Rain, bachelorette parties, and balancing eggs

Highlights of my East Coast endeavors so far:
1. My plane was delayed a lot because apparently it is monsoon season in New England!
2. Arrived to Boston airport two hours late, then caught a bus to Portsmouth, NH where Jess and Ben picked me up
3. I forgot how much I love Maine! I also discovered that in Colorado we only think we have rain. Real rain occurs in Maine. Kind of like how other states think they have mountains but we from Colorado know what real mountains are like. Every state has its thing. Maine's is rain...? haha. And lobster of course, which I have yet to try. Maybe sometime this week. We'll see.
4. Yesterday Jess and Ben and I made coffee and took it with us for a walk down by the ocean. Gorgeous views! What a way to start the day: sipping coffee and strolling around the beach while the day gets nice and warm from the sun which apparently hasn't shown its face in a few days here.
5. Yesterday night was Jess' bachelorette party! We drove to Portland and got a hotel room, got all dressed up and headed out for dinner, drinks, dancing and lots of fun! There were a few other bachelorette parties out last night too which was funny. We all had sashes saying "bride to be" "maid of honor" and "bridesmaid" but people (mostly the drunk ones) were confused and kept asking if we were all getting married, or if it was someone's birthday, or if we were in a pageant! Hah. Right. Most people figured out what we were doing though and wished Jess congratulations and such. We made her ask five guys throughout the night to fake propose to her with a giant plastic ring and took some pretty hilarious pictures of the proposals! My feet were in unbelievable amounts of pain by the end of the night. Never again will I wear high heels. Especially not out dancing. Psh.
6. Father's day dinner tonight with Jess and Zach and their dad and Ben!
7. Today was the longest day of the year. We tried the mythical egg balancing trick and Jess discovered her new talent of egg balancing! Then she looked up the myth online and turns out it's not only on the equinox that you can balance an egg on its end, apparently you can do it any day. Dang. And all this time I thought that was just the coolest thing about the equinox! It's still pretty amazing to get an egg to balance on its end. I guess we'll have to try it again another day to prove that it's not only on the equinox that you can do it.

Didn't get much sleep last night so I'm exhausted. Time for bed.

*peace and love*

I'll take a break from packing...

A picture of the explosion in my room in the process of packing for Maine!

Packing is SO much work! It's kind of exciting but my room is such a mess as I'm trying to fit everything into a backpack and a suitcase. But I'm leaving tomorrow for Maine! I can't wait!! I'll fly to Boston and then catch a bus from Boston to Portsmouth, NH where Jess and Lexi are picking me up! Then Saturday is Jess' bachelorette party which I am unbelievably excited for! Tuesday I'll take a train from Maine to Boston to visit some Semester at Sea friends: Roy, Bethany, and Kristene. I can't wait to see those crazy kids again and spend a couple days in Boston with them! Then I'll meet my mom at the Boston airport on Thursday, rent a car, and drive back to Wells, ME where I will spend the next couple days doing all that fun wedding prep stuff! It's going to be a busy and very fun week.

I've started reading Bill Bryson's book A Walk in the Woods, upon recommendation from Jess a few months ago, and it is completely hilarious! I've been laughing out loud as I read it. It's his account of his journey along the Appalachian Trail. I love it because it starts with his preparation for the journey but he has very little experience or knowledge to accompany him so he's trying to learn everything he needs to learn in a very short time. I haven't gotten very far yet but it's got some hilarious quotes which I will probably share here as I find them :-) I love summer, when I can read for fun again! I'm still trying to get out of the cycle of falling asleep as soon as I open a book though, which is my instinct when the book is for school but when it's actually a good book I want to be reading I still fall asleep! I must work on that.

The other day a couple friends and I successfully climbed up to the Royal Arch above Boulder! It was slow going and a pretty intense hike but the view from the top was gorgeous and well worth it! I foolishly forgot my camera, so I'll have to go back sometime and bring my camera.

I should get back to packing. Tomorrow my next summer adventure begins!

*peace and love*

Wisdom

Just a quote for the day from my very favorite movie:
"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it's both". -Forrest Gump

"A Little Nonsense Now and Then is Relished by the Wisest Men" -Willy Wonka

I am currently enjoying summer vacation before my final semester of college and it's a summer full of adventures and maybe a little nonsense, so I thought I'd try out writing a new blog.

I have been back in the United States for six months now, after completing my Semester at Sea trip around the world! For four months last fall I traveled to the Bahamas, Brazil, Namibia, South Africa, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Hawaii, and Costa Rica. See my other blog for my travel stories! Now I'm back in Boulder, Colorado finishing up a bachelor's degree in Sociology at the University of Colorado.

I have one semester left before I graduate and I have not decided what to do after graduation. Semester at Sea imposed the travel bug upon me so I have considered many options which would allow me to travel. Maybe grad school in another country, maybe a road trip around the United States for a few months, maybe moving to another country and finding a job, hopefully doing something to help people and promote peace and equality.

This summer is full of adventures. I spent last week at Sonlight Camp, where I have invested many summer memories since age 9. I worked as a volunteer counselor for 7th and 8th graders. The group of 14 girls in my cabin which I shared with one other counselor were an incredible bunch who taught me as much, or probably more, than I taught them! I was humbled by the depth and maturity of the kids, but also by their ability to relish in some nonsense, as Willy Wonka would say. Camp is the perfect place to leave troubles from home behind and be as goofy and honest as you want and I will always have a place for Sonlight in my heart for helping shape me into who I am. There were many new faces on staff this summer, who I had a great time getting to know, and I loved seeing old friends too. I will be going back to Sonlight in July for three weeks.

The drive home involved a detour to Colorado Springs with my car loaded to the max. There was three of us in the car and not an inch of room to move, haha! I had two bikes on the back of the car and tons of stuff inside but luckily my car is a beast and we made it up Wolf Creek Pass and got to Colorado Springs in about 4 hours and then another two or so hours to Boulder.

The next few days are busy with unpacking from camp and packing for Maine. I leave for Maine on Friday morning for Jess and Ben's wedding and I can't wait! I'm also taking a short trip to Boston to visit some Semester at Sea friends! It's going to be a great week. Then I come back to Boulder for a few days and then head to camp again for 3 weeks. I'm also hoping to make a trip out to Albuquerque to visit friends toward the end of the summer. I'm just hoping my money holds out for the summer! I'm only working occasionally so I don't have a steady stream of money coming in at the moment but I'm still staying at my mom's house for another month and a half. In the beginning of August Katie and I will move into our super cute new apartment!! Yay!

Well this is the start of my new blog. Hopefully my life will be interesting enough to write about. I'm hoping to keep it up for the next year at least as I transition from college student to some kind of adult... basically we'll just see where life takes me and hopefully it will take me to interesting places!!

*peace and love*