nice day, folks! : a lot of pictures

my, my, my! 

The past couple of days have been filled with so many exciting adventures.

On Thursday, my dad & I went on a ride in a hot air balloon. We watched the sunrise and it was pretty much the best thing I've ever done in my life. We also adventured downtown Belleville & strolled through many antique and thrift stores. (Thrifting is always a good idea.)

On Friday, my lady best, Hillary, and I left to go to Nashville. We spent the night & adventured downtown Nashville, made some friends, and went to the flea market the next day. 

For the first time, it truly felt like summer. I mean it really felt like summer, the goodness of summer.  Windows rolled down, arm out the window, sun shining bright, sunglasses on, good music blasting, laughing and dancing.

Summertime is liberating, and all is gravy in my heart. :)

Actually, gravy wouldn't be good in my heart.

But you get it.

:)

bad days are good, too

hi!

I will be honest in saying that the past few days have been... weird. I felt more emotional than usual and little things were starting to either worry or bug me, and I really didn't like the feeling. Honestly, I was just really overwhelmed with life, relationships, and the future. I didn't feel content with anything, and I had no idea why. I was constantly changing my mind with both little things and major life decisions. (Decisions I didn't even need to think or worry about right now, honestly!) I have felt exhausted both physically and mentally and just really felt under the bus. It was like I wanted to ditch my classes and plans and stay in bed all day. But, I soon realized that was silly and I knew that there was no getting out of anything for the day, so I got myself up and going. 

I wish I didn't have those kind of days, but I'm pretty sure God allows those moments to happen enable for me to wake up and realize just how weak and needy I am when my heart becomes so worrisome, selfish and even cold. I've been completely conflicted lately and honestly, worrying about silly little things that shouldn't even be worried about. I really need to shake off this funk and tap into the law of conservation of energy, taking the time to take advantage of all the energy, movement, opportunities and blessings in this world that God has given to me. I need to persevere, dropping all of the excess weight and worry. I need to live in every moment for God and I need to live every moment knowing that God is with me, always.

Yeah, I just completely spilled out something that I didn't really want or need to reveal to the world wide web and my the whole two people that probably read this, but that's not everything I wanted to say. 

The whole point of this is to encourage any human being reading this to push aside any junk in your life, to push on, and to embrace the loved ones that God has placed in our lives to help brighten the day and serve as refreshers from weird funks -- which I am so thankful for. I'm so happy human beings have each other. It's so nice to know that we are not alone. 

With that said, I really think it's important for us to embrace the good days, but also the bad days. 

adventures to embark on.

This summer I'm pretty consumed with classes and such, so I don't really get to go on many far away adventures; however, I am getting to go to Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my brother, which I am pretty excited about.

Charlottesville, Virginia 

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Such a beautiful place! I do wish SIU's campus was as gorgeous as UVA's. 

While I don't get to travel much, or, really at all this summer, I hope to do so at some point in my lifetime. (Sooner rather than later, I hope!) Here's a list of my 5 places I would love to go (...in no particular order. I would feel really lucky and excited to get to go to any of them, really!)

1. The Swiss Alps

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Oh, my. I want to stay in a hut in the mountains. 

2. Barcelona, Spain

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This looks romantic and fun.

3. The Grand Canyon

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I just want to stay at this place for awhile. So much beauty. 

4.  Salvation Mountain in Niland, California

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I've been wanting to explore California for awhile, and this just looks like a really neat place. 

5. South Korea

(of course!)

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My heart gets really excited when thinking about Korea and its people! 

I feel like I'll be completely in awe of God and His creations when I explore these places. You know, "nature is God's first missionary." 

Where are some places you would like to adventure to? : )