LOVE PICTURES

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Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

by Caitlin Ritchie

Some say Paris is the city of romance, but I beg to differ. I found true love in Florence, Italy. I had just arrived in Italy for my junior year abroad. I would be spending an entire school year in the city of art and love and was very excited to immerse myself in a new language and culture. Little did I know where that would lead me.

One of my passions is singing, and I wanted to maintain that a part of my life while abroad. My university was holding auditions for its choir, which I saw as a great opportunity to meet some natives my age.

I arrived at the audition hall with six other American girls that I had convinced to join me, but being new to the school, we were not certain if we had the correct building. Our nerves got the best of us, and we became frightened as we stood in the tiny, dark street somewhat late at night. We knocked on the door to a building where we’d seen the light on, and someone finally let us in.

That someone soon became an important part of my life in Florence. My first impression of him was that he was tall, but what really caught my attention was his long, black, curly hair and dark eyes. I awkwardly asked him if I was in the right place, and he assured me that I was, but that the auditions didn’t start for another half hour. He told us we could hang out with him and wait. He kept to himself mostly, typing on his laptop, but he was very nice and wished us luck during our audition.

We made small talk when I finished auditioning, and later I found out that I was the only one in my group of friends to be accepted to the choir. I had to return a couple of weeks later to begin rehearsal, and since I was the only foreigner there, I was extremely intimidated and felt out of place. Everyone was hanging around after rehearsal while I was waiting for my ride home, when I spotted the handsome guy who’d kindly opened the door for my friends and me a few weeks prior.

He was talking to his friends and munching on a bag of chips. I nervously approached him, and he smoothly held out his bag of chips to share with me. We finally had our first real conversation, and I found out that his name was Giuliano and that he was from Rome. Eventually my ride home interrupted us and said, “Well, I’ve got to get Candy home now. She isn’t hanging around here just for your beauty.” I thought to myself, “Speak for yourself.” We parted ways in the traditional Italian way- by giving each other one kiss on each cheek.

For the next couple of weeks we just talked casually after rehearsal. Then it came time for our big concert at the Palazzo Vecchio. The palace is a beautiful Renaissance residence of the Medici family. Now it is the seat of the regional government. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and all the important politicians including the president go there to give speeches and do business. We meet up after the concert, and he asked me what I was doing the rest of the day. When I told him I was about to get some lunch, he offered to go with me. Of course, I said he was welcome to join me.
We spent the next few hours walking around the historic center of Florence, and he bought me lunch. The best part was when we stood on the Ponte Vecchio for a bit and enjoyed the view of the river. Then we took a photo of ourselves together with the beautiful Florentine landscape in the background. He walked me to my class and we said “ciao.”

A couple of weeks later I went to his graduation ceremony and got to meet his entire family from Rome. It was a lovely time, but unfortunately our courtship would soon be interrupted by the holiday break. I spent a month travelling with my family, but returned to Florence in January. Around Christmas he wrote me a sweet email wishing me well.

The next time I saw him was at rehearsal, and he had brought me a gift. It was a homemade box with candy in it from his parents as a thank you for attending his graduation ceremony. Then he invited my friend and me out for drinks that weekend. At the end of the evening, he walked us back to our house and we sat outside and talked on the porch for a little while. My friend excused herself and left us alone on the porch. He moved closer to sit by my side. I was wearing a blue dress and he said that I looked very beautiful in it. I thanked him and then he leaned over and kissed me. Then he asked me out on a proper date without my roommate. We were together for the rest of the semester and have continued our relationship even now that we live on separate continents.

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First Generation American

First Generation American

by Justine Bayod Espoz

I am first generation American and a mix of three different cultures: Spanish, Chilean and American.

My mother was born in Saragossa, Spain shortly after the Spanish Civil War, which left the country in the hands of Fascist Dictator General Francisco Franco. From 1939 to 1975, Spain was a country in which basic freedoms, especially for women, were non-existent. Women were not allowed to have their own bank account, could not work or travel without the written permission of their fathers or husbands, could not move out of the familial home unless married or ready to joint a religious order, and the list goes on.

As a teenager, my mother already knew that as a woman in Spain she had no real future, so when the American medical student who she’d been dating proposed marriage upon completing his studies in Spain, my mother accepted, knowing that she’d have more opportunities and rights in the United States.

My mother’s first marriage lasted 15 years. During that time she’d held down full and part time jobs, taken care of her household, managed to get a degree in English and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with honors.

A few years after her divorce from her first husband, my mother met my father at a party in Evanston, Illinois. Although they never married, they were together for five years, during which time they decided to have a child together.

My father was born in the copper-mining town of Chuquicamata, Chile. My father and his family had been ardent and outspoken supporters of democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende, who was assassinated during the military coup d’etat that left Dictator General Augusto Pinochet in power.

Under the dictatorship, my father and his siblings were thrown into prison and tortured for their political beliefs. In the long run they were lucky, as my father’s sisters received political asylum from France, where they live to this day, and he and his brothers from the United States, where they too continue to live. Had it not been for this asylum, my father and his family could have ended up like the tens of thousands of Chilean “desaparecidos” (disappeared), people taken from their homes by the military and never seen again.

My parents met in a country that was not their own, a country that had given them the opportunity to live new and better lives, meet and have a child; a country that allowed me to grow up in freedom, without fear of repression or reprisals for my beliefs and ideologies or exclusion and oppression because of my sex.

I am a product of all three countries and cultures, and I am happy that Chile and Spain are now democracies, although the slate of history’s monstrosities has yet to be wiped clean in either country. It is strange to think that I am here today because of the injustices suffered by my parents, but I suppose that for the romantics and idealists still out there, it is evidence enough that good things can come from bad situations.

http://www.romantic4ever.com

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HANDSCRAFT LOVE

Window Sparklers


You'll need:
Black paper
Craft knife
Colored cellophane or tissue paper
Tape
Cheese grater
Old crayons (yellow, orange and red)
Waxed paper
Clothes iron
Glue
String or yarn

Mom or Dad cut out the candle shape with black
construction paper pieces placed back-to-back.
Leave some space between the stem and flame.
Cut a rectangle slightly larger than the candle with
cellophane or tissue paper, and -stem shape. Tape the
colored paper to one piece of black paper so it covers the cutout shape.
To make the flame, melt crayon shavings between
two pieces of waxed paper. Use an iron, on a surface
covered with Newspaper.
Let your waxed-paper flame cool, then cut out a piece
slightly larger than the candle-flame shape, and tape or
glue it onto the black paper so that it shines through.
Glue the second sheet of black paper to the back of the first.
Punch a hole in the top, thread with string or yarn,
and hang in your window.
Make one for each day of the holiday!


Craft Stick Star of David
Make several of these sparkling stars to hang on doors
and in windows.


You'll Need
6 wood craft sticks per star (popsicle sticks, tongue depressors)
Acrylic paint or kids washable paint
Paint brush
Glitter
white glue
star stickers

How to make it:
Cover your work area with newspaper.
Paint the craft sticks with any color you choose.

It only takes a few minutes for acrylic paint to dry to the touch. Paint one side let it dry...then paint the other side.

Apply a few small drops of glue to the ends of three painted craft sticks. Glue them together to make a triangle.

Repeat with three more sticks. Turn your triangles so
that they face in different directions. One pointing up...one pointing down....Glue one triangle onto to the next to make your star of David. Decorate with glitter and star stickers.
Add ribbon to hang from doors and windows.

Milk Carton Dreidel
Easy to make dreidel with small milk cartons!

pencils
glue
paint and paintbrushes
small milk cartons or boxes

Fold tops of milk cartons down to make boxes.
Mix a little glue with paint and let children
paint boxes. Poke pencil through box from top
downward so point is on bottom.
Dreidel Game Instructions >>

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Love Cake

Love Cake Recipe

A very popular cake in Sri Lanka, though no one knows why it is called love cake. There are many recipes, some using butter while others do not, some insisting that only egg yolks should be used and others including the egg whites as well.

Ingredients : Oven temperature : 150^oC (300^oF); Baking time : about 1 hour

7	Eggs, separated
500 g	Caster sugar
250 g	Semolina
375 g	Raw cashews, finely chopped
2 tablespoons	Rose water
2 tablespoons	Honey
1/2 teaspoon	Finely grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon	Ground mace or nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon	Ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon	Almond essence, optional

Method :

• Grease and line a 20 cm square tin with 2 thicknesses of greaseproof paper.

• Brush inner paper with melted butter.

• Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar until light and creamy.

• Stir in the semolina, cashews, rose water, honey, lemon rind, spices and almond essence.

• Beat egg whites until they hold firm peaks and fold into the mixture, turn into prepared tin and bake in moderately slow oven until cake is evenly golden brown on top and feels firm to the touch.

• If cake starts to brown too quickly, cover top with paper or foil.

• When cooked the center of the cake should still be somewhat moist so the skewer test is not recommended.

• Remove from oven and leave in the tin to get quite cold before cutting.

• Do not attempt to turn out this cake.

• Cut into small squares and lift each one separately on to serving plate.

By. http://www.asianonlinerecipes.com

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LOVE POETRY

As she sleeps
by Christopher Wade Toomey

I am trapped in she,
She who sleeps,
She whom I protect with my presence,
She whom my eyes have seen no other the like of.
I see the night-time played across her face,
The distant roaming of her eyes.
Though in this world not seeing,
Roaming still,
The moonlight dancing across her face,
Stars just speckles in her eyes now.
No more moon,
No more sun,
Just dancing to dreams.
I wonder how lofty her dreams do fly.
Oh, how I wish I could pluck them from her sky.
To do this, I would live.
To do this, I would die!
I am honored to be allowed to watch her dream...
Her skin shining like autumn hue,
Her hair spinning to infinity
As it falls upon her face.
It is as if I have left the vacuum of space,
And have entered a world so rich
That I must sit and watch
Its sun burning upon my face.
But there I must linger
And be burned.
I am not so tired of dreaming
That I could not dream,
But I dare not sleep
With her beside me,
For while she sleeps, lying here,
Hands upon her chest,
I am living my dream.
I am love,
And love is I.
How could I sleep ?
There is no dream more vivid,
None more desired in my heart,
Than she,
Near.
I have lived an eternity of dreams this night,
And touched not her skin.
I refuse to slip into the night!
Without a struggle !
Without a fight!

Endings...
by Jenny Runninger

Our time was over,
But my hopes were high.
You made so many promises,
Did you know you wouldn't try?

I fantasized for weeks,
But heard nothing from you.
Have you forgotten so quickly,
The time when our love grew?

I tried to keep in touch,
But you tried to forget,
The midnight kisses and moonlit walks.
Have you succeeded yet?

I thought that I had it all,
That our love would never die.
You said we'd be together again,
But that was just a lie.

Now I know our time is over,
But I'll miss you forever more.
And there's always a place in my heart,
Where you and I can dwell.

Rainbow of My World
by Colt Joseph McVey

Red of your lips.
Orange, the sun that shines heavenly on you.
Yellow moon under which we held one another.
Green, the grass we lay on.
Blue, the way I feel when you're away.
Indigo, the color of the outfit that you look stunning in.
Violet, the color of forever, the length I hope to remain with you.

The Rainbow of my World is no other than You

GOODBYE
by Summer Sydney Taylor

If only I would have listened
When eveyone told me not to go that far,
But love was so blind.
I'm always reminded of little details
When i look at the scar.

The memories of me and you
Tear me in two.
The dreams we had planned together
Will never come true.
The big word, "Goodbye"
is what'll be said... not "I do"

To the love of my life
for the question you asked me
(Yes)

Symphony of his heart
by Poet 621

For once, his heart lost its poise,
His faith wavered and yet left unvoiced.
Suffocated of his furtive passion,
He recoiled to depict the bare vexation,
Of longing his heart tore within,
To pine for a solemn heart akin
To the hardest yet the most desirous thing.

Every day and even night,
Be it every minute and second,
A thousand conceived silences
He chose and inclined to confront, 
But he couldn?t ask,
?Is this a mere infatuation??
And no one he could ask,
?Why his apoptotic heart only ends in contemplation??

Those queries, left unanswered,
His heart never had them unconcealed,
And he never disinclined to endure the ordeal,
For he believed to love her, his heart must be sealed,
Though his lonesome heart finally revealed,
Which fatefully left unrequited,
And being trampled upon like dust
Unconsciously by the one he always trusts.

Till one day, God sent His words
To reach and cure his broken heart,
And kindle his heart with a joyous symphony,
Which leads to suturing of his heart,
Till he realized the silence is the most euphonious aphony,
Which resembles the most beauteous memory,
That only provokes his nostalgic tour of every...

A sudden disenchantment,
By God?s grace,
He received and hence
Free from every torment,
And his heart danced with joy and bliss,
With hopes and faith that still to the eternity,
With platonic love for her though it?s like nihility,
With glee that he never garnered
With beatitude that he never touched?

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LOVE

THE MEANING OF LOVE

Since a very long time ago, people have searched for the meaning of love. But even the great philosophers, with their profound definitions, could not fully touch its true essence. In a survey of 4-8 year olds, kids share their views on love. But what do little kids know about love? Read on and be surprised that despite their young and innocent minds, kids already have a simple but deep grasp of that four-letter word.

"Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way."

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

"When someone loves you, the way she says your name is different. You know that your name is safe in her mouth."

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs."

"Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don't yell at him because you know it would hurt his feelings."

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss but they look happy and sometimes they dance in the kitchen while kissing."

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."

"Love is hugging. Love is kissing. Love is saying no."

"When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you're scared she won't love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only does she still love you, she loves you even more."

"There are 2 kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them."

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they've know each other so well."

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."

"Love is-if you hold hands and sit beside each other in the cafeteria. That means you're in love. Otherwise, you can sit across from each other and be okay."

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

"Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."

"Don't feel so bad if you don't have a boyfriend. There's lots of stuff you can do without one."

"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

"If you want somebody to love you, then just be yourself. Some people try to act like somebody else, somebody the boy likes better. I think the boy isn't being very good if he does this to you and you should just find a nicer boy."

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day"

"When you're born and see your mommy for the first time.

"Love is what makes people hide in the dark corners of movie theaters."

"Love goes on even when you stop breathing and you pick up where you left off when you reach heaven."

"My enemies taught me how to love."

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

"You have to fall in love before you get married. Then when you're married, you just sit around and read books together."

"I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her."

"Love cards like Valentine's cards say stuff on them that we'd like to say ourselves, but we wouldn't be caught dead saying."

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."

"Love is when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

"You never have to be lonely. There's always somebody to love, even if it's just a squirrel or a kitten."

"You can break love, but it won't die."

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