national park love

ft. moultrie

so i think by now y'all know of my love for national parks and the 397 sites under the national park/historic sites/battlefield/seashore... control. and it is my goal to go to all the sites. and my curent count is 61 places i've been to. a majority of the sites i've been to in the last 5 years but a few i was a bit younger when i went to them. and just a few weeks ago i finally picked up my national parks passport.  so this week was one of the national parks weeks where you get free admission into the national parks and since i have a few national historic sites/national historic monuments pretty close i decided to head over to fort moultrie (part of fort sumter historic monument) and check it out. back in november we hugged the outside of the fort but it was too late to head in so i was excited to go!

new brochures & stamps

fort moulrie

but i had a great time exploring the fort and watching the video on the history. the history of our coastal forts are pretty interesting. fort moultrie was super important in the revolutionary war and because of the palmetto logs is why the palmetto is a state symbol of SC and it is on their flag. and it was continually used from the revolutionary war to WWII. so i had a fun hour exploring the fort and chatting with the guides. plus the fort is right on the beach - so i went to the beach after! 

you can see fort sumter! and this is where the confederates bombed ft. sumter at the start of the civil war

so to celebrate national park week here are some of my favorite national park shots!

just a small collection of my national park brochures

brown v. board of ed - kansas
feb 2010

appalachian trail - WV
may 2011

appomattox court house - VA
april 2010

gettysburg - PA
april 2010

grand canyon - AZ
august 2007

manassas battlefield - VA
august 2011

amoky mountains - NC/TN
june 2007

fort sumter - SC
october 2010

acadia national park - ME
august 2010

antietam battlefield - MD
august 2011

bryce canyon national park - UT
august 2007

fort mc henry - MD
september 2010

hoover dam/lake mead national rec area - AZ/NV
august 2007

ford's theatre - DC
august 2011

TJ Memorial - DC
June 2009

 just a small selection of  my national park photo love! i can't wait to see this gorgeous country and travel around to see some of the most gorgeous places and learn all of the history! YAY NATIONAL PARKS!

flyover states

maybe the mississippi?

so i think i've spoke about my love of traveling and the united states enough on here. and i know my coworkers laugh at me when i get excited about some of the smaller cities we go to for work, especially in the midwest but i love going new places and seeing as much of this country as i can. i was really sad i made the big girl decision not to go to idaho but i'm hoping that decision leads to something more permanent. but i've loved my trips to kansas, missouri, indiana, alabama, mississippi and other states. i love small town america and just seeing how gorgeous and diverse our country is. and finally getting to colorado has been just amazing. i can't wait to get to montana, iowa, oklahoma, new mexico, minnesota and south dakota. and to see some of what those states offer.

somewhere over the west? rocky mountain region

i love flying over the country seeing the differences - especially as you get further west. and flying over the rockies. i just love it. and then seeing the grand canyon and the deserts. sooo different from what i'm used to seeing over the east coast. so as i was flying from dulles in virginia to denver on flight 2/3 to cali last week jason aldean's flyover states came on my ipod and it made me so happy because i was totally somewhere over the midwest. and i felt some love for the flyover states.





the song for your listening pleasure!

arizona or new mexico

snowy mountains

annnnd i found out my conferences for the summer, well at least some of them. i'll be in columbus, ohio in may  and then i'll actually be back to denver in june followed by houston! so i'm excited to spend some time in colorado again! i'm planning on going to the mountains and rocky mountain national park and maybe some camping for a few days? and then in july i'll be at upenn & yale for other conferences. plus the 3 weekends in june & july i'll be doing wedding things. and not sure yet about the end of july and what i'll be doing then. i'm hoping for something but i won't know for a little bit if i get hired for it and then if i can do it depends on a few other things. so kinda complicated. but so is my life.

so pretty much i'll be traveling a lot this summer. and i love it. i can't wait to visit the 17 states i haven't been to.

traveling

i've been busy busy busy traveling and working the last two weeks. i'm currently in denver and just getting to writing about last week in atlanta and this weekends conference in irvine!

i had a great atlanta conference. last wednesday the 11th i flew to atlanta via charlotte - i could have flown direct but i need my frequent flier miles so i fly star alliance when i can. the little things you do to get those miles - haha! i had a great group of students in atlanta and got to work with some of my favorite co-workers so overall it was one of my favorite cities this spring. the hotel was kinda a mess and logistics were crazy. plus it was fun that we had a student whose mom was chili from TLC. so lots of "chasing waterfalls" and "no scrubs" references between my coworkers and myself. and sunday night after we finished i went out to dinner and drinks with megan & cynthia who were my pc's this weekend. and it was great to spend time with megan, i've missed her since our fun adventures this summer around dc - especially since she is moving to the west coast. and then monday had a great day with my coworkers frolicking about atlanta!

passport

we started off our adventures at the MLK Jr. historic site in Atlanta - which is a national historic site and counted as one of the 397 places in the national park system! we walked around and took a tour in his childhood home and also stopped at the ebenezer baptist church where he was a pastor. i also decided to finally get the national park passport - so now i need to go back to 63 of the other national park system places i've been. some will be easy - but a few i know are going to be a bit more difficult. so anyone want to go on a major national park system road trip?

mlk birthplace

all of the cokes!

at the dwarf house! original chick-fil-a!

after our MLK adventure we dropped one of my coworkers at the airport and then jean found out that the original chick-fil-a is from atlanta. and so we headed over there - the original was called the dwarf house - and also is a sit down restaurant. so we had a little fun there! and then dropped jean off at the airport and then catherine and i headed to the world of coca-cola! and we had fun  learning all about coke and then tasting them! and then after that we headed back to the airport for our flights back home.

john wayne airport

so it was a fun day in atlanta! i wish i could have had more time to play - i can't wait to go back and explore more of georgia! so i was back in charleston on tuesday - where i subbed tuesday morning for a half day and then ran a bunch of errands and tried to catch up with life before heading off on my next adventure. on wednesday i hopped on a plane at 5:30 am to irvine (via dulles & denver airports) but had a good day flying. and then wednesday just hung around irvine with some coworkers wednesday night. and then thursday started the work week. i had a pretty good irvine conference with a good group of students and some fun with my coworkers. it was also the last city of the spring cycle so we all went out on sunday night to celebrate and had a bit of fun! and then monday morning i was up early to head to denver!

coworker love!

fun times!

and now i am in LOVE with colorado. like being near the mountains made me realize how much i miss them and love them.

and this is my 500th post on my blog as heart in ireland! woooo!

atlanta

a quick photo post of atlanta and i'll write about it later this week as it is 10:45pm and i have a flight leaving at 5:30am - so i'm waking up at 3:45am to head to cali for this weeks conference!

with some coworkers at the MLK historic site in atlanta

yesss! another national historic site!

annnnd found the original chick-fil-a!

with the coworkers at the original!

trying some international beverages at the world of coca-cola!

another olympic city! wooo!

at centennial park by the fountains!

i <3 coke!

finally decided to get the national park passport - just have to go back to all my past places!

had a blast playing in atlanta on monday! and a great conference last weekend there too! can't wait for this week in cali!

clothes

one of the perk of subbing for 4 days and this gorgeous charleston weather was getting to pull out some of my more springy clothes and getting to wear some of my favorite pieces! so i've been having some fun taking photos of what i've been wearing lately.  enjoy my self portrait mirror photos! 

thursday subbing

tuesday subbing

monday subbing

sunday easter

tuesday - around town

monday around town

most of his clothes are from anne taylor or anne taylor loft especially the ones i wear to work. i also have a few of these pieces from ny & co or gap/banana republic. i pretty much wear a pencil skirt everyday especially in the summer and i have a love of blazers but i find they are a little too formal for teaching so i try to pair them with something more casual to not make me look too fancy - especially subbing because it is a bit awkward to be dressed nicer than all of the teachers. and i love my shoes.

so i'm off to atlanta today for work this weekend and i'll have a little bit of time on sunday night/monday to explore atlanta and i'm excited as i've never been. and then next week is just as crazy. i'll be getting home at 11pm on monday and then i'll be home on tuesday and then catching a 5:30am flight on wednesday (uuuugh - long story why i have a flight that early) flight to irvine, california for work and then i'll be in denver a few days to see annie on my way home from california! woooo travel!

hope you have a great end to your week! what are some of your favorite stores and springy clothes?

last week

so life down in charleston has picked up! i've been busy with work and just enjoying the (mostly) gorgeous weather we've been having in the lowcountry and keeping myself entertained. so welcome to my life the last week via pictures - because i've been a little photo crazy on my phone recently.

i subbed 4 days last week and was 2 social studies and 2 math teacher at 3 different schools. overall i had a good week subbing and for the most part the students were good. there was just one class that i was done with after 5 minutes and thank god it was only a 55 minute class and not a 90 minute one! but it is nice getting into a routine and while subbing isn't my fav it is good experience. plus i'm getting a ton of reading done! i was happy i got 4/5 days for subbing. i've gotten reallllly good at stalking the website of the service and just constantly refreshing it. just didn't work wednesday, which is the hardest day to get sub jobs. and this week is spring break down here so no subbing, which i'm sad about because i could use the money, but at least i have a conference in atlanta so i'm working thursday - sunday! 

but on wednesday i went to the beach! i absolutely love living 25 minutes from the beach. even it is windy and i have to stay wrapped up in a sweatshirt! 

and then some fun around the apartment. amy has been working last week on a facade drawing project and just for fun had me draw one. and welllll mine looks like a kindergardener drew it. but we managed to name all the styles. it was pretty funny. and maybe there is a reason i stay away from professions where i need to draw?

 oh and so tuesday i see brig - amy's cat walking around and notice there was something hanging out of her mouth. i thought it was a toy at first and then realized she was acting kinda strange. oh wait - she found a lizard. so i managed to take a picture first before catching it in a shoebox and letting him outside. brig was not pleased with me for taking away her toy. i'll take lizard over mouse or snake in my bedroom anyday. 

so thursday night i got to meet up with a fellow blogger - angela who i was so excited to meet! her and her husband live in charleston (well they are moving to germany in a few weeks) but we had an amazing dinner at two boroughs larder downtown and it was so much fun to meet her! i really do love meeting fellow bloggers because you already know a bit about each other so it isn't starting from scratch and so fun to talk in person! and then i actually met up with her and her friend for easter brunch as well! so it was great to see her two times in one week!

 and then saturday was the adventure day with amy - so lots of photos from there in this post.

and then easter sunday i met angela for brunch and then enjoyed sitting down at the pool for the afternoon and enjoying the day. and then amy and i had some cooking fun. on the wonderful pinterest i saw this recipe for taco cupcakes. and so i made some taco cupcakes on easter and they were delish! and super easy to make. the hard part was in the grocery store finding the wonton wrappers. haha! and then i went to moe's on friday night for some chips & guac and had some extra chip left over that were slightly stale. so i took them and threw them in the oven with some oil and taco seasoning to make my chips. but a huge success!

and then since it is spring break this week for the schools i had today off. so i met amy downtown for lunch at verde - a salad place similar to my favorite one chop't. not as good as chop't but still good. and then i frolicked around downtown and enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon! i walked through the market and all around downtown then sat and read in waterfront park and then had a little happy hour on a rooftop bar! pretty good monday! 

and then i'm off on wednesday to atlanta for a conference! so tomorrow is laundry, packing and running a few other errands i need to get done! and then next week is irvine, california and stopping in colorado on the way home! april is a busy busy month!