Fall 2015

Not only did we have a busy summer in 2015, we also had a busy fall. We made our annual corn maze trip, celebrated a good friend's thirtieth birthday with a 1920's theme party, went to a blazer game, and enjoyed all our area has to offer in the fall. We love this time of year. 

Staycation 2015

For our 2015 vacation we decided to just stay home! We did things around the house, went to OMSI, went to an Oregon Ducks football game, stayed up late, slept in, and ate out every day. Some of our favorite memories were made during this time. 

Discount Tire Company Party 2015

Another great year with another great party! We played harder this year and definitely enjoyed letting the company spoil us once again. 

Summer 2015

'''We always seem to pack a lot into our summers and 2015 was no exception. We played hard on 4th of July, enjoyed a mini trip and concert in the gorge with friends, celebrated a few special weddings, I ran in the Hood to Coast relay, we ate out, stayed up late, and enjoyed making new memories. 

   St. Paul Rodeo

   4Th of July Fireworks

   Zac Brown Band concert in the gorge

    Weddings

   Hood to Coast

3rd Anniversary Trip

This year we decided to head to the beach to celebrate our third anniversary. We left Friday afternoon and stayed until Monday evening. Friday was my birthday and I had worked the night before, raced home, slept for three hours, went to lunch with my friends, and then we headed out of town. We stayed in Lincoln City for two days and then Seaside for a night. The weather was gorgeous. We enjoyed hiking, flying kites, playing on the beach, walking around town, shopping, napping, and of course, eating! I feel so blessed that we get to take trips like this together.

3 Years!

We celebrated our third anniversary this year! Crazy to think that it's been three whole years since that magical day. We both had the whole day off this year so our day consisted of sleeping in, going shopping, getting lunch, taking a nap, having a nice dinner, and taking our annual anniversary picture. I treasure every moment I get with Andrew and this day was truly special. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that He brought Andrew into my life. My heart is so full.

Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

3rd Anniversary Picture 

Our Sweet Molly Dog

In April, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Molly. She was diagnosed with cancer back in November and were told she only had 2 months to live. She held on strong until April when one day, we just knew it was time to let her go. She passed away peacefully in our arms. It's always hard to say goodbye to a member of the family, even the ones with four legs. We miss her always and love reminiscing of all the good times we had with her. 

Hunting for snow

While we were preparing for our trip to Texas, we were also planning a trip to Utah. Andrew's brother (the one who lives in Texas) recently bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee and had really been wanting to take it on a road trip, off-roading, and in the snow. They figured Utah would be a perfect place for that and it was easy enough for other family members to head down and meet them there as well. We, too, had our own road trip with Andrew's mom. It was fun to spend another week with family we don't see all that often. We stayed with some friends who were so gracious to let us take over their house for a week. The weather was surprisingly warm and sunny while we were there, so the snow was hard to find. We were able to find a decent amount up on Powder Mountain. We also got to go for a nice hike, spend some time in Salt Lake City at Temple Square, and celebrate Valentine's Day at a nice Italian restaurant. Again, this week flew by and it was hard to say goodbye, and, yet again, my travel habit of getting sick everytime we go on vacation didn't fail me for this trip. I got a 24 hour stomach flu bug the night before we left to head home, which made for an interesting 12 hour drive back to Oregon. 

    Valentine's Day

    Temple Square

   Beautiful Hike

   Snowboarding at Powder Mountain

Weekend at Skamania Lodge

I have said this many times before and I will say it again: We truly are blessed to be part of the America's Tire/Discount Tire family. Sometimes, we get a little spoiled. Andrew's store had an awesome month back in November and his team reached some goals that have never been met before by that store, and that have been met by very few stores across the country. To celebrate, the company took us all to Skamania Lodge for the weekend. It is located in the gorge and overlooks the Columbia River. The amenities were perfect and the view was breathtaking. We went zip lining, got pampered at the spa, had delicious food, a cozy room, and all the drinks and room service you could ask for. The best part - the company paid for it all! The evening dinner was accompanied by a little presentation by the regional Vice Presidents. Andrew received a plaque to commemorate the amazing work they had done. We had such a great time getting to know the Vice Presidents and their wives better and are looking forward to many more company events.

Trip to Texas

In January, we had the opportunity to take a trip to Texas to visit Andrew's brother and his family. They had recently had a new baby so we were excited to meet him and spend a week in the Lone Star state! The week went by very quickly but we definitely filled it with tons of fun. Some of our favorite memories from the week were those from just sitting around the house hanging out. I have developed this bad habit (not by choice) of getting sick on every trip we go on. On this trip I got a nasty respiratory infection. I felt terrible for a couple of days straight. I was trying to stay away from the baby so he didn't get sick so Andrew got to hog all the baby snuggles. It's a bummer that our family lives so far away but we truly treasure every moment we get to spend with them.

Southern Caribbean Cruise Day 9: Heading Home

We woke up Sunday morning already missing the Caribbean but ready to head home. We ordered room service for breakfast so we could finish our last minute packing. We had put our big suitcases outside our room the night before so they crew members could sort them in preparation for debarkation. We had to be out of our room by a certain time so we as soon as we were all packed and had finished breakfast, we headed upstairs to the main dining floor. We picked a booth and got comfy, as we knew we would be sitting there a while. We had to wait until our group number (based on where our cabin was located on the ship) was called before we could debark and go through customs. We pulled out our cards and continued our tournament of Skip-Bo. My phone, unfortunately, was not much better than the previous night. Still obvious water damage. We still don't know what happened and why the case leaked but it was definitely frustrating heading home with a broken iPhone.

We ended up playing cards for about 2 hours. I believe I ended up winning the Skip-Bo tournament by 1 game. The wait was dragging on and we just wanted to get home. Finally, our number was called and we were able to debark, locate our luggage, go through customs, hop on a shuttle, and head to the airport. Once we arrived at the airport, we checked in and went through security before getting something to eat.

We flew through JFK in New York City again on the return trip. Overall, the flights were fine. We still didn't sleep much, but fortunately we had movies and direct TV to keep us entertained. 

We finally arrived home around 12:30a.m. We couldn't wait to crawl into our own bed and fall asleep. Before falling asleep, I decided to take a quick peek at our credit card account. What a very unwelcome surprise it was to see that somewhere along the line, our credit card had been hacked and some $300 worth of charges were put on it. We were less than thrilled. 

After getting a few hours of quality sleep, we unpacked, did laundry, got me a new iPhone, called the credit card company, and did our best to recoup after an amazing week. 

Andrew and I love traveling together. We are always able to find the best adventures and have to most fun with each other. This Southern Caribbean Cruise was no doubt amazing and will definitely be hard to top with future vacations. 

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2014 Day 8: St. Maarten/St. Martin

Out last stop was St. Maarten. St. Maarten is a pretty common island for vacationers to travel too. After our day here, we definitely saw why. St. Maarten is split into to sides: the Dutch side (St. Maarten) and the French side (St. Martin). We were fortunate enough to be able to spend some time of both sides. Both are beautiful, complete with gorgeous, warm turquoise waters and soft, sandy beaches.

We started by walking a short distance to a popular beach known as Little Bay Beach. Again, we were bombarded with people wanting us to pay for drinks, lawn chairs, etc. We found a little spot to lay our towels down and got in the water. We had a gorgeous view of our ship and, while taking some pictures with my phone, a lady asked me if I had a water proof case on it. I told her that I did in fact have a waterproof case and that it had worked really well. When I went to demonstrate just how well this case worked, I accidentally let go of my phone and it immediately sunk to the bottom! I started to panic! Luckily, she was willing to help us look for it. I thought for sure my phone, with all of the videos and pictures we had taken, was gone for good. Andrew quickly felt it underneath his feet and out his foot on it to hold it in place while someone dived down and got it. I have a huge fear of putting my head under water, but this lady was happy to go under water and get it for me! I was super embarrassed but was so so grateful that she was willing to do that for me. 

We eventually grabbed a taxi to take us over to the French side, which is also the Atlantic Ocean side instead of the Caribbean Sea. Our taxi driver was so good to answer some of our questions about the island. We ended up going to Orient Beach, which is amongst quite a few timeshares and resorts. We had our choice of spots to put our stuff down. We swam for a bit and tried to enjoy every last second we had, knowing we would be leaving the beautiful Caribbean so soon.

We took a nice little walk along the beach before we got our taxi to take us back to the ship. When we finally got back to the ship we realized that we were incredibly sunburnt. I usually don't burn but I guess my skin was done with the sun for the week!

We did our usual evening routine of a comedy show, mini golf (which Andrew ended winning the whole tournament), dinner, and Broadway style show. We ended our night by packing our suitcases so they could be taken and placed in the proper location to ease with debarkation in the morning. Right as we were turning in for the night, I noticed that it looked like there was some water behind the screen in my phone. I immediately took the supposedly waterproof case off, turned my phone off for the night to see if it just needed a break. We went to sleep in hopes that my phone would be fine in the morning.

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2014 Day 7: St. Kitts

St. Kitts was one of our favorite stops. I think it comes in at a very close second next to St. Thomas.

This day started like all the others: wake up, breakfast, get ready to get off the ship for the day. After 24 hours of antibiotics, I was feeling much better and was excited to spend the day in the sun!

A bit before we headed out an announcement was made that the gangway would be closed for about 15 minutes while another ship pulls into the dock. It happened to be a Disney Cruise ship. This ship was a bit smaller than ours but was much prettier to look at. It was fun to wave to the guests on that ship as they pulled in. 

As soon as we could, we got off the ship. Right off the dock there were tons of taxis waiting to take us to various beaches. We chose a beach at the far end of the island called Cockleshell beach. We climbed into the taxi/van and were ready to go! Two other couples, one was on their honeymoon and the other just vacationing, along with a family that consisted of 4 sweet littles girls, their parents, and their grandparents joined us in the taxi and we all headed to Cockleshell beach. The family was from the Disney Cruise and the other couples were on our cruise. It was fun to compare cruises. It was about a 20 minute drive down and it was gorgeous. St. Kitts was very green and as we drove over hills, our driver would stop at the top so we could look out over the beautiful torquoise ocean. It gives me chills just thinking about it again.

We arrived at Cockleshell beach and by this point, the grandma of the sweet family was having a panic attack. She did not like the roads and the crazy drive we just took (her daughter said she was always so dramatic). We didn't think the drive was that bad. We had about 3-4 hours to play before our taxi would meet us to take us back to the ships. I immediately had to use the restroom so Andrew and I first walked up and down the beach trying to find a good place. There were a few beach bars that didn't have a restroom, a porta-potty that looked pretty suspicious, and a small restaurant that looked promising. I decided to try the restaurant, but because I wasn't a guest at the restaurant, they wanted to charge me $2 to use the restroom! I was not happy about that so I decided to try to hold it as long as I could. Well, it didn't last long and I ended up paying a couple of dollars. We learned early on in the cruise that people will try to get you to pay for everything: lounge chairs, restrooms, and even to touch their pet monkeys. 

We spent a long time just hanging out in the water talking with our new friends from the taxi ride. At one point they even brought us beers. We felt bad telling them we don't drink but it was so thoughtful of them to do that for us! There were lots of little fishes swimming around our feet and every once in a while they would bite our toes. That is a weird feeling. After swimming, we walked along the beach and took some pictures. We laid out for a little while before our taxi came to pick us up. 

We all got back in the same taxi, except for the grandparents. The mom said that her mom (the grandma) had such a rough time in the drive over that she was not going to come back on that taxi! We aren't sure how she got back to the ship...

The little girls started complaining that they were hungry so the mom opened up her bag and started pulling out snacks. We were commenting that moms always carrying snacks with them, and then she started tossing snacks at us! Our conversations were hilarious and the snack were yummy. That was probably our favorite cab ride ever. 

The Disney ship left before ours so it was fun to watch them pull away from the dock and disappear into the sunset.

We went to a comedy show before dinner, enjoyed a fun show out in by our wait staff during dinner, then headed back to our room to watch a movie in bed. We were exhausted from our fun-filled day in St. Kitts!

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2014 Day 6: St. Lucia

Day six. We were exhausted but still ready for some more adventure.

On Tuesday I woke up not feeling so great. I was trying to fight it off but ultimately knew antibiotics were the only thing that would take care of it. I really did not want to make a trip down to the infirmary to see the doctor because I know I would have to pay an arm and a leg. We went to breakfast and I was miserable. We still had 4 full days left of the trip and I was not going to be miserable for the rest of the trip. We went down to the infirmary and let me tell you. That was my fastest doctor's appointment ever! Seen by the nurse, triage done, labs processed, seen by the doctor, prescriptions written and in my hand all within 20 minutes! Yes, we paid a lot of money, but luckily my insurance reimbursed us for most of it. I took the first dose of meds right away and quickly felt better.

Before this cruise I had done research on St. Lucia and was so excited! It seemed like a beautiful island with so many fun things to do. However, the weather that day was cloudy and gross, we were tired, and I was still not feeling the best so we decided to scratch all plans and just walk around for a bit. We had originally reserved a car but after our crazy and nerve wracking driving experience in Barbados, we decided to just cancel all cars for the rest of the week.

We walked over to the beach which was by an airport. We saw a few small planes take off and land as we made our way. We were followed and approached by a homeless man which made me super uncomfortable, but we made it safe to and from the beach. It was nice, but I'm sure there were nicer places on the island. 

We returned the ship, played some more mini golf and cards, and once again, watched as we left St. Lucia. We went to our second Elegant Night dinner, an evening show, and enjoyed a relaxing evening.

For those who didn't know, Andrew is a huge Oregon Ducks fan. They were planning a big game this night and he was hoping the sports bar on the ship would have it up on the TVs. We asked the bartender and he said he had it on his schedule. However, at game time, we discovered that the ship did not get the channel after all. So Andrew missed the game and boy was he bummed. It turns out the Ducks lost that night. Maybe they would have won if their biggest fan had actually gotten to watch the game ;)

Overall, we enjoyed our laid back and relaxing day in St. Lucia. I'm not sure if we will ever come back to St. Lucia, but it's nice to say we have been there. 

Southern Caribbean Cruise 2014 Day 5: Barbados

Wednesday: Barbados. Barbados was definitely an adventure that left us with so many memories.

Before we had left for the cruise, we had booked a car for three of our stops. One of those stops was in Barbados. We were a little nervous coming in to this because in Barbados, the driver sits on the right side of the car and drives on the left side of the road. Andrew said that he would be fine with driving so we picked up our car and headed on our way! 

We drove to the east side of the island, looking for a beach called "Bathsheba". This was one of the places I had seen online that travel critics and other tourists said was a must see. We just had one tiny little cartoon-like map to follow. The writing was small and it was very difficult to follow. The roads were narrow and we were driving on dirt, gravel, and paved roads. We saw lots of farm land, a variety of neighborhoods, and we finally made it to Bathseba! It was beautiful. It is part of the Atlantic Ocean. Definitely not a good swimming spot but the views were beautiful. 

After Bathsheba we decided to head to the beach. On our drive over we had seen a couple of beaches that looked nice. We made our way over and enjoyed and afternoon of warm water, soft sand, and hot sun.

When it was time to go back to the ship I pulled out the map to try to navigate us back. At one point we took a wrong turn and had to turn around. We found the perfect spot...the Barbados LDS church building! We had wanted to try to find the building any ways but it was fun to just stumble upon it! 

We made it back to the ship in time to watch us pull away. This was another favorites activity of ours. We love standing in the front if the ship and watching it pull away from the dock and watch the beautiful islands we had just spent the day at disappear behind us. 

That evening we played mini golf some more (I'm pretty sure I lost), played some cards, watched a movie, went to dinner, and did some laundry. Barbados was a great stop!