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Archives for 2015

What to do in Mallorca, Spain

Written by: Amanda // Category: Spain, travel tips

As winter sets in here in Alaska, memories of sandy beaches, warm weather, and tropical drinks start making their way into our thoughts as we begin to plan our 2016 travels. During our stay in Mallorca, Spain, we actually hit the tail-end of summer, and were a little bit disappointed about the weather being rainy a good 50% of the time. However, Mallorca is such a gorgeous island, we would absolutely love to go back in the spring (think of the flowers), just as summer is starting, or right smack dab in the middle of it to experience the full tropical, sun-soaked island. I'm also a bit intrigued about what winter is like on Mallorca? All that to say, I'd move to Mallorca (aka island paradise) in a second if I had the chance — come sunshine, ... Read More

PNW Coast with Jord Wood Watches

Written by: Amanda // Category: Product, Review, United States

Derik and I had the pleasure of visiting the Pacific Northwest over Thanksgiving break to see family and friends. While we mainly stayed in the Portland/Vancouver area, we couldn't resist going out to the coast to revisit where it all began, and enjoy a day full of memories, delicious food (at our favorite coastal stop: Camp 18), and to take a few pictures with our amazing watches from Jord Wood Watches  that we had received a week prior. When Jord contacted Derik and I to do a review on their watches, I immediately fell in love with every single watch as I surfed through their site. Not only are they 100% unique in comparison to other watches, the designs, the craftsmanship, and the presentation of each watch was beyond ... Read More

Why Park City, Utah Should Be On Your Winter Bucket List

Written by: Derik Grove // Category: Sp, Sponsored Post

About this time of year we all tend to get a bit restless. Towards the middle of winter when cabin fever begins to set in, Amanda and I have typically migrated to warmer places for a little rest and relaxation, but we are discovering winter has a lot to offer too. We never cease in searching for where to go next, and found Park City, Utah is an awesome place to get out and enjoy the winter season. As the host city of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, no wonder Park City has a lot to offer. So if you are planning a winter vacation here’s what you need to know about Park City, Utah. Getting there When considering a vacation, a lot of planning comes down to location, location, location! There are tons of “perfect” places to spend your ... Read More

Holiday Gift Guide for the Traveler and Expat

Written by: Amanda // Category: Expat Living, Holidays, travel tips

Well hello friends, and Merry Christmas! I hope you're enjoying the chaotic, joyous, holiday-filled weeks as we move on toward 2016 as I am! Derik and I been galavanting around in the good ol' US of A this holiday season, and have enjoyed reuniting with family and friends along the way. I don't know if you're like me, but I make a New Year's resolution every year to be good at buying gifts early…and it never happens. So here I sit, two weeks from Christmas, with a whole list of people to shop for. I actually enjoy getting creative gifts for others, so that's not my problem…If I'm honest with myself, I'm just a gigantic procrastinator. You know that girl in college who didn't have the 10-page paper started the night before it was ... Read More

24 hours in Wanaka

Written by: Amanda // Category: New Zealand

Jetting away on the weekends or anytime we could squeeze in a day trip, was something Derik and I would do quite regularly while living in New Zealand. When my brother and sister-in-law came to visit earlier this year, it was pretty much required that we took a quick 3-hour drive over to the west coast to show them the mountainous grander that is Queenstown and Wanaka. Now, as someone who has traveled New Zealand from top to bottom, if you're looking for a place that has everything you ever thought New Zealand to be, the west coast of the South Island is that place: mountains, glaciers, the bluest rivers and lakes you've ever seen, LOTR locations, and of course, sheep. If it wasn't so expensive to live in the Queenstown/Wanaka area, in ... Read More

Finding and Photographing the Aurora in New Zealand

Written by: Amanda // Category: New Zealand, Photography, Photography Tutorial

The Aurora Australis (otherwise known as the Southern Lights) is a rare beauty that only shows its splendor to those who seek it. Intrigued? I know I was! One of the biggest bucket list items I had while living in New Zealand was to see the Aurora Australis, especially since I grew up seeing the Borealis…there's just something about being able to witness such a gorgeous phenomenon in both hemispheres! Or maybe I'm just overly hyping that up? Anyway, I wanted to get down to the nitty gritty with you guys today and explain all you need to know about finding and photographing the Aurora Australis. It's simply not as easy as waiting until a friend calls you up on the phone and then walking out your door(or maybe you'll be the lucky one ... Read More

A Luxury Villa Stay in Mallorca, Spain

Written by: Amanda // Category: Accommodation, Review, Spain

Having the opportunity to jet away on vacation is wonderful, but being able to bring family along makes it a million times better! After spending the summer on-the-go, we were ready for a nice seven day getaway with Travelopo.com in a luxury villa (pinch me), where we could spend time with my sister, her adorable family (a great brother-in-law and two nieces under three), and a childhood friend, catching up and enjoying life. Travelopo.com Luxury Villa Review From the second my browser loaded Travelopo's website, I knew we were going to have a good time, regardless of the fact we literally had no clue what our villa was going to look like until two days before we arrived. I mean, GOODNESS, have you seen the rentals on their site? ... Read More

20 more travel quotes you probably haven’t heard before

Written by: Amanda // Category: Travel

...or maybe you have because you follow me on Instagram.  I've always had a thing for quotes, and enjoy searching through the interwebs for quotes that inspire me to travel, adventure, and live life to the fullest. There are certain travel quotes that tend to be way oversaturated in this digital age, and the quotes below are (hopefully) not among that list…not yet anyway! Since I haven't been able to share many photos from our time in Europe yet, I decided to add a few of them into this post as a little preview. :) Happy wanderlusting! "Don’t be afraid of change. You may end up losing something good, but you will probably end up gaining something better." — Unknown “I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not ... Read More

Anniversary Getaway at the Shangri-La Bosphorus, Istanbul

Written by: Amanda // Category: Accommodation, Review, Turkey

This year Derik and I celebrated our fifth year wedding anniversary. For the last four years, Derik has done an amazing job putting together surprises and making our anniversary special, and I wanted to return the favor with planning this year's getaway. I found an amazing deal on a cruise around the Aegean Sea into the Mediterranean (posts about that coming soon), with the departure port leaving from Istanbul, Turkey. I've always wanted to visit Istanbul, and the fact that our cruise left from this cultural and historical city, had me super excited! Derik knew nothing of our cruise plans, or the fact that we were traveling to Istanbul, and I wanted to make sure I added little surprises the entire week. I partnered with Shangri-la ... Read More

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Currently on Instagram

Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays, but the ones we get to take are oh so sweet. 

My daughters are now 2.5 years and 6 months old. Life never slows down, but only gets faster with each day we’re blessed to live. Social media may not be a part of my life how it used to be, and instead I’m working on living life intentionally each day as we raise our girls during these crazy times. 💕
2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love 2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love social media, I found myself taking a break as the things we were all going through made social media so insignificant to me. 

In January/February I had a miscarriage. It was a horrible way to start the year, and little did I know it was just the beginning of it all. 

Even with the loss, hardship of moving back to the US in the middle of a global pandemic, and navigating our new lives here, we were given many blessings. The greatest of those was finding out I was pregnant again in March.

It’s a scary time to be pregnant right now, especially after a miscarriage, because doctors visits are very minimal. Also, Derik was never able to come to a single visit. I was terrified something would happen and I would be told bad news and have to face that alone. But God was gracious to us. 

We kept our special little secret to ourselves, and it wasn’t until our third trimester before we told immediate family and close friends. My pregnancy was very private for me, and a special time to bond closely with the babe growing inside me.

Our sweet little girl arrived November 30, and yes I had to deliver with a mask on, but she is perfect and I truly feel our family is complete. 💕🌈
 
“When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that we are not still dealing with its aftermath. It means something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy, and hope.”
I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/mons I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/monstera collector is when you get to behold such a beauty in real life. If there were ever #plantgoals, this is it. 

Since moving from Germany, it has been a long and slow process getting our life back to normal. All of our belongings have yet to arrive so we’ve literally been camping in our house on an air bed and camping chairs for two months. 😂 All that to say, having to start my plant collection over again here stateside has been so much fun! I will miss the plant prices if Germany, but the selection here blows my mind. Anyone else obsessed? We’ve lived here for almost 8 weeks now and I already have 11 plants 😂😬😬😬. I don’t have a bed or a couch, but by golly I have greenery. 😂🤦🏼‍♀️🌱
Oh my heart. I’ve been trying to figure out the Oh my heart.

I’ve been trying to figure out the words to say about our time in Germany, but my fingers can’t seem to type out how to express my love, gratefulness, thankfulness, sadness, and heartbreak I feel about leaving. Every country we’ve lived in has taught us something and has given us so many beautiful memories, as well as opened our eyes a little more to different cultures and ways of living.

But Germany was special. The first time we stepped foot into Germany was in 2015, and we loved it so much we stayed the extent of our travel visa (3 months). I was able to visit again in 2016, and then we officially packed everything and moved in 2017. Germany has always had my heart: the people, the festivals, the food, wine and beer, the immaculate home landscaping, and even all the rules that every resident is just expected to follow to a tee (like recycling every tiny scrap of trash). Our family grew from two to three while in Germany. Bringing our daughter into the world, and raising her for a year and a half in a different culture, will be one of the most beautiful memories of my life.

Our move was impacted by the COVID pandemic, and it took three long months of delays, red tape, and countless phone calls to get everything together so we could actually get on a plane and have our stuff packed and shipped to our new home. 
I am breathing a sigh of relief to know all the stress of everything is over and our new adventure can begin. I am mourning the loss of leaving Germany. I am in a weird transition right now trying to grasp it all, but here we are jumping into new things head first! We are back in the US for a while, in the beautiful state of Tennessee, and look forward to many new memories, travels, friends, and being able to spend time with family! 
Photos from my sweet and talented friend @juliejayphotos
I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas m I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas markets. We went to a total of ONE market, which is exactly 19 less than I told myself I would go to this year to make up for not going to any the year before 🤦🏼‍♀️(I was 40 weeks pregnant and not feeling crowds). I will say, it was a great one and the weather was so nice, we stayed out until the market shut down.

If there’s one thing I will miss most about Germany when it is our time to move, will be the sheer enthusiasm this country has for Christmas, and I’m not talking about consumerism. Food, laughter, friends, family, music, dancing: celebration. Also, Germany shuts down for not only one day, but THREE. Stores are closed, mail is not delivered, people aren’t out and about. Everyone is home enjoying time with family, and I love it. However, I may have gone into full blown panic mode Christmas Eve when I realized I had a total of 8 diapers to get us through until the 27th. 👀
We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whist We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whistler, Canada! A 10 hour flight from Germany , and I can’t say this one was better than the one we took over the summer on our trip to Alaska, but we survived! Entertaining a 11 month old for that long is much harder than a 6 month old, especially when they aren’t into sleeping on the plane AT ALL. 🤪

Whistler was beautiful despite the lack of snow, and we enjoyed our time with family, the delicious food, and as much sightseeing as one could do with a jet-lagged baby. 
This was actually my first trip to Canada ever, (unless you want to count the move my parents took up to Alaska from Arkansas when I was two. 😂🤷‍♀️ ) and I loved it! We would really like to take a big Canadian road trip someday and explore more of the country! 😍😍🇨🇦
Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time t Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time to put myself together, but I would rather spend the extra moments making special memories with our daughter that she can cherish forever. I doubt that she will look at this picture and see a tired, messy haired mama that’s barely had time to wash her face nevermind carefully apply makeup, but am hoping she will see a mama that never tires of carrying and cuddling her, or sharing new experiences with her. 💕
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