Summer Travel - Chicago

 Chicago was amazing.  I knew as soon as stepped off the subway that I could easily live in Chicago in the future!  It was beautiful and full of energy.

Tuesday

This week has been quite a trial.  My head is killing me and I would love to just fall asleep for an entire week!  I just have to buckle down and get the things done that I need to this week!

I would much rather be spending my last weeks of summer on the lake.

 Or sewing...

Sources:  image 1, image 2, image 3

Summer Travel - The Arizona Desert

 After coming back home to the humid mid-west, I can now reflect on how beautiful and amazing the desert was!  Even though it was over 100 some days, the dry heat was much more tolerable than the humidity. I had a wonderful five days in and around the Phoenix area of Arizona.  I find traveling to be extremely addicting.  Every time I travel, I end up coming home with a new trip in mind, trying to figure out ways to save money for it!  I think I would enjoy going west again...maybe Seattle?  or San Fransisco?

It was a great vacation.  Made some new friends, explored the desert, soaked in the pool and ate some fantastic Mexican food.  It was exactly what I needed. 

Holiday Weekend

 It was nice to have a relaxing weekend after traveling all week.  I was able to spend time with most of the people who are dearest to me.

 Monday was spent working on things around the house and other projects.

And ended with a few fireworks and a book.

The woods are lovely....

Sorry it's been so long.  We have been going through a lot of changes.  Moving furniture around, finishing summer classes, homework, friends, and work.
But along with that I had time to get my very first tattoo. I put in a lot of thought to what I wanted and have had this in mind for the last couple of years.  It was mainly a matter of money.  But this summer, I decided that it was time to just do it.  So here it is:

It's still slightly red in this picture.  This was taken a couple hours after it was finished.  It says:

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep."

Three lines are from my favorite Robert Frost poem, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening'. This poem has always been intriguing to me and has been applicable to experiences in different stages of my life.  I remember reading it for the first time in 8th grade after picking up a book full of American poets.  At that time in my life it had a very literal meaning: Some guy was traveling through the woods, stopped, then continued on his way.

Then, just two years later, in English II we had to pick poets to do projects on.  I picked Robert Frost because I enjoyed his work.  That was when this poem was revisited and when I started questioning the meaning behind his words.  Whose woods are they?  The guy in the village?  How long did stop and watch the snow...just for a moment? Where is he going, why stop?  

For the next few years, I revisited this poem and found different meanings within each verse that applied to how I was feeling or what I was going through at the time.

Regardless, the three lines that have kept a consistent meaning to me are the three mentioned earlier:

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

- Life in general is full of experiences and events that are lovely, yet painful and horrifying at the same time.  Sometimes it's the worst experiences that make you who you are, but also remind you to cherish the beautiful moments.  For each moment in my life that has been unpleasant (high school girls, blah), I have had one if not two beautiful moments that remind me how lovely the world can be (early morning winter hikes at the state park, watching the sunrise from a log on the edge of a frozen lake).

But I have promises to keep,

- I have always been the one in my family that marches to the beat of her own drum, (or as my dad would say, I'm the bird of the family - always flying around) yet I have always had a desire to please others. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I wouldn't do things because of other people's expectations.  And personally, keeping this promise to myself means the world to me.  Even recently, I've renewed that vow to be who I am, regardless of what other people think, because they really don't matter.

And miles to go before I sleep.

- I have always had big dreams.  I'm a daydreamer...always have been. I remember being just a little thing, probably around the age of 7, and staring at a globe and pin-pointing all the places I would go. I have been a avid reader for as long as I can remember...I would go to the library and pick out books full of pictures of beautiful exotic places and dream up the adventures I would have and the people I would meet.  On top of traveling, I also wanted to be an author, an artist, a librarian, and a cafe owner. Even as an adult I am consistently dreaming up new ideas and adding to my list of things that I will do.  That is where this line comes in.  I have a long way to go before I settle down...and honestly, I don't know if I will ever stop.  I'm just one of those people.  I'm a dreamer.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

Settling In

 

 I have taken some time to really work on unpacking and settling into my new home. Now that my room is unpacked and set up, I feel a lot better, like I can finally put more effort towards my school work and hopefully have some time to  paint and sew a little.

So far, my summer has been wonderful! 

I hope that it has been the start of a wonderful week to all of you too!

Happy June!

I cannot believe that it's June already!  It's been a super busy summer so far, and there is so much more to come!

Tonight I'm going to work on cleaning and going through some of my boxes and try to settle in a little :)

-Nicole

Friday

Well, I have been spending the week playing with the layout and banner of this blog. I'm still not sure exactly how I want the banner to look. So I decided to just go with a simple banner for the time being.

My time feels so limited this summer since I am taking a lot of summer school and I start working on Sunday.  But, regardless I am going to be on here and working on projects at home.  I tend to keep myself busy, and that's the way I like it.
Today, I plan on working on homework and going to the library to pick up the book I've been dying to finish.

Happy Friday!
Nicole

*Summer Reading*

 
Here's what I'll be reading this summer:

And Life Goes On..

 As often as you would hate to say it, you make mistakes.  Whether it has to do with relationships or just life in general.  Things happen, and as they happen, you deal with them.  You take them one at a time, find the best possible solution, and move forward. 

 The decisions I have made in the past six months of my life have without a doubt altered my future, as they should.  We are products of our decisions, products of our words, products of our thoughts and feelings.  We are who we are because of the way we live.
I have come to the conclusion that life is not what it's made up to be.  It's much harder.  But with that being said, I am strong.  I will make my life beautiful, regardless of those who try to bring me down (and honestly, the person who brings me down the most is myself). 

I only wanted to share this because I want the world to know that I'm done with all of the things and people that don't add happiness or beauty to my life.  I'm moving forward into a new section, a new chapter - if you would prefer to say, and it's going to be great.

Thank you to all my friends and family who read this.  Thank you everyone who doesn't know me personally, but understand and support my words.

I will be posting much more in the future.  But right now, I need to grab a latte and pack up my apartment.

Nicole

(All images are from weheartit.com)

Dresses I wish I had

I love these dresses!  Spring time always makes me want to show some leg and prance around in a little dress! 

P.S.  I received my make-up from E.L.F (as seen here), and I LOVE most of it.  The only product I have been disappointed in was the waterproof pencil eyeliner.  The tip was very hard and it was not easy to apply.
My favorite product so far is the bronzer.  I have a very light skin tone, so it's hard to find a bronzer that looks natural.  The healthy glow bronzer in 'Luminance' is perfect.  It gives me just the right amount color!

Happy April!

image from weheartit.com

I'm so glad that it's April!  April means that there's a much less chance of it snowing here in South Dakota for the rest of spring!  (Even though we've had snow on Easter in the past.)  April means the last full month of school, as finals being the first week in May.  April means moving out of my apartment and back in with my parents. 

I'm sure this month will fly by, as all the others!

Happy Friday!

-N

*Our Pets*

 We have two lovable animals running around our home.  First of all, there is Charlie.  Charlie was adopted from a shelter, here in South Dakota.   He is the sweetest dog you will ever meet!  He is a black lab/German short-hair mix, as far as we can tell.  If he could chase a tennis ball all day, he would be in doggy heaven!

Milo is our super-sweet kitty!  He was brought home when he was only a kitty from a day-camp, where he was running around eating left over food from the garbage.  He has grown into quite a large cat, but he is still a kitten on the inside.  He love to sit on windowsill, watching the birds and hates it when we move around furniture!

I love having our furry animals around. Do you have any pets?

-Nicole