Countdown...

So...in less than three days I will be on my way to the airport to board a plane for San Francisco where I will switch planes and go to Shanghai. And that will begin my study abroad adventure! A special adventure calls for a special blog! Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself. I'm going to be blogging all about my trip over at:

Away We Go

I may or may not be updating on this blog too...so much has happened in such a short time that I wish I could fill everyone in on, but telling you all that God is absolutely amazing and loves us so much even though we don't deserve it is all I have time for right now. Seriously, God has been pouring out love and provision on me and I am in complete awe and I feel so unworthy of it all. But I'm incredibly thankful too!

Okay...if you want to keep up with me head over to the new blog for now. I'd love to hear from you all while I'm in China so feel free to leave comments or email!

:)

I went somewhere beautiful...

Last weekend I travelled to the middle of nowhere (figuratively speaking) to visit my roommate in her hometown. I think it may have been the most gorgeous place I have ever seen! I had a wonderful time visiting my roomie, her family and friends who were also there! It made me realize how much I miss my school family. :)

Is that not absolutely gorgeous?

My friend Amanda and my roommate Whitney. We went hiking.

We met this stalking rooster named Norman!

Whitney got a summer job at a stable so she treated us to a horseback ride! She has the coolest job ever! I had never ridden on a horse before but I loved it!

My horse was named Goldie. :) She was a slow-poke, but I think that was good since she was my first ride.

It was a wonderful visit. In addition to hiking and horseback riding we stayed up late talking, hung out with Whitney's family, went to a big picnic where we saw old friends and met new acquaintances and got rained on (but luckily there was a pavillion so we had shelter. It was still really fun!) and listened to live music! We went to church and to a cool little restaurant. Fed sheep at 10 pm. Saw the stars more clearly than I ever have, rode up and down mountains and just had a wonderful time. I'm so grateful that I got to visit my roomie and friend Amanda! Amanda is leaving for China in 4 days! She is going on a missions trip with Campus Crusade for Christ. I am hoping that we will be able to meet up while we're both out there.

We need rain!

My friend and I went to a local park yesterday to walk around. I've been there before for a wedding and another time for a baby shower but I have never walked around to see the rest of the place. I got to become acquainted with these geese...I think they were hoping I would feed them.
Look at how yellow that grass is! It's so burnt. It looks like that everywhere. We need rain so badly! I'm a blue-skies-sunshine-loving kind of girl, but I am really hoping it will rain a lot! Soon!

Lancaster County

Yesterday I went to Lancaster county with my coworker friend Pam. It was a beautiful day outside and a fun-filled day with shopping, eating, conversation, laughing and just enjoying being in a lovely place. I hadn't been to that part of Pennsylvania since I was a little kid.

We got to feed some goats and see lots of puppies and horses. We went to lots of bakeries, markets, a couple of farms and a really awesome thrift shop.

Kitchen Kettle Village was this really cute little village of shops with markets, coffee shops, boutiques, galleries and more.

I thought this family was adorable.

Lovely sunflowers...

My friend took this photo for me. I love sunsets. I feel like I'm watching God paint the sky for me. It's so gorgeous.

During our trip I enjoyed seeing such beautiful country. I sometimes wish I could move away from the mid-Atlantic region and go west or something, but I will say that sometimes I see how beautiful the area I live in is and I just thank God for allowing me to live in such beauty. No matter where I end up in life I will have a special place in my heart for this area.

Home again, home again...

So we are back from our trip to visit my parents and younger siblings at their new home in NC. Mom and Dad's new house is lovely. Their neighborhood is pretty sweet too (hello private community pool!).

little house in NC...

where I spent most of the evenings while I was visiting down there...

the little poolhouse...

the tennis courts which we did not use. I've always wanted to learn to play tennis though...
As usual, I came home from my trip with more than I originally brought. Clothing bought at my first ever visit to an H&M, tons of pictures, seashells from the beach, stuff to take back to school with me, and probably a couple of extra pounds along with some fire ant bites (blast those pesky insects!) and a nasty sunburn!
(I have tan-lines for the first time in years. lol. I haven't cared about having a tan for a very long time so this burn was unintentional. I'm not the type to purposely burn to try and get a tan.)

Yes, it was quite a full week! I miss my parents and siblings, but it was reassuring to see them settled in their new house. They are quite blessed because with what they sold their house up here for they were able to buy this house without taking out a mortgage and are in a place where the economy is still pretty good. It's been over a year since my dad lost his full-time job so I'm happy for them since this move has presented them with more job opportunities. Dad already had an interview today and has another tomorrow! We're praying that he'll get a job offer soon! Now I can't believe that there are only less than 6 weeks left in the summer!

NC Natural Science and History museums! (Or, too many pictures!)

On our last day in NC we visited the Natural Science museum and the NC History museum. I loved the science museum. 4 floors of so many interesting exhibits! I highly recommend it! The history museum was okay, but I guess I'd rather read or listen to a lecture when it comes to history. Science seems to capture my attention much more these days.

Can you spot the T-Rex skelly in the window?

Both museums were across the street from each other. History on the left, science on the right.

Huge whale skeleton!

My parents in front of the indoor waterfall.

he he...playing around. ;)

Cottonmouth Water Moccasin. I believe this is NC's deadliest snake!

Huge disgusting cockroaches. Blech!

Huge disgusting tarantula! Ick! Seriously, these are the things my nightmares are made of.

They had a conservatory with butterflies, turtles, snakes, spiders and sloth.

Somehow I identified with this poor thing. Don't ask me why. ;)

My younger sister thinks this is gross. I thought it was fascinating.

My favorite exhibit at the history museum! They had potters there giving live demos. I watched for awhile. Ohhh, how I miss it!

This was cool too. It was an interactive screen demonstrating a Sabbath meal. There was a large exhibit for NC Jewish history.

Cool ceramic pot made by old North Carolina people. Not sure if Native Americans made this or not. I snapped a photo to file away for inspiration. :)

So that was our last sight-seeing stop in NC. There were a lot of cool things in Raleigh. I'm hoping that when I go back during my Christmas break to walk around downtown a bit and explore. We mostly just drove around the city during this visit instead of walking. I much prefer getting out and looking around. You find so many things you would miss when just driving.

North Carolina Museum of Art

Yesterday we paid a visit to the NC Museum of Art. I've never been to an art museum before so it was a lot of fun to go there. I got to see works by artists I studied this past semester. It was a beautiful place.

This piece was called "The Dentist." I thought it was funny since I'm a dental assistant.

There were quite a few different displays of art from other cultures. This menorah was very large and beautiful!These were traditional African articles of clothing

These glass vessels were part of one of the multicultural displays.Picasso

Giacometti

This piece was cool. It was a large picture of the Mona Lisa upside down and it was made of spools of thread. You had to look through the glass ball to see it right side up.

I thought this piece was funny.

The museum had a large collection of Rodin pieces. Among them were a small sculpture of one of his ideas for The Burghers of Calais. Most were housed inside the museum, but a few, including this one were displayed outside in the garden.

This metal tree reminded me of The Tin Man. I'd like one for my yard. :)

And that was it!

We went to the beach!!!

It was 96 degrees but the water was great! I got a few photos of my family and the scenery...it's been so long since I've been to the ocean. I went to Hampton beach back in 2005, but it was during May and a freak nor'easter blew through and it was SO cold! Labor day of 2001 was the last time I've been to the beach while the weather was nice.

We went to Carolina Beach.

I like one-point perspective...ha ha!

I love this picture of my Dad and Olive.

And I love this one of my Dad and my brother.

Me with my brother. It seems like whenever my dad or brother take pictures they always cut people's feet out...lol.

Ahh...the ocean...it was nice to see it again. I did not adequately prepare for the sun exposure though and am now looking a bit like a pink zebra...I'm very sunburnt!

On our way back home we stopped to see my dad's grandmother. She is 102 years old. She still lives alone. I hadn't seen her in about 10 years and she still looks so similar to how she did before. She's still spunky. As we left my dad was teasing her saying we needed to leave before one of her boyfriends showed up. She spanked him for saying that and then laughed.

Olive with her great-great-grandmother. She was very shy of her and was trying to get away in this picture.

The quality of this photo is very poor. I had to lighten it up a lot just so our faces could be seen. But I'm glad we got one with her. This is me with all my siblings and my niece.

It was an exhausting day! I felt like we were in the car for most of it! Yesterday was a bit more relaxing. We hung out at home and then went to Crabtree Mall in Raleigh and I visited my first H&M. We ended the day with a trip to the community pool in my parents neighborhood and aside from one lady and her granddaughter we had the entire place to ourselves. Pretty sweet! :)