Adventures in wonderland

On Saturday night, Ryan and I went out for the last leg of an extended birthday celebration (I'm feeling the love) for a delightful dinner.  Ryan's cousin lives in the neighborhood where we ate, and so earlier in the week we connected about trying to get together for a drink afterwards.  She is one of those people who has an amazing, contagious laugh and who knows how to make people feel comfortable.  Every time I see her at family holidays, weddings, and birthdays we have a great time.  And yet, though she lives all of 15 minutes from us, I've never taken her up on the offer of getting together for drinks, etc.  Well, in the spirit of being intentional and connecting with people who I've neglected before (goal # 22!) we did get together- and laughed so hard I was crying!  It is truly a blessing to be able to connect with someone who has shared experiences (being in the same family, trying to decided if it's worth living in the city vs. moving out to where you can afford more space, trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up or what life is all about, etc.) and know you're not the only one who is a little bit (or a lot bit) uncertain at times.  Needless to say, I will be taking her up on the offers of getting together again soon.
Sunday brought a day of adventure for Ryan, Annie and I.  One of my friends from my faith sharing group has set a goal for herself to go on at least one long hike per month.  She lent me the book she is using (I will be purchasing my own copy: Best Hikes) and Ryan and I thumbed through and chose our destination: The John Heinz Wildlife Preserve... in Southwest Philly.  Yes, that area right next to the airport and the oil refineries has a WILDLIFE preserve.  I was just as shocked as you are.  It was literally next to I-95 and the airport, so the sounds of nature were often overshadowed by airplanes and trucks... but the scenery was beautiful.  We saw some deer:

And Annie made friends with a few turtles:

And overall it was a nice day to enjoy some sun and work off the millions of calories I've consumed over the birthday celebration!

I think our next hiking destination will include a more diverse terrain as it was a flat trail that wound around the same marsh and pond areas.  But I would have never known that was there, and I'm glad we got to check it out!  

 "And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."  -Kahlil Gibran