"In that world, you'll be able to rise in the morning with the spirit you had known in your childhood: that spirit of eagerness, adventure and certainty which comes from dealing with a rational universe"
ayn.rand

[how i felt 97.9% of the time waking up in Rome]

to all a season

i have got to say that any city or place where 'four seasons' reaches to is simply that much better of a place. growing up i seriously didn't know that tree's leaves turned any other color in the fall than green or dead brown. i kid you not; sad i know. fall time in fayetteville is another story and is appreciated endlessly though is not the reason for these words. however, it occupies deliriously happy thoughts. but colorado and its natural beauty is something that amazes me to new heights each day i spend in it. this past weekend being in the mountains was breathtaking. instead of the green i was so used to seeing since arriving this summer, white had taken over and made its unapologetic mark. it was so great to see the transformation into the winter season and how it was affecting all that was touched. lately there has been thought to the seasons of life and how there is a time for each of us to accept those seasons. seasons of alteration, growth, reflection, fade, consistency, and revolutionary change and the list goes on. the toughest part is acknowledging what the season is for your life and inviting it in with open arms. the season for my life as of late has been a slow fade with a side dish of transformation. these things are not only affecting my outlook on the everyday duties but a further look into life and how much of a great journey it truly is. there is little i or anyone can do to alter the season they are in. just because the weather changes doesn't mean the seasons of our lives does the same. i love this about life.
im waiting for the revolutionary season.

there's always time

the drive home from albuquerque after thanksgiving was nothing less than majoryly eventful. the not too bad 6 hour drive quickly turned into a days worth of driving, yes 12 hours of time spent in my car. the smartest thing I did, besides pulling off to get gas when i did was stopping to adventure up to the Cadet Chapel at the air force base in colorado springs. I had been wanting to see it, but was always passing in the dark, so now, when it would be covered in fresh snow was going to be my best chance yet..and i took it. the guard was hesitant on letting me in as the snow was coming down hard and the streets were barely visible, but i was lucky and he let me slide in. it was a winding way up to the chapel and with steep hills and sharp curves my anticipation only grew. soon in front of me was a gorgeous steel and glass structure that sat perfect within the

mountain side. a very modern chapel with 17 spires to resemble jets soaring up to the sky. i was of course the only one there, but i did not mind. it was wonderfully peaceful and wish i could have stayed longer to relax in its beauty, unfortunately it was getting dark and the snow had only picked up, though i must say that the all the extra time spent in the car didn't even put a damper on the side stop that led me to such joy.

its been a long time coming

well, yes its been a while. but there have been many adventures in the past year and none will go forgotten...ever. and less importantly they will find a place on here soon.
oh and maybe a few site improvements could be necessary

The Land of Enchantment

Most probably don't know that New Mexico is called the land of enchantment, but here I am telling you that it is. So I went to New Mexico for a couple days and had such a great time. It is such a different place than over here on the east coast..the food, the architecture, the people, the cost of living and just the style of living. Its crazy how it changes so much from each state in this country; makes for some excitement I guess. The main reason for going was a wedding but we did so much more. My mom and I went to Sante Fe for the day and just walked around and hung out. The historic downtown is set up where there is a park in the middle surrounded by tons of shops and people selling their handmade jewelry, so cool. I've never been when its snowing, so I definitely want to go back sometime in the winter. We stayed in Albuquerque in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and hiked around there one morning. I attempted at climbing this massive boulder for a sweet picture but realized my life would be in jeopardy on the way down, so I only went half way, smart thinking.kinda. And there would be pictures but my dumb camera got rained on by the stupid rain. What is it with me and water and electronics. Couldn't it have rained on my shoes or a book or I don't know something less expensive. Then the wedding was in Bernallio....soo gorgeous out there. You can see for miles. Okay, one of the best parts about going out there was that I got to see WIMBY!! She was so excited to see us, I think she remembered, of course she did, ill just tell myself that.

Only two more weeks left in d.c.....ahhhh I still have to go to every monument. shoot.

This is the part of my life I call 'running'

I felt like Will Smith on The Pursuit of Happiness on more than 2 occasions this weekend. I chased down public transportation like no other, I was sprinting- bags in hand every freakin time, a rush I tell ya. But unlike him, I made it, lucky me.

This past weekend I went to new york city. It was my first time there and I got to see my good friend, so that was so exciting. I took the bus leaving from Chinatown in d.c. Doesn't sound too promising does it? Well let me tell you, its wasn't. But hey you can't beat 35 bucks round trip, so keeping that in mind it was easy to be flexible. New York was great! We went to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, rode the Metro lots, ran along the Hudson river, walked through Central Park, ate lunch in Greenwich Village, tried to get dessert at Serendipity [booo lines], and swam in the ocean at Long Beach. WoW, all that in just two days, and I'm sure there is much more to see and do. I mean its only the biggest city in our country. Come to think of it, I just realized I didn't see any famous people, not that I was looking..well I guess that means one thing, famous people are just overrated. Well not really, it would be better to say famous people stakeouts are overrated. Until I venture off to more new places, I'm happy to be back in d.c.

Nationals Game

So you can't pass up free tickets to a mlb game. And I know most people think baseball is boring, but I love it. No joke, I find myself watching it on t.v. believe it or not. So our firm was giving away some tickets that were given to them, and being an intern I thought we wouldn't have a chance to get them, but hooray we did. What an American outing...baseball, beer, peanuts, the National anthem sung by some blonde chick, you can't beat that. Nor the 90 degrees weather, man it was hot. It made me miss Arkansas baseball games, since we skipped out on a whole season since we were in Rome. Well the fans here are sooo calm compared to Rome's sport, futbol and we actually clap when some dude on the other team hits a homer. In a soccer stadium in Italy they would want to steal their first born child, okay little harsh. But its pretty intense over there. Hope there are more Nationals games!

ahhh, public transportation

Yesterday I took a new route to the city, I went via metro. Not sure it has a cool name here, I think they just call it the metro. Well first I had to drive to the station that reaches out furthest to where I'm living. That was like a 45 minute drive b/c of sweet traffic, then the metro ride took like another 45 minutes. Got to work a little late that day, but they are so cool here it was no big deal. It was great to be able to ask a question or converse with the person sitting next to you and have a clear view out of the window. In Rome you had no idea there was even windows b/c of all the layers of graffiti. This city is graffiti free, at least the places I have been. Though I would have to say they did some pretty sweet graffiti work on the streets of Rome, especially on the way to the airport. Then of course I had to take the metro home, I fell asleep, kid you not, I slept the whole way and was relieved my bag was still in my lap when I woke up. Thinking about it, I missed the commuter bus that I usually take, I think I will go back to that route for getting into the city. Free parking, no traffic, naps on the way there and back and on occasion a Code Orange Day!

let the rain fall

So yesterday was the first time it had rained since I've been in d.c. It rained for only about 30 minutes, but it poured. And right in that time was when I had to walk to catch my bus. I was amazed at what I saw. Let me remind you though, that day on msn.com under the weather portion there was a rain cloud with a lightning, and I mean who doesn't have msn at their internet default page...really. So everyone should not have been caught off guard. There were people frantically running, falling and waiting under overhangs. I started to think about the most annoying people in Rome. It was the little guys who are in your face right when you get off the bus, who shove umbrella's in your hands [expecting money of course]. And how if one of these guys would migrate west they would make a fortune. I mean Americans are all about convenience, right? What isn't more convenient that someone handing you an umbrella when its raining out. I luckily had my umbrella, well my friends, one I borrowed.ha. This walk home may have been the best yet, beating the concert and sniper dude...maybe a close second.

Can you say random

So many random things go on in the city of Washington dc, and I'm not gonna lie, it scares me a little. Yesterday, I was eating my lunch in Dupont circle, like most days and some man was circling the fountain wearing a huge sign that read "Its gonna be BIG"..I'm thinking all the possibilities that could mean, but no one else was bothered so I just stared. And then, I nearly got a ticket for a whopping 25 bucks for crossing the street when no cars were coming. confused? yes, well the hand on the crossing sign was up, so no crossing is allowed, even if there are no cars in sight, and people get paid to sit there and monitor this...wow. Last week I saw some huge dude hanging out of a black suburban with a sniper scope gun..I only hoped the President was in the back seat, but that is some scary shit if you ask me. And the best of all, there was a concert going on today right off of a main street, they were playing some great oldies. And a couple of folks were showing off their dance moves right there in the middle. It was hilarious, incredibly random, but so great. Tune in later for more sightings.