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 :)

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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!

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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!

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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!

Simply Me Linkup October

I found today's link-up through Jacquelyn and it's hosted by Liz. It's a monthly linkup to just tell a little bit more about yourself! Here are my answers to this month's questions.

1. How many states have you lived in?

Two.

Born and raised in Minnesota and living there now.

Massachusetts. I went to Boston University for college.

2. My favorite state is __________.

Even though it seems boring to say the state where I currently live, I have to say Minnesota. If it wasn't my favorite, I'd leave.

3. Why do you live in the state you currently live?

Well, like I said, I love Minnesota. But I don't think I truly discovered how much Minnesota and the Twin Cities had to offer until I moved back at age 23.  Before that, I wasn't living in a different state, but actually in China. I'd spent 4 years in Boston, 4 months traveling all over, then a year in China. I was jobless and unattached and looking all over the country for jobs. I was interested in Chicago, Washington DC, or going back to Boston. But after some thought, when it came down to it, I moved back to Minnesota to be near my family. And I'm sure glad I did :)

4. Would you move to another state?

Actually, despite everything I said above, yes. I've always said to Cody that if he got a job somewhere else, I'd go anywhere (with a few exceptions). I'm not particularly keen on living in a rural area. But I love going new places so I'd give anything a shot. But once we have children, I'd sure like them to live near their grandparents. I also think my parents feel so strongly about that that they might follow us somewhere.

5. What is your state known for?

You want to know about Minnesota, you say? Well, I have plenty to tell you. When I went to college in Boston and told people I was from Minnesota, they were quick to tell me I talked funny. Then they said they didn't actually know where Minnesota was and ask "Is that, like, by Canada?"

There we are!

The first thing most people know about Minnesota is that it's cold. There's no getting around that. It's cold. And for a really long time. Sometimes I describe it to non-Minnesotans as "so cold your snot freezes when you breathe in". I wish I was kidding.

Your typical morning commute, November through April

But! If you're cold you don't even necessarily need to go outside! All of downtown Minneapolis is connected by skyways.

cool, right?

And while Minnesotans get outside all year long, even outsiders can appreciate the physical beauty of the state during the warm half of the year. I posted recently that my favorite aspect is the lakes. Did you know we have over 10,000? And the North Shore along Lake Superior is spectacular.

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The people are the nicest! You'll always have someone to hold a door for you, pick up something you dropped, or bake you a hot dish (casserole). And they speak in the cutest accents. Minnesotan moms have the thickest ones. Think of the movies Fargo (that's actually North Dakota) or Drop Dead Gorgeous. 

We also have one of the biggest state fairs in the nation and are known for having deep fried everything on a stick. We had the first indoor shopping malls and now the biggest (Mall of America). Do you like Target? You're welcome.

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I don't know outer Minnesota very well. But the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul) have so much more to offer than people from other places realize. They have an incredible craft beer scene, world class restaurants and a unique food truck abundance. Minneapolis is second only to New York City for number of theaters per capita. And seemingly in an effort to take advantage of nice weather while we have it, there is a festival for everything from bacon to cat videos.

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I know it's hard to get past the cold part but if you ever want to come visit, let me know!

Linking up with Liz.

And here and here

Goodbye to Our First Home

Cody and I are moving into a new apartment November 1st. We moved into our first place two weeks before our wedding and it was the first time we'd lived together! We had made a decision to wait until we got married to live together. However, we also didn't want to move my stuff on our wedding weekend. So we moved everything and I was planning to stay at my parents' until November 15th. That totally didn't happen.

We found this place with the thought that we wanted to save money on rent before buying a house. It definitely enabled us to save money. However, we still aren't ready to buy a house. We really want to pay off all of our student loan debt before buying. Since that will be a longer process, we need to rent in a place we can stand for longer. In other words, it needs to be bigger.

I'm sad to say goodbye to our first home and the neighborhood (we are moving almost 10 miles away and to a different city). Our first year of marriage happened here. We became husband and wife, became cat parents, I became a real cook, Cody started becoming a beer expert, we hosted family and friends, and our relationship with each other deepened. We grew a lot together and it was so special. But I'm SO excited for our new neighborhood and to settle into a longer term home. I can't wait to see which memories are built there and how much more special a place it will be to us than the first!

Living Room

Beautiful wedding gifts on the wall and DIY coffee table we made together.

Cody's project. I think we utilized this random/awkward space pretty well :)

DIY project on the wall

Kitchen

Our Bedroom

It's killing me that the pillows aren't centered

The chair that was only used for throwing my dirty clothes on.

We always had huge piles of laundry here since we had no washer or dryer.

Bathroom

Second Bedroom/Office

Futon for guests, Cody's PS4, beer fridge with stickers from every brewery we visit

My vanity area

My desk. With cat, of course.

Exterior

Falling for Minneapolis

Late post today! But I'm excited to link up to tell why I love fall in Minneapolis so much. When people think of Minnesota, they typically think of this:

Funny thing is, yes, we do get a lot of snow. But a large portion of our winter is actually SO cold that it's too cold to snow.

Anyway, back to fall. Given that people who live here are crazy enough to endure the above, they aren't really built for the heat and humidity of summer. Also, Minneapolis' population is one of the most active in the country. Really! I read it on the internet. So people like to be active and don't like the heat. Thus, fall is the best time to take advantage of one of the best features of Minneapolis: The Chain of Lakes.

There are a group of lakes right in the middle of Minneapolis and they are gorgeous. I used to live right on the east side of Lake Calhoun and could look over the lake from my rooftop. It was amazing, except the parking was a nightmare.

Each lake is slightly different. Calhoun is the busiest and has the most young people running around. They have a restaurant called The Tin Fish which serves amazing fish tacos. Lake Harriet is more family friendly and has a cute cafe called Bread and Pickle which has the most amazing truffle popcorn. Lake of the Isles has the nicest houses around it and has interesting islands and peninsulas. 

You can follow a path around all three lakes, totalling ten miles. It was really nice to use them during marathon training and last August/September I was there every weekend. 

Here are some pretty photos of the lakes:

Sadly, I no longer live immediately next to the lakes, but am right near the Mississippi River so here's a shot from my run today. 57 degrees and totally comfortable (in my opinion).

Linking up with Macy, Meg, and Veronica. Thanks for hosting, ladies!