I'm taking an arabic class this semester

  

 ضمير وجدان

Submissions for an Exhibit

Flightless

I sent in three of my favorite photos to be considered for an exhibit.  This is the first time that I've actually tried to publish any of my work and it's super exciting!  Even if none of them are chosen I'm still happy that I finally did something with them.

I just can't resist a good close-up

Macro photography is my favorite, so when the opportunity presents itself I tend to run with it.  Then I end up with a billion photos of the exact same thing (from different angles and stuff... you know).

 

I'm linking up to:

I'm listening to:

Que te vaya bien!

simply, wow

This post is about a band I found, but first I have to explain how I found it.

Last night I had a horrible dream about a kitten killing a kitten. One of my cats is pregnant, that's probably where the dream came from. It woke me up and I was so horrified by it that I still haven't gone back to sleep, and that was about four hours ago.

So I read the Bible, finished another book of mine (called The Book of Hours, I definitely recommend it if you're into life tragedy, love, mystery, and happy endings).  After that I got up to make sure my cats were ok (no kitten killing please), made some tea to sooth my poor throat, and settled down to skim a magazine.  In that magazine I read a small excerpt about a band called Gungor.  It really got my attention so, with nothing better to do, I went to my computer and looked them up on youtube.

and wow. simply wow

This band is a mix of Sigur Ros, Sufjan Stevens, Muse, and God. What an amazing combo

Beautiful Things by Gungor

... very appropriate that I found this song after that horrid dream

Easy Watercolors DIY

      Lately I've been really into watercolors, hence the background of this blog (which has since changed).  I'm not good at making something look real, but that doesn't stop me from being creative.  I needed some inspiration for my most recent project so I made a small playlist that I can paint to.  It's amazing how music influences so much of my life

My Playlist:

1. Downtown Song by Anberlin
2. Life in Technicolor II by Coldplay
3. Rainy Day by Coldplay
4. Brightly Wound by Eisley (featured below)
5. Pin Your Wings by Copeland
6. Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys
7. Winter Song by Ingrid Michaelson
8. Bien o Mal by Julieta Venegas
9. When You Were Young by The Killers
10. Angel de Amor by Maná
11. Beautiful Day by U2
12. Kids by MGMT
13. Everything is Alrighty by Motion City Soundtrack
14. The Outsiders by Needtobreathe
15. Coming Home by New Found Glory
16. Hallelujah  by Paramore
17. Sweet Honey by Slightly Stoopid
18. Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot

See the DIY after the jump!!
~*~*~
Ver el DIY despues de la conexión que sigue!!

Home again

Una parte de mi familia chilena y yo :)

 Well, Chile is officially over.  Leaving was hard, missing it was harder, but getting home felt pretty great.  My boyfriend picked me up at the airport and it was so good to be with him again!  He took me home and I spent a lovely, warm, weekend just relaxing and recuperating from my trip. 

Thank you for reading my blog and keeping up with my travels!  There will be more adventures to come, life is an adventure in itself.

Mi pololo y yo :)

When you can't sleep... blog

Well my original plan for tonight was to sleep... but my chilean sister is having a party downstairs.  Now I can't because the music from downstairs, which is not loud, somehow becomes loud on its way up into my room.  So the only thing I can really do is blog! 

My most recent excursion was to the Ocoa National Park.  Hiking into this park was like stepping right into Jurassic Park!  I half expected a T-rex to come charging out of the forest at any moment.  It was so awesome because there were palm trees, cactus, and snow covered mountains all in the same place. 

"There's more to living than being alive with downcast eyes"

The palm trees were not actually palms.  They are a type of grass, which is insane to think about.  I imagined that I was an ant walking through a patch of grass (it's basically what we are in comparison to the magnificence of this world and universe anyways).

The views were absolutely breath taking.  Hills behind hills behind hills, all covered in green and maybe snow.  It was so difficult to follow the group and enjoy the scenery at the same time because the path was pretty tricky, one misstep would mean tumbling down into mud or rocks.

It happened to be raining the morning we left and I did not buy a poncho because I was lazy and just wanted to get home the day before.  It was ok though because I had my kind-of-rainjacket and an umbrella.  When we got to the park and all suited up I was kind of glad not to have a poncho...

they look just a little silly :)

Never Forget

I only have a few days left in Chile.  This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I am constantly thanking God for blessing me so much!  I have made so many great friends, I have another family, and I have survived in a Spanish speaking country!  The moments that I am most proud of myself are when I am able to sit down with my family and have an intelligent conversation, all in spanish (I'm just as proud if and when I can carry on a conversation in the market with a complete stranger).  Chile is now a part of my heart and I will return one day to share more of life here.  One month seemed to fly by, and yet I have done more things than I would normally do in one year!

 As a recap, I arrived and watched the world cup games Chile vs Spain, and Chile vs Brazil (all on tv of course), visited Chillán and went snowboarding in the Andes, visited Valparaiso, and Santiago.  I went horseback riding through sand dunes and galloping along the beach, found my love for Alpacas, and experienced Jurassic park (minus the dinosaurs).  I lived with a Chilean family, danced the night away, and learned to speak spanish.  I ate my heart's content of bread, paltas, empanadas, and tasted fine Chilean wine.  I saw sealions, penguins, and alpacas.
I may have frozen every night in the house without heat, but wouldn't trade it for the world.  

 Leaving for Chile
[photo taken by my sister]

 Art in Valpo

 Sunset in Santiago

 Sunrise in the Andes

 Canopy tour in the Andes.
[photo taken by a friend]

 Horse show at Puro Caballo

 Cabalgata through sand dunes.
[photo taken by a friend]

 El gran asado despues

[not my photo] Wine tasting

 Sealions, lobos marinos

Amazing Alpacas

Palm tree and snow

Jurassic Park

Amor de la Luna