gamble's rambles

Our last day in DC was filled with lots of house, and lots of driving, and, therefore, lots of traffic… 

Our Southern selves were really wanting Chick-fil-A… what could be a better breakfast? Mr. GPS led us to two different stores, but both were in malls, so they weren’t open for breakfast. Rude. So, we found an alternative and made our way to Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. (Look at the picture of Mom and me: Can you tell that it was freezing? Way to catch up with us, Winter!)

   

     

Mount Vernon was pretty incredible. It’s HUGE! And the land is just immaculate. Situated on the Potomac (then spelled Patowmack) River, the home and its thousands and thousands of acres overlooks virgin forests and a gorgeous section of the water. True waterfront property if I do say so myself… 

I snapped this amusing photo of Mom and Dad. I can hear Dad’s thoughts…. Well, let’s just see now… We could do something like this at our house. Or at the farm. Yes, yes we could.

After we toured the home and the grounds (well, a small, small portion of the 8,000 acres there), we left Mount Vernon. The presidentially pardoned turkey was on his way to be released there, and we assumed that a portion of America would follow, so we got out of there. But first we stopped in their education center. I’d seen a sign for teacher resources. I asked a man about them. He looked at me and gave me a face that read I’m sorry, but are you even out of high school?. But, alas, I have my official Mount Vernon teacher kit. Yes. We also saw this beauty…. a scale model of Mount Vernon MADE ENTIRELY OUT OF SUGAR. Perfect gingerbread house? Yep.

We headed back into DC to make a stop at the National Archives Shop, as it had some pretty neat little things. We’d wanted to buy stuff while we were there on Monday, but the thought of lugging it around with us all day was far from appealing. With some goodies for my roommates, Christmas presents, gag gifts, and my new book (Confederates in the Attic… I can’t wait to read it! It’s my reward for finishing my WWII reading… Ugh. I’m almost there, though!), we left DC to head to Monticello.

We cured our Chick-fil-A cravings by finally passing a real restaurant. Little did we know that traffic would be h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. What should’ve been a solid two hours took three and a half. Gross. Traffic was bad going into the city and going out of the city. The reversible three lanes in the center of I-95 did little to nothing to alleviate the mess…. We rounded the top of the hill on which Monticello sits at 4:47 pm. They close at 5. Yes, we were that family rushing into the ticket booth. Safe. The last tour is at 5. As we were waiting in the shuttle, we overheard this on the their walkie talkies:

Mr. Ticket Booth Man: Yes, we have three for the 5:00 tour.

Mr. Shuttle Bus Man: I have those three with me right now.

Mrs. Tour Guide Lady: Alright, bring ‘em on up. Last tour.

So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we had a private tour of Monticello. And it was at sunset. (Which means that it was pitch black dark when we finished, but well worth it!) 

     

Monticello, home to Thomas Jefferson, was quite an interesting place. He was, well, a nerd. A big nerd. And he doesn’t like to waste space. So, evidence of his nerdom is all over his house. He has a clock that spans his entrance way. It also has a built-in calendar. Steel balls (they look just like the once that the Trunchbull uses for shot put in Matilda) are connected on a huge cable. They move throughout the week to indicate what day it is. The clock was designed in Philadelphia, so when he moved it to Monticello, his ceilings weren’t quite tall enough. Thus, Saturday ends up under the floor in the basement. Oops. But really, he had some of the neatest things. Automatic doors? Check. Copy machine? Check. Weather station? Check. I’m quite impressed, Mr. Jefferson. 

Here’s his kitchen. It’s under the house. Pretty fancy, but I’d still take Julia Child’s… And here’s his wine cellar. The coolest part is that there is a fancy lift (think like a dumb waiter) that goes from this room up into the house. Atta boy.  

      

Monticello and Mount Vernon were pretty amazing. I still cannot fathomed that those were built way back then… and that they were built so well! Impressive, guys, impressive. Once again, I’d like to be the First Lady. Or the First Daughter. I’d be happy with being the First Dog, too… Even way back then! 

We drove back to Arlington to the hotel (this time it only took two hours, thank goodness!) and called it a night! 

Well, day 2 in the city was a long day, but a great one nonetheless. (I’m moderately confident that my feet fell off somewhere in the Smithsonian Institution around, say, 3 pm, but other than that, we’re doing just fine.) 

We started the day off on the Metro again. I must say that riding any sort of subway system reminds me of two things:
1. Law and Order: SVU… Yeah, the best episodes usually have some sort of stake out/police chase/epic scene in the subway. I kept anticipating the sighting of Mariska Hargitay or Chris Meloni (okay, or even just Ice-T) over my shoulder. Nope. But, we did see the Metro Police be-bopping from car to car.
2. Concentration Camps… Yeah, not a good memory. I remember going to the Chick-fil-A bowl for New Year’s Eve my senior year of high school with my best friend (both then and now!). She made a comment whilst we were riding MARTA about how herds of people going to the same place make her think of concentration camps. That, coupled with all of this WWII reading, made me think about that a lot on the Metro. There are probably a million happier things I could think about…

We began our Smithsonian marathon at the National Air and Space Museum. (This only encouraged my recent dreams of being both a flight attendant and an astronaut.) Dad and I decided to enjoy endure a ride in a flight simulator. Let’s just say that Dad had to take a break afterwords… It reminded Mom and I of that time he, uh, lost it after a helicopter ride one summer in Hawaii. Oh well…. lesson learned. And, here he is, taking aforemetioned break: 

I really, really, really LOVED the space part of the museum. I had flashbacks to a certain GEOL 4750 class, but that was okay. One comment about everything: Poor Pluto. Seriously. Give the poor guy a break. When I was your age, Pluto was a planet. But really, let’s be honest. It’s true. Plant #9 (or shall we say Ex-Planet #9) seems to have lost his place in the museum. It’s obvious that he’s been removed from models and pictures and posters. For example, look below. You can see that spot beneath Neptune. Yep: blank. Black. Nothing. Poor Pluto. 

After lunch (by “lunch”, we really mean paying an arm and a leg at the Smithsonian… I guess you have to pay for something sometime while you’re there!), we walked down to the National Museum of Natural History. This began a never ending epoch epic (sorry, couldn’t resist that nerdy pun… if you don’t get it, you obviously never spent time in GEOL 4750) flashback to Dr. Freeman-Lynde’s class. While it was all evolutionary-based teaching, it was so, so interesting. The models, replicas, and fossils were astounding. As was the Hope Diamond! 

Dad had a conference call in the afternoon, so he and Mom took a break. I took a walk down to the Washington Monument, down through the National Mall, and to the Ellipse. (These all seemed much closer before I began my walk… thus, my legs later fell off. Seriously.) After that, we headed to the National Museum of American History. SO LEGIT. Dad enjoyed the transportation exhibits. (My favorite part was the inclusion of the early 1990’s Dodge Caravan, every soccer mom’s dream of my childhood, complete with the wood-panelled sliding side door. If only there’d been a white Astro van for the Gamble representation…) Mom really enjoyed the First Ladies exhibit. Those gowns were exquisite! And, I think Nancy Reagan is just precious. And Laura Bush? What a lady. I’d love to live in the White House… just sayin’. But my favorite, favorite exhibit was…. Julia Child’s kitchen. Of course! Here it is in all its splendor! 

And, two Julia quotes…. which are constant thoughts in my mind:

    

We rode the Metro back to the hotel, took a much needed nap, and then went here….

…. and bought this ….

…. which opened up to this ….

OH BABY. Starting at the top, left to right: chocolate cubed (I can’t do super script, darn you Tumblr), milk chocolate birthday cake (my dessert), vanilla with chocolate (Dad’s dessert), red velvet (Mom’s dessert), milk chocolate birthday cake again, red velvet again, caramel apple, mocha, pumpkin spice, chocolate ganache, chocolate birthday cake, salted caramel…. Mmmm. Of course Georgetown Cupcake was playing U2 while we were making our purchase. Perfect song choice, might I add:

Oh, oh oh, the sweetest thing! 

 

geales:

Especially a one Miss Katie Gamble… I feel like this will be our mantra next year.

Dear pre-pubescent boys,

  Axe is a spray, not a shower.

Sincerely, your nauseated teacher.

This trip to DC has made me re-think my post-grad options. What would I love to do besides teaching? Well, let’s just see…

• Flight Attendant
• Pilot (Not after my flight simulator experience with Dad as the pilot today…)
• Astronaut  
• Paleontologist
• Zoologist (thank you Museum of Natural History)
• Colonial American historian
• (Let me rethink that) Historian of any kind
• First Lady (or first daughter… come on, Dad, you were once in politics…)
• And, of course, the excitement of going to Georgetown Cupcake tonight leads me to, once again, want to be a baker forever… Surprised? 

Well, if you think that the Clark Griswold family never made it to DC, you thought wrong. The Gambles have arrived… and the vacation is in full swing. 

After an uneventful flight, we arrived in the nation’s capitol yesterday evening. We made it to our hotel with no problem, however Dad suggested that we leave breadcrumbs to find our way back to the airport. Thank you, GPS, for only being moderately confused. After dinner at PF Chang’s (delicious… nom nom nom), we called it a night.

We headed into DC this morning. After getting our little Metro passes (and sadly, demagnetizing one, leaving us semi-stuck in the subway), we made our way into the city. While waiting for the train to arrive, I hear Dad make this “beeeeeep beeeeeeep” noise. I look his way, rather inquisitively. His response? “Dork-o-meter”. Yes, Mr. Businessman had just passed, pocket protector in shirt, briefcase in tow. Way to go.

We walked from the subway stop in the city to the National Archives. We perused through an outdoor art gallery that certainly held some, uh, interesting pieces. (I’m not one for modern art…) It also held an outdoor ice skating rink, even though the weather is quite mild (which is quite nice, might I add). A family passed with a ton of young children, all of whom were whining to skate. The dad quickly replied “Uh, you have to have your own skates. Next.” A total lie, but hilarious nonetheless.

We enjoyed the morning at The National Archives. They had a Civil War exhibit, which was pretty interesting and had many interesting artifacts. I’m still impressed with wartime secret codes. I’d love to be a spy, though I know I’d laugh too much. Speaking of laughing, we passed a group of older folks all wearing matching outfits… Their outfit of choice included scrub-type shirts with turkeys all over them. When I say all over them, I mean all over them. I couldn’t look at Mom for fear of laughing. Dad, sadly, didn’t notice. I don’t know how he missed the flock of turkeys in the lobby…

We saw the Magna Carta, the Constitution (by the way, Thomas Jefferson, I definitely noticed the misspelling of “Pennsylvania”), the Declaration of Independence, and The Bill of Rights. I couldn’t help but think about how much I’d love to be with Nicholas Cage in National Treasure. Also, I’m quite stunned by how much those documents have faded. You can barely tell that there are words in our Constitution.

For lunch, we hit up The Hard Rock Cafe. Thankfully, we beat the tour group of 100+ school kids…. Part of me dreads the possibility of having to lead week-long field trips. Ugh. Dad, however, still embraces his inner child whenever possible. After sitting down at our table, he decided to launch his straw wrapper at me. His aim was a little off, as aforementioned wrapper soared right over my shoulder, impaling the older gentleman behind me. Oops. 

We then went to Ford’s Theater and Museum. Sadly, the house across the street where Lincoln was taken and soon died was not open to the public. But, the theater and museum were very, very interesting. Thankfully, since all of the diplomats are off for the week, DC is pretty quiet, meaning no lines! Woo!

Also, the afternoon held the highlight of my trip: The Newseum! This news media museum is pretty darn cool, if I do say so myself. They have all sorts of things, from an Elvis exhibit, to a 4D movie, and everything in between. We saw front pages from the world’s most memorable news stories, all of the Pullitzer Prize winning photographs, footage and artifacts from all eras, and more. The 9/11 exhibit hit close to home. The World War I + II stories made my history class come to life. The portion of the Berlin Wall on display was chilling.

On a lighter note, Dad sure did enjoy the gift shop. He picked up a tie, turned it over, and said “Katie - look! It’s a G33!!!!” … to which I quickly replied “Uh, Dad, that says ‘Geek’.” Whoops. (To his credit, it did say G33K, but it was absolutely hilarious.) Mom had to sit down due to her uncontrollable laughter. We still laughed about that (and the straw wrapper launching incident) at dinner.

After the Newseum, we walked down to the capitol and were able to catch The National Mall at sunset. It was just gorgeous!

   

We braved the Metro once again, solving Mom’s demagnitization issue and, in doing so, getting on the wrong train. Whoops. We made back safely, though, no need to fear.

We decided to look at the city by night, which really translates into Let’s take the wrong road out of every roundabout, always returning back to Virginia Avenue, never making it to the Lincoln Memorial parking lot, and driving into Arlington National Cemetery thrice. Oh well, we got to see ALL of downtown at night! Sadly, you can’t get close to The White House anymore. I was excited about seeing the National Christmas Tree, but only 1/12th of it was lit up. Oh well…


We were exhausted, so we had a late dinner and came back to the hotel. I find myself snuggled in the middle of a king sized bed, surrounded by a dozen feather pillows, watching Gossip Girl. Typical.

I’m sure that tomorrow holds just as many Griswold moments as we venture into the Smithsonian and maybe, just maybe, Georgetown Cupcakes. :o) 

Welp, right now I’m in the air flying to DC. Wahoo! (Thanks, Google for free in-flight WiFi. Oh, and Delta, you’re pretty fancy playing 30 Rock and giving me Sun Chips and Coke Zero. Sometimes it’s the little things in life!) Anyways, I began thinking about the last time I flew…

It’s been 4 years (almost exactly!) since the last time I flew in a plane. For some, that might not be that long of a time. But, I feel like it’s pretty abnormal in my family, considering Dad flies every week and Meg flies a ton. And I feel like a lot of my friends have studied abroad, so they’ve all got me beat.

So, anyways, almost exactly four years ago, I flew to Italy on a senior trip with a bunch of my friends. (Hey, when you go to a small, private school, you’re friends with just about everyone.) It was an 11-day journey over Thanksgiving Break. We were seniors in high school. We thought we were old. We had a semester left of high school. None of us knew where we’d be going to college. We all hoped for Georgia, but acceptance letters were still a month away. Just look at us… mere babies.

 

And look at us now…

 

(And, to be honest, that’s not even “now”. That was on my 21st birthday, over 6 months ago…)

But so much has changed since then. If you’d asked me where I’d be now, I’d tell you I’d be in nursing school somewhere. I would’ve either have gone to UGA or to Samford. I’d probably have guessed that 22-year-old-me would be dating someone by now. I’d have said that I’d have it all together, that I’d know where I was headed. I’d probably die if I saw my current fashion sense… t-shirts, Chacos (heaven forbid!), Tom’s, etc. I ‘d never have guessed that I’d love youth ministry. Or that I’d love outdoorsy things like waterfall jumping, rafting, and the like. I would probably laugh if you named off my current friends, thinking that that just wouldn’t happen. 

Little did I know then that in just a few weeks, so much would happen. Just before that Christmas, with my parents in Boston for a Christmas party and my sister being a working girl in the big city, I found myself alone in Macon, rushing my grandfather to the hospital. I didn’t know that I would’ve been in Italy for his last Thanksgiving. I didn’t know that that Christmas would’ve been the hardest, two days after his funeral. I didn’t know that my acceptance into UGA would’ve been the bright spot in that dark week spent in the ICU.

Who would’ve thought that a horrendous experience in O-Chem would’ve prompted me to change majors… to become, of all things, a teacher? Who would’ve known that I’d be best friends with girls from high school, that I’d be known as the girl who baked cakes, that I’d love student teaching, that I’d be the biggest nerd around (okay, we all knew that), and that I’d have an insane passion for youth?

He knew. That’s what. And it’s times like these when I’m so, so thankful for the Lord’s great sovereignty. As I find myself in a similar situation —-who knows what comes after May—-, I can cling to only that. He knows what’s ahead, and what’s ahead is the best. And in that alone, I can trust. Praise the Lord!

Who knows… in four years I might just be on a plane somewhere over Thanksgiving and look back again, laughing at what I thought my future would look like. Because, let’s face it, I’m not a prophet. 

I’ve realized that there are strange things that I do without even realizing it. Living in a college world has, well, made me do bizarre things. Like… I’d rather eat standing up. Sometimes it’s at the counter in the kitchen, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes I’m just walking around the house. (I guess that when there’s no one else around, why sit at the table?) Also, since I don’t have a desk I find myself often putting my computer on my bed and kneeling (usually just on one knee) on the floor to use it. Hmm… peculiar. 

Maybe being in Washington, DC will inspire me to read roughly one thousand pages concerning our nation and World War II. Hmm… maybe not. Oh well. It was a good thought.

Just a day shy of a week early, we had Gamble Family Thanksgiving tonight. I came home from Athens only to open the door and have my olfactory senses go crazy. It smelled like Thanksgiving! And it was delightful! Since we leave for DC on Sunday, and the newlyweds are going to the in-laws for Turkey Day, we had our own little celebration a bit early. I’ll admit that it will be strange not being with Meg on Thanksgiving. But, I did this my senior year of high school, too. (Except that I’ll be in DC instead of Italy…)

We had our pretty standard Thanksgiving meal, complete with pumpkin cheesecake (oh baby!). It’s about time… I just love Thanksgiving. We sat around the dining room table telling funny stories. I’d forgotten about the time I had to go see our doctor neighbor when I was 4 because I somehow stuck the corner of a book up my nose and it wouldn’t stop bleeding. (That’s probably one of the top 5 ways to know that your child will grow up to be a nerd. The next is when they’re SUPER SUPER SUPER stoked about going to DC!!!!) We laughed about our haunted house in Florida, about the crazy neighbors we’ve had, and the many, many family trips to Disney World. (We may or may not have even watched YouTube videos of our favorite Disney rides. Dad’s response was: “G.U….. grow up.” Meh. I’ll pass, thanks though!)

And now, after having a quick visit from the roommate and the boyfriend, I find myself sitting at the kitchen table solo, (okay, with Mumford and Avett), working on lesson plans. But I’ve almost finished polishing them (whoop, whoop!) and may even submit them early. Everyone else has been in bed for quite some time. I feel like such a youngster these days…  

When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise.

Unnumbered comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From Whom those comforts flowed.

When in the slippery paths of youth
With heedless steps I ran,
Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe,
And led me up to man.

Through hidden dangers, toils, and deaths,
It gently cleared my way;
And through the pleasing snares of vice,
More to be feared than they.

O how shall words with equal warmth
The gratitude declare,
That glows within my ravished heart?
But thou canst read it there.

Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Hath made my cup run o’er;
And, in a kind and faithful Friend,
Hath doubled all my store.

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the last a cheerful heart
That tastes those gifts with joy.

When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I’ll pursue
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.

When nature fails, and day and night
Divide Thy works no more,
My ever grateful heart, O Lord,
Thy mercy shall adore.

Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
For, oh, eternity’s too short
To utter all Thy praise!

Joseph Addison, 1712

Dear Friends Down Below,
It’s safe up here. I promise. How many times have you been on a roof? The longer you spend up here, the more comfortable you become. So, get yourself up here! If you were up here for a few days, it would be like nothing! Look, Katie and I came up here without any problems at all. It’s perfect. And we’ve laid down the blankets so we can snuggle. Come on. It’s our roof. There are a few clouds. But they’re moving. So, by the time you get up here, the clouds will have parted and we will see it all. The meteor shower is beginning in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Come.

I really enjoyed Brooke’s 4 am pre-party lecture to those (aka everyone except us) still standing on the ground. I’m thankful that it coerced all but one up to the roof. We’d tested the ladder before climbing up there (okay, well, Tyler only climbed half-way up, but still), we’ve been up there before, and hey: IT’S A METEOR SHOWER. 

As Brooke and I snuggled up on the roof waiting for courage to rise up from those still settled on the ground, my favorite comment was:

Brooke: Katie, the worst thing that could happen right now…
Me: Don’t say it.
Brooke: Surprise earthquake. 
Me: Aren’t all earthquakes typically surprises?

Well, in time, we had four more friends up on the roof. And sadly, there was some significant cloud cover. Cloudy with a chance of meteors. But, after a while, there was a good break in the clouds, and we saw a few meteors. One would shoot past, followed by several oooooooooooos, and then WHAT? I MISSED IT. DANG IT.

Well, all in all, meteor shower partay was a success. (Except that I was too tired and cold to make pancakes upon our return inside.) We should definitely do it again next time. Or just have a sunrise partay. Or a sunset partay. Or a “Look, we have a roof!” partay. Hmm…. 

Maybe rainy days aren’t so bad after all… I PASSED THE THREE GACE TESTS THAT I TOOK! Wahooooooooo! I guess I can say that this is the day that I became a teacher, a real teacher, a real certified teacher. Oh buddy.

Today is one of those days when I wish I was four years old… when I could just hide under the bed from the rain, and snuggle in my bed all day, and avoid the real world, and the fact that I’m growing up, and that college is ending soon, and other things like that. But, alas, I’m twenty-one.

Well, over a week ago when I was in the middle of the I’m-so-sick-and-have-to-teach-every-day-and-do-lesson-plans-for-my-unit-on-top-of-9085897-other-things-life-will-never-slow-down week, that sweet sister of mine (thestrawberryswing.com) tagged me in this quiz she took. Granted, I feel like a middle schooler filling this out. Which, then again, I feel like a middle schooler approximately 9.48 times each day, beginning with my love of peanut butter and jelly and ending with my inhaler and early bedtime. (I will say that I’m quite thankful this quiz doesn’t ask silly middle school questions or promise that if I send this to 13 people by 11:11 tonight that my wildest dreams will come true. Ha.) So, here it is:

If there was an extra hour in your day, what would you spend it doing?
Hmmm…. that’s a tough one. What would I spend it doing? I’ll let you know for sure this time next week. I’ll have so many extra hours each day next week now that life will be back to normal outside of student teaching. I’ve enjoyed my first three days off, but they’ve been super busy between finishing up stuff with school, writing a paper, hanging out at the Health Center, and nannying for a family. So, next week I plan to use my new time by…
- sleeping (even though I still naturally wake up at 6 am)
- reading (good reading, not required stuff for WWI/WWII class)
- hanging out with people (without my mind be preoccupied with work)
- journaling (because that hasn’t happened much lately)
- a whole lot of nothing (yes!) 

What movie have you watched the most?
Oh man, I’m not really sure about this! If it were a TV show, I know that it would be Law and Order: SVU without a doubt. If it were a song, it would be Don’t Stop Believin’. (Well, actually, iTunes informs me that it’s Jesse McCartney feat. TPain singing Body Language. That’s not embarrassing at all.)  But a movie. Hmmm. My sister said Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s probably an accurate guess. (I don’t vork vith ze males; I uzed to be one.) We watched that far too many times growing up. Or maybe it’s one of those movies that TBS plays night after night after night… like My Best Friend’s Wedding, or Runaway Bride, or Titanic. (Yikes. I said it. Forgive me.) Or maybe it’s Top Gun. Or You’ve Got Mail. Oh… who knows, who knows! Or perhaps it’s some Disney classic…. Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast. I just can’t decide! 

Which is worse? Being in a place that is too loud or too quiet?
Oh, too loud for sure! I can’t handle really loud places. I don’t like crowds. I’m comfortable with total silence. Plus, if it’s too loud, you can put on some music, or hum, or talk to yourself… 

Are you generally an optimist, a pessimist or a realist?I’d say somewhere between a realist and an optimist. I hope for the best, but know that this isn’t Eden, so things happen. I try to be as optimistic as possible with a good dose of realism. I’m not such a big fan of pessimism to be honest…

Who is your favorite celebrity crush?
My roommates make fun of me for this all of the time. I’m a big fan of Chris Meloni (Detective Stabler on Law and Order: SVU). And of… Alec Baldwin. I don’t know why. Don’t ask. But I have to agree with the sister on Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester on Glee). 

What is the top thing to do on your bucket list?
Hmmm… As much as I don’t want it to happen, I think that graduation is the next big thing to be crossed off the bucket list. Hopefully it will be followed by:
- get a job- first day of school as a teacher
- have my own classroom (and decorate! and organize! and arrange!)
- teach someone to read
- go back to Italy in 2016 like we all promised to do senior year
- go on another mission trip (maybe spring break!)
- oh, there’s so much more to do!

Would you rather be a great photographer, dancer or singer?
Oh, this is a tough one! I wouldn’t classify myself as “great” (or even “mediocre”) in any of these aforementioned categories to be completely honest… I’d love to be a great photographer. I have such a deep admiration for people that can just capture the most incredible things with such ease. I am definitely not one of them. We’re lucky if I didn’t chop anyone’s head off… Dancer. HA. What a joke. We’re not even going to go there. (Though, my first time in a middle school classroom, my students taught me to do the stanky leg for my sorority formal…) Singer. My sister and dad, as well as many of my close friends, are incredible singers. I wish I was! 

Welp, that’s my quiz. Now it’s your turn:
- Geales at Beautiful Views
- Elyssa at Sweet Golden Climb
- Sarah at Tea With Charlie D.
- Meredith at Lovely/Foul
- Tarver at From Milly To The City