The Road Trip: Day 3

July 28, 2014 We left our hotel early in the morning to continue our adventures.  Today was all about Arches National Park.  Arches was just as spectacular as all the pictures make it out to be. We did most of the hikes and saw some incredible scenery.  We didn't do the delicate arch hike for two reasons.  The first reason was there was absolutely no parking to the trial.  The second reason was it was already super hot and I'm kind of  out of shape.  We took the easy way out and hiked the viewpoint instead. We hiked a lot of the lesser known arches, but they were still just as beautiful. We may not have spent the entire day there, but we definitely saw some beautiful scenery and got some nice hikes in.  We didn't do any of the long hikes so we were back on the road to Salt Lake City by 2 p.m..

On a side note.  Dogs are not allowed on most of the trials.  At no point was Riddler ever let down from his carrier attached to Cody's chest. Even with that being said apparently just the smell of a dog scares away the rodents.  Lesson learned leave the "dog" at home.

Now have a look at all of our pictures and if you haven't been down to Moab, it's definitely worth a trip.

At the entrance to Arches

"Balanced Rock"

Delicate Arch from the viewpoint

Cody is a climber at heart

Me not so much

Trying to push this tree back in place.

The walls were caving in

Cody climbing to the top of the arch

Cody and Riddler relaxing on top of the arch

Stay tuned for what we did while in Salt Lake City.

The Road Trip: Day 1 & 2

I've been dreading writing these posts because it means that our vacation is really over.  And man is that a hard pill to swallow.  This vacation was much needed.  It wasn't just time away from work or time to relax.  (Although those are both great reasons to vacation.)  It was much needed time spent with family and friends not to mention a little adventure to mix things up.

On July 26, 2014 we started our amazing road trip to Salt Lake City.  Our first stop was Albuquerque, New Mexico.  On our way to Albuquerque we experienced the most amazing storm in the desert.  There was a gorgeous lightning show with wonderful rain and just enough sunshine to make you feel as if you were in a movie.  I wish I could have captured the moment better on camera, but we were driving.  Once we arrived in Albuquerque we checked into our hotel. Hyatt Place I would definitely recommend it.  We went to Twisters for dinner.  (Supposedly "Breaking Bad" was filmed there)  The food was mediocre.  We went back to our hotel, relaxed and watched the UFC fights on Fox for the rest of the night.

July 27, 2014 was our most eventful day of our road trip.  We woke up early.  Enjoyed a nice complimentary breakfast at our hotel and started our journey north.  Our first stop of the day was Mesa Verde National Park.  Unfortunately that was a total bust.  We drove in the car for 4 hours just to find out that the actual park was 2 hours away from the visitors center. Instead of freaking out (like I usually do)  we decided to move on to our next adventure, which was Canyonlands National Park.

From Mesa Verde it was a 2 hour drive.  The drive was breathtakingly beautiful.  I saw rock formations I had never seen before.  There was one set of rocks that looked like it had horses painted on it in coal.  When we got to the visitors center we paid our fee and collected our map.  We were a little disappointed because we found out that Canyonlands is made of three separate pieces of land that are quite spread apart.  We originally wanted to visit and hike Island in the Sky, but here we were in The Pines section.  So just like earlier in the day we made the best of it and hiked some really fun trials with some really amazing views.  I would still call it a very successful day.  After Canyonlands we made our way to downtown Moab where our hotel was and stayed the night there.  If you've ever stayed in Moab you know how over priced hotels are.  We ended up staying in the Super 8.  The rooms were newly remodeled and nice especially for a Super 8. It was nothing special at all, but it was clean.

Take a look at all of the pictures from our adventures.

It's a pretty lame picture of the storm, but just know it was great.

This is the view from the Mesa Verde visitors center.

Family picture at the border.  We made it to Utah!!

Fun fact: We stopped at all the border signs, for except New Mexico.

Cody's turn to drive

Heading out on our first hike in Canyonlands.

Ancient ruins.

Cave family photo.

I of course had to take the adventurous route.

Cody and Riddler climbing the ladder.

My turn to climb up.

The view was spectacular.

Kissing on top of the world.

Cody and Riddler posing.

Taking in the scenery.

Off to the hotel we go.

Riddler is exhausted after a long day.

Stay tuned for day 3 of the road trip and what we did while in Salt Lake City.

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?