Confessions about Election Year 2016

Are you ready for a big rant? Even if you aren't, I really have to get stuff off my chest.

 I feel like I'm living in a House of Cards episode with the amount of conniving, threatening, dishonesty, corruption, scandal covering, and just overall terrible people involved in the election these days. A few months ago during the Presidential Primary, when America was deciding among a sea of crappy candidates in both parties which crappiest candidate should be the finalists, Kevin Spacey, the corrupt, threatening, terrible person of a president in House of Cards (not actually a terrible person I hope) said something that ultimately sums up the state of America these days: Americans are getting the kind of leaders they deserve.

I confess that I pretty much am disheartened and disappointed with hearing how anyone is voting. When I find out somehow on facebook that someone supports Hillary Clinton, my respect for that person goes down and the disappointment goes up. When I find out somehow that someone I know supports Donald Trump, the same thing happens. If you're one of these people, sorry, that's just how I feel. And there is nothing you can say to me that will justify the words and actions of these terrible terrible people.

It's sad and pathetic that people are arguing how one candidate is better than the other because one candidate is a little less terrible than the other. 

I am fed up with our country's two party system which is practically causing a civil war. The Republican National Convention made me sick. The upcoming Democratic convention will probably make me sicker. All these people who were so anti-Trump are now swearing allegiance to him, because the party is all but holding them hostage. Bernie Sanders is a sellout, because he fought so hard against Hillary Clinton (with the DNC also teaming up against him to make sure he didn't win), and lo and behold, here he is swearing allegiance to Hillary, all for the stupid party. 

I am so disappointed that for the first time in US history, a woman being president is a very tangible reality, and my feminist self should be so happy, but instead I am disgusted that it's a corrupt, selfish, lying, greedy, incompetent bi**h. Not to mention she has terrible taste. Google what she wore to her daughter's wedding. 

And I am sad that someone so blatantly racist and misogynist has gained such a strong support of Americans. He makes threats and says terrible things that are so obviously against what America is supposed to stand for, and people cheer. People are disappointing me left and right.  

So yes, I am voting libertarian this election. Although voting is a personal thing, I have decided I am not going to hide that fact. And if you are a disgusted American like I am, I encourage you to do the same. People may say that I am throwing my vote away, but at least I can live with myself and keep my self respect. 

I don't want this to be all doom and gloom so I will say that the press and satire being put together this election season is awesome so far. Stephen Colbert is winning:

And whoever put this together is a genius. Can you see the trend that I also feel like I'm living in the society of the Hunger Games??

I'm not one to believe in conspiracy theories, but I really am believing this. And I think the whole melania plagiarism thing was another inside job to help Hillary get elected.

So yeah, there you go. Two besties running for president, and the whole country falling for it. Crazy times people!

#UtahSummer

Most of our time in Utah was spent doing this:

Enjoying those warm temperatures by playing in the sprinklers everyday, because Monterey is too cold for that! It's sad. I love it here, but I just have to say that the Fourth of July in Monterey is seriously depressing. No fireworks are allowed, it's cold, and I think they just do a little parade. I think everyone can agree that the best place to celebrate the Fourth is in UTAH! There were pretty much fireworks every night the entire week leading up to the holiday and days after as well. 

Anyway back to the warm backyard fun

^^love this one! Grandpa spoiled J with lots of ice cream^^

^^Utah is bad for me because there are soooo many yummy treats! This cookie place in SLC did not disappoint^^

Ok, so if you ever are in the magical land of Davis County you must go to S&S Shoreline Train Park! I have always wanted to go as I grew up driving by this guy's house and seeing him build this incredible track for mini trains all around his yard. It was so impressive!! And he has some actual train cars he has collected and kids are welcome to play all over them. J obviously loved it, but it was so much fun for us as well. My sisters agree with me. He has built little bridges, waterfalls, tunnels for the little trains. So fun!

And some other favorite shots. J was so great at helping in the garden ha

And he was enchanted by the fireworks--his first. It was so fun!

Hope you had a great Fourth of July! It definitely lived up to it being my favorite holiday. 

Utah Hiking Bucket List

I have Southern Utah on my mind! It comes that time usually once a year where I am craving it. So we have set a weekend to visit this summer and I am really excited. I was looking through old pictures on my phone from last summer and wanted to share two of my favorite Utah hikes and also two that are on my list for our upcoming trip. 

First is the Kanarra Creek Falls Hike. This hike is so much fun. It's a gem. I would say it's like medium level bordering on easy. My sister hiked it with a baby which is doable but the ladder at the waterfall is actually a little difficult. The slot canyon is just so beautiful. 

 Then of course there is Angel's Landing. This one is strenuous. Not it distance, since the trail is just 5 miles round trip. But you start from the bottom of the valley and ascend all the way to the tip of this rock:

The last half mile is crazy as you hold on to chains to get to the tip of the landing. And the feeling you get when you get there is one of the biggest feelings of accomplishments! Even though it's strenuous, you can do it! 

So here are two new hikes on my bucket list that I plan on doing.

The first is a family friendly easy hike that looks so gorgeous and fun. Called Red Cliffs Nature Trail. A fun little lagoon and waterfall to play in at the end. This website gives helpful info about it. 

 photo source

And for all the times I've gone to Zion, I still need to do the Narrows! What's cool about the Narrows is if you do it from the bottom up, it's as easy or difficult as you want it to be, depending on how far in you want to go. I think we will do this way, since to go from the top down you have to get a permit and it's definitely for hard core hikers. 

photo source

Ahhhh Southern Utah, I love you so. See you soon. BTW I just discovered on my eventbrite account that you can find hiking opportunities in your area or areas you're planning on visiting (so much in the Monterey area I had no idea about! go here to see what there is--or plan something on your own).  Pretty cool if you're wanting to find new places to explore. Any other Southern Utah hikes that should be on my list?? Or do you want to come join me? Seriously though. The more the merrier!

The Boys' Updated Nursery

 We have made some big changes to the babies room, in that we have now made it a room for both of the boys! So, we have been having Dominic sleep in a pack n play in the guest room while we were working on getting him to sleep through the night. We also had J sleeping in the crib because he couldn't get out yet so we weren't in a rush to get him out. Well, now that he can climb out of the crib, and Dom is sleeping through the night, we are taking the plunge and having them share a room now.

We weren't planning on getting a toddler bed initially. Before we moved into the cottage we said we would just get a regular twin bed. And we said we would get a new rocker and dresser that weren't thrown together Okinawa finds ha. But our cottage is so itty bitty that a twin bed wouldn't fit in this room, and neither would the type of dresser and rocker I wanted! So I guess I will just hold off. But secretly I love this toddler bed. I love all regular furniture that is sized for little kids haha. And J loves it too. I wish the room were just a little bigger to put their mini table and chairs in here, but it's ok. I just love this room so much now. It finally feels complete with this bed and the boys sharing it.

^^I finally decided to just put away the changing pad. I loved the cover I made but I never ever used it. It's nice to have this space now on top of the dresser^^

 

^^Since the room is covered in windows, we really needed these dark curtains. Just like my last nursery, I sewed on the pom pom fringe to these Target curtains. I just love the spunk it adds. Such an easy update too. It's hard to photograph though!^^

 

They love it!

I still love this room as much as I did when I first put it all together here and here. I want the room to feel like a happy colorful place where learning and playing go together. And I still like that it's pretty gender neutral. Hope you like it too!

Sound of Music Pilgrimage in Salzburg

 Calling all Sound of Music lovers! This post is for you. Hopefully you'll still like the post even if you're not as into it as I am, because it still shows you more of the beauty and wonder that is Salzburg. Plus you get to see me recreate iconic scenes--normally I may be embarrassed to do such a thing with people around, but there were plenty of others doing the same thing ha!

^^the back of the house from the movie. the front scenes are a different house^^

There are lots of "Sound of Music tours" available in Salzburg including a bike tour which I kind of regret not doing. So we already had a rental car, so we decided to see all the sites on our own. (The tours were around $45 a person so x2 would be $90! The majority these places are free entry so I am glad we opted to spend that money on our Mozart concert in the castle instead. Just a tip for anyone thinking of making the pilgrimage as well ;)

"What will this day be like? I wonder."

"What will my future bring? I wonder."

Julie Andrews must have been standing on a stool or something because it was too high to get a splash like her!

"Dear Rolf, stop. Don't stop!"

"I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad."

 


"Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do"


I sure loved these gardens where so much of Do Re Mi is filmed.

Let's throw it waaaay back when my dad recreated it on his and my mom's trip to Salzburg 26 years ago. Ha! I found this picture after we got back and love to see that we both are recreating it. 

I looooooved the Nunnberg Abbey. It was so beautiful, and just steps away from our apartment. So, after this movie, the abbey has since removed the bell because they got sick of all the tourists ringing it!

So, the two places we didn't go were inside the ampitheater they perform in, because it's not open to the public, and the church where the wedding was filmed, because we ran out of time. Here is the exterior of the theater. 

And while we didn't see the church where the movie wedding was, we did go inside the chapel at the Nunnberg Abbey, which is where the real Maria and Captain VonTrapp were married. It was lovely. 

I do wish I had a bike to ride down the lane of trees!

So there you go! Did you enjoy it as much as I did?? I'll admit, the night before we went and saw all these places, we watched the movie on the laptop, and it sure made seeing all the stuff even more fun since it was fresh in our minds. It sure was magical. Once again, Victor, thank you for indulging me and taking all these pics. What a good sport.