You better Belize it

LET'S TALK BELIZE!! If you're looking for a place to sit by the water in the sun and drink cold fruity drinks then Belize is the place to do it. If you want to drink Diet Coke though, it's not the place to do it because it is nowhere to be found over there.And I tried, I tried hard. We flew into Belize City and took a taxi to the dock for the Belize Water Taxi. It was about an hour and a half boat ride to San Pedro island where we stayed. And this was our view when the boat docked!!

Our resort sent someone to pick us up and bring us back to check in. We stayed at Belizean Shores Resort and it worked perfectly for us. The staff was so nice, they had a great pool, made excellent virgin pina coladas and helped us set up some excursions. Since Belize is bordered by reefs they don't have your typical beaches. But most of the resorts (like ours) have their own little man made beaches so you can still have somewhere to lay out and watch the ocean.

Our first excursion was snorkeling at Shark Ray Alley. I've snorkeled in a few different countries and nothing has even compared to Belize snorkeling! The guides were incredible. We saw starfish, eels, stingrays, sharks and of course plenty of fish. The sharks were nurse sharks which apparently are nice. They told us the stingrays wouldn't bother us either but Steve Irwin probably would've told us differently. We risked it anyways.

Kortni Jeane has the BEST swimsuits! So cute and comfy.

One of our favorite places was this cute little food truck spot we found out by our resort. The first time we went we walked thinking it was "so close". It wasn't. So the next time we went in a golf cart. Everyone on the island gets around on golf carts! So we got to learn how to drive golf carts and I only almost killed one person. Anyways, we found the best tacos! And they even had TOSTONES. My very favorite Nicaraguan treat. There were a bunch of food trucks and picnic tables and then around the back they had swings, places to eat on the water, corn hole, giant Jenga and other games. One night they had live music and a corn hole tournament.

I might never be satisfied with another taco after this place.

They say there are crocodiles in this water...

We wanted to go to Tikal while we were there but everyone told us it was better to do it in a couple of days. If I were to do it again I would stay in the mainland for a day or two, maybe in San Ignacio. So we found a tour group called Mundo Maya and did a day trip. We went to some Mayan ruins called Xunantunich and went cave tubing and zip lining. 

Cave tubing was incredible! They tied all the tubes together and a little Belizean guy dragged us along, paddling with his shoes in his hands. There were all kinds of waterfalls and cool formations. 

After the tubing and zip lining we took a terrifying drive to the Xunantunich ruins with our trusty diver and tour guide, Carlos. I sat between the two front seats half on a cooler and half on Kelsie. Carlos assured me though that he always drives like his daughter is in the front seat. But we made it alive and the ruins were AMAZING. I wanted to stay and wander around all day.

 So funny story, I lost my hair tie every day. Which explains the hair you see above.

 I have a thing for green.

There he is...Carlos, our fearless tour guide and driver.

We spent a day on Caye Caulker, an island just south of San Pedro where we were staying. There's not much to do there except for drink at a bar called The Split. We drank our millionth virgin Pina Colada and then there wasn't much else to do. We rented bikes thinking we'd go out and see more of the island and then it took about ten minutes to see the rest of it and the rest of it wasn't much. We were originally going to stay there the whole time but decided not to after a very wise friend told us there wasn't much to do there. Thank goodness.

 The Split

The Split's Pina Colada. I've never gotten so many confused looks for ordering virgin drinks.

Oh so one day we went and got massages on the reef. Our view was incredible. But unfortunately for the rest of San Pedro they just get to see a lot of American tourist's bare butts all the time. But check out this VIEW.

So those are the highlights of the trip....but the best way to sum up any good trip are the quality selfies....

 Our first morning in Belize...we sat on these chairs on the beach until some guy rode by on a bike selling burritos. We ate said burritos in the sun, watching the ocean, and realized we could stay there for the rest of our lives.

 Right after our first snorkeling and on our way to shark ray alley.

 The cooler front seat situation. My butt was numb for hours.

 If only this picture could capture the WIND on our boat ride back to San Pedro.

At this moment we had just listened to some girls talk about how hard modeling is. But we clearly wouldn't know.

This hammock goes out over the water where there crocodiles apparently are. It's also where the models pose when they talk about how hard modeling is and how much they like salad. We ate our tacos in front of them. Poor salad eating girls.

Here we are on our way to church in San Pedro. We tried so hard to look nice...ish. The branch in San Pedro was great.

On our last day we got up early to take our golf cart into town to catch the early boat into the main land where we took a taxi to the airport. In the airport we spent the last of our Belizean currency on all the snacks we could find. Three long flights later on very sunburned butts we were home. Coming back to real life is painful. So is not seeing the beach every day. And so are sunburns. But Belize was worth it. 

Fox Baby Shower

Guys. I LOVE throwing parties. So when my college bestie was pregnant with her first BOY and we finally lived in the same state again I was ALL OVER throwing my first BOY baby shower. I went with a woodsy fox theme. Unfortunately my pictures of the party are limited and let me tell you why. Last year I was in Hawaii with my family and I saw a crab on the beach. My sister and I started running after it (couldn't tell you why) and my phone hopped right on out of my pocket and into the ocean. Technologically challenged people like myself probably also struggle with the concept of "the cloud" and therefore my pictures were not backed up. It was a tragic loss. I ate a whole box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. The ones with caramel obviously. And I didn't share.

Said college bestie recently found out she was pregnant with another boy so I've got baby showers on my mind. And you all get to hear about it!

The table....my favorite part of just about every party.

Those fox sugar cookies were SO FUN to make, I obviously need more practice but who knew what you could do with royal icing?? I also did little individual bean dip cups. When I say "I" what I really mean is my sister, Katie. Katie is my official party throwing go-to. She goes shopping with me and keeps me in check when I want to buy every thing I see. Then she comes and helps me set up, take down and in this case....perfectly fill a million layered bean dip cups. Like a boss. 

This is by far the easiest and cutest snack,,.cut fruit in waffle cones! I also love this little sign from Hobby Lobby. (Hobby Lobby is an example of a place where Katie needs to accompany me to keep me from buying the whole store.) 

Who knew it would be so hard to find stuffed animal foxes...IKEA finally came through for me.

I love photo booths. Crucial part to any party.

My people: Holly (left) the college bestie who is about to make me a godmother of 3!!! Thank you BYU-Idaho dorms for providing me with a friend for life and someone to eat the brownie edges so I can eat the middle. And Katie (right) the sister and ever faithful, ever supportive voice of reason and assistant. Like really. I haven't done a single party without her. She tells me I'm cool even when I'm not. That's a winner right there. 

Oregon Roadtrip

If you know me, you know how much I love Oregon and how antsy I get without a trip planned on the horizon. So last Sunday night my friend and I were sitting on our couch dreading work the next morning when I said, "Let's go to Oregon on Tuesday." After a few minutes of googling and number crunching it was decided, we were Oregon bound on Tuesday!

I lived in Oregon for six years but Kelsie had never been. So we planned to hit some favorites. If you're trying to do a quick Oregon trip, here are some musts!

Multnomah Falls,,,so beautiful! Driving in from Utah it's right off the highway just outside of Portland so you can't miss it. And this isn't the time to sleep in the car! The Columbia River Gorge is to your right and the mountains are on your left. Once you get through Eastern Oregon the rest of your drive is gorgeous! Once you get there you can walk up to the bridge, do a little hiking, visit the gift shop and get some food. Or you can just stand at the bottom of the falls and stare.

Our next stop was Portland where there is sooo much to do. We of course stopped at Powell's Book. Whether you're a reader or not, you will find it hard not to lose yourself in this place! Voodoo Donuts, where we stood in line for 40 minutes for a glazed donut...but it was an experience! We went to the Tin Shed for breakfast the next morning which I would definitely recommend. 

You can't go through Portland without catching a glimpse of the LDS Portland Temple through the trees. Definitely my favorite temple!

Guys. The The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is the most incredible tulip festival you will EVER see. If you're in Oregon in the springtime don't miss it. And wear rain boots....we learned that the hard way. If you have kids there are all kinds of fun activities. If you don't have kids, you can do the rubber duck races yourself too, no judgment.

After Portland we headed to my very favorite part of Oregon and one of my favorite places in the world...the Oregon Coast. Here are some of my favorite places to see and things to do while there:

• Tillamook Cheese Factory. Guys. They give you free cheese. And teach you how to milk cows. Now if that's not what you're looking for on vacation I don't know what you want. After the cheese portion you hit the ICE CREAM section. Eat the ice cream. Eat all the ice cream.
• Lighthouses. I LOVE lighthouses. A strange obsession, I know. When I was a kid I had a lighthouse themed bedroom. I wanted to get married in one and live in one. Let's be serious, I still want to live in one. My favorite is the Yaquina Head lighthouse. If they have the staff they do tours and you can climb the spiral staircase all the way up to the top. My second favorite is Yaquina Bay. This one is supposed to be haunted. They do tours there and they will tell you the story....some tell it better than others....
• The tidepools. While you're up at the Yaquina Head you have to go down to the tidepools while the tide is low and have a look around. And get some great pictures! 
• The boardwalk. Not your Cailfornia boardwalk, but a boardwalk all the same.
• Eat at Izzy's Pizza. I don't know if it's really good pizza or just really good memories....but it's a really good place. Give it a try and let me know which.
• Sea Lion Caves in Florence. You go down an elevator into a cave down into the ocean to look at sea lions. The lady who sold us the tickets said she has seen anywhere from just one to 600 sea lions down there. When we went there were about 250. I just feel bad for whoever has the task of counting the sea lions....

Those are just a few of my favorites. Where do you guys like to go??

Yaquina Head lighthouse...this is where I want to live. Don't tell me I can't, it only makes me more determined.

 These tide pools are just at the base of the lighthouse. We didn't see a lot but we did see TONS of sea anemones. (Totally had to look up how to spell that)

Yaquina Bay.... the haunted lighthouse. In a nutshell a girl went in and never came back out and when her friends went looking for her they only found her handkerchief. With BLOOD ALL OVER IT! Over the years I think I've heard a few variations but that's usually how it ends. Some tour guides tell it better than others. This time the guy ended it by saying there was a bloodstain on the floor. When we asked if we could see said bloodstain he looked at us like we were crazy and said, "It's pure FICTION." Buzz kill.

Apparently this is roughly 250 sea lions. You can imagine how loud this cave was.

I took this picture from inside the cave. You can just barely see the Haceta Head lighthouse.

That was our last stop before we started to head to Elko for Easter with my family. We got caught in snow up in the mountains before Bend and everyone knows how much Kelsie and I hate snow. I threw a little fit and yelled at the snow and it still didn't stop but we made it to Sisters for the night and the weather was much better in the morning.

We drove from Bend to Elko in one straight shot. It's about 8 hours, in case you were wondering. We ate a lot of salt water taffy, played 20 questions, finished off our case of diet coke and sang quite loudly. Shout out to the best copilot, Kelsie. She refilled my diet coke, kept me awake, navigated and pointed out every cow we passed. Just in case I missed them.

Moral of the story is: roadtrips are good for the soul. And Oregon is the greenest, happiest, rainiest place you will ever see. And that's why I love it.