JC Raulston Arboretum

Good morning beautifuls! The sun has been shining since 6am, was 77 when I woke up with a wind playing in the leaves. A girl can get used to this! Yesterday my roommate, Emily Meyers, and I went to NCSU's JC Raulston Arboretum in the afternoon. It was super hot but well worth the trip! I found myself the most beautiful study spot a plant geek could ask for in a big city like Raleigh. Loved it.

A beautiful hibiscus by the leasing office

If y'all have been to Olbrich Botanical Gardens & UW Madison Arboretum, JC Raulston was a mixture of the two. There were a lot of trees but just as many flowers decorating the landscape. Go to this website and check it out: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php 

See what I mean about beautiful sunsets while relaxing poolside?

Found beauty in cement city - Nature always find Her way back to  you.

We wandered through a Japanese garden, a xeric garden, magnolia trees, and so much more. I could have spent hours there. I'm basically just going to post a bunch of photos for y'all because there isn't much new down here. I've been trying to figure out this whole graduate school concept and looking for a part-time job to get a little extra cash flow. Oh, and I've been relaxing in the sun by the pool reading a ton of books - no need to be jealous. You can do that when August comes around :)

Banana - it had Black Sigatoka on it (a disease) which made my day!

So beautiful

Chameleon Japanese Maple

Spread a Little Sunshine

Biggest Magnolia flower I've ever seen

Magnolia grandiflora

Roses for me, Roses for you

Canna-lilies which I really want

So as you can tell, I've been loving my time down here. No worries about me settling in - this place felt like home before I even moved. Now I just have to crank out a few more years of studying and research and I'm ready for the real world...whatever that means! Enjoy the scenery from my home to yours.