adventure

An afternoon in Savannah

7:00:00 AM


The last of my vacation posts has sadly arrived. You may have read multiple posts about my travels in the southern United States in Charleston, South Carolina, Asheville, North Carolina and now we're going to talk about Savannah Georgia. One of the warmest cities I have been to, I thought it would be perfect to write about and remember on a cold December day. So here we are. 


Savannah, Georgia is not a far drive from Charleston, South Carolina and wanting to add another state to my growing list of places I've been, my family set off on an afternoon trip to the historic city. If you ever have a few hours to spare in the afternoon while in Savannah, then I would highly recommend reading the rest of this list!


1Chippewa Square. While Forrest Gump's bench might not be there (they took it down after the movie had finished filming), it's definitely a must see. Life is Like a box of chocolates ya know? 

Forrest Gump

2. SoHo South Cafe. the food is amazing. I kid you not. Even if you just want to pop in for a drink, you can do that too!. 

3. Wormsloe Plantation. While we didn't go riding down the longest drive way in the states, the trees and views are definitely worth the 20 minute drive from the city. 

Savannah

4. City Market. A great place if you're looking to do some shopping! Definitely stop in to one of the candy stores, as you get tossed a piece of taffy for just walking in! 
Savannah

5. Walk the cobblestones down by the river. Escaping from the heat between the buildings, wandering down to the riverside to see more historic buildings, and watch the huge cargo ships pull in. It's pretty cool! 
Savannah

6. Cemeteries. There are historical figures buried in Savannah if you're a history-loving type. 
Georgia

There are plenty of tours you can take while you're visiting Savannah as well. All of the stops are in good walking distance from each other, if you're looking to get more information about certain homes, people etc, then definitely book a tour. I really enjoyed my time in Savannah and am so glad the weather was extremely nice for us! 
I hope this warmed you up, if you're somewhere cold! 
Here I am wishing it were summer again! 

What are some of your favorite places to go? 
I hope you're having a great day! 
x




21

I fell from the SKY?!

7:00:00 AM


The Olympics just ended, and I could not help but wonder how someone could ever get their body to willingly fling themselves around on the balance beams and the high bars, but then again here I am about to tell you that I flung myself out of an airplane. 


Skydive Twin Cities






You read that right. 
Skydiving
I wanted to do it for my 21st birthday and we scheduled it for August so that it would also be my cousin's surprise birthday gift. The day started with having my cousin open  some gifts, and a special golden box that revealed that he was going skydiving! We loaded our cars and drove about an hour to where we would be checking off our bucket lists! 


USA


A lot of people asked me if I was nervous to skydive, but honestly I wasn't, people do it all the time, and I wasn't going alone. Learning about the risks, didn't even scare me. I was overpowered by excitement. Before it was our turn to dive, an  89 year old man with cancer jumped with his family and honestly if he could do it, I could. 



Kenzie Kuivanen

Once up in the plane, we got strapped onto our tandem jumpers and scooted out of the plane. It was surreal watching a plane full of people slowly empty as they each dropped off. I was the last one off and I thought "well if everyone else is off, I better join them" I closed my eyes and we jumped. Cold air hit my face as we fell for 60 seconds from 13,000 feet. Once the parachute opened, I opened my eyes, popped my ears and enjoyed the ride. I literally felt like a bird, or a leaf, slowly floating back down to earth. It's not as noisy in the sky and it was really peaceful. 


Skydiving

Skydiving

Freefall




I was really really proud of myself that I did it, I jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet above the ground. I even got to steer the parachute a little, everyone cheered when I landed and it felt so good to say I conquered skydiving. 

Landing

Finished



We laughed at my video, and my cousins video. A lot of my other family members said they would want to do it next year. I can't blame them. I found out a few days later, that one of my old math teachers died, and that made me even more happier that I did something like this for some of my last days of being 21 years old. Because life is really short. Why not jump out of planes? 


Kerry


To see more skydiving photos check out my Instagram and also my facebook
Also I did my dive at Skydive Twin Cities and it was amazing (so major shoutout to the staff & my tandem partner Kerry!) If you're ever in Minnesota/Wisconsin, definitely go visit them! It's also so much fun to watch other people dive as well! 



adventure

A New Year

9:04:00 AM

While it seems like every blogger I follow has already written their New Year blog post, it seems that I've stayed true to myself and have come in a bit late. You can read my blog post about what 2015 meant to me here. My family had traveled once again to celebrate New Years, though unlike last year we only traveled one state over to stay with my cousins. While we ended the year with two trips to two separate malls, and my mom and I took a stroll through Ikea and after eating a nice dinner of sushi and pesto chicken at the restaurant called Crave crashed someone else's New Years eve party. The year 2015 went out pretty well I'd say, and it brought along a lot of good types of change, 2016 is bringing in a few resolutions and things to look forward to!





1. Eating Clean: While many people all around the world make their "i'm going to eat healthy this year" resolutions, my whole family and I have decided to really go for it. Clean out our pantries of processed foods (that means those Christmas cookies too) and eat fresh and clean. I've loved meal planning so far,and I can't wait to share some with you if you're interested!

 2. Travel: I'm lucky enough to have one nice trip planned this year that I cannot wait for. It involves driving in a car and lounging on a beach. I'll be bringing my new camera of course and can't wait to share everything with you!

3.Blog Posts: I want to explore other blogs, it's always fun to read about people's travels, recipes, and tips and tricks so if you have any recommendations or want me to read your blog make sure to leave your links in my comments and I'll be right there in minutes. I'd also like to get to over 100 followers on Bloglovin/Google Plus.

4. Adventures: I'm still pretty new to the town my University is in and I think one goal I'd like to set is to find something new at least once a month, or every other month. This is the second spring semester that I'll be there, so hopefully I'll be able to!

5.Do something for the first time. This one is already a pre-planned event that is happening at the end of the summer and I'm very excited to share it with you all, but the date isn't set yet and I really don't want to jinx it!

I hope you all have a great New Year! How did you end your 2015? Did you set any exciting plans or resolutions? Leave me links of your favorite blogs in the comments as well! Thanks for always reading! xx Kenzie


adventure

Spring Has Sprung

11:30:00 AM


The Summer is getting closer, I can almost taste the ice cream. 
In all honesty, Wisconsin has a short Spring season, at least 4 or 5 weeks. But the weather is warm and all I want to do is go outside anyway.

Colorful

With the recent weather being somewhat unusually hot, I took it as the perfect opportunity to take even more photos around my campus, before joining up with a few girls who live on the same floor as me and going on a hike. 
One of my favorite things is that I get to see these tulips everyday when I go to and from class. They are just beautiful and make me a little more excited that Summer is just around the corner. Right after exams. 
I took plenty of pictures, and have one up on instagram for you to check out here. 
Flowers

Flower

Along with Tulips, another sign of Spring here of course, is the Robins (amongst other birds). It's always been a common thing to associate Spring with Robins. When you spot one, you know that warmer weather is on its way!

Bird

The next few photos are from when I was on the trail. I love discovering new places, so this little adventure was fun for me. 

Rocks
It was extremely hot and humid this day that it was difficult to suppress the urge to jump into the river!


Wisconsin

I know this post was quick, but I hope you still enjoyed it! Now it's back to the books and getting ready to move back to my home town for the Summer months, and back to work. 
I love finding new places I haven't been to before and I'm sure I will find more in the future!
Do you have any fun plans for the Summer? Any trails or new things that you're trying? 
Let me know in the comments! 
Also don't forget to follow me on twitter, bloglovin and instagram! I will follow you back! (just tweet, instagram, or leave a comment here! ) 
Hope you are having a great weekend!
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







adventure

Historic Walks

1:00:00 PM



You never know what your town has to offer. But do you ever wonder about the people that used to live there?
Way before you, years and years ago?

Recently, during my birthday weekend, after sleeping for ten hours because I was feeling poorly, my dad, his girlfriend and I went out on a little adventure.
When you're ill it's good to get out of the house, if you're feeling up for it.
The weather was so nice out and I felt bad having to stay inside because I wasn't feeling the best. So I decided to tag along.
We went to the Art Museum in my town, it sits on a steep hill and it's in a beautiful building.

In the front is a large garden, filled with sculptures and statues.  The only time I was ever at the museum was when I took trips for school, therefore we hadn't really had the chance to explore the gardens. 

This museum, is known for it's "Birds in Arts" Pieces done by artists from different places and different eras. It was really neat seeing the different pieces, as I'm not extremely artistic, and I'm really impressed with anyone who can draw on such a great level!


I mostly loved the Owl pieces, as they're my favorite birds. I could stare at them for hours! 
The paintings, drawings and sculptures were all great! 
After wandering around the museum for a bit, we had to make a decision, go home or go on a little drive. We decided on the drive and stopped at an island near the downtown portion of my town! 
It was so beautiful looking at the scenery in a part of town that I had never actually been to before. 
There's a historic walk, with signs that tell the story of what happened around that area many years ago. 

It was gorgeous scenery, and it was very interesting to learn about the logging that happened on the rivers. 
The adventure also had me thinking about what people would be like back in the olden days, what would it be like with wagons pulling up to a shop, or a train rolling through town. 


After the walk, being a bit poorly yet, I was tired and ready to head home in hopes of taking a quick nap or even a nice hot bath. 

I hope you all are having great Septembers so far! 
Thanks for reading! 
I love reading your comments! Make sure to follow me on bloglovin and I'll follow you right back! 
xx
Kenzie







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