Currently Listening Trainwreck By Boys Night Out Relapsing see related

so today...amanda, maria, and i decided to get in the car and just drive. we left elizabethton around 1pm, taco bell in tow, ipod securely channelled into the stereo, and headed out into the unknown. well, we ended up seeing quite a few sights...including (but not limited to):

some "friendly" ducks,

the amazing backbone rock-tunnel,

a pretty little creek,

an odd-looking chapel,

a knick-knack covered barn,

a train!

and a beautiful old bridge...

amongst a miriad of other things. needless to say, we didn't get back onto campus until after 7...but i have to say, it was one of the most relaxing and genuinely enjoyable days i've spent here in a loooong time

ps - more pictures of our exploits coming soon to facebook...

Currently Listening The Last Kiss By Original Soundtrack hide and seek see related

sooooo, today i'm missing europe. a whole lot. therefore, my post is dedicated to the AMAZING month i spent there this summer....which will hopefully lift my spirits, and maybe even the spirits of some of the amazing kids who were there with me .

the RIDICULOUSLY beautiful eiffel tower....ahhh, j'adore paris.

bohemian street in montmartre...and a cat. on top of a car. that candice & bailey tried to pet...cute.

swiss alps...hands down the most gorgeous scenery i've ever beheld...i swear, in switzerland, every day feels like you're in the frickin' sound of music...

JESUS BEACH!!! or, so it was loosely translated...leave it to the italians to color-coordinate their beach accessories with the fabulous sunset

oh venice, how i do love thee....and thy gorgeous gondoliers.

quite possibly my favorite part of verona...and maybe of anything i saw on the trip...this is a wall outside of what's supposedly juliette's house in verona. it's like postsecret...only multi-lingual...and on a wall. it's actually peoples' declarations of love, or wishes for love to find them, or just wishes in general. it seriously took my breath away. i never thought a wall could be so unbelievably beautiful.

secrets, secrets, everywhere...i love this shot. i love this night. i love having our birthdays in florence, and all the drama that that entails .

blue door in pompeii...which is SO OBVIOUSLY the most amazing city that was every submerged in molten lava....i know the door is random, but i think it's artsy...and i like it.

columns at delphi...i can't believe i saw these. i can't believe i was at DELPHI. unreal.

one of my favorite moments of our day in athens. bailey, playing with 2 adorable greek kittens in the plaka. this is what pure joy looks like.

and last, but CERTAINLY not least....the amazing greek isle of aegina that 5 of us took a boat out to see on our last day in europe....i swear, if i could choose any place to spend the rest of my life...it MIGHT be this island.

*sigh* so, there you have it...a mere FRACTION of my 200+ pictures, and a whirl-wind photo-journey through my trip to europe. God, i miss it SO much...and i know i valued it while i was there, but i just wish i could do it 3 more times so that it might ACTUALLY sink in that this summer i saw big ben, the obolisque, the pantheon, and the parthenon....i have never had a more surreal summer in my life. but it was undoubtedly the best as well...and i wouldn't change it for anything in the world. and that's the God's honest truth .

have you ever loved someone so much it actually hurt you?

i'm being completely serious now...the actual physical feeling of love...it hurts. i believe that whole-heartedly (no pun intended)...

now let me clarify: i'm not talking about any specific kind of love here. i'm not talking unrequited love...i'm not talking head-over-heels IN-love....i'm not even talking about romantic love at all, or at least i'm not JUST talking about romantic love...i think if you really love someone, it's not a warm, fuzzy, sweet, gentle thing...and if that bothers some of you, or if you disagree, that's fine. maybe love feels differently to everyone. but honestly, i think love is about worry, and empathy, and putting another person's needs, and in fact, their life, above yours....and that's not the most comfortable thing in the world to do. i mean, i don't know about you, but i've been in a few friendships where the love feelings are definitely not mutual. it's easy to see if a person is making you a priority or not. it's hard to deal with, but it's easy to see.

but lets switch to the romantic side of things...i, personally, think you can only be in a really solid relationship when both people are showing equal ammounts of love. that may sound like a, "duh", statement, but seriously...think about it...how many couples have you seen where the girl is just way too dependent on her boyfriend? or the guy is infatuated with some idea of this girl he's dating, and she's just along for the ride? i mean, there are millions of examples....you see them every single day. that's what makes relationships scary, in my opinion at least....knowing that you're on your side of the table, knowing exactally how much you love, or could love, this other person...and trying to evaluate whether or not they feel the same, and if they could indeed feel that way forever. that's a huge thing.

you might think this post is really random, but in all actuality, it's pretty on-point for my life as of the the past few days...i've really been on this whole love-languages kick...i know it sounds completely corny, but just hear me out...i think knowing how someone likes to be loved is really important. i mean, i'm not a gift person, soooo, if you gave me something, i'd like it, i'd thank you...but i wouldn't think that you loved me just because you gave me something. does that make sense? allllso, i've been thinking that we have love languages that we like to give, and other ones that we like to recieve. personal example - i love the whole physical touch thing...hugs, fun pokes, all of the above, LOVE them...BUT...i don't like giving them...i just like getting them....it's weird...can't explain it...i suppose i just like speculating

Currently Listening Garden State By Various Artists the only living boy in new york see related

today i finally realized the meaning of this conversation.....

Sam: If you can't laugh at yourself, life's gonna seem a whole lot longer than you like.
Andrew Largeman: All right, so what are we laughing at you about?
Sam: I lied again... I have epilepsy.
Andrew Largeman: Which part are we laughing about?
Sam: had a seizure at the law office where I work, and they told me their insurance wouldn't cover me unless I wore preventative covering.
Andrew Largeman: What's preventative covering?
Sam: The helmet I was wearing... Oh come on, that's funny. That's really funny, I mean I'm the only person who wears a helmet to work who isn't putting out fires or racing for NASCAR. But what do you do, I can't quit... their insurance is amazing, what do you do? You laugh. I'm not saying I don't cry but in between I laugh and I realize how silly it is to take anything too seriously. Plus, I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good.

Currently Listening Queen - Greatest Hits By Queen somebody to love see related

soooooooo, i just got back from a weekend in nashville, and it was ridiculously fun . my dear, darling room/suitemates and i took a trip to see my cousin tyler who is currently living just outside of nashville. it was nice to get to spend 4 hours in a car talking and singing and being stupid....as if we don't do enough of that on a day-to-day basis...haha...

i decided this weekend that i LOVE tennessee...i don't know, i always knew that liiiiiiiiiiked it here, but i hadn't REALLY thought about it until now. tennessee really is amazing. i mean, yes, there is a BLATANT preference for all things country, and it does stay RIDICULOUSLY hot, even into the autumn months, but you also get some pretty amazing benefits that come with those things....nice people, southern hospitality, beautiful landscape....good stuff.

which brings me to my next point...maybe it's just me, but when i go somewhere and LOVE my surroundings, whenever i go to a similar place, i get the same feelings again. for example, the ocean....i don't love anything more than i love the ocean, and every time i go to a beach...any beach...i get the same amazing feeling. it's like a warm, fuzzy, home-y, exciting, safe feeling...it's the same way with big cities. i have always had a love affair with new york city. i came to adore chicago last spring break. and this weekend, i have been introduced to nashville, and i think you can probably guess how i feel about it...

which brings me to my NEXT point...tennessee's cities...we did so much in nashville this weekend. we shopped (& i spent entirely too much money....damn you gap outlet), we caught a glimpse of the city night-life (which i desperately wish we could've experienced more of), and made a trip to the opreyland hotel....now let me just tell you...if you have not been to nashville, you need to go, just to see this hotel. and i know what you're thinking...."what the eff is so special about some hotel in nashville?"....well, you doubting thomases...it is unlike any other place in the world. it's basically an indoor eco-center. there are gardens. fountains. waterfalls. wildlife. it's truly ridiculous. i loved it. the whole trip was just great...and i realize i've said that like, 8 million times, but it was. i just want to see more of the city. AND it made me want to see the other big cities in tennessee too. knoxville. memphis. i haven't been anywhere! they're all relitively close. i mean, knoxville is less than 2 hours away, nashville is less than 4, and memphis is about 7. that's not bad. i need to explore all these places while they're close at hand. i just need some friends who are willing and able road-trip buddies....*COUGH* *COUGH*, *wink* *wink*, *NUDGE* *NUDGE*....

my next, and final point also semi-relates to the topic at hand....this weekend i got a little jealous. yes, i know, you're shocked...me? JEALOUS? never. *clears throat to relieve the dripping sarcasm* i was jealous that maria got to drive on that huge highway. i miss driving SO much. it would have been soooooooo exciting to get onto those 5 lanes and just go as fast as i could...well, within reason. i hate knowing that even if i wanted to get away somewhere, i couldn't. i mean, yes, there's always borrowing cars, but it's not the same. one of my favorite things in the world to do is just to put on some music, roll the windows down, and drive...it's an amazing feeling....and ohhhh, what a stress-reliever. also, i just plain miss my car  i'm one of those people who's very attatched to their car, and it HURTS me to be away from it...not to mention, i didn't get to spend as much time with my car this summer as i would've liked to...*evil eyes*....but i digress.....

ok, to sum up....the weekend was great. i love nashville. i want to go to knoxville & memphis. i miss my car. also...may i highly recommend the movies "a lot like love", "foolproof", and "without a paddle"....we watched all of them this weekend and they were all pretty decent. a lot like love = perfect romantic comedy + ashton kutcher...mmm, foolproof = a fairly decent, althought COMPLETELY predictable suspence movie, and without a paddle = an above-my-expectation-made-me-laugh-out-loud-for-extended-periods-of-time goofy comedy....

oh....one last thing....my project for this week is putting alllllllllll my pictures from europe, camp, and this nashville trip onto facebook....so, if you're interested....keep checking.....i'm sure facebook will tell you exactally what pictures were posted, when i posted them, why it was that i chose to shoot that picture, and what emotions i was feeling the moment the flash went off.....so creepy.....*shudder*

ps- this is the longest post of all TIME...don't be mad.