over-whelming beauty.

I have made it to Philly y’all!  900 miles later and I am officially a permanent resident above the Mason Dixon Line?  How ‘bout that?!  And believe me, everyone knows country has come to town.

Gotta love a good road trip.  Drove with Dad and sang
Beatles songs the whole way!  All you need is love, yah know?!

I mean, I live in Pennsylvania.  And this is actually called the
Mason Dixon Bridge.  Fun fact.

You know, when the 16 hours in the car look like this,
a girl just can't complain.

Meet Lucy Baird.  Sometimes we like to call her Lucinda though.  It really just depends what mood you are in.  Roommate, classmate, and southern belle soul mate.  She is from the Mississippi Delta, and just your typical farmers daughter.  Lucy graduated 2011 from Mississippi State in Special Education and taught school this past year back home in the Delta.  She takes care of me really.  And I don’t know what I would be doing if it wasn’t for Wuucy.  I think we will make it just fine up here for the next couple of years.  Needless to say and I know you are all thinking it…I love Lucy!!!

Rooms.  Little Lucinda.

Lucy is rather patriotic at times.  So spirited!

When Mom, Dad and I pulled up to Hill House Apartments last Wednesday, I don’t know if there has ever been a time where I felt more overwhelmed.  I had my clothes and an empty apartment.  Mom and I just kept looking at each other like one of us would suddenly have all the answers.  But slowly and surely it all stared to come together and I don’t think we could have picked a more agreeable and easy family than the Bairds.  So.  Cheers to our humble abode.  I think it is coming together quite nicely. 

Boxes, boxes, boxes, and boxes.
At least they held new furniture!  Gotta love IKEA!

Philadelphia--the City of Brotherly Love.  In all honesty I have found that coined phrase to ring quite true so far. (Haha get it…ring…like a bell…the Liberty Bell?!? Hah)   If they would just tone down their voices and not yell at each other all the time, I think I could get used to the Yankee accent. 

Woop woop!  First train ride into the city.  What a beaut!

Just being touristy at Independence Hall

Carriage ride downtown Philly

My first real Philly cheese steak

There are a few things this city offers that I will have to adjust to.  I say adjust because I hope to never actually get used to coin laundry, no rights on red, ‘yous guys’, Obama stickers EVERYWHERE, and parallel parking.  I know that last one made some of you laugh.  Yep, still really bad at it.  We also have heat lamps in our bathrooms.  Why you ask?  Well, maybe when we will get a blizzard, we can at least huddle in the bathroom for warmth.  I don’t really know.  I hear it gets cold.  I’ll have to adjust to the funny looks I get when a yes mame, or no mame slips out.  Apparently it is slight;y offensive.  Had I grown up here, my rear end would have been spared quite a few spankings.  And the second the word, y’all reaches the end of my lips, I am asked where I am from.  I am always so proud to tell them Alabama.  And bless your heart if you ask me where I went to school because I could talk about Auburn for days. 

It only felt appropriate.  Subtle, but keepin' it real.

But there are many things here I have already grown to love.  The first one being my new Philly friend, Bert the doorman.  Bert is Indian and smells strongly of curry.  So much so that you can smell it out outside before you even reach the door.  Oddly enough, it kind of smells like home now.  And although I do not think the feelings are mutual, I love Evon.  Evon is an older woman who also works the door sometimes.  She wears a very perfectly styled African American wig and when you walk in the door, you don’t get a hello, or even a nod.  Rather you get this really slow, elegant, yet intense blink.  She is about to get hit with some real Alabama/ Mississippi girl charm.  Evon gunna be smiling AND waving by the time we leave.  She may even have some weird, pent up emotion up in there like a tear.  Mark my words, we will break her.  I like little projects like that any way.  Some other things that have already started to define my life here are things like living in a high rise apartment where I look out over the Chestnut Hills west train line.  The town has sidewalks and cobble stone streets.  I have even biked to the organic grocery store.  As of lately, Garmin is my best friend.  She has even earned herself a name- Barbara.  And when she is frustrating me…Barb for short.  Bless her.  Frustration is an emotion I have been experiencing a lot lately on the streets.

Saved on my phone.  Big city livin!

My home sweet home.  

So far, Bert has been my walking Philly For Dummies book.  He is full of tips and things to be aware of…or just notice.  Train schedules and bus stops I am told to become well acquainted with.  Public transportation is new.  The closest thing I have ever had to public transportation was Mrs. Cunnngham’s carpool in 8^th grade.  How many kids in the Altadena area can you fit in one Suburban?    The list goes on.  Locals think Philly cheese steaks are overrated.  I don't really have a choice in being a Philly baseball fan.  Parts of downtown smell funny…but give yourself about 10 miles out and you have never breathed in fresher air.  It fills you up practically.  When the sun sets, it turns the tips of the trees a color orange that makes you want to grab your comfy mug and curl up with a good mood book.  It is the gentle warning of the day's end.  It’s weird living in the big girl world.  I am no longer surrounded by only people my age.  The world does not consistently revolve around 18-22 year olds.  My neighbors wear suspenders and use walkers.  Buicks fill the parking garage and the apartment library smells of old men, newspapers, and cigars.  At night, the workout room is full of med students, young married couples after work, and teenagers after school.  There are kid toys in the lobby right next to and elderly person’s oxygen tank.  The real work people.  I’m in it.  3rd floor room 312 kind of in it.

My walls are still bare in the apartment and are begging to be dressed.  But the inside of my wallet is hungry and I think I should fill that first.  I don’t mind.  I like just being here.  Maybe it is because I have no friends to impress, or maybe I just don’t care anymore if that should impress them.  I like just enjoying being somewhere for the first time.  Things will fall into place exactly where they need to be placed, and it usually happens with out me stressing about it.  I think that is a part of my character that was refined this summer in Italy.  And I think part of that is just growing up. 

I do miss home.  I miss more the ones that make up my home.  It is not the home sick kind of missing, but rather the gratefulness I feel when I think about home and the people who are cheering me on.  The more I leave home, the more I begin to appreciate having grown up in an entire community I can call home.  Home is not just defined by the walls of your house, but really by the ones who have come into your life and helped shape you to be who ever that may be.  I think that is rare...or so I have seen the more places and people I meet.  And I still stand very grateful.  I have loved taking my home with me here.  I love being able to come to a city like Philadelphia- out of my comforts, and see how my home has shaped me.  My home will never be in Philadelphia, but this is where my life is right now and because I have a home, I will be successful.

I am trying to take it slow.  Those that know me know this should be an interesting challenge.  When I lived in Nashville for a summer, I promised my self I would do one new thing a day.  This kept me meeting people, going places, and experiencing new things.  Some things were dumb like driving to East Nashville to go to the legendary hot dog stand.  I don’t plan on being able to do that in my time here in Philly as consistently as in Nashville.  But I want to keep going, meeting people, and experiencing new things.  Today, Lucy and I took our bikes down to Chestnut Hills trail and rode about 6 miles following the river lines with stone walls, vines and passing the occasional person on horseback.  It was so fun to get out and do something and it isn’t even two miles from my apartment.

So outdoorsy. 

...and so athletic.  

This morning I officially registered for graduate school classes.  Whoa.  15 hours of classes to be exact.  Over-whelmed, yes.  Scared? Out of my mind.  But you know, a funny thing is happening.  I have not had the 'flight or fright' reaction to it all yet.  I have a bet with myself.  That I can do this.

All day Tuesday we were in new student orientation.  We got to Westminster at 8:30 am for registration, breakfast and fellowship.  Yes.  Fellowship is a nice way of telling us they will be sticking us in a room with a whole bunch of people we don’t know yet with coffee in one hand and a weird breakfast finger food plate in the other hand making it really difficult to stand, drink, and eat all at the same time while also trying to smile and act like you don’t feel like you are standing in the room completely naked.  Fellowship. 

But all in all the day was good.  All except for the part in the day where my throat started to close up when the reality hit about the next two years of my life.  Well, life is bit of an exaggeration, because I really don’t think I will be having much of one.  :)  I just ordered 21 books for my classes this SEMESTER.  That is a 2 and a 1 people.  That is a small library.

I dont know if you can see...but this was our entrance Bible exam.
Impossible.

They did not leave us hanging in this sad realization though.  Westminster is tough but not cruel.  Over-whelmed.  That is the word they left us with.  But, strangely enough I am excited about it.  During our orientation we were in fact encouraged to be overwhelmed.  You see if we just stay, ‘whelmed’, then we stay in the dangerous place of thinking we can do this all ourselves.  When we are brought to the breaking point, on our knees, face down kind of overwhelmed, this is where we meet Jesus and he does some pretty cool things.  So I am excited.  I have no doubt I am going to be ripped to shreds wondering why I am paying money to feel this way, but how can someone come out of all of that stormy fire not refined?  You can’t.  And I think that is precisely the point.   

how sweet it is to be loved by you

I don’t even know how to gracefully organize my thoughts and emotions about the upcoming Olympics, but here goes.  I watched an interview with Michael Phelps that sparked this post, but my thoughts still seem all over.  A few weeks ago, the USA Swimming Olympic Trials were held in Omaha, Nebraska.  It was so fun to keep up with it because I had many friends who were competing.  A few actually have the amazing opportunity to go to London for the 2012 Games!  As a former swimmer, I understand the amount of work, time, sacrifice, and tears that go into making that dream a reality.  But for the first time, these trials had a bit of a sting.  This year, those were my peers and past teammates.

For the past almost 4 years now, I had the luxury of stuffing down that dream I once had.  I will never forget breaking 2 state records my senior year in the Auburn pool as my future coaches and teammates watched.  Being given the metal on the podium by Richard Quick who told me we would make each other famous one day was the encouragement that kept me going most days.  Those dreams of making it to Omaha were so real once, and the games this year have brought it back.  I have reacted to it in a way I didn’t exactly foresee.  I had forgotten how badly I wanted to be an Olympian.  How badly I worked for that to become a reality.  Gosh.  That feeling of satisfaction that comes only when you step up on the block and know you are about to kick some serious tail because you worked for the right to do it.  And that moment when you finish, and see that time up on the board that no judge can take away or change.  The smile stretched across your coaches face that mirrors yours in the water.

I remember when the doctors told me my swimming career was over.  My back could not continue to go under the strains of a Division 1 swim program.  I sat on the therapy table, my body iced down.  But nothing could have compared to how cold and numb my heart went that moment.  I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach and I was left confused and very bitter.  Why had the Lord dangled all of these wonderful pleasures in my face, fame, scholarship, and championships all to be taken away just like that.  For 9 years I had devoted most of my life and time to this sport.  I had sacrificed friends, football games, birthday parties, and beach trips.  My family had sacrificed vacations and sleeping in most mornings to take me to 5:00 am practice.  Now it was just over?

I have never written about this moment before now, but it seems appropriate.  The Lord has a funny way of working things.  He is THE Master, Creator, and All Knowing.  What I have never realized before now, was that the Lord was not taking swimming away from me.  If I really wanted to, I could get in a pool anywhere and swim…if it was the sport I truly loved.  What He took away was something much more lethal and much more deadly than a back injury could ever hope to be.  What my God did fall of my freshman year was strip away my idol of fame and identity in MY accomplishments.  I had made swimming some kind of sick drug that I used to fix my addiction to attention.  I loved being that “swimmer girl”…and more importantly I loved people knowing that about me. 

The upcoming Olympics have brought that monster of a girl out once again.  Seeing my friends make it to the games filled me with excitement, yes, but it also ate me up with jealously.  That should be me.  I thought.  I could have done that.  I trained with you.  I was jealous of the attention they were getting.  And it suddenly dawned on me… that is why it stung so badly.  I didn’t miss the sport, I just missed the fame.  Suddenly, I became ashamed.  

Our God is a jealous God and He goes to great lengths to fight for us.  Many, many times I have gone over in my head things the Lord was trying to teach me in that season on life my freshman year.  It has taught me many things like the value of friendship, the sweetness found in the smallest moments, my humanity and incompetence, the fact that we are not the ones in control (shocker), and when we let go to do nothing but let the Lord lead, the ride is so much sweeter.  But here I am, 4 years later and the Lord is still showing me His goodness.  He has humbled me so many ways in college but this one may take the cake. 

Daniel 4:37- “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the Kind of heaven, for all His works are just; and those who walk in pride… He is able to humble.”

Those words sound so sweet to me now.  I see that.  All His works are just…and He is able to humble.  I am glad I serve a God who fights so hard for my heart.  No matter where my life takes me, I am not my own.  I am seeing more and more every day the tangible picture of how even before I was born He was fighting for me.  He humbled Himself by becoming man and taking the cross…therefore I am bought with a price.  Praise God my life is not my own!  1 Peter 5:5-6 tells of His mercies, “…God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because he cares for you.”           

If we don’t, He will. 

I can’t imagine what I would be like if I were still in that life.  Quitting swimming has led me to girls who have showed me the joy of my salvation.  I never would have joined a sorority where I met the girls who involved me with Young Life.  If I had swam, and not had time to do campus ministries, my heart would not have found its passion and changed majors.  If I had stayed in Hotel and Restaurant Management, I would not be about to move to Philadelphia and start a masters program for counseling.  I’m sure the list will continue from there.  This is just the beginning.  How sweet it is to be loved by You, Jesus.             

happy friday y'all!

Happy Friday gang!  A friend in Italy showed me this band and just thought I would share.  This is what is playing through my headphones while I write my final term paper.  Page 10!  Only 2 to go!

I only have 7 days left here in the beautiful Italy.  It is hard to believe the semester is over.  I already want to go back and do it all again.  But, I am very excited to be getting home I must say.  It will be go time the second my feet touch the ground in the states.  Family to kiss, dogs to hug, friends see, and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of good ol' American food to eat.

Miss each of you and will be seeing you soon!  When this paper is done I will have time to post about more adventures.  Until then...have a wonderful Friday!  Stay cool.

Leigh

postcard kind of livin'

Our week in the Tuscany region proved to be wonderfully excellent, but I’ll keep it brief.  Yes, it is as beautiful as it seems in movies and magazines.  Plentiful of vineyards and resorts, land of luxury!  We first traveled to a resort hotel which was close to Siena.  We stayed the night in Siena which was a fun town, then kept on to Florence the next day where we stayed the rest of the week.  

Looking out to the Tuscany region...fields and fields of vineyards!

At the square in Siena

Florence was great.  A lot of American students study there so it was more Americanized than we were used to.  Very nice change of pace.  I would compare Rome to New York City.  Big, crowded, and a tad over-whelming.  Lovely place though, don’t get me wrong.  But, Florence would be like a Nashville.  Young, small enough to navigate, but big enough to always find something to do.  I think it was more my pace.  We toured over 400 churches and museums.  We literally beg our teachers to show us more churches and practically run into them we are so excited to finally be there…again.  You practically have to drag us all out too.  Just can’t get enough!

On your 112th church, you just learn to make your own fun!

Carolyn decided to clean shop one night and take the Bama shirt off the ceiling in a pub.
War Eagle...I guess!

Art class on the river.  Just simply too picturesque. 

Snuck a picture of The David.  oops.  But what cha gunna do 'bout it?

How cool!  Jesus even came to Florence once!

Top of The Duomo! Florence in the back...pretty, pretty little city!

But all in all, Florence was good to us.  Lots of leather, Americans, and gelato.  Our last morning there a few of us climbed the famous dome of the Duomo.  At the top you could look out to all of Florence and the extensive Tuscany region.  We experienced everything from a clear day, cool breeze, and shin splints from the hike up.  We made our way down and hit the road for our weekend trip to Cinque Terra!

I try to spare all of you from facts and information that you could just as easily google than read this, so apologies if you feel I am being short…slash you have no idea what I am talking about.

For all you Pintrest fans, I’m sure you have seen images of Cinque Terra pinned to every wall.  I was a bit skeptical during my journey to the shore because I thought there was no way the real thing could top the photo edited pins on the internet.  But oh was I wrong.  By far the most colorful little village coming out of a mountain over the water I have ever seen.  Ok, it is the only little village I have ever seen coming out of a mountain over the sea, but still.  It was ideal.

You can see how the city really is built into the mountain.  Most of it is held up by ropes!

AHHHH! How cool would it be to live here!

Beautiful day to hike!  Just look at that water!

Add caption

There are 5 cities that make up what we call Cinque Terra.  Most people go and hike around to all the different towns.  They each have their own personality and spunk.  They are all on the water, but spread out among the coastal hillside of the Cinque Terra National Park.  For all you intensive readers, (mom), here is the link to Wikipedia so you can read about the city.  It is actually pretty cool how it came to be. 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre

So naturally, we hiked.  We don’t do enough walking so I was glad to use my feet…more.  But seriously it was beautiful.  We even got to go for a swim.  The water was chilly  but it felt so good after being in the sun all day.  I don’t know it the pictures can really do it justice.  It was a beautiful day.  It was a good change of pace from museums and churches too! 

  The water was so cool and blue!  It took your breath away at first and you could float there was so much salt.  We were all just soaking up the Meditaranian goodness enjoying its coolness.  The Italian Riviera is unlike any beach I have ever been to before.  The water was beautiful but you pay for it wit the rocks.  There is no such thing as sand…just rocks.  So it makes for hanging out on the beach a bit rough, but I don’t know that I would trade it.  I would trade all the old men walking around in Speedos…and woen laying out topless.  But yah know, just do yo thang you Europeans.  I don’t know that I will ever understand you!

Dinner by the water with the crew on our last night.

Even got to dance with the band after!
Perfect ending to the perfect weekend!

if your friends ever jump off a mountain...DO IT TOO!

 Ello mates!

Sorry again for the absence!  I am still alive and breathing with a few more stamps in my passport and a few less euros in my pocket.  I only have 4 ½ weeks left in my European tour!  Oh my goodness!  So many places to see and so little time!  Time flies when you’re having fun…but time isn’t the only thing flying around here!  I am too!!!

It has been almost a month since I visited Interlaken, Switzerland so I’ll fill you in.  It is still one of my favorite places thus far I have seen.   The trip all together ended up taking a big hit to my budget, but worth every penny…or I guess Frank.  We flew out early, early Friday morning flying from Rome to Geneva, Switzerland.  From there we had to purchase a 140 frank round trip ticket to Interlaken.  I can’t complain.  The train ride still ranks itself high as one of my favorite experiences here.  Passing through cow pastures lined with snow-capped mountains wadding in bright blue, glassy lakes is not a sight for sore eyes.  When I got off the train I realized I had almost taken 150 pictures.  A bit excessive probably.  This is turning out to be a very well documented trip to say the least!

So proud we found our right train!

Real life. 

Planes, trains, and automobiles but we made it!

Interlaken.  Home of tacky tourism and all things Swiss.  Cheese, chocolate, yodelers, hot chocolate, goats, fondue, and sausage.  They have it all!  The town is a bit cheesy because they try to amp it up for the tourist, but who am I kidding?  I walked around the entire weekend with my camera around my neck and my unmistakable southern American draw, so you just learn to own being a tourist.  

We were taking a group picture and these asian women really
wanted to be in it too.  So we embraced it of course.

The hills are alive!!!

We got to go to a chocolate show and see how they make all the fun
chocolate shapes.  And the free chocolate wasn't a bad touch either.

We found our hostel in due time and all 18 of us divided amongst our perspective rooms.  Our hostel was called Balmers.  Apparently it ranks in the top hostels in all our Europe.  Why you ask?  Well, because Balmers came equipped with what I would like to think a teen club on a cruise ship would be like.  Highlight of the trip to say the least…eh well it made for great people watching.  Bums from all around the world gather to soak up the fresh air and a brew…in a dark, loud, small, light flashing seizure waiting to happen room.  Hilariously awkward and bizarre.  But hey, when else in life will you ever get to fall asleep to terrible European techno base, bumpin’ to the beat of ‘Bringin Sexy Back’ snuggled in a bed that may or may not have been washed from the night before with a random kid from Denver snoring in the bed beside you.  Never. (I hope.)  YOLO my friends.

If all your friends were jumping off a mountain…would you?  ABSOLUTELY and I did!

Y’all.   I am about to let you in on a secret.  You CAN fly like an eagle.  It is very possible.  Go hang gliding.  Oh my stars, birds have the best life ever.  So some of us decided we would spend some of our spending money on the best souvenir you could ever buy.  Saturday morning we woke up early, suited up, and hang glided over the Swiss Alps.  I repeat… Hang-Gliding-Swiss-Alps. 

Taa-Daa!!! 

The man. The myth. The Aussi Legend.  Bernie.  My main man.

This was when i was receiving 20 seconds of instruction for how
 to jump off a mountain correctly.  Efficiency. 

I met Bernie about 10 minutes before he tied me to his back and I ran off a mountain with him.  Bernie was a great little Aussi with a rockin’ stash, but I literally thought I was going to send my final moments with this man.  His only instructions at the top of the mountain were,

Bernie- “Just don’t stop running.” 

Me- “…or what happens…” 

Bernie- “…or we crash.”

Cool I thought.  I guess if I have to die young, dying in the Alps won’t be so bad.   Running, running, running, running…still running but my feet are not touching anything…I AM IN THE AIR!!!!!

I can’t put into words the emotions and feeling going through my head at that very moment.  I have never felt so small.  I have never felt so calm.  And I have never fully understood the magnitude of our creation until this moment.  Wow.  God did not have to create mountains.  Have you ever thought that we could very easily been given a world flat as paper and just dirt.  We don’t deserve to live in such beauty and I don’t think we appreciate the powerfulness of it.  How cool is it that although undeserving, we can walk amongst the jaw dropping, eye opening, breath catching creation.  Nature is just neat.  

If I had a frank for how many times I said, "Oh my goodness, this is incredible",
I could have paid for my flight!

Coming in for landing!  Hard to miss those long legs!

Hard core.

I could not stop laughing and smiling!  Incredible!

WE DID IT!!!

Going with big groups, every one tends to do their own things.  It’s fun that way.  I preferred to just lay on my back and look up.  I didn’t do it alone.  Of course I bought some authentic Swiss chocolate.  Girl’s best friend.  The night ended perfectly.  Mollie and I needed to get away from the hostel so we grabbed our journals and books and turned left out of the hostel and just kept walking.  The only thing we knew was we wanted hot chocolate, and we wanted to watch the sun set behind the Alps.  Done and done.  It’s good to have a friend who you can just sit with.

We even had time to teach Danielle how to ride a bike...sort of.

Sunday morning we carbed up for our long travel day back to the palace.  Balmer’s served two pieces of bread every morning with a slice of cheese and hot water.  It was free so you can’t complain.  We smelled nicely of hostel, hang gliding, grass, train, airplane, and taxi by the time we graced the palace with our presence.  We were glad to be back…just in time to unpack and pack for a week in Florence.   We finally got to bed around 2:00am and woke up at 5:00am to get on the bus all day heading north.  Florence.  Florence my friends is just superb.  I’ll keep yah hanging until next time!

Ciao!