nine travel essentials

Tuesday Topics this week is on “nine travel essentials” and since we are just getting back from our trip out to Utah, I’m excited to share a few things that we found useful (especially with a 10-month old baby)!_MG_8596button

1. Some kind of GPS. We used the maps on our smartphones all the time when we were out west. I’m not so good at following directions when people just tell them to me, so I love that the GPS has step-by-step instructions.

2. A snack for the road or flight. We always seem to be driving at lunchtime, so we usually bring something to tide us over until we get wherever we’re going. When we’ve flown, I like to bring granola bars as a snack (especially when it’s early in the morning)!

3. Books/magazines to entertain the baby and yourself (especially when flying).

4. Baby bibs, spoons, sippy cup/bottle. Pretty self-explanatory, but for some reason I was so worried I’d forget these things before we left.

5. A water bottle. I have a pink Nalgene that went pretty much everywhere with us on our trip. It was especially appreciated when we were walking around the zoo for about three hours!

6. Comfortable walking shoes. (Photographing a wedding in heels is not the most comfortable thing ever…)

7. Sunglasses and sunscreen.

8. A camera! It shouldn’t surprise anyone that this made it on my list 🙂

9. A travel buddy! Having a buddy makes juggling a baby and luggage a whole lot easier. And of course, having Michael around made everything about a thousand times more fun 🙂

Linking up with Tiffany and Lauren!

ten things I live for

I live for the little moments in life. The ones that fill up your heart.

Like when my baby girl looks up at me and smiles for no reason at all, other than that she loves me.

Or when Michael is so grateful for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I made him, even though he’s probably had about 1500 of them since we were married (one every day, and nope, I’m not kidding)!

I live for making memories and then reliving them through my photographs and writing.

I live for that first moment between sleep and wakefulness in the morning.

I live for motherhood._MG_4853

I live to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I live for friends who stay to talk and laugh for hours.

I live to create and use my talents.

I live for the way Michael holds my hand in the car.

I live to strive to become better each day.

Linking up with Lauren and Tiffany for Tuesday Topics!

one lifelong dream

Tuesday Topics this week is on a lifelong dream! I’ve had so many goals and aspirations throughout my life so far, but the one ambition I can always remember having is this…

I’ve always wanted to help animals. I have had a special love and connection with them ever since I was a little girl, and I’ve forever had a desire to heal the sick ones, feed the hungry ones, and love those that had no one else.

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me and my childhood dog, Shadow

When I was small, I thought that the only way to help animals was to become a veterinarian, so that’s what I set out to do. In my college years, I realized that that wasn’t exactly what I wanted as a career.

While my current focus is on being the best mother I can be, I hope that one day I can do more- maybe volunteer at a shelter, foster some puppies or even consider working as a veterinary technician. For now, I’ll just keep advocating adoption over buying pets. I’m so grateful for all the amazing rescue organizations that have helped so many pets find loving homes, especially my Jax._MG_6640Linking up with Lauren and Tiffany!

two places I’ve traveled

I’m pretty excited about the subject for Tuesday Topics this week… travel! Four years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to study abroad in Europe, so here are a couple of my very favorite places from my experience there. (I do wish my photos were better, but the camera I had back then was probably worse than the one on my current smartphone. Yup.)

1. Riva San Vitale, Switzerland
This is where I lived, had classes, ate meals, and most importantly, made new friends with people I will never forget. This was our villa:

DIGITAL CAMERAAnd here was our backyard!  Aren’t the palm trees beautiful? (Not all of Switzerland is snow and mountains like most people think)!DIGITAL CAMERA

Although there really isn’t much to see there from a tourist’s point of view, Riva was our home base during our stay in Europe, and it will definitely always hold a piece of my heart.

2. Santorini, Greece
I didn’t know anything about Santorini before arriving there, but out of all the places I saw in Europe, it quickly became my favorite. We were there in March, which is the off-season, so it wasn’t busy and we were able to enjoy having the island mostly to ourselves!

I love the buildings on the coast.DIGITAL CAMERA DIGITAL CAMERA And the architecture…santorinicollage1As well as the sunsets…DIGITAL CAMERA We ate SO MUCH in Greece, and I am always on the hunt for authentic Greek food in the States now.foodgreeceWe drove four-wheelers all over the island, visited beaches, and even hiked up a volcano! I hope one day to be able to go again and do it all with Michael.DIGITAL CAMERA

Linking up with Lauren and Tiffany!

four things I learned outside of school

Tuesday Topics this week is on “four things I learned outside of school”, so here goes:

1. Be kind to others because you really, truly, never know what someone is going through.

2. Do what you feel is right for YOU. People are always going to tell you how they think you should live your life (especially once you start a family)! Only you know what is best for yourself and your family, so stick to what you know is right in your heart.

3. Your self-worth isn’t equivalent to how big (or how non-existent) your paycheck is.

4. Taking time to pursue and improve upon your talents is so important. Michael has always encouraged me to follow any interest I’ve had (and believe me, I’ve drifted between a lot of different activities, from photography to sewing to cake decorating). I’ve loved seeing myself improve over the past few years.

Linking up with Tiffany and Lauren!

five songs that bring back memories

I’m doing Tuesday Topics again this week (with Lauren and Tiffany), and the subject is “five songs that bring back memories”. I might not have been born in the south, but I am a country music junkie through and through, so here we go:

“Never Grow Up” (Taylor Swift) – When this song first came out, I was at an age I’d label as “new adult”. I was newly married, about to finish university and trying to figure out how the world works. I was stuck between wanting to still be a “kid” (although in many ways I still am), and being forced to tackle the challenges that come with growing up. Now when I hear it, I think about how fast my baby girl is growing. This song can make me cry every time I hear it, without fail.

“Drive” (Alan Jackson) – The first verse of this song brings me back to when I was a little girl and we’d take the boat out on the lake in the small town where I grew up. Those were the days before my brother was born, so it was just the three of us. I remember wearing that little fishy life jacket and watching the boat break up the waves. (I was 4 years old in this photo.)boatdrive

“Farmer’s Daughter” (Rodney Atkins) – I’d say this was one of Michael’s first “favorite” country songs, and it was also the song that Lelia had as her alarm when we did foal watch together a couple of springs ago. (Foal watch means that you sleep at the barn and wake up every couple hours to check on the mares… so I heard that song a lot)! It was dark, chilly, and even a little scary trudging out into the fields all by our lonesome. None of the mares foaled that night, so they just gave us these sleepy-eyed stares every time we checked on them. I always think of that night whenever I hear it now.

“It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” (Travis Tritt) –  I kid you not, this song comes on the radio every single time I’ve been going through a trial or just having a bad day. It’s such a good reminder that today can be a good day if we make it one, and this life really is something special.

“Wanted” (Hunter Hayes) – I first heard this song last year when I was pregnant with Kaya, and it made me cry my eyes out because it perfectly described the tiny princess I was so eager to meet. She was and is so wanted and I always want her to feel that way. Some of my favorite lyrics: “You know I’d fall apart without you…
I want to wrap you up…
I want to make you feel wanted
and I want to call you mine
Want to hold your hand forever
And never let you forget it
Yeah, I, I want to make you feel wanted”.

And now that I’ve gone all sappy on you… here’s a cute picture of Kaya to make up for it!_MG_6842

9 pictures

I’m participating in this Tuesday Topics link-up again this week, and today the topic is “nine pictures of you and your spouse”! It was really fun to go through many of my photos from the past five years and see how much we’ve all changed.

I tried to pick photos that held good memories, but I also wanted to use some that haven’t been on the blog before, so here goes:

October 2008 at a “1980’s-themed” birthday bash.DIGITAL CAMERA

Christmas 2008 at Grandma & Grandpa T.’s house100_0558January 2009, engagement photosDIGITAL CAMERA

May 2009, MARRIED! 🙂may 2009 087-2 May 2009- The lease on our apartment didn’t start until two weeks after our wedding, and we were blessed to have a friend who let us stay in her empty apartment. We had no table to eat on, so we had dinner on this plastic storage tote for awhile. I love this photo because it reminds me of just how simply we lived, especially at the beginning of our marriage.DIGITAL CAMERAFebruary 2011 on my birthday!IMG_2834 September 2012, maternity photos_MG_4820 September 2012, we welcomed our little Baby Bird!_MG_5447March 2013, Easter. Love these two more than anything in the world ever._MG_3522

ten things that make me happy

I saw this “Tuesday Topics” link-up, and it sounded pretty fun, so why not join in? Here ten things that make me happy, in no particular order… 🙂

1. falling asleep cuddling with my best friend
2. waking up to my sweet, smiling baby girl_MG_36873. my pets (and really any animals in general)

_MG_40214. photography
5. running
6. baking (and eating!) sweets
7. weekends (because that means family time!)
8. writing in my journal (I do it every single night)
9. visiting the temple_MG_459210. my whole crazy family_MG_8766