Siesta Key pictures

At the Daiquiri Deck with our bargain thermos purchase on the cloudy day at the beach....

Their hair looks a bit grey in the front I noticed when the picture uploaded...but I think it has to be the powder sunscreen Andrea has and uses around their hair and parts...these girls will never have grey hair!!

Out at Beach Club on Siesta Key!

At Beach Club again and my friend from UT, Meghan met up with us!!!

And this is just the greatest person ever!!! This is Mama, my grandma! We were at Daiquiri Deck in the afternoon AFTER a beach day...we kind of like that place! Ashley's boyfriend asked if we had beds there...and that's probably a valid question!!!

Rockin robin..tweet tweet...

I had a great trip and I loved visiting all the cities...but I am such a suburbia/slight country girl. So it's nice to be back in Franklin for a bit! I say slight country girl because while I love Lesterville for the summers...I could NEVER reside year round...I need a little more going on then Lenny's and the Black River Ice Cream Parlor!! FYI Lesterville is the town that my summer camp is located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. An hour from the nearest hospital...and truly telling...an hour from the nearest Wal-Mart! Now THAT'S country!

Anyway, I've been running errands and getting things done. We had a shower today for a family friend and I did all the dessert baking for it...and I really think I could be a baker. I love making that stuff...and I haven't quite decided if I love making it or if I make it because I love eating it...but either way I enjoy doing it! I made these mini cupcakes and the icing turned out so darn cute! I told Taylor I may want to be a baker, but that I would attempt teaching first. Actually the lady that did my wedding cake really intrigued me because when I met with her it just seemed like something I could do if I really tried...anyway...just a little idea floating in the back of my mind!

And on a totally random note...we have really obnoxious birds all over our neighborhood (which could be because our neighbors feed them buffets with 8 bird feeders in their backyards) But as far as I'm concerned they do nothing but poop on my clean car. So my mom got my car washed when I was gone because there was bird poop all down the side of my driver door, and sure enough the next day it was back in the SAME spot again. Well our neighbor (one with out bird feeders) was talking to my mom and said she has noticed this bird sitting on the ledge of my window looking at itself in my sideview mirror and pecking at itself...as if it was fighting another bird. And it has been out there a few days and then it poops down my door!!! So she gave my mom 2 fake plastic snakes to put on my car. So I went out last night and draped the snakes on the driver side mirror...and sure enough when I went out today...that darn bird just switched sides on me and pooped down the passenger side door and pecked on that mirror instead! So I now have snakes on both of my mirrors! I feel like my great grandma Adele...she used to always have plastic snakes tied up in the roof of her front porch and in her shed to keep all the birds away!! I thought it was so silly and here I am with them draped over my mirrors now!!! Hopefully it works...I'm tired of cleaning my car!

Anyway, I just found that amusing...thought I'd share.

I talked to Taylor finally...for the 3rd time all of April!! He has finally finished his ORI (Operational Readiness Inspection) which has consumed all of his time for the past few months. Apparently his guys did an excellent job and were even paid a rare compliment by the Colonel. So he was very relieved and happy to be done with the whole exercise. They have been in training and preparation for this with everyone on pins and needles for quite awhile so while he is very happy to be done, he now needs to find something to occupy his time since he told me on his first weekend off that he was bored!!! REALLY!?!?! Crazy boy :) I can't tell you how many conversations we had about how he couldn't wait for the ordeal to be over and now he doesn't know what to do with all his time!!?? Good thing I'll be there in 6 days to keep him company!! Yes I'm a little excited...my countdown has been going on since we booked the flight in November, over 150 days and it is finally so close! Guess I need to start packing...I am shooting for just a carry on again, I don't want to be stuck in Seoul with no clothes because my bag didn't make it. I don't know why, but I have recently been very concerned with this...I've never lost my luggage before (knock on wood) but it has suddenly become a big fear of mine! We'll see...

Take Care!

I've included a picture of Meg and I in Philly!!

I'm leavin on a jet plane...

Well, I'm sadly sitting at the Tampa airport awaiting my flight home to end my big adventure!! I'll try to recap my last week or so in Florida since I wasn't so diligent about updating...the beach called my name much louder than the blog did...sorry guys!



My friends Ashley and Andrea ended up flying down over the weekend on some cheap flights they found on Southwest. It was a very short visit...Saturday night til Tuesday morning because of these crazy real world jobs that don't see the importance of a beach trip we have done for the past 5 years! But really, they have been down about 6 or 7 times with me and staying with Mama, so when they found the cheap flights, they decided they had to attempt to make it one last time! On Saturday night we went to our favorite restaurant the Salty Dog...well I'm not sure if it's necessarily our favorite restaurant, but we've become friends with the bartender over the years so it's nice to have free drinks for the night...and I guess you can't really beat a beer battered fried hotdog....mmmm now that's good eatin'!!!! After Salty Dog we headed over to the Beach Club for a bit. One of my good friends from UT, Meghan, and her husband Alan, now live in Bradenton (just north of Sarasota) and so they came down and met us out on Siesta Key Saturday night and then again Sunday afternoon on the beach! I lived down in Sarasota for 6 months and I only had one friend...now that I'm gone I have 3 down there!

Oh well...Sunday was nice weather and we attempted a sunset dinner on the beach...but ended up getting clouds instead. We did get to see the drum circle that meets every Sunday night on the beach which was very cool. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. There was a HUGE group out there and everyone brings their bongos, drums, pots, shakers, all kinds of stuff and they just drum until the sun goes down. People are dancing, coming and going, joining in...it's a very free spirit event. Yeah, free spririt sums it up well...but very neat to see.

It was cloudy all day Monday and started raining when we were at the beach. Since the beach didn't work out, the second best alternative was the Daiquiri Deck. We left the beach at 1:30 and sat at the DD til 5:00! It's a great little open bar in the Village that has a whole wall of daiquiris and they make all kinds of combinations and delicious flavors...it's always a fun time there! We then went to dinner at Bonefish with Mama, and the Trefrys (my aunt, uncle, and cousins). The girls were off the next morning at 8am bright and early to fly home and go straight to work. But it was a nice visit.

My last two days Mama and I went to the beach then pool then dinner and errands. Uncle Jeff cooked dinner on Wednesday night for us after the boys soccer game. That's always a treat, he is my uncle who is the chef...we had duck...mmm! Oh and Mama bought a new laptop...apparently her old one at 256 megabytes wasn't worth fixing up when they don't even sell computers with less than 2000 megabytes of RAM anymore. And the crazy laptop was only about 3-4 years old...these things are disposable these days!! So now high-tech Mama has a new Dell with 4 Gigabyte RAM with a webcam included! She's all hooked up on Skype and is ready to chat with me when I head over to Korea and Italy!!! So it was a minor impulse buy :/...we went to Best Buy looking for help hooking up a webcam to her old computer and getting an estimate for cleaning up her old slow one...and it turned into a new laptop purchase! Hopefully everything will work well and fast for her though!

Well I'm now lying in my own bed for the first time in 3 weeks and it feels GREAT!! I had a little break in the middle of the post because my plane was boarding before I had time to finish writing! Anyway, I'm home with laundry started and tomorrow I'm cleaning and baking for a shower we're having at our house for Anne Thessin on Saturday. I have a week at home before I leave for Korea on Friday!! I've been counting down days til that trip since November and it's finally here!!! Woo hoooo! I'll keep updated!

Searchin for my lost shaker of salt...

I'm still truckin along down in Florida. No bad sunburns, I've been good about my sunscreen. There is a collegiate volleyball tournament going on at the beach right now so it is pretty packed! We've had sunny days with great weather! We went to the Bottleshop for dinner the other night, it was nice to be back and it was delicious food as always!! The Bottleshop is my uncle's restaurant where I worked when I lived in Florida. Went to Daiquiri Deck for happy hour with a little Jimmy playing...we're doing sunset on the beach tonight and hopefully out on the boat with my uncle either today or tomorrow if he gets around to pulling it out!!

Okay, I'm off to the beach!

PS Dad...I tried to text you from the Daiquiri Deck bc the band was playing lots of Jimmy, but I had left my phone at the condo...but I thought about it :)

Forecast...85 and sunny!!

Wooo hoooo I made it to the beach! I'm a little exhausted but that is why I strategically planned my last 10 days laying on the beach. Mama (my grandma) is sick, so she hasn't been feeling real well. She's been getting a lot of rest and will hopefully be feeling better maybe by tomorrow! Today was cloudy in the morning, but I headed to the beach anyway just to walk...I think I walked about 5 miles, that has been the standard with all the touring...so why not keep it up!! And I think I'll let you all in on a little affectionate term we use in our family to describe those gentlemen of a mature age who insist on walking the beach in a banana hammock...

OMIS.

Old Man In Speedo.

OMIS count today??

six.

Anyway, headed back to the pool after the beach. Mama came out to try to "bake the sickness out of her in the sun"! She's so funny, I'm not sure if it worked but she fell right asleep on the chair at the pool, so I played Rummikub with some of my Florida grandmas! When I lived down here last year I hung out with all of Mama's friends a lot and had a lot of fun. We played lots of Rummikub at the pool, so I joined right in again :) I then went to Jack and Mike, my cousins, soccer game then out to dinner with them and then back home with Mama.

There's the update for today...I probably won't have them quite as often down here because I can already tell you my schedule. Beach, pool, dinner, repeat. I have missed this wonderful place!

Take Care...

nyc pictures and silly flight delays...

Time for New York Pictures!!

The whole point of the picture above is the New York Police Department neon light up sign...I just found that very amusing in the middle of Times Square. So very professional :)

You better believe I went in THAT store!!! What a great storefront. Although I have to say, going in that one after going in M&M World was a bit disappointing...M&M out did them big time. But their outside decorations sure caught my attention!

This was posted on the construction fence around ground zero. If you look closely the sky scraper on the far left is the tower they are reconstructing and then to the right of it there are two squares surrounded by the trees. The squares are some type of water memorial I believe...it sounded pretty neat.

Here is Jacob and I on the Brooklyn Bridge on Easter. My little jean jacket was not NEARLY warm enough on that pretty, sunny, windy, frigid day!

This is just a cool picture of the Brooklyn Bridge as we were walking over it. And I also have to say that the next day I saw a postcard with that exact picture on it...made me smile!

So I made it to Philadelphia, Meg and Kristen picked me up from the bus stop and cooked some dinner for me and then we headed out to their favorite bar, Blarney's, to meet their friends. Can I also mention that last time I was at Blarney's 3 years ago my phone got stolen right out of my purse, and I saw the girl do it!?! And I didnt ever get it back. But I successfully made it home with all my belongings this time!

I stayed the night with Meg and we got up and went to breakfast in the morning...and by morning I mean 11:00. It was great to sleep in with nothing on the itinerary! After breakfast Meg took me to the airport around 1ish where I proceeded to sit and wait while my flight was delayed until 6:00 when we finally took off. It was cloudy and sprinkling!?!?! What in the world? Last time I was in Philadelphia my flight was delayed til midnight...but needless to say, I made it safely to Tampa where Aunt Janet picked me up with Carrabbas dinner in hand...that's my kind of ride!!! It was super nice of her to drive all the way up there because I missed my shuttle to Sarasota since my flight was delayed 4 hours! Anyway, I made it safely.

I don't really like mixing posts with places...and since this one already has New York AND Philadelphia, I think I'll make a new one for Florida. I'm really not OCD, but for some reason it is just bugging me!

I'm an Uptown girl...

Today I was on my own to explore the city. Jacob had to work so I made my own gameplan to try to check off the things on my list. It was a whole ton of walking and a couple Subway trips...but nothing major to report.

I started in Battery Park and attempted to get a ferry to the Statue of Liberty but the lines were literally around the block, I wasn't THAT interested. So I then walked to Ground Zero. I'm not sure if I missed anything there, I kind of expected some type of memorial somewhere, but I never saw it. It is a huge construction zone, but there are some posters with pictures of the future plans, and they look really nice. It will be one tower and then there is a park type thing outside of it with two big water displays I believe to represent each tower.

After Ground Zero, I walked over to China Town. That was very overwhelming...there were so many people, smells, lights, signs, and markets everywhere! Then I found a few New York street shops to go into and practice my bargaining skills. I got a ring down from 18 to 13 and then a purse was 28 and I asked if I bought two of them if I could get them for 40. He said oooohh noooo, 45. So I agreed and went to get my money out and I literally only had 40! None in the pockets or anything. I felt like he thought I was tryingi to cheat him or something, so I said I'm really sorry, I don't have it...but he let me have them for 40. I saved 16 on those...you should be so proud Taylor...look at all that money I saved you ;). Ha.

After China Town I took the Subway up to Times Square. I was just amazed at all the lights. And really I was curious how much it must cost to run all those signs and to even have an advertisement banner in Times Square as I looked at Puff Diddy Daddy Combs 30ft high add of himself claiming "I AM KING" I think it was for his cologne line, but I can't really remember right now. There was also a 3 story corner store called M&M World, escalators and all! But what could you honestly need from M&M world besides a bag of chocolates? So I decided to see what could be in there...and it...was...JUNK! Every little M&M toy, container, shirt, mug, etc, enough to cover 3 stories in Times Square. I'm not sure how they pay rent with a store like that. The only thing I saw worthwhile was a whole wall full of tubes of every color of MM imaginable. You could get bags and create your own for 11.95 a pound!!!!! Maybe that's where their rent comes from!?

After Times Square I headed up to Central Park and just hung out for a bit. I didn't walk through a quarter of it before I had to head back to Jacob's apt. So I jumped on the Subway home, packed up my stuff and then got back on the Subway to Manhattan again to get to the bus stop! I am now currently on a Bolt Bus on my way to Philly to visit Meg! (Megan is my cousin who is in school at Penn)

I just attempted to upload pictures, but I don't think the internet connection is good enough on the bus for them to go through. It has been taking forever. I'll do that later!

Easter in NYC

I left DC Saturday morning in route to NYC on Bolt Bus Line. It was a very nice bus with leather seats and free wireless...not a bad deal and way cheaper than the train. My trip was pretty painless except for my seat buddy. We stopped at a rest stop and when she gets back on the bus she had bought fried chicken and biscuits and sits and eats it at 10am...then proceeds to reapply her cheap perfume that smelled AWFUL and then got on her cell phone and spoke mixed English and some other unrecognizable language with arms flailing for an hour! After I got over that part, the trip wasn't too bad. I really did fall asleep for a bit, so it went real quick.

Jacob Moore met me at the bus stop and picked me up and guided me through the subway of NYC to get back to his place in Brooklyn. Thank goodness he was there because I would never have found my way. I did great with DC metro, but DC required elementary map reading skills...NYC is a whole other ball game. Jacob is a friend of mine from church, we grew up together in Sunday school and youth group.

So we made it back to his apartment, grabbed lunch and then I headed out to attempt to see Ellis Island with Thomas (Taylor's twin who was randomly in town visiting friends from his old base...he's now living in SC) while Jacob met up with some friends. I had written directions to get to the Subway and to take the R line straight over to Manhattan, and I made it! Unfortunately, we got there 15 minutes too late, the last ferry left at 330. So instead we went to McSorley's, a pub that is the oldest continuously run establishment in NY. They only serve beer, and it's only light or dark! So needless to say, beer isn't really my thing so I just hung out with all the guys and observed the scenery. I sort of felt like I was in a movie with every stereotypical NYC tough, rough guy you could imagine drinking out of their beer mugs. It was very amusing and fun. We then went to dinner and then Thomas and his friends walked me to meet up with Jacob and we headed to one of his friend's band's show while Thomas headed back over to Jersey. Jacob and I wandered about the city to different places so I could meet a lot of his friends...it was a good, but late night. Although Jacob kept saying...we're getting home so EARLY...it was 2:30!!! Whoa, we're on different schedules, hahaha!!

Anyway, I got up early this morning and headed over to Manhattan again to go to a First Presbyterian Church on 5th Ave that Jacob had told me about for Easter. (And PS can I add that two different people asked me questions about where the Subway train would stop and I knew the answer to both of them??? I was very impressed with myself!!!) So, back to church...It was a gorgeous church built in the 1800s with a very nice service. There was a big choir, organ and brass ensemble. It reminded me a lot of our service...although...I missed the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah that our choir performs on Easter...you just can't beat that! But we did sing the classic "Jesus Christ is risen today...aaaaaallelujah", which my mom woke me up to in a text message this morning!

After church I met Jacob and his friend back in Brooklyn for a brunch at a South African restaurant. His parents treated us to brunch for Easter (they're not up here...but offered to pay for it), so that was SUPER nice of them. We had a very nice lunch and then Jacob and I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to get take a look at the city. It was beautifully sunny but very frigid today! I think around 45 with lots of wind!! I didn't bring nearly enough winter clothes on this journey...I'll know for future trips...spring in TN is definitely NOT spring in the northeast! I know it sounds obvious, but when attempting to conserve space I convinced myslef that my light little blazer jackets would suffice...they dont. Anyway, we then went home made some devilled eggs and headed to a friend's Easter party. We lasted for about an hour before we headed back home and are now watching a movie and heading to bed EARLY. Jacob has to work tomorrow at 6am and I'm going to explore Manhattan. Maybe Ellis Island...definitely Ground Zero, Central Park, Time's Square, 5th Avenue, and maybe a museum depending on time. I then head out for Philly on a bus leaving at 7pm to go stay with Meg for a night!! Big plans...I'll update with some pictures later...I'm done for tonight!

Happy Easter to you all!!!

Lots and lots of Memorials

At the FDR Memorial...it was a very neat memorial you could walk through with a lot of waterfalls and quotes etched in the walls of stone.

This was at the Newseum. It was a museum detailing the news from first recorded news to current times. It included an exhibit of Pulitzer Prize winning pictures from the 1940's through today, there were some really moving pictures in there. This picture is outside the FBI exhibit...I was with the gangsters! They had the actual 10ft shack the unibomber lived in for 20 years in the middle of the woods and the back of the car the DC snipers shot out of during that incident a few years ago. There was also part of the Berlin wall that was neat and an exhibit from 9/11.

Picture of the Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin through the Cherry Blossoms...how artistic! Rebecca took this one!

Rebecca and I sitting with FDR at his memorial...we're BFFs.

I'm standing in Lincoln's Memorial with the Washington Monument and then further back is the Capitol Building. It all is set in an exact line...I thought it was a pretty neat picture.

So, this is a summary of the 200 pictures I have taken so far this trip. I have been very impressed with DC and think it is something everyone should come see at some point. Rebecca and I had another very full day today we got to the National Mall at 11am and got back to her apartment around 630pm! So I'm just going to list the things we did...

Washington Monument-we attempted to go inside, but all the tickets for the day were already gone when we stopped by at 11am!

WWII Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Korean Memorial

Vietnam Memorial Wall

FDR Memorial

Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin with the Cherry Blossoms

Museum of American History to see the American Flag exhibit

Newseum

Dinner at a restaurant in China Town called Match Box.

Metro back to the Apartment

Phew, my feet, legs, and back are not very happy right now after two 7 hour days of walking, but I absolutely loved it!! So there's the day in a nutshell. We're now watching A League of Their Own, which is so absolutely appropriate that it would be on TV right now. I think we went to see that together when we were about 8 and I swore I would be a softball player...yep, never played it! Anyway, off to bed early and headed to NYC tomorrow morning at 8:30am! I'll update again soon!

Picture Time!!

Could I have gotten a more perfect day?? I don't think so!

The South lawn of the White House, I never went around to the front. Actually I didn't realize this wasn't the front until Rebecca was looking at my pics from the day and she said do you want to see the front of it? Ha, oops, the back was good enough for me!

I went up to the Capitol and got a few close ups...this is a bit further away, but I like that the reflection pool is in this picture.

This is on top of Federal Hill in Baltimore, it is looking over the Inner Harbor, a cool area of the city!

Charity and I at Fort McHenry...notice the cannons in the background! What was really neat is that today in DC we went to see the American Flag exhibit at the Museum of American History they had on display the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner". Well, it was after being attacked by the British in 1812 and the flag survived the battle at Fort McHenry. So I got to put two history lessons/travel visits together! And the flag at the museum is one of the favorite things I saw, it was 30x45...HUGE! Very cool to see it.

These are all the pictures they let me upload in one post, so I'll do a second with a few more pictures!

I'm just a bill...sittin here on Capitol Hill.

My second day in Baltimore was a bit more weather friendly. Charity and I went to Fort McHenry which looked over the channel which is part of the Chesapeake Bay. It was a fort during the Revolutionary War and it was a neat little park right on the water. I'm all about being right on the water except for the freezing winds it brought in off the ocean...they were a bit brutal! After that we went to Federal Hill which was so cool...it was an excellent view of the city and of the Inner Harbor. I got a really cute picture that I'll try to upload later...but not tonight, because I have a long post! We then walked down to the Inner Harbor and did a little shopping, got our nails done and then headed to her grandparents for my first Seder dinner.

Charity's grandfather is Jewish, so this was a very neat first time experience for me. Clarissa gave me a stern warning about the kaveltafish (I don't know how that's spelled...it's phonetical here) and the matzah ball soup. I won't go into her detail of description of the two, but as you can imagine it was very colorful! Well, there was no kaveltafish, which I was prepared to not even try, but the matzah ball soup wasn't too bad. Actually it was alright. What was rough was the morar which is a bitter root and happened to be horseradish root. It was put on matzah with a mixture that represented mortar (it was ground nuts, cinnamon, etc) and I ate my bite and everyone found my expression and my tears very amusing. That cleared my sinuses...thank goodness Charity had the same reaction, I wasn't the only one!! And the water hadn't been passed around yet...how cruel!! But I really enjoyed the ceremony, after the symbolic food Bonnie had prepared a dinner for us, so it was very nice and I'm glad I got to experience that. Especially since I have so many Jewish friends at camp and I had no experience with it growing up in Franklin.

I woke up on time this morning...probably because Charity could hear my alarm going off and she woke me up, but either way, I got to shower before my trip! So we headed off to Penn Station this morning so I could catch my first ever Amtrak to DC. Well, we missed a turn and I got to experience Baltimore's finest...if you know what I mean! But, we quickly back tracked and found the correct way and I headed on to my next big challenge of PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!! As I mentioned in Boston I got a little taste of it with Jason and Clarissa...accompanied by them...I was all on my own this time!! Well, that's not exactly true, I had help from a few nice gentlemen who obviously knew it was my first time on the Amtrak! I missed the announcement for the correct gate...thank goodenss for my nice friend...he then explained it would be the last stop on the trip and I couldn't miss DC...I didn't even know there would be multiple stops...how ignorant of me!! Anyway, I then get off the train and head towards the Metro, DC's public transportation. Well, it's about 8:30am at this time and I'm in the middle of rush hour with an overstuffed backpack, my suitcase, and an added bag (my luggage keeps growing) yeah, I stuck out. So I have to get a metro pass and I feel bad even standing in line because everyone is in such a hurry and I had to read all the instructions...but some other helpful man recognized my confusion...helped me buy my ticket and then directed me right through the gates to the correct train. Thank goodness for these kind people, I really might have waited until 930 0r s0 until the rush died down...it was so intimidating!

I'm proud to say I conquered public transportation! I made it to Rebecca's apartment, dropped off my stuff and headed out to explore the city...on the Metro. Rebecca had to work so I was on my own, but I loved it! I got off the Metro at the Smithsonian stop and got goosebumps when I saw the Washington Monument...I had no idea it was so huge...in my head it has always been the size of the statue in the square in Downtown Franklin...I know...ignorant again. And I knew it was bigger than that, but in my head I always picture it small...that was WRONG...it was so HUGE! We're hopefully going to go up in it tomorrow. Anyway, I went to the National Mall and walked towards the Capitol Building. Some of you may be familiar with the title of the post...I'm just a bill...it's a School House Rock Video where they sing a song to teach how a bill goes through Congress to become a law...great song...YouTube it! Anyway...I got lots of pictures of it and as I got up closer I realized there was scaffolding built up around the front of it because they were either cleaning, repairing or painting it! Ha, oh well, in up close pictures you can tell, but otherwise I don't think you'll be able to.

I then went in the Museum of American History. I really wanted to see the First Ladies Exhibit, but it was a 30 minute wait and same for the American Flag exhibit...so I walked around a few others and wasn't overly impressed...but whatever I'm still in DC and it's still neat and historical. I then headed over to the White House to get a glimpse...and I got just that and ONLY that. I think that's about the extent of the opportunity. Not quite what I expected, but it is a family residence. I'm not sure what I was looking for...but just not that. Anyway, I rushed over to the Holocaust Museum which I had a ticket for at 2:45 and I went through that. Wow, what an experience...some of the exhibits just made me cringe, as it should anyone, but it was very well done. I spent about 2 hours in the exhibit until my legs, feet, and back could take it no more...5 hours of walking about did me in!!!

I headed back to Rebecca's apartment about 530 and we went to dinner at a Lebanese restaurant...my first time for that as well. It was delicious! We then chatted and drank wine for a couple hours while we caught up! Rebecca is a friend of mine from when I was 4...we lived across the street from each other growing up. She now lives up in DC and works for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (I think is the name). Funny story, when we were little our families used to trade furniture because both of our moms liked to redecorate, but didn't have the money to buy new furniture. They would trade, rearrange, paint, anything! We were talking how we didn't realize until much later in life that it was NOT normal to trade furniture with your neighbors! So about an hour later in the middle of a totally different conversation, Rebecca says...wait...do you realize what chair you're sitting it? I didn't know what she was talking about...but sure enough, it was one of my family's big comfy chairs that we had in Maplewood and probably traded for a table or dresser or something! Her mom passed it along to her and is now in her apartment in DC. *Mom and dad- it's the tan comfy chair, the one that we had 2 of, but the one we kept was covered in a different, more yellow colored fabric!!

Anyway, it's 1130 and we have another big day planned tomorrow...and I am exhausted! I'll update later, hopefully with pictures...I have so many good ones! Sorry for such a long post, it has been 2 days and they have each been so full!!

Take Care...

All alarm clocks should have a SLEEP button!

So I made it to Baltimore on time this morning after being woken up at 6am by Clarissa after I slept through all 3 of my alarms set for 5am!! My crazy phone doesn't have a sleep button, so when I silence it...THATS IT! I left my little alarm clock at home...bad decision. So I was unshowered and with no make up, but I made it none the less in one piece and on time, phew! My bag grew a few inches and all I added was a Harvard tshirt...I just don't understand how that happens...I had some difficulty in the overhead compartment, but with a few good shoves...anything will fit, right??

Anyway, I had a WONDERFUL time in Boston with perfect hosts and I'm now on to Baltimore where my freshman college roomie Charity picked me up from the airport! She drove me around the city a bit. She lives right on the water, part of the Chesapeake Bay. It is such a cute area and a block away from a cute square type area with coffee shops, bars, and restaurants...it's called Canton. Then right down the road is another little community called Fells and it's real neat all by the water. As you go further inland she says it gets a lot rougher...REAL QUICK. Johns Hopkins is just a few minutes away so I got a tour of the graduate campus/hospital. It's very convenient to Charity's apartment which makes it a nice short commute for school and work in the ER. I'm sure glad someone can do that job...most of you probably know my fondness of hospitals...it was beautiful to drive by it and observe from the outside...but that's close enough for me!

Today was very chilly, actually it was very windy...it wouldn't have been too bad without the wind, but tomorrow it is supposed to be really pretty so we're going to do some walking around the city and to Federal Hill. I love all the explorations.

Tonight I'm getting some laundry done, a good shower, and a good nights sleep! I'll check in later!

Take care!

I think the GPS might have forgotten where we're going...

Well...here was our trip to the Harbor...isn't it BEAUTIFUL??? Haha...we tried and it was an adventure. It was sprinkling and we decided to try to go anyway and take Penske the dog and by the time we got in the car it was pouring and poor Penske never made it out of the back seat...so much for the exercise.

I have never seen roads quite like Boston...not a straight one in the city...there are all kinds of forks and 3 way forks and crazy turns and roundabouts. So needless to say we made lots of wrong turns and Serena the GPS did lots of recalculations for us, but we made it to Pleasure Bay which turns out is a beach and park area. This is the picture...we could smell the ocean even though we couldn't see it real well! Then we went looking for Christopher Columbus Park which it turns out is in downtown Boston close to the Freedom Trail that we did yesterday. It was a very cool area and probably even better in the sunshine...but we had fun anyway!

Clarissa and I at Pleasure Bay.

There's the Atlantic Ocean...okay...maybe a Harbor, I'm not exactly sure.

Here is the church and the tower where the lanterns were lit to warn of the British coming. It is also the oldest standing church in Boston. Paul Revere gets all the credit for it, but in actuality, Robert Newman was the one who climbed the tower and lit the lanterns while John Pulling locked the door behind him and guarded the door. I found that interesting since all growing up I learned it was Paul Revere. Paul was actually a well known and trusted messenger who spread the word of the British coming to town. He actually wasn't known for his midnight ride until Henry Longfellow wrote the famous poem about him in 1860.

Clarissa and I with the cityscape of Boston in the background.

Here is the picture of John Harvard and his shiny toe. I'll have good luck for a year now...I can sure use that with all these life changes coming up :)

This is the Harvard Law Library, I thought it was just so beautiful and grand!

Okay, just a few picture highlights of the trip that I know I mentioned in previous posts. I have loved Boston and have had excellent tour guides...I feel like I've seen so much in the city! I'm off bright and early to Baltimore tomorrow morning...updates later!

Take Care!

One if by land...two if by sea...

Wow, this place is so full of history! On Saturday we walked through Cambridge, around Harvard, through commons (they don't call them parks up here) and through Harvard Square. Jason met up with us and he got to take us in the Harvard Law Library. It is the largest law library in the world. We had to be checked in with him to even enter it and it was SOOOO huge. I was very impressed, the buildings are beautiful and the law school had underground tunnels (pretty much hallways) so you don't have to go out in the weather in the winter to walk between buildings for classes. How genius...hmm...Harvard...how appropriate. There was a bronze statue of John Harvard in a quad area of the school and apparently it's a superstition of the school that if you rub the toe of his shoe, you'll have good luck for the year. His toe is totally shiny from all the students and mostly tourists rubbing it. Yes, I rubbed his toe and I even got a picture doing so...I'm telling you...I am straight up tourist and it's great! I was actually shocked by the amount of tourists there...I can't quite imagine having professional tours of your school for people besides perspective students. No one cares to see the University of Tennessee except for Saturdays in the Fall!!

After the tour of Cambridge we went up to the Prudential Center which is the tallest building in Boston. The very top of the building is a restaurant with all windows all the way around...it was soooo pretty. You could see all the way out to the ocean....there is much more water in Boston than I would imagine...it's deceiving. We had a drink up there and then headed up to the North End for some delicious Italian food for dinner. The North End is a cool little Italian district with tons and tons of Italian restaurants...if Italy is anything like that place I'll have a lot of running to do to balance out the deliciousness!!!

Today we did the Freedom Trail through downtown Boston. I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with it, I wasn't, but it is a red line/bricks that makes a trail all through downtown Boston that takes you by tons and tons of historic landmarks. It was the first of everything...churches, public schools, town halls. etc...they're so revolutionary. Ha...I couldn't help it. But really, I took so many pictures so hopefully one day when I have a classroom and I get to teach all about these important events I can have pictures to show with everything. The Boston Massacre, Paul Revere's house, the church and steeple where the lanterns were lit to warn of the British coming (which actually was not lit by Paul Revere...he got way to much credit!!) Clarissa was our tour guide with the Freedom Trail booklet. I loved it! We got distracted by a few street performers and some delicious pastries we picked up on the way home, so it was a great day! And I've ridden more subways then I ever have in my life...but how convenient...I wish Nashville would consider something like that...somehow I highly doubt that is in the city plans and especially the budget!

Anyway, it has been a great time and Clarissa is now at work tonight for just a bit and Jason is cooking dinner...I'll mention that again for Taylor...JASON is cooking dinner :) hehe. So we're just having a relaxing night at home and planning what to do tomorrow. Jason has class, but Clarissa and I were thinking about the Boston Harbor?? I've seen the Charles River a few times, but I haven't been to the Harbor yet...so that's an option! Anyway, I'll update later!

Take care...

Bostonians...

Okay so this is my first time writing a blog...but I enjoy reading about other people's adventures...so I figured these next couple years (that's a big assumption that I'll keep it up that long!!!) would probably be the most interesting time to write...so I thought I'd try it out!?

I started my trip through the Northeast yesterday morning bright and early around 4:30am! My flight left Nashville at 7:10am for Boston, well Manchester, NH to be exact. I was very surprised to find out that I had two stops along the way...my dad asked me in the car if it was nonstop because it seemed like a long flight. I said YEP, I think Boston is just THAT far away! Clearly, I wasn't paying attention when I booked the flight, the cheap price was way more important than the stops! So I was surprised when I got to the airport and noticed I'd be stopping in Raleigh AND Baltimore...oops.

The flight was pretty easy except our delay in Baltimore. We sat on the runway for probably an hour and a half because of weather issues. So I got into Manchester about 2 hours late, but at least I made it! And I do have to brag about my expert packing skills...I packed for 3 weeks in a carryon bag and a backpack!! I may only have toothpaste and outfits for a week, but I did it! I'm kidding, I think I should make it fine. I think I was THAT traveler though that people probably thought...why in the world would she try to carry all that on a flight when she could check it? My backpack and bag were packed to the brim and made for a difficult time lifting up to the overhead compartment...but I managed. I have a lot of transporting to do on the trip so I figured I should pack small (I'm not sure light is the correct word). And if my luggage ever got lost...I think I'd be out of luck for the whole trip, so I decided better safe than sorry!

Once I got to Manchester my good friend from camp Clarissa picked me up and we headed back to Cambridge where her and her fiance Jason (another friend from camp) currently live. They have the cutest little apartment and a new little Corgie (sp??) that I love, her name is Penske. We went to dinner last night in Harvard Square at a pub called John Harvards with excellent huge burgers! And we went with Dori and Stu, another couple both from camp...both living in Boston...we had a mini reunion. Clarissa, Dori, Jason, and I were all campers together in 95 and 97 and then have been on staff together for awhile as well.

It was a nasty, rainy night so we didn't do any walking around...although there were a TON of people out. The weather was nice, so maybe that was the incentive. But today the plan is to do some sightseeing around Harvard (Jason is currently in law school there...so he has lots of info) and then to go to a building called the Prudential Building...I think is the name. It's a really tall building in Boston with a nice restaurant up top with a good view and maybe an observatory deck. And then I think they have a plan for dinner somewhere...I'm just not sure where. Tomorrow we're planning on doing the Freedom Trail, so I'm excited about that as well!!

It's sunny, moderately warm, and kinda windy today...so I need to wake Clarissa up so we can get started!! I'll try to write again soon...having the laptop will be helpful!! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Take Care!