Roadtrippers

I wanted to do something different from all my other posts.  So I thought I would share my new favorite website with y'all. Cody and I in just 2 very short days are headed on a road trip back to our hometowns. We had discussed going back to visit dozens of times in the last few months, but I wanted it to be different than just jumping on an airplane.  I thought let's road trip it out.

 Now when I first started thinking about planning a road trip I was so overwhelmed it sounded like a daunting task.  I'm a planner and I like to have everything planned out long before we ever get in our car and go. I had never planned a road trip and had no idea where to begin. I Googled road trip sources and came across arguably the greatest website ever created!!! (At least for planning a road trip)

The website is https://roadtrippers.com/. All you do is plug in your start and end location and it will give you your route.  You can move the route around as much as you'd like.  Now for the fun part, once you insert your start and end locations you get to explore all the places you can stop and visit. You do this with the explore option.  Everything is split up into categories.  You can see everything at once. (I wouldn't recommend doing that)  Or you can select different groups. The six basic categories are as follows, attractions, accommodation, entertainment, food&drink, history, nature, and shopping. There are several sub categories, so you can narrow down your sites even further. I started by clicking on attractions and looking through those first.  My favorite part is each of the different places show up on the map so you get a feel for just how far away from the route they are.  (You can also change the distant from route and so forth)

It's neat because you get to see many different places that you probably had no idea existed and they're all in one place.  Once you click on a place you like you can click further and it will give you a better description and other users ratings. If you decide you like the place you can then click on add to trip and it will add it to your trip.

My second favorite feature is what I call the calculator.  This is the tool that tracks how many miles total the trip will be, how many hours it will take, and lastly how much gas will cost!! (You can change the MPG to accommodate your actual car's) How cool is that?   It seriously takes all the guessing out of your road trip. If you create an account (which you should) it will save your trip and you can go back and edit your road trip as much as you'd like.

I know there are features I'm missing, but go on explore for yourself.  I can (almost) promise you won't be disappointed.

My Wedding Priorities

When planning a wedding on a budget you'll read dozens of articles telling you to pick your personal must haves vs your not so much haves.  I've read dozens of articles about how to keep your budget down and this and that, but I really like the idea of priorities.  Today I'm going to tell you my priorities for my wedding.  These are THE most important things to me and are as follows.

Photography.  My parents had a "friend" of theirs take their wedding pictures. They now only have about a handful of pictures from that day. Most of which are blurry.  It makes me so sad. I definitely want to learn from their mistake and higher a high quality photographer that will be all ours for our big day. I want engagement pictures, bridal pictures and of course the ceremony and reception.

My number 2 (which is a very very close second) is a Videographer.  Truth is I spend a lot of my slow days at work watching random people's wedding videos.  I love all the emotion you get to see.  I love hearing the speeches and the exchanging of vows.  I love when the bride and groom answer corky questions about each other and their relationship.  I love seeing the first dance and seeing the bride/groom cry in real time. I love how you get to know them individually and as a couple. I pretty much love it all. And if I love all that stuff about random strangers videos, imagine how I'll feel about my own? Long story short having a Videographer is very very important to me.

Rounding out the top 3  is flowers.  I know for most people that sounds strange.  And you're probably wondering who will even notice if I have real flowers or fake flowers?  The answer to that question is I will notice.  I notice at other people's weddings so I will definitely notice at my own.  I grew up around plants and flowers.  In the house that I grew up in my parents grew all kinds of flowers.  From rose bushes, peonies, tulips, daisies and everything in between.  Nothing can beat the smell and color of fresh real flowers.   I know it's a huge expense, but just because I want real flowers doesn't mean I have to have a huge budget.  I will find a way to make sure I stay within my budget and get real flowers.  I know it will take time and extra effort on my part and I'm 100% okay with that.

I know I will have to cut some things to get what I really want and that's OK.  That is the exact reason I have my priorities so I know where to say no and where not to.

Note: My dress didn't make the top three because I have to have a wedding dress so I don't feel like it needs to be on this list.  I don't think anyone would appreciate a naked bride.

Some of My Favorite Things

I realize there is an about me section that you could easily read, but I thought I would dig just a little deeper for you. My name is Marissa Rose Hill. I am 22 soon the be 23 years old. I thought I would have everything together by now and maybe have a kid or two. Life doesn't work out the way we plan in our heads sometimes, and that's ok.  I live in an adorable apartment in an adorable town in Texas with my sweet fiancé and our puppy child, Riddler. (I guess I do have a kid)
In all my dreams and aspirations growing up never once did I ever imagine living in Texas. Texas to me was desert with cactus and hillbillies. I was wrong oh so wrong. We live near a million tress that bloom beautiful colors, pinks, purples and blues.  Matter of fact everything here (DFW) is green. That's what made me fall in love with the place. Which brings me to my list of favorite things.

These trees are everywhere

I love nature. I love flowers, trees, animals, clouds, lightning.  I love it all. (Minus locusts) 

I love exploring.  Whether it be a new lake or new mall.

Found this exploring a new town

I love pizza. I love pizza particularly made with heart and passion. 

I love movies. I will watch pretty much any movie.My favorites are the unexpected love stories. Or the fight between good and evil with the good guy coming out on top.

I love reading. There is nothing greater than being submerged in a great book. I love getting lost in a novel and forgetting about life's daily struggles.

I love the quiet moments at home just the three of us cuddled on the couch.

Not the pretties picture of me, but love it anyways

Cake pops I baked and decorated

I love to bake. I love trying new recipes and sharing the results with others.

Lastly (for this post at least) I love family. I don't get to see my family very often which now means I treasure every memory that much more. And every moment I have with them is my liquid gold.

The last time my family was all together June 2013

What are some of your favorite things?

Independence Day 2014

I would feel ungrateful if I didn't start off this post by saying thank you. Thank you to all of the men and women who sacrifice their lives every single day for my freedom. I know freedom isn't free and because of all of you who serve I have my feedom. God Bless America.

This year we decided to go to our town's Independence Day Festival. The headliner was the band Kansas. We ended up running into one of my many "Texas mom's". We ended up hanging out with her family the whole night and it was a blast.

After the fireworks Cody and I had a game plan to get to the car as fast as we could to beat traffic. We were almost to our car when we noticed a family with their car's hood up and distress written on their faces. Cody and I in unison asked if they needed a jump. They looked relieved and told us yes. We were in my car, but thanks to my wonderful dad I always have jumper cables in my car. We walked to my car drove through the maze of parked cars and Cody proceeded to jump the strangers car. 

Now I don't say this to toot my own horn, but the entire time I sat in the car I watched hundreds of people walk past us and no one said a word. Not one other person offered to  help. We weren't able to start their car, but we tried and that's more than the hundreds of other people can say. I'm glad that Cody and I were both raised in a way that helping others is a priority.

Let's remember the foundation of this beautiful country. God bless America.

The Texas Difference Part 1, Words and Phrases

There are quite a few words, foods, sayings I had never heard of before I moved to Texas.  So today I thought I would list a few with pictures and descriptions of what I thought they meant vs what they actually mean (in the south). This is the first of a two part series.

The first word I hear all the time was "fixin" (to).  What I thought it meant "to repair something that was broken" or "like bonus ingredients; such as a turkey with all the fixins"  Out here it means you intend to do something.  For example "I'm fixin to go the lake"  It is used constantly. It's known as the unofficial "official" verb of the state of Texas.


The next word that is equally used if not more than "fixin"  is "y'all".  I always thought it just meant "you all."  It was a just a shorter way to say it.  Eahh wrong.  It is literally used to describe two or more people.  In the north or at least in Utah we say "you guys." (But trust me it is used way more frequently than we use you guys) Out here it is definitely "y'all" or "all y'all." For example "How can I help y'all", or "y'all should come over for diner"  See grammar chat to the left.

The newest phrase I had never heard of is "you are a mess" I honestly thought it was an insult the first time I heard someone say it.  Now this one is a little hard to explain, but essentially it's a way of saying someone is funny or they make you laugh.  It is used frequently when someone tells a funny story or does something hilarious.

For my next word I have to explain how high ways out here work.  Here in the DFW area we have highways, freeways, and toll roads (tollways).  To me the first two are the same, but ask a true local and they'll explain the difference.  Anyways that isn't really the tricky part.  Out here next to almost every highway, freeway, and toll road is a service road, but it's not called a service road it is called an access road. It is marked as an access road.  (Your GPS will most likely call it a service road.)  Basically it is a road that runs parallel to the highways on both sides.  It has traffic lights and the speed limit is usually drastically slower than the highways, but in the case of toll roads it is free.  I had never dealt with tollways before we moved here.  If you don't know what a tollway is it is essentially how it sounds you pay a "toll" to drive on a certain freeway.  You drive under a camera and it takes a picture of your license plate and then sends you bill in the mail.

This is what a "toll station" looks like.  You just drive through it.

The final phrase I want to discuss is "bless your heart."  Honestly before I moved here I had never heard this phrase.  So I was clueless as to what it meant.  I now know that it's a tricky phrase to determine the meaning.  You see this phrase is basically a two (sometimes three) sided coin.  On one side it is the most genuine way you can show compassion to someone.  For example if someone is going through something traumatic or sad you would say, "(God) Bless your heart."  On the opposite end of the spectrum you can use this phrase as a complete insult.  For instance if someone is acting stupid or idiotic instead of blatantly telling them you would say, "bless your (little) heart."  Now the third one which I have only heard a handful of times is used in terms of happiness and congratulations.  In that case you would say, "bless your heart (,that's fantastic news)."

                                                                   

There you have it. The top words and phrases that I had never heard or misunderstood before I move to Texas last year.  I'm definitely not claiming to be an expert in the "southern language", but I'm learning and loving it.  Any Southerners or Texans that want to pipe in?  I would love to hear from you.  Stay tuned for part 2 "The Texas Difference Part 2, Food".