El lago del diablo

Okay, so it's time to finally try and get caught up on blogging.  After my 4th of July and vacation, I was back to school and working in no time!  Not only was I back to working, but my friend, Amanda, and I started a Pilates class at the local dance studio.  We have it once a week and so far it's going great!  Also, we got to try a new workout called yoga sculpt, it's a fusion of Pilates and yoga and it was really fun.  We've now had three weeks of Pilates and it's great so far so I'm excited to keep doing that all summer.  Anyway, my two days back at work went by quickly and then I was off on another mini weekend vacation.  It reminds me of when I was in Peru and would go on a trip for the weekend!  Which also reminds me...I'm going camping this weekend with my friends Mark and Tonisha, who I met in Peru!!!  I'm so excited to see them because I haven't seen them in a long time!!  I'm sure you'll hear ALL about it when I get back.  Anyway, back to my weekend getaway two weekends ago...I went to Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin, with my boyfriend and friends and it was a blast!!  We spent the weekend hiking, camping out, swimming, and playing frisbee (I didn't really play frisbee because I'm horrible, but I attempted a few times).  It was so great to get away from Kenosha for a weekend with friends and go to arguably the best place on earth.  The hiking was a great workout and it definitely challenged me and Jessica (my friend and only other girl on the trip).  I would say it was difficult, but I don't think I got AS tired as I was while hiking Machu Picchu.  However, the terrain and stairs were different in comparison to Machu Picchu so you can't really compare the two. :)  After hiking on day one we went swimming and jumped off "Jump Rock" into the lake.  Then we set up camp and the boys made some tasty burgers while Jess and I played cards. :)

Jess and I before swimming

The rest of the night was spent playing with our campfire (in the safest way possible) and hanging out.  Unfortunately, somehow all of us forgot that we were camping so the s'more supplies were left at the store, but that's okay because we had a great time anyway.  Also, in the middle of the night we all woke up to the sound of a raccoon opening and shutting our cooler to get to the chips.  That's was good 4 a.m. entertainment. :)  Anyway, the next morning we got up, tore down camp, and we were off to hiking in no time!  We took an interesting route up to the renowned "Devil's doorway" and at the top we had some fun with the camera while resting!

Climbing to the top!

The hiking crew at the top :)

My best friend, boyfriend, and I in Devil's doorway

Overall it was a great weekend and we finished out the trip with some ice cream, which made up for the 'missed out on' s'mores the night before. :)

Another week was ahead of me, which meet a week of work and a week of T.V. and cross-stitching.  Summer is my one of my only times that I am able to cross-stitch because I am sooo incredibly busy during the school year, so I've been cross-stitching my little heart out every chance I get, which is one of the reasons why I am so behind on blogging. :)  However, it's such a good time (for me).  I love it and I'm trying to finish this one piece before the summer ends.  Speaking of finishing pieces.  I finished a piece a little over a year ago and was finally able to get it framed due to a coupon I won for an art's supply store, so here it is...

"Balloon Glow"

I'm so proud of this piece and I'm excited to hopefully finish the one that I'm working on now soon. :)  Other than cross-stitching, working, pilates, and T.V. take up most of my week and my weekends are my time to get out! :)  Last weekend, I was able to visit my boyfriend and his family at his home in a suburb of Chicago!  It was an amazing weekend, we swam at his uncle's pool and cooked out with the family.  We watched part of Ace Ventura and went shopping briefly.  My boyfriend and I cooked dinner for the family and celebrated what was supposedly National Ice Cream Day, which led to a discussion of all the random national holiday's there are.  Oh right, I forgot to wish you a Happy Daiquiri Day and a Happy Flitch Day!  Want to see more National Holidays?...go here.  Anyway, I was also able to go to church with his family, which was a nice experience and then I was back off to Kenosha to start my workweek on Monday.  Again, this week has been filled with my normal routine, but once again, as I said, I'm heading off to the Dells to go camping with my Peru friends, Mark and Tonisha! YAY!!!  Can't wait to include them in my blog posts again!!  Have a great Friday and weekend!!