abby vanduker, 20, oklahoma

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invisible children
charity: water
liberty in north korea

myhollowmind / by: surferdude182

desktops. three different places i miss terribly.

and I can’t even grasp the year that has passed me by. This may take awhile:

• I spent Christmas in the OKC airport overnight.
• Flew overseas for the first time in my life.
• Had English coffee, paid for by a typical old Englishman.
• Ordered a drink at the original Hard Rock Cafe.
• Saw London.
• Involuntarily developed a British accent for a couple of days.
• Bought my now favorite boots in London.
• Shopped London’s Oxford Street.

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Before the Nazi occupation, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit of the Eiffel. The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war. Hitler indeed stayed on the ground. It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower. Some German soldiers had to climb to the top to hoist the swastika, but the flag was so large it blew away just a few hours later, and it was replaced by a smaller one. A Frenchman scaled the tower during the German occupation to hang the French flag. In August 1944, when the Allies were nearing Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower along with the rest of the city. Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.

(via iconic photos)

Reality is a myth.

I woke up happier this morning than I have since I woke up to the Louvre outside our hotel window, I think. I can’t really tell, my head and heart are horribly foggy. Reality is a myth.

Yesterday was a roller-coaster in every sense of the word. I’m okay with that. It was a good kind of roller-coaster, not the kind that has me fearing for my life.

I’m so awfully mellow. I’m okay with that, caught somewhere in between feeling so much and feeling nothing at all.

Pei Wei tonight with the best of best friends, followed by coming home and taking advantage of the “power hours” as a ChaCha expeditor and doing some research. Not the school kind, the kind of letting Google aid me in figuring my life out.

“We’ll scream at night to make them go away.”

that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men.

Hello, sinuses.
I see you came back just to remind me of your existence and the fact that you (as well as my tonsils) are abnormally large and sensitive. Thanks. I appreciate it.
You can leave now. Love, Abby.

I’m getting horribly nervous about the flight across the Atlantic. Not cowering out of it or dreading the trip or anything even close to that, just nervous. I expected this, as planes are not my thing. I’m just not real comfortable with the fact that I’m somewhere where humans weren’t really designed to be, but are thanks to science (yet, I absolutely love scuba even though it also makes me nervous as well…go figure) I am. It’s not helping that the forecast calls for rain/snow Tuesday through Thursday here in Oklahoma and look rainy in Atlanta (transfer) Thursday…and we leave Thursday. Christmas Eve. It’s supposed to snow. The Oklahoman road people have absolutely no intelligence when it comes to dealing with winter weather on roads and runways. Now, don’t get any idea that I’m not leaving, not making it to London. As well as Taylor, I’ll be out on the runway de-icing it myself if measures call for it. Don’t doubt me for a second. I’m just real nervous.

I’m thinking about going for a run to try to give this head cold of mine a major kick in the ass, but my luck, it’d do the complete opposite.

Oh, the pre-trip stressors. It’s all so worth it.

I seriously cannot wait to be in Paris in t-minus 27-ish days.