surprise

On the Friday before my birthday, I decided it would be a good idea to fly home and surprise my parents....that night. So, I booked a flight at 3:30pm and was on a flight by 8:30. The only snag in the plan was that my parents were in the mountains at a cabin and I had no one to pick me up and no way to get there. But after finding out the address and directions to the cabin from Natalie, who was already there, I resorted to renting a car and driving through the curvy mountain rounds at 11pm (which is a little unsettling when you don't drive a car on a regular basis). Once I arrived in one piece, Natalie and I waltzed into the living room nonchalantly. My parents were completely stunned....and my mom wept. Win.

I had a fabulous mountain weekend with the family. It was the best kick off to my birthday week!

happy parents and happy kat

so happy to be outdoors!

animalistic

we hiked to the Walker Sisters cabin

short doors....even for me!

some of the newspapers that wallpapered the cabin walls

at Elkmont campgrounds at one of the "Appalachian Club" vacation homes from the 1920s

one of the vacation homes they are restoring at Elkmont

daffodils - one of my favorite things about spring and my birthday

strong pops

relieved he didn't fall off into the water

mediterranean dream land

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.”

 - Mark Twain -

I had the privilege of taking a dream vacation with my dear sister Natalie. We took an amazing cruise to some of the best spots on the Mediterranean Sea:

Venice, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Kusadasi and Ephesus, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Corfu, Greece

+ lots of time sailing the high seas

Aside from the boat being full of senior citizens, we had a fun time and saw some incredible sights, including some things I never thought I'd see in my lifetime.

That's my boat!

first stop: venice

second stop: dubrovnik, croatia

the house where jesus' mother mary was believed to live after jesus was crucified - rebuilt based a nun's visions and drawings, but you can see the dark red stones of the original foundation 

people write their prayers on paper and leave on this wall so that the Virgin Mary will intercede on their behalf 

the ruins of ephesus, the second largest city in the world during the 1st century BC

the colosseum where paul preached to 25,000 ephesians

the house where the apostle john lived in a community of christians after the death and resurrection of jesus

turkish countryside

helllooooo in there...

next stop: santorini, greece

cappuccinos to warm up since we were on the beach at 10am

black sand beaches

riding donkeys down the cliff

natalie laughing so she doesn't cry as we narrowly avoid death by donkey

last stop: corfu, greece

gelato on the plaza

impromptu tango