Valentine's Day

In honor of today being Valentine's Day, I wanted to dedicate this post to the people that I love/miss. I may not be homesick, but I still miss the people that are important to me. I have never been away from my family for very long at all, especially not for 4 months in another country. Celebrating Valentine's here in Italy with my girls eating sushi and watching RomComs is still a great way to spend the day, but they sure don't replace my favorite people back home. I don't know how I'm surviving, but I know they are happy for me and I'm sure I miss them more than they miss me. So here's to my Valentine's...

Mom and Dad, my Valentines since day 1. Thank you for remembering me and still sending me cards all the way here in Milan. I am so thankful for your constant love and support. Ryan, I know you will never read this and you don't care anyway, but I love you  (sometimes) and miss laughing about stupid stuff together and having everyone stare at us wondering what we are talking about.

Bob and Kiki, I miss you more than I miss Evaroni's pizza. I wish so badly I could pick up the phone and call you and tell you every detail about Italy. Kiki, you would love the view here, its so beautiful. Bob, I know you would love the french fries, they're even better than Penn Station :). I would love to fly you all over here and take you shopping and show you the amazing architecture and buy you some Gelato. There aren't enough thank you's in the world that would suffice for you all. I love you so much.

Aunt Ruthie and Juncle Ig Bon, every time I see a dog here I think of you two (and Howie, of course).. which, is a lot because dogs are allowed everywhere here. They are no Howie, though. Big John, I wish you were here to protect me with all of your TEOTWAWKI gear. Aunt Ruthie, I wish you could come meet all of the girls here, they would love you. Memaw, I know I don't have a picture of you on here, but that doesn't mean I don't miss you. I know you are learning more about Milan than I am and probably more than I will learn even while I'm here. You would be blown away by the buildings and the history here. It's breathtaking. I would love for you to be here with me so I could show you around.

Whitney Winters, you probably won't read this and you won't like it anyway so I'm putting the best picture that I have of you on here. I don't miss you, I don't love you and don't care about what you are doing in America. Just kidding, you're my soul mate and I will die not seeing you until June. You will always be my Valentine. Forever and Always xoxoxoxo

I know that you're all thinking that this is going to be dedicated to the large man in the center of this picture. Well, its not. This is to Mariah, Chelsie and Jared squeezed in there at the very bottom. There will be no worse feeling than experiencing March Madness alone in Italy without you all. Mariah, my wife, no one here understands our language, our humor, etc. Chelsie, every time I hear Sam Hunt I think about you. I have to listen to my country music alone considering all of these girls are from the North. Jared, my little blonde stallion, hurry up an kill those internship interviews and show them who's boss so you can come visit me in Italy. I love all of you, my twinkling threesome.

My wonderful roommates at 220, Ashley and Macey.. and sometimes Tyler and Mariah. Thank you all for getting Katja to take my place while I am gone. We all know that she is a lot more fun, energetic and clearly way cuter than me. Living with other people just feels weird. I am so excited that we will all be together for another year. Don't forget about the girl that is supposed to be in room C.

To my girls, Charlotte (Brooke), Samantha (Kameron), and Miranda (Rachel), I know you all are doing your own things, but I miss you all and can't wait to be reunited for a day that we'll never forget. June 6, 2015, when Brooke will become Mrs. Knipp.

The Muscle Barn, my beautiful, hot, smoking, luscious chunks of man. There is not one person here in Italy that will even come close to making me feel like more of an idiot than you all do. But, there is also not one person that will come close to making me laugh as much as you all do. I love all of you and miss having you all to take care of me/pick on me.

Lisa and Janci, you all are my second and third moms and I miss both of your crazy personalities. I miss going to lunch with you all every Sunday and I miss making fun of other people (like we are the normal ones) with you. Thank you for praying for me and looking after me like I am you own daughter. 

And last but not least, my wildcats. I don't miss walking through freezing temperatures in 4 layers, walking into the classroom building sweating because the heat is 4 million degrees, walking across the Newtown bridge, worrying about getting my car towed or getting a parking ticket, or sitting in the balcony of memorial just to scroll through Twitter/Instagram for an hour and fifteen minutes. But, I do miss (so so badly) watching the best basketball team in the country kick butt. I miss hearing
"My Old Kentucky Home", "On, On, U of K.." and I miss watching a sea of blue all rise to their feet after Aaron Harrison drops a three. I can't handle not being around crazy fans. I need it, I live for it. I hope that I get to spend the entire month of March staying up until 6am just to know the score of the games. I love you, BBN. 

And, also, to the crazy guy that used to wear this kitty uniform, Ross Turner. I miss you. I wish that you could be here today to eat all-you-can-eat sushi with me. I know you're in high demand in Ashland, Ky but you can't forget about me. I'll be back and ready to hit that big city before you know it.

There are so  many more people not mentioned that I love and miss every day. So to everyone,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY