30DC: Day 20

a picture of somewhere you'd like to travel...

GERMANNYYYY

this country is DRENCHED is history, along with the beautiful cities and wide spread country. This picture above is Munich. There is good food, nice people, and one of my best friends, Denise, lives there. Besides that, the weather is good and it's surrounded with other fun places to go! i can't wait to go there someday!

Allie xx

"Ewh, i hate that!" "Have you ever tried it?" "nope!"

ohkay so trying new food is risky. but if we never did, we would still be drinking momma's milk! imagine if you had NEVER experience your favorite food....where would you be now? a different person? i think yes.

From my own experience you don't have to go far to find some kind of new food to try. Some things you try are nasty, while others you crave. Sometimes it's good to be forced in a situation to eat, because you would have never tried it otherwise.

When i went to Japan this spring i tried food i didnt even know were edible! Because i was trying to be polite, i had to be brave and try new things like chicken liver, chicken cartilage, eel, eel spine, and sake (pure alcohol made from rice...NASTY).

Me & Kimiko eating Japanese Hibachi

Ohkay, well only 2 of out the 5 things i liked (the cartilage & the eel), but i made me look at different cultures and see how they perceived food! Did you know there is a STINKY fruit called 'durian', and while it tastes like vomit to many americans, Asians find it a delicious treat! Also there were these baby octopuses that i just couldn't down... they had quail eggs in the head and were coated in a sticky syrup... i just HAD to say no...bleck!

Baby Octopuses with Quail Eggs in the Head

Did you also know that many foreigners don't like American icecream because it's too sweet?

I found that more times that not i LIKE the new food i try. My favorite food is rejected at the first sound of the name: FRIED PICKLES! i know,...you are thinking "whoa, that's sooo gross." but really, it's such a great flavor, and any food that is fried makes it better :]

So force yourself to try that sushi, fish tacos, fried okra, fruit salsa, or new pasta at Macaroni Grill, because you could come home that night with a delicious and wonderful new food to brag about :)

Allie xx

This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land...

raise your hand if you like to travel? ME!!!! me me me!!!! i absolutely love to see new places. and with every new place comes great new food and hopefully some awesome new people. but i'll have a whole post about FOOD later... mhhh

Traveling is only known by experience. it's not something you can read about. it's not pictures you can look at. its not something you can hear about from another person. you must GO and VISIT somewhere in order to have the correct definition of 'travel'.

Traveling seems to mean, to some people, going out of the country. But to me, you could travel up the street. to a close city. to a neighboring state. sometimes if you're lucky you WILL go out of the country! But every destination has is own unique things to offer.

For me, traveling is an adventure. The antisipation of arriving, the things you do when you get there, the sleeping in strange bed, and being with whom ever you are traveling with. Going on trips with people can make you form a 'closeness.' Have you ever been on a church retreat or school trip or camp? and you formed relationships over the course of a few days that you had NEVER experienced in your former relations with this person. it's because when you experience something new together, you have a cool connection.

Traveling and seeing how other people live is one of the fascinating things about going to another country or city. Things in New York City will be much different than life in the Utah. There are subways, different food, different people, different fashion and different looks on life that you may not see in your own town.

So i encourage you to travel when EVER you can. because sometimes that opportunity to travel passes, and you will look back and regret not taking the chance to see something fabulous. Life's too short to MAKE regrets.

Allie xx

So Why Is Life So Short?

Soooo, all in all, life is too short, am i right? Over the next few weeks i'm going to tell you WHY I personally think it's too short, and what i do about it to make my time here as worthwhile as it gets!

You know the saying, "you don't know what you have until it's gone"? Well that's my kind of life model. I feel like you don't know what you're missing until the opportunity has already passed, and it's too late. So why on earth would you say no? You more often than not regret NOT doing something, than regretting something you've done.

So never say no.

Jump at opportunities to meet new people. You never know when you shake that person's hand for the first time if down the road they will become your best friend!

Travel. Pictures and books can't help you learn about cultures as much as visiting somewhere for a new perspective.

Try new food! You look at something and decide against it because of outward appearence. You don't know if you'll like it unless you've tried it!

Smile. Because behind those stangers faces, you don't know what they are facing at home. A single smile could be the only thing that brightens their day, or add to a whole list of things that made there day good!

Love deeply. Love is hardly ever a sin. If you show your love to others, the love of God will shine through you. You can never love your family or friends too much, but you CAN love them too little.

Say It Before it's Too Late. Tell someone you love them. Tell them you're worried about them. Tell them you want to be friends again. Tell someone they are beautiful. Tell someone you are praying for them. Tell someone you would do anything for them. Tell someone you want to help them. Tell someone that they have changed your life in a way no one could.

allie xx