Merry Christmas!

With each year's end you begin to reflect on the year you are leaving behind and with each year's new beginning you begin to make goals and resolutions for the new year to come.  In 2015, I resolve to be the best mother I can be!!!  Trevor and I are expecting our first child!!  We look forward to our new bundle of joy to come July 13th, 2015!!

I am excited for this new journey in life and look forward to all the trails and joys that it will bring. 

How Lucky Are We...

 

 

Eaten fresh out of the oven flan in Zihuatenejo, Mexico

Seen the sunset on Mexican beaches

Visited with Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey

Watched the guards change to Abba's Dancing Queen at Buckingham Palace

Minded the Gap

Got beheaded on Tower Green (not actually)

Walked across Tower Bridge

Got lost on the way to The Globe Theater

Stonehenge...what else is there to say

Felt like a character in a Jane Austen novel in Bathe

Contemplated diving off a cliff in Dover

Ate brownies in Amsterdam

Looked at Red Lights in Amsterdam

Stole of piece of the Eifel Tower

Didn't wait in line at the Louvre

Seen the real life Moulin Rouge

Walked the gardens of Versailles

Escaped the rain to eat the best Crème Brule in Paris 

Went to Costa Rica with only a ticket and a backpack

Seen the Arenal volcano erupt

Relaxed in a hot spring in the jungle

Rode horses above the clouds in Monteverde

White water rafted Costa Rica waters

Zip lined through a Costa Rica jungle

Learned to speak Howler Monkey (sounds quite similar to whale, I also speak whale)

Ate escargot in Quebec

Watched the leaves change in Old Quebec

Rode bikes around English Bay in Vancouver

Smoked a Cuban in Whistler

Woke up in PARADISE (Trinidad and Tobago) 9 times

Skinny dipped in Englishman's Bay

Turned 29 in T&T

Saw Leatherback turtles nest on Turtle Beach

Drove on the wrong side of the road in Tobago

 

I feel very privileged to be able to say in my twenties I was able to visit and experience six different countries.  I want to continue traveling and visit many more, only 189 to go! 

'Tis the Season

October can't come fast enough!

 

 

The Amanda Trip

I have come to the decision that your best road trip partner by far is your best friend.  With that said, The Amanda's conquered New Orleans and Destin this year!

Jamming to Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline and Boston's Amanda, The Amanda's (my best friend, Amanda and I) made our way to Destin, Florida.  With no better pit stop, we stayed one day and one night in NOLA.

 

We had to have a snack at Café Du Monde for their glorious beignets.

 

Score! Found apart of mine and Trevor's Halloween costume...Hipster glasses!

 

And at Pat O'Brien's the night began....

 

 

After the NOLA Ant Pile Incident (no comment) we started the next day out to Destin. Not only was this a road trip with my best friend, it was also a trip to visit my cousin in Pensacola.  I have decided that having a cousin the lives 20 minutes from Destin is the best thing EVER!  

 

 

We spent one day in Pensacola on the beach and on a boat (with our flippy floppies) and the next day we spent in Destin.

 

 

Hey B...it's 3:44pm and OU Still SUCKS!!!!!

 

Onto my next Girl-Cation adventure...

 



 

 

 

 

 

When in Maryland...

FREE PLANE TICKETS...sign me up!  I did just that when a little over a year ago I entered a raffle at a small town fair and low and behold I actually won!  I never win sweepstakes or raffles so I was floored when I got the phone call I actually had won.  A part of me still didn't believe it and thought that there was some type of stipulation until our flights were booked. 

We decided to use the tickets to go back to Maryland to visit Trevor's family.  I had only been to Maryland one time prior to visit and that was when Trevor proposed back in 2005.  This was a very relaxed vacation and we were able to see a lot of family which is always a good time.

 

We flew into Baltimore and our first stop off the plane was to Philips in the inner harbor so Trevor could eat crabs!  My theory on the matter for this non seafood eater is "When in Maryland...eat a chicken salad!" More crabs for Trevor I guess.

 

 

 

We enjoyed walking around the inner harbor and getting in some good people watching since there was an Anime convention in town.  It's not everyday you run into Spiderman and Pokémon is the same place!

 

 

The beautiful rolling hills of Maryland.

 



 

A trip to Maryland is never complete without a trip to The Carriage House Bake Shop for pepperoni rolls.  We ended up going twice and ate all 2 dozen of them that we bought.  I think we have a problem!

 

We spent some time with a couple of Trevor's cousins and went to Tarara Winery in Virginia for a concert on the lawn.   

 

 

We made our way into Arlington and Washington, DC for an afternoon and spent some time in the city.  We didn't do all the tourist sites this time since we had been around to all the monuments in a previous trip to DC.

 

 

 

 

 

My "civil war buff" father was so proud that we made our way up to Gettysburg one day as well.  However, he didn't quite understand how we were able to see everything in only a couple hours. Apparently his prior trip to Gettysburg was a two day affair, which isn't hard to believe considering my father.  As a child I spent countless hours roaming battlefields with my family and my father basically taking over the tour guides job.

 

I had a great trip to Maryland and was able to enjoy some relaxed time with family.

 

Onto my next adventure...

 

 

 







Pup-Cation 2.0

After last years trip to the Arkansas Ozarks with our hounds we decided to hold up the tradition of Pup-Cation with 2.0 in Colorado.  We made the fourteen hour road trip into Colorado to Winter Park in the Arapaho National Forest.

We ended up finding a great spot to camp in the Arapaho National Forest in Winter Park.  The place we found was off Vasquez Road, it was a great spot for dispersed camping, Vasquez Creek ran right through our campsite.

 

The creek was much to cold for Trevor and I, but the hounds loved it!  It was also a perfect creek to fill up our Nalgene bottles every morning with fresh water.

 

 

Our second day in Colorado we went hiking in the Indian Creek Wilderness and made our way up to Lake Columbine. It was a very serene beautiful place to just sit and relax, and of course let the dogs get a few laps in.

 

 

The third day we went with the dogs on another hike on Berthoud Pass to hike a sectional of the Continental Divide, which still had snow...in July!  The views from this hike where breathtaking.   Archie also had his first experience with snow, he was in love! Still no bear sightings on this trip, but we did see our fair share of Moose.

 

 

Oh the camping foods!  I love camping foods, there is something about cooking on an open flame and the smell of a campfire that I love so much.  These were a few of our foil pack recipes this camping trip. 

 

I love things cooked in foil!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese; seasoned with a little salt and pepper

Turkey Patty, Carrots, and Potatoes; the turkey patty is seasoned with onion soup mix



                                        Foil Pack Breakfast - Ham, Potatoes, and Cheese

 

Until our next adventure...

 

 



 



 

No Such Thing as a Perfectly Good Airplane!

How does one celebrate their thirtieth birthday?  They jump out of an airplane of course! Instead of going out with style as I originally wanted, I went out with bang...or jump!

This was probably the most exhilarating experience I have ever had.  I am at a loss for words on how to explain the experience, all in all it was the greatest and most liberating rush.  It wasn't quite the "roller coaster drop" feeling I thought it would be, it was more of supported float which gave me the sense of flight.  Here is that loss of words again.

I am extremely grateful that I have a great friend that went with me and got to experience this as well.  How many people do you know that would jump out of an airplane with you? So maybe we are a little crazy, but then again who isn't? If George Bush Sr. can do it at 90 years old than anyone can.  I may need to keep up the tradition as Bush has and jump every 5 years on our birthday hereafter, since we are kindred birthday spirits and all!

And just remember "there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane!"