In the Near Future-

Quite a few people have asked me personally what I plan on doing this next school year with my blog since I won’t be traveling and won’t have as much free time. Honestly when they asked I had no idea, but then when we went to Minnesota I found a book to help me think of fun things to share. It has journaling ideas and craft ideas. I’m very excited to try some of these things and post the cool ones. (Peep the book below)

In the Next Year or Two-

This one was actually the hardest plan for me to come up with, and if I’m completely honest, I’m still not sure what I’m going to do. I’m planning on blogging all my travels and adventures, but other than that I plan on doing random blog ideas until a few years down the road. Just yesterday I created a tiny space for me to journal and do art stuff while I’m still living at home. It took me a long time to clean out, but I’m selling some stuff to make some extra cash. I really enjoyed blogging from this quiet space today. It’s not much but it’s like an office for me.

In the Next Three Years-

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the distant future. A lot having to do with college and stuff pertaining to that. Some of this thinking has gone into my blog. I hope to turn it into somewhat of a second job that I can run from my phone. The app I use has a system that I can upgrade into a business blog. My goal is to turn this blog into one half lifestyle blog and one half a crafty business blog. The crafty business blog would have stuff like cute soaps and journaling things like this.

I just love blogging so much. It’s not about the followers or the views for me. It’s about staying creative and getting my ideas and opinions out there. That’s why I really hope to keep doing it for a long time.

There’s a lot of different types of outfits that you can choose from depending on what you are doing. We just are heading home from a trip to Duluth Minnesota and we did a lot of very different things. I packed a lot of hiking and cuter outfits. I’ll share my favorites with you guys.

Day one outfits

Today we did a lot of hiking and exploring in Duluth. We hiked to see some waterfalls and streams. It was really beautiful. Besides that we ate supper at a brewery in Duluth. It was a casual day and I wore a pretty casual hiking outfit.

Day two outfits

Today started out very similar to yesterday with some walking around Duluth and stopping in little shops. Then tonight we went to a the Lion King movie that just came out. This theater is more fancy and we were served supper while watching. It was a really unique, enjoyable experience with my family. Here’s the two outfits I wore today.

Day three outfits

We went shopping for most of the day and just walked around, but at night we did a boat supper. It was a cruise on Lake Superior for two hours. It was a beautiful night.

Day Four outfits

Today we went to Maple Grove and Canterbury for the horse races. It was a really unique experience. The horses were so pretty and muscular. It was another really beautiful night. I was gonna wear this jump suit but it got ruined during the day so I had to get a new outfit. Oh well!

Easy to make and healthy to snack on

If you’re like me you love to snack on things throughout your day. So I’m gonna give you a few examples of some healthy things you can eat.

• Fruit salad- cut up all your favorite fruits and make a delicious fruit bowl
• Yogurt and berries- I love this as a snack more than I do for breakfast. Half a cup of yogurt and some strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries with some granola= AMAZING!
• Smoothies- I love a good mango or peach smoothie. It’s easiest to make with frozen fruits because it’s an ice substitute. I love a yogurt and frozen fruit smoothie.
• Veggies and ranch- I really enjoy carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and broccoli as a snack.
• Crackers, meat, and cheese

Assortments of nuts- honey roasted nuts and sea salted nuts are really good.

Now I’m no pro when it comes to hair, nails, and makeup, but I do know all the things that help me feel more confident in my own skin. I’m not giving you my every day routine or really expensive ideas, just things that I do to relax or have some fun.

Hair

There’s so many different types of hair out there: long, short, thick, thin, curly, straight, ex. My hair is somewhat long and thin. Some days it’s crazy and wavy. On other days I’ll wake up and it looks like I already straightened it. So hopefully these ideas can help a broad group of you guys.

• Use hair masks weekly or monthly. My hair gets broken easily so I find that a good hair mask helps a lot. There’s so many brands to choose from depending on price or your hair type. If you buy a one use mask it’s fairly cheap, but you could also buy a container so that it can be used a lot of times. If you plan on doing it weekly, the container is a better investment.
• Try not to brush your hair all the time. I find that the more I brush it, the more broken it gets. Brush it in the morning and at night, and it should be fine. Now if it’s a windy day there nothing wrong with brushing or combing it through. Just keep it to a minimum to help strengthen it.
• Once your hair gets split ends, it’s time for a trim. I know what everyone says: “but I’m growing it out.” Trust me, it will grow faster when your ends are healthy.
• Drink water. I honestly don’t have the scientific proof to back it up, but whenever I stay hydrated my hair looks better.

Nails

Nails are not my strong suit at all. I rarely do them, but when I do I get a little extra confidence boost. I really only do them for special occasions. When I do I…

• Use good products that last. Don’t buy crappy stuff that chips off after a day or two. I like to use a layer of gel before I put the color on and a layer after.
• Buy colors that go with a lot of things I wear. I’ve never bought hot pink polish, but if that’s the color you wear most often, go for it. Recently, I’ve really loved the look of a simple white nail polish.
• Sometimes my sisters and I will have a spa night. We get out the foot bath and use a scrub. It makes your feet super smooth, and it’s super relaxing.
• Occasionally will go for something on the more expensive side and get a manicure or pedicure. It always feels nice to have them cleaned and done by a professional.

Makeup

If I go to town for something other than a sports practice I usually put on makeup. I don’t like to cake my face with foundation. I try and make it look natural, but still enhance my facial features as best as possible. Everything I have is Bare Minerals except my eye shadow palette and some of my lip sticks or glosses. Here’s some things I do to give my face a break.

• Actually give your face a break. Try to go without makeup for a while. When your at home, there’s no need for makeup. I try not to wear very much in the summer just to let my pores be free for a while if that makes any sense.
• Use face masks. You can by them at stores or make them from scratch at home. There’s a whole range of options from charcoal to honey masks. Just make sure if you have sensitive skin to read labels and ingredients over first so your face doesn’t react badly.
• Do a lip scrub. I don’t do this often enough, but I love the feel of my lips afterwards. Often in the winter my lips get dry and maybe even cracked so these are perfect if you have that problem as well. They usually come in flavors that leave your lips tasting amazing.
• Eat your fruits and veggies. Sometimes I’ll get acne, and it’s just because I’ve been eating fatty, sugary foods. A good balance of food helps everything, even your skin.

Just make sure to take time to relax and take care of yourself.

Wow! I can’t believe this is the last country already. Time has flown by so fast here. I’ve loved my time in Europe, but I’m so excited to see my family and sleep in my own bed.

Germany is a beautiful country. We stayed in Rothenburg which is just the cutest little town. There were so many adorable shops and cafes there. My friend and I had a great time simply walking around and going into the buildings and looking around.

One night we had this amazing Neapolitan ice cream. It was delicious. I have to say their whipped cream was weird. It’s literally whipped cream so it was very sweet at all, but the ice cream made up for it. We also got this chicken filled with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. There was also the best fries in the world and some very good apple pie rings with ice cream. The last good picture is my coffee. Their cappuccinos are very strong, but with a little sugar are delicious.

This is the town we stayed in. Isn’t it adorable? The building are all so unique and colorful. Rothenburg was super easy to navigate and very safe to walk around in.

Overall the trip was absolutely amazing. I feel so lucky to have gone. I highly recommend using any opportunity you have to travel especially with people you love. I was blessed to have gone with my mom and one of my best friends. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

I do believe that Austria was my favorite country of all. It was a very similar experience to Switzerland. It was a peaceful place to stay. The town we stayed in was pretty quiet and very cute. We got to stay in some apartment buildings, and mine was gigantic. It was definitely the biggest place we stayed in.

Food

The food was had was very good. It had a lot of the same flavors that a good American meal has. I really appreciated the home cooked meal taste that our food had.

Experiences

We had the opportunity to sing in the Basilica in Innsbruck. It was absolutely beautiful on the inside. The sound of the choir in there was brilliant. I’ve loved being able to sing in all of these cathedrals and churches. I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.

We were able to go watch some Olympic ski jumpers in Innsbruck when we went to tour the Basilica. I was lucky enough to take a picture with one of the guys. It was super cool. They jump about 120 meters. They fly so high in the air. It looks so scary. I don’t think I could ever try it. I can’t imagine the first time they did. Yes, he is super young. Yes, I felt super short next to him. And yes, I was freaking out when I asked him to take a picture with me.

My favorite experience in this country was the Olympic sized pool and water slide we went to. The slide was actually my favorite memory of the whole trip. There’s absolutely no rules on the slide. It’s so fast and insane. Ten or more of us went down at once. We were running into each other at every turn. Your body is thrown all over the place. You’re slamming into the walls. I have bruises everywhere. My hip bones are like black because they’re bruised so bad. I know that probably doesn’t sound very appealing, but trust me, it was tons of fun. If I had the chance to do it again, I would.

We didn’t go to these two countries back to back; I just put hem together because they were one day stops. I put Liechtenstein and Italy together, but the experiences I had at each country couldn’t have been more different.

Liechtenstein

It was peaceful. It was a Sunday when we went so it wasn’t crazy busy. The traffic wasn’t as scary as the big cities. We were only there for a few hours on our way to Austria from Switzerland. A few of my friends and I had a lunch packed because we went grocery shopping the day before, so we had a picnic. It was quite a relaxing time. Then we did a little bit of shopping and left. Something I didn’t know is that Liechtenstein is famous for their old stamps. My only purchase there was indeed stamps.

Italy

We got to visit Venice, Italy and sing in St. Mark’s Chapel. It was absolutely beautiful, but we had to wait a long time to get in to tour it. Other than touring the chapel and singing in it, we shopped and ate some very good food. I had this amazing ravioli and tried some Italian pizza. They were both so good. The atmosphere in Venice is so different than that of Liechtenstein. It’s crazy busy and kinda stressful. I’m glad I got to experience it, but it wasn’t my favorite place to be. Also, there were so many pigeons and seagulls. That was nasty.

I’m going to try and fit this whole country into one posts or I’ll have so many!

Food

I had some amazing food, especially pastries. My absolute favorite thing was a strawberry Nutella crepe.

We also had this apple pie with cinnamon and raspberry sauce around it. Let me tell ya, it was so good.

I don’t have a lot of food pictures from France, but here’s a picture of my cappuccino. It was super bitter at first, but I got used to it.

Sites to See

I’m not going to do a top ten, but I do want to share some of my favorites. Starting with…

The Eiffel Tower- I honestly never really how intricate and huge this work of art is. It serves no purpose, but for tourism. It is a beautiful work of art. Although didn’t get to go to the top, we still enjoyed the view from the bottom.

The Fontainebleau Castle- It was gigantic. The inside is completely decorated in gold and lavish colors. There’s paintings everywhere. I tried to take indoor pictures, but they just didn’t capture its beauty like seeing it in person would.

The Arc de Triomphe- We we’re only able to drive by it, but it was still so beautiful. It’s an amazing work of art out on display.

Montmartre- The shops were all very cute in this area, but this huge building was stunning.

The town of Fontainebleau- It’s such a pretty little town. It was clean, and the people were very friendly, unlike Paris itself, but they were not very good with English.

This country is my favorite by far. It’s so peaceful and relaxing. In England and France it wasn’t as safe, but here I feel very comfortable. The views are amazing and the people are so kind. Most people struggle to speak English, but they try very hard to help us. I seriously never want to leave!

Food

I have very few pictures of food simply because I’m Switzerland it’s very rude to have your phone out at the dinner table. That’s one of the reasons I admire their culture; they believe in conversation and community. I love that! Another reason I don’t have many pictures is because for lunch we went to grocery stores and bought food, then we had a picnic. I really enjoyed doing that with my mom and my friends. (Side note: if you have the option to bring one of your parents with you, it’s totally worth it. I’ve loved being able to experience this trip not only with one of my best friends, but also with my amazing mother.)

Experiences

I really enjoyed Switzerland because of all of the free time we got. We weren’t very rushed to do anything, and we got to do whatever we wanted. We went shopping and out for coffee. We saw some spectacular views from the cable cars we rode in. We also went up to Matterhorn and it was gorgeous.

The whole group toured a castle right on Lake Geneva. The lake is so pretty; it’s bright blue and there’s lots of tropical plants along the edge. There were swans swimming in it too! We walked two to three miles around the lake just for ice cream, but it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Our concert was so fun because the place was packed. There were ladies in the front row crying because they loved it so much. They dancing and clapped to our songs. It was so fun!

I loved every part of staying in the beautiful country. The people are very kind and generous. They made our stay one to remember forever. I’m definitely coming back to Switzerland some day!

Top Ten Most Beautiful Places

The most stunning place so far has to be the moat garden in Windsor Castle. The castle itself is beautiful, but the garden is even more so.

I absolutely loved the front Buckingham Palace. The roses are gorgeous; they add so much to the palace.

Third place goes to the cathedral in Windsor Castle. We could only take pictures of the outside, but it’s still very pretty.

Next, we have the London bridge. I got to see it on a riverboat cruise that I got to go on, and it’s so big and beautiful.

Fifth has to go to Parliaments building in London. I know this picture doesn’t quite capture its beauty because we only had a few minutes to look at it, but trust me it’s gorgeous in real life, and way bigger.

Windsor itself is just stunning. The street shops and cafes are so adorable. Time spent there was time well spent.

I know I already said the London Bridge view from the riverboat was pretty, but honestly all the views where. Being able to see it without being surrounded by people have it a whole new perspective.

I feel really bad because as I was writing this I could not remember the name of this monument. It’s super tall and has a lot of gold on it. It’s so beautifully designed.

I know I lot of these are from Windsor Castle, but I promise this is the last. It’s the exit for the guards and tourists. It’s simple, yet beautiful.

Lastly, I love the streets of London. There’s so cute in the evening glow.