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Lok Kawi Wildlife Park

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo, Malaysia

Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate very well while you're on vacation. It's a bummer because it can seriously put a damper on your plans! One of the days we were hanging out in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo this summer, it decided to drizzle all day. Instead of sitting inside doing absolutely nothing, we decided to visit the plants and animals at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. First of all let me say, I would have much rather watched these animals in there natural habitat (we were lucky enough to do with some later in our trip). The park itself was pretty clean, however a lot of the animal exhibits needed some updating (painting, fencing, housing). The animals seemed pretty happy: well-fed, lots of toys, treats, plenty of water. I was most excited ... Read More

Sandakan: River Adventure

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo, Malaysia, Travel

There are some remote places in the world we have the opportunity to visit maybe once or twice in our lives (if we're lucky). These places are special because they they are 'untamed' or 'untouched' by human influence. Being able to experience a natural habitat to simply observe is one of the coolest things I've ever done. Borneo, Malaysia is such a place. Sure there's lots of culture and city development, but give it a good hour or two drive, and you're out experiencing the wild. A wild where animals aren't afraid of you. A wild where you could literally get lost and not be able to make it back (it's probably a good thing we had a guide eh?) We took our first river adventure cruise when we were up north in Kota Kinabalu. When we told our ... Read More

Looking for Saltwater Crocodiles

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo, Expat Living

Well sort of. One of my lifelong goals is to see a giant saltwater crocodile in the wild. I don't know why, but I'm strangely fascinated with these ancient looking 'dinosaurs.' Maybe it's because the only English channels we seem to get here are Discovery and NatWild. I was probably a little overly excited when our jungle river tour-guide told us the river was home to quite a few of these giants. Unfortunately they like to be closer to the ocean and we hadn't the time in the day to venture that far. Before our trip it was also rumored that we could see pythons (!!!), pygmy elephants, long-nosed monkeys, a type of firefly native to Borneo, monitor lizards, and of course various other monkeys. I'm a huge fan of the outdoors, and the ... Read More

Snorkeling Borneo

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo, Expat Living, Malaysia, water adventures

I've always loved the water. I have a more than healthy fear of the ocean, but give me a safe-ish environment and I'll swim and play all day. You better believe I was super excited about our all-day snorkeling tour we had booked with Scuba Junkie  the day before. I should put a plug in for Scuba Junkie and just say that the staff (namely Mel) was fantastic. As previously mentioned in my last Borneo post, we had planned on getting our dive certifications as well, but just didn't have the time and ended up having to cancel our classes. The 8:00am drive into Kota Kinabalu (once again in the tiny van/buses) went quickly, and before you know it we were out to sea headed straight for Gaya and Sapi Islands found in the Kota Kinabalu Marine ... Read More

[BORNEO] Sunsets and Coconut Water

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo, Travel

FINALLY! It's been almost exactly a month since our vacation to Borneo, Malaysia. I promised myself I would start posting right away so I didn't get behind, but that didn't happen. After browsing and carefully selecting photos from literally hundreds, we're ready to roll. We had a pretty smooth flight on the most uncomfortable airline I've ever been on: Air Asia. Not only do you have to pay for literally EVERYTHING (blankets, meals, water), but the seats were TINY! We left at 10:00am from Busan and landed around 8:00pm in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. We had a shuttle bus  picked us up from the airport and take us straight to our resort (Langkah Syabas Beach Resort). It was dark and we weren't able to view the scenery that night, but I was ... Read More

We’re Back!

Written by: Amanda // Category: Borneo

We're back from the jungle, and feelin' the Monday blues. Borneo was incredible, and definitely a very different vacation than Derik and I normally take. We're used to basking out in the sand and sun, getting sweet tan lines, and enjoying a cocktail on the beach. In Borneo there isn't time for that! Sure, there's plenty of pristine beaches, but why lay out when you have an entire jungle to explore?! Our 9 days in Borneo were chalk full fun things to do; we didn't even have time to get our scuba certifications like we had planned (oh well, we have Thailand and Hawaii coming up in January). We saw hordes of monkeys, did some snorkeling, cruised down a couple of remote rivers, and ate way too much local food (that extra five pounds doesn't ... Read More

Currently on Instagram

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. 💕
Oh Switzerland, you beaut.🇨🇭 We spent a coup Oh Switzerland, you beaut.🇨🇭 We spent a couple days enjoying the beautiful weather in the land of chocolate, cheese, mountains, and cows with bells 😍😍🤩. If you remember, we visited the same area  a month shy of two years ago but but the weather was quite the opposite! I’d have to say though, when you visit such a majestic and beautiful area, it doesn’t matter what the weather is, you’re going to be in awe and love it anyway!
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