those buildings.

Oh... and you have to love the rainbow duck tour vehicle. :-)

So that was Boston. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to because of the rain (I didn't want to ruin my camera).

There it is, the first non-Amelia blog. I promise to keep trying to do cool things so I have something to write about. :-) I have some interesting things planned in the months ahead, so we should be good!

Ciao ciao!

Ciao Amelia!

Here are the last groups of pictures from my wonderful summer in Amelia. I have to admit that it was very hard to leave Amelia, and while I know that the following will sound very cliche, it is also very true. The friends that I made in Amelia will be friends the rest of my life. Amelia is my second home and one day I will return on a more permanent basis. Here are the last pictures of Amelia... for now.

One of Lindsey's last nights in Amelia we decided to walk to some of the other doors that we had not gone to yet. There are four doors in and out of the walled city of Amelia. (You already saw the Porta Romana.)

Here are Robin and Lindsey on our way to the prostitute door (lovingly called the whore door).

Just a pretty picture.

I love the doors here. They are all unique and old. It is fascinating to imagine the generations that have passed through that door.

At the "whore door."

The view. Apparently the prostitutes were not granted easy access to the city, but the view is gorgeous.

This is the backside of Amelia (compared to most of the picture that I have posted).

I love this clock. It has two bells to announce the time, one really loud and strong one, and one cute and tiny one.

On day while we were enjoying our afternoon bottle of Prosecco (it became an afternoon tradition) when we started to get pestered by bees. :-) I figured the best way to handle them would be to catch one, and proceeded to catch one in my prosecco glass.

See him? I released him later, but then he came back. Then I tried to catch him again and I accidentally broke my glass at the stem. Oops. :-)

I have NEVER seen a sky like this anywhere else in my life.

At the end of the program we had a going away dinner at this house. The lovely ladies that live here made us a wonderful dinner.

Olive trees.

That's Tiger on the steps. He and I became great friends.

An alternate view of the house from the pool.

I miss a lot about my life in Amelia, including all of the fruit trees.

We had quite a problem with bugs, so no one was really excited about getting in the pool.

Alan... being Alan and serving up the wine while the ladies attempted to protect their legs from the bugs by submerging them in water.

Here are some pictures of our unofficial going away party. Everybody left Italy at different times, which actually made saying goodbye a bit easier since everyone did not leave at once.

Isabel and I decided to spend one of our last free days exploring Florence. Here is our first view of the city after getting off of the train. Oh the trains... apparently I get VERY motion sick now. Not a good thing when you rely on public transportation... how pathetic?!?!?

A view of the dome.

This is one of the markets of leather goods. They have lots of purses, jackets and scarves.

The Uffizi Gallery. One of the most spectacular collections of art in the world that was compiled by the Medici family.

I found this sign to be particularly entertaining. They must have had quite a problem with gum on floors and feet on walls to make a sign about it. Two odd problems to put on one sign.

Isabel's portrait blending in with the busts.

The river Arno...yes, it was that green in person.

A view of the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge). Interesting fact, this is the only bridge in Florence that was not destroyed by retreating Nazi troops. It is assumed that Hitler ordered it to stay intact. However, access to the bridge was blocked by destroyed buildings on both sides of the river.

That has got to be one of the most interesting uses of a bridge.

A view of Brunelleschi's dome and the Campanile (tower) of the Duomo.

This is me on the Ponte Vecchio.

Piazza della Repubblica. I really envy their ability to pull off a carousel and that architecture without something looking out of place. I guess I am just used to mini-carousels outside of stores or real carousels at theme parks. :-)

Neat fact (amongst the MANY to do with Art and WWII in Florence). In order to protect the blue medallions with the white figures in them, boxes were built around them to shield them from bombs and attacks. In order to protect David they built a brick enclosure around him. We did get to see Michelangelo's David, but you aren't supposed to take pictures and I follow the rules. ;-)

The Duomo. I will continually be amazed by the vastness and uniqueness of each Duomo in Italy.

The Campanile. Appreciate these pictures, I looked very odd sitting on the ground in order to get the whole building to fit in the picture.

The Baptistry.

The facade of the Duomo.

How gorgeous?? Those lucky Italians, they get to see things like this EVERY day.

The Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. It took Ghiberti 21 years to complete these doors.

Florence, like every other trip I went on, was amazing.

At last, it was time to say goodbye to Amelia. The lovely family that owns Punto Divino (and our first guides to Amelia) had a get together for the group of us that were still around. This was the night before I left, and below is the last picture I took in Amelia.

Things I miss... the hat shop lady that would get so excited to help throw the cardboard boxes into the recycling truck. The way that the city and people welcomed us with open arms and smiles on their faces. Some of the nicest people in the world live in Amelia. The walk from my apartment, past Bar Leonardi, through the Porta Romana, up the street, past the church, past the museum and into the library for class. The ricotta and mozzarella from the cheese shop (not to mention the cheese shop owner and his wife). Crazy Johnny's and their caprese pizza. GELATO at Tropicana and the wonderful staff there!!! Valda at Porcelli's. Fizzy wine at Porcelli's...everything at Porcelli's. Wine on the terrace. The people, the sounds, the smells. Italian classes with cappuccinos. A Sunday breakfast of fruity cornettos (croissants filled with fruit puree). The chalet. The fat sweet babies getting pushed around town by their grandmothers. The views... everything.

Ciao ciao!