Leaving on an airplane!

Well...almost. We fly out tomorrow night but I have a bunch of stuff to do before we actually leave. I'm so scared that I am going to forget something majorly important so I made a super long checklist that I totally plan on going over at least five times. The last time I actually went on a plane was on our trip to Maui back in  2009. Needless to say, it's been a while. And this being Amelia's first flight I am just a tad nervous.


In the spirit of this vacation, I found some different pictures online of places that we are hoping to see, things to do, food to eat....you know, all the good stuff ;)

CHICAGO!

1. Take a picture with the bean.

2.  See Buckingham Fountain

3.  See a game at Wrigley!

4. The Field Museum

5. Eat some deep dish pizza

Have you ever been to Chicago? What would you recommend seeing/doing/eating? All ideas are welcome =) 

Summer bucket list

Even though I do have a "life" bucket list, I thought it might be a good idea to try to make one for this Summer. I will probably be adding to it along the way as I come up with some awesome new ideas. But here's the start of it at least. Let me know if there is anything you think that we should be doing! =)

Summer Bucket List!

1. Visit Alcatraz - (I went once a reallllly long time ago but the husband has never been.)

2. Ride a cable car in SF (Sad that I have lived in Northern Cali my entire life and never actually done this)

3. Take a trip out of state

4. Go to the beach

5. Hang out with amazing people as much as possible

6. Visit a themepark

7. Go to a concert (or 7. however many we can!)

8. Read as many books as possible

9. Skydive! (This one is up for debate. I'm hoping to accomplish it this summer but we will have to see!)

10. Visit an aquarium

I'm sure that I will be adding more to this list once I can think up some more exciting ideas. Anyone else have any big summer plans?

I'm such a slacker

I have been absolutely terrible at updating lately, especially with the outfit posts which was one of the main reasons I wanted to do this blog. Now this the semester from hell at school is finally over, I feel like I can finally concentrate on doing more things for me, this blog being one of those things.


I had my graduation a week and a half ago and I'm so excited to have completed another goal of mine. My parents, my sister with my niece and nephew, and some of my in laws were able to attend the ceremony which I was happy about considering it was kind of a strange time to have it (it was on a Thursday at 2:00 in the afternoon which made it difficult for people to get off of work early.) Overall the weather was gorgeous and I'm  glad that I got to be a part of it. I'm still working on figuring out the whole transferring situation but for now I am just going to take things one day at a time. 

(Clearly I need to tan my legs)

(Love this little girl with all my heart)

(My mother in law, husband, baby girl and myself)

(My two biggest fans and my greatest support system)

(My sister in laws, husband, baby girl and myself again)

I'm so excited to move on to the next chapter in my life, once I completely figure out what it is. 

On another note, we will be leaving in just 17 days to visit some of my family in Chicago! I'm super excited because I have had a bad case of wanderlust lately and this should help fix that. One thing that I would have changed about my childhood was how much I actually traveled. Every summer my parents would take me and my sisters to spend a week in sunny Santa Cruz, and while I loved this trip every year I do wish that we had gone to new and different places. I have every intention of taking my daughter (and future children) to as many places that we can possibly go because I feel like it is one of the most important things you can do in life. 

Now, I have never been on a plane with a toddler before and I have definitely heard my fair share of horror stories. Both of our flights are nonstop each way so I'm hoping that she will do okay and wont have a crazy tantrum to the point where they kick us off the plane or something. I plan on bringing a bunch of toys and will have the iPad loaded with episodes of Caillou and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Other than that I am just hoping for the best. I will definitely have to update once the trip is over on how she did. 

A bit of catching up to do.

It's been awhile since I actually posted anything because I have been super duper swamped with finishing up this semester at school, taming one very active 19 month old little girl, and all those wonderful duties that stay at home moms/wives have. Not that I am complaining. I know many women would love to be in my shoes and be able to stay home and raise their own children instead of having to work all the time and put the kids in daycare. 


School is over at the end of May, and because I only need one more class in order to get my AA degree I am actually going to be walking at graduation with my class. I'm actually looking forward to it quite a bit and seeing what the future holds for me after leaving this school. I'm still looking into transferring but that is still up for debate. I guess it all depends on if I find a job first.


The next few months are going to be ridiculously busy and I honestly cannot wait! This weekend we are going to a BBQ for a friend of mine, and even though she has no idea there is quite a big surprise waiting for her ;)


The following weekend I will be helping and attending my best friend's baby shower to help with the arrival of her baby boy Kayden. I can't believe how fast his due date seems to be coming up and I'm anxious to meet the little guy...probably not as anxious as her and her husband! I will post tons of pictures of both the shower and the BBQ because they are both going to be tons of fun. 

My cute pregnant best friend on the left and myself =)

Other things in store for us the next few months:

My graduation.

A lovely helicopter ride above San Francisco that my husband got me as a gift for Christmas. (I should note that he did not actually BUY me a helicopter but he got us passes for a flight and a lunch special. A helicopter would be awesome but we already have no space at our house, so keeping it would be a bit of a problem.)

Chicago trip! 

My aunt and uncle live close to Chicago and are being oh so wonderful and letting us stay with them for a week. We already have some flight credit towards Southwest so we wont have to pay that much more for the trip. And we get to stay for free! I'm so excited it's crazy. I have hardly been out of state and am very travel deprived. Hopefully this is the start of many more adventures!

On another fun note, we did do a spontaneous trip down to San Diego this past weekend. My sister in law lives there and it's kind of hard for her to travel up this way because she is busy with work and school and whatnot. So since the husband didn't have any jobs planned, we thought why the heck not? We left Friday night at almost midnight and stayed there the next two nights. 

Family time at the San Diego Zoo

Someone wasn't a happy camper!

Phil's BBQ. A definite must if you are ever in the area. The line is always CRAZY long. Luckily we were smart and called in our order ahead of time so we were able to walk right in and grab our food.

Chillen with the peeps of Sesame Street

Hi, friend!

My other half

Storage Wars! On the way back up we made a pit stop at Now & Then Thrift which happens to be the store owned by Jarrod and Brandi on the show Storage Wars. I was hoping to get a chance to meet them but they were in Long Beach for the day. Boo. I did however buy a tshirt that I have every intention of getting signed on the next trip down.

Museum of Death in Hollywood was also a must for us to stop at, and is also one of the things on my long bucket list that I can finally check off! (At some point I will post the entire bucket list along with which ones I have actually accomplished.) If you can handle blood and gore then this place is a really cool place to visit. There are so many unique and one of a kind things to look at, and it is definitely one of the most interesting yet creepiest places I have ever been to. Certain areas are dedicated to specific people or events such as Charles Manson and the Black Dahlia. Other rooms have artwork done by serial killers and items that have been in funeral homes. I would totally go back again just because I am so sure that I missed a bunch of things.