It's official...

I officially have my plane tickets and travel plans for my BIG European adventure...

Figured I should post my plan...the itinerary is as follows...


Feb. 8th-March 8th, 2008...living in Barcelona while getting my TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language if you aren't up on this acronym;) I will be living with two other students of the program. I'm SO excited!!


March 9th-March 27th...Traveling around Europe with my friend Brian...going to Rome, Florence, Venice, Dublin for St. Patrick's Day (So fricken pumped!), Scotland, Amsterdam, Germany and Switzerland. (Not sure what cities yet in Germ. and Switz. let me know if you have any suggestions!)


March 29th-April 6th...taking a Contiki tour of Egypt!!! Yes Egypt....I decided to go BIG. Figured I was already over there, might as well make the most of it.


April 7th-April 10th....sleeping all day, haha


I will be updating my blog while I'm abroad...can't wait to share pics and stories, I'm SO EXCITED for this adventure.



This is me on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon after reaching the top...and this will be how I feel in Feb. when I step off the plane in Barcelona!!! Yessssss!!! :)

-Danielle


“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”-Miriam Beard

Summer in Seattle

In July 2006 my whole family and I traveled to Seattle to see my cousin DJ get married. The trip was a blast!! I had been to Seattle twice before, but the beauty of it is there is so much to see you really need multiple trips to take it all in.





Highlights include the wedding and reception of course, our family had a blast and DJ and Emily were so cute!! Also taking a road trip to check out the San Juan Islands. We took a ferry ride to Orcas Island...also shopping in downtown Seattle, going to the Fish Market, having their Clam Chowder, so good, taking a boat ride with my dad to take in the unique Seattle skyline, and of course going to the top of the Space Neetle to check out the great view.



Here are some pics to share...





View from the reception, how cool is that!




The Bride and Groom:)



View from the boat while riding to Orcas Island




My bro and I, haha



Beautiful Seattle Skyline



The Brownings:)



distant skyline view, love this pic.




My cousin Kaitlyn and I at the reception




My dad I went on a boat ride to catch a view of the great Seattle skyline...the last time my dad was in Seattle (1964) the little building behind him was the only one there.



w/ my Sissin Kelli (cousin that's more like a sister, get it?;)



The cousins at the wedding



My parents all dressed up, so cute!



Dad and the view, he was so cute, he knew I would love to take pics of the view so even though he took the cruise the day before he went again with me. What a good dad:)




w/ Nana, Mom and Aunt Gina on the boat ride to Orcas Island



w/ my dad on the boat:)



View from the top of Orcas Island, so beautiful!!



If you look close you can see the skyline in the distance just past the trees.



DJ and Derek singing their classic karaoke song "Man I feel like I'm a woman", too funny.



DJ, Nana and I at the rehearsal dinner



Derek and I...having a blast at the reception:)



w/ my nana:)

You know you have a great family if you enjoy traveling together:)...we need to do it again soon!

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. -George Burns

(haha, couldn't resist including this quote, perhaps this is DJ's strategy;)

-Danielle

Living in Minneapolis, MN

After I graduated from Michigan State in May 2005, I moved to Minneapolis, MN. I have to say I knew I would love living there even before I made the move. The city has culture, art, great architecture, awesome restaurants, lakes to enjoy and a fabulous nightlife.




I lived by myself for the first time in a high rise apt right downtown. I also chose not to own a car so walking was my main source of transportation, which was great! I definitely want to live in a city again in the future, it's an extremely fun lifestyle. (I hope to live in many different cities in my lifetime)


I figured since this is a travel blog I should also include places I have lived as well since living somewhere is an adventure in itself.


I have countless great memories living in Minnesota, I made awesome friends that I miss very much!! Here are some pics and captions to share.


Courtney and I when we dressed up like Ben Wallace and got on TV in MN and MI!!! Too funny!


The crew at the famous Shout House night after the MPD Holiday party, we had waaaay too much fun!!



Halloween crew posing with the Galactic pizza guy, LOL, hysterical!



Tim and I cheers-ing our yummy margaritas at Chevy's downtown!



My MPD friends at my moving away party, love these ladies!!!



Nicole and I going wild for JT at the Justin Timberlake concert, hahaha.



Marco and I pre-partying before a night on the town



Dan, Andrea and I on our way to dinner...which was a tradition for us:)



My cousins Kelli and Geoff, and Brian and I at the Art Festival when they all came for a Summer visit!



With Sarah, Patrick, Angela and Susan at The Newsroom



Courtney pretending to interview me in the press box at the Target Center, hahaha



Bunch of us hanging out at The Drink enjoying their free food for happy hour



My Nana and I by Lake Calhoun when she came to visit in Fall '05



Courtney and I showing our pride for the tree we decorated for Christmas:)




At The Annex bar with Kristy and Cherrey



Camping in Wisconsin with Jillian, Rachel, Tracey and Patrick




In my cubicle at Target Corp. with Karena, we kept eachother sane:)



At the MIA with my friend Johnny when he came to visit! Love this museum!




At the famous MN State Fair enjoying a deep fried Snickers bar, mmm, with Courtney and Gina



Haha, love this pic, we had a blast!




At the infamous Lodge bar lipsyncing "Since You've Been Gone" on stage, something memorable always happens at The Lodge, haha



Out to dinner at Bar Abilene (man I miss their home-made guacamole) with Rach, Jillian, & Sarah



One of my fav pics of all time...Halloween Party craziness with Tim, Kristy, and Dan...man did we have fun that night!!! (I'm on the right if ya can't tell:)




Out on the town with Lauren and Steph, love these girls!!




At the drive-in with Jillian, Rachel, and Dan, good times!

I will always love Minneapolis and the time I spent there....


"Good friends are hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget." :)


-Danielle

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico...The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand...

In April 2006 I ventured to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico with my travel soul mate, Steph:)




White sand beaches, Carribean blue water, all inclusive hotel and more inside jokes and funny quotes then any trip I've ever been on...needless to say it was extremely fun.





Highlights include: massage on the beach (pure heaven)... guacamole, chips and cold Coronas every afternoon by the pool...partying like rockstars...hitting up Coco Bongo in Cancun, what a night...salsa dancing w/ really short Mexican guys, haha...Steph's 1 hour boyfriend, Saal, hahaha...seeing Tulum...Steph's voice-recorder, man did we have fun with that, the entire trip is documented...I could seriously go on and on and on...




View from our hotel room:)




View from lobby

So the funny thing is I took pics during the day and Steph took pics at night...well it looks like two totally different trips...my pics being scenic, low-key etc....Steph's being wild and crazy....we got our pics back and we were cracking up at the contrast...for example...

MY INNOCENT PICS FIRST...

Steph and I at dinner one night, cheers!




In front of the temple at Tulum





Enjoying the beach




My view as I napped and read on the beach....sign me up anyday;)

Seeing the Mayan Ruins was amazing!




Another dinner night, having all inclusive rocked





Beach @ Tulum




Gotta love water that blue




Sweet view




The Iguanas were ginormous!




With some friends we made at the hotel



NOW FOR STEPH'S NOT SO INNOCENT PICS...:)




we did a lot of dancing this trip:)



Made some new friends Justin and Phil (who were from MN, what are the odds!)




Coco Bongo, a club in Cancun was crazy....they had this show with acrobats and stunts combine watching that with drinking, whoa




The crew we acquired on the trip, hittin up Senor Frogs (a must-do in Mexico)




The Infamous Saal, haha or is it Sal? LOL (only Steph will get that;)




Havin fun in the van ride to Cancun




More dancing, hahaha, Justin is pretty into it




At Mambo Cafe for some Salsa dancing....you think we're having fun or what??;)




Every guy there was like 5'5 or shorter...too funny





The Crazy crew




Phil and some ladies he picked up;)




Steph and I take a "flexin" pic everywhere we go...yeah we know it's an absolutely obnoxious tradition, haha




18 year old boys who looked 12...so we had to take a pic with them, haha




Jazz hands were a definite theme of the trip


As you can tell we're fans of PDC!!!...:)



"The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand with no bottom...No shirt, no shoes, and no problems..." Kenny Chesney lyrics