Practically Canada.

Outfit Details:
cardigan target
polka dot blouse h&m
tank victorias secret
pants h&m
belt h&m
flats aldo

It's the first day of our Northern Adventure and it's been so nice so far. I now understand why thousands of people make the drive up the Franconia Notch highway each year, the scenery is to die for! Even if it is the "off season," (best season to drive it is fall, New England foliage is completely breathtaking) it was just incredible! I will share the photos of New Hampshires' mountains once I return home, because Ben and I must make the drive back on the same highway, so I will have more photos to share then also.. So be prepared for a nice, very photo-heavy blog entry coming your way this weekend.

Now, I always considered myself a small town girl. I grew up in a town that hasn't a single traffic light, street light, or side walks even! My friends from surrounding towns referred to my town as "living in the sticks of New Hampshire," but they are so seriously wrong.. I mentioned briefly here that Ben tends to work some very odd jobs. Well, his latest one is the reason we're up here in practically Canada. This job requires him to suit up in a big fat bear costume and travel to countless schools across New Hampshire to give high fives, hugs, and take pictures with the students. He's apart of a company that aims to encourage kids (kindergarden - 12th grade) that school is not finished after High School.. it's sort of brainwashing children with a big fuzzy bear into going to college.. And I say this in the best way possible! I think the idea is brilliant, maybe if this was around when I was in elementary/middle/or high school I would have tried to attend a real college rather than briefly study at a technical institute which I am still on a 'brief' hiatus from.. But after accompanying Ben to this job I can easily say my town is a "city" compared to many of these northern New Hampshire towns.. I can not even begin to comprehend what growing up in these towns would be like.. The school we visited today was in Pittsburg, NH (3 miles from the Canadian Border). The building was smaller than my towns elementary school building, so we went into the building assuming it housed grades K - 4th or maybe through 8th grade, but we were told it was K - 12th grade, and there were just under 100 kids in the building. 100 kids. 100 kids in the entire building. When I graduated from high school there were 106 in my graduating class, whereas the towns surrounding mine had a minimum of 400 kids per grade.. But in Pittsburg, NH, majority of the classrooms we entered had 3 students per room, a class of 7 students was considered huge to them. But can you just imagine only having about 12 kids your own age in your entire town? Only 12 kids to grow up with.. That just blows my mind, I had no idea such towns existed, Ben even informed me some of the schools he's already visited had roughly 5 kids per grade and their school was called an "open concept school," meaning the school was in a semi large wear house and the "classrooms" were determined by bookshelves and every class/grade was technically in the same room. It just amazes me really. I had no clue such things were in my very own state! I'd picture schools like this in Kentucky or Wyoming or Montana for example (no offense to any of those states!).

But tomorrow Ben has the day off so we're just planning on hanging out at our hotel room and exploring the area we're currently in, but Thursday he's got another Mascot gig only a few miles from Pittsburg, so I will report back then with what I experienced at that school and hopefully have exciting stories from it for you!

Until then, hope you guys are having a tremendous week!