Days 4-6 - Long Beach, CA / DISNEYLAND / San Diego, CA

I was uploading pictures from my phone for this post and realized that I had hardly any from Long Beach but then I remembered that we went to Disneyland while we stayed in Long Beach and that's why. Right now we are currently in Austin, TX and a lot has happened since my last post. Traveling across the country is exhausting. Below is a picture from Chads show at Pikes. My old boss Jessica, her boyfriend Tom, and best friend Beth came out to see the show and it was so much fun! The one thing I love about doing a long road trip in so many cities is getting to see all of my friends along the way. I don't know how or when it happened exactly but I feel like we've got friends in every major city now. Getting to see them has been priceless. I love you guys! 

The second day we were in Long Beach we went to Disneyland for my birthday! Chad and I have both been to Disneyworld but never Disneyland. It's been about ten years since either of us have been so we were extremely excited. It was by far one of the best birthdays I have ever had. We got there just have 9AM and stayed until well after 6PM. It was super busy but somehow we lucked out and the only SUPER long wait we had was for Space Mountain. That hour and half wait time turned out to be really fun as we met some girls in line that were playing a charades game on their Iphone and they let us join in. Just imagine three people yelling clues at each other while one person guesses. Remember these were strangers but after about twenty minuets I was ready to put them in my pocket and take them home with me. It was an absolute blast. After a little while we noticed other people around us in line playing the same game - I can't think of a better way to pass time waiting for rides but enough about that ... picture purge below:




I have no idea why I'm placing my hand like that on my chest. I started doing it recently and I don't even realize I'm doing it until I see these pictures after!



I couldn't stop smiling!

The Haunted Mansion was epic and all decked out in Nightmare Before Christmas stuff.


I wanted so badly to buy one of the ride pictures of us but everyone turned out terrible so we just took a picture of the picture. I have my mouth wide open in all of them... WHY do I look so excited/crazy?

And lastly... the food. We ate a gigantic churro, pizza, and this guy. It was all yummy yummy.


After the long and crazy Disney day we woke up the next morning to head to San Diego. The 31st is my actual birthday and I decided to try out a new hair style and to put on makeup. Gotta look cute right? Well, instead of going exploring and shopping like I originally planned we ended up at Firestone for Chads car. He just had to go and run over a nail and ruin my life. Just kidding - shit happens as they say and we safely got him to the store only to find out that all his tires were bald and we needed to get new ones. Four hours and several hundred dollars later HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. I tell you something always happens to make me cry on my birthday... BUT I refused to let it bring me down for long. I had one request/demand and that was to watch the sunset on the beach and the timing worked out perfect. We got his car back an hour before and we got to the beach with 15 mins to spare. After that we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and walked around the mall looking at all the purses I could have bought with that tire money.

Do we like the double buns? I'm loving it. 

We ended up spending New Years Eve cuddled up in the hotel room and I can't think of a better way to start off 2015. 

On the first we got back on the road to go to Tuscon, AZ. Nothing much of interest happened during that time but OH BUDDY was the next day eventful. 

Next time on the blog: Lunch with friends in New Mexico and almost dying in Texas.

Day 2 & 3 - The Redwoods, Pacifica, & San Francisco

I can't believe I'm actually getting to experience and see everything that I am. I have always loved to travel and I have wanted to take a long road trip across the country and more specifically drive the entire West Coast from WA to CA. Actually getting to do it feels like a dream. I keep taking moments out of the day to just stop and look around and thank God for all of these blessings. I met/married the love of my life, I've had the best jobs, I've moved across the country, I've traveled, and well I just keep getting all these things that I've always wanted. Don't get me wrong - I've worked hard for these things but wow, I feel so undeserving. Granted I am still overweight so it ain't all roses over here people. I understand that everyone has issues and problems but I think everyone has blessings too. Celebrate those good moments in life and try not to dwell on the bad. 

Now, let me jump off my soap box and get back to traveling! We left Crescent City on Saturday morning and quickly got to our first stop: the Trees of Mystery in Klamath, CA. It was only 16 miles away from where we stayed but driving those 16 miles... and hell the rest of the day was breathtaking. I'm probably going to overuse that word during this trip so, please feel free to leave alternates for me in the comments section below. 

This tree had ten other trees growing out of it! This picture sucks but it was absolutely amazing.



I have no idea how I'm going to hold all this and baby one day...


How freaking cute is my dog... she did NOT like the SkyTrail though. It is a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain through the Redwoods and she shook the entire time. We held her close and kept telling her that she was pretty. That did the trick.

After we got back on the ground we made our way through the forest back to the gift shop and on the way there were a lot of neat wood carvings. Here is the only picture I took of them - Chad got a lot more on his phone but I'm to lazy to send them to myself. Ugh I suck.



We were in the woods for about two hours which had us getting into Pacifica, CA late that night -which means 9PM for this old girl. Once we checked in we were walking to our room when this lady came up with her dog and said, "Oh your dog is so cute - would you like this jacket for her? It is too small for my dog and she would look adorable in it!" So, that's the story on how Olive got her new San Francisco jacket! I wish I was so cute that people would just walk up to me and give me things.



The next day we got up and walked around the little beach town - found a Christmas store and I FINALLY found a Pomeranian ornament and the first of many vintage tea cups for my new collection - then we found a dog friendly brunch spot at The Surf Spot. It was delicious and a really BIG place. They had a volleyball court, stage, fire pit, and even gluten free dog treats. Olive ate moss off of a tree in the Redwoods so I stopped the waitress from explaining what they had in them midway as I do not need to know all the ingredients. Just give her the damn treats so she will stop trying to eat my bacon! Olive was not impressed apparently:



After brunch I tried to watch the Seahawks game - that was a fail so then we went into the city to take a few pictures with the Golden Gate Bridge - Alcatraz - and the Full House house. There was a weird mist/haze around the bridge and I couldn't get a good shot on my phone but I got a few on my real camera I might upload later. Below is the Full House house... people live there - they painted it gray and they have packages waiting for them.


And then one of my dreams came true and I saw Alcatraz Island! I wish we could have taken the tour so badly -- next time for sure!



Then it was time for Chads show at Brainwash Cafe!



It was a great show and they had YUMMY food. If you follow me on Instagram you can keep up with all my workout and food eating there... @crazythoughs

Once we got back to our hotel Chad wanted to go to the beach for a late night walk so, I put on as many layers of clothing as I could and wore my fancy water shoes. I am so fine.



We had to climb down a rock cliff to get to the beach but it was worth it. It was freezing but absolutely beautiful. I love the beach.



That about covers the last two days!

Up Next: Long Beach, CA & Disneyland

Road Trip Day 1 - Crescent City, CA

I'm currently on the road with my husband and Pomeranian driving back to Mississippi for the next ten days! Well, at this exact moment I'm in our hotel in Crescent City, CA trying not to fall asleep at 7pm. I wasn't planning on blogging the entire way but I think I changed my mind. It's so fun to document the trip this way so, each day (or every few days) I'm going to try and post some pictures from my phone and try to keep my mom posted on my whereabouts.

Yes, MOM - I'm alive - the cars are fine -Olive is fine - we ate and I brushed my teeth. 

For those of you who don't know - We have been living in Seattle for over three years now and while we love it - it just wasn't home. Mississippi has pulled us back with it's sweaty hands and surprisingly we are pretty HAPPY about it. I don't want to hear about why Mississippi sucks - it doesn't and if you think it does then move somewhere else. We are SO excited to get back home - plant some roots - and start a business. Anyways, currently we are on an 11 day road trip driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and then across the bottom of the country back to MS. Chad is touring which you can read about here and tomorrow we will be in San Francisco for the weekend! We aren't driving crazy amounts each day but instead taking our time and making a vacation out of it. This drive is something that I've always wanted to do and I'm so excited to get to do it! 

Now, time for some pictures and then I'm going to bed. Getting up at 4am SUCKS. 

I'm too lazy to turn this picture the right way so tilt your head to the left. Chad had the best idea EVER for the road trip: Walkie Talkies!!! We are each driving our cars and Olive is riding with me and these have been AMAZING so far. They are quick, fun, and make it feel like we are riding in the same car. Cell phones are so overrated. 

The drive today was from Kirkland, WA to Crescent City, CA  about 530 miles - it was absolutely beautiful. We left a little after 6AM and got to our hotel right after 3PM. These cell phone pictures are crap but I almost died taking them so you're welcome: 

We had been up since 4am - excuse the hot mess. I have no idea what face I was making... this could have been the moment Olive put my car in Neutral while going 60MPH though. Don't even start with me on the, "Put her in a carrier" debate. Everything was fine... nothing to see here.

 When she's not trying to kill us she's pretty dang cute. 

Once we got to Crescent City we unpacked and headed to the beach to watch the sunset. California has the best sunsets... I can't ever get enough of them.

Completely missed but you get the idea... 

That's a Lighthouse!!! I'm obsessed with Lighthouses in case you didn't know. After that I turned around and someone was enjoying the wind blowing through her hair. She was so stinking cute looking out into the ocean like that and then the next thing I know Chad picked her up and told her that, "Everything the light touches is yours."  

Too bad the Sun was setting. #Burn 

Up next: San Francisco, CA  

Christmas Photo Tease

I was very unsure if we would be getting Christmas cards out this year at all much less one with a picture of us on it. Scheduling a day that Chad could be off work with me and hoping it wouldn't be raining like crazy tested my sanity this year. We were way late to the game... Thanksgiving came and went with no photo shoot but then Chad was able to get off work on a Saturday (CRAZY because those are his busy days at work) and the rain stayed away long enough for us to get a few cute shots. So, Monday night I ordered our cards and we are in the process now of getting them all addressed and mailed out. With us preparing to move across the country again this my friends is a certified Christmas Miracle!

Here are a few shots for a little tease:

 

We picked two different photos for our Christmas cards and I'll share those along with a special extra we did this year for my Christmas day post! It was super windy when we took these which sucked because my hair is a hot mess but I think they turned out pretty good. One of my best friends Terra took these - she is an EX wedding photographer but somehow I still trick her into taking photos of us every once in awhile. I love her style and she is the most fun to shoot with - THANK YOU TERRA! She also did our photo shoot from last year  (when I had purple hair!) and if I can get her to come visit us in Mississippi she'll be doing a few more shoots through the years as well.

Does your family send out Christmas cards every year? 

*Chad also just recorded one of my favorite Christmas songs - Happy X-Mas by John Lennon and its up for FREE DOWNLOAD until Christmas! I wanted to share it with all of you guys - Download it here free until 12/25/14 and be sure to LIKE Chad's page on Facebook to keep up with the TOUR!

A Snowy Sunday

On Saturday night we got a nice little surprise! SNOW! I was so excited for this little Winter treat that we got up early Sunday morning and took Olive out to play and take pictures. She loved it. If you follow me on Instagram you might have already seen a few pictures but here are the ones that I got with the 60D. I just realized my camera needs a name.... maybe Dolly. Yes, I think I like that... Dolly it shall be!

Action shot of her eating the snow. Baby bear loves eating snow.

 

 

 

 

Oh how I love my little model. I'm so glad we got up early before all the footprints ruined the fresh snow. There is nothing I love more than taking Olive out to play. Her little belly gets covered with ice cycles and if there has been several inches of snow she has to literally jump in order to walk. It is by far the cutest thing I have ever seen.

 

Snow just makes everything look magical. The world always seems quieter covered in snow. All you hear is the soft crunch of it under your feet and when you look around everything just seems fresh, crisp, and clean.