a weekend whirlwind

My dear Chicago friend Kristina was moving to DC and needed someone to make the trek across 5 states with her. I gladly volunteered as I really haven't spent that much time exploring the Midwest or the East coast and plus I kinda like hanging with my girl K-sos. Thus the whirlwind weekend began.

Friday after work some friends of ours wanted to go camping down in Nauvoo, Illinois. Michael and I had never actually been camping the whole time we've known each other, so I guess it was about time. We borrowed all of our gear, packed in a rush, and were on the road. Whenever I leave the city I feel one of two things, 1. "Wow, it's so nice to get out of the city every once in a while, see some open spaces," and 2 "Who the heck lives out here?" We drove about 4 hours from Chicago, talking dreaming, eating Noodles and Co, until we arrived set up camp and roasted some S'mores. Our friends in Chicago really are the coolest. They are our little Chi-Family.

Saturday we were supposed to explore Nauvoo, but ended up at an ER in Iowa. I had never been to Iowa before, check that bad boy off my list. We were playing a game that is just too complicated to explain (watch this video) and one of my friends got a little bit of a concussion, so we just needed to get her checked out to make sure nothing permanent was going on. As it turns out in the middle of no where Illinois the only thing open on a Saturday is the Emergency Room… in Iowa. Adding "Urgent Care centers always open" to one of my perks of living in the city. When we finally got back to Nauvoo we had time to check out the temple, play a few games, and see the Missiouri River (which is ginormo BTW). Then we drove back to Chicago, grabbing some mexican food on the drive home.

Sunday was a quick pit stop to sacrament meeting for Kristina to say bye to everyone, then we were off, with McDonald's in hand. We literally pulled up to McD's at 10:29. GLORIOUS I SAY. Our drive was uneventful. Through Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, finally ending in good ol' DC. If you can make it through a road trip that is 12+ hours with someone you're probably pretty great friends because you didn't kill each other. We just listened to music, talked, and drove. With a million Diet Coke/Bathroom stops in between. I'm sad that she's moving, but I am happy for her. City life is transient. People move on all the time to bigger and better and more suburban things. It's just a fact.

Monday we spent time as tourists. I went to DC last year to visit Jane and it looked mostly the same, but what a bummer they aren't offering free White House Tours. I demand to see the inside! I pay taxes! This time we hit up Shake Shack and all my jealous instagram Shake Shack rage was finally satisfied. They even regrammed my photo. Whhhhhatttt is life. We saw old friends that had also made the great exodus to DC from Chicago and soaked up all the Monuments the city has to offer. It's a pretty cool place if you're into that sort of thing. My favorite was the contemporary art museum. Partly because of it's amazing air conditioning, partly because of the killer photography exhibits. What blows my mind is how this giant bustling city only has tiny little buildings because nothing can be taller than the Washington Monument. That sassy lady keeping everyone in check.

Then it was time to leave and Kristina drove me to the airport in Maryland and away I went. I read Fangirl on the way home. Give me all of the Rainbow Rowell books ever. The jist is that I just went all over the freaking place. All in 72 hours. And it was weird and life is good.

Now for the PHOTO DUMP. MUWAH.

Road Trip to DC selfie!

Dreams do come true.

 Bye Adams family. Love you long time.

All photos c/o of my lovely little iPhone. How did we ever survive without them? 

off to portland

I am leaving tomorrow for the pacific northwest. My home away from my Chicago home. I actually grew up in the Seattle area, but since I moved away and became a real adult my family has relocated to Portland. Even though it isn't the home I grew up in, it's still feels like home. My little brothers and sisters are growing up. Kendall is at college. Cameron graduated high school. Kadence asked for an iPad for Christmas... she's 11. Caitlyn even has her drivers license now! They are the craziest best people in the world. I can't wait to spend four whole days doing nothing but eating donuts and watching storage wars with them. We like to keep things really classy.

**photos are from my trip to Portland last fall. 

with love from barcelona

i have been going through a ton of photos lately. i have an ambitious goal to make a photo book for every year of michael and i's marriage. since we are rapidly approaching anniversary #2 (how did that happen?) i thought i better get started on the first one. hah. i spent about 5 hours on it tonight and while it isn't even close to completion i have had the best time walking down memory lane. my eyes are scratchy and my wrist hurts but my heart is full.

i stumbled across these pictures from barcelona that i haven't looked at for almost 2 years. i laughed out loud at a few. we took these on our honeymoon. we are young without a care in the world. so in love. and i just thought i'd share because they make me pretty happy. have a fantastic friday.

that one time i went on a cruise... part 2!

<< all the sibs >>

<< this is my favorite pic of the trip >>

<< don't you love my dads extra large swim shirt? oh the joys of being burnt >>

 << like a boss. again... do any girls in provo need a date? >>

annnnnnnd even more pics after the break! 

that one time i went on a cruise (part one)... and ten tips for going on carnival cruises!

a couple weeks ago michael and i flew down to florida to meet up with my family. we were all going on a cruise together! all 8 of us. we spent a day in ft. lauderdale before driving down to miami and this was actually awesome. we spent the day shopping and i was able to find two swimsuits for forty bucks. so i guess next time you need a super cute suit for super cheap... go shopping in floridia!

our cruise was a carnival caribbean cruise that left from the port of miami. and no... there were no CRAZY issues. we did not sink, get stuck in the middle of the ocean or catch on fire. we actually had a fantastic time. you guys--- there is unlimited soft serve ice cream on board! i literally cannot even begin to guess how many ice cream cones that i ate, but it was a lot.

our ports of call were a carnival private island, st. thomas, puerto rico, and grand turk. each one was fabulous and had something unique to bring to the table. at the carnival private island the water was out of control beautiful. at st. thomas we trekked over to meghans bay which is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been. it is a calm quiet bay with the best environment. i even saw a turtle while snorkeling! in puerto rico i didin't get off the boat, but my family did and they had a blast exploring old ruins and doing a little shopping downtown. grand truk was the best place for snorkeling. TONS of really amazing fish right on the beach. we brought our own snorkeling gear and it was really fun to be able to snorkel every where we went.

during then entire trip i didn't pull out my camera once and it was pretty liberating, but here are some iphone photos for you. more coming in a follow up post because there are a lot!

<< we love finding fake little mermaids! it was where we got engaged!>>

<<They dug that hole so deep that he was actually buried sitting up!>>

<<My favorite place from the cruise. Meghan's Bay in St. Thomas>>

<<this is carnivals private island. WHOA right?>>

since this wasn't my first cruise (we also went on one for our honeymoon) i feel like i have some advice that might be useful.

harley's carnival cruise tips:

1. get a room with a window. just trust me. in the back of your head to save a couple hundred bucks you may consider a windowless room, but let me tell you IT WILL NOT BE WORTH IT.

2. lots of ships offer excursions- they may or may not be worth it to you. sometimes it is so nice to have everything completely planned. you get off the boat, meet a tour guide, he takes you to swim with sting rays, and then drops you back at the boat. and you pay for that convenience  on the other hand almost every excursion that is offered on the bought can also be bought in the port for most likely less money. but then you have to get of the boat and deal with the stress of figuring it all out. so it is totally up to you what is most important.

3. don't buy a soda card- on the ship all drinks are not free. you can have all the water and juice you want but when it some to soda you have to buy a card for $35. now that doesn't seem like a lot for unlimited soda, but it is the getting the soda part that takes forever. you have to go to the bar, wait for a bar tender to pay attention to you (this is for kids too), then he fills a glass completely full of ice, and pours like half of a can into it. so you get like half a can of watery soda. no thank you. i would recommend just bringing your own soda on the boat. they sell it in every port. also bring a case of water on the boat, because having extra water bottles on hand is never a bad idea.

4. use sunblock- more than you ever have in your whole entire life. sunblock yourself BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BOAT. not when you get to the beach. and then re-sunblock yourself every 45 minutes. no body wants to spend their vacation burnt to a crisp and the sun is just a lot harsher down there by the equator.

5. take advantage of kid carnival. you can drop your kids off here, they have a blast and you get some quite time. it costs like 7 dollars an hour or something, but trust me, in that kind of 24 a day confined space situation you are going to love it.

6. when sitting down to eat dinner you don't have to order only one meal! if two main course look good to you order them both! you want two lobsters instead of one, fine! just ask. the food is yours for the taking.

7. tip the people that clean your room and serve your table. seriously plan on bringing like 150 bucks to tip all of the people that are going to help you. they are fantastic and work incredibly hard to make sure your experience is a positive one and they really deserve a little extra. tips will be including in everything you buy, but it is also nice to leave a little extra.

8. you don't have to get off the boat if you don't want to. my favorite pool side days are the ones when everyone else gets off the boat to go into the port and i stayed behind.

9. there is delicious free pizza all the time and the burrito bar is to die for.

10. when going on a tropical cruise bring your own snorkeling gear. buy some or chances are you can borrow from. it will save you tons of renting fees and often there is plenty to see when snorkeling on the beaches that they just drop you off at so then you save money on a snorkeling excursion as well.

and that is all i have folks! if you have any other questions feel free to ask in the comments or email me at harleyandjane@gmail.com.