Saturday, March 19, 2011

I've been on spring break at home this week. Whenever I come home, I don't want to leave. Well, let me rephrase. I don't want to leave Georgia. I really do love this state. It's my home. No where else that I've lived so far has felt like home to me. It's just a temporary place to live. I really hope that I get to stay in this state.

This week has been FULL of interesting things and life-altering changes.

Thursday, Chris and I went to Athens, GA for the day. We started out at the Memorial Park and Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail off of Gran Ellen Drive off Milledge Avenue. The park is basically a little zoo with indigenous animals like bears, owls, wild turkey, eagles, white-tailed deer, and many others. I've been to the zoo many times, but this visit let me see two new wildlife exhibits - baby bear cubs and alligators. I love baby bears, or as I like to say, "baby bawars." Say just like I spelled it. ;) And I've always thought alligators were fasinating, so we watched them for a while. There was also a great horned owl exhibit. One owl looked like he was trying his best to sleep but couldn't because of all the people staring at him, but the other owl was WIDE awake. I'd never realized before how much great horned owls look like they have people eyes. I felt like that owl could have spoken to me if he really wanted to. :) After that was Gus the Groundhog who looked like he was completely bored being in his little habitat. I don't blame him. Then the wild turkeys. Two males in the cage were continuously fluffing up and fanning out their feathers trying to impress the females. I guess it's that's time of year. We didn't get to see the eagles (both bald eagles and golden eagles) since they were nesting/mating, but maybe next time I'll get to see their babies.

After the zoo, we went to the Georgia Museum of Art located on Carlton Street off of S. Lumpkin. I had seen the building before but had never gotten to go inside. I was surprised to see that it was a legitimate, large art museum. The museum featured everyone from Southern artists to Andy Warhol to Marie Cassatt and some Renaissance painters. I had seen a few of the paintings in the Jacksonville Art Museum when I went last year, but many of the paintings were new to me. Chris and I looked at every single painting and tried to notice the details of all of them. I got yelled at by a museum docent who thought I was about to touch one of the Cassatt paintings because I was pointing to a small detail. I was a little offended that he would yell at me since I was being so careful that I was even holding my breath when I leaned near a painting. But he didn't know that, so I eventually got over it and continued to enjoy myself.

After the museum, we tried a new restaurant on S. Lumpkin. It's called Cali n Tito's. It a Latin restaurant that feels like it should be on some beach in Mexico or South America. Spanish music, Hispanic/ Spanish speaking cooks and servers, and authentic Latin food. Chris got a Peruvian dish called Lomo Saltado which was chicken, onions, rice, french fries, and spices, and I got one chicken taco, one steak taco, and a side of platanos (fried plantains). My tacos had more fresh cilantro than I like (I really don't like fresh cilantro), but they were fresh and delicious. We both had mango nectar as our drink. It was a very warm day, so we sat outside surrounded by palm trees and colorful decorations. I really felt like I was in a Latin American country instead of in Athens, GA.

The rest of the day consisted in a little shopping in Downtown Athens, two movies (Tangled and Red Riding Hood), and Chick-Fil-A. All in all, it was a good day.

I was happy to have such a great day, because Chris and I have decided to take a break in our relationship. We both need to work on too many things and find out what God's calling and direction is for our lives. We both have some growing to do. Ultimately, only one of us made the decision after months of prayerful and tearful consideration, but we both agreed that it's the best decision right now. I'm heartbroken, but I'm re-learning to rely on God every day to keep me strong. So please pray for both of us individually to continue to do what God wants us to do no matter how hard it is.

I'm going to try to blog more about every day stuff. I've always wanted to have an active blog, but I've always put pressure on myself to have something deep and insightful to say. I've learned that being like that isn't always necessary, that short and entertaining posts about every day things are just as fun to read as longer posts like this. So I hope that my readers check back soon to see what new directions this blog will take.

7 comments:

  1. Ummm I really enjoyed your blog but then you took it in a completely different direction. I can't think of anything sage like to say, but I want to give you a big hug. Aside from my thoughts about the last part...

    Horned owls sound really really cool!!! Are they really big or are they tiny? Where are the pictures lol? Those restaurants sounded magnificent but where did you put all of that food? I checked my mailbox and I don't see a plate anywhere... The bears were probably the coolest. I just love bears. They look like they want hugs at all times... Well now I am rambling... anyway, I am so happy you had a great time... and on a sidenote how did I not know you loved art???

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  2. Horned owls are ginormous. They are about two feet long and look heavy, but they probably aren't heavy at all. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Horned_Owl)

    I didn't take many pics at all. I never think of it when I'm out, and then I always regret it later. I need to get better at remembering to do that. And I mailed you a plate! The mailman must have broke into your package and ate it because it smelled so good! ;) And the bears were my favorite, too.

    I do love art! Mostly romantic and impressionist artists, though. I've tried to like "modern" art, and I've at least learned to appreciate it, but I still don't "like" it.

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  3. They are ginormous!!! They look very mysterious. I think they may be secret agents or aliens in costume...

    Darn that mailman!!! He does this all the time!!!

    HAHAHAHAHA "tried to like it" I like Picasso, the guy that does the crazy staircases that go everywhere and nowhere at the same time and Da Vinci...

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  4. That's one thing i've always had trouble with about posting. My life is pretty dull and mundane so i've always felt that i have had to have something inspirational or insightful in order to post because everyone else's post, even when talking about ordinary things, can be incredibly deep. But you just have to learn to be true to yourself, and to find your own personal niche.

    And you know you'll always have at least two fans! :D

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  5. I really love that park and the exhibits are great. I'll have to check that restaurant out, it sounds pretty cool. :)

    I've always enjoyed your blogs. I think Victoria is right in "learning to be true to your self." I think that is what makes a good blog. I look forward to reading future posts. ;)

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  6. I could stab you for being that close to me and not visiting. It takes me ten minutes to walk to memorial park and Cali and Tito's is on the same street as me :/

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  7. I didn't know that at all!! :( I'll come see you this summer. And I'll be in Georgia for at least the next year and a half probably. No idea what's happening after that.

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