I See Pink When I Turn Out The Light

Well, well. This is a big week, my friends. Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day. I bet most of y'all didn't even think about the first two holidays. Oh well! Is it really a big week? No. But Lent is one of my favorite traditions I have ever taken part in, so I'm excited. If you're taking part in Lent as well let me know what you're doing for your ... Lent-ing? (it sounds like a good word to me)

In celebration of the more famous, or infamous depending how you look at it, I have collected a bunch of images from my Outside board on Pinterest for . . . TRAVEL TUESDAY! With a Valentine's theme.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake - Bentonite Hills, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Photo: Joshua Cripps via Flickr

Pinned from: Fly Me There, by Junxx

Pinned from: Cabin Fever, by Barbara Smalley

The Mourne Mountains, Newcastle, Co Down by mcilrathf on Flickr

Monet's Gardens at Giverny by snap713 on Flickr

Pinned from: An Infusion of Lavender by Bonnie Jackson

by Steve McCurry

Pinned from: Adorable by Heather Mettra

Mystical Stairs, Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina; Pinned from Destinations by Jammie Friday

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. – Robert Louis Stevenson

The Thrill of Movement and Location

It's Travel Tuesday! I am actually really excited about this because I haven't posted about traveling or places I want to go since the summer when I posted my images from my 2 road trips ( found here, here and here) and when I wrote about wanting to see Ireland (here).

Lately my life has been all about "the next step"; with applying to graduate schools and even just dreaming about where I would like to live, I have gotten a little too caught up in living in the future more than once in the past weeks.

I would like to show you why, though. I am listing for you schools to which I am applying, and what travel aspect I look forward to for each destination.

First up:

The University of Texas


Austin City Limits: the longest running live music television program. Austin is the Live Music Capitol of the world, and I would love every second of it. Not to mention that The University is known for having one of the most beautiful campuses in [at least] the country.


Washington State University


First of all, the city of Pullman is nestled in a thick of trees and mountains. Second of all, there are sites like these all around: this is the Palouse River Canyon.



Oregon University


Another city within a forest within the mountains. Eugene, Oregon is surrounded by sights! And some of the most celebrated National Parks are within driving distance, like Mt Rainier, and Olympic, as well as a longer drive to Yosemite. Not to mention that it's only 2 hours up to Portland.

Willamette National Forest, directly east of Eugene. Actually, you should just see all the beautiful pictures from this amazing forest: check out the Google image search here.

The University of Colorado


Are you seeing a trend yet? I really would love to live in the forest with instant mountain access. I would choose the mountains over the beach any day. Boulder is a beautiful city, in a beautiful state. Plus, Colorado is known for its arts community as an ENTIRE STATE. Wow. Plus, Boulder is located right on the boarder of one of my favorite spots I visited over the summer: Rocky Mountain National Park.

This is Odessa Lake, right in the middle of this mystical national park.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago


SAIC. Talk about a school known for its arts. Chicago is a booming city itself, but the School of the Art Institute of Chicago definitely has a top reputation in the country. Honestly, if I got in to this school . . . I would feel extremely overwhelmed.


East Tennessee State University


This is not the last university within a forest within the mountains, but it is in my absolute favorite mountains I have visited thus far. I love the Blue Ridge, the Smokies, the Appalachians ... whatever you want to call them. They are beautiful and magical.



Bald River Falls, found in the neighboring Cherokee National Forest.

Burren College of Art


Ireland. Need I say more? Burren is a land of rock on the western coast of Ireland. Ballyvaghan, Ireland is located across an inlet from Galway. I get goose bumps thinking about this place. No really. I have them right now.


Burren National Park.


Where would you vote to live? I sort of hope I only get in to one school so I don't have to decide between all these amazing programs and places.

Don't do it for anything but the love of movement and location, Or the battle is lost. - Movement and Location, The Punch Brothers

Organize

So it turns out that it is really difficult to keep up with writing when I'm taking so many classes. Therefore, I made myself come up with a schedule of what will happen on what days, not as a commitment to write every day, but as a helpful push which will encourage me to write by already having a topic assigned depending on what day of the week it is.

Mondays will be Art day. This includes write up on my Favorite Artists (a few previous ones can be found by clicking the link), on pieces I have seen recently that really struck a chord, and on my own artwork. Hopefully some day soon this will also broaden to show reviews once I move out of Findlay.

Tuesdays will be for Travel. I love dreaming about where my next adventures will happen. I would love to share with you all the beautiful places I want to go.

Wednesdays are Home days. I will round up great images of home decor, furniture, and ideas that inspire me. I have watched this on several blogs I follow and absolutely love the days when they post. Check out Espacio Vital.

Thursdays we will explore the Do-It-Yourself world. I will post recent projects I have taken on as well as share projects that other bloggers have posted that I find especially useful or intriguing.

Friday will be Fun day. I love posting some well needed funnies to begin my relaxation for the weekend.

Saturday is a Style day. On Saturdays I will show you some of my favorite outfits of my week, ongoing trends, and great ways to spruce up any ensemble.

I really am excited to start posting more again, and can't wait to see what comes up. Have a wonderful weekend!

The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.  - William Wordsworth 

Experience {Happiness}

Why does it feel great to learn? Dopamine. Check out this article, Learn something new - your brain willthank you, where Dr Gary Marcus discusses why it feels good for your brain to learn a new skill.

However, you don’t need to pick up a new musical instrument or learn any knew skill to experience the dopamine rush that learning will give you. Get out and experience the world! It has become quite apparent to you, I’m sure, through reading my posts that I have a lot of interests: lots of DIY projects (haircoloring, making over my bedroom, earrings, and crafts), traveling, and I guess it’s inherent that I love writing also (poetry included).

Steps to make getting new experiences easier:

Make a List

I know I harp on this idea a lot, but list-making . . .  well, it makes life easier. Make a list of places you would like to go and things you would like to see. For example, on my list I would include bands I want to see, like Florence + the Machine, Punch Brothers, Neko Case . . . , cities I have never visited, such as New York and Chicago, as well as National Parks I want to see yet.

Set a Date

Decide exactly when you will do the things you want. Get your planner out now, load a new tab and do a Google search, make the necessary texts to invite friends. Go on. Do it.

Execute

Actually follow through with your plans. Your friends dropped out on you? Go anyway, make new friends while you’re there. An event got cancelled? Find a new one. Go through with your plan. Execution is key.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

Post-Game Recap

As you may have noticed if you read my posts regularly, I did not post Monday or Tuesday. Agh! I have been thinking for the past month that I may have to cut back on my posting come school time, but I thought it would be more of a choice than a necessity. Silly me. Well, I'm less than a week out and already feel like I have places to be and things to do, so on and so forth.

I really can't believe there are only 4 days left until classes start. I feel like this has been the longest summer in the world though so it's not that my break is ending too soon, but it has just gone on so long that it is a little unreal all that I have done and that it's coming to an end.

Recap on my summer of traveling:

Celebrated my 21^st birthday in Ohio with my dad.

Revamped my bedroom and livingroom.

Drove down to Texarkana, TX to live with me mum for a few months.

Visited Miami, FL.

Visited Ozark National Forest and the Cossatot.

Went to Dallas for a Rangers v. Tigers game.

Roadtripped through OK, KS, NB, SD, WY, CO, UT, AZ, NM, hitting up Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Devils Tower, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Zion, and Grand Canyon national parks.

Roadtripped through LA, MS, AL, GA, NC, TN, WV, stopping in Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

He who does not travel does not know the value of men. – Moorish proverb

Running From Star to Star Until I Drop

I did some writing while I was in Colorado and Utah. Obviously, there is a lot of time for reflection when you go on a 6 day driving excursion. So, here is the first thing I put down. I was still very excited to be having the experience 3 and 4 days in and was well aware that I was loving every moment of the drive and stops. I'm not editing or changing any of this … :

I used to think I was unsatisfied and that was the reason I wanted so much change all the time. I told myself that the real reason I wanted to travel was that I had a restless heart... but I'm starting to realize something else about myself... I really love life and this world. A thought occurred to me in Yellowstone: with a place so beautiful, how could I not want to see it all? With a population so diverse how could I not want to live all over the place? With a mind so dynamic, how could I not want more education? I want to experience, know, and be as much as possible.

Bison and the Road in Yellowstone National Park

I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till i drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. ― Jack Kerouac

I Saw Your Soul

mmm, I love a little poetry after supper ...

At last, another poetry day. For a while there I was hardly writing. I think there are these certain levels of anger I have to be within to write poetry and I was beyond the upper limits. Now I think the kingdom is back in order, that or my tolerance level has risen. Either way, here are some poems I wrote during my recent travels.

Get Behind Me

I walk with this limp.

I cannot remember

any other way.

When you get so used

to picking up the extra weight

what difference does

today make?

But I will not carry it tomorrow.

That's a new day

for new pain,

and you've burdened me enough.

Tonight I Am A Transylvanian

Pale, reclusive and coveting;

her dark eyes

pierce man's soul,

her luminous teeth

a man's carotid

so she never wore lipstick.

But they still came.

Whether for her skin

or life

she never asked.

When they'd remove

her lace

they were always entranced

by the white and subtle pink.

As a mister's hands

found her garter,

she would find a throbbing

neck

willing to be taken.

A disregard for pain

at the prospect

of her body.

As she wrapped her legs

around each,

her fangs broke

past the barriers of their

veins.

Going

It's not just a road

we're on,

it's a direction,

it's a choice.

I'm on

a dirt road, going

80.

I don't care if

yours is paved

or fucking gold;

I love my dirt road

and can't wait to see

where I'm headed.

109 In Arizona

My thighs

are so heavy

in these tight jeans.

They swear

if I don't free them,

I'll suffer

consequence.

We Met For A Few Seconds In Utah

You played

the guitar on the front step,

caught up in

years of thought,

frozen to that

chair

by all the cold.

Hair pulled

back to where your neck

and short sleeve met.

The wind pushed your chin

and lifted

the miles between us.

For a few seconds

I saw

your soul.

Back From the West

I managed to write one post while I was traveling, and then never had an opportunity to load it! How rude, I know. I have lots and lots of photos to share, some poetry, and a few grand ideas . . all in the few days before I leave for my Long Beautiful Drive back to Ohio. Hopefully I can fit it all in, and hopefully I'll have access to more internet for that trip. So, here's my one post I wrote on the second day:

I couldn't help but take in the land around me yesterday. I drove 17hrs through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and finally, South Dakota. Today my brother and I will be seeing the Badlands, Devils Tower, Mount Rushmore and potentially Crazy Horse Monument.

As I type, slowly rolling hills that make the ever expanding South Dakota horizon creep past the window. The sun has risen behind us, giving the land a dusty haze to its golden strands. A million yellow signs dot the road, advertising the Petrified Garden (family owned and operated) and, of course, Robert reads each of them aloud with satirical enthusiasm.

This is a good morning. It is the only morning. I am very much in danger of falling in love with waking up to open air and nothing but the sun on the horizon. I think I'll let myself fall.

Oklahoma was beautiful. I was so thankful for the drive through the OK state because the whole first half smelled like corn: beautiful, stringy, pungent corn. I have always loved the smell of it in Ohio, but never quite to this full appreciation. I really do love Oklahoma. I found myself singing Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa and thinking how I could be a farmer. I could be an Okie.

At first I was very sad to be in Kansas. The interstate we took until well past Topeka was extremely boring, but after turning down the country roads I was taken by the land again. Everything in Kansas was golden and ablaze. There are so few trees! The few large hills gave miles upon miles of horizon to my eyes. It was so hot that I dripped from anywhere my skin was touched, like my body had been tapped as a water source by anything that so much as gently grazed my leg. I would have written Kansas off. I'm so thankful it didn't let me.

As a Texas Longhorn, Nebraska is synonymous with Corn Husker . . . but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer amount of corn growing there, or as my brother said, “they've got that huskin' shit down.” It's unfortunate that by the time I may have noticed something other than the corn in Nebraska, it was dark and I was beginning to get loopy from exhaustion. Maybe I'll catch you on the flip side, Nebraska.

South Dakota . . . ah, South Dakota is a post of its own.

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get My Bags, I'm Leaving

Today is the day I'm leaving with my brother for our week of travels. I really REALLY hope there is nothing I'm forgetting.

Here are some photos from the places we are going that I dug up from my Outside board on Pinterest. I can't wait to have my own to load!! Please do me a huge favor through this next week of sharing my posts to other social media sites because I'm not so sure I will get to share them myself. Thank you!

Moraine Campground in Rocky Mountain

Angel's Landing in Zion

Devils Tower

Lower Falls in Yellowstone

Yellowstone

Arizona

Subway in Zion

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. - John Muir