Exploration Yields...

bubble tea.

the bookstore of my dreams.

a place where i could lose all sense of time.

surprises.

[Sidenote: I looked up Operation Beautiful as soon as I got home. Great mission. Excellent use of Post-Its. Beautiful way of drawing attention to beauty.]

[Another sidenote: It was time to change up the layout of the blog...but it may need more work yet. I'm not so convinced about this one yet. And adding a picture was tough and did not go as planned. Some research may be required.]

~"Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit." [-Frank Borman]~

A Day on the Boardwalk

We drove to a town on the Gulf today called Kemah. The weather was gorgeous, there was a beautiful boardwalk to wander around, and this Midwestern girl got to see the waters of the Gulf.

And yes, today's theme song was "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters...despite always being on top of the boardwalk as we walked.

It started with a look around.

I still am unsure of the correct punctuation of "ya'll".

Couldn't pass up the swordfish.

This used to be a big port for the shrimping industry before Hurricane Ikewiped most of it out.

We spent a good chunk of time watching the pelicans float along and dive bomb for fish.

How many times in life will I come across the chance to partake in about 2 minutes of a hurricane simulation? The wind in that time thing got up to 80 mph.

All in all, it was a great day. But next time...

...I think I'll remember to bring sunscreen.

~"Girl, put your records on. Tell me your favorite song. Just go ahead let your hair down." ["Put Your Records On" - Corrine Bailey Rae]~

No Explanation Needed...But Given Anyways

I've never explained the title of my blog. It's on the extensive list of things I've been meaning to do but haven't gotten around to yet.

Kudos to The Challenge for already making me step it up.

I started this thing 3 years ago as I prepared for a semester at CUNE so I could document the whole experience. To gear myself up, I thought about all of the independence I'd be gaining as I learned to stand on my own without my family being so close by (a new and terrifying thought...most of my family lives within an hour of one another back home). I'd have to learn to fend for myself.

I find theme songs for each phase of my life. While preparing to come out here, I geared up by listening to "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie Chicks...the lyrics just clicked (not a fan of their voices, though).

A young girl's dreams no longer hollow

It takes the shape of a place out west

But what it holds for her she hasn't yet guessed

She needs wide open spaces

Room to make a big mistake

She needs new faces

She knows the high stakes

I didn't know what Nebraska held for me, but I knew I'd walk away changed. I'd walk away a stronger person. Little did I know that I'd stay here for 2 and a half years and would struggle with the idea of leaving. No way did I anticipate learning as many life lessons here as I have.

Sometimes we just need to go out and do something on our own. We need to make our own mistakes and messes so we can learn to fix them and grow from them. It isn't always easy -- we definitely end up stepping on some toes in the midst of finding our own paths. We just have to make ourselves forget about that, though, and find ourselves however we need to.

This blog is a collection of my messes and what I've walked away from them with. It's about the chances I'm taking and the paths I'm exploring. It's my story of how I step on some toes, but how I need to explore because there's so much out there to experience.

I have a lot of growing left to do.

~"If these are life lessons, she'll take this test." ["Wide Open Spaces" again]~