LA

Last February Kevin had a conference in Los Angeles and I tagged along for a bit of a fun trip on the tail end of his work trip.  He was stationed up at Universal Studios, so that's where we started our trip.

After a first night out with friends in West Hollywood, we hit up the Universal Studios park on day 1.

The first stop was, of course, Harry Potter World and we had a blast complete with drinking butterbeer and purchasing wands.

Other highlights were the Special Effects Show and Studio Tour.

The next morning, we were up early for an all-day tour of LA on the Rasta bus.  We started down at Santa Monica Beach.

First stop was Venice Beach.

Then Beverly Hills.

Lunch at The Grove.

A stop at Griffith Observatory.

And finally our last stop was Hollywood Blvd for the Chinese Theatre and Dolby Theatre.

That evening we checked into our AirBnB, which was a more central location and we joined up with my friend Matt for dinner at SUR and ended the night by catching a movie at The Grove.

The following day we started out with breakfast at Toast followed by a little shopping and an impromptu photoshoot at the famous pink wall.

Next was lunch at Pink's Hotdogs.  Then it was over to Jimmy Kimmel Live for a taping of his show.  This was really fun!  And we had to sign a non-disclosure because Rachel from the Bachelor and most recently the Bachelorette was announced on that show as the Bachelorette!

We had the most delicious dinner that evening at Taste.

The next day was jam packed.  After an hour long Lyft down to Santa Monica Beach (yes, it takes like an hour to get anywhere in LA), we had a nice breakfast at Urth Cafe before walking down to the beach to rent bikes and ride along the boardwalk.

We had lunch at Blue Plate Taco before another almost hour long Lyft up to Runyon Canyon, where we hiked until sunset.

Then it was a mad dash back to our AirBnB to shower before another 30 minute + ride to the Staples Center for a Lakers game.

We flew out the next day, but not before a stop at Randy's Donuts on the way to the airport.

All-in-all, it was a great trip!  My favorite kind where you pack in the sights and the fun of the city!  This is a city I'll for sure visit again if given the chance.

City of Angels, keep shining!

Mexico

Hola!
Last December, Kevin and I joined his dad and dad's wife, her son, and Kevin's dad's sister (Aunt Patti) for a trip to Mexico.  The main reason was to celebrate Aunt Patti's 50th birthday party #milestonebirthdayinmexico and why not celebrate in a fun place?  Trip to Mexico?  Count us in!

We were gone from December 23-December 29 soaking up the sun a little closer to the equator!

We stayed at the most amazing resort: Paradisus La Perla (adults only) and we swam, dined and relaxed in style!  I've never really been one for beach/resort vacations, but this place was AMAZING and we had a great time.

The first few days were spent by the beach and pool.  #birthdaywishesandsunshinekisses

Christmas Day (my birthday and Aunt Patti's) we kicked off breakfast with a birthday treat and had time at the spa before going to the pool. #willtravelfortacos

  

Aunt Patti planned the most beautiful dinner in the wedding gazebo for her 50th birthday dinner on Christmas Day!

Being the adventurer, I had to get in some sort of excursion while we were there (I couldn't just sit by the pool every day), so we booked a day trip to Chichen Itza, Habiku Cenote and Ek Balam.  We were supposed to have a private tour and wound up on a bus of 20 other people, which made me furious...but in the end it was a great day!

Chichen Itza was so cool!  The main pyramid that represents the Mayan calendar was interesting, but when we learned that if you clap it makes an echo...and not just any echo, but it sounds like an ancient bird with a long tail like a serpent.  And that this bird was part of what the temple was honoring, it blows your mind!  Again, this could all be coincidence, but even so, I was impressed.

We walked around Chichen Itza for awhile.  Saw the ancient ball court (that couldn't have been played on because it's size is so exaggerated), the observatory and numerous temples.

Next was Habiku Cenote where we jumped into the clear cool waters with the black fish for a little swim before lunch.  These Cenotes are the town's water supply, so it's fascinating that they allow people to swim in the waters.  It's also so cool how they're naturally formed!

They also had tequila tasting!

Finally, we went to Ek Balam, which was a temple we could climb.  After touring the smaller structures and seeing a normal size ball court, we hoofed it to the top for fantastic views.

This climb is no joke.  It lacks hand rails and is not for the faint of heart, but the alter halfway up is pretty amazing as are the views!

We got back really late, so we ordered room service that night!  All the things!

Trips like this are what make visiting a new place worth it to me and we weren't finished.  The following day Kevin, Aunt Patti and I took the Playa del Carmen ferry over to Cozumel.  The goal was to go to Dolphinaris to swim with the dolphins and to see the lighthouse (since we're lighthouse lovers).

Well the start to our exploring was delayed when we tried to rent a jeep, which eventually came in the form of a dilapidated dune buggy.  It barely ran.  The speedometer was broken completely.  It's a wonder we got around anywhere.  However, I've never laughed so much in my entire life, so we made the best of it!

Then we almost got scammed at Dolphinaris, but finally got our tickets and got in to swim with the dolphins.  This was a highlight of the trip for sure.

Next we were off to the lighthouse and since things aren't clearly marked and we had one map from the car rental place, we wandered around a bit before we found it and discovered we were too late and couldn't drive down to see it.  Oh well!  We took a circle of the island before dropping the car off (not without more issues) and got on a ferry back over to the mainland.

We had a delicious dinner at Bana that evening.

The next day was more relaxing and pool time before packing up.

This was a pretty grand vacation and a great way to celebrate Aunt Patti!  If I had to go to an all-inclusive, this was the place to be!

The Mina Project

**This post is not meant to brag at all, but to share a project that took a large chunk of our lives last October-December and because I'm so proud we were able to help others with a little sweat and hard work!  This is the body of Christ!**

Last October our church, Hope Community Church, gave out money to the congregation totaling $100,000.  We were asked to take the money we received and find a way to multiply it and help someone in the community.  Called The Mina Project, this is based on Luke 19:11-27 and the basic message is we all have time, talent, and treasure and our job is to use it for God's kingdom instead of hoarding it away, hiding it, or spending it on ourselves.  Our Bible study group got together and with the few hundred dollars we were given, we made wood pallet Christmas trees and other decorations out of pallet wood and sold them.

This was fabulous fun for me!  We located free pallet wood and worked to get the nails out of it.

We cut the pieces down and made large and mini Christmas trees.  We painted some slats.

We had a very creative group member turn some of the pallet wood into snowmen.

This was truly a labor (seriously for some people) of love and something I enjoyed doing so much that I didn't want to stop.  Picture me with a jigsaw...yes, it was amazing!  Others were ready for it to be over long before it was!

We set-up shop at the downtown Cary Farmer's Market and sold there for a few weekends.  We also had a local garden supply store agree to let us display and sell our items in their store.  This was great publicity for us as well as promoting to family and friends.

In the end we raised about $3,000 and were able to bless 8 families around Christmas time.  What a thrill to give strangers an unexpected gift around the holidays!

4th Anniversary

For our anniversary last year, we didn't plan too much.  Kevin was between work trips and was home the day before, so we went to the NC State Fair that evening...which is my favorite!

The traditional gift for 4 years is fruit or flowers.  I gifted Kevin an Edible Arrangement, and he did the same, except he made my from scratch for me.  It was so precious...and delicious!

That evening we went to see RENT at DPAC.  Great show!

Of course we had our annual anniversary photos taken again.  This time at Pullen Park!

 

And bloopers with some uninvited guests!!

Happy Anniversary Babe!  We're coming up on 5 years!