Feel, Trust, Love: Lessons from the Past Week

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It has been a fairly wonderful past week that was filled with learning to ride a scooter…on a roof, biking up to the Boulder Falls (painful incline), some amazing rooftop dinners with friends, sunsets and sunrises and overall beautiful times with great people. Oh and then I got sick and went into full blown hibernation mode and also realised that I had two exams this week. Classic.

My favourite part of the past week was yesterday where I listened to a beautiful message about learning to

Feel, Trust and Love

especially when the world feels broken. In honour of September 11th, we will all never forget.

-Kaila

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Palisade Peach Crostata

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There is nothing like having good friends over for some delicious food and great conversation. Life often gets super chaotic, with everyone going a million miles an hour that its easy to forget to take time for yourself and those you love the most. My family, especially my grandma installed a love for baking in me from a very young age. One of my fondest memories is making biscotti at my grandmas house. The tradition of making many different types of cookies for the holidays and giving them to friends and family in cute christmas tins has been passed onto me and my aunt has assigned me the official role of holiday cookie baker.

Family, Food and Friends. Doesn’t get much better than that. 

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Favorite Pastime: Cooking and Baking

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I decided to add another page to my site/blog about only of my favourite topics in life! Food! Growing up with a grandma who made everything from scratch and a family that made sure I knew how to cook was such a blessing. There is something so special about being able to cook for other people and yourself. Not only does it taste better and is healthier, but it is very nurturing and a great way to relax and connect back to yourself and the world.

I have never understood people who eat to live and don’t live to eat.

I guess that there is a healthy balance between the two, but food is amazing! The myth that eating well is more expensive is so false. I plan on having a long, healthy life which means taking care of myself mentally and physically.

So here is to food. Lot’s of it.

-Kaila

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Guatemala: Service Trip

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Today I am reflecting back on a trip I took post senior year of high school. I grew up with a strong faith going to Trinity United Methodist church in Denver and had my fair amounts of doubts and questions in my own journey, but it continues to be a strong part of my life that I hope to infinitely explore. I was able to go to Guatemala for two weeks to help start  build a house for a deserving family in Chontola, a small village outside of Antigua. It was a very humbling trip that was full of hard work, a lot of fun and time spent getting to know my youth group, youth leader and parents who joined us on the trip. It was a beautiful time and I almost spent the rest of the summer there to teach in the school my church supports, but was accepted into the ambassador program that took me to Malaysia.

I honestly can’t wait to go back and continue my own service group and explore my own faith and beliefs in such a beautiful place that has a lot to give and a lot to receive.

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Naturally Cool? Or Nature is Cool?

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What a Labor Day holiday weekend it was, spend with total weirdos kicking back and enjoying all the amazing wonders of life in the wilderness. My long weekend started with a hike in the Flat Irons/NCAR area of Boulder with the ultimate homie, continued with watching CU smash CSU, a day of homework and running around Boulder and ended with a camping trip up to Nederland that will go down in the books as one fantastic weekend.

You are who you surround yourself with. I guess that makes me a nerdy weirdo. 

wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Looking Back:Costa Rica

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A electrifying and educational trip that I took the summer before my senior year of high school was to Heredia and Monteverde, Costa Rica where I lived for a month with host families and attended a spanish language school for five hours a day. Immersion is the only way to effectively learn a language and I had the best time with my host family and international friends that were also at the language school. Shoutout to my mother for forever installing my love a travel and sending me out in the world to independently explore, knowing that I would come back a better version of myself! What an amazing role model I have.

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Looking Back: China and Inner Mongolia

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A trip that I will remember forever and had enormous impact on me was my trip to China in 2008. It was my first international trip without my family or friends from back home and really inspired my future travels and helped me reconnect back to the country I was born in and one of the many places in the world that I call home. I went on a three week trip throughout China and Inner Mongolia with four other Chinese Adoptees, a guide and a driver doing various activities…mostly having fun and exploring the country we were all born in. It was such an amazing trip and I feel so lucky that my mom trusted the universe enough to send me out there and let me learn from experience independently! Adoption is so special and I found some forever friends on this trip and cannot wait to go back! Hopefully ASAP!

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Life is Limitless

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What a past few weeks it has been! Settling back into Boulder and college has been a whirlwind and I am overall so happy with everything that is going on and am beyond stoked for what the future holds. I have some super exciting plans coming up ahead amidst the classes I am taking and am loving the present moment as well. The highlight of the past week has been going on a hot air balloon! It was beyond anything I had every imagined.

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Looking Back: Peru

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This is my first post regarding looking back on travels and focusing on

where I have been

Going to Peru with my mom, cousin and aunt was one of my favourite trips that I will remember forever. It was so special to be traveling this amazing country with three of my greatest inspirations and dear family members. My mom kept telling me how lucky I was to be fifteen and going to Maccu Piccu. I couldn’t have agreed more and looking back, I realise that even more. I am blessed to have a family that loves travelling the world and constantly visiting new places.

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A New Season, A New Cycle

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This has always been one of my favourite times of the year since as long as I can remember. The excitement of a new year, almost more important than the January 1st celebration. It comes with reuniting with friends, new inspiration and a fresh start for everyone. I also know that eventually this cycle will end when I finish school (will that actually ever happen? I love school and learning so much, that regardless if I am in a classroom I will forever be curious and learning something new).

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