Photo A Day // July

New Hello Kitty beach towel

Summer flower // Found a fun Despicable Me game

Beautiful bike ride - 45 miles

Norman close up

Colorado bike ride - 42 miles // Sleepy Chloe

Ladybug while doing some landscaping

Using Bringfido.com to plan our vacation // Daisies

New Converse

Tea time // Just me

Packing for our vacation // A first: Simon & Chloe laying together!

New bumper sticker on my car :)

Muffins dress // Grapes are my favorite

First day of our road trip - Beautiful Utah

Muffins and I at the Grand Canyon!

Made it to California and to the ocean.

Visited the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden

Hiked in the mountains

Went Whale Watching (Yes, I was that close!)

Visited the Sequoia National Forest

Utah sky, driving back home // Back in Wyoming

Sammy being cute!!!

Attempting wavy hair // Pretty Wyoming sky

One of my favorite Vinylmations. We are planning our next Disney vacation.
It was a pretty awesome month. I am so glad that we decided to take a vacation. It almost didn't happen. We literally decided the week before we went. I accomplished a few things that were on my 32 Things Before 32 List. I will be posting about all the things that you see above in future posts. Taking the Instagram photos while on the road was really fun. You can see my Instagram feed HERE if you'd like.

How was your July? Can you believe that it's August already!???

Some After Vacation Thoughts

There must be something in the air in California. When I go there I feel at home. It is where I want to be. I see myself living there long term. The main area we visited was Santa Barbara. I love the atmosphere, scenery, being near the ocean, all the bike lanes and the open-mindedness that the locals have. I still need to visit some other major cities and states before really deciding 100% where I'd like to stay long term. Heck, part of me dreams of moving overseas somewhere. For now though we are stuck in Wyoming. It was a bit depressing to come back home after being somewhere we didn't want to leave. Here are a few photos I took around Santa Barbara....


I love the building that this Starbucks was in..

Bike shop in Santa Barbara

After visiting California and dreaming of living in a place like Santa Barbara, it left me feeling like I need to make some changes in my current life. One thing I realized was how stressful my job is and what silliness it is to put myself through it day after day. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. I'm hoping things will calm down and I can stay there the next few years. Things could be worse, but life is too short for nonsense! :) For now I try to put a smile on my face and carry on.


Ponytail because of bad hair day. // After ponytail: Complete craziness!!
After being somewhere with high humidity and having a week full of bad hairs days, I'm sick of dying it. I miss having normal healthy hair. It's been probably ten years since I had "normal" natural hair. I just had my hair cut to "clean it up" a little bit. Also, my hair is apparently wavy when I let it dry on its on. I currently blow dry it and straighten it daily. Frankly it's gotten old and I'm ready to simplify my daily hair routine. Any advise on how to style wavy hair? Help! I am planning to dye my hair a darker blonde so that I can start letting it grow out. I will miss my platinum blonde, but it will simplify my life. That is exactly what I am seeking!


Back to my thoughts on Santa Barbara: I want to live there. How though? We actually straight out asked someone how they afford it. The response we got was, "Move here, then worry about it." The gentleman who told us this also said that he had to run up some credit card debt while he was out of work for a few months. Well since I don't believe in credit cards, that won't work for me. Moving to a place that has a very high cost of living may seem out of reach for us, but I believe if there is a will there is a way. I am perfectly happy with living in an RV, on a houseboat or renting a piece of land for a tiny house on a trailer to sit on! My new slogan is, "Mortgage free is the way to be."


Cute houseboat and tiny house I found for sale on tiny house listings.com!
On a positive note, Cody and I may be able to get out to California with the Air Force. We would be an hour from Santa Barbara, which would be affordable and better then being 1200 miles away from the ocean like we are now. If we are plan things out right and save money, I think our dream of living in California can and WILL come true.

What do you think of California?
I find people either love it or hate it.
I am currently working on getting all of my photos organized from our vacation. I will be sharing our whale watching experience, our trip to the Grand Canyon, cute photos of Muffins and Chloe at the beach and many other things. Stay tuned! You can view all my posts about California by clicking HERE.

Netflix Must See: Nature: Animal Odd Couples

At first I thought this movie was a bit cheesy. As I watched it though I found it very moving and inspiring. I always see photos online of animals that are a bit "odd" together. Yet I've never seen actually video footage of it. The film shares remarkable stories about animals that have built friendships outside their own species. It proves that animals do have emotions and do seek similar things that humans do, such as friendship, companionship and love.


The story in the film that made me shed some tears, was a story about a blind horse and an old goat. The goat somehow learned that the horse was blind and started leading the horse everywhere for 16 years. The goat would never leave his side. It was such a heart touching story.


There was also a cute story about a male lion and a female coyote that had been raised together at an animal sanctuary. Neither animal shows any signs of knowing they are different. They live and play together daily as if it's "normal".



This movie left me feeling like there is hope in the world for peace. If animals that are natural born predictors can be raised together and live peacefully, people should be able to do the same. We as a species could learn so much from wildlife if we would just learn to pay attention. The main lesson that we could learn is compassion.

If you don't have Netflix it's okay, here is the full episode....


This is a scheduled post while I am on vacation in California! Be back soon! :)

At The Moment

This is a photo of us from last month. We haven't been riding our bikes as much this month because of my new work schedule. It's been kinda of a bummer, but at the same time nice to take a break from the long rides. I rode 220 miles on my bike last month and only 85 miles this month. Honestly, I'm just tired. hahaha


I took this funny picture with my friend Scott when he visited in June. (This proves how light my bike is.)

This is how Chloe plays cards. Apparently she thinks standing on the table is part of the game.

Groceries for our vacation. Yes, a vacation. A much needed one I must add. Cody and I are heading out to California. I will be absent (even more) from the blog next week. When I get back though I will have many things to share! I am excited to have things I WANT to blog about when I return. :)

Earlier this year I thought these were weeds. I'm so glad I didn't pull them!

This has to be my favorite picture I've taken so far this month.
Simon always looks so pretty in all the photos I take of him.
Thanks to all of you who are still dropping in and saying hello. It means a lot to me considering that I feel like I've fallen out of the blogosphere. I'm behind on emails, posting and especially reading other blogs. My bloglovin app hasn't been working on my phone either. I miss blogging sometimes but it just doesn't fit into my life as well as it used to. Again, thanks. I look forward to sharing my vacation photos and adventures with you!

My Dream Of Traveling The World

I grew up in a very tiny town with very few people in it. There probably was more cows then people now that I think about it. As I got older I became fascinated with big cities. Places like New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Something about the tall skyscrapers and bright shiny lights really appealed to me. I still haven't had the chance to live in a big city. I wish I would of moved to Cincinnati when I had the chance. Lived in Ohio most of my life and didn't even explore the city while I was there, bummer!


Once I got away from Ohio and started to see more areas of the United States I was bitten by the travel bug. I now have a dream of traveling the world. I'm just a small town girl who wants to see it all. A fulfilling life for me, would be exploring as much of this beautiful planet as I can. There is nothing more that I want out of life then to see historical places and the natural wonders of the world.

Somewhere in Arizona on my cross country drive in 2011
Jen from Red Parka Dairies wrote a really cool post about "Impossible Things" she wanted to accomplish in her life. When I read it I knew my only true dream in life was to travel. Honestly though I didn't think it was ever going to be possible. I always say that you can do anything that your heart desires, but the dream of traveling requires lots of dollar signs. I didn't see myself ever having enough money to travel the world.

Then I stumbled across the whole tiny house movement. (Read my post HERE.) The lightbulb went off over my head!!! If I could build my own home, live debt free/mortgage free, save money and live a simple life, I could spend my money and time traveling. YES PLEASE! I can't explain the happiness I have been feeling since discovering tiny houses. For the first time in my life I felt like my dream was achievable. THAT'S A BIG DEAL! So where will I go?


Venice and Rome, Italy
I have to admit, I'm not a history buff. Growing up I hated history and really anything that had to do with learning. As I've gotten older I have become very interested in learning about other countries and cultures. Italy to me is just simply gorgeous. I would love to see all the buildings and take in the sites. I think this will be our first overseas vacation. Now I just have to start saving money for it.

I mentioned a few posts back that I got a promotion at work. I am now full time which means more money. I was scared to go full time, but I decided there are way too many awesome things I want to do in the future to not be making the extra cash while I can. I may not have a high paying job but I know how to save money. For the first time in our lives we are saving money and not wasting it. Saving money to build a tiny house and travel the world is a dream come true for me.

Needless to say there aren't many places in this world that I don't want to visit.
I figured I would spare you the long list and just share Italy for now. hahaha
What do you dream of doing in your life?