A Little Inspiration

When I'm scrolling through Instagram and I see something that inspires me I always screen shot it. Over time I've collected quite a few so I need to purge my iphone photo library. Here are some of my favorites:


For encouragement:

For inspiration:

On marriage:

On self love:

On principle:

On teaching:

On running:

And just for laughs:

2016: Our Year of Travel

We got married in fall 2014 and took at amazing honeymoon to Italy in December/January. We also took a quick roadtrip to Milwaukee in August 2015. However, we really committed to getting our finances in order during our first year of marriage and didn't take many big trips. It feels great to have a plan in place for paying off our debt, establishing a solid savings, and buying a home. However, this is a long term process. I also firmly believe this:

Therefore, we are making 2016 our year of travel. I am going to teach an after school program two afternoons a week and have volunteered to be on two paid committees at work. Cody is going to work at a local brewery to generate some extra funds for these plans. We don't want to derail the plan for paying off debt so we hope this extra income will provide more flexibility.

1. Road Trip
Projected Time: June, hopefully between the end of the school year and summer school

We are thinking Kentucky. I've never been south except for Florida. One of our best friend's brothers lives in Louisville so we talked about taking a roadtrip, four of us to Bourbon Country. It should be about 12 hours from Minnesota. I'm sure there is more to offer than just the libations. But we still have more to research about that :)

source

source

Serious Camping Trip
Projected Time: Late July/Early August, right after summer school ends

We've camped a lot but it's all been in small campgrounds. We'd like to go to the Boundary Waters. But knowing how serious that is, I'd be open to other places where we can hike in. I want to do something challenging that feels like an accomplishment. And let's be real, I'm not gonna canoe, portage, or hike when we have young children.

Boundary Waters, MN

Ireland
Definite Time: August 5-20

This one is already in the works! We already booked our flights and are in the planning stages. My parents, my sister, her boyfriend, Cody, and I will all fly to Dublin together. My sister and I are planning to run the Dublin Rock and Roll Half Marathon on the 7th. Then we will travel to Galway and Limerick all together. For the second week we will probably split up a little bit but Cody and I are hoping to have stops in Kilarney and Cork as well. Ever since I met Cody he's talked about going to Ireland so I can't wait for him to experience it!

source

Dublin

Guinness Gravity Bar

Galway

Cliffs of Moher

Las Vegas
Projected Time: October 20-23

This is our typical Vegas weekend. Every year Education Minnesota has a conference and therefore we get time off of school. 2012 we met in Las Vegas on that weekend. 2013 we got engaged on there on that weekend. 2014 Cody went there on his bachelor party (I went for my bachelorette in August). We skipped 2015 but we definitely want to make another trip in 2016!

I love this time of year there because it's the last weekend the pools are open so it's not too hot. We love to walk the strip, check out other hotels, and people watch. Cody likes to gamble but I rarely do. I've stayed at Mirage, Mandalay Bay, and Palazzo so I'd like to stay somewhere new. Maybe Cosmopolitan or Aria?

The strip!

Saint Martin/Sint Maarten
Projected Time: Winter Break 2016

We've never been anywhere tropical together and want to do a different kind of trip. I've been to Mexico and Grand Cayman so we want to try somewhere different. Saint Martin is unique because half of the island is Dutch and the other half French. We'd like to relax and explore!

A two for one destination!

source

Have you been to any of these places? What are your recommendations?

Linking up here and here for Friday!

Halloween 2015

This is the second year in a row that we have moved on Halloween weekend. On Saturday we packed everything we owned into a UHaul and then found out we couldn't get into our new place until Sunday morning. So we parked the truck and headed over to our friends' house to celebrate Halloween!

Six of us went as characters from the Clue board game and two others were Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Ms. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, Ms. Scarlet, and Mr. Green

Rocky and Bullwinkle on the far left. I think this picture is hilarious. I have no idea what Cody or I are doing.

Our very kind friends let us sleep at their house since we were effectively though temporarily homeless. We all woke up in the morning and declared that we are far too old to ever hit the bars one night and move into a new home in the morning, ever again.

I love our new place and neighborhood and I can't wait to get some pictures once we get settled in!