Waking up in Paradise

As my 29th birthday was approaching I realized I had not accomplished as many things on my 30 Before Thirty list as I would have liked to by this point. I did feel a little better though knowing that the week of my birthday I would be marking a couple things off the list, one of which was a much needed vacation!  On Friday, June 7th the Hubs and I jetted off to Trinidad and Tobago!  An island in the Caribbean...that's not in  Canada! Nothing against Canada, I have just been there too many times in the past few years.

We stayed a little over a week in Tobago, which was beyond beautiful and relaxing.  Trinidad and Tobago was the perfect Caribbean islands for us; they are off the beaten path and not overwhelmed with tourism, which is how we like to travel.  No chocolate on my pillow for this girl, instead I had beetles landing on my pillow in the middle of the night! That's part of the adventure right? 

"In the morning you will wake up in paradise," at least that's what the property manager of the cottage we stayed at said the night he dropped us off after picking us up from the airport.  I think he was right!  This was our view every morning of Englishman's Bay.

We took a boat out one day and went down the west side of the Island.  We went fishing and went snorkeling in a couple of the bays along the island.  We stopped at Paradise Bay and cooked our fish on the beach.

Enjoying my new camera on the boat ride

Happy Birthday to Me!  On my Birthday we spent the day at three different beaches swimming and relaxing.  I would have to say it was pretty perfect to spend my birthday in the Caribbean! The above Jetty is at Pigeon Point.

Beach #2 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Mount Irvine Beach.  We weren't the only ones relaxing and sleeping on the beach :)

Beach #3 of Caribbean Birthday relaxing was Englishman's Bay.  Here we watched the sunset on a perfect Birthday!

I went in for a little dip in my Birthday Suit on my Birthday! This would be the second thing I checked off my 30 Before Thirty list! :)

While in Tobago we also hiked around in the Rain Forest on Gilpin Trail.  It was a beautiful Rain Forest with lots of birds and waterfalls.

We also hiked up a river in Bloody Bay one day.  It was a little ironic due to the fact that after the hike in Bloody Bay I came out of it Bloody.  I slipped and busted my knee open, oops!

We also made our way into Trinidad one day and walked around Port of Spain.  We found a local street market and tried out some of the local street food.  One of my favorite parts about traveling to different countries is experiencing the local cuisine and street foods.

Until our next adventure...

 

Be Our Guest

How long does it take one to post pictures of their new house? After moving into our new home back in February I'm just now taking the time to put pictures and floor plans up.

Welcome to our new home...

Living Room, looking to the Foyer

Living Room, looking to the Patio

Family Room

From the Family Room looking into the Kitchen and Breakfast Nook. So Glad the Terra-cotta floors are gone!

Kitchen.  Next big project after the upcoming built-ins is to refinish the cabinets.

Laundry Room

Dinning Room

Bedroom #1 - Office

Bedroom #2 - Guest Room

Hall Bath

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Look at that glorious shoe storage!!!

Exercise Room

Backyard and Deck, perfect site for a future Hot Tub!

Looking at all these pictures now it makes me want to work on a project...off to finish my kitchen table!

Build-A-Birdie

Are you ever too old for stuffed animals?  I think not! My "Best Friend" was made this weekend when I went to a Build-A-Bear Workshop.  The best part about my new bear...she was FREE!

While walking around the mall, my sister and I decided to go into Build-A-Bear to see what it was all about.  I had never been into a Build-A-Bear workshop before and have been wanting to make one for years, but what 28 year old goes into a Workshop to build a bear without a child in tow? While we were looking at the wall of unstuffed animals, a Bear Builder (that's what I am calling him) came up to us to see if he could help. I told him that I was just looking at the options they had for bear building because I have been wanting to make one for years and that Building-A-Bear was on my "30 Before 30" list.  Not prepared to actually Build-A-Bear that day he threw me off guard when he said he would give me a bear for free! Who am I to turn down a free Bear?

Step #1 - Choose Bear and begin to build

Step #2 - Proceed to Fill 

Step #3 - The Heart Ceremony. Yes, I rubbed a silk heart on my body so my bear could possess qualities like mine!

Step #4 - Insert your Bears heart

Step #5 - Dress and name your new Best Friend...Birdie Thirty was born on 4/27/13.

After the birth of Birdie I went to the cash register to pay for the outfit I dressed her in.  The Bear Builder checked me out an proceeded to give me Birdie's outfits for free too! You rock Bear Builder!

So just in case Seth MacFarlane's tale of a child's stuffed animal coming to life is true...I can't wait to be your Thunder Buddy Birdie!

     

Anniversary Gifts by Year

April 21, 2007...The day I married Trevor!  As our first anniversary approached us the following year I already knew what I was going to get him, well kind of.  I have always known that every anniversary has a traditional gift to give your spouse and I knew that I wanted to follow the traditional anniversary gifts as long as I could, and I have.

I will admit there is one slight issue with giving the traditional anniversary gifts...it's not easy.  I'm not sure how old the list is, but it doesn't tell you exactly what to go buy.  If only the list was a little more straight forward and it said TV, new bike, or what my husband is thinking but won't tell me (now that would be helpful). Instead it has things like cotton, leather, and wood; what am I supposed to do with that?  Luckily I have a year to think about these things! The list of traditional and modern anniversary gifts can be found HERE.

As my sixth anniversary is fast approaching I thought I would share the last five years of anniversary gifts I have given my husband.

FIRST ANNIVERSARY - PAPER

Plane Tickets and Pictures

We knew that we wanted to go on a trip for our first anniversary so we purchased tickets to Costa Rica.  We spent two weeks backpacking the country, it was an awesome trip.  Nowadays though you don't get paper tickets any more, so I threw in a little something else...I took abstract pictures of my husbands work truck and printed them out and framed them.

Zip Lining in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Beach Manuel Antonio

Pictures I took for the Hubs

SECOND ANNIVERSARY - COTTON

Concert tickets wrapped in a T-Shirt

What in the world do you buy a man that is made of cotton? Especially that could be an anniversary present! This one took some thinking.  I purchased concert tickets to one of my husbands favorite bands that was coming to town and wrapped them in the bands t-shirt.

THIRD ANNIVERSARY - LEATHER

Baseball and Baseball Tickets

If only we would have gotten married in October or November...FOOTBALL!!! I still love baseball though, it's America's favorite pastime, and games are always fun to go to.

FOURTH ANNIVERSARY - FRUIT & FLOWERS

Boudoir Photography

Instead of being literal with this anniversary I spiced it up a bit! I took Boudoir photos that incorporated fruit and flowers into them.  (Photography by the wonderful Sherry Hammonds)

Fruit...

and Flowers!

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY - WOOD

Tree and Wood Coupon Book

Due to a bad drought we had the previous year our magnolia tree we planted the first year we bought our house ended up dying.  So this anniversary worked out perfect for me when I went and bought a Chinese Pistache and had it planted in our back yard.  Hanging around the tree I also made a wooden coupon book for the Hubs with things like dinner of his choice, a free massage, etc. 

SIXTH ANNIVERSARY - IRON

TBD
*Nice try Trevor*

Moving Postcards

What do you do on a dreary Saturday when you're sick?  Why catch up on your correspondence, that's what!  Man, I sound like someone in a Jane Austen novel.

After moving into a new house a question is presented of how to get your new address out to your friends and family.  Instead of making the impersonal text message, email, or Facebook post why not mail out your new address.  Plus who doesn't love getting stuff in the mail?

This is the second house that I have made my "New Address/Moving Postcards" and I just love them!

Making them is simple enough since after just moving you should have most of the supplies to make them.

Supplies Needed:

Cardboard

Boxcutter

Fine Point Sharpie

Fragile Packing Tape

Postcard or Measuring tape

"New Home" Stamp (optional) 

First things first, cut up your moving boxes.  What I normally do is cut the closing folding flaps off (technical term), they make for good size and make for less cutting later on.

After cutting off the closing folding flaps of the boxes you will need another postcard for size comparison of just the measurements of a standard postcard, which is 4x6.  Then cut each postcard to size with the box-cutter on a hard surface and use an extra piece of cardboard as a mat.

Now I didn't exactly have the fragile packing tape when I moved so I had to go find it.  If you are like me and didn't use it either, here is a tip for finding it to purchase...UHAUL!!!  I went to seven places before finding it, I thought I should share. 

On the back side of the postcards place the tape and cut off the excess with a box-cutter. 

Since on postcards there is no need to write a return address make sure to include your new address with your name as well so your recipients know who it is coming from.  Also, the thickness of these postcards do not qualify to ship at a postcard rate with the USPS, so a first class stamp (forever stamp) is needed.  

Now the only thing left to do is move so you can make these!