things i'm dreaming of {august}:

this super cute blouse.

a fun color for nails and lips.

vacationing in Norway.

this recipe for one last summer BBQ.

a floral tee in black and white.

this book for my bookshelf.

nail polish perfect for my skin tone!

this duvet cover.

image via

running out of summer days.

With summer on its way out and fall just around the corner, I'm getting really excited for some weather changes. But that also might just be because it's been 100 degrees over here recently, with 80% humidity. I die.

Between evening classes and life just being generally busy, there have been quite a few summer activities I haven't gotten around to doing yet this year. Fortunately, my sister-in-law is visiting us this week and was up for a visit to the zoo! Our first 10 minutes was spent searching for an animal (it was so hot they were all hiding), and it pains me to report that a squirrel digging through a garbage can was the first one we saw. The seal tunnel (with A/C!), however, made up for those initial disappointing moments. I'm not an animal person - never have been, never will - but that seal tunnel was pretty sweet and definitely something I could regularly visit.

We have a few festivals going on this weekend and we'll probably hit up a local burger joint in between! Gotta get all of these summer activities in before it's too late. :)

Happy Friday!

Seattle, WA + Ketchikan, AK

An Alaskan cruise made its way on to my list of things I really, really want to do someday about a year ago, so I'm sure you can imagine how stoked I was when things lined up perfectly and I was able to go recently. (Definitely jumped online and purchased a waterproof jacket before tickets had even been booked, ha.) It's probably a good thing we booked it just a few weeks before departure and I didn't have too long to get excited and ready for it, because I'm really awful at waiting around for exciting things to happen! I love spontaneous trips and activities.

Sorry for the blurry cell phone pictures mixed in!

On Saturday, I met my mom and grandparents (who just celebrated their 60th anniversary!!) in Seattle where we got on the ship. We explored the ship, ate some good food, discovered brownie cheesecake, went to a show, walked laps around the ship, read, slept, read, ate, dealt with some (minor) motion sickness, read, slept some more, ate, went to a show, ate more cheesecake, walked laps around the ship, read, and went to bed. Basically, we ate and slept non-stop for a day, and it was definitely relaxing.

Monday morning we woke up in Ketchikan, Alaska!

It was such a quaint fishing town--yes, quaint!--that I couldn't help but fall in love with the brightly painted buildings, greenery, and that small town feeling. We jumped on a tour bus and rode around the town (There are 3,000 residents that live there and it's the 5th largest city in Alaska! Crazy, huh?) before heading over to the Saxman Native Village Totem Pole Park. Honestly, I didn't expect the totem poles to be very interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised. They were taller, more intricate, and more colorful than I was expecting, and the stories behind some of them were so interesting! If you ever find yourself in Ketchikan, take a few minutes to walk around the park and snap some pictures.

After some souvenir shopping and fish tasting (no fish for me!), we jumped back on the ship and I quite enjoyed laying out in the sun with a book before we headed off to dinner and a show. We ended the evening with a treat, a few laps around the ship and some reading. I was thrilled about having so much free time to read - I don't take near enough time at home to read "fun" books.

Tuesday morning we woke up in the capitol, Juneau, Alaska!

along the journey.

In this old world, all of us get a little nicked and scarred, beat up here and there. We become damaged in some ways, and we probably do more damage to others than we’d like to think. Along the journey, we become a bit jaded, weary and wary, and it’s easier to mistrust than trust, easier to abandon hope than harbor it, and perhaps for good reason. We have to protect ourselves. It’s a part of life, unfortunately; part of what we all experience.

Maybe that’s why we all need to hold a newborn every so often. Looking into the eyes of an infant, all you can see is peace and innocence. And if you look a little deeper into a baby’s eyes, perhaps you can see hope and sweetness in the reflection of your own face. Babies give us the chance to leave one world and enter a better one.

Excerpt from here

This little one belongs to a friend of mine from church. She was born last week and is the sweetest thing! Taking her photos was so much fun. . .and much easier than trying to get photos of a toddler! ;)

vacations are the best.

Oh hey there! I spent the past week cruising Alaska with my mom and grandparents, and it was absolutely fabulous in every way possible. Plus, I love crossing off items on my bucket list. :)

1,500 pictures taken.
20 ice cream cones.
7 days on a cruise ship.
5 days spent enjoying the spa.
4 cities explored.
3 books read.
2 whale and dolphin sightings.
1 bald eagle sighting.

Can't wait to share some photos!

the freezer meal world.

I know this is probably one of the more unappealing pictures of mine to grace this blog, but don't click away just yet! It's just beans. :)

Recently, I discovered the beauty and joy of throwing everything and anything in my freezer. Casseroles, enchiladas, pizza dough, cookies, refried beans, cut up fruit, herbs that I grew myself (!!), and even a dish towel made its way in there for a few days. I'm ecstatic to have meals mostly ready to go at the snap of my fingers, because heaven knows I'm never too thrilled about making dinner after I get home from work and/or school.

Trust me, you'll want in on these treasures.

Slow Cooker Refried Beans
Homemade Pizza Crust
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Carmelitas 
Black Bean and Cheese Flautas

*Thaw all of the above (minus the cookies) in the fridge for 6-8 hours before cooking. Set the cookies on your kitchen counter to thaw for 2 hours.

I'm new to this freezer meal world, so feel free to share your favorite recipe with me!

Need some fun and exciting date ideas?

Since it's Friday and you might be wondering what you should do for date night this weekend, here are a few of my favorite ideas that you might want to try out! Keep in mind that sometimes things don't go exactly according to plan, so go with the flow and find something that you and your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend would both enjoy. :) I came up with these lists with married couples in mind, but they're easily adaptable for whatever stage your relationship is in. Don't forget to let me know in the comments what some of your favorite free (or cheap!) date night ideas are.

P.S. Tonight we're heading to a free movie in the park put on by the city and will also be stopping by our favorite custard place. It'll be fun, something new, and under $3. Score!

• Go to your local library or Barnes & Noble, find an interesting book to read, and plop down in a comfy chair.
• See if your community puts on free outdoor movies or plays in the park, and hit up one of those!
• Pick a movie to watch at home and make a themed dinner and/or dessert to go along with it. For example: Watch Napoleon Dynamite, serve tater tots and some "dang quesadillas," and have a dance party. Don't forget your chapstick!
• Go for a hike.
• Find a new bike trail and go for a ride.
• Take your laptop to the park and watch a movie. 
• Create a photo scavenger hunt list and find those items/people together. 
• Decorate your home for the next upcoming holiday.
• Go to "Italy." Eat a home-cooked Italian meal, find an Italian Pandora station, and paint like Michelangelo (tape paper to the underside of your kitchen table, but don't forget to wear shirts that you don't mind getting paint on!).
• Go sledding. 
• Play board games.
• Build a fort. 
• Put on a movie but mute it and speed up the time just a little. Together, you create the dialogue for what the characters are saying. You'll be rolling on the floor in tears in no time! 
• Play dress-up at your local thrift store. Put together funny outfits for each other.
• Create a little fire outside and make s'mores.
• Ask each other these questions while stargazing.
• Find a pond and feed the ducks.
• Check out the local farmer's market and sample different foods.
• Hit up a fair or festival going on in your area.
• Volunteer together at a community event.
• "Camp" in your backyard for a few hours. Pull out camp chairs, tell ghost stories, make s'mores, enjoy the stars, then pack it all up when you're done.
• Download a stargazing app and see how many constellations you can find.
• Find out if your community hosts any free 5k runs and do that together.
• Have a YouTube night - take turns sharing your favorite funny clips with each other.
• Look at the pictures on each others' phones and tell the stories behind the photos (or reminisce if you were both there).
• Walk around a free art museum or gallery.
• Go fishing.
• Look up free tourist attractions in your city and tour one you've never been to before.
• Do a puzzle, but don't forget some snacks!
• Learn how to say phrases in another language.
• If you have a GPS, go geocaching.
• Go to the gym together or play on a playground.
• Check out ancestry.com and read up on each others' extended family.
• Stop at garage sales or estate sales, just to see what interesting things you can find. 
• Read a book out loud together.

• Split a meal (take-out) and watch a movie at home.
• Go to a dollar movie and share some popcorn.
• Grab a $5 footlong sandwich from Subway and go for a picnic in the park. Don't forget a baseball and mitts!
• Buy a small bouquet of flowers from your local grocery store and pass out flowers to people on the street who need a pick-me-up.
• Buy a strange ingredient from the store and come up with a recipe using that item.
• Make cookies together and deliver them to friends. (Doorbell ditch them, obviously!)
• Find some postcards of your city and send them to friends or family.
• Walk along Main Street in your town and grab a small treat from a shop you've never been to before.
• Have a little fondue party with just the two of you.

• Go swimming at a community pool.
• Go ice skating or classic skating.
• Check out a local high school's play.
• Mini golf.
• Rent a paddleboat or a canoe and take it for a spin around a lake or pond.
• Buy a small (cheap!) piece of furniture off of Craigslist and fix it up together. (For example: a rocking chair, a nightstand, a small table, a bench, etc.)
• Find a local restaurant that has live music on certain nights and get a meal or treat to share.
• Go to a planetarium (find out if they have discounted nights/hours).
• Pick your own fruit at an orchard.
• Buy a disposable camera and snap pictures of the two of you (yes, selfies) in random places. Get the pictures developed and put the photos up around your home.
• Plant some flowers in your yard. If you're renting, plant them in planters for your porch or inside.
• Go to the pet store and pick out a fish together. 

• Go to a comedy club show.
• Go bowling.
• Check out the zoo if you have one nearby.
• Try indoor rock climbing.
• Have a progressive fast food dinner. Fries at one place, burgers at the second, a shake at the last (or whatever kind of fast food you want!). 
• Take a community class together (cooking, art, dancing, etc.)
• Go camping.
• Go to the shooting range or take a class.