Lovely

I ardently LOVE this quote.

Probably more than I love rain in the morning.

Coffee shops.

And a good dream.

Which means I am already head over heels.

Source: lovemusicwineandrevolution.blogspot.com via Katelyn on Pinterest

"Don't settle. Know what you want and reach for it. If you don't know what you want, be patient.  The answers will come to you in time, and you may find that your heart's desire has been right under your nose all the while."

-Julia Quinn

Invigorated

I just have to share my moments of utterly blissful inspiration for today.

1.  This quote:

Source: tittysandpancakes.com via Eleni on Pinterest

2. And this website: Get Out There and Explore

Head or the Heart?

How do you know when your heart is speaking to you? People are always saying "follow your heart" and "listen to your heart".  Is that just easy advice to give away when you do not have any other words to say?

There have been a few moments in my life when I had a complete sense of "Katelyn, you need to do this".  I believe that was my heart talking to me.  Other moments I have had a sense that my heart was telling me something, and it turned out it was actually my mind making up stuff to temporarily reassure me of the choice I made.

Recently, my mind or heart was screaming the same thing over and over. Kind of overwhelming. It got so loud I had to start fidgeting to get rid of some of the noise.  The whole time I really wanted to do whatever it was telling me to do, but I did not because I did not know whether it was the head or the heart yelling at me.  I probably should have taken a risk and pretended like I was going to die tomorrow, but in that moment I did not trust the voice.  It is quite funny because it was telling me to do something so innocent...something that I have done so easily before.

Looking back, I am okay with my decision not to do anything about it.  It just bothers me that I do not know exactly if my heart is speaking to me or my mind is fabricating a fancy story.

Photo by me :)

Funnies

I love the 'candid' shots, the ones where you say heyyyy look here! And then you capture their first pretty face that emerges after the turn around.  Here are some fun ones that my sister BK and I got on our trip, sigh TWO months ago already.  

Just my weekly pre-mammogram checkup. haha

I like leaping!

kisses to you too!

Not quite sure when the self timer was going to go off...

Model material. Love the soft face and calm energy this photo exudes.

Hollering for her children!

If you are a bird, then I am a bird. Sister love.

My Hero

Reasons why my little sister is my hero:

1. She is a goofball.  Never afraid to make the best of every situation. It scares me sometimes how mature she is, but I love that being weird and silly comes naturally for her.

2.  When I am having a bad day, I can always get a hug.

3.  She likes my car.  (it is just as old as me)  We named it Johnny together on one of our many adventures to Target.

4.  She loves to be cheesy.

5. Her determination to accomplish things > my determination to accomplish things.

6.  She loves me just the way I am.  

7.  Through all the things she does everyday that most people never have to do in a lifetime, she manages to smile and give out more love than anyone I know.  Honestly. 

Cities Along the Way

Since I have lacked energy to put an album up on facebook of my road trip with my sister, I will just post some pictures and my thoughts on the cities we stopped at.  This is not all we saw, just major cities...

NASHVILLE:

We didn't spend too much time here, because we got in in the evening and wanted to leave the next morning...but what I saw was a vibrant city.  There was a odd mixture of architecture, country, sports, and modern restaurants.   We stopped and listened to the live musicians in bars, and tried on cowboy boots.  Saw the Grand Ole Opry, the batman building, Hard Rock Cafe, and blasted country music as we passed through the city.  I still cannot decide if I would come back to see more...it was a bit more commercially invested than I care for.

CHATTANOOGA:

After we hiked up Sunset Rock, a place that overlooks the city, we drove through the low key Tennessee town to check out the art and sights along the river.  For a Southern town, it had a lot more modern art than I was expecting.  It helped it give the city a cool vibe!

TYBEE ISLAND:

The beach of Savannah, Georgia.  The Last Song and other movies shot scenes here.  The beach and island were pretty quiet and relaxed.  A lot of coastal areas destroy the beauty of the area by placing huge resorts and classic touristy shops and restaurants, but this was not one of them.  And I liked that.  We snapped pictures on the beach, and watched a huge storm cloud roll by.  Later, we found AJ's Dockside Restaurant where we ate mahi mahi and crab sandwiches while listening to a local guitarist.  Also, we had key lime pie.  My sister and I bond over that stuff...soooo good.

SAVANNAH:

Historic, quaint, eloquent, beautiful, and busy.  The famous bench scene from Forrest Gump was shot in one of the many, many park squares found throughout the city.  Large trees with spanish moss hanging from them loom over the roads and walkways.  Even though it was a rainy day, we found plenty of cover while walking around blocks.  I have never been to a city with so many statues, squares, and  inns. This city is also considered to be 'haunted' but we did not partake in any spiritual activity (even though I secretly wonder about that stuff alllll the time).

CHARLESTON:

My sister had an immediate crush on this city.  It was a bit like Savannah in the fact that it had history and miles of cool buildings, but it was a lot more colorful and vibrant.  Some of the houses made me want to dress up in a dress with lace and puffed sleeves, and go call to the gardener to bring in some fresh flowers for the tables. We walked around the cobblestone streets of the city and took in an indoor/outdoor market, watched basket weavers, snapped pictures of basically every building/flower pot/sign, and daydreamed about the olden days.  A couple of miles out of the city, we checked out a fort that was used and updated throughout the slave trade, Revolutionary War, Civil war, WW I & II, and many other smaller battles that frankly I cannot remember right now.  Definitely recommend this city.

MYRTLE BEACH:

On one of our last nights, we were going to camp along the beach at a state park, but it had no vacancy.  So we decided to catch the sunset light on Myrtle Beach and head west towards home.  This area was definitely more resorty than Tybee Island and I would never go and stay there for vacation. I am glad we stopped and dipped our toes in the ocean one last time before departing though!  The sky was beautiful, and we have hilarious self-timed photos that are going to treasured (or possibly thrown away due to embarrassment) in 30 years.

I think I will continue to randomly post photos/memories of this trip, but I believe I took too many photos for one long, boring post :)

Study Abroad: The Good and Bad

Lately, I have been extremely emotional.  It is all stemming from reminiscing about my study abroad experience.  There is no way I would ever go back and change my decision to go to New Zealand for a semester, but I am stuck living in the past too much lately when I should be living in the present.  I just thought I would share my thoughts on the good and the bad (I think that the good outweighs the bad overall) and see if anyone can relate, or just to inform others on things that are hard about the experience.

It is funny, because I feel like I adjusted fairly quickly when I moved back home...there was a couple of rough times with friends, but overall I think I was fine.  Maybe I am a couple of months late...but holy has it hit me hard.  I have plenty of theories on why I am a basket-case these days:

-I think about last year this time and I was SO excited to go...my life is just in a completely different place now.    I miss that feeling of anticipation and thoughts of adventure racing through your mind.
-I hardly ever get to skype my friends because of time differences, and I miss them.
-I look at way too many pictures of my time there.
-That was the happiest time of my life because I saw something new everyday.  It bothers me that I find the majority of my happiness out of things like that...but I cannot change who I am.

Pardon my venting/pity party, but I guess that is what makes life beautiful!  You cannot appreciate the highs if you never experience the lows.  As much as I hate to be an emotional person, I guess it is good because I take in that much more.  (trying to be positive) (:

Finally, the good and the bad of studying abroad:

Good:

1. It is an independent journey of discovering yourself in new, weird, spontaneous, different situations.  You are opened up to an amazing world full of oddities!  People, food, sights, etc.  You truly know that we do live in a beautiful world.
2. The friends you make will always be able to share memories, and you bond with so many more people because of your similar situation.
3. School is the lowest priority.  Travel and adventure is numero uno.
4.  You are free.  No constraints of people judging, no expectations of what tomorrow should be like...
5. You get to share your pictures, memories, and stories with family and friends.  I even made new friends who read my blog...which is SO cool!
6. You are more reassured of your personal views, opinions, family support, true friendships, and love for travel.

Bad:

1. Since you went by yourself, nobody back home can relate on the level that you want them to.  I never want my friends to think that I would rather be back there, but sometimes I do think that.
2. I am going to be completely honest and say that I feel like a better person that I went to study abroad. THIS BUGS ME. I realize that not everyone wants to, but WHY do I think that I have the right to think that they should?! I do know that I am not a better person than anyone else, but a little part of me believes that I am.  That is a bad thing in my book.  I just hope that it doesn't come across...but I think it might.
3. The missing never stops.  It is kind of like an ex you can never get over...something always reminds me of my experience there.  Aka, everytime I see an airplane, hear a song that my friends loved, see something on facebook.  Never fails to get me teary-eyed and go into a bout of 'WAH, poor me'!!
4. School can be the biggest drag.  This semester, I started off wonderfully passionate.  As of late, I have been questioning what I am going for, and at times HATING school.
5. You think about the past instead of living in the present.  This correlates with #3...but yeah.  I find myself daydreaming about last year (yikes, it has already been 7 months) wayyy too often.  While reminiscing is not a bad thing, there is a limit to how much is good for you.  I passed that limit days ago.  I do not know how to stop this wallowing, but I guess writing about something that had been bugging me is always comforting.

So, if you even made it this far down...I apologize for my ranting and feeling sorry for myself. I am happy I went...but unhappy that I am just now feeling the hardships of studying abroad.  I have never had this strong of a withdrawal symptom in my time back as right now and it is hard to pinpoint was triggered it.

Thanks for reading, and I honestly would love your thoughts, advice, opinions, etc!

Worry

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." 

-Corrie Ten Boom

Lovely words to ponder and take into account when the silly mind starts to fret and anticipate.

Sisterhood of Travel

My sister.

I used to hate when she would wile her way back into my heart after an explosive fight about nothing that matters anymore. Now...

I love adventuring with her because I am obviously more than comfortable around her, she is up for anything, and she laughs at me when I am trying to be funny.

She was the one who handed the travel bug off to me, after our adventure to Miami, the Keys, and Everglades in my senior year of high school.  Ever since then, I always feel a lingering need to go somewhere about every 2 months.  She has had internships all over the states, and I am glad because I always knew where I wanted to travel to next!   

These pictures are my favorite snapshots I took of her when we went on our little road trip about a month ago...

 She is fun, beautiful and stylish. And also my sister. How lucky am I?!

Details

So way back around a month ago, I decided to just jump in the car with my older sister and drive to the ocean. Along the way, we saw things we thought were necessary and took in our surroundings as much as we felt needed.  I borrowed my photographer sister's camera (thanks dear) and played around some more!  Here are some of my favorite detail shots:

Floral along a trail in Chattanooga, TN

Bridge structure in Chattanooga, TN

Gumball machine in a cute ice cream parlor

Old fencing nails on an old Civil War battlefield in Georgia

State Park mini-waterfall in Georgia (thank you slow shutter speed)

Stacked beach chairs on Tybee Island, Georgia

Moss along the trail in Chattanooga, TN

My sister's beautiful ring on Tybee Island

Chains from a swing on Tybee Island

Rail in Savannah, Georgia

Evergreen fern (I think) in Savannah, GA

"Zen Garden" bloom in Forsyth Park, Savannah, GA

Spanish moss in Savannah, GA

Fence rails on Hilton Head Island, SC

Rail in Nashville, TN