Royal Wedding Mania!

I don't know about you but I am SUPER EXCITED for Prince William and Kate's wedding this week. In fact, my parents don't have dvr right now so I have every intention of staying up all night tomorrow to watch the events. My husband thinks I am crazy. It must be the young girl in me. The one that grew up with Prince William as the real Prince Charming. I'm pretty sure after Diana passed away and I became obsessed with anything to do with their family, I thought I would one day meet and marry Will. ( It's ok though. Royalty is not for me and I found my own Californian prince ;) 

Here are some great sites with fabulous Royal Wedding ideas. If I was going to be in town I would totally do a party for the event! ( Did anyone see Regis this morning?! Oh, it was good!)

You have to go here to see what the TomKat Studio has to say/show about the wedding! 

And, stop by Oh Goodie Designs 

to see the blue velvet royal cake! 

The Knot has been following wedding plans for the big day as well as "guessing" on what things might be like. They set up the best viewing party on Regis today! Follow them here. 

 

I cannot wait!

Dodger Cupcake Pops!

Every year for Trav's birthday I make some sort of Dodger dessert. A few years ago it was an LA baseball funfetti cake that I am pretty sure he ate in one setting! This past year I decided to try cupcake pops that I had seen on Bakerella. I already had the miniture flower cookie cutter to make the chocolate cupcake liner look so I gave them a try.

They turned out ok. Not totally how I pictured but now I know what needs to be fixed and what will be easier for the next time! It was fun to try something new and my husband loves anything Dodger related! Again, I need another excuse to try these cute mini cupcake pops again! 

And, with Trav's birthday coming up in a little over a month I am in need of a new Dodger dessert idea. 

If you have any, let me know!

Our Sports Day

We woke up Friday to find it was going to be a rainy day. Not the mild drizzle we had seen so far, but some pretty decent rain. Can you guess what I forgot to pack on this trip? Yup, an umbrella. Who goes to Seattle without one? Apparently we do. So as we packed up and set out for a full day we had to borrow one from the hotel that was big with an even bigger SHERATON written across it. Hello tourists!

We tackled public transportation and rode to the University of Washington. I should get something straight. While we were finally getting the old "bus" thing, we never knew where we were supposed to get off. Just what number bus we needed. This led for some interested times of, " Do you think here? No, let's wait one more. Well, maybe one more stop. Eh, this one looks fine." As we trucked through the rain, huddled under one umbrella, we found the school. It's huge. HUGE. Small, private Christian Universities just don't compare to these campuses. I would without a doubt get lost going to class each day. We walked around checking out the old buildings. Because we are super mature we came up with this game to pretend we were checking out the school. For awhile Trav was there for grad school and was talking loudly ( in an accent I have never heard of) about his degree and the school. After that we decided to just look inconspicuous, as if this was our campus and we knew just where we were going. This was fun until we remembered the umbrella we were caring.

After finding their gym, Trav was determined to go inside. We started walking all around so he could try opening every door he saw. All locked. But finally, a door opened. A shady door. One that probably was not supposed to be left unlocked. It led us through some starch white halls, by the womens vball lockeroom, and through their hall of fame. The hall of fame was awesome! I was in just as much heaven in there as Trav was. However, as we passed each case lights would flick on all over there place. We were easy to spot!

I lost Trav for a minute and walked through another door to find him standing in the doorway leading into the gym, just speechless. He wanted to go down on the court so bad. But that seemed a little to risky and  while we were there one of the women's player came in to shoot around. 

Right next door was the football stadium. Trav again found an area in the gate we could walk through and than the one open tunnel leading out into the stadium. Now it was my turn for my jaw to drop. I was mesmerized. It opened up onto the lake which was gorgeous. Trav kept daring me to run down on the field but not a chance I would have!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat, found the right bus, and headed back to our hotel. From there we decided to journey on over to where the Seahawks and Mariners play. We have this thing where we want to see all baseball fields, football stadiums, and basketball arenas throughout the states. We love it! And, we have conquered some states already! Our first stop was Quest Field: Home of the Seahawks and Sounders. 

( from here we saw great views of the city with all the fog)

Around the corner was Safeco Field: Home of the Mariners! And tons of sports fan shops we strolled through.

A short walk away was China Town. We walked through some of it but there were some rough crowds and we stuck out majorly. We decided to head back to where are bus had dropped us off and Trav was pumped because it was right by....the Police Museum. Of course we went in. My husband was in heaven. There was a sweet lil' old lady working the front so we chatted with her for a bit. After taking the tour we found the kids area. The had dress up clothes. Police dress up clothes. The tops didn't fit Trav but I didn't hesitate to rock it! We spent a good chunk of time taking pictures and messing around with the call boards. Kids at heart I guess. As we left, we met a policeman from the city, the one who opened the museum. Trav talked with him for a good 20 minutes and he had some great advice for Trav!

As we were waiting for our bus we realized we were on the wrong side of the street. We stood in the rain as it passed us by. The only thing we could thing to do was take off running to the other side of the street and head to their next stop figuring we would make it in time. We were feet away waiting at a red light while the bus was loading up at it's next stop. As soon as the light turned green, the bus took off, leaving us running again behind it. This continued until we made it back to our hotel!

From all our walking that day we were famished by dinner. So hungry we couldn't make up our mind what to eat. We found ourselves walking around the city, indecisive and growing hungrier by the minute! There was this restaurant by our hotel, Tapas Grille, that Trav had been referred to from someone at work. We skipped it the first day because it looked too pricey but we were so hungry and couldn't walk another foot we stumbled inside. And what did we find? The most amazing happy hour ever! Literally. I don't know how we lucked out with the happy hours we found. At this one we ate popcorn shrimp, chicken skewers, sushi rolls, spinach artichoke dip, and Trav got a bacon burger all for cheaper than if we had eaten at someplace like Islands and the food was delicious! ( Little did we know we would find ourselves back here another time!)

It was a great day filled with sports for us! The rain sure didn't rain on our parade. We had such a great time and I am pretty sure we walked at least 10 miles....much needed considering how much we were eating!

I ♥ Pinwheels

It's official. I have fallen in love with pinwheels. They are my new favorite addition to any event, dessert, table, you name it. I have a whole folder on my computer filled with ideas for what to use pinwheels with if the chance arises. Sick, I know.

It all started when planning Teri's shower.

  I found a site on Etsy that had the cutest pinwheels. While there weren't any in the colors we wanted, the seller was sweet enough to find the perfect paper to go with the theme. Once they arrived, I knew it was the start of something good. ;)

How cute are they in cupcakes?!?

I've been finding all sorts of tutorials on how to make them, pinwheel garlands, and much more. Hopefully I will have an excuse to make some here soon! Until than, I'll keep blog searching for more ideas! :)

DIY Menu Organizing = Amazing!

While blog stalking fun things to make I stumbled across this super cute menu organizer. I love it! I've missed being able to plan out menus for the week. I blame my older sisters for certain things I do because I have grown up watching them and menu planning would be one. Their grocery shopping is much more organized than mine ( and they prob save more) because they know what they need for the entire week. This organizer is so cute because you can write down your shopping list, place your recipes in slots for the days they will be used, and store coupons. Now I need someone who can teach me to sew because as far as I have gotten are just buttons and simple stitching! 

Is it weird that things like this make me excited for the future, for one day being a mom with something like this hanging on my fridge?Ah, one day!

Click here to go see the site and DIY instructions!

Finding Simplicity

How hard is it to find simplicity? I don't know about you but in the fast paced, living large Orange County life style, I find it hard. Extremely hard. Days are packed full. More is better definitely seems to be the trend. Cell phones, computers, tv, and Ipads are always present.  And on top of it all, we seem to run ourselves ragged. 

I recently joined a bible study with a group of fabulous women of the Lord and we are working through a study called  Becoming a Woman of Simplicity. I didn't realize how much I desperately wanted a life of simplicity until I began reading. The first week they met was right after we returned from our trip and being the space cadet I can sometimes be I totally forgot about it. That sounds bad. I'm sure you are thinking, " How do you forget bible study!?" But I did. Than this past week I hopped on the 57 an hour before it started to head to Irvine. An hour later I hadn't even made it Angel's Stadium. Traffic was absurd. In fact, I began talking out loud in my car because I was convinced the devil was keeping me from making it there. I almost gave up and turned around. He almost won. But out of no where traffic let up and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. I did a somewhat victory/evil laugh and said, " Ha! See! You can't keep me away" ( Do you think he can hear us? Or maybe he just tunes our obnoxious, victorious comments out.)

This past week we talked about grace. Whew. That's a subject that could be talked about for a whole year and I think I would still not totally understand why I am given such an incredible gift...for free. The author talks about how grace simplifies our lives. I can't get enough of the verses on grace. Ephesians 1:3-8 talks about how we are chosen, about how He adopted us. So stinking cool.  All because He loved us. That blows my mind. I'm so completely far from perfect, I fail so much, and I often think I don't measure up to those around me yet my God chose me as His child. He adopted me into His family so I could be an heir. To carry on His legacy.  I am perfectly imperfect in Him. If you ever have a day where you feel like you don't measure up or that you don't deserve much, remind yourself that you were chosen and that you are given this free gift of grace!

We went on to talk about doing God's work. For some, it is their profession. A friend talked about how working in a non-Christian school is her ministry. What an incredible ministry because she can't read a bible story or say a prayer, it's her actions that have to show Christ's love to others. In Titus 3:8 the words "excellent and profitable for everyone" are used in regards to doing what is good. That's the ripple effect. Those random acts of kindness. Like when someone in the drive through who you have never met pays for your order before you get to the window. Than a few weeks later you find a way to do a random act of kindness. Or maybe it's by volunteering somewhere and by doing so it encourages someone else to do good from good intent. God smiles on those acts of love and when we accept His grace, those acts come from a good intent for we know we aren't saved by them but instead are doing His work here on earth. " They are not the price of salvation, but the proof." - Cynthia Heald, Becoming a Woman of Simplicity.

There was a certain point that hit me hard. For me, ministry has been many things but my heart has been in Africa since I was in high school. But things may change in the next 10 years. My ministry may change. For this trip to Kenya in a few weeks may be my last for awhile. 

 Cynthia Heald said, 

" This was a turning point for me. I came to realize that ministry from God's perspective could be to my family or wherever he happens to place me at that time. Because He knows that my heart is to serve Him- to work out the results of my salvation- He continues to confirm in my heart that I am valuable to Him and that He is capable of guiding me and placing me where He wants me to serve."

That might be hard for me to grasp at first. When we start a family ( not any time soon!), what I think my ministry is now will change. Being a mom is a ministry in itself and I hope I can graciously accept that for a brief time in my life I have to let go of my desire to be in Africa. I don't know when that will be but I'm going to soak up Kenya this trip. The girls made good points that while I may not be going back over the next few years, how awesome will it be to take my children there someday. To show them how to serve in a whole new way. I look at my sister Leanna who has never been but yearns to go. Because of her passion to serve, my niece Maddie frequently raises money from lemonade stands for Uganda, makes headbands to send over, and dreams of one day collaborating with her super cool aunt to open a home for orphans over there. Pretty awesome!

One final quote from a study I am quickly falling in love with. 

" ...I can always fall back into choosing to serve in order to meet a need in my own life or because I want to please people. If any service begins to replace my spending time with God or if I become overly burdened and burned out, than I need to reevaluate my ministry....This is your line of service - to see there is nothing between Jesus and yourself."

As I can sense that more life changes are just around the corner, I pray my heart remains that of being His servant. I pray that I always am reminded that my service requires full concentration with Christ. I pray that I continue to seek simplicity.To truly become a woman filled with it. I pray that I am always open to allowing God to place me where he wants me to serve.  

And that I remain still. For in those quiet moments, He whispers and I don't want to miss out.

Who Am I ( Blacklight hands)

I have always loved this song by Casting Crowns. When I saw this video I had to share it!

Enjoy!!

Yummy Garlic Bread Knots!

Last night I made mostacolli for dinner. When Trav and I were first married we ate it quite possibly weekly. Because it makes so much we would have it for dinner, than lunch, than dinner again, than lunch again! I hadn't made it for awhile and it's super easy so I figured it was time to bring it back. 

I would normally serve garlic bread with it but I get so tired of regular garlic bread. And I have this issue where if something is easy or familiar about a meal I need to do something new or creative to spice it up. I started browsing online for homemade bread sticks. I stumbled across a site called Hosier Homemade and a recipe for what she called Parmesan knots that she made while serving mostacolli. ( you can find pictures here )Sounded yummy so I gave them a try!

I felt liked I worked for Wetzel's Pretzels as I rolled out the biscuits into rope-like strands. They were easy to tie in a knot and than I threw them in the oven till they looked golden on top. While they were in the oven I prepared the dipping sauce. I melted a half a stick of butter, threw in some grated parmesan, a little oregano, some parsley, and some garlic powder. I'm really bad about measuring. I always eyeball everything and I don't remember the last time I used a teaspoon while baking. ( Hmmm, if you ever think something I made tastes odd, that is probably why. Don't be afraid to tell me to use measuring cups next time! ;) So, I just poured and stirred until it looked ( and tasted ) right. After they come out of the oven turn them over and dip them in the mix and set them on a plate. They are than ready to go!!

Dinner was delish. A simple meal with a fun twist. Heidi and her boys were here and it's always fun having an excuse to cook for more people.....and watching Huddy go face first for the cake! ;) Those garlic bread knots are dangerous though. Since they are small you can eat so many more. I can't even admit how many I had!

little heart, BIG love

Last Sunday Travis and I experienced something I really pray we never will have to again: a child's funeral. A family from our church & school lost their 3 year old son on Monday of this past week. Tragic does not even begin to describe it.

We had the privilege of having his older sister, Emma, in our Sunday School class all of last year while she was in my mom's kindergarten class. Her little bro would run in to pick her up, pulling at her arms to come with him. She was his playmate, his pal. While we didn't have a personal relationship with Scotty, we knew his mom and his big sister.

All last week emotions stirred in me. Why does this happen? How can you, God, let this happen? He was three! Only three! He didn't have a terminal illness, there was no trauma or no medical history. In fact, the autopsy was inconclusive. There is no medical reason yet why he died so suddenly one Monday morning. On Saturday night friends gathered around the Hardeman's table. My friend Ashley was talking about this book called Heaven is for Real. Another friend brought up a good point, one that had been bouncing around in my head. " We know where we are going when we die, we know we are saved. Yet, why do we fear death so much?"

Sometimes I think it's because we know what we want to do with our lives. Where we want to go. How long we want to live. To us, it makes sense for someone to pass away at 89 but 3, that's just not the right age. Yet, here we go being humans again. Here we are trying to write our own purpose, our own timeline. But it has already been written for us. I couldn't understand why God let something like this happen. Than we went to Scotty's funeral and I caught a glimpse at how God works.

I started crying the minute we walked in the doors of our church and saw his little Tonka dump truck, sand bucket, and construction hat on the steps leading up to the alter. Mounted all over were pictures of a smiling little blonde, blue eyed boy who was full of life. One particular picture had him dressed as an angel standing over a manger with a babe in it. More tears. His parents walked the casket in. Emma led the way, head held high and so brave. Caskets should not be made that small. No parent should ever have to bury their child. Another thing that just was not right. His service was beautiful. It opened with his family's favorite worship songs. Following those  two teachers from the pre school read letters that every teacher who had had him in class wrote about him. This is where I began to see how cool God is. This is where I saw how he works in the smallest of way. This is when I saw how He decides our purpose.

For every one of those letters read talked about Scotty's hugs, his love, his smiles, and his kind heart. I began noticing that I haven't ever met someone so small who understood "loving  thy neighbor" as he did. In his short little life he got it. He got that Jesus loved him and so he showed others Christ's love every single day. He greeted everyone he saw with a hug. He smiled. All the time. In fact they mentioned it was contagious and that he was so polite, so caring, so kind. Love overflowed out of him. Jesus overflowed out of him and it affected people around him. They noticed. They saw something different about this little blonde, blue eyed boy. Their final letter was from the janitor, "Mr. Juan" as he called him. Mr. Juan wrote that every single morning he was greeted with a big hug and a warm smile from Scotty. He said most people ignore him but Scotty made him feel like somebody. Scotty made him feel special. Important. Worth something. Scotty would yell from across playgrounds, gyms, and rooms, " Hi Mr. Juan", changing his day. He said there were days when the weight of the world made him feel like nothing, where he was down and in dark places. Than Scotty would appear. Scotty was a light in the dark places for Mr. Juan. On his last day here on earth Mr. Juan was greeted with one of his famous hugs. But this time Scotty did something different. He laid his head on Mr. Juan's shoulder and whispered, " I love you, Mr. Juan." With a squeeze he took off. Mr. Juan said it felt like he was saying goodbye but I love you always. He said Scotty may have been small but he left huge footprints in his heart. Each person who spoke referred to Scotty as their angel.

Trav and I were remembering the day Scotty, his mom, and Emma were baptized. When it was his turn he walked up to the font, was lifted up, he grabbed ahold of each side and charged his head forward as if to say, " Let's do this. I'm ready." Scotty told his friends at school that following week that he was God's child. That Jesus loved him and each of them. More footprints he left behind.

While to us, death at a young age seems wrong. Not right. Unfair. I could go on and on. But there is no right age. The only thing is our purpose, the reason we are here. We were meant to love, to live a life that is centered around God. To share His love. To be Him to those we meet not matter who they are. To find joy in everything. To be excited about being His child, about loving each other as He loved us. I'm almost 26 years old and I am still figuring it out. Here was a 3 year old who just got it. I want to be like that. I want to be like Scotty where love radiates out of me. When Jesus overflows from me. Where I find joy in everything. 

The preschool led all of us in singing his favorite songs. Through tears, the whole congregation joined in. The last song they also showed  video of him singing it and at the end he said, " I love YOU" to his dad. Such a simple song but he did indeed have a little heart with a great BIG love for Jesus!

My Little Heart

My little heart has a great big love

A great big love for Jesus

My little heart has a great big love

A great big love for Jesus

I heard him knock, I let him in

Now my little heart has a great big love

A great big love.....for Jesus!

Exploring We Go!

Our second day in Seattle we had decided to hit some of the main tourist sites. Trav slept in while I grabbed a coffee and read, "The Hunger Games." ( If you liked Twilight and those tweener books, I recommend this series!) There was a little crepe shop by our hotel that we stopped in for breakfast. Delicious to say the least! The monorail came through a shopping center close by, so we picked it up to head on over to the Space Needle.

The needle is one of those things you have to see, like the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore. We were thankful for a clear day, although windy. We were unable to fully see Mt. Rainier but got a tiny glimpse. There was an option to buy a day pass where you could come back at night so we took off to explore, knowing we would be back soon.

Since we were on foot we set in the direction of the water and walked. Somehow we had to end up at Pike's Market if we followed the water line, right? Along the way we found some pretty cool statues and saw some sites that were off the map but very cool. And than, we made it! Except we made it from the back way which meant climbing up flight after flight of stairs! Winded to say the least!

The market gives you the feeling of being some place else entirely. While walking down the rows of produce and flowers I knew if this was near me I would be a frequent visitor for some fresh food! Trav's dream came true when he saw them throwing the fish. He was as excited as our nephews get when they see Buzz at Disneyland! Behind the market is a wall....a gum wall. Yes, an entire wall covered with the gum of those who pass by. Gross? Kinda. Cool? In a weird way. People were getting into it writing their names and making designs. 

Of course, we realized at this point we were famished and stumbled into Pike's Brewery to be filled with carnivore pizza and bratwurst with apple sauerkraut! Two happy Hardeman's left the restaurant ready to explore some more! We walked the market and the stores lining the street outside. The sun even peeked through, warming us up and giving a glow to the flowers that lined the rooftop. I wanted to get a coffee at the first Starbucks but the line was out the door. 

After a nap, some Cake Boss and Hunger Games we were ready for the best date night I have had. Unsure where to go for dinner we happen to walk past a restaurant called Pink. Of course, I wanted to go in just for the name but it looked way to swanky for us. Trav walked up and talked to the hostess to learn that they had the BEST happy hour deals we had seen. Literally, I still feel like we somehow stole all the food we ate. So we dined amidst pink lighting, pink menus, pink candles, and the Dodger game! 

The  monorail picked us up close by. As we were waiting to get on Trav let a family go in front of us. But they just kept going. The mom looked back, laughed and said, " Bet you didn't think you were letting this many people go first!" They were a family of six...kids. We sat down, Trav looked at me and gave me the look of ," Don't even think about it." I laughed. Little did he know we would have another conversation in the weeks to follow about six children. ;)

Going to the needle at night was the perfect date. I would actually recommend it to any family going to head at sunset and stay till the stars are shown. We stood outside, watching the sun go down over the water and the lights of the city start pooping up all over. Than when it became too cold outside, we found a table by the window, grabbed a coffee, and took in the site. Perfect.

Afterwards, we walked through the Seattle Center and headed through the Queen Anne district on foot. These are the times I love having a 6'6 and very fit husband. ;) We were referred to a dueling piano bar, Chopstix. We stopped in for an hour or so because we had to request some Journey and Eagles. 

A fun day exploring that ended with one of the top dates we have had! 

Travel Day

I don't know about you but the actual day of travel itself makes me tired. Maybe it's the plane ride. Whether I am in a car, boat, place, you name it and I will fall asleep. We left for Seattle early in the morning, made a quick stop in Oakland, and finally landed in our destination. After taking the shuttle to the rental car pick-up we ran into a disaster. Well,not totally. It ended up being a blessing in disguise. But at the time we were both pissed at Advantage and after saying," Forget it. We don't want your car or service." we were driven back to the airport and dropped off. We looked at each other, laughed and said," Shoot. What now?" We hailed our first taxi and headed to our hotel. ( I have never been in a taxi before and was a little too thrilled with the ride. I really wanted to wave my arm or whistle to call one over but didn't get the chance. lol) 

We booked our hotel through priceline, getting a steal, but that meant we had no idea really where it was. We lucked out because it was in the perfect location. Located on the corner of Pike St. and 6th Ave, we soon learned we were in the middle of everything. This helped our decision to forget getting a car at all and instead, walk everywhere. There was a Nike town across the street making my husband one happy guy. 

Our hunger set in and we headed out to find food. After eating, we walked around the downtown and realized right away we were going to love this city. That night we set out to find this cute Italian restaurant, Panevino, that we had a Groupon for. It ended up being a good mile and a half walk but it took us to a part of the city we probably would not have seen if we hadn't of made the trip. Since we had to "earn" our food we were starved. I'm pretty sure we devoured 4 baskets of bread before dinner came. Sick, I know. 

After dinner, we attempted to find the bus we needed to head over to Chopstix, a dueling piano bar. For some reason we love these. Trav always requests the Eagles and I always request Journey. The one in New York, New York in Vegas is the best. ( Recommend it!) They are usually a fun atmosphere. Not like your traditional "bar". People stop in just to sit and listen to them play/sing some of the greatest hits. But, did we find it that night? Nope. Couldn't find where bus 13 picked up so we gave up and headed back to watch tv.
( once again, House Hunters and Cake Boss ;)

While it started off rocky with our rental car it ended being a great day. And due to the cost of public parking everywhere and the one way streets, I am so glad we decided to pass on the car and just walk or use the bus. Total God-thing!

Soul Surfer

Travis and I went to see this last night. I highly recommend it. When we sat down in the theater we realized there was a group of 40 jr. highers behind us. I will admit, we were both annoyed. They were already loud and we really didn't want to miss half the movie because of background noise. But than Trav said," Wait. They are from a youth group." That's when I realized that those kids had chosen to spend their Friday night together at this movie to watch the story of a young girl who gave it all up to the Lord and overcame something greater than any of us could imagine. Awesome. They could have been anywhere but they choose this.

The theater was packed. I imagine a good 75% of the crowd were Christians. But the other half came because they knew a little about her story and I'm sure, wanted to learn more or see how the media portrayed it. Well, they left with an awful lot more. They listened to Carrie Underwood, Dennis Quiad, Anna Sophia Robb, and Helen Hunt sing "Blessed Be Your Name" on the big screen. They heard scripture after scripture quoted. They saw the questions being asked of "Why God let's bad things happen" or "How can this be His plan for my life?." They witnessed a family cling not only to each other but to the Lord's plan for each day. The watched the story of Bethany unfold as she struggled through her trial but with the strength that only He can give, she overcame it and discovered something greater than she thought was possible. Pretty cool.

If you have a free time with Easter breaks coming up, check it out. It's a tear jerker so be prepared.( My eyes were brimming with tears the entire time. )

Here's the trailer :

Our Second Honeymoon

Traveling with Trav is a favorite. But I think I appreciate every little part of it more the longer we are married. Most people think we travel all the time. But, when you have family that lives in other states where you go to visit for holidays and what not that is not exactly " traveling". Sure we've been to San Fran for a wedding with a bunch of friends. Same with Vegas...all with friends. And Colorado this year was to 1) See my roommate 2) Go somewhere since we didn't for our anniversary and 3) Check out possibilities. This trip to Seattle was entirely different than anything we have done. It makes me ready to go some where else now!

You can't top your honeymoon because it's a honeymoon and the first trip as a married couple. Trav and I know each other at such a deeper level now, making this trip like a honeymoon again but easier , I guess. On our honeymoon we felt that if one was doing something the other should. Which was perfect at that time. But now, I know that if he wants to watch ESPN I can curl up with a good book and its fine. Or he can sleep in as late as he wants while I sneak out to grab a coffee, take a little walk, and than head back to my book. I even took a nap one day which is rare while he stayed up watching....Cake Boss & House Hunters. ( Don't tell I told you ;)

Seattle was an incredible city. There are some big cities that are dirty or overwhelming or you can't take too much of. We couldn't get enough of it. As we walked the streets each day we soaked in every little detail about it. The air was crisp and fresh and clean. I loved walking the streets in a coat and scarf with Trav holding my hand to keep warm. There was a hustle and bustle about the streets but it wasn't too much. We learned quick how to be like locals there when it comes to walking and public transportation!

I can't say enough what a treat it was to have Trav for six days, all day. No work. No school. Just us. We hadn't realized how much we've missed that. I laughed more than I have all year. I was reminded how easily Trav can make me laugh. Literally laugh until I'm going to cry, be sick, or pee. There was one day we were coming back up the elevator. We were already laughing and teasing each other about the bus ride. We got off and walked to our room. Trav was trying to unlock the door but every time he went to swipe the key I would mess it up. Between that, giggling, and Trav twisting the door handle trying to open it we were causing a ruckus. Until we realized the card wasn't really working. At the same time we froze, looked up, and realized we were at 2026 not 2126!!! Crap! We doubled over laughing and barely made it back to the elevator. Once on the elevator I was crouched on my knees laughing so hard and we both had tears streaming down our faces. I wish I could have seen the people in the room as they looked through the peephole to see who was breaking into their room! 

I was amazed at how quickly Trav and I slipped back into a routine like we used to have when we were living on our own. It made me cherish those moments with him even more. Pretty sure I fell in love with him all over again. Each day I realize different reasons why I am so thankful for him and how we are without a doubt a match made in heaven. I love how how he shares my passion for traveling, trying new things, and wanting to make the most out of our time here on earth! Seeing new places with him is fun because he gets just as excited about each thing as a kid going to Disneyland for the first time! I'm sure there are many more adventures in store for us.

There is so much to say about our 6 days that I think I will split it up and talk about the highlights of it! That way, in a few months I can look back and remember the little moments :)