In Travel

Washington DC Part 2

Day 5: White House and Spy Museum
On our fifth day, we walked to the White House and took some photos.


Then we strolled along the road on the way to the Spy Museum.

The spy museum was one of the few museums that you had to pay for, but it was well worth it! My whole family enjoyed the museum, and we could have spent all afternoon there.


Day 6: Zoo
On our second last day we went to the zoo. We went early to get in before the crowds, but luckily there were not too many people there.


Our first stop was the pandas- something my sister had been dying to see for a long time!

They were super cute, and there were heaps of amazing photo opportunities.


Day 7: Newseum

In the morning we headed to the Newsuem. It was another museum that you had to pay to get into, but it was well worth it in my opinion.


It was really interesting to learn all about the history of news and the freedom of speech.

After the newseum we had to leave Washington, and there were so many things we didn't get to do we will have to go back one day!

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In lifestyle

Things that Lead to Being Happy

"Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."

-Marcus Aurelius
 I had a happy day today, and it made me realise that I enjoy happy days so much more. And that got me thinking, thinking about things that lead to being happy, at least for me. 


1. Eating good food

2. Listening to good music

3. Drinking lots of water

4. Drinking tea

5. Spending time outside

6. Be in control, have a plan. 

7.Spent your time with good people. 

8. Practise gratitude

9. Have 'me' time!

10. Exercise

11. Have down time

12. Spend time with your friends

13. Find a hobby you love!

14. Read good books

15. Be content with what you have!

xxxPoppy

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In Travel

Washington DC. Part 1

On the last few Mondays I shared some photos from our trip to New York. After we had been to New York we went on the train to Washington DC. We spent a week here, and got to experience some amazing things...

Day 1: Hop On Hop Off Tour & Natural History Museum. 
Just like in New York, we went on a hop on hop off tour on our first day.

Above is a photo of the Capitol Building.
It was really, really hot when we were there...but a tip if you ever go on one of those double Decker buses...don't go in the sheltered bit on the top- even though it would seem like it was cooler it is not!



Above is the Washington monument. It was almost still enough to get a reflection in the water...almost! I loved the photo opportunities in Washington...so beautiful!

After the tour we went to the Natural history museum, it was super interesting and my younger sister really enjoyed it! 


And finally, we went on the night tour. 

Day 2: Arlington Cemetery
On Day 2 we visited Arlington Cemetery, where JFK is buried. It is a very beautiful (I don't know if that is the right word?) place, and the weather was perfect!



In the afternoon we went to the history museum.
Day 3: National Park
On our third day we went to a national park (I think it was called great falls) and saw these falls. There was even a person canoeing in the rapids- I don't think I'd be able to do it!
 Day 4: Air & Space Museum (Udvar Hazy centre)
We all love it here! There were countless planes and space shuttles- and they were almost all the real thing- no replicas! It was so cool to get to see some of these historical objects, and learn about the history surrounding them- plus there were lots of cool photo opportunities. You can even watch them restoring the newest finds.


This is the space shuttle, discovery. 

This plane can fly from Los Angeles to Sydney (about 15 hours) in only 2 and a half!



I loved every minute of our time in DC, and I have heaps more photos to show you next Monday.

xxxPoppy

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In lifestyle

How to Make A Study Calendar

"If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. 
It's the hard that makes it great."
It is that time of year, it's exam time. The end of the year is so tantalisingly close, a few weeks. But between then and now I have all my exams.


Exam time is always super stressful. It seems like there are too many things to do and not enough hours in the day! I've never done this before, but this year I've decided to make a study calendar.

I haven't really had a chance to use it yet, as today is the first day I had planned. But here are the steps I took to create the study calendar.

First open up a new excel document.



Select the "A" in the first column, and select the columns along, as many as there are days until your last exam.

Drag the A column over until it is double it's original size.


In the top row, add tomorrow's date. Then select the little green box next to the date and drag it across to the rest of the squares you prepared earlier. It will auto fill the dates.


Underneath this, in the A column, I put the day of the week and the tasks that I had that day.



Along the left side, put the times down. I did every 30 mins between 9 and 7.


Next I blocked out times when I had school or other commitments.


Then I added the dates for each test and task I had due

And finally I scheduled my time, basing it around when a task was due. I also added some time to work on this blog, do homework, and some spare time.
Hopefully this will help me get prepared for all my tests. And if you give it a go...I hope it helps you too. 
xxPoppy

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In Travel

New York City Part 2

"A bad day in New York City
Is still a good day anywhere else."
Last Monday I shared some of my photos from New York and told you about some of the things that we did on holiday. Today I am going to share some more stories and photos.

Day 1: Tour
On our first day we went on a hop-on hop-off tour. None of us had ever done something like this before and we all enjoyed it. It was a great way to see some of the city and work out where we wanted to go back.


(One World Trade Tower, and some fog!)
Plus, being up off the ground meant that I could get some good shots without crowds. I actually got a pretty good photo of the Brooklyn bridge, and then deleted it (by accident!)- if anyone knows how to recover a photo, please let me know! 
 We got to see some amazing things all around the city, and learnt a lot from our guides. (I wish I could remember their names!).
(Flatiron building)

(Street art near times square)
There was street art in the most unexpected places. Imagine being the person who painted it!

Day 2: Empire State Building, Baseball, Shopping
On our second day we went to the Empire State Building. It was a Tuesday and there was barely any line at all. Everywhere I read said that there were hour long waits to get to the top- so I bought an express pass! Turns out they weren't needed- oops!

This first photo we found when we were walking to the converse store, although you can't tell it was raining- and the streets were crowded with people!
We were lucky enough to go to a baseball game, and although it did look like it would be called off because of rain - it wasn't and we got to see most of the game!



From the Empire State Building. 


Day 3: Rockefeller centre and Staten Island ferry.
On our third day we started with the 9/11 memorial, we didn't go into the museum because there was a massive line. The memorial itself was amazing, and the names of every single victim was enscribed on the walls surrounding the water. Nearby, I found a mosaic on the wall, which I took a photo of (below). 



After the memorial we went to the Staten Island ferry, Originally we were going to go on the Statue of Liberty ferry and visit that island- but we were short on time and the Staten Island ferry was a great alternative. We got reasonably close to the Statue, and I got to take some photos, but we also got some beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline. The ferry was also free and took about 50 minutes (round trip). I don't regret not going to the statue. In fact, I got some of my best photos from the ferry - just make sure you get close the the back, that way you get the best skyline views!
This is one of my favourite photos from New York. 

In the afternoon we went up the Rockefeller centre. Similar to the Empire State building (although not quite as high!), we got amazing views of the city. In fact the Rockefeller centre might have even had better views, you got to see the Empire State building and it was much easier to take photos- if you only have time for one I recommend the Rockerfeller centre. 




And to finish off our day we went to see Wicked!. It was an amazing show and we all 100% enjoyed it. We were sitting in pretty good seats, and it was amazing to be able to see such amazing actors. 

Day 4: Central Park 
We only had a half day on our last day, so we got up early and headed towards central park. We didn't get time to explore the whole park (I didn't realise how big it was!), but we went on the carousel and had a relaxing walk through the park. 



After central park we strolled along 5th avenue back to our hotel, dropping into a few shops along the way. My favourite was the Lindt Chocolate shop (they gave out free samples!), they have so many more flavours than we do in Australia- and of course we had to buy some!

I loved every minute of being in New York. From waking up and watching all the flower shops being set up (we were staying in the flower district, and it was beautiful- flowers lining the streets all morning) to sitting in times square at night. It was all so amazing and I will definitely have to go back one day to do some of the things we missed!

xxxPoppy

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In lifestyle

Words

On pinterest lately, I have been finding words. Unusual words, words with beautiful meanings. There are some words that really stand out to me. Words that I wish I'd know sooner.

I don't know what it is, but something about these words speaks to me. I just (it sounds weird) love them. (there needs to be a word for that!). Here are some of my favourites

Querencia
(n.) a place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.

Sonder 
(v) The realisation that everyone is living their own vivid life.

Sturmfrei
(adj) The freedom of being alone, the ability to do what you want.

Ikigai 
(n) a reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning.

Mellifluous
(adj.) A sound that is sweet and smooth, pleasing to hear.

Vorfreude
(n) the joyful anticipation from imagining future pleasures.

Insouciant
(adj.) Free from worry, concern or anxiety.

Meraki 
(v) to do something with soul, creativity or love, when you leave a piece of yourself in your work.

Serendipity
(n.) finding something beautiful without looking for it.

Fernweh
(n) Far sickness: an urge to travel even stronger than wanderlust.

Which is your favourite?

xxxPoppy

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In Travel

New York City Part 1

"There is an energy to New York, that is unlike any other city in the world."
Over the last few weeks I haven't been able to post, and that is because my family have been on holiday in America. I am super excited to share some of my photos with you below, these ones are from New York City.

New York City is the place you seem to always hear about, thousands of movies and tv shows are set there, and hundreds of songs reference the city. It was amazing to be there, to visit all these places and experience New York. We were only there for a few days and while we could not fit everything in, we managed to pack most of it.
The view of the empire state building, from the Top of The Rock. 



Manhattan's Financial district skyline



Benches in Central Park

Carousel in Central Park



A part of Times Square



From the Empire State Building


Flatiron building


Yellow Can


Empire state building at night. 

I can't wait to share more photos with you
xxxPoppy


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