Live in the Sunshine, Swim in the Sea.

Last month my amazing mom took my brother and I on a vacation to the Bahamas.

It was beautiful there.  It rained quite a bit the first day but after that it only rained a few times so we had plenty of time to enjoy the island.

We stayed on Paradise Island in a little hotel right next to the Atlantis resorts, it was better that way because it was less expensive and we still got to use the Atlantis water park and everything.

The main city Nassau was just over the bridge on New Providence Island. 

It was interesting because some of the city was very run down but you could still see the fancy Atlantis resort from where we were.  When we got into downtown Nassau it was really nice.

The different varieties of tropical plants was interesting.  There were a lot of different plants than there are in Ohio.

The water was so incredibly blue it was hard to believe we were still on the Atlantic Ocean!

There were lots of little lizards running around. There were also quite a few stray cats that lived on the islands.

Atlantis also had a really big aquarium that was fun to visit when it was raining.

My mom's favorite were the sting rays.  She liked how they all had different prints on their backs.   She thinks the picture of the one below is creepy though.  

In the Bahamas it's even hot at night, I took my sweater with me the first few nights there but I quickly learned I didn't need it.

We had a lot of fun on vacation and I can't wait to share more of my pictures from the trip with you; part two is on the way!

Colors of the Morning Sky

The night before moving day I didn't sleep very well. When I woke up at 5am, I decided to stay up and walk out to the lake to see the sunrise.

This spot was about a three minute walk from my old house and now it's about a ten to fifteen minute drive.  While I really like the new place, I'm not huge on being farther away from this place.

This is the second time I've caught the sunrise here though I've caught a few sunsets (It's actually cool because the clouds around the city turn really purple).  It's so serene and beautiful in the morning it makes me wish I would make myself get up before the sunrise more often.

That morning I found out that there's actually a man who goes and tends to the gardens on the hillside every so often.  It's so nice to know that there's someone who cares about that place enough to take time out of their day to tend to it.

The city almost always looks cool from here, the only times it doesn't is when the sky is so foggy you can't even see it.

There are lots of creatures that get up and are busy by the time the sunrises, I saw lots of little bumble bees buzzing around to all of the flowers.

There were lots of birds out over the lake and they looked beautiful silhouetted against the water that was so colorful from the sunlight.

As I mentioned before there were all kind of creatures up before the dawn like hawks, bunnies, butterflies, bees, and me!

A quote I stumbled across a while ago that I think fits nicely with these pictures is "Those who dwell on the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." by Rachel Carson.

Going here always makes me feel calm, like no matter how crazy life gets the world just keeps turning and the sun will always rise again tomorrow.

Also a few nights before I saw the sunrise I brought my camera and tripod up to the lake after the sun had already set so you could see the city lights out over the water.  These are my two favorites from that night.

This week I'm in the Bahamas and next week I'm going to my cousins wedding so I should have some good blogging material by the end of the week.  I hope you enjoyed the post, keep a look out for more to come!

(Remember you can click on the pictures to view them larger)

Road Trip With Nate

The last week of my summer I spent on a road trip with my brother, Nathan, in Pennsylvania and Maryland. After that I was moving (that's why it's been a while since I've made a post).

This is the neat old factory next to my uncle's house.

Nate and I climbed to the top of the rock pile on the side of the mountain and got to sit and take in this incredible view of South Fork, PA.

After that steep climb we went back down and walked a few miles on a trail towards Johnstown.  Then we headed back to the house and got to stuff ourselves with some delicious food that my Aunt Melissa made for us.

The ride to my grandparents house was very foggy as we were going through the mountains.

It started raining after a while, but it never got so foggy that we had to pull over or anything.  About halfway there Nate and I stopped and got a Rita's, which is my favorite Italian ice shop. I got a cherry gelato.

These last two pictures are just some longer exposures of driving at night.

That was a fun trip and I hope we get to do it again next year, maybe for a longer stretch of time. When we got back home we were launched straight into packing/moving mode and it was crazy busy. I'm in my new house now though so I should be back to blogging as usual.

(I know I don't usually put music in my posts, but you should really check out Riptide by Vance Joy if you get the chance as I've been really loving it lately.  Actually I enjoyed most of his 'Dream Your Life Away' album.)