For the Beauty of the earth.

I'm at the lake with my dad. Nothingness, water, sun, boat for 7 days. Literally just what I've been needing for so long.

This will be short, and a list since listing thoughts are easy(-ier?).

Things I love (right now):

1) Reading...reading has accounted for about 95% of my vacation thus far. 'The Alchemist' was the most recent one. Beautiful, I highlighted basically 3/4 of the book, and to know that it was published in 1988 made it all the more better. Also, goodreads. Also, my kindle.

2) Water and having the ability to jump in any time I want, especially in this high heat.

3) I'm getting out of my lease/moving (where? to be continued...). There are many complications, but in Billy Joel's words, "I'm Moving Out".

4) my iPhone, for helping us get back to the cottage after a late night boat ride and forgetting where exactly the cottage was located. My dad even expressed his thankfulness for it.

5) Sea glass and sea shells with beautiful and mysterious paintings on the back, found at the shore. I'm collecting sea glass. What will I do with it? I'm not sure yet. Suggestions are welcomed.

6) Barbecues. Yum.

7) This beautiful cottage. So cutely decorated, it's almost 90 years old. Such a gem. I want to own a little cute place like this to retire in someday.

8) I guess my favorite word is beautiful. But that's what life is...

Never have I ever been reduced to tears while looking at a sun setting (that's probably a lie, but I can't remember). But I did the other night while on the boat. A hymn came to my mind, which has been rare as of late. "For the Beauty of the Earth"...

For the beauty of the earth,

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies....

Well, I'll end with that. I think it sums up how I'm feeling right now.

Oh, and I'm thankful for my dad for giving me a great vacation. Thanks, dad!

grateful.

I had a horribly long day. My feet ache. So I decided, what better time than now to write a "What I am grateful for" list?

What am I grateful for right now?

For a best-boyfriend, Jackson- it sure has been a lovely, challenging, rewarding one year with you.

For a best friend, Lauren-- For being there for each other even though the distance between the Eastside and Westside of Manhattan seems like an eternity away.

For my BFF(in school) Nichole....Catching up, our new matching "I heart JM" shirts. I miss you already.

For my life. For my health-- Which I need to take a little bit more care of.

For books-- Getting lost in a story.

For hugs at work. You probably won't ever read this, but thank you so much Shaniqua, you made my day. And on top of that, filing my papers...An angel of a clerk.

For the man that risked his elbow to pry open the door for me on the subway. I made sure to thank you twice, once after, and once as I was leaving incase you didn't realize how long an extra 10 minutes goes for me.

For my dad, for booking a cottage on the Lake. Where I will relax, and read, and boat, and sleep. Repeat.

What's New.

It's been a month since I've written. Oops.

Lots of being busy.

Lots of work.

Some vacation, two trips home, one trip to Utah.

That's a lot of stuff.

I wish I was quick with uploading pictures, but unfortunately I am lazy and sit on my computer doing everything but that. I think the highlights are these:

I went home for two days. I drove my grandma's car home and enjoyed a lovely road trip through upstate New York. Have I mentioned that I miss driving so much? When I got home, I saw my sister. I feel like these meetings have become rare. It was so nice to see her. We went to one of my favorite places on earth, the gorges/waterfalls of Ithaca, NY.

This is one of the most beautiful spots of Fall Creek. The abandoned building-- I went to go visit it. It was torn down. I was very sad.

But fortunately, the beauty lives on in Ithaca. There are so many more beautiful spots like this. I made my sister climb down and up the waterfalls (I think she thought I was crazy/who knew I could be a daredevil sometimes), just so we could go under one and feel the water pounding over us. It's one of those moments where you feel lucky to be alive and be living on an earth that is so glorious and beautiful.

I went to Utah. I biked my first time on a tandem bike with Jackson --Who knew they made mountain bike tandem-style? We rode along the Provo River. We did not know that the river flooded at one point on the trail and we ended up knee deep in water while on the bike (a tandem bike at that). It was pretty funny. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment, we laughed until we cried!

I woke up at 5am on July 4th, scheduled to work and homesick. I called and asked for the day off because I knew the hospital wasn't busy. They graciously gave me the day off, and I took the first bus headed for home. It was only for the night, but I had such a wonderful time. I went on Keuka Lake on the boat with my dad, my little brother Matt and Taz (my dad's cute, crazy dog). I met up with my BFF since 2nd grade, Nichole. It was lovely...I hadn't seen her in almost a year, see what being a grown up does to you?!? Nonsense. I even came and surprised her extended family-- They are literally my second aunts, uncles, cousins, and I love them all so much.

I've realized how much I appreciate and love the beauty of Upstate New York, family, what I will always call home. The High School me would have never believed me. Maybe one day I'll end up back there....

Jackson came this weekend. We celebrated what will be our one year of being together as of next weekend. It was wonderful. We went to the place we first met, walked around Battery Park, had dinner, were lazy and reminisced. It is crazy to look back on how much we have grown this past year together.

This was taken yesterday at Battery Park. I had to force him to smile :)

I'll try to be better about more updates.

For now, this is my life. I am pretty content.