Memorial Day

May we never forget freedom isn't free--Unknown

As we celebrate another Memorial Day, let us remember all those who have laid down their lives for this country. Being a daughter of a veteran, it reminds me even more of the cost some families pay so we can remain a free nation. Thank God my dad is still living, but for all those who are suffering the loss of a loved one who served in the armed forces, today is also for you. Not only should we remember the fallen, but also the living...the ones who remain to keep up the fight, both in the field and at home!

And with those thoughts in mind, I scoured the internet to find some craft ideas to help remember the reason for today. As you can imagine, I found quite a lot!

Here are some crafts I uncovered in my search:

I stumbled upon this site first, full of 47 different patriotic crafts, some look easier to make than others. I love when people reuse items, like this flag picture made from buttons:

On Pinterest there are always tons of craft ideas! I searched Memorial day crafts and found many for kids to do as well, such as this popsicle stick flag:

 

 And check out these patriotic pinwheels:

 How about making a patriotic wreath, like this:

 So many different ways to creatively remember this Memorial day!
I have done a few myself over the years, most  recently I made a couple quilled pieces in honor of today:

quilled patriotic heart I made using beehive technique

quilled American Eagle

What kinds of crafts have you tried to remember and honor the fallen on Memorial Day? Please share in the comments below!

May God bless everyone affect by war, and help us all remember that freedom isn't free! Let us enjoy this life we have been given!

Rachael

#memorialday #alwaysremember #neverforget #memorialdaycrafts

Costa Rica April 2010

    It was April 2010, and after surviving another Vermont winter, it was time to go somewhere warm!
I put out my idea for an 11-day trip to Costa Rica on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted to join me, and one of my friends from college said yes. So we planned our adventure ad headed south.

We flew out of Connecticut down to DC, then El Salvador and finally to our destination. ( I like to get the best deals possible on flights, so sometimes end up having longer layovers and more stops;))

Immediately upon exiting the airport, a wave of amazing heat engulfed us, and I for one was glad to be warm again! We were picked up by a driver who let us stop at a grocery store before dropping us off at our first accommodation. We spent our first 3 nights at Campo Verde near Arenal volcano, an active volcano that we couldn't go too close to!

Campo Verde below Arenal Volcano

Swan towels in our room

While we were there, we went on 2 day tours. First, we went on a SkyTram up a mountain and walked to a spot to view the volcano from a different angle.

SkyTram

This was both my friend and my first time hearing howler monkeys in the trees!

Howler Monkey

The next day we went on a boat tour in the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. We saw lots of wildlife, including more howler monkeys, Spider monkeys, cayman, iguana (known as 'chicken of the tree'), and many types of birds, such as a cormorant, who was drying its wings on a nearby branch.

Spider monkey

Cayman

Iguana

Cormorant

This boat tour was one of my favorite parts of the trip!

Me on my 1st jungle river cruise

We briefly crossed the Nicaraguan border before turning around and stopping at a place for lunch, where I learned how pineapples grow.

Nicaragua border

Pineapples

We then left Arenal and went further up into the mountains to the cloud forest of Monteverde. The temperature was cooler and I even had to wear a sweatshirt at times!

We took a tour of the cloud forest and went over several suspension bridges (also one of my fav parts of the trip!) above the jungle canopy.

Monteverde cloud forest

suspension bridge through the jungle canopy

We saw hummingbirds, butterflies and many exotic flowers as well.

hummingbird

jungle flower

We also had a guided tour in the cloud forest and saw and heard many musical birds.

birdwatching through a monoscope

airplant

We then took a bus and a boat to get to Samara, a beach town on the west coast. This was my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. And if it was cool up in the mountains, it definitely wasn't down there! We got put in an upgraded apartment because the room I had booked was being renovated, which was nice, but all we had to cool ourselves with was a ceiling fan!

upgraded apartment

Even the water in the ocean was like bath water that time of year, but we still enjoyed walking on the almost deserted beach!

Samara beach

Since it was April, it wasn't exactly peak tourist season, but we did see some people riding horses.

horses on the beach

After sweating for 2 days, we were glad to go back north and cool off!
We took a bus back to the airport and headed home, spending the night in a DC airport before arriving back in Connecticut and going our separate ways.
It was a fun trip, and my 1st down to Central America. A nice change from my usual more temperate climate destinations!

Happy Travels!

Rachael

#CostaRica  #Jungle #CloudForest #exoticwildlife #travel

Caribbean Archaeological Adventure June 2009

In February 2009 I found myself without a job. I had just finished grad school the year before and now had to pay for it. My undergrad degree was in Archeology and History, so I decided to do a month-long archeological field school on the tiny Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, known as Statia by the locals.
I got one of my college buddies to go with me, and in the beginning of June we headed off on our adventure!
We arrived at the small airport on Statia and got picked up by the archeology intern who was working at SECAR that summer.
There were about 7-8 of us staying at the SECAR building, which consisted of a living room, lab, kitchen, 2 bedrooms with bunk beds and bathrooms.

Inside SECAR building

Being summer in the Caribbean, it was hot...and all we had to help cool us was a ceiling fan and ocean breezes. We all got along well and ate and played games together when we weren't working or exploring the island.
Over the 4 weeks I was there, some people left while others arrived. We were all in our early to mid-20s and loved to play in the dirt! One particularly windy day I got tons of dirt blown in my face while sifting for artifacts:

Me enjoying the dirt

In the morning we would go to the dig site, which was an 18th century colonial site, and dug, sifted and used our trusty trowels to uncover artifacts and the remains of a building where people used to live.
The site had a nice view of the ocean, and after we cleaned and cataloged artifacts back in the lab we would go down to the beach and cool off in the Caribbean waters. Since the sun is closer to the earth near the equator, most of us got sunburned as well:(

The director of the field school also took us around the island and we got to see the Atlantic side (luckily we were on the gentler Caribbean side), went on several hikes, including up and down inside the caldera of a dormant volcano known as The Quill, and basically all over the 7-mile long 2-mile wide island.

The Quill volcano

Me on the way up to the top of The Quill

Me by big tree in the caldera of the volcano

Me on one of our hikes around Statia

Caribbean sunset

Some of the artifacts we unearthed were rusty nails, clay pipe stems, and, I even found the remains of a small hearth used for cooking my last week there!

hearth I uncovered

All in all, it was a worthwhile experience that I enjoyed before going back home and starting the job hunt and fully joining the world of adulthood:)

Happy Travels!

Rachael

#archeologyfieldschool #caribbeanadventure