Caribbean Cruise 2.2014

Last month Cory's parents blessed us with a Caribbean Cruise for a week. To say it was amazing, glorious, beautiful, one of the best vacations ever...would be an understatement. It was the first vacation with the Hartmann's beside a weekend beach trip we took last June. 

It was a great experience to see sights and countries we wouldn't have seen otherwise. It was so nice to be with Cory's parents and my sister and brother-in-law for a relaxing long week in the sun. 

We started out in Florida, then Half Moon Cay, then Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and finished it off in Key West. 

Ready for a photo dump? Here we go!

HALF MOON CAY (LITTLE SAN SALVADOR)

We spent a relaxing day on the beach. Soaking up sun, white sands, and having absolutely nothing to do. We rented these floating devices to just lie in the water. We even rented sailboats for an hour. That was so fun! 

JAMAICA

In Jamaica we went on a little Bobsled adventure, hiked up a waterfall, and ended the afternoon with some local food. The scenery was very similar to Kauai. Luscious green and flowers everywhere. 

CAYMAN Islands

We docked at Grand Cayman of the Cayman Islands and started the day in full tourist mode. We hopped on a bus/boat and drove around the city. We had a spunky tour guide that told us the history of her town and some historical sites. (One fun fact: in Grand Cayman, at least the area we were in, the homes don't have mailboxes. There is one post office and you have to go and get your mail.) 

One of the highlight stops was at the only Rum Distillery on Grand Cayman. We were shown around the place and then were able to try out their rums. My favorite was the banana rum. So sweet!

We ended the tour going into the water and feeding some fish. The bus we were on was like a Transformer. Land or sea it went. First time for that! After the tour we walked around a bit and swam for a bit to cool down before heading back to the ship. 

Around The Ship

You can say I've been converted to a cruise believer. I've never thought much of cruises and never thought that I would actually go on one. Everyday there was something new to see or do. They had a new movie playing in the theatre every other day, there were comedy shows, magic shows, other performances; you could go on a Pub Crawl to all the bars on the ship, test your luck in the casino, or read a book in the library. You could lounge by one of the two pools all day, play ping-pong, or eat and nap to your heart's content. Every night coming back to our rooms we had little towel animals waiting for us. During the day you could play shuffleboard outside on the deck. Every night we had dinner together and two nights of the week there were formal nights, including photographers to take prom-like photos. I actually wore my 5 year old prom dress.
(I never had a date for prom so this time wearing it was even more special.)

Key West, Florida

Our last stop was the Florida Keys. We went on a Trolley ride and saw some historic sites around the city, including the Hemingway House and an old Civil War fort. We had ice cream, ate cuban food, and learned about the old Conch Republic (once a name for the island). 

The vacation was truly magical. It made me appreciate, even more, the beauty of our world. I loved exploring new sites and meeting new people. This may be my first and last cruise, or it may be the first of many. Whatever it may be it was an experience I'll never forget and one I'll always recommend. 

This last photo is my favorite. It was the last night at sea. The sunsets every night were breathtaking but this one took the cake.  

Sun and vacations,

xo leah

Happy Valentines Day xoxoxx

Happy lovey-dovey-mushy-gushy day! My husband commonly refers to today as Hallmark Day. A lot of people I know don't like the day, but I disagree! What a great day! A day to just devote yourself on loving others around you - whether that is your spouse, your friends, or your family. 

Of course I did a little decorating in honor of this day: 

Why not make a felt heart banner and showcase some of our ahem my favorite photos of us. I know everyday it's important to show love to your spouse, but Valentines Day is one of those extra days to go above and beyond; a day to be extra mushy-gushy and have no one judge you for it. 

Photo by Coeur de La Photography

 I hope everyone has a great day loving on each other! 

PS: I absolutely love this little photo shoot. Hoping one year Cory will oblige to do one (of course when we have kids that is :) ) .

Lots of x & o 's 

leah

Appreciating Your Outer Beauty

A few weeks ago my friend Pam asked if I would mind "modeling" for her as she tested out some new photography methods (not sure if methods is the correct term. I am no photographer and have no idea the correct terms).  I of course said yes. Looking at my bucket list = Be a model for a day, check ! Haha how fun would this be!

And the afternoon was fun for. For obvious reasons, I got to try out my saved Top Model poses ;) But there was a perspective changing moment I had when we had finished.  Seeing the photos when we were done made me think a lot about my external beauty. 

To me, external beauty isn't as appealing as someone's inner beauty. However, I believe it is very, very important for every person to realize how beautiful they are. I can't help but notice how many girls in my generation put down their looks. Not pretty enough, not thin enough, .. and on and on.

It's a sad fact that many a girls don't treasure the beauty they have. 

It got me to think about my perspective on my own external beauty. There are definitely days where I start to compare myself to others around me. I let the negative thoughts take over. And that leads to a downward spiral. How I see myself is how the world will see me.  (Granted that isn't true all the time, but I think it is a pretty good mantra to try and live out.) If I feel negatively about how I look, when my husband comes home from work, he'll sense those feelings. And that is not good! As a wife I want to exude beauty in everything I do - my talk, my walk, the way I treat others, the way I dress. And that all starts with me telling myself, I am beautiful, from the inside out. 

Thinking about the future years, considering starting a family, I know that one day I really will be a model. I'll have little eyes watching what I do and what I say (to others and to myself). I want to make sure my future children know how beautiful they are and I want them to know that I think I'm beautiful. And I need to start that habit now. 

As I've said before, inner beauty has far more worth than external beauty does. But every now and then (more frequent than not) I think its healthy to look in the mirror and say, damn, I look good!

Thank you Pam for these photos. 

Love yourself!

xo leah

Snow Storm 2.2014

At the end of this week we got snow! Lots of snow! Some would laugh at us Oregonians when we call what snow we get a "snow storm", but to us it really is a lot of snow. We usually get one or two snow days a year, towards the end of winter, that last just that, one or two days. The snow rarely sticks and if it does it's not worth the time to measure how much we got. 

The last four days though we got inches, 5 inches. And it was magical. This first winter in our new home and there is snow. 

Here are some sights around our home: 

The biggest fans of the snow were Gretta and Lucy. They've been outside almost non-stop these last few days. 

Cory sold our '65 Ford to get a newer ('77 Ford) more practical truck. Thank goodness we picked this beauty up last week, just in time for this weather. It did great in the snow and we were able to go and visit Cory's brother, our sister-in law and niece. 

The cutest little Eskimo I ever did see. 

I've really enjoyed the snow so much. It's beautiful and I love to see how magical our neighborhood looks covered all in white. 

 Yay for winter!

xo leah