How to Afford Travel

People often ask how we have the funds to travel all the time (which I wouldn’t recommend just asking people this willy-nilly since it’s somewhat rude and invasive, but we always answer honestly.) But if you are curious…

Read on friend:

Why I love Des Moines

Travel doesn’t have to mean a long flight and a hotel. Sometimes, you can find neat things right in your own backyard! One of our favorite places to visit is Des Moines, Iowa’s capital.

HISTORY: Des Moines wasn’t always the capital of Iowa. It was originally in Iowa City, and you can still see the old capitol building there today. It moved to a more central location in Des Moines in 1857. Des Moines is French. Don’t pronounce the “s.” And it translates to “the monks.”

Proposal in Paris

In honor of 100 days until our wedding, please enjoy.

Paris, France — We arrived in Paris about mid-afternoon. The city spread out before us with old buildings and architecture and beauty. We couldn’t check into our AirBnB quite yet, a cute little apartment in the heart of the city, so we decided to explore. Our bags were left with the cleaning lady, and we hopped on the metro, Paris’ subway system.

I was set on finding a famous bookstore, Shakespeare and Company, and once we found it, I happily scoured the shelves. I left clutching two books with a stamp of the Shakespeare and Company logo inside. If you are a book-lover, this place is a must-see!

Maquoketa Caves

Did you know you have some pretty amazing places right in your own backyard? I’ve lived in Iowa for most of my life, and to top it off, I lived within a couple hours of one of the coolest places in Iowa. The Maquoketa Caves State Park, one of Iowa’s State Parks, contains more caves than any other state park in the area.

Skydiving

Let’s jump out of a perfectly good plane!

About three months or so into our dating, I told my now fiance, Marshall, that I was going to skydive. “You are welcome to come, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I told him. To impress me, he said yes. And it’s been one of our favorite memories.

We went with a group of my friends to a teeny-tiny town in Iowa that you’ve never heard of named Brooklyn and a company called Skydive Iowa.

There are many papers to sign and a slightly hefty price to potentially tossing your life out the door. (Because what if the parachute didn’t open?!) But don’t worry, we went through a safety instruction and did a tandem jump (meaning we were strapped up with a professional instructor).

The Florida Panhandle

The Florida Panhandle is by far my favorite part of Florida. For my third visit (I wasn’t kidding about this being my favorite!), me, my fiance, sister, her friend, and one puppy took a spur-of-the-moment trip to see my brother, who is stationed down there at Eglin Air Force Base.

Spring break 2016!

Je Suis Paris

When something bad happens in the world, be it a large or small scale, I think of the movie, The Matrix. When the machines first started using humans as generators, they created a perfect world inside the matrix where nothing terrible happened, but the human mind couldn’t accept it and thousands of them died.

We have terrible things that happen in this world, and we use them to make us stronger, hold our loved ones tighter, and always remember to say “I love you.”

Je suis Paris. We stand with you.

DIY Shutter Shelves

These shutters rode around in my trunk for about three years before I figured out what I wanted to do with them.

Back story: We lived in this big, beautiful, old house for more than ten years. And then my parents sold it to build their own home. I took the shutters before we left from the back of the basement. If anyone knows old houses, when you buy them, you tend to inherit old things like cans of paint, doors, shutters, etc…, pretty much a Pinterest dream.

I decided to make two of these shutters into shelves and give one to my mom as a housewarming present so she could have a little piece of our old house in her new.

My Repurposed Life was the inspiration for my design, but, like all DIYs, it had to be modified slightly since I don’t own a saw or have any sort of carpentry skills.

Missing Ireland

When you travel to a place, you fall in love and leave a piece of yourself behind in hope that you can find it again later.

I must be missing Ireland today. I had a hankering for some soda bread. Four ingredients and forty minutes later, I had a delicious breakfast much like what I experienced in Ireland every morning: a piece of soda bread with some jam or honey.

For anyone interested, I used this recipe, and also this recipe to make buttermilk since I didn’t have it on hand. (And no one wants to go out when it’s in the negatives outside.)

Irish Soda Bread

Buy a hat. Give a hat.

Buy one. Give one. Love Your Melon, a new company started by two college kids at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, began on a simple philosophy: a purchased hat by the consumer also donates a hat to a child with cancer. Simple, right? Buy a hat. Give a hat. It’s a win-win situation to make a difference in the world.

The idea that started in a class soon grew into a fully-established nonprofit organization that’s sold more than 40,000 hats, which also means 40,000 children have also received hats.

The hats, made in America, are high-quality and comfy.

Warning: these products sell out within hours! If you see something you like, buy it right then or else it will be gone. They also sell t-shirts, baseball caps, beanies, scarves, and more for all tastes and areas around the globe.

I love that this foundation is so close to home. The hats are often delivered in the hospital by superheroes — who are heroes inside and out — and love what they are doing. Their commitment to the kids is wonderful. It’s great to see the kids’ smiling faces from under a Love Your Melon hat.

If you are interested in helping, check out the Ambassadors page where you can find information about helping raise awareness of this program and donations in your area. Check and see if your college or high school is on there! You can also make a gift if you don’t have any ambassadors in your area or start your own crew today.