5 places I want to go in 2016.

See 2015's list here.

1. Kansas City, MO // Every time Ben and I drive out west we pass through Kansas City and mention how fun it would be to stop and explore. With a cousin now living there (moved just a few days ago!), I'd love to make the 3 1/2 hour drive to see historic church sites, eat good BBQ, and do some shopping downtown.

2. New York City, NY // Some of our friends moved to NYC last year, and we've been dying to go visit them for a few days! While there I would be ecstatic to see Times Square again, visit the new(ish) 9/11 memorial, and eat a Levain Bakery cookie. (Repeat from last year.)

3. Indianapolis, IN // Ben has an aunt and uncle that live in Indianapolis and with it only being a 4 hour drive away, it sounds like a fun weekend trip! The Civil War museum, Cajun/Creole food at Yats, and a walk along Central Canal are calling my name. (Repeat from last year.)

4. St. George, UT // When I think of a fun and relaxing destination, I think of St. George! I'd love to go with family this year and check out Zions National Park, get a juicy steak at Anasazi Grill, and see an outdoor play at the Tuacahn.

5. San Diego, CA // After going east for our "big" vacation last year, I feel like we need to go west this year to balance things out. ;) I've spent hardly any time in San Diego and have heard lots of good things about it from friends. It would be fun to check out La Jolla Cove, find some authentic Mexican food, and see the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.

Where are you hoping to travel to this year?

babymooning, part dos.

After a few days spent soaking up the sun we decided to get up early one morning and drive 2 1/2 hours north to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. It was such a fun day and we had a fabulous time walking the streets and visiting all of the shops. We went to HP World knowing that I wouldn't be able to go on any of the rides, but discovered at the Hogwarts castle that most non-riders (and their party!) can do a walk-through of the ride/attraction, following which the riders in the party get to jump straight to the front of the line for the ride. The non-riders get to wait in a little room by the exit and watch Harry Potter movies. At the end of the day we totaled up how long Ben would have had to wait in lines and realized that by doing the walk-through option each time, we saved over 3 hours of waiting in lines and Ben never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get on a ride (mechanical issues at Gringotts). That left us with 3 extra hours that we used to hunt down the best treats and explore other parts of the parks.

Honeydukes was beyond adorable and we enjoyed picking out some new candies to try as well as the classic Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans which we used to entertain ourselves while waiting in lines for certain stores.

At one point we asked a cute, older gentleman if he would take a photo of us with Hogsmeade/the Hogwarts castle in the background. The first attempt resulted in a picture of the sky. He insisted on trying again and ended up taking a selfie. Again, he insisted on trying to get it right. This gem of a picture was the final result:

#closeenough :)

There's so much to see and experience at both parts of HP World (trust me- I clocked in at 18,000 steps after walking around for 9 hours!), but our favorites included:  lunch at The Three Broomsticks, frozen butterbeer (save time by ordering it at The Three Broomsticks instead of waiting outside at the street cart), visiting Ollivanders Wand Shop, hearing Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom at Hogsmeade, butterbeer ice cream, doing the walk-through tour of the Hogwarts castle, visiting Gringotts, the Hogwarts castle ride (for Ben), riding the Hogwarts Express, and walking through Diagon Alley.

We spent the next few days of our trip swimming, lounging by the pool, reading, checking out the outdoor shopping mall, giving in to cravings (A juicy burger and fries. Mmm!), mini golfing, grilling, watching football, building more sandcastles, trying some local restaurants, and going for walks around the island. We had a hard time accepting the fact that we couldn't stay forever. ;)

^^ Don't mind our dumb faces and gross beach/pool hair. We looked homeless for a few days. :) ^^

Vacations are wonderful.

babymooning.

Ben and I have been married 3 1/2 years and, believe it or not, until this week we hadn't been on a "real" vacation since our honeymoon. We like to use our vacation time to travel home for holidays or big events, and if we travel around the midwest, we stay with gracious friends and family members who let us crash on their floor. I'm all for spending my travel budget on food and activities instead of fancy lodging!

With little miss on her way before too long (10 weeks left! Ahh!), we decided to treat ourselves to a week of uninterrupted time together in a place where the sun actually shines. A babymoon of sorts, if you will. We've been eating our fair share of Reese's cereal, cruising around the island with no destination in mind, building sandcastles like we're 5 years old, and attending the daily water aerobics class at the resort with the 50- to 85-year old ladies. (And watching out for the hoardes of invisible crabs! Okay, they're white. . .and I've only seen one over the last 3 days.)

Life is good.

catching up.

You know when you discover a food that you love and you eat it every chance you get for weeks, months, maybe even years? And then in one strange moment you realize it's not appealing. At all. You're confused of course, because hello, your favorite food. (Maybe just me? Definitely went through a Pork & Beans phase, a Top Ramen phase, a mandarin orange phase, an oatmeal phase, etc. while in my youth - some lasting for years.)

Well, my friends, that same thing happened to me with blogging. It was sandwiched on my list of delightful activities between cleaning toilets and lugging groceries up two flights of stairs; essentially it became a chore. Granted, it was a self-imposed, non-essential chore and because it was so non-essential, I happily let it fall to the wayside without a care. But now I'm kind of wishing that I'd kept up the last two months with posting pictures or just the basics because I don't document life anywhere else. Everyone has things they're really great at, and for me writing in a journal is sandwiched between rapping and making bundt cakes (totally awful at both... don't ask me to try either) (lots of "sandwiches" today - must be hungry).

So what have we been up to for the last two months? Moving, surviving crazy Airbnb guests, going on bike rides, celebrating our birthdays, cleaning up after a flood in the basement and garage, avoiding unpacking because it's the worst, watching baseball, indulging in Netflix marathons, partying for a weekend with the girls, working more hours in three weeks than I ever thought possible, driving out west to visit family, and celebrating my best friend.

It's been busy. Especially the Netflix part.

 ^^Ben bought me a bike. We flooded. We flooded some more.^^

^^Mormon Night @ the Cardinals. Girls' weekend in St. George. Road trip out west to see family.^^

^^Jackson Hole, WY. Best burger & fry sauce of my life. Sister-in-law's graduation.^^

^^Sister-in-law went through the temple. Baby shower for my BFF. Park City with the family.^^

fam bam in STL.

The best thing about moving away from family is when they come to visit! We were lucky enough to have my parents and brothers hang out in St. Louis for a few days last week and it was a fabulous excuse to use up a few vacation days and eat a few too many calories! We're so lucky that people take the time to come visit us in the hood. (Kidding. It's great and we like St. Louis. :)

^^Brothers are goobers.^^

Since they got in super late Sunday night, we took our sweet time easing into Monday. But. Once we got going, we couldn't be stopped. We saw the Old Courthouse, the Arch, stopped for burgers and fries, walked along The Loop, ate good meat for dinner, and ended up walking almost 20,000 steps that day. Tuesday we braved the rainstorm and explored the Science Center, flew in the simulators, filled up on pizza, and played at the City Museum for a few hours. Sadly, they left us at the end of the day to head to the next stop on their RV tour and Ben and I had to get back to real life. ;)

Come back! We miss you guys!

girls' trip to Chicago.

A few weekends ago, Ben headed to a conference in downtown San Francisco. We had checked flights to see if it'd be feasible for me to tag along and quickly discovered that we'd basically have to sell our kidneys to make it happen. Instead of illegally auctioning off vital organs, I ended up taking the train up to Chicago ($54 roundtrip! What?!) the day after Ben left to meet my mom for a girls' weekend. It was a ridiculously fun, short, cold trip!

^^Eataly was a fun Italian market/restaurant/store to explore. My cousin (who now lives in Chicago) lived in Italy for 18 months and she showed us different foods around the store that she had eaten while living abroad. We picked up some pear & goat cheese stuffed pasta to make for Sunday dinner, and I discovered that, although not awful, goat cheese isn't my favorite. ;)^^

^^Days leading up to the trip, my weather app was telling me it was going to snow a decent amount and be frigid all weekend long. However, we lucked out with light snow and not too terribly freezing temperatures! Rain boots would have been nice though. :)^^ 

 ^^Post-church snack. I'd heard quite a bit about Garrett Popcorn, so we picked some up to try. The dark chocolate and caramel was to die for. (How cute is that house in the background?)^^

^^I'm a big fan of Impressionist art, but especially anything by van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir. While walking around, I came across the painting I've had as my laptop background for a while now and that was pretty fun!^^

^^Obligatory picture with "The Bean."^^

Food we tried that you should probably try, too: Garrett Popcorn, Cafe Iberico, The Purple Pig, Rosebud, Giordano's, Grand Lux Cafe (we went here twice for desserts!)

5 places i want to go this year.

1. Chicago, IL // Living just a short 5 hour drive away, Chicago has become one of my favorite weekend getaways! So much to do, so much to eat. :) This year, I want to try Garrett's Popcorn, see the art museum, and get Spanish food at Cafe Iberico!
Update: Did all three February 7-10!

2. Orlando, FL // I've been once before, but I'm in desperate need of some warmer weather and sun. I would love to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Disneyworld, and grab some food at Yellow Dog Eats.
Update: Conquered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the end of November.

3. New York City, NY // With our friends moving to NYC later this year, I can guarantee we'll be on the lookout for cheap tickets to go visit them. I'd love to see Times Square again, visit the 9/11 memorial, and eat a Levain Bakery cookie.

4. Indianapolis, IN // Ben has an aunt and uncle that live in Indianapolis and with it only being a 4 hour drive away, it sounds like a fun weekend trip! The Civil War museum, Cajun/Creole food at Yats, and a walk along Central Canal are calling my name.

5. London, England // This one is the most unrealistic destination on my list, but it's always fun to dream. :) I'd be over the moon if I could see Big Ben, take a tour of Buckingham Palace, and eat a slow-roast lamb sandwich from Sticky Beaks.

Where do you want to go this year?

Christmas break in Salt Lake City.

I wrote about the first part of our Christmas break here, but I should probably write about the second half of our trip before February rears her pretty little head.

Our Utah trip consisted of:

• Comedy Sportz with family
• exchanging gifts
• playing board games
• eye appointments for Ben (he got PRK while we were there...it's like LASIK)
• Netflix binges
• shopping and running errands
• visiting Temple Square and doing baptisms with everyone for the first time!
• meeting up with family and friends
• family pictures
• touring my dad's new office building
• reading by the fireplace
• face masks & fingernail polish
• trying new restaurants
• Cafe Rio pork salads

It's never fun to say goodbye, but fortunately it usually isn't for very long. :) Until next time, Utah!

Christmas Break Hangover.

Oh, what a great Christmas break we had! Hanging out with our families, Cafe Rio trips, shopping, movies, lots of running around and meeting up with people, and being serenaded on the ukulele by my sister who came home from Hawaii! I can't wait to share pictures and stories, but first, I need to fill my fridge with food and catch some z's. :)

Christmas in Denver.

This year we're hanging out with Ben's family in Denver for Christmas, so we packed our bags last Friday and flew out early, early Saturday morning. No one should ever have to get up at 3:30 am on a Saturday. ;) Needless to say, we both slept the whole 2 1/2 hour long flight instead of watching a movie on the iPad or reading.

Since being here in Denver, we've been playing this game nonstop, eating yummy foods, and finishing up Christmas shopping and wrapping. Saturday night Ben's parents took us to the Denver Botanic Garden to see the fun Christmas lights and oh, how pretty they were! We've watched a few football games, been to a few makeup stores, and had the chance to visit Cafe Rio last night. :) 

Vacations sure are the best!

we basically skipped Halloween this year and went on a trip instead.

A month ago some friends asked us if we'd be interested in trekking across some of Kentucky and Tennessee with them to go to BYU football game over Halloween weekend. Since we love BYU football (Ben especially!), we love spending time with friends, and we don't really love Halloween, it was a no-brainer to tag along.

I think I've mentioned before that every major city around St. Louis is almost exactly 4 or 5 hours away, and in every direction. (A benefit of being smack dab in the middle of the US?) I hit up Memphis with some girlfriends earlier this year and really enjoyed Tennessee, but I've been dying to visit Nashville for the longest time. Good BBQ, country music, and southern accents? Too much for me to handle. Fun fact: I've always wanted a southern accent, but since that won't be happening, I want to convince Ben to find a job in the south so our kids can pick up one. "Yes, ma'am" and "no, sir" all day long? Too cute. Anyway, moving on.

Friday night we stopped in Kentucky for some southern comfort food - mashed potatoes and cornbread muffins galore! - before continuing on to Nashville. We spent the night just outside of the city, and explored downtown Nashville the next morning. (Did you know Nashville's Music City Center is 2.1 million square feet and takes up 16 acres downtown?! It's probably the longest building I've ever seen.) After a tour of the city, we headed to the BYU tailgate for some food and entertainment.

By 11 am it was still only 42 degrees and pretty windy, so within 5 minutes of being outside, Ben and I were absolutely frozen because we had only packed some sweatshirts and thin socks (my fault - I packed and didn't anticipate how cold it would be). I'm sure you can imagine how fun the tailgate was. ;) At least the free BYU stuff, pulled pork and baked beans, and live country music made up for it. Free stuff can make up for almost anything, right? However, before the game started we made a run to Walmart for scarves, gloves, blankets, hand warmers, etc.

The BYU vs. MTSU game was a good one for the following reasons:
1) Watching football in person is better than watching it on the TV.
2) They were selling hot chocolate (at a ridiculous price, but at that point I would have sold my firstborn for something warm) and it was delicious.
3) WE ACTUALLY WON.
4) Believe it or not, BYU had more fans there than MTSU and trust me when I say they came from all over. We saw California, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Oregon, and Maine license plates. Even a mini van from Utah!
5) The guy sitting behind was uttering hilarious comments under his breath throughout the game.
6) WE ACTUALLY WON.
7) The halftime entertainment was priceless.
8) We high-fived all of the players after the game and I think Ben was in heaven.
9) DID I MENTION WE ACTUALLY WON?
10) And we got a picture with Cosmo before the game. Crossed that off the bucket list.

That evening we discovered that Nashville has the best authentic Mexican food ever. Even Ben, who served a Spanish speaking mission and is highly critical of tacos at Mexican restaurants, deemed their tacos as authentic and amazing. Just stop for a minute and picture the restaurant. Blacked out windows in a little strip mall store that looks too ghetto to offer much, entering to find that every single seat is taken and people are crowding around the bar, a huge projector in the front of the restaurant showing a soccer game between two South American teams, and people going crazy every time someone almost scored a goal. I think in between stuffing my face with chips and salsa, I tried to convince Ben to do a postdoc at Vanderbilt University so I can become a regular at the restaurant. It was that delicious. (Cafe Rio sweet pork, however, is still my favorite food of all time.)

We hit the road, got home super late, and somehow made it to church on time. Life is good and I want to move to Nashville.

The end.

this was a "first" for us.

 

It amazes me that after a few years of marriage, you can still have "firsts." You know what I mean by "firsts," right? First car purchase, first real job, first fight (haha), first Christmas together, first anniversary, and so on and so on. This weekend was our first trip away together (besides our honeymoon) in our 2 1/2 years of marriage - because our families live far away, we use all of our vacation time to go out to Denver or Salt Lake City any chance we get. The opportunity for a quick little weekend getaway to Branson, MO presented itself and we were all too eager to jump on it.

The weather recently in St. Louis has been fall-like, so naturally, I packed us sweaters and pants and socks. Since Mother Nature clearly has a mind of her own, she decided to throw us a curve ball this past weekend and bring back the 90 degree & 80% humidity weather. Thus, sweaty faces and frizzy hair. 

The red and yellow trees made up for it all. As did the perfect little lake and marina.

We knew going down that we didn't want to check out any of the shows and we definitely didn't want to have a schedule, so we didn't plan a single thing. We went for walks, we ate good food, we got a malt shake to share from an old-fashioned candy counter, we sat outside under the stars and talked, we explored the town a bit, we read, and we slept well without the noise of the city in the background. It was perfect and relaxing to get away from all responsibilities!

Definitely already planning our next little getaway. :)

Word of advice: go to Branson during the fall and you won't be disappointed.

Also, try the twice baked potatoes at the Chateau Grille.

cruise tips that will make your life easier.

General Cruise Tips:
1. Don't arrive at the ship until an hour or two before it takes off in order to avoid lines! Everyone tries to get on the ship as soon as possible, so you can easily spend an hour or two parking and waiting to get through security/fill out forms.

2. Keep your boarding passes you printed out, your passport and/or birth certificate, and any other important documents you think you might need in a folder that you can easily access. You'll have to pull out these documents multiple times before you're allowed on the ship.

3. Buy yourself some of those motion sickness patches. Never know if you'll need one or not and you don't want to pay the jacked up price at the ship store. (Also take whatever medicine you think you might need. It's just so expensive on the ship.)

4. Order however much food you want....in whatever order you want it. Too good to be true, I know; I thought so, too. I didn't know until this cruise that you can order your meal in any order (dessert first, possibly? ;)) or maybe even skip the entree and just get appetizers.

5. Formal wear night isn't really all that formal. Ladies, feel free to show up in a cute sundress and flats, or even a casual skirt. Men, any shirt with a collar is great.

6. Skip the room with a balcony or even a window! An interior cabin can save you quite a bit of money and you'll probably be spending most of your time out and about anyway. Tip: if you get seasick in an interior room, turn the TV to the channel showing the front of the ship and focus on the horizon. It works wonders.

7. Take the time to unpack your clothes the first day and slide the suitcase under the bed if it'll fit or store it in a closet. It'll make your cabin seem less crowded and everything more organized.

Alaskan Cruise Tips:
1. No matter what time of year it is, take at least a light to medium weight winter coat, gloves, a scarf, and a hat. You won't believe how cold and windy it can get when the ship's moving. Maybe even throw a few hand warmers into your suitcase. Take advantage of the hot chocolate too!

2. Don't forget your umbrella, waterproof shoes, and sunglasses.

3. Take your swimsuit. There were times when we were stopped at a port that it was definitely warm enough to lay out in the sun or jump in the pool. Don't forget a pair of flip-flops for wearing while walking to and from the pool!

4. Check out the week-long spa pass! It might just be the only warm spot you'll find all week long. :)

5. Take your binoculars - you never know when you'll see some wildlife.

Know of any great tips or tricks that I haven't included? Leave a comment below!

Skagway, AK & Victoria, BC

Catch the first part of our trip here and the second part here.

On Wednesday we had the chance to explore a cute little town called Skagway. With only 900 permanent residents, most of the hustle and bustle of the town comes from tourists. Okay, all of the activity comes from tourists. Ha. We checked out a small Alaska museum/gift shop and a few other shops before deciding to ditch "downtown" and just walk around the town. As we were out and about walking, we ran into some missionaries! (We didn't take our cameras out since it was raining when we got off the boat and all I have are camera photos unfortunately.)

^^We found the local LDS church. So small, and so different from any other I've ever seen!^^

Thursday was another day at sea. At this point I had caught some kind of nasty cold, so my day was full of lounging in heated chairs at the spa reading The Help (Side story: Possibly one of my most favorite books I've ever read. Everyone should read it!), eating all of the pre-cut fruit I could find on the ship, and religiously taking DayQuil and vitamins. Fortunately I was able to curtail my cold and my energy came back just in time to explore Victoria Island on Friday!

I had been to Victoria before, but all I remembered was the condo we stayed in and touring some old castle. So between that and just being older on this trip, I felt like I was discovering a new city. Our first stop was Chinatown; honestly, it wasn't as cool as the Chinatown in San Francisco or New York, but it was still fun to walk around and see something different for a change. 

We stumbled across a small outdoor market and a bunch of really cute restaurants on our way back downtown. 

My second favorite thing to see on the island was the gigantic parliament building. It was absolutely beautiful and impressive in every way possible.

^^The famous Empress Hotel - built between 1904 and 1908.^^

After hanging around downtown for a little bit my mom, grandma, and I took a taxi to Butchart Gardens. This was definitely my favorite thing we saw/explored on the island - the weather was perfect for walking through acres of flowers! And now for too many pictures of flowers. . .

To kick off our week of cruising with a bang! we spent our evening watching one last cruise ship show, stuffing our faces with one last fancy dinner we didn't have to prepare ourselves, some reading, and a cheesecake run at 1 am. It was the best and definitely one of my most favorite trips ever, and I'm dying to go back already!