doughnuts

Exploring and Relaxing are the same thing

1:30:00 PM


When the works starts to pile up, when the nights start to get a little restless, that's when you know it's time for a "you" day. A day just to take time for yourself. Creating your own happiness. 
I've had a very strange last couple of weeks. I can't really describe it to be honest. It was just weird. Luckily it's over, this is a new week (even though I'm writing this ahead). I'm being quite optimistic. Anyway, I had a "me" day. To try to make everything seem okay again. Clear my head a bit. Leaving the room, packing my bag with my camera, water, and a few other essentials, I was off on a day of exploring. 

After wandering the local mall, browsing through Kohl's and Target and picking up a Mother's Day gift, I decided to take a hike. Literally. But before leaving, I also grabbed a Mango Smoothie from Orange Julius. 
I've been to this hiking spot before, but now that there is no snow on the ground I could properly sit down and enjoy it! You can read that blog post here. I also snapped these whilst there before hiking back down and continuing on with my day. 



I also spotted this guy on my way back down to the car!

Month


I did adult-y things that day. Like stopping off at the grocery store to pick up a few bits, making sure I stayed under twenty dollars too. Quite a feat. 

Eventually, I returned back to my dorm room to put away my grocery store purchases before leaving once again to go to a late lunch, or early dinner. I had a tomato mozzarella on a flatbread from Panera. It was delicious! Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of it for you. It looked great! I promise. 

I decided after that, even though I was sort of full, I wasn't quite ready to go back to the dorms quite yet, so I set out to find a frozen yogurt spot. I needed it. I did remember to take a photo of that. 

Once I dropped my car off in the parking lot, I felt like I had consumed enough sugar for 3 children. Therefore the day was not over quite yet. I didn't have a schedule to keep or anything that had to be done right away. I took a walk around campus. The snow has melted very quickly since the last time I have shown you around! That post is here. So I'll give you a little update.








I even sat on a nice little bench and watched the sunset and took in the sounds of the birds for a little bit before walking about a bit more. There was a woodchuck on the river bank nearby, making quite the odd sounds. 


I also had one of those "this photo is perfect" moments. Are you ready for it?? This one
I noticed there were birds in a tree above me, and snapped this and smiled when I reviewed it because I felt like it was perfect. 



Then it was time to go back to the room and relax, snapping this photo of the sunset and putting it on instagram here. 

It was such a great day. Ending with a movie and a nice chat. I honestly felt so good after it. Not having a worry, and putting it all aside just for the day. It was just what I needed. Though I did get a very sunburnt nose and a few odd sunburnt fingers, it was worth it. 


I hope you all had great weekends! What did you do? Have you ever taking a day that's just for you? If you have, what did you do? What would your perfect day be like?
Let me know in the comments! I love reading them!
xx
Kenzie

adventure

Finding Adventure

12:30:00 PM


There is no better feeling than the first day of spring time warmth in Wisconsin. There is also no better feeling than not having a plan and just driving around with a nice camera in the passenger seat. 

The other weekend, I made the decision to bring my car from home to my University. Yes, being in the dorms is fun, but there are only so many places you can go, and frankly I'm one of those people who just can't sit still and when I'm some place new I really want to explore it. After spending a few hours on Google Maps, I scoped out a few spots that I knew I wanted to hit. After buying a snack from the shop, I set out to find the perfect picture spots. 
First, I came to this lovely bridge. The walk across it was quite windy but the sun was out, so who am I to complain? It also made for some lovely snaps anyway.






As I drove away from the bridge, being downtown a bit, I spotted a beautiful church upon a hill. Finding a way to get there was quite the adventure, as I have no idea which turns lead where in this town yet! I eventually managed to find it and get a nice snap! Perhaps I'll bring someone along next time to help me capture a few more. 


This is the point in the adventure where I turned off my phone's navigating system for a bit and let the roads take me. With this, I managed to find an ice cream shop and a couple of old buildings. I decided to park and see where I could go next before I got too far away. I found a lovely little park, which was very nice to walk around in...have I mentioned how nice the sun felt? 

Afterwards, my little red car brought me to one of the popular look out places. I had heard it held beautiful views of the city. Every single description of that place was correct. Though it is still winter, the snow is still very much present, the view was still stunning. And I mentally marked this place as one to come back to when the leaves are on the trees and in Autumn when the leaves are changing. I sat there for a while, letting the wind whip my hair around, and just not caring too deeply about anything. It felt great. 



I ended the day at a coffee shop, bought an ice tea and sat there for awhile. 
Though I didn't hit all of the scenic spots in town that day, I do have my car with me until the rest of the semester, so I will be able to find a few more, maybe return again, and don't worry, I will share them all with you!

It felt great to get out and finally do a bit of exploring! Have you ever explored your town or the next town over just to see it? You could find something totally new if you did! 
I hope you all are having a great weekend and if the weather has been cold, I hope it warms up quickly for you! 
Make sure you're following me on Instagram to see the cool shots I put there! 
xx
Kenzie

adventure

Exploring near the river

1:00:00 PM


If you've been reading awhile you may have read that I've moved. It's exciting, a little nerve wracking at first but hey, that's life I suppose. Being in a new town and on my own I decided to make sure to pack my new camera (the really nice one I got for Christmas and used for those Arizona posts). 
 Anyway, I decided to use my first saturday here by exploring. It's a beautiful campus, and it's covered with a little bit of snow, not as much as last year, which I am perfectly fine with. So I can only assume it's twice as pretty in the Autumn when the leaves are full of color. 
 My university is set on the river, which makes for some pretty nice photos. 
The weather wasn't too cold, I did look ahead to check and see which day would be best to go. 


The water was so still, it was really pretty. 


I also wandered into a park, where there were twisting trees, it was also on the river. There were squirrels running across a branch and darted into a hole in the tree, they went too fast and I wasn't prepared to catch a photo of them. 
After wandering the park, I decided to go down an older street. 

There was this cute little Fish made from scrap metal. I thought he was cute! Of course, he reminded me of my fish too. (Latte is currently enjoying his new life in college by the way.)
I did stop by a shop to grab a sweater that represented my university, as I actually had nothing, I'm not even sure why. But I am glad that I finally now have something.
The buildings on this street give it some character and actually make it look quite cute. 
There was also a little bear statue along the way. 
Isn't he cute?
 After walking the length of the little shops that lined the street, the cold was starting to get to my fingers, though I didn't mind much. I do live in Wisconsin after all, and it hasn't been nearly as cold as last year, so I really shouldn't complain!
 I did end up back on campus, spotting some ducks in the creek as I came up to a building. 



See what I mean when I say, I can only imagine how pretty it is in the beginning of fall or even spring and summer when the grass is nice and green. I really can't wait to experience that. And besides, the sun would probably feel nice too. 

I finished off the walk with my usual route back up to the dorm room, up some stairs. By some I mean a lot. It's a nice little walk back, and since I like doing things outdoors it was a nice break from homework and sitting in the room. 
It also looks incredible at night here, and I promise when the weather warms up, I will take some night time photos for you, because they really should be shared. 
I hope you like this post! Let me know what else you would like to read! 
Have you gone back to school now? If you have, how is it? Do you have any difficult classes, or really fun ones? 
I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments!
Thank you so much for reading!
See you next time!
xx
Kenzie




america

Trip to the Southwest pt 4

2:00:00 PM


If you've been keeping up on these blog posts I hope that you're enjoying them! After leaving Palm Springs we traveled through the Joshua Tree National Forest. It was cold. Probably about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, though I would have liked to explore some of the trails had we packed along some of our winter jackets. Though we also probably couldn't have done any extra exploring since we were somewhat limited in what we could do with my grandfather, who doesn't like to do much that doesn't involve a spot to sit. As we drove through I started to miss my best friend..and my goldfish. 
 The park offered many lookouts and I couldn't help but also imagine that the scenery would be perfect had dinosaurs roamed about (which thankfully they do not). 




After the Joshua Tree trip, we got to relax the next day. Which also happened to be the very last day of 2014. Spending New Years Eve in a retirement village might not have been as much fun as hanging out with friends but I'm pretty sure my friend was going to bed early anyway if she had to work the next day. And the New Years Eve blog post had gone up that day also! I hope you've read it! It's right here if you haven't! 
The vacation blog posts are almost over! I hope you're enjoying them!
xx
Kenzie


america

Adventure in the Southwest pt 2

2:00:00 PM

 Although Arizona was colder than expected, it still managed to be a good vacation. 
While we were visiting my grandparents in their retirement village, we were staying in a unit right behind theirs. The first day we were there, the same day we had just gotten off the airplane, we took a winding, rock filled road out to a place called the Desert bar. 
 It sits on an old copper mine campground and attracts a large crowd, though it's only opened on the weekends, October through April, when the weather is mild! It's also completely solar powered. It's a neat rustic looking place and if you can manage the roads without getting ill then you should definitely visit!



The next day was more of a relaxing day, as we only went out to watch the Packers win a game from a bar. Though the view from the bar was also pretty. It was on a lake!
Though the next day was when we, as in both my grandparents, my mom, stepdad, sister and myself, all piled into my grandparents van and drove to Palm Springs. 
The drive was nice, we stopped along the way to view some sand dunes. Looking over them, it felt as though you were transported to some foreign country and if you dared climb over one of the dunes far off you may just get yourself lost. 
There were dune buggies as well, and had we been staying near the dunes at all, I may have wanted to try my hand at driving one of them..or at least riding along. 
After seeing the Sand Dunes, we moved past the Sultan Sea. Which my grandpa was pretty intrigued with...can't say the same for all of us though. We all just wanted to get to the hotel and sit by the pool for a bit of sun. 
After finally arriving, we had a bit of a tan near the pool before wandering around Palm Springs. 
The down town area of Palm Springs was cute, it was lined with a few shops and restaurants.




 After eating a nice dinner, we went on to our next adventure. 
Which is what will fill the next blog post! 
Can't wait for you to read it! 
I hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know if you've been to any of these spots in the comments! 
See you in the next post! 
xx



adventure

Walks Along the River

1:00:00 PM


The Summer has officially begun! 

To make the most out of my Summer, I've been going for walks with Sadie. Lucky for me, my dad lives near the river and I love it. I try to pick the best time to go when it's not too hot for Sadie, since we don't want any burnt dog paws! 

The views are so gorgeous! I've always lived in this part of town, down the street but I haven't really gotten to have a good walk along the path. 
The mosquitoes are ridiculous at this time of year, so I also have to choose to go right after dinner as opposed to waiting a few hours because they'll be ready to use me as a meal. 
No thank you. 
Sadie really enjoys it, see that smile?

What bothers me though, is that on the trail there is one tree that is surrounded by broken glass. I'm not really sure who I'm supposed to talk to about that. But I do make sure Sadie doesn't go near it. If you feel the need to break something, how about doing it in your driveway or at a shooting range perhaps? Other than that, it's a perfect trail and I really love walking it. I'm also glad I have such an enthusiastic walking partner! It's also nice to see other pets with their owners walking about. Nobody shared our path in the Winter, but Sadie and I don't mind sharing ;) 

It's so pretty I really can't get over it!
While we walk I always look  at the houses across the street. Sometimes I make up stories about the people who might live in them. Kind of like the Sims but in real life. Is that weird? 
The sunsets are amazing over the water, and the sky is always a pretty shade of blue! I still can't believe all of this was hidden by a big heavy blanket of snow only a few months ago! 
This just proves that you don't always have to travel far to see something really nice! 
I do hope you all are enjoying your Summer off, or if It's winter for you then I hope you're enjoying Winter too! I hope you put down your phone, shut your laptop and get outside!!!
Even if it's for an hour, go do it! 

xx
Kenzie 
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