So much as happened so far – but to share a few photos about things that I have loved about this summer so far…
Eating beignets and drinking hot chocolate in New Orleans
Coming home to my favorite flowers after a long day from work.
Sushi and wine with a friend for Happy Hour
Kayaking to whereever I want to go.
Washington DC from the Potomac River on a gorgeous summer day
After my first day in Colombia – I made my way 3 hours north to a historical town called Villa de Leyva. It was a must see for me – because I just love historical towns – and I kept reading about Villa de Leyva as a good stopping point.
I was extremely happy to have stopped off in Villa de Leyva too. Considering that I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning so I could catch a 5:30 bus to Villa de Leyva. I happily slept on the bus -and when I arrived in Villa de Leyva – it was a beautiful gorgeous day.
Villa de Leyva is everything you expect a historical town in Colombia to be – filled with cobblestones, churches, Spanish architecture, arches, and old men with cowboy hats. It is settled in a high altitude valley in the middle of the Andes – and all I can say is: Gorgeous!
When I got to Villa de Leyva – I had my giant backpack and I didn’t plan on staying in Villa de Leyva but for a few hours. So I was on the lookout for a hotel/hostel that I could keep my backpack safe until I left again that afternoon. While roaming the town – I ran into an older gentleman (in his 50s) and he introduced himself to me – Mauricio. He asked if I was looking for a hostel – and I told him only for a few hours. He replied that he owned a hostel and that I could keep my bag there for the hours that I needed to. I think I trust to easy – so I said yes and followed him. He proved to be honest and trustworthy – and for $5.o0 I was able to get a small room to keep my backpack safe.
Mauricio then took me for a tour of Villa de Leyva – which wasn’t long because it’s not a big town at all. I went to the main plaza called – Plaza Mayor – with a non-working fountain and surrounded by churches and stores… he took me to a local restaurant for breakfast, a local food store for snacks and introduced me to the locals. He also showed me around the museums. He was really a great guide. So very nice. And he didn’t make fun of my bad Spanish.
Later on – I walked around the town and took pictures (that’s all I do really) and just relaxed. It was a sleepy old town and it was a nice stopping point since I had such a busy two days with traveling, biking and touring the big city of Bogota. I got to enjoy the outside air, the heat (it was hot but not humid) and enjoy the small town Colombian culture. I would definitely go back to Villa de Leyva if I had more time and probably do some hiking that it’s known for and visit some waterfalls in the area.
For now, I’ll just reminisce by looking at the photos that I took. I hope you enjoy them!
The post of the day suggestion from yesterday was “what job do you want if you could have any job…”
That’s a hard one for me…
But these are the requirements for me…
Travel required….
Writing of some kind…
Photography…
And Fun.
I guess I could just be a travel writer and take my own photographs… but I also want to make sure I’m making a difference. Whether that be learning about different cultures and sharing it with people, and or making some kind of impact with people.
I’m not asking for a lot of money – if someone gave me the opportunity to do this and paid me enough to live on in that environment – I would be happy. I love to travel, I love to write and I love photography. But I also love being around people and constantly learning.
Is this too much to ask for? I hope not, because I sincerely hope that one day I will be doing this. 
But for now, I will travel on my own dime, take photographs of it and write about it on this blog. That’ll keep me satisfied for now.
Wow! It’s 2011! Can you believe it??? How crazy is that! 2010 has gone by incredibly fast – and I’m sure 2011 will too.
But 2010 was a fantastic year and I’m just amazed at all that I’ve done this year. I’ll try not to make this too crazy of a long post but so much has happened this past year and I want to try and include all the fun that’s happened!
Before I get started however, to all my family and friends who read this – I want to sincerely thank you for everything you’ve done for me this year. For all the love, support and kindness that has been bestowed upon me this year. Without my amazing family and friends… and also just all the awesome blessings I’ve received, this year would not have been the same. I wish I could write about all my amazing adventures this year and about all the friendships, but I’ll just have to save that for other posts.
So, let’s get started!!!
January
The start of the busy year – with a ton of birthday celebrations. My oldest nephew turned 10, my oldest niece turned 5 – with a huge birthday party that included a magician, my best friend Jamie had an old fashioned sleepover, and then I think there were some other celebrations in there – but it was a fun and busy month to start of the new year. I guess I have that to look forward to this month too!
Yummm... Chocolate Covered Wine Glasses to go with delicious wine for Jamie's Birthday
February
Looking at the busy calendar – it looks like I had a lot of dinners during the month of February. But one thing that stood out was the day at the Washington DC Roller Derby. I had never seen the roller derby before – and it was really so much fun seeing girls being tough. I also had an awesome Valentine’s Dinner with my roommates – where we had some delicious steak, cupcakes and champagne. Who needs a guy when you have your best gals at your side?
February Blizzard
Roller Derby
March
March was a bit slow – however, the most fun thing that month was the trapeze class I took. I learned how to jump off the scary platform, swing back and forth, hang from my knees on the bar and then somersault off the bar into the net below. Wow – so much fun and pretty scary. But I know I’d love to do it again.
Trapeze Act
April
Gosh – April was an extremely busy month – but what is definitely the highlight of the month and maybe even of the year – was my solo backpacking trip through Guatemala. I love Guatemala now and can’t wait to go back again. But it was just an amazing trip. I learned so much about myself and realized that I am so much stronger than I realize and that I really really love traveling by myself. And I can’t complain over the fact that I saw amazing sites, which included Mayan Pyramids, Volcanoes, the World Heritage site of Antigua and many more things. I also connected with amazing people that I will carry in my heart forever. April also included fun picnics with family and friends and the start of Spring. It was also my birthday in April – and that was a fun time too.
Mayan Ruins
May
May was an extremely busy month. Not only did I get to celebrate both of my sisters’ birthdays – one turned 27 the other the big 30, as well as my roommate Amanda’s birthday – but I saw myself going to New York City for a quick weekend and then a fun trip to Costa Rica with Jess and Linda. In New York City – there was biking in Central Park and eating at a delicious Greek Restaurant in Chelsea. And in Costa Rica there was zip lining, surfing, private coves, laying out in the beach, monkeys and delicious, fresh seafood every day. May also was the completion of my second triathlon the Kinectic Triathlon, which I did in 2009 – and I cut my time by 10 minutes.
Getting Ready to Zip line!
Costa Rica Beaches
June
June, compared to May and April was “slow” but other than the fun start of summer – I also did the MS Beltway Bike Ride in Middleburg, VA – where my sister, brother-in-law and I biked 60 miles of hilly country road. It was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to it again next year. I also was able to attend the baby shower of one of my childhood friend’s Meriam – who had her daughter Summar in August. It’s so interesting how time goes so fast – and it seems like only yesterday that Meriam and I were in the woods of our neighborhood coming up with rules for our own Unicorn Club (Sweet Valley Twins reference) – and now Meriam has her own beautiful daughter of her own.
Reunited with my best childhood friends!
Have you heard of Pummelvision.com?
No? Neither have I. Until today… it’s a website that will aggregate your photos into a video. Pretty cool…
I connected my FB photos to it and it created the below video. And as many people know – I have A LOT of photos. It’s nearly a 6 minute long video. I won’t be offended if you don’t want it all… or any. But it is pretty cool!
It’s definitely made me nostalgic… and reminded me of the many adventures I’ve had over the past few years. And I can’t wait to add even more adventures.
