Arriving in Melbourne, Australia

First, I want to start out with that the turbulence out of SFO was the worst we have ever experienced. And of course, it started right after the meal service began. It lasted about three hours, even the flight attendants said it was some of the worst they had even experienced.

Once we landed in Melbourne, we took the SkyBus to our hotel in the city. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Flinders which was a perfect location for catching buses, trains and trams…and a perfect location for walking the city. Once we settled in, unpacked and cleaned up we met with a distant cousin of mine for a tour of the city. We walked the streets seeing street art, arcades, allies filled with food and shops. After a lot of walking and exploring we had a drink on the river and then called it a night.

The next day, December 31, 2019, we started with a trip to the Queen Victoria Market. So many foods and souvenirs! We opted to have an early lunch here and enjoyed lamington for the first time. Lamington is an Australian cake, and everyone should have one! Delicious! Then we headed to St. Kilda to see the beach and visit some of the famous cake shops on Acland Street. YUM! Then it was back to the city to have dinner and relax until the city lit off fireworks to celebrate the new year!

Welcome 2020!!! (if we only knew what was to come…)

Christmas Special 2020

Wow, can you believe that 2020 is finally over?! I know a lot of people are looking forward to getting 2020 in the review mirror and hope 2021 will be better.

We typically travel for Thanksgiving but since we didn't this year and I was grumpy about it I decided to get the Christmas tree up the first weekend in November! We also took advantage of the warm weather and got the outside lights up too. 

I have also dabbled in floral design recently, trying my hand at some Christmas planters and some mason jar centerpieces for the table. 

And I have been baking, lots and lots of baking. Reminding me that I should make cookies more often because they are gooood! This year I made sugar cookies with royal icing, ginger creams, brownie truffles and chocolate crinkles. And there is plans for a peach pie! 

What have you been up to this holiday season?

24hrs in San Francisco

In December of 2019 Matt and I were off to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary (a few months early). Destination…Australia! But first, we had a one-night layover in San Francisco, CA. We landed at SFO around 5pm, took the BART to our hotel in the Union Square district, freshened up and then wandered around looking for some food. Surprisingly, most places were closed… I’m assuming it was because it was December 27^th and restaurant owners were taking a break for the holidays (this would be a theme for our time in Australia too). We finally found some food not far from the hotel, ate, walked back to the hotel, ordered drinks and called it a night. 

The next morning, we woke up and started the day with breakfast near the hotel and a walk to Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked to take in the sights…and…we just like walking. We viewed the famous Golden Gate Bridge and then walked to the San Francisco Maritime National Park and to Ghirardelli Square. Ah, the good stuff! I don’t think they opened until 10:30am and at 10:35am I was eating my ice cream sundae! After the walk we started to make our way back to the hotel, we walked past Lombard Street where I was surprised to see people just standing in the middle of the road taking pictures. Um, it’s an active street y’all, get out of the road! 

Once back at the hotel we took showers and packed, it was early afternoon but even with a late check-out we needed to be on our way to the airport for our 11:30pm flight. We got the airport around 4:30/5pm and headed straight to the United Polaris Lounge! 

The United Polaris Lounge at SFO was the only reason I was okay with getting to the airport with over 6 hours until our flight! We drank, ate dinner, drank some more, had dessert, watched TV and relaxed before our long journey across the globe… Stay tuned! 

Yellowstone National Park: Part 2

We packed up our things from our shared rental with my family and hit the road north to see all the things in Yellowstone National Park! We started the day with a drive up to Old Faithful where we waited to view the geyser in all her glory. Then we walked around the area viewing the other geysers.

Then we were back on the road to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. I feel like I had a major travel fail here as I did not realize there was an overlook for this spring where you could have gotten a bird’s eye view of it and all its colors. Oh well, next time!

Next stop was the Fountain Paint Pot Trail, a small boardwalk trail to see more geysers, some that spew mud and make the most interesting sound!

This is where we said our goodbyes to my family as they headed back down to Jackson Hole (and eventually back home to Texas). And we continued through the park and into the town of West Yellowstone where we stayed for the night. Of course, we used our free hotel night at the Holiday Inn Express (thank you IHG cobranded credit card)! We had the best BBQ we had had in a long time at Firehole Bar-B-Que and we took our stuffed bellies for a walk down the main drag for some window shopping and ice cream…because there is always room for ice cream!

The next morning, we visited the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. We tried to engage our then four-year old daughter, but she wasn’t really having any of it. Then we made a quick sashay west on the Targhee Pass highway to cross the Idaho/Montana state line so I could check Idaho off my bucket list. I know, I know, I do count airport stops and quick state line crossings like this as an official “been there” on my bucket list. And the only reason why I do is I’m never sure if I will ever make it back.

After that we made our way back to Bozeman, but not without making a few stops due to bison in the road! We checked into our hotel (another free night thanks to the co-branded Marriott card) and ordered pizza for dinner. Jack joined us one last time, we said our goodbyes early as we had to be at the airport at 4:30am for our flight home. 

Grand Teton Half Marathon - Day 3

The next morning Jack and I headed to the race, of course we had to stop for a moose! About 2 hours and 30 minutes after the race started, I crossed the finish line. I didn’t hit my goal time, but finishing is what is important. After a little altitude nausea and a bus ride back to the car we were able to freshen up, eat and relax for a minute. But not too long! We had things to see! We walked over to the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and took the Aerial Tram all the way to the top where took in the views and had some of Corbet’s famous waffles at Corbet’s Cabin Top of the World Waffles.

Once off the mountain we headed to the Snake River Overlook and the famous Mormon Row of farmhouses with the Tetons as the backdrop. We had dinner and explored the town of Jackson Hole. But after a morning of running and an afternoon of sightseeing, it was time to call it a night!

{Snake River Lookout | Jackson Hole famous antler arch | Barn on Mormon Row}

Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks

{Entering the park from the North Entrance | Roosevelt Arch and Mammoth Hot Springs}

It is no surprise that this little blog of mine has fallen to the wayside since life has gotten so busy. Even during the COVID-19 lockdown...quarantine...whatever it is...I continued to go into work and life didn’t really slow down a whole lot for us. But all that aside I want to catch up on past travels we took in 2019. In January of 2019 we visited Grand Cayman Island for a week and now I’m going to get into the details of our trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

We’ll start with days 1 and 2…

We had a late flight arriving into Bozeman, MT so we opted to stay the night at the Residence Inn by Marriott and use our annual free night that comes with our Marriott co-branded credit card. We checked-in, cleaned up and went to bed. The next morning, we woke up and headed to Yellowstone National Park where we met up with a longtime friend of mine, Jack.

{Lower Lookout Point at The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone}

After entering the park, we made stops at Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls and Lower Falls. And then, we were supposed to meet my family at the Canyon Village Visitor Center. We arrived here but it proved to be difficult to locate each other since there was ZERO cell service and no Wi-Fi. We started to comb the parking lot for my Dad’s truck when my mom spotted me! I had been wearing a neon green shirt that helped! After seeing the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, we continued on our way south and made one more stop at West Thumb Geyser Basin. NOTE: All the locations I listed above have minimal walking, we did have a 4-year-old with us after all.

{Grand Canyon of Yellowstone}

After West Thumb Geyser Basin, we continued south to Teton Village; where we would be staying for the next few nights. We dropped our things at the AirBnB we had rented and went to dinner at the Mangy Moose. This trip also happened to take place over our anniversary! We were celebrating 9 years of marriage!

The next day we focused on Grand Teton National Park. We took the first boat ride across Jenny Lake and hiked to Hidden Falls. We also made a short stop at String Lake. Then I had to head to the Grant Teton Half Marathon Race Expo! I needed to gather my race items for the 5K that night and the half the next morning. My 5K was not a personal record but it was good 5K and gave me a feeling for what was to come the next day.

{Jenny Lake | Hidden Falls}

What a great start to the first few days in some of our nation's most iconic national parks! 

How to Look After Yourself as a Working Parent

We all know how difficult it can be for working mothers to strike the right work-life balance, but making time for yourself can be another challenge entirely. Between your work duties and family responsibilities like preparing healthy kids meals, self-care can easily be forgotten, leaving you feeling drained and burned out.

Fortunately, having a job and children doesn’t mean you can’t find room in your schedule for a little self-care. These tips will help you find the time for yourself that you need to recharge and reconnect with your passions and interests.

Get Up Early

Your mind and body both need adequate sleep to be at their best, so you should always try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Even just fifteen to thirty extra minutes in the morning can be enough time to make yourself a drink or a light breakfast and relax a little before the busy day begins.

The early morning is typically the quietest part of the day, making it the perfect time to spend on the things you want to accomplish. Whether you’d rather work out, start a new book, or just have some time to wake up more leisurely, you’ll appreciate setting your alarm a little earlier.

This is something I do and have done. Twice a week I wake up at 4:10am to meet a friend for a 4:30am run. We run 3 miles and are done by 5am. Leaving me plenty of time to clean up, get dressed, pack my lunch and get to work on time. On days that I don’t run, I started setting my alarm just 5 minutes earlier, so I don’t feel so rushed to get out the door.

Set Your Own Goals

When you’re a working mom, it’s easy to let other people’s interests and goals become your own. While there’s nothing wrong with that, you may eventually feel like you need more space for your own interests and aspirations.

Try to take some time out of your day to work on your personal goals, whether they’re related to an interest, secondary source of income, or anything else. Having something to work on that’s entirely your own will be empowering and help you feel more confident.

Spend Time with Other People in Your Life

There’s no way around the fact that our children take up a lot of our time, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only people that matter to you. Partners, friends, and other family members are all important, so try not to let too much time go by without seeing them.

Some of these people may also be able to offer a helping hand with a few of your parenting tasks, so don’t feel bad about asking for or accepting help when you need it. It can be isolating and discouraging to feel like you’re taking care of these things all on your own.

Being a working parent is an incredible challenge, but it’s also a rewarding experience that allows you to focus on your family and career at the same time. If you find yourself spread too thin to focus on your own goals, keep these self-care tips in mind and try to make time for other things that matter to you.

We have a set bedtime in our house; this gives my husband and I the time we need to chat about our days without having to sensor your language and talk about things we might not want our child to hear.

I also make time for friends, as I mentioned above, I run a few times a week with friends and prior to COVID I attended a monthly ladies game night!

How do you look after yourself while being a working parent? 

Autumn

Time to get the scarves out and unpack those winter wardrobes y’all! Being a native Texan a true fall…and winter for that matter… were completely new concepts for me when we moved to Wisconsin four years ago.

An exciting bonus to the weather was getting to shop for an all new wardrobe! Sweaters, boots and jackets oh my! But our weather up here in Wisconsin can be frigid! This means we have to dress for function and not fashion, so that takes the fun our of it a little.

We don’t typically travel during the autumn season. We did spend a weekend in Door County, Wisconsin a few years ago and it was nice, fall colors everywhere! And we did visit Iceland in October in 2018 but that is considered a shoulder month for them, so on the cusp of winter. But we do like to travel over the long Thanksgiving weekend! In the 10 years my husband and I have been together we have taken Thanksgiving trips to Key West, Hawaii Island, Kauai, Louisville, Chicago and Bay Harbor, MI. Six out of 10 years ain’t bad! The other years were still settling into a new house (x2), had a baby and COVID…

If I were going to take an autumn vacation, I would definitely want to visit New England, probably Vermont. And I have being wanting to take a trip to Quebec City, they probably have a nice fall season.

Where would you like to visit in the autumn? 

10 Dinner Recipes All Kids Love

Between working, running errands, and everyday life, it’s hard to constantly come up with meals that your kids will love. So we’re here to help you plan easy, no-fuss dinners with foods your kids will gobble up!

{image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/PMxoh8zJNb0}

A few of these recipes are so easy that your kids can join you in preparing the meal. It’s a fun family activity that will not only allow you to spend more time with your children, but it will teach them to be more self-sufficient in preparing their meals. Picking healthy menu items also helps to instill a healthier lifestyle foundation for your kids to build on as they grow.

1. Mini Pita Pizzas

Pizza night doesn’t always have to be on Friday. Enjoy this recipe any day of the week! It combines a few ingredients and can be topped with your kids’ favorites – garlic, pepperoni, ricotta cheese, olives – the list goes on. And this is the perfect recipe to make with everyone in the family.

2. Spaghetti Carbonara

You had me at bacon! This pasta recipe is ready in 25 minutes and will be devoured in a lot less time. Bacon can be swapped out for pancetta.

3. Beef Tacos

Looking for a recipe to make on Tuesdays? Make it a Taco Tuesday and serve this simple but still delicious dish, made with a solid base of beef, onions, tomato sauce, and a homemade taco seasoning. You can have as little or as many topping choices as you want. Avocado anyone?

4. Lemon Chicken

Looking at the photos of this finished dish made me drool. Made in less than 30 minutes, this lemon chicken is a quick dinner that can be made after a busy day. 

5. Stovetop Mac and Cheese

With a high review rating, this recipe combines two of every kids’ favorite things – cheese and pasta. Most of the ingredients are what you’d find in your kitchen pantry. And it’s made in 20 minutes. Sold!

6. Meatball Subs

This easy dinner can be made in 5 minutes. Yes, really! Make sure you have frozen Italian meatballs (thawed) and you’re good to go. If you forget to thaw them overnight, the meatballs can also be thrown into a crockpot for cooking. 

7. Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Pesto

Looking for a delicious recipe that can be made with quick-cooking pasta (pasta that’s ready in 60 seconds)? This one includes sundried tomatoes, pesto, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, and fresh parsley. Yum! And it’s ready in 15 minutes.

8. Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Once you learn how to make thin breaded chicken cutlets, you can make a variety of dishes, including this one made with panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and rosemary.

9. Vegetable Fried Rice 

Skip the takeout option and make vegetable fried rice at home. It’s easier than you think and takes less than 15 minutes. If you freeze leftover rice, you have it ready for when you need to make something quick.

10. Spinach Tortellini Soup

Soup is a comforting dish to make as it warms the body. This 10-minute meal is made with chicken stock, minced garlic, cheese tortellini, dried basil, chopped spinach, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese.

What are some of your favorite meals to prepare for your kids?