Peru

10 days of pure fun! That is what Peru is. It is the most beautiful country and one of my favorites. We spent ten days there and didn't even touch the surface of things to do. In fact, we only stayed in the southern end of the country. We started in Cusco and then went into the sacred valley which is beautiful countryside. In the sacred valley, we visited Chincenero, Ollyantatambo, Urambamba and Pisac. Ollyantatambo is fortress in which we had to climb up 220 stairs to get to the top, at elevation it was not the easiest task. I whined but somehow the incas got 3 ton stones up the mountains. We then went back to Cusco were we visited sachsawoman(sexywoman) which is this fortress of huge stones. We explored here and found hidden tunnels and cave dwellings. We then went to Moray, which is the circle terraces which they do/did agricultural experiments because each level is at a different temp. This is were Andrew found some guys wallet, who later bought our whole group Inca colas. We then went to Salineras, which are salt mines on the side of a mountain. A salt river flows into the ponds, overflows an into the next. It was amazing the extent of these. Then we went down to lake Titicaca.....yes just like its spelled. Here we visited the floating islands that are made out of reed and the people live on these islands. We went to another island were we stayed with a host family for the night. We got all dressed up in there clothes and had a party. We didn't even have electricity on this island. We got back and went to colca canyon which is one of the deepest canyons and saw the condors fly. The condors only have one mate for life and if there mate dies, they fly up to extreme elevations to kill themselves. I am not sure how we fit all this into 10 days but we did. We took night buses to get places which was slightly miserable but well worth it. We saw some amazing landscapes and ruins and will someday go back to explore more. Her are pictures....

Grateful

I really loved Peru and all that it had to offer. I, however, am glad to be an American and live in such a great country. And in honor of that here is my list of things I am grateful for:

Toilet seats
being able to flush toilet paper
toilet paper
toilets inside the house
being able to drink from the faucet
hot water showers
traffic laws
guard rails
knowledge of the defrost setting in cars
sunscreen that actually works(apparently, sunscreen doesn't work over 3000 meters)

This is all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are more. We had a blast in Peru and I am working on posting pictures but there are 1500 of them soooo I'm trying.

Peru

I am ready. I am ready for my vacation even though it is causing me a considerable amount of stress. I decided to try out my new backpacking pack and my new hiking shoes. It just happened to be dinner time and what better time to try out hiking gear. If you were wondering, yes, I kept this on the entire time I was cooking and yes, they both work awesome. School is stressing me out this week. The list of the things I need to do before I leave keeps getting larger. Not to mention the fact that Machu Picchu-the highlight of my Peru trip is currently closed due to landslides. I also have not booked any hotels due to this. I am a planner(thanks dad) and this is KILLING me. But I am going to let it go and "fly by the seat of my pants"- yes just let it go... I am running out of time to do all the things that I need to do before the trip but here I am sitting on the couch, blogging. I am avoiding this list. I don't even know where to start. Sigh. 1 week 3 days to go till it doesn't matter.

take off your blindfolds and open your eyes!

So I have been really wanting a "grown up" room lately. Something that you can go and relax in. I have a really nice bed and nice furniture but I haven't really gone any further than that. I watch those shows on HGTV like trading spaces, clean house, etc. and I love them. So I had a little clean house party of my own and here are the results. We did have to remove a dresser per the retarded layout of the room but it still works. I love my new room! I am really impressed that I put this all together. I am usually not this creative so this was really a leap for me and it turned out awesome! Here are the before and after pictures.

before(I know don't laugh)

After-I love it!
PS. I love Andrew too for helping me! He rocks.

Gross

So we went on a hike the other day and this is what the salt lake valley looks like....seriously disgusting. Really, we currently have"the worst air quality in the nation." The act of breathing is more a chewing process now and its really grossing me out. I have not been exercising and I have attributed it to the air quality. Yes... the air quality. But I would really like to get out and run and use my snazy new heart rate monitor watch. According to the news, I might as well smoke a pack of cigarettes; um, no thanks. This picture was taken a week ago and it is still like this. Lame.

These are the deer we encountered on the trip. My new little camera did an awesome job of magnifying 12x to get this photo. I love my camera.

In case the first picture didn't do it justice...ewwww.

Dear pseudoephedrine,
I love you today. I think that you are the greatest drug on the market. My nose and sinuses are clear and the pressure in my inner ear has now equalized. I must ask however, why oh why must people make meth out of you. It is rather inconvenient for me to have to bribe the pharmacist and sign over my first born for for some of your wonderful effects. I love you all the same and thank you again.
Sincerely, a severely congested nursing student on the first day of school
PS. I would also like to throw out a shout out to kleenex-you also rock

The best 3 years

To my wonderful husband who I love more than anything. To the best 3 years of my life with my best friend. He is more than I deserve and can't believe I am so lucky. He is the best husband I could ask for. I love you very much Andrew Ward, may we have many more adventures together.

We went shoeshoeing to the top of millcreek during the day on our anniversary. We ate cheese and summer sausage at the top and drank hot chocolate. It was so fun! We ended up almost running down the trail because we left late and it was starting to get dark. It was rather fun though and we made it down the canyon in record time.

Then we went to eat at Tuscany's. It was delicious and Andrew looks pretty handsome wouldn't you say.