Good Morning! Happy Thursday!

When I woke up this morning, I didn't want to get out of bed... I had a headache, was a little congested, and could have probably slept the entire day away if I didn't have things to do. Oh how I just love mornings! I knew that I needed to get up and get a move on with my day...I have a lot to do today... but I also have a serious waking up problem. However, I forced myself to sit up, reach up high and get out of my warm, cozy, delightful bed! After all, it is only Thursday, and since it's a Thursday, I have a full days of work to get through, a meeting this afternoon, photos to edit, papers to file and hours upon hours of homework to finish all before tomorrow morning. So, after I got out of bed, I meandered upstairs, and what did I find?! A light, glistening snow that covered the grass with the sun beaming so bright and beautiful through the trees outside the window, and I thought, "What an incredibly beautiful Thursday!" This beautiful weather (which is my favorite by the way... when snow is on the ground yet it is sunny), reminded me that there is always something to be thankful for, even when the to-do list is stacked higher than you can possibly reach. So, I just thought I would take a moment to say "Happy Thursday" to everyone out there, for it is a beautiful day and a great day to be alive! (Lexey Lou [the old, old, old pup in this photo] is also thankful for this beautiful weather, and it is her favorite type of weather as well!)  

The Fierro Family

I recently had a fabulous family portrait shoot... but it wasn't any ordinary family portrait shoot.  In fact, it was one big family portrait session consisting of three families smooched into one hour, and what fun it was!  I photographed these three separate beautiful families who are all related, and then also photographed the entire family as a whole!  It was very special to get to capture the entire family together, since it doesn't happen very happen as three of them live in England!  Also, congratulations to Anthony and Andrea who just welcomed a perfect, beyond beautiful little baby girl into the world a few weeks ago, and it was the first time that all of them all got to see her!  As well, it was so great to get to photograph Grandma Kathleen with her three absolutely adorable grand children!  What could be more remarkable than that?!  I was very honored to be able to photograph this family!

Merry Christmas: Thoughts, Reflections and Big Changes

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to all my friends, family and clients.  Without all of you, I wouldn't be who I am today, and I'm so grateful for every single person that has touched my life.  I think in the hustle and bustle of the Holiday Season, it's really easy to take Christmas for granted.  It's a challenge for sure to take the time to realize what the holiday season is all about, and really say a genuine Merry Christmas to the people around us.  Last night I watched the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (well, to be honest, I only watched a couple minutes of it... we all ended up falling asleep on the couch for most of it ... we must have been tired!), a Christmas classic now a days, and in the words of Cindy Lou Who, "l look around at you and Mom and everyone getting all kerbobbled. Doesn't this seem superfluous?"   Every year when I watch this movie, I'm reminded that Christmas isn't about presents and getting all "kerbobbled".  The great Dr. Seuss reminds us in this movie that, "Maybe Christmas perhaps doesn't come from a store, maybe perhaps it means a little bit more."  

In two weeks from today I will be starting my graduate degree at the University of Regis to get my Masters of Education in Elementary with an Art Education Endorsement. Because of this week being Christmas and next week being New Years week, last week was my last official week of babysitting.  After being a nanny for almost 7 years, you can imagine how life-changing this was for me.   As I reflect on my last week of babysitting, I realize that I am so blessed to have been able to work with all these children for so long.  It is because of these kids that made me want to become a teacher in the first place.  Without them, I'd be lost.

I also realized this week that I don't take enough time to ever slow down and really cherish every moment that surpasses me.  Often enough, I speed through life, and find myself wishing for time to go by faster, and all the while I forget to live in the moment, and sometimes, even, take too many things for granted.

The tragedy that occurred on Friday, Decemeber 14th shook me to pieces, completely shattering my heart.  The events are so unimaginable and so unbelievably sad that I have woken up every day since then with the heaviest heart, aching for all the parents, families, children, students, teachers and lives that were affected.  I don't want to talk about gun control or media or mental health, and don't worry I won't... It breaks my heart that, as a country, we divide straight down the middle when a tragedy occurs and argue about issues that are arbitrary instead of coming together as one in order to heal broken hearts, mourn, grieve and be the nation under God that we are supposed to be.  We will never agree, so why do we even bother.  All I want to do is mourn with the people that lost their children and loved ones, and maybe also change the way I live my life.  Slow down, take a deep breathe, remember what it is actually important and most of all, cherish every moment we have with the people we love.  If you are anything like me, you might feel the same way I do right now.  Because of the Sandy Hook tragedy, I've had a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit.  As I sat and cried and talked with one of the Mom's of whose kids I babysit, she said, "I don't know what to do, except be the best Mom that I can be and love my children and every moment I spend with them."  I think that's very true... that is all we can do.  All we can really do is become better people because of this.  Love a little more and try to stop taking things for granted.  Make sure everyone you love knows that you love them. a lot.

As you can imagine, this week was an emotional for me.  Instead of wishing time would go by faster and flying through this week (like I often find myself doing), I cherished every second I spent with the kids I babysit.  I cherished the moment when Fisher (age 2) screamed "TOUCH DOWN!" at the top of his lungs while playing imaginary football, and the moment when Caroline said, "Emmy Sitter I just love you", and when my little Emily Jane got home from school and jumped in my arms and begged me to stay and play even though her Mom was home, and the moment when one year old Charlotte stood dancing in the family room with the biggest smile on her face, and when the girls and I drank our "sleepy time tea" before bed while singing Christmas carols.

All these little munchkins are the sweetest most darling kids, and they all have taught me so much about who I am, who I want to be, and most importantly, about what really matters in this world. So, in the last few days I spent with them we did a little more singing and dancing around the house than normal, turned the TV off and played more games, gave more hugs, read a few more books before bedtime, and sang songs and snuggled for a little longer than usual before turning off the lights for the night because even though I am just their babysitter, I hope that they always felt cared for, loved and safe when I was around, and it is because of them that I want to become a teacher, which I am now on my way of pursuing.

Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, I have been asked a couple of times if I'm sure I still want to be a teacher.  This got me to thinking about how awful it is that teaching has now become a "dangerous" job.  Even more sad is the fact that elementary schools aren't safe anymore.  Its terrible that one of the places where children should feel and be completely safe and secure isn't safe any longer.  It's even more saddening that many children may be scared to go to school now.  So, to answer that question, yes, of course I still want to be a teacher.  On that terrible Friday, I was at Gold Rush Elementary School helping out in my sister's wonderful second grade class, when we all heard the news.  We were sitting in the teacher's lounge eating lunch when the news spread.  Every single person in the room stopped eating, lost their appetite, and were shocked by the news of the shooting.  And instead of the teachers there fearing that this could happen to their school or being relieved that it wasn't there school, they talked about how this is not okay ... it's not okay for children to fear going to school everyday, which may be the case now.  It's not okay for elementary schools to not be a safe haven anymore.  They talked about how they would do everything in their power to make sure that every single one of their students feels safe coming to school everyday, and would do everything in their power to protect them while they are at school everyday.  I believe that all of these teachers and most teachers out there would give their lives for any one of their students, and that's the way it should be.  I want to be a teacher to make an impact on children's lives, to educate them, to make them feel loved, needed and cared for.  I want to be a teacher because deep in my heart I have a love and a hope for every child in the world.  I truly believe that with the right support, education and love each and every child will grow up to make a difference in this world, and I want to be apart of making that happen.  We cannot live in fear... we must, instead, live in love to make a positive impact in this world.

Thank you Anna, Emily, Caroline, Ryan, Patrick, Mac, Charlotte and Fisher for being such a joy in my life.  You have all inspired me to want to work with amazing kids like yourselves for the rest of my career and life. I love you!

My thoughts and prayers are with all of the parents, families, teachers and kids that were affected in the tragedy. May God bring you comfort and peace in this difficult time. Oh how I wish I could give all of you a big hug right now.

I wish a Merry Christmas to all my friends and family... may you spend time with loved ones and remember what is important this Christmas.

P.S.  To all my photography clients that might be reading this... I still would love to be your photographer for any and all occasions. I will still be booking sessions while I am in grad school, and even hopefully once I become a teacher as well!

Sawyer Eve

Last weekend I was so incredibly blessed to get to meet the adorable baby Sawyer.  At two months old, she is one little bundle of joy!  Her Mom and Dad, Ashlee and Ryan, are two very lucky, blessed parents.  It was so great to get to meet Ashlee, and you might remember Ryan from the Heifferon family shoot I did in early November.  Unfortunately, Ashlee and baby Sawyer could not be apart of that shoot, which is why I took their pictures this past weekend instead.  Of course, I was more than honored to get to take their first professional portraits as a family. I know that the weather in Colorado has been uncanny for this time of year, and up until last weekend it was actually extremely warm here, but, of course, as it always seems to happen, the day before this photo session, the weather finally turned a bit colder, and since Sawyer is such a little one, we decided to do most of the session inside where the baby would stay cozy and warm.  It ended up being an extremely cute, Christmas-themed shoot, and I enjoyed every minute of it!  We also ventured outside for just a few minutes to catch a few outdoor pictures.

Thanks so much to Ryan, Ashlee and Sawyer!  You were all a joy to photograph, and congratulations on your little baby girl!

The Duran Family

Last weekend I was blessed to meet and photograph the wonderful Duran family.  I have to give out a big kudos to this family for not rescheduling their shoot due to two unfortunate circumstances.... The first being that Cecilia (the oldest of the two sisters) broke her arm a week before our photo session, and two, it was 25 degrees outside with snow on the ground the day of our shoot.  Fortunately, Cecilia was able to cover up her cast pretty well, and Adrian (the Dad) has an incredible office in downtown Littleton with really cool brick walls so we were able to take some indoor pictures instead of having to stand out in the freezing cold for an hour.  We did, however, venture over to the Littleton Historical Museum to take a few outdoor pictures, and I was amazed and impressed that not one of the members in this family complained about the cold, especially since they didn't even put their jackets on.  I, on the other hand, was all bundled up in my North Face fleece and giant scarf).  Only when Reese (the youngest of the sisters) tripped and fell did we have a few tears shed, but she cheered right up with the promise of a cup of hot chocolate if only she smiled for a few more pictures.  This shoot turned out much better than I could have ever imagined, and all the credit deserves to go to the Duran family!  Thank you Mandy, Adrian, Cecilia, Reese and we can't forget Otis, the adorable model-savvy pup!

The Heifferon Family

I have known Brittany for a very long time now, and she is one of my dearest friends so, of course, I was thrilled when she asked me if I could take family pictures of them.  This entire family is so fantastic with two beautiful ladies and three handsome men!  This family photo shoot was one of the easiest shoots I have ever done in my entire life.  They were so willing to do whatever I asked of them even though they probably felt really cheesy, and Ryan even fell into the stream to try to help me get across it.  All five of them contributed to an extremely fun and outgoing shoot.  I'm sorry to Phil who broke his phone while jumping through the trees, and I'm sorry to Ryan who had to have been hurt after that fall, but I really appreciate your guys' enthusiasm and willingness to help make this a fun and exciting shoot!  The yellow leaves and beautiful Fall colors made this shoot beyond exceptional, and I couldn't have asked for a better family to get to know and photograph.  Thank you all for such a great time!

The Cirelli Family

On Sunday I photographed the Cirelli family.  It was so nice to meet this wonderful family, and I was honored that they asked me to take their family pictures.  This beautiful family of four recently welcomed Liam into the world so congratulations to all of them!  These two brothers couldn't be any more cute.  The two year old, Owen, is so photogenic and fun!  He loved getting to run around the park while Liam was so content and happy the entire time... I think he may have even enjoyed getting his picture taken.

The Johnson Family

On Friday I photographed the beautiful Johnson family.  Could they be any more picture perfect, especially with all of their matching Chucks?  JUST WAY TOO CUTE!  Elijah and Avari are two of the most adorable kids I know, and I was honored to get to photograph them.   I just love all of them so much ... they are an incredible family, and I am blessed to be good friends with them!  

Martha's 90th Birthday Party

Last Saturday I was privileged to get to photograph a dear friend of mines Grandma's 90th Birthday party.  The party was at Littleton United Methodist Church, where Martha has attended for the past 70 years.  Can you imagine going to the same church for 70 years?!  It was so much fun getting to see Martha celebrate this very special day with all her friends and family, and I was blessed to get to capture it.

Virginia: Norfolk, Colonial Williamsburg & Thomas Jefferson

This weekend (well Thursday through Saturday) my Mom and I went to Virginia to visit my Aunt Ann, Uncle Steve, my cousin Jayme and her baby girl Rylea.  Rylea just turned one on Wednedsay, and we were excited to get to go celebrate with her!  Although our trip was cut short due to good old Hurricane Sandy (we were supposed to get home late tonight, but ended up getting on a flight last night instead, and good thing because our flight today was cancelled and Norfolk is currently getting 10" of rain today!), we still made the most of the short time we had there.  On Friday, my Aunt Ann, my Mom, Jayme, Rylea and I spent the day in Williamsburg.  If you've never been, go!  Colonial Williamsburg served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events in Virginia leading up to the American Revolution.  I was in love with the old buildings, the history, and the trees.  Rylea loved all the sheep, cows and horses! Not only did we get to see where Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry lived in the Governor's Palace, but we got to learn about the history and culture of the times too.  Besides going to Williamsburg we spent our time in Norfolk hanging out with the family, and being entertained by beautiful, adorable Rylea!  

It's That Time of the Year

It's that time of the year again when everyone wants their family photos taken.  Here is a much needed blog post of the three family portrait sessions (and the Mom-Daughter session) that I did this past weekend.  All four shoots were so much fun.  I was honored that these four incredible, beautiful families asked me to take their family portraits. First up is the O'Donnell family.  Although we couldn't get the little one in this family to have a serious smile for any of the pictures, I think these photos definitely show off her spunky attitude.  What do you think?  Could she have any more great faces?  And how about the other two munchkins?  Super cute, right?

Next is the Hicks family ... this shoot was so much fun with all the leaves and fabulous fall colors everywhere.  Not to mention the cute, stylish kids and the beautiful parents!  Thank you all for making my job SO, SO easy!

And finally, we have the Lamar family.  I have been blessed to know this family for many, many years now, and they just welcomed a new baby girl, Frances, to their already stunning family.  Congrats!!

And last, but not least we have adorable little Evie.  Poor Evie did not particularly want or enjoy getting her picture taken, but she definitely had a cute pout, and think the few that we did get were worth it!

The White Family

On Sunday, I was blessed to get to photograph the White family.  This incredible family was so much fun to work with.  With the beautiful parents, charming 7 year old twins, and an adorable baby girl, they sure did make my job incredibly easy!  The girls are so full of life, wild and fun, and I tried to get their great personalities to shine through these images.    The colors on the trees, and the fallen leaves couldn't have been more perfect for these Fall family photos.  Thank you so much to the White family for such a fun shoot!!  

A much needed blog post...

Well, since I have two weeks until I graduate I figured I should finally blog.  The quarter has flown by!  I have been so busy this quarter getting everything done to graduate, focusing on my classes, working, etc.  Here's a little glimpse of all that I have done over the past few months.  Let's see...  I've shot jewelry for an awesome company, August Designs Jewelry, which was started by one of my good friends (You should definitely check it out... you won't regret it!), and I also shot a few head shots of the owners while I was it!  ... I went to California, which I already blogged about ... I hiked around Rocky Mountain National Park, which was beyond beautiful and much needed to soothe my soul.  I watched the sunset over Sprague Lake ... I went on a field trip with my Advertising Campaign class to the Denver Botanic Gardens.  The Kizuna exhibit was going on, which features amazing bamboo installations from two very talented artists, Tetsunori Kawana and Stephen Talasnik.  The exhibit goes until November 4th so if you are in the Denver area you should probably go see it!  ... I went to a rodeo, the Refuse to Lose rodeo that benefits cancer victims and their families.  My cousin, a former bull-rider himself, is now a bull fighter (AKA, a rodeo clown who distracts the wild bulls after the riders fall off), and I was able to photograph him for one of my classes and my portfolio (Yes, he is the good-looking cowboy with no front teeth!) ... I re-built my entire website ... And I even learned how to use Adobe Illustrator a little bit.  It's been one eventful quarter, and it isn't done yet!  Stay tuned for more projects, my portfolios and more photos in a couple weeks!  

San Diego, Bass Lake & Yosemite

I never thought I would see such a gigantic tree in my life.  Brandon and I were driving through Yosemite National Park towards Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias, and I said to him, "How will we know when we see a Sequoia tree?"  We thought that the trees already surrounding us were pretty big.  But when we saw one we knew it.

A few weeks ago, Brandon and I took a trip to California.  I met him in San Diego, where we stayed with his Aunt and Uncle for a few days.  While there, we went to the San Diego Zoo and went kayaking in La Jolla.  The San Diego Zoo was so much fun.  It was by far the biggest zoo I have ever been to, and it was really cool because I got to see Panda Bears, which I have never seen before.  Kayaking was also really fun.  We went on a tour in the La Jolla caves, and it was really pretty.  We saw tons of fish, sea lions, harbor seals and leopard sharks.

After spending a few days in San Diego, we took a 6 hour train ride up to Fresno, where we stayed with Brandon's cousin for a night before driving to Bass Lake to spend the weekend with Brandon's grandparents.  Having heard so many great stories of Brandon's about Bass Lake, I was excited to be there and to experience it for myself.  We spent a few days boating, fishing and swimming in the lake.

On Friday morning, we woke up at 3:30 a.m. in order to drive to Yosemite National Park in time to drive to Glacier Point to catch the sunrise over Half Dome.  Neither of us had been to Yosemite National Park before, and it definitely was a site to see.  I wish we could have spent more time there because it was so beautiful.  After a short nap in the car, we then went to the Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias.  This is was my favorite, favorite thing about our entire trip.  We hiked around the grove, and I was mesmerized by the giant trees.  I have never experienced anything like them before.  If you haven't gotten to see them, I would highly reccomend it.  I fell in love with the Sequoia trees.  Some of them are over 100 ft. in diameter.  Can you even imagine that?

The next morning, we drove back to Fresno where we spent the day listening to live music, swimming in Brandon's cousins pool and relaxing in the hot tub.  We woke up early the next morning to take the train to Sacramento, and from there we flew home to Denver.  It was a great trip and I am so thankful for all I got to see, experience and do while I was there.  Thank you to Brandon's awesome family who took us in and took care of us while we were there!

Oh, and did I mention that I bought an underwater camera while I was there?  We had a lot of fun with this highly unnecessary purchase...

August 19. Reflection.

Tomorrow we arrive in Boston where I will be catching a flight to Denver, which means that my trip is coming to a bitter-sweet end. I'm sad that my adventure is already over... I feel like I just left the other day. Time really does fly by. I'm sad that I won't be in a different country every week anymore, and I'm especially sad that I have to leave all the wonderful friends that I have made since I've been gone. But I'm also excited to see my family and friends at home... I sure have missed everyone...and I'm excited to get back to "real" life. As I reflect over the past two months, I've realized that this was an adventure of a lifetime, and an amazing opportunity that I'm so grateful I got to experience. Here's a little bit of what I've learned over the past two months:

I've learned that I'm grateful for my home, my friends and my family. Over the past two months I've gotten to know a lot of the crew that work on the ship. They work continually on the ship for nine months straight and then get a two month vacation before spending another nine straight months on the ship. I can't imagine only getting to see my family for two months every nine months, especially considering how much I miss my family and I've only been away for two months. I can't imagine how much all the crew miss their friends and family, and I'm really blessed that I am able to see my friends and family whenever I want to.

I've learned that I'm grateful for my education. One of my crew friends told me one night that he wishes he would have had the opportunity to go to college. This made me realize how privileged I am that I do get to go to college and earn a degree. This also made me realize how lucky I am that I got to go to school on a ship while traveling the world for the last two months.

I've learned that I'm very very grateful and blessed that I was able to experience all these new places, divulge in new cultures and meet new people from all over the world.

I've learned that I shouldn't take anything for granted.

I've learned that people everywhere are all the same. We all have the same needs and wants even when we look different and live different lifestyles.

I've learned that I really love the ocean, and will be sad when I won't get to see it everyday in Colorado.

I've learned that it's okay to be a little messy, it's okay to stay up late, it's okay if my neighbors want to scream and yell at four a.m. when I have an eight a.m. class. I will survive.

I've learned that a lot of people don't like having their pictures taken, especially in Morocco.

I've learned that beauty is everywhere.

I've learned that a smile is a universal way to communicate, and I've learned that most people are very friendly if you are friendly to them, even if you don't speak the same language.

I've learned that friendships are priceless and worth preserving.

I've learned that the ship does in fact run out of peanut butter, and I'm really glad I brought a jar with me.

I've learned that I'm really afraid of monkeys and snakes. These animals should not be running wild through the souks of Marrakech.

Ive learned a lot about ships, boats, water and the ocean.

I've learned that I love to travel and want to see the whole world someday.

I've learned that there are a lot of kids in the world who don't have homes. I wish I could have taken all the kids who were at the orphanage I went to in Bulgaria home with me.

I've learned that traffic lights, stop signs and cross walks are just recommendations, and that pedestrians do not come first over here. I've learned to look both ways over and over again before crossing streets, especially in Morocco where I really would have felt better if there were some sort of traffic signals.

I've learned that there really is a God. How else did this wonderful, beautiful, complex world get here?

I've learned that no matter how hard I try I really really hate to shop.

I've learned that I'm thankful to have feet, even if mine do hurt all the time.

I've learned that living "dorm- room" style for 2 months is just enough time for me.

I've learned a lot of Spanish and I've learned how to say "take me to the ship port terminal" in addition to some words in Italian, Croatian, Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, Arabic and Tagalog.

I've learned that I am not a good student when it comes to lecture hall classes with 700 students in it. I do not pay attention when there are so many people around me. I'm glad I go to an art school where my biggest class has 35 people in it.

I've learned that I'm incredibly blessed to have a wonderful family and great friends. Did I already mention that? Can you tell I missed you?

Over the past two months, I've realized how thankful, lucky and grateful I am that I got to spend my summer traveling, seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people and making new friends. This really was a trip of a lifetime that I will remember forever.

August 8 - August 12. Morocco

Not only is today my last day in Morocco, but today is my last day abroad. At least for this summer. I can't believe that my adventure is already ending, and that today is my last day in my last country on this trip. The ship leaves from Casablanca tonight to head to Boston. I'm sad that it's already over... time really does fly by. My time in Morocco was definitely an interesting experience. I wouldn't say that Morocco is my favorite place I've ever been, but I'm glad I can say that I've been here and it was really really interesting to get to experience the culture here. Let me fill you in on what I've been upto the last few days while I've been in Morocco.

Let me start by explaining that right after leaving Turkey, I got really really really sick. It was definitely not fun, and it definitely put a damper on the beginning of my time in Morocco. I spent the first day in Morocco on the ship trying to survive through my stomach pain, and get better so that I could enjoy the rest of my time in Morocco. On Tuesday morning (not feeling much better still, but I forced myself to leave the ship) I left to go to Marrakech for a couple of days. After surviving a miserable three hour bus ride, we finally arrived in Marrakech, and the first thing we did was hop on a bunch of camels and went on a camel trek through the Palm Groves of Marrakech. I was so excited to ride a camel that for a while I almost forgot I wasn't feeling well. For the first hour or so of my camel ride, I was having the time of my life. I mean after all who can honestly say that they got to ride a camel in Morocco on their birthday? Did I mention that Tuesday was my birthday? But about an hour into the ride, my excitement about being on a camel subsided, and I remembered that I wasn't feeling well again. My head was throbbing, my stomach hurt and I all the sudden was seeing spots and thought I was either going to throw up or pass out. It probably didn't help that I was already dehydrated from being sick for so long, and then being on a really long camel ride through the desert in the beating sun in 125 degree weather. Yes, it really was 125 degrees in Marrakech on Tuesday. Needless to say, the last hour of my camel trek was pretty brutal. I was very grateful when my camel finally kneeled down, let me off and I was able to drink some water. Even though I felt really terrible, I'm glad that I forced myself to leave the ship and go to Marrakech... I'm glad that I got to experience a camel ride through the desert of Morocco. After our camel trek, we ate lunch at this little restaurant where we all sat on the ground and ate couscous and other things I couldn't recognize out of giant bowls.

The next day, we walked around Marrakech and saw everything that Marrakech has to offer. We went to the souk, which is a giant market similar to the Grand Bazaar in Turkey. And let me tell you... I never ever ever wish to smell the smell of this place ever again, but it was a really cool, crazy, overwhelming experience nonetheless. Just imagine the smell of sewage mixed with rotting meat (yes, I saw a loooot of rotting meat hanging up... in my opinion meat shouldn't be infested with flys and shouldn't be turning a nasty green color and raw meat should NEVER EVER smell like that) and the zoo. Maybe my gag reflexes were just heightened from being sick to my stomach, but I was very very glad to be wearing a scarf that I was able to wrap around my nose and mouth. Besides the smell, the souk was very interesting. It was all these small alleyways with shop after shop after shop along them, and people walking up and down them selling various miscellaneous things. Men were walking around with monkeys on leashes, and would throw them on the shoppers and wouldn't take them off their shoulders until they gave them money (thankfully this never happened to me, but I watched it happen multiple times... I was terrified that I was going to get a monkey put on me), and the same thing happened with snakes. Yes, real live snakes. They would throw these giant, scary snakes at people walking through the streets and wouldn't let you leave or wouldn't take the snake off you until you gave them money (thankfully this never happened to me either). Besides that, some of the shops were pretty cool. I got a pair of shoes, three bracelets, and a couple of other things for under 20 dollars. The bargaining in these shops was absolutely crazy. The entire souk experience was one that I never wish to relive, but am glad I got to see. Morocco is a crazy, crazy place.

Last night since it was our last night to all go out together, a big group of us went to get dinner. We went to Rick's Cafe, which is the restaurant they go to in the movie Casablanca. This morning I ventured out to go walk through the city of Casablanca one more time and to do some last minute shopping. I hope that no one at home is expecting me to come back with gifts for them because I seriously haven't gotten anything for anybody. Then after shopping I walked over to the Hotel Ibis to sit at the bar and use their free internet, which is where I am right now. I need to head back to the ship soon so that we can leave and start our voyage home!!

I had a great time in Morocco, and I'm so thankful that I'm feeling better and was able to enjoy my last few days here. I loved getting to experience the culture here... riding a camel, eating on the floor, shopping in the crazy souks, interacting with the people... I wouldn't trade my time here for anything, and now I'm ready to head home and am looking forward to it! I can't wait to see everyone at home in a WEEK!!!

July 29 - August 2. Istanbul, Turkey.

I am back on the ship headed to Morocco.  I have spent the last five days in Istanbul, and wish I could have at least five more days there.  Istanbul is such a big city with so much to do and see, and five days does not do it justice.  I tried to see everything I possibly could while I was there, and my days were jam-packed.  On Friday, we went to the Underground Cistern, which is an underground water reservoir that was built in the sixth century a.d. to store water for the population of Istanbul at the time.   The cistern now hosts occasional concerts, and is a tourist site known for it's dimly lit and beautiful pillars, and two stone medusa heads from the Roman structures.  We then spent the rest of the day at the Grand Bazaar.  The Grand Bazaar is the world's oldest shopping mall.  During the Byzantine times, the Grand Bazaar was the main market in Istanbul.  When the Ottomans came, the Grand Bazaar grew bigger and more diverse, and became the center for trade in the entire Ottoman Empire.  The Grand Bazaar remained Turkey's commercial trading center through the 1950s.  Today the Grand Bazaar hosts over 4,000 shops, and sells 10 times more jewelry than it used to.  My experience there was one I do not wish to experience again.  Someone should have warned me that if you do not like shopping then you should not go there!  Not only was the Grand Bazaar overwhelming, but the walk there alone should have been enough warning to make me turn back.  On the way there, I got run over by more strollers than I can count and get pushed and knocked around like I wasn't even there.  Maybe if I was a foot taller and ten times bigger, I would have been able to handle it, but seeing as I am really short and small, I got trampled all over.  I thought the Grand Bazaar would be better, but it turns out it wasn't.  There were just as many people in the Grand Bazaar as there were on the streets so I continued to get ran over.  Not only that, but I did not find bargaining very fun, and I did not enjoy all the men hollering at me, telling me I'm beautiful and yelling at me that I broke their hearts because I would not buy anything from them.  To say the least, my "shoppers anxiety" was at its peak.  I can't even handle going to the mall in Lone Tree, Colorado so why did I think I could handle the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey?!  Everyone I was with came back with bags and bags of souvenirs... jewelry, clothes, lamps, tea, you name it, they bought it.  What did I come back with?  Not one thing.  Most everyone I was with bought all of their souvenirs there and bought all of their gifts for their family and friends there so let me just say that I'm sorry that none of my family or friends will be getting gifts from Turkey.  Some of my friends even went back to the Grand Bazaar more than once.  Kudos to them, but the Grand Bazaar was not  my favorite place.  I can honestly say though that I'm glad I got to experience it one time, and it makes me even more glad to know that I never have to go back there again. I spent the next day seeing the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque.  The Haiga Sofia is FILLED with history so bear with me while I give you yet another history lesson.  For centuries the Hagia Sofia was known as the Megalo Ekklesia, or the "Great Church" of Constantinople.  The Greeks called it  the Hagia Sophia or Aya Sofia (that's the Turkish way of spelling it), which means "Divine Wisdom".  The Emperor Justinian built the Hagia Sophia between 532 a.d. and 537 a.d.  For 900 years it served as the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople.  When the Ottomans took over Constantinople in 1453, the Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror converted the church into an imperial mosque.  The Hagia Sofia remained Istanbul's most important mosque for five centuries.  In the 1930's during the Turkish Republic, the mosque was converted another time into a museum, in which it is today.  It retains elements of both the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and aspects of the Orthodox Christian religion as well as Islam.  The Hagia Sofia is overwhelmingly beautiful... I really enjoyed my time there.  We then ventured over to the Blue Mosque.  The Blue Mosque was built in 1609, and is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue color that dominates the inside.  The Blue Mosque is unique because it has six minarets.  According to Muslim tradition, the imam (the prayer leader) would climb to the top of a minaret five times every day to announce the call to prayer.  Today, an imam still announces the call to prayer, but over loudspeakers that you can hear all over the city.  The Blue Mosque is still a working mosque today, and going inside of it was an experience in itself.  In order to go in women have to cover their shoulders and heads, and must wear clothes that cover their entire legs.  As you walk in you take off your shoes and carry them in a bag with you.  Once inside, you notice that the women are separated from the men.  The men are up front in the main area while the woman have to stay behind the railing in the back of the mosque.  Everyone is sitting, standing, or kneeling in the same direction.  Everyone prays facing southeast towards Mecca, Islam's holy city.  It was a very spiritual experience getting to observe all of the Muslims' who were praying in the Blue Mosque at the time I was there.

On Monday, Andrea, Jenny and I took a ferry up the Bosphorus Strait to the Asia side of Turkey.  If you look at a map of Turkey you will see that the country is split in two pieces separated by the Bosphorus Strait.  One little piece of Turkey is on the continent of Europe and the other piece of Turkey is on the continent of Asia.   So we took a ferry through the Straits of Bosphorus to Asian Istanbul where we had lunch and reveled in the fact that we were in Asia.  From my experience Asian Istanbul looks, smells and feels exactly like Europe Istanbul, but it's cool to say that I ate lunch in Asia.

Yesterday on our last day in Istanbul, I decided to get a Turkish Bath.  I had heard that you can't go to Turkey and not get a Turkish Bath so after breakfast yesterday I walked through town to the Cembillitas Bath.  I had no idea what I was in for, but it was quite the experience.  This big Turkish woman, who didn't speak English, handed me a towel and a pair of underwear and pointed up this stairwell.  Not really sure what I was doing, I walked up the stairs where I found a small locker room.  I figured I should put on the underwear she gave me so I did, then I wrapped the towel around me, and walked back downstairs.  The lady showed me through these big doors that led to this big room that was as hot as a sauna with a big marble slab in the middle of it.  She pulled the towel off me, threw it on the marble slab and pointed at it.  If there weren't a couple of other ladies already in there laying on the marble slab, I probably wouldn't have known what to do, but thankfully there were a couple of people already in there so I laid down on my towel in the middle of this big marble slab where I waited for my Turkish bath to begin.  After thirty minutes or so the lady came over to me and poured a bucket of water on me, scrubbed my entire body, threw more water on me, poured bubbles on me, scrubbed me again, poured more water on me, etc.  It went on for an hour or so, all the while slapping me and yelling things I didn't understand in order to get me to roll over, sit up, stand up, sit down, lay down, turn over, etc.  At last she had me sit up one last time where she scrubbed my hair and face and dumped bucket after bucket of water over me until I was officially the cleanest I have ever been in my life.   If I hadn't watched a couple of people go before me, I would have been terrified, but by the time it was my turn I was ready for it and I actually thought the whole experience was pretty comical.  Yes, it was a little awkward having someone bathe me, and it was a little awkward being practically naked in a room with all these other women, but it was an experience that I'm glad I got to have, and I can honestly tell you that I have no more dead skin anywhere on my entire body.

I wish I could have gotten to sped a couple of more days in Istanbul... five days were definitely not enough, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.  I am back on the ship now, and will be in Morocco on Monday morning.  I can't wait!!  I will be in Morocco until Friday and then will be headed home!

Sorry for the really low quality of these images!

July 24 - July 27. Bulgaria

Bulgaria was one giant adventure, and I absolutely LOVED every minute of it.  Who would have thought Bulgaria would be my favorite place I've gone so far?  I wish I could be here for another week or two... I'm sad to be leaving already!  It is such a beautiful country. We got here on Sunday, and on Sunday morning I just walked around the city of Varna to get a feel for it, and then spent the rest of the day at the beach... it was nice and relaxing, but I got so sun burned!  That night we went to the music festival that was in town, which was very fun and really cool to get to see.  On Monday, I went on a jeep safari, which was awesome to say the least.  We all packed into these really old jeeps (our driver called them Russian Hummers), and got to ride around and see all of Varna.  We stopped in this beautiful sunflower field, where sunflowers were all you could see all around.  We also go to stop and taste fresh honey, which was so good... so good, in fact, that I bought two jars of it to bring home, and then we enjoyed a barbecue lunch and watched a little skit that our drivers put on for us.  All of the jeep drivers were so funny and crazy... I seriously thought that the jeep I was in was going to flip over a couple of times.  My friend and I were talking about how funny it is that at home whenever we get in a car we always put our seat belts on no matter what without even thinking twice about it, but here we are standing up in the back of safari jeeps off roading in Bulgaria with drivers that don't even speak English.  That night after the jeep safari we went bowling.  Bowling in 'Bowl'garia... cheasy, I know, but still how many other people can say that they have been bowling in Bulgaria?  On Tuesday, my friend Jenny and I went on an amazing adventure.  We had planned to take a bus to Burgas, which is this city that's about 3 hours away by bus and is known for the salt lakes and healing mud baths, and then wanted to go to Nessebar, which is this little harbor town that is on the way to Burgas.  So we left the ship in hopes to catch a bus to either Nessebar or Burgas, but when we got to the bus station the lady who was working couldn't understand us.  We couldn't even buy tickets for the bus because we couldn't communicate well enough to buy a ticket to where we wanted to go.  It is crazy being in a country where you can't communicate with the people at all.  Hardly anyone speaks English here.  The only word I actually know how to say is "da" which means yes.  I also know that "zdravei" is hello, but I can't even pronounce that, and "ako boicahte" is please, but I can't pronounce that either.  We were told that we should say "az ne govorya bulgarski", which means "I don't know how to speak Bulgarian", but do they really expect us to remember how to say that when we are out and about?  So anyways, since Jenny and I couldn't get bus tickets, we decided to try to find a taxi driver that spoke a little English.  We found one that spoke okay English, and he said that he would drive us to Burgas and stay the day there so that we could get back to Varna later that day.  It should have normally cost 200 leva (it's normally about 1 lev/kilometer, and Burgas is about 200 kilometers from Varna), and our taxi driver charged us 70 leva each way so 140 leva total, which is an incredible deal.... Jenny and I each payed about a total of 50 U.S. dollars, which is way cheaper than we expected it to be and we got to Burgas in an hour and a half instead of three hours if we would have taken the bus.  So once we got to Burgas,  Jenny and I walked to the salt lakes and healing mud baths.  It was an amazing site to see... all of these local Bulgarian men and women were laying in three different lakes.  One of them was  pink, one was clear, and the other one was black and murky.  As we learned, you first sit in the pink lake, which is filled with all this natural salt from the ocean and you exfoliate your skin in it... I'm not sure why this lake is  pink, but I do know that all three of these lakes are natural springs that were created from the ocean.  You then move to the clear lake and rinse off all the salt, and then you move to the black lake, which is filled with mud and you rub mud all over body.  This mud is known as "healing mud" and has natural cleansers and moisturizer in it.  You then let the mud harden and dry on your body, and then wash it off in the ocean.  So Jenny and I spent the next four hours enjoying our Bulgarian mud baths.  We sat in the salt and exfoliated our skin, rinsed it off and proceeded to rub mud all over our bodies.  After letting it dry, we ran into the ocean and washed it off.  Needless to say, it was a very cool experience.  We then met back up with our taxi driver and he drove us to Nessebar, and we walked around Nessebar for a while before going back to Varna.  Yesterday I spent the morning at an orphanage in Varna, and it was so wonderful to get to play with kids!  I miss all my kiddos at home so much!  They were all so cute, and it made me so happy to get to be there and see them enjoying themselves.  I wanted to take this little boy home with me... he was so precious, and he wouldn't let me put him down... he cried when I had to leave, and it broke my heart!

I'm now back on the ship and will be in Turkey tomorrow. I can't wait, but at the same time I don't want to go to Turkey yet because that means I'll only have one more country to go to!  This trip has been going by way too fast!

Once again, I'm sorry for the low resolution of these pictures... I'm posting them from the ship so I am only to upload very low quality images.

July 17 - July 21. Greece Pictures!

Sorry about the low quality of these images... I'm posting these from the ship so I am only able to upload very low quality images.  At least you can still see what I've been up to!

July 17 - July 21. Greece.

I'm sitting in my beautiful, wonderful hostel in Santorini enjoying a gyro and a bottle of wine.  What could be better?  We've spent the last three days here on the island of Santorini.  It's this beautiful little island south of the main land of Greece, and it's where the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed if you've ever seen that movie.  Poppi, the owner of the hostel we have been staying at, is the nicest little Greek woman.  She picked us up at the dock where our ferry came in, upgraded our room to a suite, and is driving us back to the dock in a couple of hours so that we can catch our ferry back to Athens.  Not only that, but she has been making us a homemade breakfast every morning, and she ordered us some lunch just now because she thought we needed to eat and gave us a bottle of wine on the house.  I think I could stay here forever.  I don't want to leave! It has definitely been a fun-filled week.  On Sunday when our ship docked in Athens, we spent the day wandering around Athens... we went to the Acropolis and saw the Partheon.  It was awesome to see, but I'm glad that we decided not to stay in Athens all week.  On Monday morning, as we were walking to the ferry to go to Santorini, we walked past taxi after taxi after taxi that were just lined up and parked in the middle of the roads.  We knew that the taxis were probably going to go on strike, but we had no idea what to expect.  This was all that I got to see of it, fortunately, but we heard that it got out of control.  All of the taxis in Athens went on strike, refusing to even move to the side of the roads.  They blocked in buses and other vehicles, and since they refused to move the buses couldn't move either.  This caused the police to come, which caused riots all over Athens.  Many taxis were even set on fire.  Needless to say, I'm glad I spent my time in Santorini laying on the beach rather than being stuck on the ship.  We spent the last few days playing on the beach and swimming in the ocean.  It was just the mini vacation that I needed!

We are heading back to Athens in a couple of hours, and will get there tonight.  I'm hoping that things are cleared up, and that tomorrow morning I will be to walk around Athens one last time before we head off to Bulgaria.  I don't have time to upload pictures from Greece yet, but will hopefully be able to tomorrow or while I'm in Bulgaria.