54 Hours of Texas

Right between Christmas and New Years I took a trip down to Texas to see one of my best friends get married! I was lucky enough to be asked to be Danielle's Maid of Honor- and was thrilled to accept. The trip turned out to be a little crazy with all the winter weather and tons of flights were cancelled. I was fortunate enough to make it to Texas- but not everyone could. One of our good friends (who was also asked to be a bridesmaid) Alyssa wasn't able to come! It was very sad not having her there, and we missed her a lot through out the weekend.

Those of us who could, showed up around Thursday or Friday for the wedding which was on Saturday December 29th. My flights had to be re-booked and I thought I would have to spend the night in the Dallas airport! Luckily once I got to Dallas I put myself on a standby flight to Austin and (even though I was #13 on the list) I made it! I got into Austin close to midnight on Thursday. I was thanking God I made it there safely and in one day!

We spent the weekend at a lovely hotel right in downtown Austin. Everything was perfect about the hotel except the ikkicon convention that was being held there. Ikkicon is an anime convention for those of you who are unsure- and yes this meant tons of people in crazy looking costumes all over our hotel the entire weekend. It was kind of neat to have something so interesting to look at, but a little overwhelming, and WAY too crowded for my liking!

On Friday Meagan and I lucked out with some free time so we explored downtown a little bit. We had lunch on a rooftop patio of this excellent Mexican restaurant called Iron Cactus- I can't remember what I had but it was so delicious!

Friday evening was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We took a limo out to the church way out in hill country (about 40 minutes out of the city). The venue was absolutely beautiful and we had such a nice time doing the rehearsal and then at the dinner afterwards. I did notice however once the sun went down it got really chilly!

Saturday finally hit, and it was a little bit of a blur- like all weddings are. We woke up, walked to CVS for a few supplies we forgot to pack (razors) and then Meagan and I had some breakfast while the bride and groom met up for some one-on-one time. After breakfast we got all ready at the hotel and then took a ride over to the venue on a tour bus.

When we arrived at the location we got to see the bridal cottage (where we would be finishing up getting ready) When I opened the door I was blown away by cuteness- my pictures don't do it justice!

We put our dresses on- and helped Danielle into hers and then the pictures began. Their photographer took so many pictures of everything- it was really nice, but my cheeks hurt after all the smiling! Here are a few I snapped on the sidelines before the wedding of Meagan and I. 

The ceremony was beautiful and so was the reception- I don't have many pictures from that since I was a little preoccupied ;) Here are a few of the grounds and a couple of the bride and groom after the ceremony!

They looked so happy together- and you could just feel their love emanating from them the entire weekend. I feel so blessed to have been able to be apart of their wedding. More importantly I am excited for one of my best friends to have married such a wonderful guy and her true soulmate. I am thrilled for their long future together!

After the wedding and reception we headed back to the hotel- and I made arrangements for my 4:00 AM cab pick up! I went upstairs, cleaned, showered and packed, and took a 2 hour nap before waking up to head to the airport. My flights home were pretty forgettable- considering I slept almost the entire way. While I was awake for a few minutes I snapped this shot from the window. (I think it is NY)

It was certainly a whirlwind trip to Texas and back. I wish I could have spent more time down there exploring the city, visiting with the newly weds, and seeing their new apartment- but alas the holidays are a crazy time! I am hoping to make it down to visit them sometime "soon" and by soon I mean hopefully this year. 

Congrats again to Danielle and Sean Arnold! 

38%

Over this past choir trip to Ohio, I had the privilege of crossing the river into Kentucky! For most people walking across a bridge is really no big deal, but for me it meant visiting another one of our 50 states. I walked over with my friend Derek on the 4th of July. We ended up getting stuck over there because the bridge closed down for the fireworks! So not only did I set foot on Kentucky soil, but got to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks from the bank of a river in Newport, KY. What a great memory for me to keep of that state. When I post about choir tour I will add some great videos and pictures from the fireworks!

I did a recent count and I am up to 19 out of 50 states visited. 6 more and I will have achieved 50% of the states! I know I can do this! Each trip I take seems to present more and more opportunities to branch out and visit new places! I couldn't be more excited to keep traveling and visiting different states, different countries, and more importantly experiencing different cultures!


visited 19 states (38%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or Like this? try: Eddie the DJ

Wanderlust

Wanderlust- is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. 

I certainly have wanderlust! Here are some pictures from some of my travels... I can't wait until I have more to add to this collection! 

I have so many more but these are among my favorites. 

If you want to re-blog or share these please site me :)

Couch Surfing

As I have discussed before one of my goals was to visit all 50 states- or at least "be in all 50 states at least once"... Since my past excursion of couch-surfing experience to Maine I added a few more states almost entirely finishing the East Coast. Here is where I have been:


visited 17 states (34%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

And the exciting news is that this year my choir is going to Rhode Island! Which will totally complete the East Coast for me! Hooray!

Now back to couch-surfing. Most of you probably have seen photos on my facebook of my recent trip to Maine. It all started with my friend Ryan suggesting we try out couch-surfing: (basically this online organization that lets you connect with other people who offer to host you in their homes for free). Now I know this sounds totally unsafe and a little bit insane to stay with total strangers but there are checks and balances to the whole system to help keep the users of the site honest, and safe! Either way, I thought Ryan was crazy when he was telling me about the site- but once I looked at it, I totally agreed- this sounds like an adventure!

Long story short, we both joined couchsurfing.org and started the search for a place we could visit over a long weekend we both had off of work. We figured driving would be our cheapest option so that narrowed out places like California or Florida! So I started considering my life goals- all 50 states- which ones hadn't I been to? Then it hit me- Maine, Vermont, or New Hampshire! Why not all three? We set out our search for hosts that lived in these areas and ended up setting our first destination in Bar Harbor, ME with Anne. We decided we should stick to one or two states and ended up finding great hosts in ME and MA! So after Bar Harbor we planned on visiting Meara in Camden, ME then Jennie and Bart in Somerville, MA. (We took a senic route to get to Bar Harbor via Vermont and New Hampshire!)

The whole experience was amazing we left on a Thursday and returned Sunday night drove 24 hours total and traveled more than 1000 miles! All the people we met were amazing and we were lucky enough to make really great connections with some of our hosts!

Check out some of my awesome trip pictures!

Highlights of the trip were:
Watching the earliest sunrise on the East Coast! 
Amateur rock climbing on sand beach
Watching a local toughcats concert in Camden
Playing Ultimate Frisbee for the first time ever
Seeing Walden Pond
Speed Sightseeing in Boston
Epic Ikea trip!
And of course countless hours in the car with Ryan :)

I would certainly recommend couch surfing to anyone who wants to travel for really cheap- the site is free and all the people I met were really wonderful! Check out my couchsurfing profile to see what the site is like- and I can try to answer any questions you might have!

Dreaming of Carnivals

So to those of you who know me well- you know that my brain sometimes operates like the brain of a child. I think.... "I want to do this"... then, instead of having an adult response to it: pushing away any ideas that could be easily confused with dreams, I respond like a child-... "OK, I am gonna do it."

Now some of you may think that it's stupid that I constantly follow my dreams or that when I come up with schemes and adventures I actually do my best to make them happen. I think of it more like a gift. One time I wanted to go to NYC and sing with Eric Whitacre so despite the money challenge I did it, this summer I wanted to travel to Europe for 2 weeks with my choir, and despite the money I totally raised enough!

Well the other day I was online looking at photography and blogs- and I saw a post on Dear Lizzy about carnivals, and I got the insatiable need to find the closest carnival and have some summer fun!

One problem- no carnivals in sight... so I got to thinking where could I go that there would absolutely be a carnival- then it hit me... THE BEACH! When I was a kid we used to visit my uncle in New Jersey, and there was a boardwalk with a little carnival area. So not only was I dying to go to a carnival- I also was dying to go to the beach!

Most people at this point would say.. 'Drop the idea Danielle- there is no way you can go find a beach boardwalk, it would be too far, too expensive, and no one would be able to go with you!' So naturally I said... "I am gonna make it happen!"

One day, and many phone calls later.... I am planning to drive to NJ to stay with my Uncle and his family for a day or two. I have 3 friends who are coming- and we are gonna do it for only $40 per person! It seemed like fate when I found out, Daniela and Josh had the same days off from work this week- (and Nate was available too!)

We are leaving Thursday night after we get off work and driving through the night- spending all day on the beach Friday and part of the day Saturday! I honestly am so excited for this trip.. it's the perfect Pre-Choir-Tour-Europe-Trip-Getaway

It's nice to know that I can still come up with crazy ideas and spontaneous trips and make them happen. :)