St. Petersburg: The End

The Winter Palace was pretty sweet, but I think we were all so tired and worn out that we didn't really appreciate it fully.

I have a feeling we are going to run into this quite a bit over the next few weeks.

The throne room

Who can find the secret door in the red room??

THE coolest door handle... insane.

Not the greatest picture, but tapestries astound me. this thing was the size of the wall!!! To get all of the thread in the right place and that everything turns out like this... I'm in awe.

My favorite room of the entire place. this room is my dream. A room completely full of books

with a warm and cozy fireplace...

After 3 hours it was high time for some food, and to move on to the next thing. We only had a few precious hours left and still wanted to fit a bit more in.

Like this...

surprisingly, it wasn't as good as it looks. Miia and I were a little disappointed, but at the end of the day a lovely piece of chocolate cake and whip cream is better than none at all. Despite being just, mediocre.

Our next stop was the Peter, Paul, and Mary church. Really it's the St. Paul and St. Peter Cathedral but I'm pretty sure our name for it, is a lot catchier.

I just wish we would've had a bit more of a clear day, I think the pictures would've been a bit better. But considering the two days before were absolutely gorgeous, albeit a little cold, I was happy with the weather we had.

Basically all of Russia's Tsars are buried here.

Nicholas II  (think Romanov's... Anastasia)

Catherine the Great and Peter the Great

After Peter, Paul, and Mary

it was time to be on our way but not before we saw a helicopter take off :)

Earlier we'd seen a bride and groom taking pictures next to the helicopter. Nothing says romance like a large chunk of flying metal.

And because we just happened across it, and behavioral psychology was one of my favorite classes

Up top is Ivan Pavlov's name

as in Pavlov's Dogs

Yes, I'm a geek, and yes... I was really excited to see his name in Russian :) It's the little things that count.

And that my dear readers ends our foray in Mother Russia. It was an EXCELLENT trip and I'm so thankful we got to go!

I hope you enjoyed the little blog tour :)

Monday's Meditation: Pipe Dreams

I have a lot of dreams or goals that I'd love to accomplish in my life.

First of which is figuring out what flower this is!!! Seriously... it was gorgeous and on a tree in our neighbors yard. I WANT these flowers. I NEED these flowers. and I MUST have them.

I also have dreams of having kids, staying at home with them, traveling, and just having a lovely long life with my husband.

And most recently I'm coming closer and closer to reaching my dream of grad school for psychology. It's been a goal I've had for years. And I'm so close to getting there, and yet I've found a new dream creeping up on me.

As many of you know, I really enjoy working out, exercising, and being healthy in general. I spend the majority of my free time at school looking up fitness tools, and researching different theories, aspects of training... etc.

Really I love it.

I enjoy watching the biggest loser, I enjoy reading fitness blogs, and weight loss blogs. I love to see people transform and I thrive and feel proud of complete strangers when I see the whole process of their weight loss or reaching their fitness goals.

So, even though it may just be a pipe dream, I really want to be a personal trainer. That, or teach some sort of fitness class at a club. And quite frankly I think that psychology fits in perfectly with this dream.

I have always love helping people with issues in their lives. I enjoy helping others find clarity and peace in their lives. And I think that being a personal trainer would just emphasize that in a different way. I'd be physically seeing those changes and people dealing with those issues.  There is just so much more to fitness and weight loss than the actual weight. So much of it is emotional and mental and the fact that people just have to work through issues. And that's where I come in :)

I'm not sure if this will every happen, or if it's just something I'll always think about. But right now I'm strongly considering looking into it while we are out in CO. It could be the perfect part- time job I would need while getting my Masters.

In other fitness dream news... I finally finished P90X... woo hoo!!!! And of course now I'm on to the next insane schedule :)

Oh and if you know what flowers these are ... please let me know. I'm dying here!

Something to think about: What are some dreams or goals you've had? What would you like to accomplish in life?