Kenya

While in College I was fortunate enough to go to Kenya for a month. A lot of people supported me financially and I was able to volunteer for 3.5 weeks in a small school and orphanage and then travel on a safari for at one of the world's largest game parks for 3 days. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The people are beautiful and fascinating and the culture is so interesting. We went to Nairobi for a few days, a very large city. We saw the city, we also saw Kibera, the second largest slum in Africa. We were placed in a small village called Kiambu outside of a town called kisii in Eastern Central Kenya. Volunteering was a great experience, and living with the family fully immersed us in all the culture. We ate the food the served us, showered with buckets, slept in wooden bunk beds, taught in the schools, walked everywhere they did. The safari was incredible, we saw all the animals you can imagine and then some. This experience exceeded every expectation I could have. Thank you to all who helped me be able to do it.



Most of the kids at the Private School I was at.





My 5th Grade Class



Pictures don't capture how green everything was, this is where Obama's family is from, Kisi.

Everyone covered their clay walls with newspapers for decorations.

Building a shelf, we bought the wood, the equipment, no kit or instructions, just pure brains and muscles, we rocked it!



Our Shelf!




This is just one picture of the Slum we spent two days at.



The best food in Kenya!! Mandazi, I tried so hard to find a recipe when I came home to no aveil.

We were able to vist a town on the West Coast called Mombasa, riding a camel on the beach was like $5 USD so of course we did it and it was super cool!

This is the Great Rift Valley, Lion King!!

While our Van was broke down I played with a Machete.

Mombasa Beach, full of sand fleas!!

The kids with the books we were able to get for them:)



Delphina



Baby Bananas, so cute.

Oh hey

Wildebeast were EVERYWHERE, June is migration season and we saw them all over.

Taking a break from hunting their prey.

So majestic

There is a Crocodile directly behind us and all that could protect us is our guide who has a rifle in hand.

Masai Village, their houses are made to protect them from Lions and other animals.

The Masai women did a special dance for us.

Cheetah, he was pacing forever.

Lake Nakuru, full of flamingos

There are different kinds of Giraffes, the ones at this park were so stunning.



We were so close to everything, it felt surreal!



Rhino Crossing

Creepy little guy, he wanted to get into our van and drive it away.

Probably stupid, but great pic!

Weekend Snowboarding Trips

My husband and I have a small group of close friends in our hometown that all love to Ski and Snowboard. About 5 years ago we started going on annual ski trips to various locations. We made these trips 3-4 day road trips with excessive driving times and stays in cheap hotels.

Ski Trip #1: Lake Tahoe, NV/CA


View of the Valley Below







It's a little hard to see, but right behind/below us is Lake Tahoe, while skiing down this side of the mountain, you are looking at Lake Tahoe, it is a breathtaking view. There are several Ski Resorts and I recommend them all!!

Ski Trip #2: Big Mountain Resort in White Fish, MT



Great Views everywhere, probably one of the most beautiful places I've Snowboarded at.



 

It was freezing, but there was tons of powdery snow, the town was also pretty fun to hang out in in the evenings.



  Ski Trip #3: Jackson hole, WY





Skiing was great, it snowed almost the entire time we were there and the roads to get there were a little gnarly, but it was worth it. The town of Jackson Hole was really cute and fun, lots of great restuarants and fun shops, TONS of nightlife.

Where to this year??

Why yes I'd love to sea the Mediterranean!

A once in a lifetime splurge...honeymoons are good excuses for that right? My husband and I were so blessed to be able to go on a 12 day Mediterranean Cruise, a trip I have little to no complaints about, I will go with no complaints!

Neither of us had been on a cruise before and were slightly unsure about the experience awaiting us, but we were pleasantly surprised. We went through Princess and felt the ship and employees were fantastic.

Stops.....

This is Monaco, a place for the rich. A small sovereign city state located on the French riveria. It was beautiful and very swanky, we enjoyed the couple of hours we spent there and it was perfect for a cruise stop, but I would not recommend it as a vacation destination.

On the left is a picture of the a beautitful Chapel in Florence and to the left, I am holding up that old leaning tower of Pisa, someone had to do it. I highly reccommend visiting Florence, it is such a quaint town filled with European culture and yummy foods, I could even spend a couple days there, probably no longer. The leaning tower of Pisa was great, but it's about an hour drive South (?) of Florence and if the cost isn't crazy than I would go, but it's lofty than I think it'd be fine to skip, what you see if what you get.

Naples. We only spent a couple of hours wondering the streets, it was beautiful and fun to see, but again, good for a day trip in my humble opinion.

These are the ruins of Pompei, about a 30 minute drive from Naples and I highly recommend seeing them. I thought it was incredibly fascinating to see it all. So much of Pompei is still intact after all this time.

Rome! Glorious! I loved Rome and feel like it would be easy to spend a number of days there, the city seemed so alive. It was full of ancient beauty and yet young ambition, something about it was intriguing.

Athens and the Acropolis. I thought the Acropolis was pretty cool to see, but not worth going out of the way for. My husband and I were not impressed much with Athens, maybe it was the economy, but it just seemed grey and lonely.

Mykonos!! I am in love! This was the Greece I pictured, the greece from Mama Mia! It is a small island surrounded by gorgeous blue waters and lovely people. We heard the nightlife there is great there as well. We rented a scooter and cruised around the island, ending up on a lovely beach.

A cute little restaurant in the middle of town.

Istanbul. This was a really fun city to see. HUGE. There were shops galore, the picture above is of a large market full of bizzare items. The one below is a temple, there were a lot of these to tour. I definitely recommend this location for a 1-2 visit.

Kusadasi. Fun small town. Definitely a day trip at most.

Ephesus!!!! One of the coolest places I've ever seen.

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city and later a major Roman city. In the AD 50s Paul from Christianity lived in Ephesus. Everything was still so intact, walking around felt surreal and the history was fascinating.

Hmmm....

Venice. This was a unique view, from the deck of our ship as we entered the canal.

If you have not been to Venice I would put it at the top of your list. My husband and I had both been there before this trip and we both LOVE this place. The atmosphere is so unique and romantic, it's unlike any place I've ever seen and I have never experienced or heard anything negative about Venice.

 Favorite place to hang, the back deck. We would eat dinner while sailing away from each port, watching the sunset each night. One evening we saw some dolphins chasing the ship:)

 The Theatre, it was surprisingly large and there was some great entertainment each night.

Great experience, great cruise ship, great cruise line and great Ports, we were very impressed overall and would recommend it to anyone wanting to see a large variety of places in one trip.