Japan Week - My First Trip to Japan

Fall 2001

Back in 2001 I spent a couple of weeks visiting my friend Ashlee in Japan. She introduced me to her favorite restaurants, shops, and tourists destinations. My favorite discovery while in Japan was the 100 yen store. Imagine five floors of the best dollar store you have ever seen. I have serious plans to fly back just to shop at the 100 yen stores.

New Year's Eve in the club.

My Family

Guatemala Week - Traveling with Jayne

Fall 2004

In 2004 my sister Jayne and I spent four weeks traveling around Guatemala and Mexico.  The best part of our trip was spending three weeks in Isla Mujeres, Mexico relaxing on the beach talking with my sister. I had just gotten home from an 18th month mission in the Philippines and Jayne and I had so much to catch up on. The hardest part about my time in the Philippines was being away from my sisters and not being able to talk with them. We emailed back and forth and twice a year I was able to call them, but it felt unnatural not talking to them everyday. It was hard not being able to share with them all that I was seeing and experiencing. I loved this trip with Jayne so much because it was a month of sister time and most of it was spent on the beach. 



Tikal Guatemala.

Guatemala Week - Traveling with Mike and Sally

Summer 2007

Polochic, Guatemala.
The most beautiful place I have ever visited. 

Summer of 2007 I spent three months living and volunteering in Carcha, Guatemala.  I have so many great memories from that summer.  I fell in love with the food, the scenery, and culture of Guatemala.  At the end of my summer living in Guatemala my parents came to visit.   

Guatemala Week

This week I will be highlighting my travels to Guatemala. Stay tuned...

Celebrity Travel - Cortney Novogratz

Photo

I was first introduced to Courtney and her family on the hit Bravo TV show Nine by Design. The Novagratz family are creative and their take on family and design is refreshing.  In this clip Courtney Novagratz shares her favorite travel tips.

Cayman Islands

June 2011

The view from our balcony.

In June 2011 I spent a magical week in Grand Cayman Island with my best friend.  This trip is one of my top three favorite all time vacations.  We spent the majority of our week chilling out on the beach, reading, relaxing, and laughing.  We had such a great time; I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt.  It was magical and life changing.  I feel lucky to have such a good friend that makes my life better.  Ejoy the pictures. 

Reading on our balcony.

Americorps Week - Red Cross Disaster Relief

January - November 2002

During my 11months volunteering with the Americorps National Civilian Community Corps I was trained by the American Red Cross in disaster response.  I had the opportunity to respond to the following four national disasters:

1. Tornado and Flooding in San Antonio, TX

2. Wild fires in Showlow AZ

3. Tropical storm Isidore Biloxi, MS

4. Hurricane Lilly New Orleans, LS

My favorite part about volunteering with the Red Cross was getting to meet amazing volunteers. It takes a special person to leave their families and go volunteer during a crisis. I spent a lot of time talking with the other volunteers and getting advise on life. I asked questions like: what life advise to you have for me, the most important thing you have learned in your life, how to find love, etc. I enjoyed hearing their answers and discussing their experiences. 

Americorps Week - YMCA Camp Chingachgook Lake George, New York

January - November 2002

My Americorps team and I volunteered for two months at YMCA Camp Chingachgook Lake George, New York.  Highlights included: building trails, tent platforms, lean-tos, renovating the camp, canoeing, camping, ultimate frisbee, camping in the Adirondacks, hiking, painting boats, summer love, and summer heartbreak. 

Our cabin home for two months.

Eating lobster for the first time.

Lean-to.

Trail building.

Ultimate frisbee.

Relay for Life.

Americorps Week - Habitat for Humanity Bridgeport, Massachusetts

January - November 2002

My team and I spent two months living in Bridgeport Connecticut volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

Our home for two months.

Habitat for Humanity office Bridgeport, CT.

This project was when I decided that I wanted to study nonprofit management and pursue volunteerism as a career. Helping to build someone a home is an incredibile thing. I loved the hard work and learning new construction skills, but what I enjoyed most was working next to the future homeowners. Each homeowner has to log hundreds of sweat-equity hours before they can get their homes. I saw how much pride the homeowners had and how excited they were to finally have a place of their own. I felt so happy everyday I went to work and was determined to have that same feeling with my future career. After high school I didn't know what I wanted to study in college or what I wanted to do for a career. I took four years off from school and it was during my time at Habitat for Humanity that I discovered what I wanted to study in school.