I cannot believe it's been over a year since I've posted. Oops! Great news, I move to Florida in less than a month! I've told myself I will post on this blog every trip I've made in the last year before I move. Today's travel is THE GRAND CANYON.

 Living in AZ, the South Rim is obviously closer. However, my sense of direction and the fact that my passenger was sleeping resulted in accidentally ending up in Utah & the North Rim. It was a happy surprise, the North Rim is way more pretty (and less touristy) than the South Rim.

Some more random AZ pics, in no particular order. First off- Fourth of July!

Snow boarding in Flagstaff. Saying I'm terrible at snowboarding is an understatement. Regardless, it was fun :)

I had a super bright idea to buy a record player. This is probably the best investment I've made in a long time. To me, there is nothing like hearing music from a vinyl.

One of the best things about Phoenix? Street Tacos!!! mmmm they're unbelievably delicious.







 One day, I decided I hated the very boring white walls in my house. I grabbed a bottle of wine and set out on putting decals on my wall. By the time I was done with the bottle, the trees were up! They were moderately crooked, but I think they add character to my living room :)

"Memories are all we end up with. At least pick the nice ones."

Land of extremes. Land of contrasts. Land of surprises. Land of contradictions.... That is Arizona. ~Federal Writers Project, Arizona: The Grand Canyon State, 1956

I've officially lived here for more than a year :) I'm going to try to make it a point to upload pics every couple of days to get caught up.

My first few days out here I got to experience one of the biggest haboobs in Arizona's history. Right before a storm, the wind picks up the sand and dirt in the desert and brings it to the valley. Then, everything - and I mean everything - gets covered in dust.

So, one day I saw a haboob coming in, rushed to a mountain, and took pics of the city.

 

Even though Arizona is such a large city, there was a night where the stars were especially bright...

Oh, and the moon seems extra large here, too.

If only it were true

i moved to phoenix! Pictures are coming soon. However, in the meantime, i just finished another book, "If Only it Were True". Its the book the movie Just Like Heaven was based on. Just Like Heaven was super cheesy, so I honestly expected the book to not be so awesome, but I was proven wrong. My favorite part of reading is quotes in books that reveal insights of authors. This one had quite a few really excellent ones which I shall put on here to remember and share with you!
"All dreams have a price"- this hits pretty close to home for me. Most of my friends know I dream more than the average person. By dream, i mostly mean at night (i have two dreamcatchers above my bed which have seemed to change the issue- there are nights i've spent only dreaming, not sleeping, which is not good for the next day), but also my ridiculous amount of ambition. All dreams have a price.

"Sometimes our impulses and desires make us feel powerless. But part of the art of living is knowing how to fight that feeling; because when we're powerless, we get frightened, and then we lose our grip on our intelligence, our common sense, and we become weak. You're going to be scared in lots of ways in your life... But always fight back, and don't hesitate for too long. Think, decide, and then act. Don't have doubts. You have to act on your decisions or you'll be unhappy. Every decision you make can become a kind of game that helps you know yourself better and understand the world." To me, this is a fantastic quote that sums up advice quite well.

"If you want to know what a year of life means, ask a student who just flunked his year-end exams. Or a month of life: talk to a mother who has just given birth to a premature baby and is waiting for him to be taken out of the incubator before she can home him safe and sound in her arms. Or a week: interview a man who works in a factory or a mine to feed his family. Or a day: ask two people madly in love, who are waiting to see each other again. Or an hour: talk to someone with claustrophobia who's stuck in a broken down elevator. Or a second: look at the expression on the face of a man who has just escaped from a car wreck. Or one thousandth of a second: ask the athlete who just won the silver medal at the Olympic Games, and not the gold he trained for all his life. Life is magic."

Too deep and not pictures? perhaps, but oh man how i love to read.

Celebration, FL

Never have i been greeted by so many strangers in my life. Maybe its the Disney part of it...

Love this place. We even saw an alligator in the water :) And the bird above? we saw him catch the fish, kill the fish, eat the fish.

i get to work... where?!

I got to work in Downtown Disney, Orlando, FL for a few weeks. Here are some pics from the adventure :)

That hot air balloon led me to work every day

Outside of Planet Hollywood (across from the theatre), Jenny from Forrest Gump

One of the stops of the Ferry

Outside of LegoLand, This dude's made out of legos! There were also some reenactments of scenes from Disney movies made out of legos.

Fultons Crab House- super expensive & fancy but delicious nonetheless.

Goofy & me at disney breakfast. It was early, so please excuse the appearance. :D