Why we left our baby (and why you should too)

We thought long and hard about bringing Rory on this trip.
We are fully and unabashedly obsessed with her, and honestly I was sick just thinking about leaving her for so long. Our life is better and more complete with her in it, so why didn't we take her? After all, it's trendy to vacation with your kids these days. I feel like every famous blogger is constantly taking their kids on trips around the world... am I wrong?

But here's why I think you should take a trip just the two of you. Not every trip you ever go on, but at least a good solid once every year or two.

I think life itself is a process of change and rediscovery, and so our marriages (being a union of two lives) must be thus. So, especially after you have kids and get into the throws of life, do you know who you are as a couple? Not who you were when you got married, not who you are at the end of a long day when you're exhausted and fall into routine, but who you are when you get to just be....you?

I'm glad we didn't take Rory on this trip because it was fun for me to rediscover  Jaylor.
Who have we become as a couple 4 years post-matrimony and 2 years post-kid?

We are:
Dog lovers. We are the people who oogle over every shaggy, sweet dog being taken for a walk. And guys, who knew?! There are dogs EVERYWHERE in Europe. In restaurants, on trains, walking the streets. Everywhere. I had no idea we were (I for sure didn't realize I was) those kind of people. I don't think we ever even looked twice at a dog before getting our own and accidentally becoming dog people in the process and now we are slightly ridiculous.

Foodies. Food was more of a priority than museums in most every city, and thank the high heavens because I don't do well without good, full meals. Also ice cream. Gelato was a priority for us both, and gosh if Jay asking me if I want another gelato doesn't make me swoon.

Hand holders. I remember loving when we were dating that Jay always held my hand. We haven't done a ton of that lately, because when does that happen when you're wrangling a cat... I mean two year old? Grateful that part of us hasn't changed.

Serious talkers. Jay and I aren't chit chatters, necessarily. Jay is my quiet place, and always has been. And I am a big fan of quiet places. But when it comes to talking about stuff that matters (I mean, like relationship stuff, because isn't that what matters the very most?) we don't wait, and we get to the bottom of it. I like that about us. We fix anything that needs fixing. Immediately. And we can talk about hard things, which is a big big deal for me. I don't care if we aren't professional mindless chatterers as long as we can talk when it does matter.

Small town people, through and through. My handle for most social media is smalltowntaylor, and I did it because it's kind of clever... but OH MY GOSH IT'S SO TRUE. You guys, I wanted to die being surrounded by 5000 tourists and signs telling you to watch your back for pick-pockets. It's draining and emotionally exhausting for me, and I hate it. The museums are cool and everything but more often than not I'm just as happy to sit and enjoy God's creations. Roses, beautiful hillsides, the sunset, etc. We both enjoy solitude rather than crowds. Win.

There's lots more, but these were some of my favorites. I told Jay several times on this trip "I like us", and it's true. It's so good (and necessary) to be in love, but it's so fun to be in like too and I think sometimes that's harder to hold onto. I want to always genuinely like Jay and who we are/are becoming together. And if you go on a trip together and don't like who you right now, it's good to figure that out! Use it as a reason to open a conversation, and work toward something you can build on and grow old together with. Grateful for my forever person.

I like Jaylor.

Cinque Terre

Oh, Cinque Terre. The five cities by the sea.
I will bless Jay's college study abroad forever for taking him here,
and giving him the desire to take me back.

We stayed in Corniglia, which next to Manarola is the quietest of the five cities, and the furthest from the ocean. But you can't beat the views, and waking up to the sound of waves and birds chirping instead of human commotion is the best thing. If you are coming with kids or want to have easy access to the beach, Corniglia probably wouldn't be your best bet but it was perfect for us. (Our second favorite is probably Vernazza, which has a great little cove area perfect for water play!)

We hiked the five cities (the walk of love on the south end is closed maybe indefinitely, which makes it a tougher hike, but so worth it) and I'm so glad we did. With the longer hike up through the mountains instead of the original path, it takes a very full day. You may think about breaking it into two. Regardless. Pictures never do justice to God's creations, but I'm getting better behind the lens to at least give you an idea. Holy moly. Because the last time Jay did this hike it was a lot easier and shorter, we didn't understand the need to hustle our way through the cities and may have been the very last insane people on the trail after dark.

Crystal blue water, tiny, wandering streets and stairways, lemon and olive trees on terraced hillsides,  and pizza by the ocean.

Recommendations: "Happy breakfast" at Matteo's in Corniglia. The fresh squeezed juice and hot chocolate are amazing, and it's the closest thing to an American breakfast you'll get all over Europe.

The pizza place right on the water in Vernazza. We got ours to go and ate it with our feet in the water.

Fried seafood cones in Riomaggiore. I'll crave that for forever.

Europe: the much requested itinerary!

We found flights last fall for less than $1300 round trip for both of us (including taxes and insurance) and booked them on a whim.

I give (rightfully) all credit to Jay for everything about this trip. He booked the tickets, calmed my frugal mind while we worked out a functional budget, religiously researched the best food establishments in every area, worshipped Rick Steve's like the quirky awkward travel-idol he is, and made this time together a priority. (Go Jay!) All I did was pick up some of his chores while he planned (a much better trade in my opinion- travel that requires too much thought is not my idea of fun), and booked most of our accommodations through Airbnb.

Day 1 and 2: Delft, Netherlands YOU GUYS. Delft is a literal dream. Our host (Hey, Hessel!) said they call it little Amsterdam, and it has ALL the charm without the drugs and penis shaped everything (he may have also mentioned the lack of hordes of Asian tourists). I would take it over Amsterdam any day. Everyone rides bikes, it's clean and magical and the birthplace of Delftware (the beautiful hand painted blue and white porcelain) and has canals running through the city and floor to ceiling windows in basically every home and shop. (run on sentences are my weakness...)

Day 3: Fly to Nice, France. I'm going to be honest-uhh we didn't love Nice. Part of that is because we don't love big cities in general, but part of that was another two-fold issue. We had terrible weather while we were there. Nice is a beach town, and it was plain freezing. I think warm weather would cover a lot of ill in that regard. And second, it was dirty. Ugh, I can't stand the grossness of big cities. We literally encountered HUMAN FECES on the sidewalk outside the train station. I could see how it could be charming on the beach in the summer, but that didn't happen to be our experience.

Day 4: Train to Cinque Terre Italy.
Day 5, 6: I can't say enough good things about Cinque Terre. If you are a museum lover/city dweller, it may not be your cup of tea. It's quiet and gorgeous and right on the Mediterranean. Not a ton to do outside of hiking and eating, but those are kind of my favorite things.... so.

Day 7: Train to Florence
Day 8, 9,10: There is so much to see in Florence that even with 4 solid days you couldn't pack everything in. I will say at some point you just have to walk to the south side of the Arno River where it's a little less crowded. There's an unbelievable rose garden and cemetery and old churches with organists playing and old men making sure you have your shoulders and knees covered.

Day 10: Train to Rome, Sightsee.
Day 11: Rome. We only spent one full day in Rome because of our aforementioned aversion to crowds and cities, plus it's just pretty sketchy. Regardless, I'm glad we did it. There's just SO much to see. The Roman Forum was my favorite.

Day 12: Fly to Cologne, Germany. Rent a car, stay in quaint neighborhood in Waldesch.
Day 13, 14, 15: Explore the tiny, magical towns on the Rhine. Castles, tiny German grandmas making your Schnitzel, and a day to drive to/tour Rothenburg which was magical and 100% worth it.

Day 16: Train to Amsterdam, sightsee/try to avoid all things red light district (impossible. there are nasty trinkets and weed in the FLOWER MARKET- I just wanted tulips and waffles!), get SO EXCITED TO SEE YOUR BABY.

Day 17: Fly home and SEE YOUR BABYYYYYY!


There is SO much to say and share about each place and the things we loved, so for the sake of not making this the longest post in history, I'll break them up individually and link them back here when I'm done in the next few days!

For now, here's a series I call "Jay in Europe". While getting the settings just right on my camera I would just take pictures of Jay (without his knowledge most of the time), and I kind of love them all.

Hawaii part I: hanging out

We've gotten too big for hotels, so this year my parents rented a house for family vacation.
The original plan was Jamaica, and we were all stoked, but the moment Jamaica was flagged as a "do not travel" location for Zika we decided it was probably a good idea to change venue. (Did you know you shouldn't get pregnant for TWO YEARS if you contract Zika? Two of us are in our child bearing years and couldn't risk it) 

Anyways, Hawaii it was! And we're so glad! It was a dreamy setup on the water with kayaks and paddle boarding galore. But the best part about this vacation? Unlike staying in a hotel, there was tons of time and space to just hang out! The olympics were on so we spent an inordinate amount of time (mostly late night hours) watching that, and we ate at the big table on the patio most nights.

The babies' favorite pastime was floating around in the water for hours on end, and Rory found her undying love for squirt guns and made her own version of a "pew!pew!/pow!pow!" sound every time she had on in her hand. Rory was into kissing Winnie, but Winnie was a big fan of hugs that went all the way to the floor and Rory wasn't as big of a fan of those. (though we all died laughing)

We love our people, and the times we can all be happy and together. Three cheers for Oahu.

oh, august

The last time I posted was just after my grandfather died at the end of July.
There's good reason I haven't posted since-August has been a whirlwind.
I looked at my calendar and everything we have done has overlapped.
I think our little family has had maybe a total of four days at home without visitors or vacations.
We've spent 24 hours in the car with a baby driving back and forth from grandpa's funeral,
a week with my entire family in Hawaii,
had Jay's family in town for education week at BYU,
my family come to town to move my little sister in (YAYYYY.),
a tiny human with the stomach flu while everyone was here,
and today Jay's family comes back to town for a family wedding.
August is nearly through and had I blinked I might have missed it.

I remember last summer when there was so much going on for us with a new baby, state, house, puppy, job, etc. somebody told me to try and take a step back to enjoy it because there are very few stages where everything will be so new and exciting. And it's true. And I recognize there will be phases where we won't have so many places to be and people to be with. So I'm just sitting back the best I can, not worrying about the un-mopped floors or unfinished upstairs bathroom. Not stressing about getting up the pictures from Hawaii with accompanying posts, and only focusing on loving my sweet sick baby (and hard-working husband) and getting the spare bedroom sheets washed between visitors.

So in honor of our month, I'll share some family pictures we took in Hawaii that sort of speak to our life right now. Jay laughed when I wanted a family picture just how we were on our last day in Hawaii before the sunset, but I knew we wouldn't get another chance before we left and we had minutes until the sun went down. So although I am still in my bathing suit, Rory is naked eating pizza, Jay is only humoring me, and we have a sweet little tag-along: this is life lately. A little nuts, extra people involved, not always put together, but really happy.

Falmouth, Jamaica: Dunn's River Falls

Let's play catch up for a minute. 
Christmas happened.... then a fiasco of trying to do an early gender reveal that failed,
then New Year's Eve, then a ten day cruise. Get back Sunday, back to work and welcome a new niece baby Winnie into the world Monday, today is Tuesday (ok, it's now Friday...) . Actual gender ultrasound Thursday (Wait for this next blog post and we'll tell you what it is!!) . Somewhere in there edit all the photos and sort through all the thoughts. Talk about crazy. 

As far as blog updates are concerned, I could not decide whether all of these exciting things should go chronologically or in order of excitement (which Winnie would hands down win), but decided in the end to hope for several blog posts within the week if possible and practice my patience by starting at the beginning. 

Jamaica may very well be our favorite stop in the Western Caribbean cruise loop.
It's lush, the people are kind (and seriously fun), and there's stray goats everywhere.
Not to mention the crystal clear water and pristine beaches.
Of course, we're not too horribly naive... We stayed in pretty rural/tourist areas and didn't have even the slightest desire to brave the larger cities.... but we loved the good things about Jamaica just as well.

We have hiked Dunn's River Falls before (6? 8?) years ago as a family, and we loved it so much we wanted to go back for round two and convinced the rest of the office staff to come with. Our tour guide was awesome and happy and the only girl guide at the falls (get it, girl!) and was one of the first strangers to publicly recognize me as being pregnant without it being brought up! Score! Speaking of that, I know these are ok-quality photo pictures so it's a little harder to tell- but my bump is getting substantial. All my dresses are getting too short and I can totally feel the baby kick as of this past week. Of course, this is a week and a half ago now, and baby only gets bigger from here.

Jamaica (and the Caribbean in general) was wonderful and amazing, but mostly I was just glad to spend time with my people. I am the luckiest to have my best friends for my family and they got to come home with me at the end of the trip. Feeling all kinds of lucky and blessed for all of my blessings not limited to, but including my family, having the opportunity to travel, my friends who feel like family (you know who you are), the little healthy 10 oz peanut growing inside of me, a crazy-wonderful supportive husband who makes me laugh and loves me forever, and living in my own little corner of heaven at the end of each day.

*And, as per almost always, blogger did a little bit of funny coloring to my photos. 
The water is crystal blue, not green.