Inspired

I used to think I loved living in the city. I had everything within arm's reach. I was so used to the dizzying lights and constant movement that the country didn't seem inviting. But ever since I've been living in the country, my opinion has totally changed. There is no other place I would rather live. The city's lights and amusements hold nothing to the the peace and serenity of the country.

We just got back from a 2-week-long tour in Las Vegas. I had forgotten how sickening sin is, and how much the city life supports that sin. Billboards, mesmerizing lights, flyers tacked to walls... All showed how much sin is available, and how you could find it. That's why I was so happy when I found out we were going to a park (the Valley of Fire) for our day off, that it would have some really nice rock formations, and we would get to spend the whole day outside, in more of a country setting. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I got to go rock-climbing pretty much the whole time. I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my day: surrounded by nature.

This was the rock Katie and I started to climb, along with Sam; however, we didn't have a dean with us, so we ended up having to come down.

Sam & Megan :)

After we made it to the top of the ridge :)

The jet streams were so cool!

I love flying. I absolutely love the feeling of taking off in a plane, soaring over the fields and forests to some new, unknown destination. I love landing, coming to a halt, and then getting off the plane in a new airport. But my favorite thing is when I get to come off of the plane outside! Usually, it happens when they don't have enough time or equipment to hook up an enclosed walkway, so I get to walk down a set of steps, outside in the fresh air.

Flying, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily like me. I seem to get in the most interesting situations when I fly. For example, when I was coming back to school from the summer, I missed my flight. Now normally, that wouldn't be too big a deal, but in this case it meant I would miss the bus. So we called the school, and got it all worked out for me to take a shuttle and wait for my ride at the Bellingham airport. However, while I was on my shuttle ride, I realized I had left one of my suitcases at the airport! I had brought a smaller one in case my check-in bag was too big, and it had been, so I had put some heavy things into my small suitcase. However, when I had gone to pick up my suitcases, I was very distracted by the thought of having to catch a shuttle, and I left my suitcase at the airport. So there I was, speeding to another airport, while my suitcase was stuck in Seattle. So I called my mom (again), and she arranged to get my suitcase flown to the Bellingham airport. Sounds simple, right? Well, it was, except for the fact that I wasn't sure if my suitcase would get there on time.

Once I arrived at the airport, I waited and waited for my ride I tried to check if my suitcase had arrived, but the airport was so small that all of the staff were outside, unloading the plane. So I sat and waited, and of all things, the bus pulls up! Very much embarrassed, I quickly boarded, after checking one last time for my suitcase. Ten minutes later, my mom called. "They have your suitcase there! You have to tell the bus driver to go back and get it!" Luckily, Mr. Hinds was very understanding, as he usually is, so we were able to go back, get the suitcase, and finally complete our journey.

I hope you don't think that was too much of an adventure, because then there was the time that I booked my flight on the wrong day and almost ended up spending the night in the airport... but that's another story. We will now return to this post's topic... :) A week ago, I flew back into Seattle at the end of Christmas break, and I found out that the bus had been overbooked, and couple of volunteers were needed to go on the shuttle. Since my seatmate had volunteered, I figured I'd probably better go too. Besides, I would much rather ride on a shuttle than our stinky bus. So we went on a shuttle to Bellingham, and waited there for our ride. While we were waiting, we had smoothies and went into a grocery store. I ended up with a lot of hilarious shots, mostly of Sam and Katie (They were the least camera shy).

It was a really fun night, and an experience I would definitely repeat. Here are some glimpses :)