Let's Review

The packing has begun. It is finally real that I am leaving in two weeks. It's hard to believe. I have come to call this place home and I can not explain how much I will miss it.

Since this blog started as a way to discover fun things in your area I thought I would give a quick recap of all the things I have found to do in Greenville.

First and foremost, I have found an amazing church family that has taken me in and made me feel so loved. Thank you to all of them. This week is our Sky VBS and it has been a blast so far.

I have become addicted to Zumba and you should all check it out. I also was recently introduced to a venue that does swing dancing every week and I have had so much fun learning it. I have gone to some amazing hiking trails. And along with the active theme, I have spent many enjoyable hours biking on a beautiful trail downtown. I even participated in a fundraising bike ride to support a wonderful local mission.

I have loved going to outdoor concerts, farmers markets, and many other special events downtown.

I have found amazing restaurants, coffee shops, cupcake stores, rooftop bars, and much more that have been wonderful places to be with friends.

I'm hoping to see the local baseball team before I leave. There are many other things that I wish I could have done before I left but the things left undone just give me more reasons to come back and visit often.

Although I have found some amazing places down here, what has meant the most to me is the amazing group of people I have met. Each and every one of you has impacted my life and I will never forget you. I love you all and hope that I can spend some time with all of you before I leave and can not wait to come back and visit.

To all of you in New England, I am so looking forward to seeing you. I have missed you and I can not wait to catch up with all of you.

There's so much more that I feel like I need to say but the words are not coming. For now, I hope that all of you can go out in your community and find some fun local activities but more importantly, find the people that will make those experiences memorable.

Blessings to all.

P.S. For those of you who don't understand this post: All of the things I am talking about are links to web pages with more info so you can check them out on your own. :)

The Plan

After living in the Upper Valley for 21 years my best friend, Naomi, and I have decided to discover our surroundings. Every summer we dream of taking trips to the beach or some place other than here but this summer we will find fun activities that anyone can do close to home. Indeed, this effort may be a result of the economic down turn and, lets face it, we are poor college students, but either way we will have an adventure. Along our journey I will post links so you can create your own "Discover Local" initiative.

Courtesy of Hyperterm:

Here is a list a 100 things you must see, do, or experience in the Upper Valley. This list created the inspiration for our "Discover Local" summer. See how many you can check off in the next few months.

Our first event was in a little town called Quechee located about a half hour from home. Quechee is popularly known for Quechee Gorge but this past weekend we discovered more to love about this small town. The Quechee Balloon Festival was in town. This, like any other small town fair, was complete with greasy food, live music, and craft tents. What made this fair special was the hot air balloons. The fair goes for three days and the balloons take off periodically throughtout the three days. Parking was $3 and addmission was $10 for adults. Not a bad price for a fun day of activities. My personal suggestions would be to get a henna tattoo and eat fried dough while listening to the live band before the balloons take off. If you are looking for something to do in June next year we would highly recommend this fun filled festival.

Another plan for our summer is to get healthy. This may have been forced on me from my fitness class but I am starting to like the idea more and more. Naomi and I have picked one day a week that we will get together to do some type of physical activity such as biking, hiking, or a work out video on the rainy days and after our exercise we will cook a healthy meal. So far we have done this once... today in fact. Hopefully, if her schedule permits, it will continue to be on Mondays. For our first outing we went for a bike ride on the bike path in Springfield, VT and then came home to make delicious chicken with peach salsa. I would also just like to note that today was my first bike ride since I was a little kid and that saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike is a lie. ;)

That's all for now folks. Look for the next post about our crazy adventures of the "Discover Local" summer.