Amsterdam

Canal in Amsterdam

After a nerve wrecking last hour driving to JFK and missing my flight I got on a plane to Berlin, Germany!  Once I got to Berlin it took a little to figure out how to get to the metro station I was meeting Tonya and Dave at and then actually find them! 

I spent three days in Amsterdam and it is a great city!  The first night that we were there we walked around had dinner at Hard Rock Café on the canal then I went back to the hotel and crashed!  I was so tired and I slept most of the way here from Berlin.

The second day we woke up and went to Anne Frank House.  I read the book when I was in sixth grade because I wanted to not because I was told to by a teacher.  I loved the book so much!  It was definitely a hard read for me since I hadn’t been reading that long at grade level and also because it was a hard subject as well.  While reading the book I even had nightmares that I was living in the annex and mom wouldn’t let me read the book at night.

The tour was amazing, it cost 9 euro and you went through the whole place.  The tour started in the new museum/ visitors center then brings you into the warehouse that Otto Frank had his spice and pectin company in.  In every room there were quotes from Anne’s Diary on the walls and some pictures or posters from the company.  Then you headed up the stairs into the office that Kruger had who ran the company while Otto was hiding.  Behind that was Meip’s office that she shared with another women that helped hide the families. 

The train station in Amsterdam

The entire house is empty exactly like it was left following the discovery of the families exactly how Otto wanted it.  To give you an idea of what the annex looked like however a model was built to the exact specifications of Otto Frank.  To get into the annex you had to climb up the front set of stairs and wow they are steep! I hit my knee on the step just walking normally.  Once at the top of the stairs you walk through a room not really sure what it was for and find yourself In front of the movable bookcase.  Seeing that bookcase being in that space was crazy.  I had imagined what it looked like for the last 10 years of my life and to actually be inside of the annex was mind boggling.  Anne’s room was so much smaller than I imagined it to be.  It was also surprising to see how well the window shades really did blackout the rooms. 

To be in a place that I had spent so much time imagining was crazy to see what I thought it looked like compared to the real thing was amazing.  It is something I wish more people could do.  

The End of the Begining

Tomorrow is my last day working at Nolin.  I can’t believe how quickly everything went by.  I feel like I was just getting to Kentucky and so nervous about starting my internship and now I have met some amazing people gained great friends and I am heading back north home for a couple of days. 

Today I not only worked my last full day as an SCA Water Safety Intern I also applied for the first time to be a park ranger for the Corps.  It was completely random and I don’t except much of my first application but I applied.  That is something I have learned from this experience.  Just go for it, if I decide later if the I get the position that I don’t want it I can always say no.  But I at least have to try.

With the help of everyone at Nolin especially Danielle and Chris once I told them I was interested in getting a ranger position I accomplished everything on the checklist for hiring.  Thanks to Dan I managed to get some water safety contacts out on the boat (well more than some).  Thanks to Carl I now know what a Gypsy Moth trap looks like and how to check them.  And Jason you are the reason I am going back to Vermont with some very random sayings and having had tons of laughs and also a minor issue with taking picture of docks.  And Deryck thank you for saying “ so if I offered this position to you right now would you accept it?”  It was the first time I did something totally unexpected of me and I learned so much about my self and what I want to do.  Everyone that I worked with was amazing and considering how many I worked with I can’t even try to thank them all.

Who knows if the opportunity presents it self I just may be back to annoying you all again soon! :) <3

Week 5

Week 5 was little bit different than my other weeks in Kentucky since half of it was in Tennessee as my previous post kinda says.  I loved being in the mountains again!  It definitely made me miss home something fierce tho!  I finished the draft of the Junior Ranger Program for Nolin this week finally!!!  I never thought I was going to finish it.  Really all that is left is for me to show it to some people and figure out how to get the kids to do the booklets. 

While I am having a blast here I can’t wait to go home and head to Europe.  Since I am heading home in two weeks from today I know that I am going to be missing everyone that I have met here!  I really hope that I can come back down for a visit next year depending on what I have for a job.

Gatlinburg!!!!!!

The River at the picnic area for Chimney

Yesterday we got into Gatlinburg and went tubing down the river.  It was a blast! I got just a bit ( maybe a lot) sun burnt and also bashed my knee on a rock but had a great time we spent the entire afternoon there.

View of the river from the first bridge on the trail

View from Chimney Tops

Today we woke up actually fairly early considering the fact that we didn’t actually leave the house until 11am.  Danielle, Natalie, Noah, Joey and I went on a hike up to the Chimney Tops in the National Park.  It’s a four mile round trip hike.  At the bottom it didn’t seem like it would be that bad…. Yeah about that.  The second mile was deathly!  Then once you actually made it to the top of the trail you had to scale your way up a rock face to get to the chimneys.  It was an adventure that for sure.  However, we didn’t even see the chimneys (opps) we were too busy taking pictures of the view.  The way down pretty steep and I managed to only roll my ankle once!!!

Me at the top of the Chimney Tops

Once we got off the trail we went of the road to New Found gap I think it is right at the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee.  Great views but we were all so tired we just sat in the care for like five minutes before we moved :)

Tomorrow we are going to ZORB and WonderWorks. Should be a good day again! 

Week 4

Week 4

Well not much to talk about I guess.  Starting to miss home a bit but also getting really excited for head to Europe!!! Today I am leaving for Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a couple of days with Danielle.  I can’t believe that I have been here for four weeks already and only have another three before I head home and onto my next adventure!!! 

Week 3

      One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.~ Andre Gide

      I graduated college seven weeks ago, not much time in the grand scheme of things but yet my life is completely different than I imagined it less than two months ago.  If anything had gone according to plan right now I would be sight seeing my way back to Vermont from California.  While in some ways I am sad that my trip did happen but in other ways it was the best thing that could have happened to me.  That’s what a lot of people didn’t get when I told them the trip was canceled they thought I should be mad or at the very least sad.  Trust me I was crushed that a trip I had planned for more than six months went up in smoke in a matter of six minutes but when I look back I’m so happy how it worked out.

      Now after having lived in a camper in Bee Spring, Kentucky for the last three weeks.  My first foray into living alone it’s amazing how much I’ve changed.  I only realized this today when I posted a status about how much Rian has changed in my time here.  When I posted this Kathy who among many roles in my life is my best friend Jacki’s Mom and my mom’s best friend as well.  Kathy was always the one telling me to go away, be a kid, get dirty, get lost in the woods.  After a camping trip with what felt like a million pre teen and teenage boys I understood why she told me that. But back to what I’m talking about :)

      Kathy posted that she was thinking the same about how much I’ve grown up too. Until that moment I really hadn’t realized how much I had grown up.   So I thought about it, I’m living alone, having to do my own food shopping and feed myself in a place where I knew no one until I started working here and really still don’t’ know anyone and I’m not running scared.  In fact I’m loving it and seriously considering finding a position with the COE anywhere I can get one.

      Which is in total contradiction anything and everything I have said over the last four years in school.  I bet if any of my professors read this especially Coupe and Grover they are shaking their head right now but I guess this is part of growing up.  I guess I’m finally growing enough to reach the potential so many people thought I had when I wasn’t sure.  I can only imagine how different I will be after the four weeks I have left here and then the five I will be in Europe.

For once in my life I’m not going to fight this change, I have no doubt Laurie, Rachel and Staci will get phone calls from me spazzing that I’m convinced I’m making a huge mistake but I know they will make sure I keep doing what is making me happy. 

July 5th

Like June 16th, March 19th and March 30th July 5th is a date I won't soon forget. The halfway point in the worst year of my life, the day I lost my second grandparent in three months. It sucked still kinda does but at least I know that Grandpa did everything he wanted to his way. <3