Goodbye Hello

This week I had to say goodbye to my good friend Amanda here in Celina. She was the very first friend I made when I moved here. She had me over for dinner a few times and I was always envious of her ability to cook up these awesome concoctions...plus she always offered desert! Then Monday nights became our meeting times and without fail we would watch the Bachelorette and hang out talking about our lives, our dreams, our passions, our futures-everything. And we woke up before the sun to go running. And there were bikerides, laughter shared over drinks as we ate good food and stared out at the beauty of the lake, and talk of all sorts of adventures. She patiently helped teach me to play tennis and I offered her running tips as I picked them up. She shared pieces of her life with me, stories of joy, of hurt, of overwhelming excitement. She was offering her wisdom.

I hate goodbyes. Amanda was my first new friend in my independent adult life. On my own in a new place, away from home, away from familiarity and I was lucky enough to make a friend who could teach me so much about life in a short 7 months.

Saying goodbye to Amanda wasn't easy but it made me realize that who we become friends with is not merely a coincidence. We connect with people and make the concious decision to invest in them. To open up and share pieces of ourselves with them. Life, I believe, brings you people when you need them, for as longs as you need them, in order to get you through a certain point, to learn a new lesson, and to create irreplacable memories. Amanda came to Celina to start her life over. I came to start mine for the very first time. Together we embarked on a journey. A journey to our better selves. Our richer and more experienced selves. Our happier and more fulfilled selves. Our more confident more caring selves. Our more adventurous more daring selves. And most importantly,our pure selves.

If I am willing, I can learn something from every person that crosses my path on my lifes journey. If I am willing to invest myself with a genuine soul to soaking up their wisdom my life will become greater. If I am willing, I will be able to one day impact other's lives in the same way mine is impacted by people all around me every day.

There is so much to learn from people everywhere. I love to meet new people and to learn more and more about people that I already know because everyone's life is a testament to something. A testament to love, or hope, or sadness. A testament to wreckless abandon, or freedom, or strength. Everyone is a testament to life and to the realization that the only thing that outlives our own lives is the impact we make on anothers. Relationships are what lasts.

Call someone you haven't heard from in awhile. Send a card. Hug a friend. Smile at a stranger. Lend a few nickels to the person counting change in front of you at the checkout. Leave an extra tip for your waitress even if your service wasn't the greatest.

Investing in people must be one of the greatest joys of life.

And with that, it is goodbye to my friend Amanda who invested in me with an unhindered spirit. Thanks for listening and for sharing your life with me.I look forward to the adventure that will be our next encounter (in the Kentucky mountains I hope!)

Goodbye always leads to another Hello.

It's been tooo long!

Wow, I haven't updated in a very long time...my apologies! I can't believe that July is already almost over! For some reason, July is almost always one of my favorite months so I am sad to see it go so soon. I'll give a little recap of the past few weeks


One of my roomates from Romania lives just two hours away in Indiana so we met up for a day of hanging out. It was sooo good to see her and catch up on life and all that has been happening in our worlds. She is currently raising support to go back to Romania for an entire year so it was exciting to hear about her plans and share memories from the summer that we spent there. Here is a picture of us at this great little restaurant in Upland Indiana!

The morning after this picture I ran my fastest 5k by 3 minutes! It was so exciting! Unfortunately I do not have a picture to share, but i had gone to the run with a lady I know from Celina. It was a little country festival out in the middle of nowhere (literally) and the course was out around this huge barn and cornfield on a perfect sunny and 70 degree morning. It was beautiful running through the openness of the country surrounded by tons of other people. One thing I always enjoy about races is the cheering from complete strangers and there was a lot of that to be enjoyed that Sunday morning.

Next came the Fourth of July! I haven't spent the Fourth in Michigan in a few years so I decided to keep the streak going and have an adventure to Cedar Point! I haven't been to Cedar Point since high school and I LOVE rollercoasters so i was really excited to go! We spent the whole weekend there, two days at Cedar Point, a half day at Soak City water park there, and played some putt-putt golf before heading home on Sunday. We saw a little of the fireworks over Lake Erie which was really awesome and the weekend itself was a really good time with really great people. This is my favorite picture from Cedar Point..thats Ben and I front car on the Dragster...and me being obnoxious as usual:

After returning from a busy / awesome weekend in Cedar Point I had to prepare to leave Monday on a business trip to Franfort, Indiana-a town close to where Purdue University is located. As part of my Rotational program for work, all of us Rotational HR, Engineers, and Finance professionals attend training events at different locations every 2-3 months so it is usually a pretty good time with a lot of young professionals in my company. The training this time was on LEAN manufacturing and we were all mixed into project teams tackling a real problem in the plant. We got to work on the floor, research the problem, and come up with a solution that they are now in charge of implementing. I think it is a great experience to be able to take part in more of the manufacturing portion of work in the plants so this was great training for me. And, of course, we always make time for fun once work is over! This time, we went out singing karaoke one night after dinner! This was my very first time singing karaoke EVER but it was a lot of fun! Here is a picture of myself and some of the other Rotationals from my company singing a Carrie Underwood song

Training wrapped up on my birthday, which was a thursday, and I took Friday off work. Justin, one of my good friends from High School is in the Air Force was home on leave and came down with one of his friends to stay the weekend and hang out for my birthday. It was really good to see him and his friend was a lot of fun so it was a great weekend and a good way to spend my 22nd birthday! Thursday night we walked down the lake to town and went to a few little bars. Friday we sort of chilled, went to the beach, then headed down to the Kenny Chesney / Tracy Lawrence portion of something called Country Concert here in Ohio (think....a whole bunch of people camping in a field for four days of country music stars playing on a huge stage in the middle of nowhere...) It was a GREAT concert and we all had lots of fun! Saturday we all chilled around my place and Celina, then got dressed up and went next door to my favorite restaurant for dinner. It was a nice birthday dinner, right on the water, and I enjoyed just chilling and chatting with the guys. It was a great weekend with those guys for sure. Here are a few pictures: the first one is Justin and I out in Celina on my birthday and the second is all three of us hanging out at the concert.

I know it probably seems like that should be enough fun for one birthday weekend, but if you know me, you know that the fun never ends! The boys headed home Sunday morning so I headed to Dayton for brunch and some put-putt golfing with Ben (we interned together at Corning and Ben is spending the rest of the year interning for a company in Dayton) and his Mom. We stopped for some coffee and sat outside chatting before we walked around this little historic neighborhood full of old houses and cool architecture. It was actually really neat and something you probably wouldn't expect in a city like Dayton. After that we had brunch at this little organic deli and sat outside enjoying another perfect summer day with good food and good conversation. After losing a game of putt-putt I headed up to Findlay to meet my family for a birthday dinner. It was great to see them! I had seen my sister and brother in law at the end of June but hadn't seen my mom and dad in quite awhile so it was good to catch up and get to celebrate my birthday with them. AND my nephew was there too of course. He's getting so big and so adorable i can't even stand it! Here are some of my favorite pictures from dinner with the family:

All of us girls during dinner. I can't believe how much alike my Mom and sister look in this picture!

An Adorable picture of Gavin. He is growing like a weed and I just love every minute that I get to spend with him!

AND this is me signing "22" over a delicious sunday! There is never a dull moment when we are all together and everyone got a good laugh out of this picture.

Needless to say it was a VERY full weekend, but a weekend full of fun, good friends, and a wonderful family is really the only way to celebrate a birthday if you ask me!

AND the birthday celebrations continued on this past weekend when I made a trip back down to Dayton to hang out with Ben. We went out for my birthday Friday night and had dinner then played putt-putt golf again (I honestly have never played so much putt-putt in my life and I swear I'm not getting any better!) Saturday I went to this work picnic with him and some of the other interns which was really really fun (minus the fact that it was 96 degrees out!) There was a giant slip-n-slide going down a hill in their front yard so that was fun to watch. Plus we got to jump in a bounce houes (those inflatable things that small children love playing in at fairs) which was AWESOME, and eat some really good food. Sunday we went to this HUGE lake and swam and hung out at the beach all day. It was really a great weekend #2 of birthday celebrations and here is an interesting picture of me playing putt-putt that I thought you would enjoy (Dad, check out my form, though!...I haven't forgotten everything from those golf lessons!)

Wow, so it has been a busy month...and it isn't even over yet! To complete my birthday month celebrations i'm meeting my mom for some shopping and going to Kings Island this weekend. I'd like to say that August will slow down some but my first few weekends are already full. What can I say, i live for adventure!

Well, I think 22 is starting out wonderfully! When I think about all that has changed in my life in the past year and all of the exciting things that have happened I can only imagine what the next year will bring. People always say that 22 is less exciting because you've already turned 21 and the milestones have sort of ended, but for me, I think they have just begun! Birthdays are always a sort of reflection point...a place to stop and see where you have been while also loooking forward to where you are going. A time to grow from the past and to anticipate the future. Plus, I'm determined to make every year a good year, to look back every birthday and think of all the great memories I have made in only 1 year, and to continue looking forward to whatever life may bring!

I hope that you all have enjoyed July as much as I have and that the coming months and year will bring you new adventures, time with your family, friends to stand by your side, and all the love and happiness that you will ever need to get by.

So, here's to the next 22 years of my life. And yours.

And now I am.....a runner?

Well, today I signed up for the Detroit Half Marathon which I think officially makes me a runner. I've only gotten really into running this year (which means I've ran a 9.6 mile charity run and a single 5k) and I have a LONG way to go before the race, but I figured if I signed up there was no turning back. It will be a long way to the finish line in October. A long way filled with too many miles of running, sore shins and feet, and that feeling of exhaustion that comes when you wake up before the sun even thinks of gracing the earth with its presence. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

For now, I'll be training for and running the race by myself but I would love the company if anyone feels like joining me! I mean, my Ipod is a trusty companion filling my ears with all of my favorite music as I trudge along in my runs, but nothing beats someone running along side of you forcing you to keep running when what you really want to do is stop at that bar you just ran by and enjoy a nice cold beer.

So, if you see me at any point between now and October 19th and I look like I haven't been running you should probably ask me about it. 13.1 miles will be terribly painful if I don't keep up with my training!

Castle Wedding + 25 years of love

This past weekend my sister and I attended Ethan and Kara's wedding in Charlevoix. They married in the courtyard of a beautiful castle on a perfect summer day. Everything was so beautiful that it could not have been more perfect. Unfortunately I didn't get a ton of pictures of the castle itself, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend:


The beautiful bride and groom

Krystal and Gavin in the courtyard

Me, being silly as always, sitting in a throne inside the castle.

Gavin is getting so big! Gosh is he a beautiful baby.
The king!

It was really great to attend a wedding this weekend and see the beginning of a couple's life together while thinking of my parents getting ready to celebrate 25 years together today. It was so amazing to see how much love can grow from that first moment of marriage into what my parents have today. I am so thankful to have grown up in a household filled with parents whose love you can feel all the time. Its the way my dad leaves flowers for my Mom on random days just because. And the way he used to clean the house everytime she was out of town on business just so she could come home and not have to worry about household things. And the way my Mom calls him every morning when she is out of town so that they can catch up on the day. How she supports all of his fun habits and adventures. And when they are together its the way they hold hands walking down the street, laugh at each other constantly, and how neither of them can sleep through the night when the other is out of town. They have built a life together full of love and friendship, of new adventures and laughter.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, thank you for showing your family what love is. I wish you nothing but the best for the next 25 years!

Country Runnin'

For those of you who don't know, I am playing on a summer church volleyball league. We play twice a week at a variety of different places and tonight we had a game at this cute little church way out in the country. Nestled between the cornfields was this little red brick church house and a gravel volleyball court. The girls play first and since I had ridden with another family we had to hang out for the boys game. I had brought my running gear hoping to sneak in a run while the boys played so right before the start of their first game I decided to hit the road: a paved, straight, flowing road surrrounded by cornfields, farm houses, and the smell of fresh cut hay. I ran a good few miles, right into the sunset, surrounded by flat land for miles and miles. Gosh it was a good feeling. There is something beautiful and peaceful about the country-running on the open road that is all yours while looking infinitely on into the setting sun. Something about that moment is timeless...like you can run forever but never reach the end because everything seems so vast around you. For a moment, one single moment, time is standing still and nothing in the world matters but you.

I hope that you find something in your life that makes you feel timeless and endless and alone in the best kind of way. Maybe it will be running down a country road like I was, or sitting on a boat in the middle of a lake with nothing around but the fishing rod resting in your hands, or even driving home from a long days work through roads and places that seem to never change. Wherever it is, when you've had that moment you'll know it. And you'll want to tuck it away and hold onto it, not let anything separate you from you and the perfect solitude of country runnin'.

21 years of Adventure!

My 22nd birthday is quickly approaching. Birthdays are always milestones...when you turn 10 you have finally reached double digits, 13 and you're a teenager, 15 you get your permit, 16 your much coveted drivers license, and at 18 you become a real "adult" with voting privelages and everything. Then birthdays begin to become a little less exciting: 20 feels so in-between because you're no longer a teenager and still not able to drink. 21, though, feels like your last real milestone before every other birthday just means you're "old". Instead of feeling old, though, I think I'll look at these next few birthdays as points to recap all that I have done in my young 21 years of life. Here's a list I've brainstormed recently of some of the awesome places I have been and the cool things that I have done there
I have:
-Windsurfed in Cancun
-Played guitar at a gypsy village in Romania
-Summitted a mountain in Colorado
-Stood beneath the Eiffel Tower at night
-Swam with an electric eel in the bahamas
-Fed wild fish from my hands in the Virgin Islands
-Seen Moose in Maine
-Ran along the Atlantic Ocean in Miami
-Skiied a black diamond in Vail
-Sat on a boat in the most beautiful lake nestled quietly in the Swiss Alps
-Climbed to the top of the bell tower in Dracula's Castle (the real one!)
-Drank wine while cruising along the Rhine River in Germany
-Learned how to surf in Cabo
-Dove over a waterfall in Mexico
-Whitewater rafted in West Virginia
-Drank Mojitos in NYC
-cliff jumped into a huge lake in Tennessee
-Rock Climbed in Utah
-Gone whale watching
-fed stingrays in Grand Cayman
-Tasted my first Sam Adams straight from the brewery in Boston
-Stood above the wonder that is Niagara Falls
-Sat at the feet of Abe Lincoln in DC
-Felt my intelligence rise as I walked around Princeton and Harvard campuses
-Participated in morning songs at an Afro-Centric school on the west side of Chicago
......

The list is nearly endless, but for a mere 21 years old I have got to do some really cool things in some really awesome places. As a child, my parents took us everywhere and a lot of those experiences were had with them by my side. As I have grown older and high school and college happened I began to create my own adventures and continue to see new places and try new things. Now, out in the "real world" I continue to fill my life with new places, new adventures, and new friends. 21 years of seeing the world....I can only imagine how much more this list will have grown 1 year from now, 5 years from now, 10 years from now...50 years from now!

I hope I never lose my sense of adventure.
-

FAMILY!

I practiced my photography on my family this weekend. Here are a few of my favorites:
The whole family around the pond

Thats the look of 25 years of marriage.
Family!
Admiring our littlest member and newest addition to the family!
The boys hanging out!
Definitely my favorite picture of the day.

I consider myself lucky to have grown up in a house filled with good friends, laughter, and lots of love.