Saturday, December 15, 2012

Seattle....

We love taking road trips together and most of the time they are quite pleasant.  None have been as terrible as this one though!

We planned a trip to Seattle to see a friend, and really, just to get away before the craziness of the holidays began.  We really needed this vacation.  We didn't have the money to fly back east for Christmas because they hike up the prices so much that it should be considered robbery.  And because we had such a nice weekend away last year about this time (McCall, ID), we figured this would be a nice gift to each other instead of buying a bunch of gifts we don't really need.  

We had an invite from a friend to stay on his family's boat, so we accepted and budgeted to use our money on gas and some eating out.  As we began our trip north, the day was beautiful, and we estimate only 8-9 hours.  Right as we approached the last mountain pass before Seattle, it began to snow....harder and harder.  We were okay until we got to the base of the mountain and every car had pulled over to put chains on their tires and did we have chains or four wheel drive? NOPE.  It was dark by now even though it was around 4pm and we had to turn around, drive all the way to Portland, and up to Seattle through that route.  Better safe that sorry.

Thankfully, we found a nice hotel on hot-wire.com at an excellent price and we stayed in Portland, OR for the night.  Probably the best decision we could've made.  We had a nice place to stay and were able to sleep in and continue our trip to Seattle the next morning (only 2.5 hours from there).  

While we were there it was wonderful.  Our friend, Steve, and his girlfriend took us to eat at the space needle, then we went to see someone they knew play live music at a place downtown.  The entire day was a lot of fun and though it was cold, the weather was great.  The next day we spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the Pike Place Market.  We tried a ton of really good food and yummy treats while we were there and had a wonderful time together.  That night we ate at a really good seafood restaurant and just enjoyed relaxing a bit.  

On the way home Sunday morning it started out a little rainy, then continued to get worse as we drove. So for about 80% of the trip we were tense and driving slow because the roads were so bad.  Snow pack roads most of the way caused us to get home after 11pm and we vowed to never drive during this time of the year again.  

Overall we had a wonderful time in Seattle and it was fun since it was my first time being there!  Next time, we will go in the summer :)




















Friday, November 2, 2012

Salt Lake City, Ikea...


A couple of weeks ago, we took a trip to Ikea in Salt Lake City, Utah!  I was especially excited because it’s not only a new State and city I’ve never visited, it was also my first trip to Ikea.  We had been saving for this trip so that we could get some furniture and household items.  Nat, Shan and the kids hauled a trailer for their things and we were able to fit everything in our own car!  We were so thankful to be able to stay at Shannon’s uncle and aunt’s home a couple of hours outside of Salt Lake.  They were very generous to allow all 7 of us to invade their space for a weekend! 

If you’ve never been to an Ikea, it’s an experience in itself.  It’s fun and stressful all at the same time!  Thankfully I was prepared for the day with nothing else on my mind, but as soon as we arrived and saw so many more things than we found on the website, it was really pointless to have a shopping list to begin with.  We basically went with a budget and got what we could within that.  

Overall, we had beautiful weather, safe traveling, and a fun time away from home.  We are extremely thankful that our home is coming together, and we are enjoying opening it up to friends that we love having over.


Taking a pit stop on the drive down

Such beautiful weather the entire weekend!

Yay, Ikea!

Benj was ready to leave after being at Ikea for over 4 hours!

Cade LOVED all the quality time with Aunt Alayne

Love these babies

Thank you Uncle Tom and Aunt Alayne for a great weekend!

Nolan making uncle Benj laugh

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Fall Fun....


Fall is seeming to be short lived here but while it was around, it was wonderful!  A few weeks ago we went to the Farmstead Pumpkin Patch with Nat, Shan, and the kids and had a fun afternoon together.  The mornings and evenings became much cooler while the afternoons were still warm.  However, as of this week, it’s all COLD.  Scraping frost off the car windows is becoming part of our early morning routine and the hats and gloves have come out of the winter box!  

One upside to the cold coming means that spiders will hopefully be at a minimum!  If I haven’t already expressed my severe dislike for the little critters, let it be known now....we HATE spiders and the ones around our house are HUGE!  

Here are a few pictures of our fun at the pumpkin patch!








Sunday, September 30, 2012

New Home...

After being in Idaho and living with family for the past year, we officially have our own home!

First, we must say, that we are so grateful to Benj's brother and sister-in-law, Nathanael and Shannon, for allowing us to live in their home for an entire year!  We are also extremely thankful that we are only 10 minutes away from them.  It's been awhile since we have been near family and we are excited to continue being close to them, as they have become friends, not just family.  

It became a bit frustrating trying to find a rental within our budget, but God provided at just the right time!  We are thankful that Benj has had time at home so that we could move in and enjoy the home together!  We have most of our furniture and basics and continue to get household things as we go.  

Some things we love about our new place:
The price is right!
Close to work (under 10 minutes to both of our jobs)
Close to friends and family
Tons of space! (Its an older brick farm house with 2 bed/1 bath, full basement, and plenty of outside space)
Close to grocery stores, restaurants, highway, and everything in between



New House!

Kitchen


Living room

Mudroom (back door entry)

Carport, Covered sitting area/back yard, back of house


Bathroom

Bedroom 

I'll post pictures in a couple of weeks once we get the place decorated and put together!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Jewelry Making Fun....

Some of you may have seen my jewelry and many of you may own some yourself.  Now that I have a little extra time on my hands, I am back at it and selling jewelry online at Etsy.com!!!  I am excited to say that I have finally done it, after months of talking about it and I am keeping it up to date and adding new jewelry each chance I get.

My lovely husband and personal graphic designer came up with the name and logo for me.  He also continues to make sure I'm running a business since I just love to give it away as gifts, and he is such an encouragement for me to be doing this.   :)

If you have some time, check out my Etsy shop and share it with some friends to help me spread the word!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LitterMade




Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Camping....

This past weekend we were able to go camping since Benj didn't have to be on the road!  We loved going with some new friends of ours, Martee and Camilo!  We thought we might be in a more remote location, but we agreed that being on a nice camp ground was okay and I think we had the best spot because it was so shaded.  We were also informed by the camp volunteer that there was a problem BEAR around the camp grounds at night, as well as a wolverine and a fox.  Therefore, we had to lock up our food and everything else in the cars at night!  Thankfully our friends brought their big dogs and made me feel a little better.

As you can see in the pictures, Benj got a new hammock for his birthday (an early present since it's not until the 19th)!  I was a bit skeptical but we both napped in it after a long hike and it was extremely comfortable.  Overall it was a good weekend, free of technology, jobs, and busy work....but now it's back to the real world!

Benj's birthday present!

Best campsite!

Hiking!




We survived!  

Saturday, July 28, 2012

An Adventure in Cascade...

A couple of weekends back, we (Benj, myself, Nat, Shan, the babies, and Denise) went to Cascade to stay in a cabin in the woods.  This trip was planned to be a 4 day trip but only lasted 2 1/2 days and was an experience in itself.  We thought that getting away for a weekend was a great idea, but of course any trip with 5 adults and 3 babies will have its interesting moments.

The night before leaving, Benj and Nathanael decided it would be great to see The Dark Night Rises at the midnight showing.  Needless to say they were exhausted the next morning when it was time to get everything together and ready to leave by lunch time.  I ended up getting very sick and right before leaving, Benj took me to the urgent care only to find out I was dehydrated so we got there an hour or so later than everyone else.

Though the first day was rough, it got better and better as we spent more time there!  We had a great brunch at the Pancake House in McCall, the guys got to ride dirt bikes, we did some shopping, had some relaxing time in the cabin, and went on a beautiful hike by Lake Cascade.  We are so thankful for Shannon's friends allowing us to borrow their cabin for the weekend and here are some pictures of our fun moments!








The rest of the pictures are all on Facebook along with some funny videos of our time there!