New York City

Here I am. Finally posting my photos from my fabulous trip to New York. It was the vacation of a life time! Everything was so different,
                                                     Exciting,
                                                            Wild,
                                                                     Crazy,
                                                                             And absolutely energetic!


How would I describe NY? I think it was properly described as the city that never sleeps, but I would also add to that: the city that never smiles. It was rather sad actually. That was ONE of the first things I noticed. Nobody smiled. You look at all the people busying along the street, seemingly on a huge mission, and there are no smiles. No laughter. Granted-they aren't on vacation, and so things don't seem as exciting to them as they would to me. But even in comparison to where we live...it is different that way.

And the personal bubble that we are so accustomed to...
                                               ......it doesn't exist there.
You walk around and if someone bumps into you, they don't stop to say 'oh. Sorry about that.' It's not rude to them. It's normal. People bustle about, bumping into each other, and they don't seem to think twice about it.   I quickly got accustomed to that, however.

                             BUT, OH! The LIGHTS!!
                                               --------How brilliant they were!!!! On all the tall buildings, lighting up the night, and bringing energy to all those below. You literally felt
                                                                                                           Magic
                                                                                                                  in
                                                                                                                      the
                                                                                                                         air.
                    It was amazing. Seriously, AMAZING.
I LOVED New York.
      That's the bottom line.
I LOVED how different it was.

I LOVED the great energy there,

I LOVED the subway.

I LOVED the original Macy's store. (especially after watching 'Elf.')

I LOVED the quaint little shops.

I LOVED watching all the busy people and the way they go about things.

I LOVED being there with my Grandma and Sister.

I LOVE, LOVED the Statue of Liberty!!!!

I LOVED the Empire State Building.

I LOVED time square.

I LOVED Grand Central Station.

I LOVED Chelsea's Market.

I LOVED the High Line.

I LOVED Bryant Park.

I LOVED the Green Glass elevator.

I LOVE, LOVED, LOVED the Broadway Show of Cinderella!!!!!  (-one of my faves. )

I just, simply, and purely loved my trip. I hope you all go someday. It was an experience that was literally dazzling.
                                LEFT
                                         ME
                                               STUNNED.


Below, I have 'stories' of some of my pictures I took while I was there. If you want to read all the text in there, just click on it, and scroll down. Other than that....I don't believe anything else is complicated with  these things. If you have problems, just let me know. :)

*deep inhale*
      *deep exhale*
                            Okkkkkayyy, I think that's it, and I sincerely hope you enjoy these pictures. :)





First Story

Second Story

Elk Lake: Heaven on earth.

Every year, we go to our favorite spots on this blessed earth: Elk Lake, Hosmer Lake, Green Lakes and Devil's Lake. All at once. One could die from all the beauty that flows from those mountains! The smell of the crisp mountain air, the glory of the trees and the peace that only places such as these can give. I don't know what it is about the mountains...they're so filling. It's that feeling you get, when you feel the most alive. That's one the the reasons I love camping. It's in my heart, and in my soul. Take it away and I might die.


GREEN LAKES HIKE
The most terrific place...almost ever. And here is why-

*angelic voices* O, waterfall of such beauty...wilt thou flow next to me all mine days?

Hey, hey good lookin'! You mountain girl, you.

That smile melted the snow on path, so we could travel through, on dry land. ( not really, but it is a pretty cute one non the less. ;))

We are Kochs. With Kochs...come great adventures.

The wonderful thing about camping is, you don't have to worry about matching your clothes, fixing your hair up nice, or putting all your makeup on. Just be comfortably you. After all, the trees won't care. ;)

There is almost nothing as magical as being roasting hot, with snow all around you. It's that moment when you feel caught in a time, between times.

CRISP!! CLEAR!!! ----I have a confession....I've always wanted to die here. When I'm 96 years old, I'm going to hike all the way up here, and die overlooking this very sight. Even if I have to ride a cow...I'm going to get there!

See this picture? (...i hope you do...but..) This picture, is the definition of pure happiness, that words cannot express. Where the glory of nature surrounds, and overcomes you in an overwhelming flood, swirling around your senses, leaving you lost in the pure splendor of the moment. I've never felt closer to God, than I was on that mountain.

ELK LAKE


And thus, the magical gold dust painted the sky...and all of nature fell under it's spell, in silence and awe.

Please tell me I'm dreaming....

Camp fire smoke gracefully lingered in the solitary trees, as the reflection painted the lake blue, and sent the forest into a hibernation of peace.

Walking back from the bathroom...oh, yeah! That girl has got STYLE!

Gotta love those no-makeup days..comfortably me. In nature. ----nature only though, please. -Yikes.

People want to travel all over the world, to see places like this. Here...I could live and die. God delights in beauty, as is evident.

I'm sorry for my hopelessly romantic side..but don't you feel the...glory in this photo? It's like a feeling that can only be expressed in Norwegian...and yet, I don't even know Norwegian. But I don't know a word in English that quite touches the emotion I feel about campfires, and a big, white moon.

DEVIL'S LAKE
Where the fish..die. Yup. Pretty much just die. We come. They die. It's a fact of life.

Josh's first fish.--he was so excited, he didn't know exactly what to do! :) From hence fourth, he is a fisherman. No longer a city guy. You're not a complete man, if you haven't caught a fish. It's a necessity.

And we went back home. That's the end. Sorry to not have a better ending for our little story here. We still live, and we're happy...but we didn't live there ever after. And that's a downer.