Moved on out!

Here I sit, on my palette on the floor. I find it amazing how much colder a house gets with nothing in it. The thermostat reads 72 but my body violently disagrees as I shiver through the night and the morning. However, we're moved out!! Only a few things left to maneuver around but for the most part we're done baby, and I only have 10 days until take off!!! Yesterday I was the driver of a 26 foot uhaul! Clearly, the uhaul people have not heard my reputation, otherwise they may not have given me the keys. After running into only one large cement road block and scraping the side of a large wall - all of our stuff found its way to its three month resting place. Thank you John for helping us with that, and getting my butt out of all those turns! Could not have done anything without you! Needless to say, I am amazed at how everything falls into place one by one. With each item checked off the list it's as if stress flies off my shoulders. Today: last day of work at the farm - and then grad party with the family. Thank you God, for all that I am blessed with!!! Can't wait until I turn my tires toward the open road :)

Easy Follow

A few of you have asked how to follow my blog without adding google+ - due to your lack of tech saviness! Well, I added an easy follow button on the top right hand side. Just enter your email address and hit submit. This will then prompt an email to your address.Once you get that email you must respond in order to start receiving my blog updates. Hope that helps all of you tech challenged out there ;)

A beautiful place

Found this on a friends facebook and I had to share - twice :)

My current grand adventure

DONE! That sweet word. Only those battling what seems to be a never-ending cycle can truly grasp the wonderful sound of that word. For me that cycle consisted of writing, deleting, editing, tweaking, completely starting over, and finally . . . finally . . . finishing my senior thesis. Here I sit, 10:30 on a Tuesday night, the night before my final class and I feel anxious. WHAT?! Anxious? Yes, anxious. I still have to present on the damn thing and receive a grade. Both of which I am feeling quite certain I will pass but nevertheless I am crossing my fingers and praying for this to be the last chapter in this four year journey! In addition to that I have to pack my whole apartment and move out by Saturday and await the t-16 days until I set out for my grand adventure. Upon writing that last sentence the anxious feeling almost melted away. Why? Because I realized how ridiculously blessed I am. I just finished my final paper of my bachelors degree and here I sit awaiting my grand adventure - without giving time to appreciate the grand adventure I am only hours away from completing. So, for the next couple weeks I will work to put aside my future endeavors and allow myself the time to truly soak in the milestone, the adventure, which I just completed. I will give myself time to relax, to thank God for that which he has blessed me with, to be proud of myself and how far I have come. Exhale.

How time flies!

After an extremely productive, although slow, day on the farm - I turned to my manager and said "See you next weekend!!" to which she replied "I knoow, your last weekend!" I corrected her, telling her that I had two weekends left. On the drive home I pulled out my calendar [dangerous . . . I know!!] and took a gander. She was right - next weekend is my last weekend on the farm. Not only that but I only have eight days left of my nanny job. I have been so caught up in school, family, moving, and my roadtrip that I failed to notice how fast time flies!!! Not that I didn't jump for joy upon noticing that my last day of class is WEDNESDAY or have a panic attack at the thought of moving in only one week - but for some reason I guess I forgot that work would end. And while I am excited to set out on my grand adventure - I must say that the departure will be bitter sweet for me. Bitter sweet in the fact that I enjoy hearing Evan running through the house calling my name in the mornings. I enjoy shoveling horse poop and stacking hay as high as I possibly can after a hard week. I enjoy the people I work with and the satisfaction I feel of a job well done. I enjoy my friends and my family - but most of all I enjoy having my place here in Minnesota. So, while I am excited to pursue my dreams and set out on the open road, I hope that all of you realize how much you shall be missed!!

Standing up

I will not grow up and succumb to tragedy but instead stay young at heart, quick to love, and accepting of the choices others have made, not for me, but for themselves. I will immerse myself in memories not long forgotten and discard that which does not help me. I will seek God in all that is good and the unsavory. In this quest for serenity I will remember where it is that I am going and how it is that I came to be. When you look at me I hope that you find someone who chose to stand up rather than to fall for that which is so easily fallen for.

Zoo life

The zoo with my little guy. Strolling through the exhibits I find myself completely smitten with how enamored he is with each and every little thing. As "OH WOW!" rings out across the walls I cannot help but smile. Then, something strange happens; I begin also to say "Oh wow!" I have been going to zoo's for years. I feel as though I have seen all of the same old animals over and over again. Each time I see a lion - he seems like the last. Every orangutan I cross has the same look on their face. And every bear I see captures the same thing in me. Not today. Today I fell in place with a two year old. I asked questions with genuine interest about the sloth and where she stood in the world. When we came to the polar bear my heart literally quickened upon seeing his dreamy expression and twitching paws. Each little tamarin had the personality of a spunky six year old, and the seals could not have been happier swimming than they were in their tiny little pool. After visiting the orangutan, Sarah, I left wishing I could have had a real conversation with her. I watched as one of the bears rescued from the flood waters trudged back and forth anxiously, wondering what he must be thinking. Then I came across the following picture - and I realized how true the quote really is. Not only does it apply to nature - but also to life. Driving home from the zoo I called several people who did not answer - and I just assumed they all must be napping. Ha! The mind of a nanny, what else would anyone be doing at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday? Bottom line, there is no bottom line, it just felt good to be two and so completely in love with the little things - to be connected to the rest of the world.

We Don't Need No Education!

The hours of sitting at my computer have resulted in fingers fat with blood. My eyes are bloodshot and ready to fall out of my face due to the constant concentration on my now much-too-bright computer screen. Mind so fuzzy I had to email the same thing three times to get it right. Coffee has already gotten cold twice - and it's not even working! Freud - screw you. Pun intended. A night in the life of a college senior. It's that time, when the buckaroo must give a buck and get to the bucken finish line. Yes Monte, I totally just said that.

Pink Floyd - We Don't Need No Education

The silver lining

I took this picture an hour too late - the sunrise this morning was absolutely gorgeous behind the horses and the white picket fences. Nevertheless, as I came back from unloading a buggy full of manure I noticed how the sun gleamed in down the isles from the outside and I had to snap a picture. Hours later while my fellow field mates and I were raking up the mounds of poop and hay left over in the pastures we commented on how I chose to take the decievingly peaceful picture of the sunshine instead of the sweat, dirt, and stench that characterizes working on a farm! Bottom line, no matter how ugly the work - the setting is breathtaking [no pun intended]!

Details . . . !

So I have been asked to give details on the roadtip 2012!! Well . . . sit back and relax. Leaving May, hopefully with my wonderful cousin Debbie [ahem], we will make our way first to Mackinac Island, Michigan to stroll through the streets of the past. Next we will make our way to Pennsylvania to see how the Amish get things done! Then on to New York, New Yoooooork where we will honor the fallen at the Ground Zero memorial and spend a few days touring that great city with my amazing step sister Megan! Furthing our historical experience we'll head up to Boston, MA to stay with the greatest in-laws known to mankind [and they're not even mine!!] where we'll do the Freedom Tour, as well as many others! After that we'll mosy on over to Cape Cod and spend a couple days surfin and turfin before we head down to Maryland to see my uncle. Gerry lives only minutes away from Washington D.C! So of course, we will be touring our great capital, something I did when I was eight, but lets be honest - eight year olds just never fully grasp what it is they're witnessing! This is the point where Debbie will leave me - sad face - and I will be left to embark on the rest of my journey aloooooone. Thank goodness I have people who love me! I will be spending the next 6 weeks in Tennessee with my wonderful Nanny, Manny, and their two kids helping around the farm and experiencing all that they, and Tenneesee, has to offer! During my stay we will be taking a trip to Williamsburg, Va - my place of birth and the place they got married. Once I leave Tennessee [or before I even go? This part is fuzzy!] I'll head over to North Carolina to drench myself with salt water and get lost in the goo's and gaaa's of my friend Beth - I mean  . . . her baby! Next up - Louisiana!!!! Not that I have contacted anybody there to post me up, but I am hoping to spend three days in New Orleans and Baton Rouge trying spicy food, biting the heads off of crawfish, and having a genuinely good time with Linnzie's family. Speaking of Linnzie, that brings us to Texas. Houston to be exact, where I will spend time with Reignie and Charlie, Linnzie and Kyle - and little peanut!! Linnzie will be 7 months pregnant at that time and I can't wait to lay my head on that belly! Four days later I will find myself in Tulsa, Oklahoma visiting little miss Maggie Mae! I have only ever met her once but we love each other more than one visit should allow! After one whirlwind romance of a day there I will head up to Denver, Colorado to spend time with friends and family - although by this time my family will be in Cape Cod - so friends it will be! Finally I will drive home to Minnesota where two days later I take a plane back to Cape Cod to be the Maid of Honor in my sister Sarah's marriage to Greg - making them the Zoneely's!! WHEW! Thank God I cancelled half of my trip right?!?! So pray for me and my travels this summer 2012!!

The map Stephatto came up with!! Thank you!! :)

I am Smitten . . .

Smitten. The name of blog you are now captivated by, right? ha! Honestly I named this blog three years ago because I loved the word. I liked the way it makes your mouth curl into a smile and how it causes an involuntary shrug of the shoulders while the word whimsically floats through the air. This time around I had wanted to name my blog "Leap of Faith" because, most of you know, I take many leaps of faith! Instead, I went on to google looking to start a blog for my roadtrip, as well as the many adventures after that, and here sat this one. Smitten. God had known all along I would stumble back into my little one post blog - and the word would capture my heart once again. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I AM smitten! With God, love, family, friends, and most of all life - all that it has to offer! Of course I have my down days - down weeks! - but overall I am a girl, in love with the world - and like Amos Lee - I hope that you can't help but follow :)


Amos Lee - Keep it loose, keep it tight

The Windows are Rolled Down! Almost . . .

College. Only THE most exhilarating time of our lives. When it's almost over that is!!! Thankfully, the semester is nearing its end. My mind so fuzzy from senioritis I may start running into walls! I am so done with school I can't stand it. And when I am finally done?!? ROADTRIP!!!! As many of you know - I am a dreamer. I concoct some new wonderful plan each and every week of this glorious life. Much of the time these little dreams, they fizzle and pop until they die out. I am reminded months later of them when someone asks the question "weren't you going to . . ." OH YEAH!! But every once in a while, something sticks, and this time - I am for sure, definitely, with out a doubt, going on a three month road trip! Each day that passes I plan a little bit more, which is funny since plans are almost never completely made. Instead they are left lingering on the other end of the telephone, or on some crumpled piece of paper I shove in my purse. When I stop dreaming long enough to focus, I realize - I still have to finish school! Pack! Move out! oh yes and . . . the list goes on the on. Over the next month I will spend a little bit of time [whenever I find it!] to lull you to sleep with the boring details of my busy life until finally the day comes that I can drive off into the sunset with my windows rolled all the way down!