These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorite places. I have learned that I am the type of person who likes to categorize - favorites, dislikes, pet peeves. When feeling lost in life, I believe those categories can help keep you grounded because they are something in yourself you can define. Especially the favorites, because they are the most fun.

Of course the home that I grew up in and my home now and my friends places are up there with my favorite places. But besides those, there are other places that are no longer simply locations, but memories, personifications, and significant to who I am as a person. Looking at photos of those places makes me happy to be who I am and happy to have lived my life. So I decided to share a few of those places with you Seattle Swift readers. And I want you readers to tell me some of your favorite places!

Santa Clara University in San Jose, California. My alma mater. And one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have fantastic memories of my English classes, amazing friends, stimulating intellectual conversations, the beautiful campus, and glorious California sun. I grew tremendously in my four years at Santa Clara. Below is the SCU Mission Church and the SCU Mission Gardens - a great spot for laying out in the afternoon sun with friends. Santa Clara has taken on the qualities of an oasis for me - a relief, refuge, haven, and delightful change. It looks like an oasis too, with palm trees and green grass and flowers galore.

This photo comes from the Wolf Creek Ridge trail, one of the trails in the Sun Mountain cross country ski system. Nearly every winter of my childhood and adolescence, my parents and I drove to Sun Mountain Lodge, near Winthrop, Washington, for three days of snow and cross country skiing. This place makes me love winter weather and helps me through dismal Seattle winters. I also learned to cross country ski here. Sun Mountain was one of the first places that helped me set measurable goals for myself. I decided each year I would attempt a more difficult trail to ski, until I reached the point I was skiing two hours uphill to come screaming back down the mountain.

And of course, Cannon Beach in Oregon. My family traveled to Cannon Beach nearly every summer of my living memory. For many of those years, my cousin traveled with us. So Cannon Beach means to me that close relationship with my cousin. Cannon Beach also means sand castle building, body surfing for hours in the frigid Pacific Ocean, exploring tide pools, riding fun cycles down the beach, sunsets, shopping in town, and sand between my toes and in my hair for days. I love everything about Cannon Beach and all the memories I have from there. Below is the castle I built with my dad summer of 2007.

Some other favorite places include: Lake Chelan, CYO Camp Gallagher, Seattle, and Mont Saint Michel in France.

So where are some of your favorite places? Where do you love that has shaped who you are?