January 21, 2019

TS 2018 Wrap Up

Wow where did 2018 go? It feels like I blinked and the year was behind me, as well as the first half of January 2019. 2018 was full of new challenges, life experiences, and of course, travel. I believe I can whole-heartedly say 2018 was the best year of my life thus far. So let’s get to it. Here is my travel and life wrap up of 2018.

January

I started off the year by going on a medical brigade to Ecuador with Timmy Global Health as one of their RNs. Previously in 2016 I went on a medical brigade with Timmy through my college as a student volunteer. This organization has a special place in my heart and I will definitely be volunteering again in the future. For those who don’t know, Timmy Global Health is a non-profit organization that provides continuous medical care to various parts of Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Nigeria. On each brigade clinics are set up in rural communities for locals to visit. Patients are able to see a doctor obtain medications for medical conditions, and schedule additional testing/treatments when necessary. Timmy partners with local hospitals and clinics for patients who need additional testing and treatments and pays for some, if not all, of the cost of these services. Timmy returns every 2-3 months to the various communities they serve to follow up with their patients and see new patients. On this particular trip our medical brigade was based in Latacunga, Ecuador and drove every morning to serve rural communities throughout the Guangaje area. I ran the lab station during the trip. My station typically consisted of me sitting at a kid-size table with my lab equipment behind me in a suitcase.

Taking 8 years of Spanish was a blessing for most of the time, but in other instances a family member or an interpreter helped me give directions and explanations when the patient spoke the regional language, Quichua. I also helped out with the triage station where vitals, height, and weight were obtained. On a typical day during lunch I would hike around our clinical site and snap some photos. Some memories I took from this trip include…

All the adorable children! I enjoyed playing ring-around-the-rosie and various other games the kids taught me that I do not know the name of. (Note: We had written permission from the parents of ALL these children to take pictures and publish them. It is against the law in Ecuador to take pictures of minors without the permission of the parents.)

Watching the sunset’s reflection on Cotopaxi Volcano. We were actually standing in a grocery store parking lot when this amazing display of nature broke out in front of us.

Driving around the quilted countryside of Guangaje. I could never get tired of gazing upon these hillsides. So beautiful!

Our bus getting stuck on a muddy hill after rain and snow had blown through. A local onion farmer on his way to town had the same issue and we helped each other get up the hill. Way to go teamwork!

Visiting and hiking around Quilotoa, a giant volcano that has a lake in the center. By the time I hiked back up from the lake I was down to my last layers of clothing. Whew! Talk about a workout. Good thing there was delicious soup waiting for us at the top.

And finally, all the amazing student volunteers, interpreters, medical providers, and coordinators that made this trip my favorite volunteer trip I’ve taken so far.

If you are a student and want to start a Timmy Chapter at your local high school or college click HERE. Timmy is always in need of medical providers, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses. If you are interested in volunteering in one of their upcoming trips click HERE.

February

During February I took a trip out to Denver with my boyfriend. I had been around various places in Colorado before, but had never visited Denver. We spent a few days in the city and the rest of our time road-tripping around the Denver area. Some cool activities we did include…

Visiting Hot Sulphur Springs. This picture does not do this hot springs site any justice. There was a waterfall and a bunch of other circular baths in the resort. At the time we visited there were other couples scattered throughout the pools and I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable by taking pictures. We found this private, covered pool and decided it was a safe place to take some photos.

Hiking in various places, sometimes through thigh deep snow. The hikes we managed to complete on our trip were Tenderfoot Mountain Trail, Chasm Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park, and part of the UTE Trail as seen in the picture above.

Exploring downtown Denver and meeting up with one of my friends from my study abroad trip to Costa Rica. The different coffee shops and beer tap rooms were our favorite stops.

And visiting the Ice Castles in Dillon. We had way too much fun running through all the tunnels and racing down the slides.

We returned from our Denver trip on Valentine’s Day which was also the day I moved into my first solo apartment! Of course I lived in apartments throughout college, but this was the first time I was living in an apartment without a roommate. I loved living on my own and having my own space. As I told my family and friends it was always a goal of mine to have my own bathroom even just for a little while before I got married or had other roommates. Growing up in a family with four kids all sharing the same bathroom makes you really appreciate that sort of thing. 🙂

March

St. Patrick’s Day in Indianapolis! We had such a fun time showing one of my college friends from Morocco the St. Patrick’s Day parade and walking around the city a bit.

3 Floyd’s Brewery. I’ve been on lots and lots of brewery tours and I have to say I think 3 Floyd’s takes the cake for extravagant artwork.

May

Dave and I had planned on spending a few days in Miami Beach celebrating my birthday and Cinco de Mayo with margaritas and dancing until…we found out we were pregnant!! The day before leaving I decided to check just in case and sure enough we had a little one on the way! So instead we celebrated our new and exciting news in Miami Beach with virgin drinks and prenatal vitamins. Some highlights from our trip are…

Eating all the delicious seafood (that is safe for pregnancy) in sight!

Swimming and exploring South Beach.

Exploring the nearby botanical gardens and holocaust museum.

Finally, my favorite activity was the snorkeling tour we went on to 3 locations around Key Largo. Unfortunately, my GoPro was not charged and I left the charging cable at home so I only have a few pictures of us on the boat. The water was the bluest and clearest I’ve ever seen.

June

June was full of travel. The adventures for this month began with road tripping around Providence, Boston, Portland, MA, and Acadia National Park with two of my best friends. Trip highlights include…

Walking around Providence and checking Rhode Island off my list of US States visited.

Our Airbnb host in Portland, MA giving us his Lexus convertible to borrow to find lighthouses in the area.

Consuming our weight in Lobster! We found this little diner away from the main downtown Portland area that was budget friendly and delicious.

Hiking around Acadia National Park. My favorite hike we did was a loop that consisted of the Beehive Trail, the Bowl Trail, Gorham Mountain Trail, and Ocean Path Trail.

Revisiting Mike’s Pastry Shop in Boston nom nom nom. (I truly prefer their cannoli pastries over the ones I tried in Paris.)

In June I also flew out to Portland, OR for a wedding and to explore the Portland area. On this trip I met a lot of Dave’s family and one of his best friends. It was a lot of fun getting to meet everyone and to explore the area more. Some of the adventures we had were…

Exploring the Oregon coast. We drove up and down the coast checking out Ecola State Park and Haystack Rock.

Almost falling into a ravine with an unknown depth. (See this video on full screen.) Good thing Dave was there to rescue me lol.

Visiting Latourell Falls. Hiking up and looking down was quite exhilarating.

July

Our Portland adventures continued on into July where we visited a beautiful rose garden. Say hi to Bre in the bottom left corner!

And we hiked to the well-known and visited Beacon Rock which I believe is actually located in Washington State.

July marks the month where I get to visit my favorite place on Earth. My family and I have been going to Ken and Judy’s farm/lake for 17 years now for our annual family fishing trip. The wildflowers were absolutely gorgeous this year. I even picked a few to take home with me.

August

At the beginning of August one of my study abroad friends, Laura, messaged me and told me she was going to be in Chicago! Laura is from New Jersey so visiting so close to where I live is a big deal. We met up along with one of her friends at the Indiana Dunes State Park for a day of sand dune hiking and wipe outs. What a day to remember!

August is also the month that I moved for the second time! Dave and I decided we wanted to move in together. So once again I packed my things and moved into his house with him and 3 other roommates including his brother, a dog, and a cat.

September

After getting settled in with Dave I decided to take a solo day trip to Nashville Indiana. Here I spent my day exploring Little Nashville, eating some delicious desserts, and picking out a few pumpkins and mums for our house. It was a very nice self-care day.

October

Being over 6 months pregnant at this point my travel options were limited to ground transportation destinations only. We wanted to take a little Babymoon vacation before the holiday traveling began. So instead of a warm beach vacation we decided to do what we love most-camping and hiking! We spent our Babymoon camping around the Gatlinburg area, exploring Gatlinburg itself and hiking in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

I’m thankful I booked an electric site and brought my electric blanket because it got below freezing a couple nights and my beloved sleeping bag had been tossed earlier in the year when our basement flooded. RIP. Nevertheless we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and this trip will always have a special place in my heart.

December

November and December were full of traveling to different family events and gatherings. I think there were 4 Thanksgivings that we attended let alone Christmas. But the most exciting event that occurred in December was Dave’s proposal to me! We are officially engaged! Talk about a year of exciting and new things!

January 2019

And of course I have to include this piece of amazing news since I’m writing this article so late. We started the year off with a bang by adding a new member to our family. Say hello to little Jensen who came into this world earlier this month! I cannot wait to take him on all our future adventures. We have a few small trips planned for this year so far. With planning a wedding and having a newborn, budget travel will definitely be a theme for 2019.