three hundred and forty

Hello darlings, I apologize for keeping you waiting all day. (Btw, following me yet? Please do: http://twitter.com/Danielle052988). I hope it went well!

Anyway, here's the deal: my official blogiversary was April 8th, 2009. Yes, it completely passed us by, and quickly. I didn't realize that I had been blogging for a complete year until May, which I guess would mean that I'd been blogging for a 13 months :).

In order to make up for it I decided to wait until an equally as important day to celebrate my blog and my blog readers... and, well, that day has come my friends! This is officially my 340th post. It has been 560 days since I began my blog journey, 18 months since I began to incorporate my passions for food, nutrition, and health into the blog content, and a little over one year since I began traveling with the blog alongside me. How time flies!

Why does this mean so much to me? Because of y-o-u. Since the creation of Around the World in 340 Days I have received nothing but support, encouragement, and kind words from every one of my readers, both bloggers and non-bloggers alike. I've exchanged emails with a few of you who have had questions, words of wisdom, of even just thought pass along a friendly "hello." Whether you are a likeminded college student, a study abroad veteran, a bloggie friend, or my ever-silent boy, I beyond appreciate all of you and everything you've been to me.

The past two posts about what led me to study languages, and ultimately study abroad were both leading up to this: I knew before I left that it would be the "trip of a lifetime," an experience, or rather, a multitude of experiences that would change the way I felt about myself and viewed the world but I could have never foreseen the way it would change me.

I am thankful for every single one of you that have joined me in that process. We both know that for as many ups as I've been lucky enough to have had, there have also been a good deal of downs :). And yet it has truly been comforting to know that no matter how far from how I was, I was never really alone, never forgotten.

Although there is no way that I'll ever be able to summarize the past 560 days and 340 posts, there are a few posts and experiences that especially stand out to me, whether it is because of the impact they've had or the memories they entice. Celebrate... and enjoy...

1) I discovered an inner-strength and confidence, that now, I could not imagine not relying on.

2) I found a best friend in Chilean host mom...

3) ...and my French host mom.

4) I took a leap of faith, despite the complicated details, and allowed myself to fall in love.

5) I questioned my beliefs... when I saw flamingos in the desert and penguins and seals at the beach ;).

6) I got out of my own way to become a runner.

7) I learned that there's another way to enjoy seaweed--in a soup!

8) I handed in my absentee ballot and voted for change.

9) I found that there really was truth in the cliché "you can do anything you put your mind to," when I climbed an active volcano.

10) I hosted my parents in Santiago, Chile and the beauty that surrounds it.

11) I learned how to make my favorite Ecuadorian soup, Locro de Papas.

12) I brought my boy to Chilean cuisine last holiday season, while he treated me to Alsatian dining this summer.

13) I learned how to make vegan banana bread.

14) I came to terms with my body and how it important it is I nourish it.

15) I learned what it means to have beer appreciation at the Heineken factory, wine appreciation at multiple vineyards, and champagne appreciation, in particular, at Taittinger.

16) I reunited avec ma souer while taking a weekend getaway to rural Alsace.

17) I went back to grandfather's Irish roots.

18) I let go of the labels, the guilt, and the restrictions.

19) I had my first taste of Eastern Europe and the kindness of strangers.

20) I galavanted with my SU roommates around Londontown.

21) I landed two amazing internships (probably due, in part, to my writing practice here.)

22) I took my first few exotic steps into Asia.

23) I realized that memories are not forgotten nor can they ever be lost.

24) I had my first-time dinner with some of my favorite bloggers.

25) I survived reverse-culture shock.

26) I went to my first Foodbuzz event... and cannot wait for the next.

27) I found out the power of optimism and a sunny outlook :).

28) I rocked and ran a (hopeful) series of 5Ks.

29) I experimented with raw food and indulged in enjoyed vegan lasagna and ice cream...

30) ...and in doing so, met inspiring mentors.

31) I re-discovered my love for all things yoga.

32) I learned how to internationally eat well through my own experiences.

33) I realized that poetry can explain everything.

34) I celebrated my twenty-first birthday, gaining the privilege to drink one of my favorite beverages of all time, wine.

Cheers! And as a bonus, for good luck, I did it... of which directly translates to "we did it." Now, question: what do you possibly wish for when all the majority of your dreams come true? ;). Answer: perhaps give yourself a blog break, see you this weekend!

P.S. Photos are courtesy of my month in Ecuador, it is an ABC (absolutely beautiful country.)