Float Like a Cadillac, Sting Like a Beamer

Road trips can be a lot of fun if you are with the right people, and luckily, I survived a big road trip with my family this past weekend all the way from San Francisco to Flagstaff, Arizona to see the Grand Canyon.  That is roughly 12 hours driving plus stopping for bathroom breaks, stretching legs, and going through a few rounds of Chinese Fire Drills at gas stations.

Originally we were planning on going up to Lake Shasta for the weekend but about a week before I brought up the idea that we should try something different and somewhat jokingly offered going to the Grand Canyon.  One week later we were up at 4am and hitting the road and man am I glad my family is spontaneous because the trip was awesome!

On the way there though, we stopped by ZION NATIONAL PARK and holy crap that place was beautiful!  Although the Grand Canyon was, well, GRAND in it's own obvious way, Zion National Park was amazing and had this great serenity about it that I was obsessed with for a while.  

I love that picture on the right because you get an idea of just how enormous these mountains were compared to a full sized Yukon

And no I did not fall in love with this place solely because of the fact that this place was off of Route 66 and basically identical to Radiator Springs from 'Cars'.  Driving through the mountains kept me in awe over the size of the mountains and I think why I especially loved it was that unlike Yosemite where you are constantly driving past picnic areas, rest stops with port-a-potties, and families of tourists flocking towards tourist information booths, as you drive through here there are only stops at the end and the beginning.  So all you see is the beauty of the mountains and all you hear is ... nothing.

        

I honestly could have stayed there all day and just kept driving and driving around. 

Inside the national park too are a bunch of lodging joints that looked really comfy and homey so my family and I are already planning on the next time we go that we spend a night in Zion National Park and wake up.  Like holy crap imagine the sunrise at this place... I can only imagine... for now.

Look at this rainbow at the entrance! I should have known at this point that the next place was going to be getting even more beautiful with this beginning it.

So in review: Zion National Park is not some outer space zone but an enormous and beautiful plot of nature in Arizona you have to visit in your life time.

A Little Bit of Cliffs

Being a part of UCSD and especially Muir College means that you have to go visit "The Cliffs".  Above Blacks Beach in La Jolla is, well, these CLIFFS where just about every student goes at least once before graduating UCSD

Let's be honest though, going once is not enough for this place has SO MUCH beauty and is always different. Clear Skies. Misty Breeze. Sunrise. Sunset. Paragliders. You just never know what you are going to find when you go visit The Cliffs

Hey look at that! More flowers from my photography archives.

I especially like these pictures because I had picked the flower and didn't think too much of it but once I turned it over I found it had this awesome beautiful purple to it like no other and from that found my new model

I especially like this one above because it kinda looks like the flower is like, 

*boop* "hello there beach I wish I could go visit you but I am up here"

One Note a Day, Keeps Unhappiness Away

Today I am going to discuss the importance of finding happiness in life.  HOLD ON HOLD ON! DON'T LEAVE I PROMISE I WILL NOT CONVERT YOU TO SOME NEW RELIGION

This post is about a little project of my own where everyday I recognize at least one thing that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I took one of those "family-sized" Martinelli's Apple Juice jugs and after "my family finished it" (haha let's be real I downed that thing in less than half a week), I washed it out, and found some sticky note pads lying around.

 Every day all I do is take a sticky note and write down one thing that made me happy that day, put a smile on my face, and/or made me feel good/proud of myself.

I started April 6, 2012 and so far have been doing well.  Whenever I go out of town you won't find me lugging around a huge jug with pieces of paper in it but at the end of each day (or after the trip) I just look back on the day (or days) and pull out my phone and type in what I would have written on a sticky on my NOTES page in my phone and just write it on stickies once I'm back

Now that I have explained how to do it... I CHALLENGE YOU TO TRY IT OUT!

Seriously though, what have you got to lose?

SPOILER: The answer is nothing, you have absolutely nothing to lose except some sticky notes and a jug that used to have apple juice or whatever beverage you like to consume

If you have certainly NO IDEA of what you would write, this is your lucky day because I am sharing examples.  NOTHING YOU WRITE DOWN IS STUPID

EXAMPLES

• Finished reading ____________ after (only a day) [or] (four years of trying to read)
• Snagged the last chocolate croissant at Starbucks
• Took a nice warm shower and just relaxed after a long grueling day
• Long line of traffic on way home but radio played awesome tunes
• Was nostalgic and watched old TV Shows from when I was a kid
• Had (meal) with mom/dad/sibling/grandparent/friend
• Found a heads up penny!
• Made bomb tacos 
• Slept in until 4pm (Don't do that haha)

Once Again, NOTHING YOU WRITE DOWN IS STUPID

I myself am so excited for April 6, 2013 to come so I can see all that happened to me in a year and most likely start over for my next year of happiness to begin :)

Here is my jug with my favorite quote "Those who are most happy in life have no reason for being happy, except that they are so"... and if you really think you need a reason to be happy: Do this and when you look back in a year, you can find

10

27

172

365 REASONS TO BE HAPPY

.

No Nikon? No Problem

So it took me a little bit but I finally figured out how to make tabs and if you look up there I made one titled 'Artsy Fartsy' where I will be posting pictures I have taken.

It all started my past Winter Quarter when I randomly decided I would like to pursue an artsy side to me.  Not necessarily in the sense that I am gonna drop out of school, buy a french man's hat, and hiss at hipsters, but merely that I decided to capture the beauty of nature through the lens of a camera... which for me in the beginning was my iPhone 4 (SUBLIMINAL MESSAGING GO BUY APPLE PRODUCTS).  Turns out, my pictures came out not too bad and I continued onward.

That was my first picture I ever took being 'Artsy' and afterwards I kind of took a lot of pictures of flowers and contacted with my more .. "feminine" side..?  Whatever, I like the pictures and if you wanna see more like them: Check Out my Artsy Fartsy Tab

Adios Again!