California: Highway 1

Posted on by Rebekah Warren

During the second part of our week in California, Adam and I took a couple of days to ourselves to explore a bit of the coastal region. We went to the Muir Woods, passed through San Francisco, visited Santa Cruz, and spent an afternoon in Monterey. It was actually our favorite part of the vacation, because we had some time to relax. We spent a whole evening in our hotel room, eating pizza in bed and watching TV for three solid hours. We’d never do that at home, but what’s a vacation without a little rest and relaxation, right? Especially after three days of Disneyland, it was really nice for this mama-to-be to have some down time. We drove down highway 1, which runs right along the coast. I’m really glad we took the time to see the Pacific Ocean, even if it wasn’t quite beach weather. Here are some pictures from those last two days!

 ^^If you know Adam, you know he doesn’t like cities or crowds, so he loved being out here.
 ^^So pretty!
 ^^The trail we took had a pretty creek running alongside it. 
 ^^These photos don’t really do this area justice. 
 ^^Our first look at the ocean in Santa Cruz.
 ^^Adam desperately wanted to jump off those cliffs. Nope.
 ^^They surrounded the water. Very tempting.
 ^^Just my cute husband.
^^Monterey Bay, home to lots and lots of sailboats.
 ^^Annie’s first trip to the ocean. 🙂

The Happiest Place on Earth

Posted on by Rebekah Warren

We went to Disneyland! And it was glorious. Aside from a few minor mishaps, like a crazy shuttle driver and a trip to Urgent Care for the two little ones, we had a great time. It was a lot of fun to watch Beau, our three year old nephew, see his favorite characters in person and ride Goofy’s rollercoaster six times in a row. Paige, our niece, is just over a year old, but she did so well and enjoyed meeting the characters, too! Here are a few pictures–we made some good memories. I also shared a few pictures on my Instagram while we were on the trip!

 ^^Beau’s first ride, Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Orbiter. He was so excited.
^^Adam was in the car in front of them, and Beau enjoyed ramming into the back of him. Ha!
^^Giving Pluto a high-five. 
 ^^Paige checking out Minnie’s nose. 🙂 
 ^^It took a minute to convince him, but then Beau had a fun dance party with Minnie.
 ^^Oh, my heart. So precious.
 ^^Cinderella’s castle, all decked out for the holidays.
 ^^Sweet gals in the teacups at the Mad Tea Party.
^^And of course we rode Dumbo. Classic Disneyland!

Talimena Drive

Posted on by Rebekah Warren
Last weekend, we took a day trip down to the Talimena Scenic Drive in southeastern Oklahoma. We had planned on going for a couple of weeks, changed our minds because of rainy weather, and then decided to go again at the very last minute because the rain had stopped. I’m so glad we decided to go. 
It was about a three hour drive for us. We didn’t listen to the radio. We only talked a little. We mostly enjoyed the drive. This area is the closest thing Oklahoma has to mountains that I’ve seen, and it’s breathtaking. When we were there, it was gray and drizzly, but even through the gloom it was beautiful. The drive is known for its fall colors, and we made it down there just in time to see the last of this season’s reds and oranges. Close to the highest point, there is a vista that has a panoramic view. We caught a flash of the sunset trying to break through the clouds. We stood and took in the view, not minding the cold and the wind. 
We have been so busy lately (isn’t everyone, all the time?), and this trip reminded us to slow down a little. We definitely plan to return, and I hope to make it back on a sunny day next year. I have a feeling the golden hour there is pure magic. 

Happy Campers

Posted on by Rebekah Warren
*This has been in my Drafts folder for a while & today’s warmer weather has me missing summer.*

Several weeks ago, Adam and I went camping. I am not much of an outdoorsy person, but Adam totally is, so I packed my little suitcase (you never know what you’ll need!) and went along for the ride. We didn’t go to an actual camping ground. Instead, we just drove along public land on a creek bank until we found a good spot. The good thing about that was how secluded and quiet it was. The bad thing about that was how there were no bathroom facilities. Zip. Zero. Zilch. I was about 15 weeks pregnant. Not the greatest idea! However, we were only about 30 minutes from home, so I knew that if I got really sick, we could just head on back. Things went mostly well until about halfway through the second day. It got a little hotter than we expected, which added to my nausea, so we had to cut the trip a little short. Other than that, it was a fun time! We took the kayaks out, roasted marshmallows, and were entertained by a friendly fox. With our lives so focused on preparing to bring Annie home lately, we’ve been trying to make extra effort to focus on each other and do things that will be a little harder with a baby around next year. It was so nice to be away from cell phone towers and civilization in general and spend some time together.

A Weekend in Dallas

Posted on by Rebekah Warren
A couple of weeks ago, I went with a few of my family members on a short trip to Dallas. My mom, brother, grandma, aunt and I piled into my Jeep Patriot and headed south on a sunny Friday afternoon. After a rocky start to the trip (five grown adults in a Patriot is not as comfortable as we were anticipating), we made it to our hotel, which was a few miles from where our family lives AND which happened to be right next door to a Celebration Station (!!!!), which I was pretty thrilled about.
On Saturday morning, we slept in a little before grabbing breakfast. Then we went to my great uncle’s home. My Uncle Al is my late grandpa’s brother. My Papa, from whom I received my Spanish heritage, passed away when I was eight. I love spending time with Uncle Al, because he reminds me so much of him. Growing up, we went to Dallas a few times a year to spend time with my mom’s cousins and their kids, who are pretty close to my age. Uncle Al has lived in the same house for as long as I can remember. I hadn’t been there in several years, but when I walked in, a flood of memories came rushing back. The living room furniture is still in the same arrangement. The bathroom décor feels similar. Aunt Nelda’s books still fill the shelves. We walked up, and Uncle Al, like he always, always has, hugged me and said, “Hello, mi hijita,” which is a term of endearment that basically means “little daughter.” Instead of properly pronouncing all the syllables, like my Spanish professors would have liked me to do, it comes out more like “mee-heeta,” and I love the sound.  We spent a good part of the day with Uncle Al and Aunt Nelda. Aunt Nelda asked me how my job is going and why I don’t have any babies yet. Uncle Al teased my brother about everything under the sun. It was so nice to catch up and just spend some time with them and our cousins.  I hadn’t seen my cousins in at least 6 or 7 years, so it was fun to see us all grown up. It will be neat to see where we all are a few years from now.
After family time all day, we went to the mall to do a little shopping. It was my first visit to H&M, and I am in love. I spent over an hour in the store and then went to meet back up with my family. Apparently, my brother had done some shopping, too.
Senseless spending spree!

Saturday night, we stayed up way too late and had a blast at Celebration Station, where we raced go-carts, drove bumper boats, played mini-golf, and experienced a trampoline while strapped into bungee cords. So fun! 
I was excited and obviously nervous! 

We drove home on Sunday, and, overall, it was such a great trip. It was a fun weekend getaway, and it was so great to spend time with family that we don’t get to see very often. 
I am looking forward to a short work week because of the Independence Day Holiday. Do you guys have any fun plans?
Love, Bekah

Eureka Springs

Posted on by Rebekah Warren

Hi all,

Last week was our spring break, and the way Adam’s days off fell, he had Wednesday through Sunday off as well. We haven’t been on a trip for fun since last August, so we decided to take advantage of the free time and spent Wednesday through Friday in Eureka Springs. Adam had gone once as a child, and I had never been at all, so it was fun to experience a new place. We stayed in an adorable bed and breakfast, and that was a lot of fun. That was the only part of the trip we had planned, which was very different for us. Normally we have tons of things to keep us busy. The point of this trip was relaxation, though, so we stayed in our room a lot, took a couple of leisurely walks around the town, and of course went out for dinner. I even got Adam to take a nap two afternoons in a row. He doesn’t do that unless he’s sick; he’s very much a busybody. I loved every bit of it, and I think even he enjoyed slowing down and having no agenda. I really enjoyed spending time with him without any distractions. It rained the whole time we were there, which contributed to it being such a blank schedule, but I think that worked out for us. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

This was our bedroom in the bed and breakfast. The decor was lovely.
Here is the view from the front room looking through the bedroom into the back 
bathroom. Each living area was divided by sliding doors to be separate. 
This was our breakfast one morning: biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs with mango salsa, 
fruit, and a blueberry cinnamon bread pudding. Yummo. 
This was the only decent picture I got of the two of us; waiting for a table at Local Flavor.
Rainy street outside the restaurant.
This was a natural spring, called Blue Spring. Very lovely.
I adore pretty buildings filled with books. Few things make me happier.
There is a glimpse into our wonderful trip! We had a great time. We were sad to leave, but we also missed our house! There really is no place like home. Especially when you own and love your home. I hope everyone is having a great week! Things are pretty busy for us the next couple of weeks, but I’ll try to be better about blogging–I’m falling way short on my two posts a week! Oh, and happy Spring. 🙂