Autumn hike(s)

I remember myself a few years ago. I was this girl longing for adventure, only able to think about exploring and liking every hiking picture I can find on pinterest but still sitting at home. I remember my excuses for not going on hikes were: "it's too cold/ I don't want to go alone/ I don't have the right shoes/ I have to study/ it's raining/ it's cloudy/ it's too hot/ it's too early/ it's too late" etc. I stayed at home but felt miserable 'cause all I wanted to do was go. I wanted to climb mountains, to explore woods, to wade streams, to soak in the sunshine and to enjoy rain, but I used to not do anything to achieve this. But all this changed this autumn. Somehow I managed to get my ass out of the house one weekend after another and now it became natural to go on hikes every single weekend. And doing this was the best thing that I have ever done for myself. On these adventures I've met people that only thinking about warms my heart, I've made so many friends that just get me, I've seen such beautiful places, climbed so many hills and tried to jump over so many rivers, sat by countless bonfires and sang like 200 000 songs. I've made so many pictures that I could make 20 blog posts and they all still would not fit. But I will try to share just a little fraction of my new found happiness.

- Kamilė

#Inspiration: study

I have this folder in my laptop that contains various photos (mostly from pinterest). I open that folder and look at those pictures when I am feeling a lack of inspiration to study. Well, lately I've been inspired to study just because I am very interested in what I am learning. However, there were times when I saw no point in learning what I had to learn and the only thing that kept me from throwing up at the thought of studying was that folder with all of it's beautiful things that remind me how, why and what should I do.
I hope they'll help you too!

 - Kamilė

Autumn in Vilnius

 It's been more than ten minutes of me just sitting here by my keybord and not knowing what to write. Do you know that feeling when you have so many things to say and you don't even know what to start with, what should be said and what should be left aside? At first I wrote a whole different text but now I decided that it was not what I wanted to say and rewrote the whole thing.
  These photographs were taken on a very beautiful autumn day in Vilnius and you should already know this from the name of the post. But what you don't know is that for me this day was not only very beautiful but also very special. On this Saturday I went out on a 'date' with my 'little sister' for the first time. I am a volunteer in the 'Big brother/Big sister' program. Long story short - it's a program where more successful young adults are paired up with children that live in different unhealthy enviroments everyday single day. I don't want to get in too much details, but some of these kids' parents are serious drug addicts, alcoholics or in the best case scenario - just very very poor. Nevertheless, these little miracles are amazing, they have so much love and hope in their little hearts, but they have no place to put it into. That's where we (big brothers/big sisters) step in - for a year we become what they need us to be for them and maybe in some way we make them see that where they came from is not the only life thay can have, that there are other paths and so many posibilities only if they try hard enough.
 So on this particular Saturday I went out with my 'little sister' and it was such a pleasure being with this creative, talented, beautiful and funny little girl, but also it hurt so much seeing how wonderful but unfortunate she is. The way she instantly started trusting and loving me felt good but also it showed that she doesn't have too many people in her life that she can feel that way about. And it saddens me so much how unfair life can be - so many children are happy and safe with their parents, so why can't this child be safe and loved too? Why did this beautiful and wonderful creature had to grow up a little too fast? Why does she need to suffer so much pain? 
 That's why no matter how good of a cause this program is, it's really really hard to participate in it. I can't just see what is happening to her, be sad about it for three hours when I'm with her and then go on with my life when I get back home. These kind of things touch you and you can not choose what this touch makes of you, how much it changes you.

I'm sorry for such a different post, I know it's not very inspiring, but I needed to get these words out. Thank you for reading.

Love, Kamile

 

8 reasons why I love autumn

These past few years I really started loving and enjoying autumn, but I haven't felt this way always. When I was little, I really used to dispise it's greyness, coldness and sadness. However, as time passed I learned that there are a lot of things that can make autumn not only bearable but even lovable. Sooo, what would be better than to make a list of those things? Here it is!

Source: here and here

1) Bundling up in cozy warm blankets and staying in bed all day. During summertime it's impossible to stay in bed all day and not start feeling stinky from all the sweatyness and hotness, but when the autumn comes, it becomes a perfect Sunday plan for me.

Source: here and here

2) Umbrellas! I just think that they are so cute! And I love the rain too, so it's a double pleasure.

Source: here and here

3) Living in huge comfy sweaters. Ahhh, I just love these big sweaters! The feel of soft fabric on my skin and the warmness is amazing. And who doesn't love a stylish oversized sweater?

Source: here and here

4) Hot tea. In summertime it's too hot to drink tea, but I adore tea so much, so when autumn comes I just can't get enough of it.

Source: here and here

5) Lighting candles. It's the first autumn for me, when I can actually light candles in my room. Because my sister used to hate the smell they make when they burn (WHAT?!). But this year she moved out and I can finally light the whole appartment with candles and enjoy the beautiful scents they make.

Source: here and here

 6) Rain. As far as I can remember, I always used to love staying inside the house when it rained and at that times my room would become ten times cosier. But for a while now, I learned to enjoy it while being in the actual rain as well.

Source: here and here

7) The beautiful colorful leaves. I think that the beauty of all these falling and flying leaves are the best thing about autumn.

Source: here and here

8) Autumn goodies. Apples, apple-pies, apple-rolls, pumpkin pies, pumpkin soups et cetera. They are worth living for!

Of course these are not all the reasons why I love autumn, but these are still more than enough to start waiting for autumn every single year. I would really like to know what are your reasons for loving autumn? That's it for now. Have a beautiful day!

Love, Kamilė