Adventure is out there.

Currently: Sitting in a perfect little hideaway spot in the newest Starbucks, finishing up this post and getting ready to read a new book.

(Why a town the size of Cleveland needs three different Starbucks--plus 9842034 other coffee shops--I will never understand, but I can't say I'm complaining, either. Also, is it weird that I've been planning to come here alone all week long and been SO excited about that thought? I swear I'm not antisocial.)

Adventure is one of my favorite words.

This probably isn't news to most of you. It's a word with so much meaning, at least for me personally. It's exciting, it's dangerous, it's always changing, always new. It teaches you, it changes you, it makes you who you are. In a certain sense, it's my theme for life.

I recently read an article from Relevant Magazine titled "Should We Chase Security or Adventure?" I love the author's perspective.

"The predetermined path may be smooth sailing, but there’s a sense of adventure in not knowing exactly what’s ahead. When we rely on faith to guide us rather than our own concept of a life plan, we open ourselves up to being used in extraordinary ways. This faith includes trusting God not only in matters of obvious importance, but also in the small decisions of daily life." 

That is exactly how I want to live my life. I honestly can't imagine my future any other way. It's weird, but I've always had a feeling that my life will never be completely…normal. I don't know how to fully explain that, but the above sums it up pretty well.

Photo credit: Julian Bialowas

Still, as exciting it is to imagine living one day at a time, completely based on faith and trusting God, it's really, really scary, too. I love adventure, but I also love stability. Change is exciting, but it isn't secure. A quick glance back at my own past experiences is proof enough that I don't usually respond too well to not being completely in control. But at the same time, isn't that a huge part of what makes an adventure, well, an adventure?

I've been thinking about the future a lot lately. I still have a year left of grad school, but I'll be done with classes in July. All that's left will be 3 months of thesis-writing, but during that time, I won't be tied to Cleveland. I'll have the freedom to go wherever I want, wherever God may lead me. It's an exhilarating thought, but a scary one, too. I have no idea what's coming next, but I am excited to see what the next phase of life will bring.

Tennessee to Maine (and places in between)

Last week, Mike and I went on our biggest adventure together yet*: a 5-day road trip from Tennessee to Maine! It was full of new experiences for me, as I'd never been to the northeast at all, or on a major road trip (much less with him).

So.much.fun.

We left bright and early at 7am from Cleveland, Maryland-bound for the night. One of our best friends, Jon, is from there, so we stayed with his parents for the night. We didn't originally intend to do much extra exploring, but by the time we got close, we realized that we had made incredible time, so we decided on a spontaneous side-trip to Washington, D.C. for a few hours!

Washington, D.C.! 

Georgia & Kentucky, and now Tennessee!

Lincoln Memorial

Love D.C. at night!

I hadn't been there since I was like, seven, so it was really fun to explore the National Mall for awhile! I wish we'd had time to check out a few museums and such, too, but oh well--it's just an excuse for another adventure in the future. ;)

The next morning, we decided that, heck, we made such good time on the first leg of the trip, why not hit another city on the way to Maine? Our choice: New York City!

New York City!

I'll be honest: I was super excited about going. As a general rule, I'm not much of a city girl, but I do enjoy visiting, and NYC is one of those places that I have always wanted to visit at some point. Our friend, Chris, has been, and he basically saved our lives by suggesting we park in New Jersey and take this thing called PATH (basically a subway train from NJ to NY) into the city. Best. idea. ever. For real, if you're ever stopping by, that's the way to go. It's only $2.25 a ticket, and saves you from the nightmare of driving in Manhattan. Believe me--it's worth it.

Anyway. After taking the train to 33rd St. (as far as it goes), we decided to walk to Times Square (super limited time to see the city, so we decided walking was the best way to take in as much as possible). SO CRAZY. Anything you've ever heard about how crowded and lively and huge NYC is? All true. Trust me. It is one city I can honestly say lives up to its reputation.

After that, we decided we wanted to see Central Park. When I say it feels like a breath of fresh air, I'm not kidding or trying to be cliche. It literally feels like you can breathe all of a sudden. (Like I said. Definitely not a big-city kind of girl. Give me mountains and rivers and big open skies any day.) We only walked around the first tiny bit, but I'm pretty sure we'll be visiting again--there is way too much to see!

The little birds made me so happy :)

Since we had already been there for 2 hours and needed to get back on the road, we took the subway back to the PATH station. (Am I lame for having always wanted to ride on the subway in New York? Oh well--another thing to check off my list!) After that, it was a nonstop trip** to Harmony, Maine!

Maine is beautiful. Lots and lots of small towns and rural areas, and trees and mountains and just plain gorgeousness. (It's an interesting experience visiting Maine and NYC in one day. Talk about your polar opposites.) We got there pretty late, but the next day, we got to do some exploring around Moosehead Lake! (We really wanted to see a moose. No such luck, as far as live ones go, but we did see a dead one in the back of some hunter's truck, which was still kinda cool…)

(Random side story: Apparently cops are not the norm. We were looking around in a little shop, when all of a sudden:

"Holy s***!!! What in the world is that doing here?!"

We look outside to see them staring a police car driving through town. ? I found it pretty funny.)

Anyway. The wedding we went to was lovely, and it was good to see a few people I hadn't seen since graduation, albeit a little awkward because I knew very, very few people overall. Oh well.

On our trip back from Maine to Virginia, we really wanted to stop in Boston, but it ended up raining THE ENTIRE TIME from Maine until Hartford, Connecticut. Ugh. Our biggest adventure of that part of the trip was definitely New Jersey.

Oh my goodness. Never again.

Illegal to pump your own gas. (A little bit of shock when a random dude comes up to my car and asks for my credit card. Um, no?) Crazy drivers. To turn left or make a U-turn, you have to turn right (?). There's a town named Buttzville (yes, with a Z). There are signs all over the interstate that say "No Turns Allowed"…when there is nowhere to turn anyway, even if you wanted to. (Like, to turn, you would literally have to jump a guardrail and a ditch. Are these people insane?) Their nickname, "The Garden State," has no particular reason behind it. (Again, ?)

Lesson learned: avoid NJ at all costs on future road trips.***

We finally arrived in Virginia (staying with Jon's brother and sister-in-law this time around), and after waking up to a gorgeous sunrise the next morning...

Not. even. close.

...we headed for Shenandoah National Park to take Skyline Drive (105 miles of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fall perfection). So, so, so beautiful, especially this time of year! It was peak season for fall foliage, and absolutely worth the $15--even though it rained half the time we were there. Still worth it.

So! There's the abbreviated version of my trip. We're already planning our next one--it was so much fun! (And surprisingly affordable, too, if you do it right.) My only complaint is that I wish we'd had more time. 5 days was nowhere near enough!

*Well. As far as the traditional, concrete, "exploring a place we've never been" sort of adventure goes. Our whole relationship has been something of an adventure, from day one, but that's beside the point here.

**That is, nonstop minus the insane New Jersey traffic. Seriously, I hate driving through NJ.

***Sorry to all you New Jersey natives. I'm sure the state has some wonderful qualities, but forgive me, because I did not see them.

Procrastination: The First Round of Junior Year!

Listening to: "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons

I've only been in class for a week, am just now about to start on my first homework assignment, and I'm already using this blog to procrastinate. Old habits die hard (and I'm thinking this one won't die until homework is a thing of the past anyway). But, I mean, I haven't updated since before I got back to Lee. It has to be done sometime, right?

Anyway, I am super glad to be back at Lee. I have to admit, though, that I am so ready to get past these initial weeks. They're always so...weird. I don't like them. Hopefully, things will settle into a nice, normal routine pretty soon. Since being back, I've managed to:

• Make 15,000 trips to Walmart (more or less--probably more)
• Go cliff jumping, complete with floating down the river in the dark
• Go swimming at the Blue Hole with about 30 friends
• Go hiking with Mike, Will, and Diff (complete with climbing slippery waterfalls and hacking my way through the woods again. Not that I mind, of course!)
• Start Taekwondo! (I know, it probably sounds lame to a lot of people, but seriously, it is so much fun. I'm so glad I'm taking it!)

It's been fairly interesting, at least. Also, I am loving having an apartment! Not that I spend much more time here than I did in the dorm (I just can't stand to be inside doing nothing for long), but it's so nice having more space, and my own kitchen, and a dishwasher, and a couch, and...yeah. It's awesome. I'll have to post some pictures sometime.

On a completely random note, I love how my playlist goes from stuff like Mumford & Sons (I love them so much, by the way) to LIGHTS to Yellowcard and pretty much everything in between, and I hardly give it a second thought. It's such a random mix. I love it. But yeah, one song I've been listening to a lot is "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons. Soooo good (though I have to say my favorite by them is "The Cave").

"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."
- "After the Storm" by Mumford & Sons

Okay, I think I'm out of things to say for now. Hopefully, more things will happen by the next time I have homework so I'll have things to write about. :)

My last few adventures of the summer...

Three things I've missed immensely:

1. Friends
2. Tennessee
3. Mountains

I was reunited with all of the above this past week, and it was awesome. (Also, I've noticed that "adventure" in any form is becoming my new favorite word...)

Darren's baseball team won state, so it was off to Lewisburg, TN, for the regional tournament. Lewisburg happens to be close to where Audrey and Mike are working camp for the summer. I was really excited because they're two of my best friends, and I was going to get to see them, right? Um, yeah, apparently, they decided that the one weekend I was going to be within 15 minutes of them would be an opportune time to go to Ohio. Thanks, guys.

Unfortunately, Darren's team didn't win their games, but they did play pretty awesomely, so I was still proud. Kristi came to see him play, too, so it was great to see her and to have someone to brave the heat with me! (For real, it should never be 100 degrees at 10:00 in the morning. Let's not try that again.) Her friend, Jeff, got bored in Murfreesboro, so being a flight instructor, he flew over to hang out with us for awhile. That evening, he took Kristi, Darren, and me up in his plane, which was pretty awesome! I had never been up in a small plane like that before, so it was cool to get to do that.

On Sunday, Kristi came to pick me up and I went to her house for a few days. Being us, we managed to have plenty of adventures crammed into a couple of days, and most of them involved the outdoors. Always a plus.

We went hiking, of course. We went to Abram's Creek, but it was super hot, so we didn't make it very far. We attempted to go down a side trail to see one of the Appalachian Trail shelters (just because), but it turned out you basically had to hike up the mountain to do so. We went about half a mile before deciding that it was entirely too hot to attempt anything more, so we turned around and went back towards the creek. Maybe in the fall. Anyway, we just waded in the creek for awhile, took a few pictures, then drove around for a little while. Typical us.

Later that evening, we dressed up a little more (the only time I looked halfway decent all week, I think) and we, along with Kristi's brother David, went to Pigeon Forge to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! We got free tickets (typically $40) from Kristi's church, and even though none of us are particularly into that sort of thing, we didn't really have anything else to do, so we decided to go. Besides, my roommate has told me about a billion times how awesome it is, so I kind of wanted to see what the big deal was anyway. :) It ended up being a lot of fun (albeit slightly long towards the end...), so I was glad we decided to go.

On Tuesday, Kristi, David, and I went jet skiing with their friends Russell, Amy, and Kate. That was definitely fun, even though we only had one jet ski and weren't there all that long. It was just nice to be on the water, especially since I haven't even had the chance to go swimming this summer!

After finishing up at the lake, we went back to Kristi's house to pack up for a quick camping trip. We loaded up the truck and finally started making our way towards Cades Cove where our campsite was. (Kristi, of course, stayed true to form and packed 2 floats--never mind that our campsite was not near water.) It was around 10:30pm when we got there, so obviously, it was dark. However, Kristi, David, and I managed to set up our tent without a problem. As soon as we finished, David's friend Aaron got there. Perfect timing, I'm sure. The four of us played cards for awhile and then got ready for bed, since we were planning to get up before the sun.

We woke up at 5-something the next morning. Kristi and I ate Lucky Charms (very nutritious, of course) and finally managed to drag the guys out of bed and got them to eat, too. Then, around 6:30am, we got on our bikes and headed off to bike the 11-mile loop at Cades Cove! It was a perfect day to do something like that. It was early, so it wasn't hot, plus it was pretty cloudy. That made for some pretty awesome pictures. I've decided that, if I can't live in Colorado in the middle of the Rockies, I think I'll be happy to settle for the Smokies. Seriously, so gorgeous:

Is there any question as to why they're called the Great Smoky Mountains? Pictures totally don't do it justice. It was beautiful. When I see stuff like that, I can't help but be like, "Holy crap, God, You're amazing!!"

We did a few more random things during the week, and then yesterday, we decided to drive through Cleveland and hang out with Jon for a little while before heading to meet my parents. After driving around campus to see the random changes and sitting in the PCSU waiting for Jon to get off work, the three of us headed to Chick-fil-A for peach milkshakes (sooo good). Jon mentioned something about Will being back in town, so I texted him and he invited us to come over. We did, and after being there for about 5 minutes, Tuna* came down the stairs! We all thought he was at work, so that was definitely a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting to get to see either Will or Tuna, but I am so glad that I got to. I love those guys so much. It was sooo good to see them and hang out with them for awhile. It made me really glad that we'll all be reunited a little more long-term in just 2 weeks. YESSSS.

So yeah--definitely a good week! I can't believe I'll be going back to Lee just 2 weeks from today. I can't say I'm looking forward to classes and homework and such, but I am definitely excited to be with everyone again! This semester kind of has to be awesome. There is no way that junior year is allowed to be as lame as last year! The fact that I'll have an apartment, my brother will be there, and pretty much all of my friends will actually be on the same side of campus for once makes me really happy and excited and yeah, I pretty much can't wait. Okay, I'm done. Maybe I'll actually have a short post one of these days?
* Every now and then, it occurs to me what a ridiculous nickname Tuna is and what people who don't know him must think when I call him that. Oh well. It's pretty much impossible for me to look at him and think "Michael." It just doesn't work. He doesn't respond to it anyway.

European Adventures!

Listening to: "Vienna" by The Fray 
(Yes, I listened to this song, along with "Dear Vienna" by Owl City, multiple times while actually in Vienna. I've always wanted to do that. I'm lame, I know.)

Now that I'm actually free for a few weeks, I figured it was time to update you guys on my amazing trip to Europe! Hard to believe that it was a month ago. Dang. Anyway, just a heads up, this is going to be a long post!

The adventure started with a 9-hour flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany. This wouldn't have been so bad if 1) I hadn't been in the middle section (at least I was on the aisle...), causing me to miss a gorgeous sunrise, 2) I could have actually slept, and 3) there hadn't been a restless, screaming child directly behind me who cried and kicked my seat for at least a third of the trip. I was sooo ready to get off the plane! When we finally got to Frankfurt, we were all pretty exhausted, but we were only there for about an hour and a half before catching a quick 30-minute flight to Zürich, Switzerland.

After arriving in Zürich, we got on a bus that took us to our hotel. As soon as we pulled out of the airport, I happened to catch a glimpse of the Alps waaaay in the distance. I kinda freaked out in my head a little bit. (I probably would have been a little more open about it, but no one else was anywhere near as pumped about the Alps as I was. Things would have been so much better if I'd had someone to share my excitement with!) We got to our hotel and after Lauren & I had an adventure in the super slow, super small lift (wish I would've gotten a picture!), we walked into our room and swung open the windows (literally) to see this (click to make them bigger):

Sooo pretty. Zürich is a perfect picture of what I think of when I imagine a European city. Anyway, we cleaned up a little bit and then headed out to explore a little bit. We were all pretty tired, but in an attempt to beat jet lag, no one was allowed to take a nap. This resulted in me being awake for 36 hours straight, but fortunately, I survived just fine. Number one on my agenda was to walk down to Lake Zürich so I could see the Alps a little better.

You can just barely see the snow caps in the background. I don't think I can really explain what it was like for me to finally get to see those mountains. I've wanted to see the Alps my whole life, and...I don't know. I don't know why it meant that much to me, but seriously, it was a big deal! After walking around the city for a little while, we decided to head back to the hotel and get some rest. The next day, we began with a walking tour of the city. That was pretty cool; I just wish I could remember all of the stuff our tour guide told us! A few pictures from that...

Second largest clock face in the world (this was apparently extremely significant) and a street in the old part of the city.

View of Zürich from the top of the hill where it has been prohibited to build anything ever since the days of the Roman Empire. Pretty cool.

After the tour, we just explored for the rest of the day. For lunch, we wanted to find something authentic instead of going to one of the more touristy places. After searching for awhile, we stumbled across Rheinfelder Bierhalle.

We decided to go for it, and walked inside to find that we were the only English-speaking people in the entire place. Most Swiss speak a decent amount of English, but not here--we were on our own! Since none of us were familiar with any of the local foods, we basically just picked something random off the menu and hoped for the best. Fortunately, this turned out okay! I ordered Rahm Schnitzel. I'm still not sure what that is, exactly, but it was pretty good!

That evening, the whole group (all 36 of us!) took a "short" walk (it ended up being at least half an hour) to a local church. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the church in general, but the people were really nice. It was cool to get to meet and talk to some of them. After church, some of our group decided to take the subway back, while the rest of us joined Dr. Sargent in walking back in an attempt to save 4 francs. That ended up being an adventure in itself. It had been really sunny and clear all day long, including when we were walking to church. However, when we walked back outside, it was cloudy and starting to rain. We decided to go for it anyway. Promptly after making this decision, it started to pour. And thunder. And lightening. Too late now--we were going to walk. Some people had come prepared with umbrellas. Lauren and I were not two of those people.

Yeah, we were pretty soaked. Fortunately, we both have good senses of humor, and found the whole thing pretty amusing. It ended up being so much fun!

Overall, Zürich was my least favorite city. It was nice, and I'm glad I got to go, but there was just something about it that I didn't care for. It's one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and it's kind of obvious, so I felt a little out of place. Plus, the whole place has this very worldly, materialistic vibe, and...I don't know. It was just weird. Not to mention the ridiculous prices! (Ever pay $13 for a Big Mac? You can if you visit Zürich!) I would love to visit Switzerland again, but I don't care to ever go back to Zürich.

After spending another night in Zürich, we got on the bus and started heading towards Germany to go to the Dachau concentration camp. Well, shortly after getting into Germany, we discover that Dachau is closed on Mondays, which our tour guide's assistant failed to mention. Change of plans. We decided to continue heading towards our next stop: Salzburg, Austria, to have a couple of extra hours to explore there. That whole drive was absolutely beautiful. I love the Alps!

We eventually arrived in Salzburg, which was definitely my favorite city. It is known for two things: being Mozart's birthplace and the home of The Sound of Music. By the end of it, I didn't care to ever hear either of those things mentioned ever again. However, it is a beautiful city. Lauren, Josh, Sam, and I walked around together when we got there and discovered the cathedral there. It's huge!

If you look closely, you can see a tiny little person at the bottom. Yeah, that'd be me. Seriously--it's huge. After exploring for a little while, we decided that it was time we try some gelato. Sooo good!!

It wasn't quite as good as the gelato Josh and I had in Vienna...but still. I'm a fan. We ended the day with one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've seen in a loooong time (and, considering I think every sunset is gorgeous, that's saying something!).

Day two in Salzburg consisted of a walking tour with a guide, ending with us taking a trip up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress.

I love that place. It is so amazing to me that it was built in 1077. That's 933 years old. That's mind-boggling to me. That was one thing that I absolutely loved about Europe--there's so much history there! Here in America, our most historic places are few and far between, and are typically from the 1700s or later, with the occasional site from the 1600s. But 1077? Sometimes, I wish buildings could talk. Just think of how many people have walked there, looked up at it, how many things have happened in and around it. It's incredible! Then, of course, there was the view from the top:

So. Incredibly. Beautiful. I could've stared forever. Even though it was cloudy and kinda hazy, it was still amazing. After the tour was over, we were free to wander around the city again. Lauren, Josh, and I got some lunch at a literal hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was excellent. I was also pleased to see that Sodexho is spreading the joy worldwide.

We also explored Mirabell Gardens for awhile. That was a lot of fun (especially our impromptu chase through the maze-like bushes)!

Next day was what I had been looking forward to for months: the Eagle's Nest! Oh my gosh. Most incredible view I have ever seen, ever, and I'm not kidding. I wish you guys could see it in person, because honestly? Pictures are disappointing compared to the real thing. Really, I feel kinda depressed when I look at pictures of it because they don't even come close.

Wow. I want to go back so bad! It was the most perfect view I've ever seen. It's breathtaking. And the fact that it was perfectly clear and sunny and warm... Thanks, God! We also took a short hike while we were there. It was only about 45 minutes, but it was way more intense than I was expecting! It was a lot of fun though. I can officially say I've been hiking in the Alps--how awesome is that?!

After hanging out on top of the mountain for a couple of hours, we headed down into Berchtesgaden, Germany, to visit the salt mines there. Another gorgeous drive--I think Berchtesgaden is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

The salt mines were a lot of fun. Super-fashionable clothes (as seen below), riding on a little train, going down a slide...yeah, it was pretty cool. It was also a nice, much-needed break from the heat!

The next day, we started heading toward Vienna, Austria. On the way, we stopped to tour Mauthausen concentration camp. That was a really sobering experience... It was hard to process and it's even harder to explain, so I don't think I'm going to attempt to. I think it's one of those things that you just have to experience for yourself to understand.

We also stopped at Melk Abbey. Not my favorite place of the trip, especially not when it came right after Mauthausen. Oh well. The library there was pretty cool, at least!

After a long day of driving, we finally arrived in Vienna. Vienna is big. Really big. After doing so much traveling already, I don't think I was completely up for taking in such a large, fast-paced city, but I did my best. There was so much to do and see there that I honestly had no idea where to begin.

We walked around for awhile that night, and then the next day, we visited the Freud Museum like good psychology students should do. :)

While I'm not a huge fan of Freud in general, psychology would not be anything near what it is today if it hadn't been for him. He's one of those people that you have to respect, regardless of whether or not you agree with him. As a psychology major, it was pretty awesome to be able to visit the place where he used to live and counsel his patients! We also visited Stephansdom, ate at The Chattanoogan (yes, it was named after Chattanooga, TN--I wasn't too concerned with making a point of eating "authentic" European food by this point), and watched part of an opera on a screen outside the opera house. Kinda cool.

On our last day in Vienna, we got to ride the Prater Wheel! To be honest, it wasn't a very exciting ride in and of itself, but the fact that I got to ride the Prater Wheel in Vienna was awesome!

Next, we visited the Schonbrünn Palace. By this point on the trip, I was so exhausted that I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I would have otherwise. It was still pretty cool though.

Then it was off to take a tour of Vienna, by bus this time. Thank God--I couldn't have survived a walking tour! I wish I could say that it was interesting, but honestly, I wouldn't know. I was just focusing on staying awake. Oh well...we did stop at this place that had lots of cool artsy things, which I really liked.

So, there's my trip to Europe in a nutshell. As long as this was, I left out a ton! I would love to be able to go back someday. It was awesome. Anyway, I'll leave you all with that for a few days, and then maybe I'll get around to updating you about Camp JOY and my 20th birthday! (Yes, I'm 20, and yes, that's still super weird to me...)