The Big Apple Part I

I promise I was going to compose an exciting & detailed description of our week in New York but then life happened. Here's the skinny, I travel hacked my way into getting a free domestic flight [which I will write about later because everyone should do it] and decided that New York is a place worth seeing. So Bailey, Jenna, Chandis, & I obtained some plane tickets & made our way to The Big Apple. Lucky for us we were able to stay with Bailey's amazing family. They surely made our trip ten times better. They were constantly letting us in on some of the secrets of the city. We did it all. Hitting nearly every tourist attraction & I loved that aspect of our trip.

We ventured on the Staten Island ferry every day & made a friend named John who gave us tons of good advice. 

We became obsessed with everything bagels. They just don't make bagels like that over here. I may or may not have had them every single day for breakfast. 

We had a humbling experience at Ground Zero. 

We checked out Trinity Church. 

We tried to get into the unfinished World Trade Center.

We caught a lovely view of the statue of liberty every day although I never snapped pictures. Jenna makes a pretty cute one though. 

We experienced the breathtaking view from The Empire State Building. Which just happened to be the most amazing city view I've ever seen. 

We checked out the Wall Street scene. 

We wandered all around that concrete jungle. 

We had several amazing meals & adventures in Little Italy.  

We ended up exploring China Town for hours. Something about the smell of garbage/dead fish filling the streets was comforting & made me miss China. 

To be continued... 

The Spiral Jetty

Imagine a day full of car rides & good tunes. Hunting for crystals in the sand. Friends & good conversation. Exploring abandoned places. Warm overcast weather. Climbing giant poles. A concert on the mountain. Running around like a kid with your arms spread out wide. Making music with rocks. Hours or laughter & being enchanted by nature. Imagine a day full of bliss & you have our day at the Spiral Jetty. 

Little Lava.

I live for days like this. The ones where I get to sit on The FrontRunner & listen to this song. Days when its rainy & the mountains look so enticing as they peak through the clouds. Although watching the colorful assortment of people board & exit the train is ever so exciting I figured I should catch up a little bit...

Life has been sugary sweet. Really I have few complaints. I'm just living, it's that simple. Spare time seems to come more freely ever since I quit my full time job & I love it. To me time trumps money. Every time. With this time comes more opportunities for biking, exploring & just being able to bask in the fact that I'm alive. Lots of good things have happened but I've failed to document most of them. I did snap a picture or two of an impulsive journey north over the weekend. Baye & I decided that we should take a road trip to a little place known as Lava Hot Springs. The day was filled with all things good. From Cafe Rio to people watching we were in a constant state of bliss. May free time show its face more often!

Work Hard.

I saw this commercial today & couldn't help but be a bit appalled. My first response was simply shoot what has our world come to.. I can't even wrap my head around the idea of this being acceptable. Yet I know that this is something that our society often isn't even questioning. There are so many people who will view this commercial & not even think twice about it. Obviously I understand that there is satire laced within it all but this is what the media is feeding us.Quite frankly this is what we are accepting. It is overwhelmingly ironic. 

It suggests that our happiness can be created by material objects. All that really matters is that this family has a nice house, huge pool & fancy Cadillac. What doesn't seem to matter is the fact the kids are aimlessly sitting inside messing around on electronics while they could be outside enjoying the beautiful day. Or that the husband and wife pass by each other with no real interaction. We so willingly waste our lives away trying to earn paper but for what? Isn't time the most important thing? Its all very discomforting but serves as an invitation for change. It can be encouragement to break the mold & realize that material items don't provide us with happiness. So what do you say we show these fools that money isn't everything or even better that it's really nothing.

Get Lucky.

Woah kids. January was extra great and filled with the sweetest of activities. It went by crazy fast. I really would love to share some enthralling details but I fear that I've lost my blogging knack. It's strictly business now days. Anyways, It went a little something like this. 

 -I hung out in STG.

 -Started school again. I'm a super fan. How weird is that? I live for my classes. 

 -Went to the ice castles. 

-Constant dance parties with the roommates to this song.

 -Attended my sweet Jessica's wedding festivities. 

 -Did a lot of wandering in the mountains.

 -Welcomed a new addition to our apartment.

 -Hung out with these darlings. 

-Started working at Backcountry.

-Tried to figure out this new trend. 

-Fell even more in love with Edward Abbey's work.

 -Received a just because package from my favorite Elder!!

-Went ice fishing. 

-Said yes to Russia.