(This is the biggest macaron I've ever seen! We had to buy one)
Hello from Doha friends. Just hanging out with my sister here in the Middle East. Crazy to think I'm actually here- but super awesome. Jet leg is a butt but we're keeping me caffeinated and on a regular nap schedule. I'm currently traveling without my MacBook OR a DSLR so my iphone will play an integral part in blogging and photos. Thankfully I can transfer my photos straight from my new camera (the Olympus PEN) to my phone. But please excuse me if there are weird grammer or formatting issues. I'll blame it on the whole 'blogging on the go'.
Last night I landed in Doha around 6:30pm and we headed back to my sisters flat so I could change. Then we headed to a work party where I was able to meet a lot of her friends and coworkers. We left fairly early and I pretty much fell into a coma after hitting the bed. Unfortunatley I awoke around 2am and was awake for a couple hours so I hopped on my phone for a little social media update. After sleeping in a bit, we headed out with her friends to have a traditonal English breakfast. Followed by naptime, during which I was out like a light and having crazy confusing dreams.
Friday is holy day here, so a lot lf thing are closed, but we headed out to one of the malls later this afternoon and did a little shopping, ate at Shake Shack (I never made it in NYC, so it was my first time there) and I got an afternoon Starbucks pick me up. We went out to an Italian place in walking distance tonight, a place that makes their pasta from scratch. (Nom) My sister also walked me to where there's a 24 hour coffee shop she likes- which I'm sure I'll be visiting this week while she's at work.
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About to be flying again. Another long flight ahead, but I am visiting my sister for the first time ever where she lives in the Middle East. Then, seeing Europe with my two besties/sisters. I don't think its hit me yet.
Random things of note:
- Packing was way easier this time, partly because its for 2 1/2 weeks instead of 7+months I'm sure, but also because I have the hang of this traveling thing now.
- Getting ready to be phone-less again after just starting to realize I have one again- ha. Also, preparing for a new bout of jet-lag.
- I love noisetrade. Downloading a couple albums to sample on my flight. Citizens, Flannel Graph, The Ember Days...
- I was not able to find the book I was on the hunt for in any of the stores I tried yesterday. If the YA book you're looking for doesn't have vampires or isn't being made into a movie, than don't expect places to have it stocked. (DUMB.) But I finally picked up the first Game of Thrones book (I made it about 1/3 of the way through it on my kindle, but, lets face it, I'm a real book kind of girl) and found another, a memoir, to try.
- Its raining. The past few times I've flown its always raining when I leave. Which means my hair will look extra blah when I'm finally done with 30 some hours of traveling because all the curl will be gone before I board my first plane. Sad face.
Well, I'm outta here, looking forward to catching up with everyone come July!
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My sister and I had a little coffee date at Dino's in Yellow Springs this morning. We're big fans of Dino's and Yellow Springs, partly because when my mom and dad were first married they lived there, and as kids we constantly would visit the little town and walk around, get frozen yogurt at Tom's and hike in all the parks.
It was fun to sit and sip a vanilla latte (and try the Chai Charger/Dirty Chai Liv got) and share a giant blueberry muffin. We walked around a bit and even visit our mom, since she's the new Children's librarian at the library in town! (congrats mom!)
In addition, I was finally able to try out my new camera. I recently starting researching micro four-third cameras and made the jump to an Olympus Pen EPL-5. A step below a DSLR, still able to use interchangeable lenses and shoot in RAW format. It has a beautiful touch screen that swivels for hard to see areas and can use a Flash Air card so I can connect to my phone and share photos via the internets. I'm pretty impressed with the quality and am even contemplating the thought of leaving my DSLR at HOME and just taking this with me. Carrying around a large camera and multiple lenses for months kind of wore me out, and this one seems pretty darn capable of capturing beautiful photos... we'll see what I end up doing ultimately, but its definitely going with me!
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So... I've been home for the past two weeks. Its kind of crazy to be back and to see my family. My nephew turned 1 the day after I arrived (Memorial Day) and I have absolutely loved having him warm up to me and seeing my niece again!
Over the past few weeks I've caught up with a few friends, spent time with my family, and been planning the next leg of my travels, because, friends, I leave again on Wednesday! Extremely crazy. I have always wanted to see the world, and in the course of a year, will have been to Australia, Japan, Qatar, Amsterdam, England and Ireland. That's a nice little list.
I'm so grateful that these opportunities have arisen, for my time spent with YWAM in Australia and Japan and the relationships and experiences. And I am extremely excited for this next leg of my journey, a chance to explore and visit new countries and cities with my best friends and sisters. For a long time I worked a day-to-day job. Living a fairly ordinary life, fighting the battle to be content and grateful for what I had been given... so I know I am blessed to have this time.
I'll be off traveling til early July, and, I'm packing light, so I won't be taking my computer. If you would like to stay in touch, I'll have my phone as a wireless device, so add me on Whatsapp or Viber (or iMessage) if I don't already have you as a contact.
Add me on
Instagram or follow me on
Twitter for updates when I have access to wifi- I'll do my best to post a few photos!
(enjoy these photos of my adorable niece and nephew... I LOVE being an auntie!)
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