A New Adventure

Well hullo there, little blog. It's been quite a while. I'm so sorry to have forsaken you for so long, but sometimes life just gets in the way.

Anyways, I'm just here to let you know that I'M IN FRANCE! Lyon, France to be exact. Yup, you heard that right. I'm livin' it up in the French country side right now. (actually, I'm in a city, not the country, but does that really matter?) So far it has been fabulous, and I never want to leave.

What am I doing in France, you may ask. Well, lemme tell ya. As you probably know, I'm taking a gap year right now between High School and College. I love traveling, and kind of just decided that it would be fun to go to France. I wish I could say that it was some divine calling, but the reality is that my family has friends that live here, so why not? So I'm here. I'm going to language school every morning, and I have an internship in town two or three afternoons a week.

I feel like all I've been posting on the blog for the past several months are updates, but fear not. Lyon is a gorgeous city full of amazing architecture, rivers, and all of the french food that you could ever imagine, so I'll be back soon. I've already got about a hundred million pictures on my phone that are just begging to be posted.

K. I'm off to eat all of the pastries now. Au Revoir!

Nice to see you, Autumn

Last weekend, we took a trip out to Estes Park for the day. It was beautiful and marvelous, the trees were turning yellow, the air was crisp and cold, I wore a comfy sweater and boots, and it just felt like fall. I would definitely recommend going up to Estes if you ever get the chance.

If you want to see more, I put together a little video that you can watch here.

Have a lovely day!!

Life lately

Hey everyone! I just wanted to post a little update on here today, because a lot has changed for me over the past couple of months.

First of all, I've moved! That's right, I'm not living on that pretty little continent called Africa anymore. I've relocated to Colorado for the next several months. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins graciously offered to let me live with them for a while (actually it might have been more of a "Ooh! You guys are in Colorado! Can I come live with you??" sort of thing, but who cares, right?), and I couldn't be more excited about it. Bring on fall and winter and all of the yummy smells and food and seasonal things. I'll be right here waiting.

So anyways, I'm going to spend the next little bit hangin' with my super cool fam, working (please hire me-- seriously though. If you want to book a photo shoot my camera is along for the ride, and I'd be more than happy to take some pictures for you), applying for colleges and scholarships, and also deciding where I even want to go--but let's not talk about that bit right now, mmkay?

I'm sad to be away from my parents and siblings, but I'm so so excited for all of the new adventures that are in store, and I can't wait to share them with you all through this lil' old blog, so stick around!

Adventures in Butare

We spent the last couple of days in a town called Butare (or Huye) in the southern part of Rwanda. It was one of the places that I wanted to visit before I leave, and it didn't disappoint.

Our first stop was a pottery store that is known for it's gorgeous blue pottery. We picked up a few bits and pieces (because who can resist buying a cute mug?), and also got a tour.

We also visited the largest cathedral in Rwanda. And lemme tell you -- It was HUGE. The whole thing is made almost completely out of bricks, and the architecture was just amazing.

We packed a lot into the few days that we were there. Aside from the pottery and the cathedral we visited the local market, ate lots of good food (Chinese food, ice cream, and smoothies anyone? haha), and visited an ethnographic museum that was very interesting. It basically detailed the geography, past culture, past customs, and history of Rwanda. 

All in all it was a really fun trip, and I would totally recommend it to anyone who is planning on visiting Rwanda for an extended amount of time.

That one time that I hiked a volcano

So last week I did a really cool thing -- I hiked a volcano! It was probably one of the most physically challenging things that I've ever done, but it was an awesome experience. And don't worry. It was extinct not active. I'm not THAT adventurous. 

We hiked probably for a total of seven hours or so up and down, and though we didn't come across any gorillas or other animals we did meet some giant earth worms (seriously, they were so fat and long they could have been snakes) and fierce stinging nettle plants.

If you fancy mud skiing, mud skating with your porter, and slipping into the splits every few minutes, then this hike is meant for you. Just kidding! I actually do recommend it, maybe just don't go after it's been raining for two days straight. Or if you do, at least bring some m&ms with you to lift your spirits.

Moral of the story: You should never turn down the chance to hike a volcano because it's super amazing and makes you feel like a boss. And also don't forget to pack m&ms.

So here's to doing things that I didn't actually think that I could do and crossing things off of the bucket list that I don't actually have!

#Graduated

Let's just ignore the fact that we still have a week of school left, and that I'm not actually done with my courses for a sec. Cuz it's time to celebrate! (here's where I would normally insert a little confetti emoji, but alas, this is a blog and not Instagram) I GRADUATED! It actually happened! Woohoo!!

We got to graduate with the five kiddos in our Kindergarten class, and even though it was different, it was also really unique experience. There have been countless times where I wished that I could have had a larger class, or more people my age to be around, but at the same time I have so loved getting to know all of the younger kids at our school this year, and it was just so special to be able to say things to each one of them, and to get little notes from them after the ceremony.

So here's to graduating and adulting and new adventures and all of the other cliche things that graduates usually say.

Let's Party!

A few weekends ago we had a little graduation party for Stephen and me. We brought lights and flowers and candles and glitter jars (DIY for those here if you want some for yourself  :) ) and set everything up at a little Italian Restaurant in town. Everyone who cam brought blessings to share, and it was so so encouraging and special to have so many of our loved ones gathered together in one place. We basically spent the whole evening laughing and crying and eating the best Italian food that you've ever tasted. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic night.