I've Moved!

Check me out on WordPress. Was looking for something a little different.

http://amindunafraidtotravel.wordpress.com/

Engaged!

No, not me. My Boston best friend! Her now fiance reached out to me about 6 weeks ago to start planning this past Saturday. I went ring shopping with him to make sure he was picking everything she requested in the ring. We worked out the details for Saturday and I threw together their first engagement party that happened about an hour after they got engaged. Everything about the evening was a surprise and it was a complete success! I am so happy for my dear friend and the man she found. He is perfect for her, just as she is for him. They complement each other and have a relationship that I truly admire. My aspiration to is to have such a solid, spiritual relationship with the man I will marry one day. They are the greatest example: to see how much they love each other and love Jesus as individuals and together!

Our good friends who just got married in October were in the Boston Public Gardens snapping pictures during the actual proposal. Visit Mikhail's blog to see the photos from the exact moment and to read how Jasmine and Alex met. It's the ultimate romance.

Here are some photos and fun moments from the engagement party. Lots of love and props to my sister for helping clean, shop and set-up for the party! You're the best, D! Surprisingly enough, I didn't get a photo of the couple together at the party. Oops!

Set-up

My living room, with the pom-poms I made myself hanging from the ceiling!

My sister doing the dishes. Thank you for everything, D!

Some decor

Jasmine LOVES coffee. I made a few center-pieces filled with coffee beans and tea lights.

Mason jars, coffee beans, tea lights and flowers.

Alex double-fisting, waiting for his new fiance to get off the phone!

Getting creative. Wish I had a nice camera and some photography skills lol

Everyone enjoying the festivities

Ollie didn't know where to go or what to do. Hence his face.

Me and Jazz! Gah, she's engaged!

Friends <3

Good lord, Mikhail, smile! It's a party! :-P

Sillies :-)

The ring! Isn't it beautiful?! Princess cut, with double-diamond band, non-infinity.

Sabbatical

Hello my three followers! I took a sabbatical and didn't tell you. Truth is - it was an unplanned break. I took a temporary job in NYC for the month of November and got carried away with life down there. Met up with old friends and new friends and lots of family. It was bliss. But I'm back! And ready to dive back into telling you all about my life. Or at least the exciting parts of it anyway ;-) The below photos are random mobile uploads to catch you up on the little things that I've experienced the past few weeks. Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Many prayers and blessings for each of your families. Can't wait for Christmas to get here!!!

My first real tree! This angle is also a lie. This tree is about 3 feet tall. Very Charlie Brown style. But it's mine.

This is a photo my brother Dan painted. I'm so proud of him! He's such a talented artist. It is now the background on my new phone (see below)!

I'm currently interviewing for jobs. While on an interview in Boston a few weeks ago, I went strolling around the area afterward. I found this gem of a location. Right in downtown.

That's my church! Our 'T' ads!

They are everywhere :-)

Random visit down to Philadelphia to see Michelle. We went to the Franklin Institute and experienced a CSI exhibit. It was actually really cool.

Michelle and Ben Franklin at the Franklin Institute

From a moment during my temping job in NYC. I sat for my roommates dog, Ollie, and brought him to NYC for two weeks. He got to come to work one day and he looooooved it.

My grandpa and Ollie and Thanksgiving morning <3

A little pickle ball with the cousins on Thanksgiving

Jingle Bells... question mark? They weren't sure? It WAS Jingle Bells playing. Who knows.

My dad had a BLAST with Ollie around for two weeks

When we went out for lunch and came back one day, he had done some damage, though, LOL

Merry Christmas from NY!

I call it "Dog and his City" (view from my parents condo. ya.)

My new phone! I'm so in love!!!

This is called a Hot Cocoa Tini. It's hot chocolate, baileys, and vanilla vodka in a martini glass, warmed like hot cocoa. YES.

Perks of Living in a City

 Wine tasting is SO last year. What's new: olive oil and vinegar tasting! There's this great specialty store on Newbury St. in Boston that only sells the finest olive oil and vinegar called Boston Olive Oil Company. Debbie and I went on a sister date one afternoon recently and had fun tasting flavors like "pomegranate fig vinegar" or "Tuscan herb olive oil". The employees told us certain vinegars are excellent on vanilla ice cream... go figure! Here are some photos from our recent trip. Happy Monday!

Debbie (on the right) tasting some vinegar.

Such amazing flavors!

Oils

Vinegars

Oh how I love Newbury St.

My favorite.

Love their image!

Store front. Every so often, Boston stuns me with her beauty :)

Autumn is my Favorite

I love images. I love moving images. Words are beautiful and I enjoy being able to put feelings and sites into words. But there's nothing like the real thing; a thousand words to one picture. You know what is better than images, though? The absolute real thing. Being there. In the moment. Taking it in. Living it. Experiencing it. Not thinking about something else when you are there. Taking a deep breath and appreciating where you are and who you are with.

For the Columbus Day weekend I went on a ten mile hike with my friend Jess up on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. You can't bottle the colors we saw. Even the pictures can't explain what we witnessed. But here are some. For your enjoyment. Especially if you are not in New England this fall season to enjoy what has to be one of the most beautiful things God has created - autumn.

Jess, me and Charlie the toy poodle - ready to go! Yes, he made it all the way up the mountain... with a little help.

On our way up. Not even halfway yet.

Charlie saying, "Hey! Catch up already!"

The view gets better and better.

Jess striking a pose.

Pit stop about a half hour from the summit. GOD. Look at those mountains and clouds.

Taking it all in.

View from our lunch spot about 10 minutes from the top. We kept saying it looked so Sound of Music haha!

Charlie taking it all in. That's 93 looping its way through the valley.

So refreshing and reinvigorating. The perspective on life from up here is inspiring.

On our way down, overlooking the lake we were about to walk around.

Another shot of the lake. Look at that reflection! It was a perfect day.

Tromping through some woods. I wish I had taken more pictures of just our walk through the colors.

Boardwalk around the lake.

Charlie got super muddy at this point. Ah well.

View of the mountains from the lake.

Mountains are so majestic.

Little prints.

View from the parking lot. We made it!

Charlie was so tired that he fell asleep within 5 minutes.