Houseboating

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to go houseboating! I have been going since I was a child an absolutely love it. There is nothing like spending 4 days on the water. Our houseboat is up at Lake Oroville and I know most of the lake like the back of my hand.

We were all a bit worried we wouldn't be able to go up with the drought, but we made it just in the nick of time. The lake is actually closing it's ramps to launching boats today! I have never seen the lake as low as it was and was amazed at how narrow it felt.

Here are a few pictures I took from our trip:

View from the top of Bidwell Launch Ramp

 Dinner for night 1. Yummy!

 Hanging out in the water. We have to tie a rope to the boat so we don't float away

 The duck crew, along with an American Coon

 Scouting out a cove to put the houseboat in

 Traveling to the cove we found

 Mom and dad enjoying the bats from the little boat

 The view out of our cove

 We went exploring to some coves we used to stay at. Unfortunately, we couldn't go very far because the lake ended right where one of our favorite coves used to be. Towards the left of the picture there is a small cove and the one we stayed at was just to the right. It's crazy how we normally tie the houseboat up to the trees but we were so low our ropes wouldn't even reach there.

 The end of the road (or lake)

 We got our of the boat and decided we wanted to hike up to the cove we used to stay at. About 15 years ago someone dropped my fishing pole and we thought we would look for it.

 It turned out to be an adventure crossing the river/lake. Makenna was the first to find out when her foot sank into the mud all the way to her knee. I can now say that the bottom of lakes is disgusting!

 Branden and Taylor were trying to figure out the best way while Makenna just kept going.

 Makenna gave up after the mud got to the middle of her thighs.

 Taylor and Branden decided army crawling was best.

Makenna was the first one to make it to the middle. You can see our cove in the middle/right of the picture. 

 My dad and I ended up going back to the boat to put our shoes and my camera away because we didn't want to take any chances. We made it halfway up the cove before we all got tired and decided to head back.

 We then went to explore a different fork of the lake where we had one of the best coves of all time, but the water has to be just right to get there.

 The lake was so low you couldn't even see the cove from the water.

 We went in as far as we could but that's the best photo of the cove I could get.

 At night we all went to the roof of the houseboat to look at the stars. There is nothing like staring up at the sky and seeing more stars then you can imagine.

We had a great weekend on the boat, and even though this may have been my last trip to the hosueboat before my parents sell it, I will hold houseboating memories deep in my heart!

Finally Some Decorations!

I'm terrible at decorating my places but I've been wanting some small touches of decor around the apartment since I'm done moving every 6 months! Since there wasn't much going on last weekend, I was able to finally finish a few things I had been wanting to do.

The first thing I finished was this map of the USA. I saw the idea on pinterest and loved it. I found a digital map on ETSY from 1940 which I loved and printed it on an 11 x 17 piece of paper. Then I got some cork, cut it to 11 x 17, and placed it in underneath the map. Finally, I framed it without the glass so that I can add pins to it.

The idea of the pins is to place pins throughout the country where Branden and I have traveled together. Over the years we will be able to add to the map and see where our adventures have taken us. When we have kids, we will change the color of the pins to a different one so we can see where we have gone with our children as well.

Right now we don't have many pins but hopefully that is going to change! I already know of 2 new places we are going before the year is over :-).

The next thing I was able to do was put up some decorative shelves. I've been wanting a place to put the candles from our wedding, as well as our cake topper. When I found these shelves at Ross I knew they would work perfectly! The picture in the middle was a gift made for us and I thought it looked great in the middle of the 2 shelves. Now I just need to figure out what to put on the bottom shelf of the left one!

What does everyone think? Feel free to share recommendations in the comments!

A Weekend Filled Without Plans!

Branden and I finally had a weekend without any plans and it was great! I love the times where we can stay home and do nothing since we are constantly visiting family and friends or busy with activities around the bay. We did a whole lot of nothing this weekend and I loved it!

The highlight of our weekend was making some homemade calzones! This is the first time I've ever done this and it's been a long time since Branden has done it. We went to the store and picked up some pepperoni, mozzarella, fresh salad, sausage, sauce, and some Pillsbury Pizza dough. We already had garlic, basil, and onion at home.

Making the calzones was actually much easier than I thought they would be. We spread sauce on the dough and made sure to only fill half of the dough with our stuffings. Since Branden loves spicy things it worked out that we could each add whatever we wanted since they cook separately.

We cooked didn't follow the Pillsbury directions because it was for pizza. We ended up cooking the calzones at 375 degrees for 20 minutes and then kept checking every 5 minutes or so to make sure we didn't burn it. We wanted to make sure the cheese would melt on the inside but that the dough didn't melt. To get a little extra crisp, we lightly spread olive oil over the top before sticking it in the oven.

Other than making calzones, we just hung out at home and did some reading, tv watching, and cleaning. Even though many may consider it a "boring" weekend, I definitely enjoyed the bit of relaxation before our storm of the next 4 weekends!

I definitely can't wait for this Thursday because we are going houseboating! Be prepared for picture overload next week :-).

My Mom Retired!

My mom recently retired and in order to celebrate we had a party! This is the first big event we've had at their house since the backyard was redone and I think everything turned out perfectly! Branden and I arrived early on Saturday and helped set everything up. We even had enough time to go for a swim since it was so warm!

I made my mom a fun retirement gift basket and she loved it!

Here are all of the things I put in her basket:

Key Chain – For being a “key” to the workplace

Marbles – To replace the ones you’ve lost

Pillow – Because you’ve earned your rest

Confetti – To celebrate the joys of retirement

Seeds – For all your dreams to grow

Chalk – To “chalk” it up as a job well done

Mints – For a fresh look at retire”mint”

Bath Salt – To soak up the extra stress

Kit Kat – Because it’s time to take a “Break”

Lotto Ticket – Supplemental Income

Wine Bottle – Fountain of Youth

Blow Pops - Work Blows

Here are some pictures from the actual party:

Overall the party was a huge success! Congratulations to my wonderful mother on her retirement! I'm so happy she is able to do nothing but relax now!

I Feel Beautiful 5 Photo Challenge

Happy Throwback Thursday! My friend over at Tan Lines & Wine challenged me to pick 5 pictures that I feel I look beautiful in and since it's Thursday, I figured today would be the perfect time. I've seen this floating around facebook and I love the idea, but I'm too lazy most of the time to do these "challenges". Since Mrs. Lily called me out specifically, I guess I'm stuck! I ended up choosing mostly recent photos. I think it has to do with the fact that Branden and I actually live together now and I tend to feel more beautiful when I'm around him, but I did make it back to 2012! Here are my 5 pictures:

1. My Brother's Wedding Day
I was feeling particularly beautiful that day not only because my brother was getting married, but also because Branden was there to celebrate with us. This was his first time home in 2 years and I was so grateful that he was able to spend it during such a big occasion. The love surrounding the entire day could not have been greater, and I felt beautiful on the outside as well as the inside.

2. My Wedding Day
Of course I felt the most beautiful on my own wedding day. This has been one of the best days of my life so far (for obvious reasons) and I look back at pictures and still love how I looked. I chose this picture because I love how un-traditional of a photo it is. We are both sitting down and I remember feeling so comfortable at that moment just being in his arms.

3. Ziplining on the Honeymoon
I love this picture because I can see the joy in both of our faces and I feel beautiful because it's an "in the moment" picture. It reminds me of how much fun we had on the entire trip and how much I want to go and explore new places with Branden in the future.

4. Tomas' Birthday in SF
For our good friend, Tomas, we had a birthday party in the city. Branden and I hardly ever go to the city so I decided I had to make the most of it and actually wear makeup and do my hair. I attempted a new way to do my hair and loved how it looked on me. I definitely felt beautiful that entire evening.

5. A Giants Game
The last picture I chose was a recent Giants game we went to. I've never actually successfully braided my hair and was so excited when I did it. Whenever I go to games my hair is usually in a messy pony tail or just down in all it's wild ways. I feel beautiful in this picture because of my successful attempt at braiding and because I was at one of my favorite places in the world!

Now I challenge any of my readers who haven't done this yet to do it too!