Thursday, January 16, 2014

Welcome to Earth - BBB Link Up


Today, Joe is taking over my blog for this months Boys Behind the Blog. The link up is hosted by Mal and Stephanie, so head on over and link up with them!

1. What was your favorite movie of 2013?
   I did not get to see a lot of movies this past year but my favorite was "Now You See Me".  It was original and had you guessing the whole time.



2. What is your all time favorite movie quote?
          "Welcome to Earth"  - Independence Day


3. What is your favorite type of movie? (Action, scary, comedy, etc)/
     Mystery Suspense.  If you have not seen them go watch "Identity" and "Memento"


4. What is your New Year's Resolution?
     I did not make one so that I don't have to feel bad at the end of the year for not accomplishing it.
5. Finish the sentence: This year I will....
     Run a marathon.


What was your favorite movie of 2013?
Did you link up with Mal and Steph for Boys Behind the Blog?

                                                  Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Cheers Corie!

Cheers not Jeers
 
This week I want to send cheers to my blog friend Corie! She blogs over at True Love and Football! Corie has been following me and I have been following her since I started blogging. She is one of my favorite blogs to follow. We have a few things in common, she knows what it's like to be married to the Army, she loves making lists, and she is organized ( I try to be)!

I love all of her posts about her cute dog Duke and her posts about day to day life! She is so genuine in the things she says and posts. She always has the kindest comments and helped me through the deployment.

Thank you Corie for your friendship and support. Thank you for all of your kind words of encouragement and advise.

Head on over and say hello to Corie!


Do you know any amazing bloggers that I should be following? 

 Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Traveling to Iceland Part 1


It's been about a month since Joe and I got back from our amazing trip to Iceland. We had such an amazing time and I am so excited to share with you some of our highlights! I know what you are thinking...Who goes to Iceland in the middle of the winter? Joe was thinking the same thing but went with me anyways.

Preparing for Iceland
Iceland is such a beautiful country and it was really inexpensive to get there and to stay in a hotel there. I was a bit shocked by the cost of food, but other then that everything was affordable. The weather was much nicer then the weather that we were experiencing in Colorado so I think we may have over packed. We took a ton of base layers, hiking pants, snow boarding pants, sweaters, and 2 snow jackets. GoLite and Colombia were the 2 shops that we got most of our clothes from. I highly recommend GoLite if you are planning any type of out door adventure.

Our Flight
We left Friday in the afternoon and arrived in Reykjavik  bright and early on Saturday morning. We took Iceland Air and our flight was amazing. We were greeted at the door of the plane with a happy flight attendant  who gave us a whole bottle of water and snack. Each seat had blanket and pillow in it and a personal t.v. for everyone that was FREE!! There were free movies, free tv shows, and free clips about Iceland! The flight attendants were very friendly and helpful. It really couldn't have been any better.

Our Hotel 
We stayed at Hotel Odinsve in Reykjavik! We got a really good deal on Orbits for $70 a night (half off regular price). The hotel was in a perfect location, we were able to walk almost everywhere in Reykjavik. It was a boutique hotel with a great staff. There is an amazing restaurant  on the first floor and Bjork can often be found there. The room was a bit small, but not smaller then our NYC hotel room. Overall I was very pleased with the hotel and I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Iceland.

Day 1 - Northern Lights Jeep Tour
I was really excited to see the northern lights. It was on of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Iceland. Joe had booked a Jeep Tour with one of the best companies there was and we were waiting in the lobby of our hotel, it was getting close to our pick up time, so I asked the concierge if they knew anything about the tour company. He had told me that our tour has been canceled. This didn't make any sense because we could see the northern lights from the city earlier that evening, why would it be canceled? He quickly booked us on another tour, but it was a bus tour. I was beyond upset, but tried to make it seem like everything was fine. I had been talking to another couple who was very disappointed with their bus tour of the northern lights. So I was disappointed to learn that we would be taking the same tour that night.

Joe can always tell when I am not happy, so he went back to the concierge to fix the problem. By this time most of the tours had already picked up their passengers and were already headed out to see the lights. But he managed to have a company pick us up, in their personal car and take us to meet the rest of the group. We met the group just outside of the city and we saw the lights!! They were so beautiful. I quickly took out my camera and realized that I needed a tri-pod for the log exposer needed to capture the lights on camera. Luckily the tour company, Super Jeep, had a photographer there that was able to capture all of the photos we wanted. The company puts the photos on their facebook page and you can email them to you!

We stopped at a few locations and were able to see the northern lights. It was amazing. They served us hot chocolate with vodka to keep us warm. After the sweet treat they took us on an off roading adventure. It was a rush of excitement as we went up and down piles of snow and ended up over looking the city.
This is what happens when you don't have a tripod!
A View of the Lights

Another long exposer photo. 
On top of the Mountain
Day 1 - Icelanders like to party!
After the tour we went out for a few drinks. A fun fact about Iceland is that beer was illegal until the 1980's. So they are making up for the lost time. Most of the time they don't go out to drink until 11:00 pm - 2:00am and stay out until 06:00am. We only stayed out until 2:30 and the crowds were still coming. Everyone was so friendly and the dancing was....uh...entertaining. 

Be sure to check back for more of our trip to Iceland. We went Ice Climbing, Glacier Hiking, to the Blue Lagoon, and hiking in a Lava Tube. 

Have a great day!! 

 Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Up and Down

Ever since I have moved to Colorado I have been struggling with my weight (I have struggled with my weight my entire life). I came here very fit and active, the best shape I have been in a very long time, to only gain it all back. I was going through photos on my friends photography website and came across the photo below, it was taken from my trip to Hawaii this past year.

I was mortified to see how much weight I put on. I know I am not "fat", but I am out of shape and it shows. To give you some perspective, I have gained about 10-15lbs since I've moved here. I am only 5'4" so that small amount of weight is really a lot on my small frame. I gain most of my weight in my stomach. My stomach has always been my trouble area and for the first time, in a very long time, I was feeling great about myself in a bikini. I know that many women struggle with their weight and I am no different. I know I should be thankful that I am healthy and I am still on the smaller side and I am. But, how did I let my nice tone mid section, that I worked so hard to get, go? Why does my weight fluctuate so much? Why can I not commit to a workout plan here?

I've decided that I am going to recommit to getting in shape. Wish me luck as I set out on another fitness journey. I am going to try to focus getting back to where I was at in the photo above. I was happy and loving working out. I loved going for a run and going to the gym. I loved the food I was eating and most importantly, I loved my body. I felt fit and confident. I didn't have my dream body, but it was good enough for me.

Anyone have any tips on how to get back on track?


 Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram

Monday, January 6, 2014

2014!

Joe and I have been talking about what we want to do this year, so I put together a list of things that I want to do! I will be adding a tab on my blog with a list of these things and I will be sure to blog about them as I do them! This is just a rough list and I will be adding to it as I have ideas. Maybe I'll do these things this year, maybe next, who knows. I am just excited to see what this year has to bring!

This is what I have so far:
  • Run a 5K
  • Run a 10K
  • Run a mud run
  • Run a 1/2 Marathon
  • Run a Marathon
  • Try Cross Fit
  • Get back into yoga
  • Take a photography class
  • Take a cooking class
  • Take a make up class
  • Organize my scrapbook supplies
  • Finish my 2013 scrap book
  • Go to Disney World
  • Go to a country overseas
  • Go to somewhere in the US that I have not been to
  • Go snow boarding
  • Volunteer
  • Do a 21 day vegan diet
  • Go white water rafting
  • Read one book a month
  • Try to make something that I have pinned from Pintrest

  • What do you want to do?
    Do you have any goals for 2014?

     Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram

    Wednesday, January 1, 2014

    2013 in Review

    First, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

    Last year was filled with many good times, challenges, and changes.

    January
    I rang in the New Year with Joe at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! I was living in Los Angeles and able to spend so much valuable time with my family. During this time I was working 2 jobs and flying back and forth to visit Joe in Arizona. 
    2013 New Years

    February 
    February came around quickly and marked the beginning of Joe's 9 month deployment. It was so difficult to say goodbye to my best friend. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the deployment or even where my relationship with Joe would go. I am so happy that I was able to be home with my family during this tough time. A few days after Joe left, I celebrated my 27 birthday at Disneyland with my Family by my side. 
    The day Joe left

    My 27th Birthday
    March 
    I spent most of March working and started sending Joe his care packages. I worked 7 days a week and began to make working out a priority. All of my free time was spent with my family and I could be found at Disneyland at least once a week. 
    My first care package
    April 
    I decided that I would make small trips to visit my friends and I visited Nikki, one my close friends, in Vegas! We spent most of our time baking and hiking. I had a blast and it really helped take my mind off of the deployment. Her husband was deployed at the time as well, so it was nice to talk to someone who knew what I was going through. This is also when I started to see some results from all of my hours at the gym.
    Nikki and I hiking in Vegas
    May
    May was one of the best months of the year. I pushed my working out into high gear to prepare for a trip to Hawaii to visit my best friend from college, Amanda. I spent time with my sisters exploring the Los Angeles area and crossing off things that I wanted to do. Of course we spent many days at Disneyland, but we also hiked to the Hollywood Sign, and went horse back riding! May was also the month that I began to Blog!!!

    My sister and I hiking at the Hollywood Sign

    Horse Back Riding with my sisters
    Stevee, Amanda, and I in Hawaii 

    My sister and I on top of Koko Head
    June 
    Next on my list of people to visit was my amazing friend Brittany! We met up in San Antonio, TX to go wedding dress shopping. I will be in her wedding this year and I had so much fun going dress shopping with her. June also was when I decided that I needed to try out microdermebrassion. I ended the month with surgery on my eye

    Britt and I with her dress!!! I can't wait to post a pic of it. 
    I'm so LA! 
    July
    Most of my time in July was spent working at Van Nuys Airport! I loved every moment of my time there. The people I worked with became my friends. Going to work was fun and I never was bored. I enjoyed the summer at Disney and loved food truck fridays. I received a job offer from Denver International Airport mid July, so I packed up my stuff and traveled to Colorado!! I had an amazing road trip with my mom. 
    Just another day at work!

    I love food Trucks!

    Somewhere between CA and CO!
    I made it to Colorado!

    August 
    I started my job at Denver International Airport. I also met my blogging friend and real life friend Mal!! We have been good friends since. 
    Mal and I at a race we ran in Nov
    September 
    The time had finally arrived for my 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland! I ran the race with my mom and sister. 
    Disneyland 1/2 Marathon 2013
    October 
    I spent most of my time working at DIA. I was finally signed off! 

    November 
    Joe finally came home!! I was able to successfully fill up my time with trips, work, and working out. I was beyond thrilled to have Joe home and I am so thankful for what he, and all other men and women, do for our country. The deployment was long and stressful, but it made up closer then ever. We hired a photographer to capture this special day!
    Joe and I
    December
    Joe and I traveled to Iceland and had my family over for the holidays! Iceland was amazing and I will be sharing pictures over the next few days. We hiked on a glacier, went in a lava tube, swam in the blue lagoon, and saw the north lights. We got back home a week later my parents and sisters came to visit. 
    Iceland!
    Thank you Joe for this year. Although most of it was spent away, you were always there for me. I love you and I can't wait to see what next year brings. 

    Thank you family, for being my rock. I will always treasure the trips to Disneyland and all of the fun moments we shared in LA. 

    Thank you friends, for the amazing trips and for supporting me when I needed someone to talk to at night. 

    And lastly, thank you readers! I truly believe that this blog and all of the encouragement that I have received from it helped me get through the deployment and this past year. 

    I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2014 and I am excited to continue to blog and share my journey with you all! 

     Follow Me: BlogLovin / Twitter Instagram


    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...