28 days til take off

Merry Christmas lovely people! On my favorite holiday of the year it was officially one month before I leave for Florence, Italy, otherwise known as Firenze, in Italian. This is my first blog so I apologize if I seem obnoxiously amateur-ish to any of you pro-bloggers.

For those of you who many not know, I will be studying abroad in Firenze until May 14 of this Spring, and will continue to spend a little time traveling after that before returning to the States. Given that I took a fifty pound suitcase to Europe the last time I was there (which was only a ten-day stay) I am eagerly awaiting how I will deal with the packing experience now that I will be abroad for four months. I have my plane ticket, my class schedule, a map of places I would like to go, and few of the necessary materials to make this trip possible, but otherwise I don't really know what I am doing. Flying by the seat of my pants is not my strong suit but I am proud to say I am already in the carpe diem mind set and hope that this keeps the anxiety at bay as I begin the biggest adventure of my life thus far. If you're wondering: no, I do not have my visa yet. No, it's not as late as it may seem. Yes, I am in the process of getting it and it will hopefully be arriving very soon.

I have no idea how I will handle being away from my family and close friends for such a long period of time, especially given that I will be in a city 4,638 miles away that speaks a language I know almost no part of, but I am excited and as ready as I realistically ever would be at this point in the process. And hey, I still have some time... 28 days til take off.

Love, abbie