10 years front and back...

I picked up my new passport recently!

This was pretty exciting for me... as now I have a 52-page passport and it is one piece to cross off my list of to-do's before heading to ITALY.   :D

The most interesting... is to think back 10 years to when I got this first passport for myself...

I was going to ITALY!

During the summer between my sophomore and junior years at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY, I went abroad to Italy for the first time. I lived with a family in Florence for about a month and attended language classes near the Duomo.

I had scheduled an appointment at the post office to get the passport... and when I was leaving my college campus to drive over there, I had to brush off the snow from the car windows. WELL... (and thankfully this is the only time I have done this!) I left the car running with the defroster on high while scraping the snow off... BUT I also managed to lock the doors while doing so. Nice Stace. I had to then miss the passport appointment and call AAA for help.

Since getting that passport (I made another appointment and did manage to make it that time!) I have finished my undergraduate degree, moved across the country and completed a Masters program, began my career as a Teacher-Librarian, moved across the world to Vietnam... and now moving to ITALY! (And so much more in between... but that will do for now.)

Funny to think that this new passport now is also for ITALIA! This time my stay will be for a little longer than a month...

My first passport covered the last 10 years... this new passport will cover the next 10 years ...and then thinking to what the next 10 years can hold for me. I can only hope that the upcoming 10 years of my life are as awesome as the past 10.

I'm not sure where I'll be, come 2023 but I want to continue a focus of living life as it comes, challenging myself, adventuring, and living each day with a no-fear attitude. With that... I hope to become more patient, positive, open-minded, and flexible.

We'll see how many of these 52 pages I am able to fill up!