Sister Sleepovers and Mountain Vistas.

I seriously can not believe how quickly time is passing. Every morning when I wake up and realize the date, I can hardly believe we are almost through with November! This fall has passed so quickly. I have loved every second of the beautiful colors and the marvelous sunshine that just refuses to give up. I missed Autumn last year, however I think that has helped me to appreciate the season that much more this year.

Last weekend my littlest sister and I had a girls night, where we spent the entire evening together. As soon as I got home from work we went to our favorite frozen yogurt shop, and then headed  home to watch Harry Potter in our PJ's. That night we had a sleepover on the couch, and the next night she slept over in my bed. It was so much fun to hang out with my adorable little sis. She is just the cutest thing ever, we always have fun together. I can't believe she is 11 years old. So old, and such a little girl! I love her.

I have also recently been doing my best to run as often as I can. My dear friend and I want to run a half marathon this coming spring, so we are starting now...I have been doing pretty well with running nearly everyday. Which is quite an accomplishment for me, considering I have never been consistent when I run, ever. Also, because I wake up so early to go to school. Every day it is an exhausting internal battle trying to move my body. It is hard to run several miles between school and work when I wake up at 4:30 am. Seriously? I will never complain about another 8:00 am class. 6 am makes 8 am look like a lazy Saturday morning. Only 3 weeks left! I can do it. Right? I swear, once I get a decent amount of sleep at night I will be better with exercising. It may be an excuse, but in my opinion it's a dang good one.

Anyway. I have a favorite running trail. One night I went running just as the sun was beginning to set...you know that time of day when everything seems to have a golden glow? When the sun is in just the right spot as you're driving and you fear for the life of those in your path because you are blinded? It is my favorite time of day. I think everything is so much more beautiful when the sun is working so hard to illuminate the world as best it can. As I was running, I just had to turn off my ipod because I was in absolute awe of the beauty around me. I have never realized the hundreds of shades of red, orange and yellow floating on the tree tops. The sun was streaming through the leaves, casting cool shadows, and thick tunnels of crisp air along the path.

Not to mention the absolutely breathtaking mountains. They had such a golden glow to them, and were so majestic, just waiting for nightfall. I honestly had tears well up in my eyes. I was so overwhelmed with how incredibly beautiful it is. I am so lucky to live somewhere so diverse and rich in seasons. I just had to share.
I love traveling, and I know there are countless beautiful views throughout the world, however I believe that one of the most beautiful views is right in my backyard.

*I did not take this photo. I do, however appreciate whoever did.

Autumn.

I have been terrible at keeping up this blog. To be honest, I haven't quite known exactly what to say. Call it a severe case of writers block, call it laziness, call it what you may. I am agreeing right now to be better. Especially because I am writing for no one but myself, and I love it. So, self. Let's blog.

I have finally come to terms with the fact that even though I absolutely love and adore Summer, it is gone until next year. Words can not do justice to the physical heartache, and absolute despair I felt when this realization finally sunk in.

 I cherish Summer, every second of it. Every single day is so full of promise and adventure, in all its color and sunshine. This Summer was one of the best so far. I spent nearly every day with one of my best friends, and I ate one snowcone every single day. I went on multiple bike rides a day, overcame a huge trial, and proved to myself that I really can do anything. I spent countless hours soaking up the sun, hundreds of hours moving my body and twice as many hours doing next to nothing at all. It was fabulous. Just exactly the way Summer should be.

So here is to one of the best summers so far. You will be missed. Especially when I think about whats coming the next few months....

The snow, the freezing temperatures, frost on my windshield, scraping my car, the sun setting at 5 pm, salt marks on my jeans, being cold, wet feet, trudging through the snow, slipping on ice, constantly being cold, not seeing anything but black, white, and shades of gray for 4 months, driving in scary weather, and did I mention, being cold?! I hate winter. Hate. Luckily, the holidays bring enough merriment to ease us in to the most dreadful time of the year by disguising the preceding months as the most wonderful time of the year.

The most wonderful time of the year begins with October. When the leaves begin to change, and the air becomes crisp. To me, it seems that Autumn is when the world is trying its absolute best to show us how beautiful it can really be by exploding with color. I love it, so much. I love the spicy drinks, and all the cinnamon comfort food. Snuggling up with blankets and cozy clothes. I love all the Halloween festivities, and the family time around Thanksgiving. Lets not forget the perfect temperatures, and the sweet smell of Summer fading into fiery colors. It is indeed a glorious time of the year.

I just wish my life could slow down for a second so I could enjoy it. I am still trying to figure out where September went, and it is nearly the middle of October. Oh, how time does fly.

p.s. Happy 10.10.2010!

Cherry Blossoms

The cherry blossoms were especially breathtaking today. Are these even cherry blossoms? I have no idea, but they were beautiful so to me they are cherry blossoms. Perhaps this was because today was the first sunny, warm, and spring-like day we have had this year. The sky was extra blue today, and the grass a stunning green. Flowers blooming in the rich brown soil seemed remarkably vibrant. The air was notably fresh as I took it in my lungs and surprisingly as well as gratefully warm on my skin. I felt more alive today than I have in months. I believe that in the Winter, the best part of me hides beneath the cold, dead ground, hibernating until the sun comes out and color comes back in to the world. Perhaps that is why my senses were so alive and excited today. Part of my heart and soul found its way back to me with every breath I took in the sweet sunshine.

Spring has sprung. Thank you, Mother Nature; for something as beautiful, and as refreshing, as this season after such a long, dull, and murderous Winter.

ps. I wish I could figure out how to get my blog to just be white. Black letters, and everything else white. Stupid weird backgrounds. I'm sick of you. Go away!

My China life in pictures.

So, I probably should have mentioned how I was posting things on my blog while I was in China.. I was using a proxy and trying to spend as little time on the blogspot website as possible. I was doing this, because I was afraid the government would discover my loop hole and get rid of it. So, the posts I made while I was in China were actually emails that I sent home. I just cut certain parts, and combined several emails to make it seem like something more of a real blog post. I hope no one else has noticed (if anyone even reads this..) that those posts were mostly one huge paragraph. I apologize for that. I really don't write like that. At least I really hope not.

Also, I was not able to post any pictures. This was really frustrating! I was taking all these awesome photos of where I lived and the kids I loved, and wasn't able to share them except a few a week through email home to my parents. So I will post a few now that will sum up most of my adventure over there.


This is Jenna and I in the beginning, before we became the life-long travel soul mates that we are now. We are standing in front of the Big Buddha in Hong Kong. This is day 1 in China.

Hong Kong. Such a beautiful city. It has a nice...claustrophobic feeling about it.

First night in our apartment in Guzhen, Zhongshan. It was a very small room, 2 big hard beds, and 4 big suitcases full of things we never used.

Immediately after arriving in Guzhen, we barely had time to pack before we realized we had several days before teaching began. So we went to Xi'an for four or five days. It was probably one of, if not my favorite of all my vacations in China. This is me on the Tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang. He was the Emperor who had the Terracotta Warriors made to guard the very Mausoleum that I am standing on.

Terracotta Army. When I walked in to this dome, it literally took my breath away. This is a fascinating piece of history.

My neighborhood in Guzhen.

Little William. He has the cutest little smile!

Our favorite thing to eat in all of China. Muslim noodles!

My favorite drink in all of China. Boba!

Halloween.

Thanksgiving Dinner.

Regardless of the fact that Jenna and I are generally quite clean, I am embarrassed to say; this is what our room looked like a good amount of the time.

I tried really hard not to, but I totally had favorites. Rather, I had a favorite. This is Devan. I love him.

My ELE (afternoon english) class.

Jenna and I had fun coming up with fake holidays to be sure that our last weeks in China did not pass without making a lot of memories. This is us on 80's day.

Hunter and I.

Jimmy and I.

This is in Hangzhou, about an hour outside of Shanghai. It was so beautiful!

This is one of the only temples that survived the Cultural Revolution. It was so incredible!

We went on a boat ride on West Lake, and I thought it was such a charming atmosphere.

This is West Street in Yangshuo, my favorite vacation.

Bamboo raft ride down the Li River.

The Forbidden City.

The Great Wall of China. (Which means I can cross off #1 on my World Wonder list)

I loved my time in China! I had the most incredible adventure, and the kids I taught changed my life. I cant wait for my next adventure!