Amy and the Great World

USA

Catching Up (+ Honeymoon News!)

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-I’ve been back in the States for two weeks! Whoaaa. I have so many thoughts but I’m giving myself time to settle. Reverse culture shock is real, yo.

-Our wedding is in one month from TOMORROW. Cue dramatics!! For all of you, I don’t recommend this being-abroad-then-planning-everything-in-six weeks approach. However, it does mean that instead of waiting a year or longer to marry E, I get to do it in four weeks! So it has some pros.

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-I can’t help but find it a little amusing that I’m ending up with a largely DIY wedding when every DIY project I’ve ever endeavored has turned into a disaster.

-Another thing I don’t recommend? Wedding dress shopping the day after an international flight. If there’s anything that will throw you into reverse culture shock, it’s wedding dress shopping (and rush hour traffic). There may have been some tears in the dressing room, but I ended up picking a gown that was the most fun. Since that is the ultimate goal for our wedding day, I figured why not have fun in my dress, too? And by fun, yes, I mean fun in the it’s-poufy kind of way. I can’t really remember it all that well at this point even though I picked out it two weeks ago…so hopefully when I try it on again I’ll still be happy with my decision.

-I admit that I’m having a lot of guilt when it comes to wedding planning. Or, really having a wedding at all. It’s a unique reason for most of our loved ones to come to one place, which is great since we’ve been living abroad (and will continue to be doing so). But, I have to admit that sometimes weddings feel so commercial and consumer-based. Everything is so expensive, from the food to the dress to the chairs. It also feels…socially irresponsible! Can any other brides relate to this?!

-It’s really nice to be back home, but now I am so homesick for Prague and Europe in general. America is just…gigantic! After arriving in Seattle, three days later I drove back with my parents and sister (who had come to meet us!!) to Montana. It was a full twelve-hour drive, and that’s barely a third of this whole country! Yet another thing I don’t recommend…a long-haul flight followed almost immediately by a long-haul drive.

-Reunited with my favorite pups and it feels so good.

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-Not only is America the country gigantic, everything else here seems to be giant, too. The houses! The stores! The cars! The cups of coffee (there is nothing as wonderful and American as the bottomless cup of coffee.)! The serving sizes! The freeways! Dare I say…some of the people?! And I’m not even talking about the obesity epidemic…everyone here seems so tall!

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-E and I officially booked our honeymoon!!! We are going to spend…wait for iiiiit…SIX WEEKS IN CENTRAL AMERICA! I am beyond excited, as I’ve never been to any of the countries and neither has E. We were looking for an adventure honeymoon close to home (read: cheap, cheap flights) since we will be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we found an amazing deal from Seattle to San Jose. We are flying in and out of Costa Rica but otherwise we haven’t made any plans. So, for those of you who’ve been, I would love all of your tips for the area, especially Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua! 🙂

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-Now it’s your turn! Tell me what’s up with you in the comments!

USA

Snapshots and Snippets {From Montana to Washington}

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Snapshots and Snippets is a once-a-month series that showcases some of my favorite Instagram photos from a specific location.

For the past few weeks, since I left Denver, I’ve been traveling to Montana, Washington, and even California for a few days to see as many friends, family, and favorite places before we leave! It’s been fun, stressful, happy, and sad–we haven’t been able to fit everyone in, and it’s also sad to see someone for what feels like an hour before saying farewell once again!

I’ve included my favorite Instagram shots of both Montana and Washington State. They are in no particular order and span several years and seasons! I’m already homesick looking at these pictures as we leave in just two days…!!!

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^^the Puget Sound area of Washington (including Seattle) is kind of gorgeous, no?

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^^Montana vistas are some of my favorite things.

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^^fur babies!

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^These flowers are from Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. They have the best flowers there!!

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^^Olympic National Park and Orcas Island are some of my favorite trips we’ve ever taken.

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^^we go to Montana for a lot of events, like weddings, graduations, and bachelorette parties. It seems like most of my friends have had their weddings there!

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^^a throwback just for you of my siblings and me. I’m the one cheesing it up for the camera…can you tell?

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^^A few shots from the past Christmas in Olympia and Leavenworth, Washington.

Linking up with Skimbaco Lifestyle!

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USA Writing

In My Hometown {USA}

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I don’t know about any of you, but I have a love/hate relationship with my hometown.

Bozeman, Montana, is a college town in the southwestern part of the state. It really is a lovely town, ringed by mountains, with a historical downtown, parks and pine trees, rivers and ponds. The sky is almost always blue and the sun is almost always shining, even when there’s snow on the ground. I have a hard time explaining this town because it sounds almost too idyllic to be true.

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Despite its real loveliness, I spent most of my childhood dreaming of other places to go. Really, I spent most of my childhood reading everything I could find, and collecting places and experiences I would someday have. I refused the idea that I might ever come back to this small (not so small anymore!) town and “settle down.”

Yet, because my father is an employee at the university in Bozeman, it was hard for me to not accept the scholarship that goes along with that. There is another school in Montana that I could have gone to in a town about three hours away, but my brother was already at school there, and I was determined to be different.

While I attended college here, I was able to travel and study abroad a little. Traveling helped me appreciate my hometown a little more, but I didn’t really get why people loved it here so much until I moved to Denver.

Almost everyone you meet in Colorado loves it there. Yet, I didn’t, not right away.  It wasn’t my little mountain town where you could go for a quick hike after work and I was very aware of that. Instead, you’d have to battle traffic and oh-so-many people just to find my coveted mountain peace. There were different things about Denver I learned to love, but it helped me learn to love my hometown, too.

I’ve been back in Bozeman for almost two weeks now. While I appreciate the peace and the beauty here so much more, there is still a little bit of a love/hate thing going on.

I love that the pharmacist immediately knew who my parents were and could pull up my information quickly, even though it had been over four years since I’d picked up a prescription there.

I hate that I had an extremely awkward encounter with an old high school crush.

I love going to my favorite coffee shop and knowing it will consistently be delicious.

I don’t like that I cannot stop running into people I’d be okay not seeing again for awhile.

I love running into family friends I haven’t seen in years and catching up quickly.

I don’t like that even in this idyllic place, things seem to grow and change and get more crowded.

Despite this love/hate attitude of mine, It’s been great being back here, and I know the second we leave on Saturday, I will miss it (especially my family! And my dogs! And the great Montana summer!).

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I am looking forward to spending a few weeks in Washington before our August 2nd departure, however. That place (especially E’s hometown) is pretty idyllic, too.

(Can we take a moment to appreciate that we are moving to Prague on August 2nd?! Ahh!!).

Linking up with Nicole!

Treasure Tromp

 

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