Road Trip

In October Jeremy and I left our home with our two dogs and a very full SUV to finish celebrating Jeremy's 30th birthday with a week-long roadtrip. We, thorougly, enjoyed ourselves. Here's the short of it.

Scenic pictures: OR to WA to ID to MT

First stop: Big Sky, MT

Second stop: Yellowstone National Park

The drive from WY to SD

Third stop: Keystone, South Dakota

Fourth stop: Salt Lake City, UT

Fifth stop: Home :)

The drive from UT to NV to CA to OR

I tried taking pictures of all of the places that we visited. I thought that I would have had way more time to be doing nothing but take pictures, honestly though, we had so much fun during our long drives that I just lost track of where we were. There's not one other person on this planet that I could have spent that much time in the car with. Truth.

On this trip we: visited with friends along the way, visited monuments, national parks, zoos, famous architecture, war hero resting grounds, battle grounds and one of the biggest snow resorts in the world. We experienced temperatures from 5 degrees to 70 degrees. We saw black bears in the wild and watched Old Faithful explode right on time. We made almost every meal on our camping stove and bonded over working as a team and enjoying the countryside. We've seen the sun rise and set behind the Black Hills. We've seen the beauty of Mt. Rushmore in the evening and in the morning, both are truly separate experiences. Jeremy and I learned more about this country than we anticipated and developed a deep love for it. We met some amazing people with some incredible stories. I can officially say that I've sung for a crowd in South Dakota. And so can Jeremy. We drove 3,500 miles in 8 days and saw 9 states. I am so encouraged by our character and love for each other. Seriously, the worst thing that happened was running out of gas and a chip in my windshield on the last day. And for the record... these two:

are the BEST road trip dogs of all time. I couldn't believe what angels they were. 

I fell in love with them all over again.

This is the last big trip that we will be taking for at least a full year so it's definitely a good thing that it was such an amazing success :)

Southern Vacation

THE SOUTH (thee-sauth) noun.

The Place Where...

1. Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter

2. Summer starts in April

3. Mac and cheese is a vegetable

4. Front porches are wide and words are long

5. Pecan pie is a staple

6. Y'all is the only proper noun

7. Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy

8. Everything is darlin'

9. Someone's heart is always bein' blessed

Jeremy blessed me with a trip to see my sister in Birmingham, AL and my mother in Woodstock, GA. We had so much fun. With an itinerary filled with nothing but fun coupled with time spent with family, I'd say that this trip was one for the books. Here are some highlights:

And some beautiful landscape:

I love the South for so many reasons. The culture is significantly different than the Pacific NW.  I truly enjoyed the Southern hospitality, warm greetings, wonderful service, non-judgment, and acceptance. I appreciated the history, the sense of pride and beautiful landscape. I'm so thankful to have family to visit in such wonderful cities. I'm so thankful to have a husband who saw how much I missed my family, so he took action and did something about it.

To Momma, Robert, Cali, Hannah and Nathan,

I love you all so much. Thank you for a wonderful vacation. I miss everything about seeing you everyday.

Love,

T

Family

It's no secret that family is among the most important additions to our lives. This is unbelievably true in my life. I am so blessed to have my in-laws near my home and so close to my heart. My immediate family is equally close to my heart but much farther from my home. A couple of weeks ago my husband and I traveled back to my home town, Bend OR to my dad's house. I love to see my dad, and we are fortunate enough to see him very often. This trip to Bend was very special because my Aunt and her fiancee were in town from San Diego. I haven't seen them since before they got engaged and it was so wonderful to see them. My Aunt Kerry and I get along like we're sisters and have a very special bond. I love her so much. And her fiancee is fantastic! He's hilarious and hospitable and treats Aunt Kerry like the princess that she is and that she's always deserved to be treated like. I am without words when trying to explain how priceless a genuine smile on her face is. It was so wonderful to see you, Aunt Kerry and Craig. I love you both so much!

This is the 4 of us at Jeremy and I's favorite park, Drake Park in Bend.
Craig wanted to make sure he got to do things "Bendy" so we had to take him there and Pilot Butte.