San Diego Adventures, Part 1

Hello all and happy Saturday! I've finally started on these San Diego posts! I've been working on them almost all day today, sorting pictures, and am now compiling 3 full posts all about our recent trip to Cali. So, get ready for 3 parts of San Diego photos and adventure!

Let's start from the beginning. A couple of weeks ago, we had the privilege of traveling to San Diego, California for a mini vacation. I went for a work conference, but Trent tagged along too, and we got to spend time in this beautiful city that neither of us had been to before. We had such a great time. It's such a nice city, and we got to explore quite a bit while we were there.

From the sunsets to the beaches, and all of the fun restaurants and breweries, there is so much to do in San Diego.

And of course, I thought I would share some highlights and fun memories we had while we were there. We hope to visit this city again, and see even more of California someday.

Our first evening there, we got the MTS public transit cards so we could ride the trolley and buses all over the city for just a small fare. Once you have the card, you can get a 1, 2, or 3-day pass for few dollars, and ride all of the trolleys or buses you want for those days. That's the way we traveled most of the time - that and walking a lot! If you don't mind all of the walking involved, I recommend the public transit system to get around.

We went to Old Town and ate at a little Mexican restaurant the first night, then to Seaport Village and just walked around and took in the beautiful scenery.

I immediately fell in love with the natural beauty all around. The sky, the sea, the waves, the trees..It was all very pretty!

We also checked out the Gaslamp Quarter, a historic area with a ton of nightlife, restaurants and bars. We found a little pub there where we watched the Cubs lose horribly to the Dodgers in the playoffs!

The next day, we went out to Mission Beach and Belmont Park. We ate at Draft, a restaurant/brewery by the beach, then just walked around a little.

It was cold and chilly most of the day, even sprinkling a little bit. We were just waiting for the sun come out and be nice again!

We went north a little bit to La Jolla, which was one of our favorite places we visited of the trip. The beach and the whole area was just really pretty.

It was still pretty cloudy while we were there, but the sun slowly started to peak out, and it was beginning to clear up a little bit.

I loved all of the ocean waves and the palm trees.

La Jolla Cove was the best part. There were rocky cliffs jutting out into the ocean, and our first encounter with California wildlife.

Not only was it a beautiful view, but we saw tons of seals and sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks, and could even get up close to them. It was the coolest thing.

They would just all huddle together in groups, and there were too many to even count. They all blended into the rocks, too so were hard to spot at first.

It was definitely worth it to go up to La Jolla and see them. I highly recommend it if you visit San Diego! Just look at this guy posing for the cameras:

For both of us, it was one of our favorite places we went the whole trip.

We walked around a lot while we were there, just checking out all of the scenery and taking in the views of the cove and the ocean.

This arch reminded me a little of Arch Rock in Michigan:

Afterward, we ate at a rooftop restaurant right in La Jolla called Duke's, with a view of the ocean.

It was a great, full day spent in San Diego, and really gave us a taste of what this beautiful city had to offer.

We ended the night, first checking out Scripps Pier just after sunset.

What a view by the pier! It's so pretty. You can't go out onto it, but there's a deck area there where you can sit and enjoy the views.

Finally, Trent had to check out Green Flash Brewery, so that was our last stop of the night. We had some drinks there on the patio outside, then took an Uber back to the hotel.

It was a long and full day, but a lot of fun!  Part 2 of our trip is coming soon, so stay tuned for more of our San Diego trip!

Back Home

I'm back from a little hiatus today! We spent last week in beautiful San Diego, California, but we're back home now, and I'm spending the weekend watching season 2 of Stranger Things on Netflix.

It's sooo good so far! I'll blog all about our San Diego trip soon, but for now, I'm spending this weekend being lazy around the house. I need a couple of days to just do nothing and catch up on sleep! So I will be back soon with some travel posts, as soon as I feel like being productive. :)

Living Room Wall Clock

Hey guys! I bought a few new things for the house online this past week. One of them was a new wall clock for the living room. Our old one had been broken for a while now. No matter how many times I changed the batteries, it always seemed to get "off." So I did a lot of looking online, and a little in the stores, too. In the end, I decided on this one from Target:

I like the distressed wood look that it has, and it was on sale for $35.99 from $40. It's pretty big - 24 inches. Our old clock was 18 inches, but the space is big enough to fit a larger clock, so we decided to try it.

It just came in the mail this week, and we hung it up today! Since it's bigger and heavier than the old one, we had to hang it a little higher and use a reinforcer with the screw.

I'm really digging it!

Here's the old one for comparison:

The new one is a bit trendier, and I feel like since it's larger, it makes more of a statement.

Definitely liking the new look. Happy Saturday, everyone!

New Mower

Hello and Happy October 1st everyone! I'm just sitting here on my couch this Sunday, watching The Shack on HBO. Never seen it. So far, it's pretty good!

Popping in today because I just realized I forgot to blog about Trent's new addition: his very own riding mower. This is the only picture we have of it:

This is when they first loaded it onto the trailer to take home. Trent has already mowed a few yards with it now.

Since we've been in this house, he's always shared a mower with his dad. He mows yards around town, so he would use it quite a bit. This year, he's been looking for his own so he doesn't have to share with his dad any longer.

He needed one that could support attachments, like a snow plow in the winter. This one is big enough for that. It's a used 2011 model, and it used to be owned by a cemetery.

Now he just needs to find his own snow plow to attach to it, and some tire chains. Then he'll be all set for winter.

I sat on it just for fun. It wasn't too fun though when Trent turned it on and wanted me to drive it. I hopped off right away! Haha.

Moral of the story, Trent is super happy to finally have his own mower now! I'm sure he'll get a lot of use out of it.

Status of the House

I thought I would write a house-related post today, since with all of the traveling and stuff we've had going on this summer, it's been a while since we've been able to really do any home renovation projects. So I think our little house deserves a "Status of the House" post.

Our house, fall 2016

For years now, and even before I started this blog, we've had a huge list of things we've wanted to get done with this house, and we're probably not even halfway through that list. It's true that while we've done a lot with the house so far, we're not nearly as far as what we envision the end result to be in our heads.

We've made it comfortable for us for the time being, though. Comfortable enough for everyday life to take place and not have to worry too much about the house on a day to day basis. But there are so many more projects that need to happen, namely structural projects, that we're just trying to find the time to fit in with our everyday lives.

When I look back at the time of my first blog posts here, especially when I first moved in, we were thinking about the house constantly. The living room and bedroom were both in a state of renovation, and we wanted to get those projects done as soon as we could in order to live comfortably in our home.

Trent working away on the hallway floor

Now, in recent years, we've taken things a lot slower than when we first started. This has allowed us to not only live in the house and really think about what we want to do with it, but we've also been able to just experience things without worrying as much about what we need to do with the house. We've been able to fit in small, and slightly larger projects, here and there, while still being able to make memories, get married, travel, and work along the way.

So many memories in recent years!

Even though this means things may not get done as quickly as we like, we have at least been able to live in the moment and not be focused on the house 24/7, which I think is what you should do to stay sane!

So, what does the future hold for our little house? Maybe a few small house projects before the year ends, maybe a big project..we're not quite sure yet. I've been itching to start another big reno project, though. I just need to get Trent on board. ;)

The Stories Told By Traveling

As much of a homebody that I am, I also like to travel and see new places, and I think it's super important to do so. Every road trip or vacation you take, and every new place you visit, adds to your own personal library of stories, experiences, and memories. And, to me, that's what life is all about!

I'm not much of a world traveler. As of today, I've only visited a total of 3 countries - The U.S., Canada, and Jamaica. One day I hope to visit places like Europe and more islands in the Caribbean, but until then, I have plenty of domestic travel goals.

You can see all of the states I've visited so far, in pink, below. Not the greatest graphic (I used a couple of free websites to put it together), but the idea is that in nearly every state I've visited, I've made memories and experiences to last a lifetime.

I saw the ocean and rode in a plane for the first time when I was 10, traveling to Florida with my family. I went fishing for the first time while visiting Trent's family in Missouri. I saw endless miles of forests in Louisiana, saw the beautiful Rocky Mountains and rode to the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado, saw the Alamo and got engaged in Texas. 

Sure, some states we just drove through, or I had a work conference there so didn't spend much time in that place (I'm looking at you, Nebraska). But there are so many more places that I still want to see, right here in this country. 

For example, I'd like to see more of Oregon and Washington, since I was just there for a short work trip. I've never been to Arizona, Utah or New Mexico, so I would love to see the Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, and the Four Corners. I've also never been to New York City, or any of the New England states, so those are other areas I would love to visit.

I hope to fill in my U.S. travel map fully someday. This year I added Nevada to my list, so now I've seen 34 of the 50 states. Which means, 16 more to go... I have a feeling there will be many more road trips and fun times ahead.

Homemade Margherita Pizza

Anybody love pizza like I do?! Tonight I have to share a little bit about this yummy homemade Margherita pizza that Trent made a week or so ago. It turned out to be really delicious, and he even used a few veggies from our garden. Here it is pre-baking:

And here it is all done and crispy:

That melty cheese, though.

I made him give me the lowdown on everything he used. Because we all know he's the chef of our household, not me. The crust was a pre-made thin crust, but he made his own sauce. It was just the right amount of sweet and spicy, with fresh ingredients right from the garden.

Here's what he used for the pizza:

-Pre-made crust
-Tomatoes (from the garden)
-Red bell peppers (from the garden)
-Butternut squash (from the garden)
-Garlic (from the garden)
-Salt and pepper
-A bit of crushed red pepper
-Basil leaves
-Fresh Mozzarella

He used the blender to blend the tomatoes and mix in some of the ingredients to make the sauce, and I'm pretty sure he just did it to taste. He doesn't like to follow recipes! He did say he baked it at 425 degrees.

I have to say, I'm ok having to maintain a garden when it comes with perks like yummy pizzas. :)