On the road

No, this isn't about the Jack Kerouac book but it is about our crazy cross country traveling adventure. I swear I have been trying to blog... dreaming about blogging really and I've had absolutely no chance to. So many trips have happened and I really wanted to document them in detail but it looks like I'm going to have to play catch up instead. I will be posting about Jamaica and the second leg of our tour/trip in separate posts but here is what has happened since California:

I know I have pictures but they are on my other phone/camera and I'm currently in South Carolina without them. In order to catch you up on what happened driving through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana I will mostly write... 

Arizona was easy - nothing of note happened and the only regret we have is not stopping to take a picture with one of the GIGANTIC cactus's. Oh wells. 

New Mexico was great because we got to have lunch one of my friends from college that I have not seen in over 5 years! We did manage to take one picture together in the snow (IT WAS SNOWING IN NM WTF) and we got to meet her husband! They just got married earlier this year -- congrats again you guys and it was SO GOOD getting to catch up Jenny! 

After lunch we made our way through El Paso, TX and all hell broke loose. Apparently, there was an ice storm in West Texas the night before and the temperature was still below freezing by the time we got there - then the Sun set and things just got worse. It wasn't snowing but there was ice all over the roads and people were wrecking all over the place. We were 150 miles from Fort Stockton (where we had booked a hotel for the night) and there is absolutely NO WHERE to pull over or stop on that stretch of I-10. I have never been so stressed out and scared in my life while driving. Traffic slowed to a mere 19 miles an hour and I witnessed two cars speed past us and then spin out of control and wreck. Thankfully my prayers were working and none of them hit us and caused us to wreck. Chad was driving his car behind me and we were talking constantly on our walkie-talkies but they eventually died. It was stressful. It added 4 extra hours onto our driving that day. It was horrible and when we finally got to our hotel we both got out of the car and just hugged and kissed each other and thanked God for getting us to our hotel safely. I'm so glad I booked our hotel a few days prior to this because every single room in town was FULL by the time we got there. We saw several people that had to go to local churches and schools for the night or even sleep in their cars - it was just awful but thankfully everything turned out fine for us. 

The next day we woke up and started the drive to Austin, TX. I'm going to post about Austin in a separate post since we stayed there 2 days but one fun thing that happened was getting to meet a long time blog friend Cely from RunningofftheReeses! I can't tell you how many times her blog has made me LOL and she is just as funny in real life. It was so good meeting you Cely!  

We stayed in a Austin 2 days and then we left to head to Lafayette, LA for one of Chads shows. We were SO CLOSE to Mississippi I was a little pissy we just couldn't go ahead and GET THERE ALREADY but we had to stop due to his show commitments and I spent the night feeling like crap in the worst hotel ever. Never stay at the Red Roof Inn there - It was just gross and to give you an example of WHY it was gross; as soon as, Olive ran in the room she went under the bed and came back out with a CONDOM WRAPPER in her mouth. Thank God it wasn't the condom but EWW! After that I checked all the sheets and pillows for anything else weird and after all was good I laid down to watch TV and then finally I fell asleep. Chad had his show and then got back late and the next day we got back to Mississippi! The final count was 3,600 MILES driven! It was a long 11 days and we were so happy to be back home. We got back into town and immediately drove to our new rent house and signed on the dotted line making it ours! We move in February 1st and our stuff should be delivered around that same time. It still keeps blowing me away how everything is lining up perfectly and I am just SO THANKFUL for that! 

The next few days were spent with family and Chad had a few gigs and then on January 10th we took my nephew Matthew to his first Comic Con in New Orleans! (what's another 300 miles driving...) It was a blast and deserves it's on post but here is what we looked like: 

We pulled out our Bomberman outfits from Halloween and Matthew was some Anime character that I still can't remember the name of... oops. #badaunt We ARE those people that dress up... I mean that's like 90% of the reason I love going! After that we headed to Jackson to spend some time with my family and I got to meet another one of my long time blog friends Cassie from Always a Blogsmaid. 

My beautiful Gran and I at our FAVORITE catfish house... it's a tradition we share and was one of the first things she wanted to do once we got back in town. Things like this are why I'm so happy we moved back... it's these little moments and memories that I've missed and I'm so happy to be able to spend time with all my family and friends whenever I want to again. I do miss you already Seattle but Mississippi is just HOME.

One night I was in town I met up with Cassie and we went to a yoga class together and then to Babalus for dinner! It was SO MUCH FUN. I can't believe I'm that friend now that everyone wants to go to workout classes with. My old self would have just wanted to do dinner and eat all the carbs I could find but now I get so excited to workout with my friends. Cassie and I grew up in neighboring towns and have always known about each other but I don't think we've ever officially met. Then I moved away and discovered she had a blog and then we fell in blog love and blogged happily ever after. #truestory She's fantastic and I can't wait to get to hang out more now that we are in the same area again! 

Once I got home I told my Mom and Gran all about my yoga class and they made me show them the moves while my Mom copied me and decided that she could do yoga too. I love it - my Mother and I have so much in common and I hope she was serious about wanting to go to class with me one day! I used to do yoga a lot before I started kickboxing and I've always missed it. I'm pumped to get back into the yoga grove again. 

#camelpose

Later that week we did some work at a few coffee shops because my Gran has no internet and our cell phone data plans are already tapped out for the month. It's been pretty amazing not having to go to work and instead work along side of my main squeeze. He goes and gets me water and does everything I tell him too #bestassistantever JUST KIDDING. He's been working his ass off booking gigs while we are starting our business and I'm just so proud of him. 

After a few days in Jackson it was time to take a vacation... off to JAMAICA we went! 

More to come on that in the next post...  

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  

Portland

If you are from Portland and reading this I want to meet you!

As long as you're not a killer or rapist. 

Anyways, the hubs has a show at Rock Bottom in Portland, OR tomorrow night and we are going to make a day adventure of it to explore the city beforehand! We haven't ever been and I am So excited to finally go, i've heard amazing thingssss! If you're a blogger/reader in that area and don't have any plans come to CK's show tomorrow night or lets make a day date and eat Froyo or something! 

Where should we go in Portland? What should we see, eat, watch, hear, and do??? I hear there is a pretty nice Saturday Market should we go?

I need suggestions even if you're not from there.

Don't leave me hanging!

Welcome Home

Getting to Seattle at 5am has its perks.

The city is absolutely beautiful early in the morning and even though I was still passing in and out I was excited when I was awake to be in my new home with my cars. It's just crazy to think that we drove our cars across the country and they were not going back to Mississippi.

 We rolled up to J's apartment and I'm sure he questioned himself as to who were these ugly, exhausted, scary looking people? Surely they weren't the friends that he once knew. Oh J, it's us in all of our 24 hour driving glory! We went upstairs and promptly all tried to go to bed but the Road Dog Olive was wide awake and ready to play. She was such and amazing road dog the whole trip and basically slept the entire time so of course when we got out of the car she was ready to run a marathon. My response to this was 3 hours of TRYING to sleep and then finally giving up and getting up to get ready and head to our new apartment. We basically got NO sleep but we were running off of excitement and headed off to get all of the paperwork finished so we could get in our new apartment. After all of that was said and done we had arrived and then they told me that we could paint our walls. Really? I can PAINT. Seriously? Okay I haven't slept in 35 hours but this sounds fabulous-Mom, GPS the nearest home depot right now! I am such a evil and sick person to make them paint a few accent walls in my new apartment after no one has had any sleep. I still can't believe no one refused; everyone just went along with it... and then in the middle of the painting I crumbled and fell apart crying asking WHY did I do this to us... WHY!?

Unloading the cars

Why yes, those are the same clothes and the same dirty faces.

And then I made everyone paint:

This was when I started crying and my mother thought she would cheer me up by painting "Baby making room" on the wall. I just cried harder...I'm not ready for kids Sharon!

 I love how I'm crying like a baby and everyone writes sweet I love you's to me on the wall.. really people I've torchered you all day long, all week long, and you are trying to cheer me up!? My family and friends spoil me.

Later that night we went back to J's to let the paint dry,to sleep in beds, and of course hang out with the coolest guy ever! After a fun night at J's the next morning our movers came and unloaded all of our shit -also, let me just state that these guys were AMAZING! I can't even begin to explain how awesome they are and if they read this  I LOVE YOU! (Hey, It's possible we are Facebook friends now)

Sharon Supervising

Greg unloading my 100lb boxes in to the apartment.

Bedroom

We are all just praising Jesus that we didn't have to carry everything upstairs and looking fabulous.

"We did it!"

Whoops the lotion exploded in the bag. No problem we will just make a lotion cup.

And then came Haley's whole reason for coming.

Making sure that we are properly protected and that if a killer tries to get us we can Mace him!

The Knights are Home!

Until Next time....