Prague Photo Diary

The first time I went to Prague, I was a high school senior. I went on a trip over my spring break with my history, and before Prague we visited Berlin and Krakow. We visited a lot of very depressing but also interesting World War II sites, and getting to Prague was a little like a breath of fresh air. I remember walking along the Charles Bridge wearing a shirt and getting a little sunburnt because it was so nice out. I had such a great time that trip, and I knew I wanted to go back to Prague one day.

My friend LeeAnn and I started talking on Facebook one night in early April, and next thing I know we're booking a trip to Prague for a weekend in mid-April. Her friends Leanne and Ben joined us too.

I took a super, super early morning flight from Charles de Gaulle airport and flew to Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague. I had to wait an hour or two for LeeAnn's flight to get in from London, and then we took a bus and a train into the city.

We stayed in a hostel (my first time!), visited Prague Castle, walked around Old Town Square, and went to the top of the Astronomical Clock Tower. At the castle we witnessed a changing of the guard-type event, which we noticed after spotting the massive crowd gathered and went closer to see what it was. We ate in an Irish pub for dinner and had breakfast at the hostel before exploring some more the second day. We went to the John Lennon wall, where someone had written "Boston Strong" and I missed home a little bit. We tried Trdelniks, the donut-type pastry in the photo above.

They left that night for an overnight train to Budapest and I spent the second night in my friend Emily's apartment; she was studying there and it was great to see her! It was nice to have a "local" show me around and tell me where to eat.

Where we stayed: Arpacay Backpacker's Hostel. I liked it. Like I said, it was the first hotel I ever stayed in, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I had no complaints.

What we visited: Prague Castle, Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, The Charles Bridge.

"The ancient splendor and beauty of Prague, a city beyond compare, left an impression on my imagination that will never fade." - Richard Wagner."

March Goals

1. Read 5 books I have so many books sitting in my room (see a number of them in my instagram) and I want to eventually read all of them, preferably before I move out of the dorm! I'm hoping to spend at least 15 minutes a day reading to accomplish this.

2. Teach myself a new skill Not entirely sure what this one will be, but possible ideas include taking an online course in HTML and learning how to use the manual settings on my camera.

3. Run 30 miles This shouldn't be too difficult; it's one mile a day, so it's not too easy but it's not too much, and it'll force me to get out there and get running multiple times a week. The hardest part will be making sure my ankle stays healthy.

4. Apply to 10 jobs a week I finally applied to my first job at the end of last week but I still have a lot left to do. The hardest part for me is writing the cover letters, but once I get those finished I find the process goes much easier. I know that applying to jobs now and hopefully having a job in May will make dealing with graduating a much easier emotional process!

5. Write 500 words a day One of my goals for this year is to write a book, and having a numerical goal to meet is going to get me there. A small goal for some, but with the writing I'm doing for my internship, the campus newspaper, this blog and my senior thesis, this goal is actually manageable.

And because I love vision boards so much, I made a March inspiration board from Pinterest photos:

This month will bring my 22nd birthday (this week!), spring break, a trip to NYC and a journalism conference in Boston. In terms of goals that aren't measurable, I'm hoping to get out of my comfort zone more and spend more time with my friends doing new things, because soon we won't all be living within 10 minutes of each other. Bring it on, March!

Done is Better than Perfect

I haven't written here in a while. I wish I could give some kind of excuse beyond general senior year busy-ness, and I guess that's kind of a reason, but it's not the whole truth. I've been thinking about this blog all the time, constantly meaning to write, but I just haven't done it. I say it's because I don't have time, but I know that's not it. No one has time to do everything, but people make time for what's important to them. 

I've been making time for the things I ultimately don't care about: Facebook and Tumblr and blogs that only make me want products I can't afford. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with these things, because they all have their own benefits. But the reality is that they're just filling me with emptiness and leaving me with no time to work on my own content.

"Your problem is that you're one of the perfects," my advisor said to me in a meeting last week. And she's right. I want everything to be perfectly neat and organized and tidy and straight up perfect before I do it. But that's not how the world works. There's no perfection guaranteed. I haven't been writing here because I want my blog to be 100% perfect. That's never gonna happen. Why do I need it to be perfect? Because I'm scared the other option is settling. But the true settling here is to do absolutely nothing. I should be proud of what I produce, but I don't need it to be perfect. What needs to happen is that I write, and I practice, and I evolve and I improve. 

After all, done is better than perfect.

DORM ROOM WORKOUT: 30 Day Yoga Challenge

image source

Last night I was browsing the internet, as I am prone to do, and I discovered a 30 day yoga challenge done through YouTube videos on a channel called Yoga with Adriene. I'm in the early stages of training to run a half marathon (!) and I thought that this challenge would be the perfect complement to that. I thought about waiting until February 1st, but then I realized if I started today, I would already be on day four by February first. Thus, my choice was made!

This afternoon I watched the quick intro video on a homework break and on a longer homework break I pulled up the actual yoga video. The challenge started on January 1st, so most of the videos are up already, but you can start any time. I rolled up my rug, set up my yoga mat (you could use a towel if you don't have one though) and began!

A few observations:

- I've done a lot of Bikram Yoga, but not much else. I spent a lot of time looking at the video in order to get the right posing. This meant I needed to move my laptop from my chair, where I had it while sitting, to my desk for the standing poses, to the floor for the lying down poses. If you're more familiar with the poses, this might not be an issue for you. Ideally you'd hook up your laptop to a TV to avoid this altogether, but I don't have a TV.
- I needed to close the blinds halfway through because the 22-floor dorm building next to me could see me doing the on-all-fours cat/cow pose and I felt pretty awkward about it.
- I thought a 35 minute video would feel like forever but it went by pretty quickly. I felt encouraged by the video and excited to continue.
- I really, really need to work on my breathing!

I'm excited about this challenge because I want to develop a practice of yoga and I think committing to a period of time is the best way to do it. I'm planning to do my yoga in the morning right when I wake up so that I can get a good start to my day. I signed up for daily emails and received a pdf of an undated calendar that I've hung above my desk to serve as motivation.

If you want to join in, check out Yoga with Adriene! Like I said, I thought she was really encouraging and even though I'm virtually a beginner I didn't feel like it was too challenging. The intro video is below and you should let me know if you decide to join in on this; I would love to know someone's doing it with me!

2014: A Year in the Life

2014: the highest of highs and lowest of lows. The year I made cross country best friends and developed self confidence and spent half the year in a dream world we call Europe. The year I cried more than any other and doubted myself so much and grieved a lot. The year I learned it's okay not to always be okay and discovered my own worth. Bring it on, 2015! 

(from my instagram)

January

I rang in the new year with a low-key sleepover at my friend Michelle's house, where I remember thinking "2014 is the year of adventure." It started immediately because I left for Paris on January 5. I'd never been there before but it didn't take any time at all for me to fall in love. I went to the Eiffel Tower my first full night there and took that picture in the second row; it felt like I'd already been there forever at that point. I couldn't believe that I lived there. In my first few weeks I visited the Louvre, went to the Eiffel Tower countless times, explored my new city, began my classes, and made friends I still talk to all the time. I walked a million miles (and my Fitbit can verify that) and learned what it meant to live so far from home. I got plugged in at a church my very first week, which turned out to be an amazing place for me to meet people from all over the world and to experience the capital-C Church in a new way. I started to plan weekend trips and get closer to my new friends.

February

February brought a settling in Paris as I began to develop a routine there. We went on an mystery tour and went to Bruges, Belgium for the day with school! Then we took the train back and slept in our own beds in Paris. Where else can you travel by train to a different country for a few hours? The coolest. February also brought ice skating for Valentine's Day and a trip to Versailles where I took almost 1,000 photos of the scenery and my friends. I visited Hillsong Church for the first time with my friend Alex, and took part in some of the most profound worship I've ever experienced. My friend Michelle came to the city from Edinburgh and it was nice to see a friendly face. I ended the month with a trip to London, where I had coffee with Amy, explored the city solo, and got the chance to see Jersey Boys in the West End. If January was all about the transition to my new life, February was about the exploring and the growing.

March

The beginning of March was a bit of a whirlwind. I returned from London on Sunday, went to classes as usual Monday and the rest of the week, celebrated my 21st birthday with cupcakes, the Wolf of Wall Street, crepes, and drinks at a pub on Tuesday, went to a French national soccer game on Wednesday (Allez les bleus!), and traveled to Dublin for the weekend on Thursday. I brought my friend Aya along and we had fun exploring the city through a literary pub crawl, seeing the Book of Kells and the Guinness Factory, and hanging out with my grandparents and cousins. I started the #100HappyDaysChallenge. Admittedly it wasn't that difficult to find good things in each day because I was in France, but it was fun nonetheless. The weather started to get warmer and I made frequent visits to Shakespeare and Company, the famed English bookstore in Paris, hung out at the Louvre, and started going for runs along the Seine. I ended the month with a weekend trip to Provence in the south of France.

April

April officially brought Spring to Paris and I was shamelessly in love. Visits to chateaus, museums, and parks were all on the agenda, and as it started to get dark after 7 pm, there was even more time for explorations. The sunsets were beautiful almost every night, and I spent Tuesday nights with the Young Adults group at my church, just 5 minutes away from the Eiffel Tower. I went to the red carpet premiere of Spiderman 2 and saw Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Jamie Foxx in person - plus I hugged Andrew Garfield! My parents arrived for spring break and I was a personal tour guide for them around the city before we visited Normandy and various sites related to D-Day. That was entirely well-worth doing, if you have any interest in it! We also went to Brussels and Bruges too. I started to do homework in the public library, which was a cultural adventure in itself.

May

May meant having two consecutive Thursdays off of class because of World War 2 related holidays. It also meant the end of classes, which led to final exams. This meant a lot of hanging out in coffee shops and frantically exploring all the places I hadn't been to yet. I visited Prague with some friends from my school at home and the weather there was pretty crappy. It was still beautiful. I finally went to the top of the Eiffel Tower as well as the Musee Rodin and the Jardin des Plantes. I soaked up the sun and paid for it dearly with a sunburn that lasted weeks. I said goodbye to my homestay mother and crashed on my friend Steph's floor for my last few nights in the city. I also said a much sadder goodbye to all my friends after a last supper get together. I visited the Louvre for the last time.

June

I left Paris on the 3rd of June after 5 months in the city. I spent my last night sitting at the Eiffel Tower with my friends Cole and Magda. It was a hard goodbye; my friend Claire graciously helped bring my bags to the train station. Once I checked in at the Eurostar (to which I was 2+ hours early), the fact of me leaving actually hit me. I had said so many goodbyes over the past few weeks and had barely cried; all of a sudden I was bawling in the terminal. I remember thinking "I'm crying because I had such a great time here" but I couldn't stop the tears. There were two older British couples across from me and they kept throwing glances my way. I can't even imagine how I must have looked. Once I got to London, I made my way to my cousin's flat and explored London for a second time. I went to Platform 9 3/4 and the Harry Potter studios, both of which were dreams I got to fulfill. I went to Edinburgh via overnight bus (an adventure in itself!) to stay with my friend Michelle, whose house I stayed over on New Year's. I went back to London to catch a flight to Dublin, where I stayed with family for three weeks. It was my first time to ever spend an extended period of time in Ireland without my parents, which felt very adult-ish.

July

I came back to the US on July 1st and one week later, I was on a bus bound for New York City and the Smart Girls Group Conference. First of all, what a joy to be back in a big city again. Big public transportation, I love you. Secondly, the conference was amazing. I got to hug the sisters I'd been working with for 2 years, and hang out with them, and share food with them. I already can't wait for the 2015 conference. I spent a rainy July 4th in New Hampshire. When I got back from the conference, I started working at Athleta, which was a return to retail life but came with awesome discounts. I spent a weekend in Cape Cod and went on a 20 mile bike ride with my mom.

August

By the time August rolled around I was working and itching to return to the routines and normalcy of college life. I baked a lot, worked a lot, tried to pick up running again, and cleaned out my room. Both my siblings were away so I spent a lot of time hanging out with my parents. There was a lot going on in my heart this month - feeling sad and missing Paris, feeling lonely and missing friends, wanting to be anywhere but where I was. Just being honest :)

September

I was finally back at school, decorating my room to my heart's content, and making good on my promise to myself to invest in friendships. I had pancake breakfast with my friends, experienced being 21 in college, and went swimming in a pond. We had our homecoming football game and the weather was beautiful. Admittedly I spent too much time missing Paris, but apart from that, September was a sweet, sweet time. Full of friends and good conversations and surrounding myslef with people all the time. 

October

October was not quite so sweet. I really had to buckle down in the homework department, and it seemed like the work was never ending. I found out that my grandmother was really, really sick. I struggled with a lot of feelings of control over the situation, which I ultimately realized I couldn't control. This news came just as I was leaving for a retreat with my fellowship group, and it was the best possible place I could have been. It was a weekend of vulnerability and worship and learning what it meant to have sisters in Christ. I learned about God's timing the hard way, and I cried and grieved and cried some more, but I learned that His timing really is good. I also learned I really like chai tea lattes :)

November

Nothing particularly exciting happened in November, except for Thanksgiving and a conference in Providence, RI for Cru. I had a lot of coffee dates with friends and I started to pick up running again with the Couch to 5k program and began to focus on a more healthy lifestyle. This was also the month that my computer officially died and I had to replace both the battery and hard drive. And because I didn't back anything up, I lost absolutely everything. If you're smart, you'll take this as a lesson and back up your stuff. I did a lot of homework and took an Instagram break (hence the lack of photos) and went to my last football game and drank copious amounts of coffee. And that's about it :)

December

December 2014 was all about family. I had a relatively easy finals week, and next thing I knew my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins had arrived from Dublin, Ireland for Christmas. We went to see A Christmas Carol performed by fantastic actors. We explored Boston. We opened presents Christmas morning and hosted Christmas dinner in our house with my other cousins as well. It was a full house, and we ended the night with charades and heads up. The screaming and laughing that resulted are some of my very best memories from this year.

And that's a wrap! 2015 is the year that I graduate from college and embark on a brand new life, one that I'm entirely not sure about yet. My word of the year is BRAVE, which is what I'm hoping to be as I enter this year of change. Let's go, 2015!