June Photo-a-Day

Well another month of photos has come and gone.  Can you believe it's July already?  This summer is flying by and I wish it would slow down just a bit.  I could certainly handle the high temps for a (little) while longer.

June 1 - Morning

June 2 - Empty

June 3 - One Your Plate

June 4 - Close Up

June 5 - Sign

June 6 - Hat

June 7 - Drink

June 8 -6 o'clock

June 9 - Your View Today

June 10 -Best Bit of Your Weekend

June 11 - Door

June 12 - From a Low Angle

June 13 - Art

June 14 - Time  Oops, didn't do this day.

June 15 - Yellow

June 16 - Out and About

June 17 - In Your Bag

June 18 - Something We Don't Know About You

June 19 - Imperfect

June 20 - Fav Photo You've Ever Taken

June 21 - Where You Slept

June 22 - From a High Angle

June 23 - Movement

June 24 - On Your Mind

June 25 - Something Cute

June 26 - Where You Shop

June 27 - Bathroom

June 28 - On The Shelf

June 29 - Soft

June 30 - A Friend

Whoops, what happened at the end of the month?  I don't really know, guess I just slacked off.  Hope you enjoyed the rest of my June photo-a-day pictures via Instagram.  I think I will take the month of July off.

Friends Around The World

I have always had a passion for international travel and cultures.  I have been blessed to be able to travel so much already in my first 25 years of life, and I have made some amazing friends along the way.  Today I wanted to share with you a couple of blogs that you might enjoy as much as I do.

First of all, here is a picture of my bridesmaids.  These ladies were who I considered my closest friends three years ago and I still keep in touch with most of them today.

Amanda #1- Phoenix, AZ

Amanda #2 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Anna - Beijing, China

Me - Dayton, OH

Krista - Okinawa, Japan

Ashely - Cleveland, OH

Izi - San Diego, CA

Can I just brag for a minute?  I have some pretty amazing friends that live all around the world.  It makes catching up difficult sometimes with a 12-13 hour time difference for some of them, but I love hearing all the stories they have to share.  

Amanda #2 has found the love of her life in Cambodia and recently started a blog called 1001 Steps to a Cambodian-American Wedding.  You should definitely check it out.  She is a very gifted writer, and the stories she tells are freaking hilarious.

Krista is now stationed in Okinawa, Japan at the Kadena Airforce Base with her husband, Officer Dan.  They have been there for a little over a month now and are getting settled into their new apartment.  Check out her blog, Journey to Japan, where she writes about her adventures around the island. (and shares pictures of their new kitties!)

I would love it if Anna had a blog to share her crazy stories about China and all her trips around Asia on 20 hour bus rides filled with Kareoke singing.  Or being so famous (for being white) that people hand their babies to her for a photo opportunity.  

Do you have any friends that are living overseas?  I would love to follow along if they have a blog, so please share in the comments below.  

On that note, Happy Independence Day, America!  Although I would love to be traveling around the world,  I am also quite proud to be living in this country called the USA.

Olympics Trials: Gymnastics

This weekend, I was totally wrapped up in the USA Gymnastic Olympic Trials.  Gymnastics will always hold a special place in my heart.  You see, back in my flexible years, I myself was once a gymnast.  I wish I had a picture to show you, but that was way before digital camera days and all the pictures are in albums at my parent's house.  When I was about 5 years old, my Mom put me in a dance class where I learned basic tumbling skills, tap, ballet, and jazz.  It was a cutesy class and we definitely wore pink sequin tutus.  After a couple years of dance classes, I moved on to tumbling.

I spent the next several years of my life on the tumbling mats, doing back flips galore.  I remember being pushed to the limit - to always add one more flip, just one more lap around the gym and up and down the stairs, then just one more set of v-sits before we could crash and burn for the night.  I worked hard to perfect my tumbling passes and on the weekends, we would travel to compete in tumbling meets.  I gained quite a large collection of trophies and medals, but I never imagined what it would be like to train harder than one or two days a week at the gym.  I never even thought about going on to national and international competitions.  That is why I have an overwhelming respect for these ladies who compete in the Olympics.

Gabby Douglas

Alicia Sacramone

There is a lot of pressure in the sport of gymnastics.  Have you ever thought about it?  Imagine doing a back flip on a four inch wide beam that is four feet off the ground.  Imagine trying to stay in bounds when you don't have much space to run and throw a triple twisting or double back flip where you have to be really high in the air.  Imagine running in a full on sprint down a narrow mat and hurling your body through the air, then landing both feet together and "sticking" the landing without taking a tiny step.  Feeling the pressure yet?

That's why I'm glad it's them and not me.  I get all nervous and tense just watching them so I can't imagine how they are feeling just trying to make the Olympic team.  For some, all their years of intense training pays off.  For others, there's just the satisfaction of making it to the Olympic trials, although it must be depressing to get that far and then screw up by taking a fall.  I am looking forward to tonight as they will be announcing the Olympic team.  GO USA!!!

Will you be watching any gymnastics this summer?