Minnesota Spring Photo Diary

After long, cold winters, Minnesota is bursting with life come spring. It’s one of my favorite seasons. It’s warm enough outside to spend the day in shorts and t-shirts, but cool enough to keep from sweating. The sun comes out, the trees burst with color and flowers line the sidewalks. It’s a perfect time for afternoons at the lake, chinese-food-picnics, bike rides and reading outside. Here are some of my favorite pictures of spring so far, to give you a taste of what spring is like in the state that’s known for its winters.

Eastern Europe and Ruta Sepetys’s WWII Novels

I’ve always loved historical fiction novels. Ruta Sepetys’s WWII novels were no exception. Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea, both by Sepetys, are two of the most heart wrenching, exhilarating historical fiction books I have ever read. Both take place in Eastern Europe, and both tell the stories of significant, and yet overlooked, pieces WWII’s history.

5 Natural Wonders of the US in Honor of Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! Today is a day to celebrate the earth and promote eco-friendliness. I like to think that every time we visit a national or state park, we are contributing to the preservation of the earth, even if only just a little bit. The US has no lack of parks protecting its natural wonders, and it’s pretty incredible how diverse these parks are in terms of land forms and climates. From lakes to mountains, grassland to deserts, oceans and forests, the US park system has it all.

New Series: Books Abroad

Hi y’all! I am very excited to introduce a new series in my blog that I hope to start this spring! Judging by the title, I’m sure you can guess that it will be about books. I will be discussing books that I read while traveling and books that take place abroad!

This series was inspired by blueeyedbiblio, a blog I stumbled upon as a was looking for my next good book. I have quite a habit of looking online for new books to read. Anyway, I’ve loved reading for as long as I remember, and when I started browsing her blog, I realized

8 Reasons to Re-Think Texas

Texas? Oh, you mean the big southern state with cacti and cowboys and Ted Cruz? Well yes, but as I recently discovered on a trip down there this month, Texas so is much more than that. It’s a state like no other.

When I told people I was going to Texas for spring break, they were a little taken aback. Most people don’t realize what a wonderful travel destination Texas is. I didn’t realize it until I started researching this trip. Wonderful things about Texas started to pop out at me on travel

Deep Sea Fishing on the Gulf

Port Aransas is right on the Gulf of Mexico, making a great location for deep sea fishing. We spent a misty day on a fishing boat, floating on the Gulf and casting our lines out into the sea, hoping for a lucky catch. The view off the boat was beautiful. The fog stretched off into the distance, covering the vast ocean.

Bird Watching in Port Aransas

One of my favorite things we did while in Port Aransas was going bird watching at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. Yes, I know how lame that sounds, but besides the fact that we were probably the only under-sixty, non-binocular-wearing visitors there, it was actually pretty fun. It gave me an opportunity to practice a new kind of photography and break out of my “scenery photos” habit.

I was amazed at the variety of birds that inhabited the birding center. But there weren’t only birds; we even spotted a few alligators. There was a chart detailing the predator/prey relationships between the animals in this kind of environment. The alligators eat the

Port Aransas Beach Daze

Today we left Port Aransas, a small beach town on Padre Island, after five blissful days on the beach. We passed the time exploring the beach, lying out on the sand with books and country music, floating in the Gulf waves on our boogie boards, exploring the natural wonders that Padre Island offers, and cozying up inside for Friends marathons during the few splashes of misty weather. It was spring break at its finest.

Spending time on the beach was my favorite part. We stayed in a condo just a short walk from the beach in a community of beach houses. There was plenty to explore on the beach.

A Morning in Austin, TX

Before the rodeo Saturday night, we spent the morning in Austin, exploring downtown and eating at a quirky restaurant by the river.

Austin is home to the Texas State Capitol, and it’s absolutely beautiful. We visited early in the morning and snapped pictures of the seemingly empty building. But as we drove back past it later in the day, it’s lawn was filled with families and picnickers enjoying a beautiful day. 

A Night at Rodeo Austin

Saturday night was the last night of Rodeo Austin, a 15 day carnival, rodeo and live music festival just outside of Austin. And we just so happened to be in Austin Saturday night. After spending the morning exploring Austin (post coming soon), we headed off to spend the night at the rodeo.

We started off exploring the carnival. It wasn’t much different than any old State Fair or County Fair, except that cowboy boots could be found on every pair of feet and