Christmas is quickly approaching. I don’t know how we got here so fast this year, but I suppose I have to face reality and launch myself full-steam into the festivities: hello cheery music, Starbucks red cups, cute boots and scarves, and lots of homemade cookies! One of my absolute favorite things to do is buy Christmas presents. I know for some it can be a stressful time with so many personalities, tastes, and budgets to consider, but the mere challenge of it all gets me excited. Derik is obviously my choice person to shop for (duh), and I spend the entire year watching, listening, and waiting to find 'the perfect gift' for him. I’m usually a last-minute shopper even though I have the gift in my head months in advance, but this time ... Read More
Archives for 2016
36 Hours in Istanbul, Turkey
Our visit to Istanbul seemed even shorter due to when we arrived: our plane landed at 4:00pm, we got to the Shangri-La around 6:00pm, and by the time we showered and ate, it was already dark outside. Derik and I make a point not to wander the streets of anywhere we aren’t familiar with until after we talk to the locals a bit about safe/unsafe areas, so instead of venturing out our first night in Istanbul, we decided to turn in early. Plans were made to spend a full day exploring Istanbul before we began our cruise through the Mediterranean and Aegean seas the day after. Although we visited Istanbul at a somewhat insecure time (when the mass migration from Syria and surrounding countries began), it was everything I had hoped for ... Read More
Visiting The World’s Largest Pumpkin Festival
I had to wait an entire year to write this post. Last Fall, Derik and I spent three months in Germany visiting my sister (the adorable girl you see in the post below with Derik is one of our nieces) and going on quite a few adventures…of which included The World’s Largest Pumpkin Festival. After our time in Germany was up, we moved to Alaska and spent a couple months getting stuff in order after our four years of living abroad. Before I knew it, pumpkin spice lattes were no longer in season, and the world was suddenly in full-blown Christmas/New Year’s mode. And then came Spring. By that point it would have been kind of ridiculous to post about a Fall festival — Spring is all about flowers, green grass, fresh air and sunshine. ... Read More
One day in Mykonos, Greece
Last year, Derik and I went on the most amazing Mediterranean cruise with Princess Cruises for our anniversary. I haven’t had much time to write about it, let alone go through pictures, and decided today was the day! Mykonos, Greece was our first port destination of the cruise that left out of Istanbul, and it didn’t disappoint. I mean, how could it?! I’ve always wanted to visit the island of white and blue, and with only 7 hours allowed to explore, we crammed in as much as we possibly could! Mykonos was exactly everything I had dreamed about and more. The white-washed walls, the pretty streets, flowering trees, colorful doors, delicious food, and stunning sights. Our short venture around the island wasn’t nearly long enough, and ... Read More
10 Ways Alaska and New Zealand Are Remarkably Similar
Derik and I always knew we were to eventually make it back to the United States, and after 3.5 years of making our home in foreign countries, and a six month full-time travel stint through Asia and Europe, we thought it was high time to enjoy a more familiar side of the world. The problem was, we couldn’t put a finger on where exactly we wanted to go, because nothing really screamed "New Zealand" the way we wanted it to. You read that right, New Zealand. After traveling for 6 months and visiting multiple countries, we began to realize how homesick we were for the place we just left. I’m not sure how NZ captured our hearts the way it did (actually, who am I kidding, of course I know how it happened…if you’ve ever lived or visited New ... Read More
Exploring the Alamo with Jord Watches
Hello LIAL readers, I’ve missed you! As much as I’d love to say I’ve done a great job keeping up with my blog, fact is, I haven’t. Whomp whomp. Here’s the reason why (not that you’re concerned about it): Derik and I moved again — this time to Texas! I also managed to squeeze in another trip to Europe last month, so between the two, I’ve had little to zero time for personal blogging. I have however kept up with my IG account, so if you want a quick recap of what we’ve been up to, check in there. That being said, I really miss blogging. I have so much accumulated material to share with you from the last year +, I could probably blog every day until my fingers fell off and then some. I’m also considering a name change/re-brand (domain has ... Read More
Exploring Kenai Fjords National Park with Major Marine Tours
First of all, I can’t believe it’s been since May that I’ve blogged. I didn’t mean to take such a long break — I was trying to soak up every last minute I had in Alaska before leaving. I’ll be posting all about our adventures hopefully for the rest of this month and next, so we can move on to other things and new destinations! I’m super excited to share with you today about our time touring the gorgeous Kenai Fjords National Park with Major Marine Tours! I had a really good friend from Germany come visit me the last few weeks of June, and we wanted to take a cruise to see both the glaciers AND wildlife, and couldn’t quite decide what tour to choose. This is where Major Marine comes in, they had such a variety of cruise tours on their ... Read More
Hiking Bodenburg Butte
Oh hi, just checking in with you all once again from the lovely and blooming state of Alaska! The weather has been absolutely stunning the last few weeks, and instead of snow, we have bright green leaves, pollen (boo), and muddy hiking trails. Because it’s been so nice, the snow boots have been swapped out for hiking shoes, and the siren call of the outdoors has us enchanted and ready for adventure. There was one particular day a few weeks ago that was overly gorgeous, so my good friends (with their awesome dog Reggie) and I hit up Bodenburg Butte, which is a low mountaintop 16 miles from where I live. I grabbed my new Jord Wood Watch for our hike, because a watch that reflects my love of adventure and outdoors deserves to participate on ... Read More
6 Tricks to Enhance your Images
I get asked a lot about what camera I use / how I edit blog photos, and today I thought I would share a bit about how things work for me after a picture is taken and before I share them with the world. Although having an eye for composition and knowledge of proper camera settings is definitely key to taking and publishing good pictures, what’s done to the photo in post-production can still make or break a photograph. This post might also serve as a crash-course introduction to using Lightroom, so there’s that. Two-in-one? Works for me. Ok so let’s dig in: the 6 tricks I use to enhance my images for posts, social-sharing and more! 1. Shoot in RAW The importance of shooting in RAW versus shooting in JPEG is the fact that with RAW ... Read More
