Eyes open and hearts full

Image via Katie Daisy

Something happened to me while I was in Australia, New Zealand and Bonaire, N.A. I became a full-on nature lover. I always loved nature, but the ocean, rainforest and mountains gave me a new appreciation for God's creations. Also, I've been reading Genesis in the Bible and read that we are to be stewards of God's creations. Reading that gave me this sense of responsibility to protect, love and nurture God's beauty. For example, when I was in New Zealand, there were two young women throwing rocks at the ducks, and I yelled at them. Yea, ME! I yelled at two complete strangers. And they stopped, but not without talking back to me. But, I think the ducks appreciated it and then proceeded to show their love by surrounding me and getting a little too close for comfort. But, I let them and even fed them some bread.

This little lady loved me and wouldn't leave me alone.

Anyways, I digress...I felt responsible, and while traveling, I began to see the beauty in birds, fish, trees, plants, etc. One of my favorite things the Hubs and I did in Australia was see the bird exhibit at the Cairns Tropical Zoo. Birds are seriously cool! And, while in Bonaire, I had the most amazing experience with turtles. One turtle swam so close and spent a lot of time with me and my friends, and another turtle, who was perched on a sea fan, let me swim right up to him. I was literally a foot away from him and he leaned into me like he wanted to kiss me. I melted. 

A friendly sea turtle.

And of course, there was my experience with the manta ray at the Great Barrier Reef and the eagle ray in Bonaire. The Lord really blessed me  on these trips. 

Me and the Manta Ray diving the Great Barrier Reef.

I returned home wanting to serve God in my own little way. I began planting and planting and PLANTING lots of flowers. The more flowers the better. I've been planting zinnias, daisies, cosmos, basil, geraniums, marigolds, ferns, hibiscus trees, a vibernum bush, and lots more flowers. My hibiscus tree has attracted a hummingbird, which I'm very excited to watch feed this weekend as I sit on my deck drinking coffee. Also, my mom gave me a some bird seed for our bird feeder that we got from the Hubs' "Mammy." I filled it to the brim the other day, and the birds are loving it! So far, I've seen cardinals, robins, mourning doves, chickadees and finches. I'm excited to observe them too!

The Hubs and I also will be digging up two trees that died :( and planting two new trees, but we're going to wait for the fall to do that. BUT, we are thinking a ginkgo tree and possibly a globe locust or a smoke tree.

AND, here's something crazy...I want to own chickens. Like really bad. I even got pamphlets educating me about chickens and building chicken coops at an Earth Day exhibit. And I posed with a chicken too...

Can't you see the love in that chicken's eyes for me!

One day, I will own chickens, ducks, goats and a donkey. Maybe even a cow and horse, if I'm really lucky :)

I think the Hubs is feeling this sense of responsibility too because he has been building a fish tank for almost a year! And last week, he finally completed it. I believe its a 65 gallon tank with a 40 gallon tank below it to help filter, monitor, etc. the tank above. Currently, we have 2 hermit crabs (Barnacle Bob and George), 2 snails and 1 coral, but we hope to get more soon. He has put a ton of work into the tank, but I'll feature his craftsmanship in a different post. 

Anyway, the Hubs and I are loving God and all His beauty, and are doing are best to glorify Him.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend basking in the sunshine, sipping on ice tea and smelling the roses. 

"Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." ~Job 12:7-10

Why hello there!

Posers at the Sydney Opera House

I'm back. It's been awhile since I last blogged because the Hubs and I went on two of the most amazing trips of a lifetime - Australia and New Zealand, and Bonaire, N.A. Yea, we did that.

About a year ago, the Hubs decided he wanted to do a HUGE trip before he started residency. Australia has been on both our bucket lists, so we decided, "Ok, let's do Australia," and then I thought, "Well, while we're there, why don't we do New Zealand too." So, we began saving and saving and saving and some more saving. Seriously, we had no lives. I think I went out for lunch with a friend once and I brought my own lunch because I didn't want to spend money on food. Oh, the things you are willing to give up/do for a crazy  awesome trip.

The Hubs and I at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the background.

After saving EVERYTHING for a year, the trip finally rolled around on February 18. We left the States for Australia, and started our journey in Sydney, Australia. We spent 3 days in Sydney in King's Cross district. The area was pretty central to Sydney. We walked EVERYWHERE! We took what was suppose to be a 3 hour walking day tour that turned into a 6 hour walking tour, but it was worth it...Hello, it was FREE! We saw and learned a lot of things we would have definitely missed out on had we not done the tour. And we loved it so much, we pretty much did an unguided tour again the next day!

Two bronze whalers below us scoping out the cage. Photos by Blake Corcoran Photography

The Big Guy, aka Bruce. Photos by Blake Corcoran Photography

Next stop was Port Lincoln, Australia where we were to go cage-diving with the mother of all sharks - the awesome Great White. The Hubs and I were the first in the cage, and probably stayed the longest in the cage too. I think we were down there for about 1.5 hours. Reason being, we saw bronze whalers for the first 45 minutes of the dive thinking they were Great Whites - how silly were we for thinking such a thing. Because, when you see a Great White, there is no "I think that is a Great White." There is only "Whoa. So that's a Great White." I spotted the awesomeness that is the Great White first. While we were bouncing around in the cage trying not to get motion sickness or hypothermia, I see the Great White come out of nowhere, and all I could do what to tap on the Hubs shoulders with my eyes open as wide as they've ever been. The Hubs notices my enlarged eyes, and turns around to stare the Great White in the face. It was awesome. It was AWESOME! HELLO! We dived with a Great White, and it even hit the cage with it tail as it went after food. We were in awe.

Our Dive Station off the back of our Dive Boat.

And we continued to stay in awe, as we traveled from Port Lincoln to Cairns, Australia where we headed to Lizard Island to begin our three-day diving expedition on the Great Barrier Reef. There are no words for how awesome the Great Barrier Reef is. The hubs and swam with a manta ray, potato cod, tons of sharks, and lots of little nemos (aka clown fish). It was beautiful beyond beautiful. I have a whole new appreciation for the ocean and the life that calls it home. 

Tarzan.

After the boat dive, we explored a rainforest and hung out at the Cairns Tropical Zoo where I held a koala and the Hubs hung out with some roos. Awesome.

Blake and a kangaroo.

Then, it was time to say good day to Australia and hello New Zealand! First stop in "Oz" was Queenstown, where we skydived. Yes, skydived. We jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet and soared high above mountains. It was crazy and not scary at all. No fear.

Getting ready to jump out of a plane!

 After jumping out of a plane (no big deal), we then took a car trip to Te Anu where we took a bus to go kayak Milford Sound, which is actually a fiord land and not a sound. It rained early that morning so instead of seeing the usual 2 waterfalls, we saw more like 28 + waterfalls. And we saw a seal. Boom!

Kayaking Milford Sound.

Next, it was back to Queenstown where we chilled on the beach and fed some friendly ducks.

Final stop, Auckland, NZ. We didn't have much money left (haha) so we dined at a delicious French restaurant, visited a museum, and strolled around the city. 

It was such a fun, adventurous trip! I highly recommend doing it with your favorite loved one. I had the best time bonding, exploring and looking death in the face with my Hubs. He is my favorite person to travel with and my favorite person in general. Thanks for always encouraging me to do and try new things, and to not settle for average. I can now say that I have cage dived with a Great White, dived the Great Barrier Reef, skydived, kayaked a fiord land and explored the Land Down Under. 

God is good.

What's not to love?

The Hubs and I love to embrace our roots, specifically our Irish roots. Even non-Irish folk love to say there Irish especially on St. Patty's Day. But, we took it to the extent of visiting the motherland, and getting engaged on the Cliffs of Moher. You might remember this little beauty.

Yea, that really happened, and it was awesome.

Our love for Ireland brings me to my Hubs' birthday cake, which I created thanks to the help of Smitten Kitchen. The recipe is originally for cupcakes, but I tweaked here it and there to make the Hubs the the most awesomely delicious birthday cake EVA!

The cupcakes are awesome too, but the ganache melts into the cake and it is truly to die for.

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Jameson Whiskey Ganache and Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

 So I made everything the same. Yup, didn't change a thing when it came to the ingredients. It was perfect exactly the way it is. But I did change the way I cooked the cake.

I greased 2 cake pans (cake pans for 2-layer cakes - don't know the exact size) and evenly poured the batter into the cake pans. Then, I cooked the cakes for 40 minutes. Next, I spread the ganache in between layers after letting the cakes cool for 30 minutes. Once the ganache was on the bottom layer, I added the top layer and started spreading on the icing. We immediately cut the cake, ate a piece or four and passed out on the couch. It was the best sweetest thing I've ever eaten. 

So go make it. Like now. You won't regret it. And you're welcome.

A glimpse of the Northwest Pacific

Here are some of the Hubs awesome photographs from our adventures in Seattle, WA, and British Columbia, Canada!

The hubs and I relaxing on the dock in Bainbridge Island, WA.

Dock at night in Orcas Island, WA.

Catching a salmon in Seattle's famous Pike Place Public Market.

Missed our ferry out of Canada so chartered a plane back to the states! aagh!

Beautiful poppy in British Columbia, Canada.

View of Seattle's harbor from a ferry boat ride.

Seattle's skyline at night.

Vancouver is freakin' awesome!

Sorry for the boobs and vajayjay, but had to show the creepy mural that was in our room at the Seattle Hostel.

Whale watching at the Orcas Islands.

Cute little otter that held his mate's hand while floating :)

Cest la vie

Well hi there! Sorry for the lack of posts. Life has been crazy for the past few months. Lots of wedding showers, baby showers and my own wedding anniversary celebration! Can't believe it's been one year...tear.

To celebrate our one year, the hubs and I decided to go to Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., Victoria, B.C. and the San Juan Islands. Of course, it wouldn't be a trip without some trip ups :) The trip began with a stop at the passport agency in Seattle for me to renew my passport with my new married name (yea, I'm a procrastinator) so we could visit Canada. Once I received my passport, we were sure it would be smooth sailing from then on out.

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 Seattle is an interesting place. I wouldn't say I loved it or hated it, but confused, maybe, is the right word. Don't get me wrong, I loved the coffee, the Public Market, the numerous piers and crazy amounts of sea life, but there was just an interesting side to Seattle I wasn't expecting. For example, the hostel we stayed at for 3 nights had a large painting of a completely naked, full frontal of a woman on the wall directly across from our bed. That made for an odd night time sleep. I felt like she was staring at me. Then there was the gay, homeless man who made a pass at the hubs while also asking us for some change. Interesting. Very interesting. Great sushi though :) And we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island where we laid out on the dock in the sun and the hubs played with live starfish. To know him is to love him :)

{Photo of Seattle courtesy of the Hubs}

Canada was also interesting, but not as weird interesting as Seattle. We took the train to Canada where we visited Stanley Park and saw river otters, seals and bald eagles. One of the river otters we saw decided to climb up on a rock near us. We were soooo excited, so the hubs got up close to take a pic, and that was when the river otter had massive diarrhea. Yeaaaaaa, nature is...beautiful?

In Victoria, we visited Chinatown and ate lots of ice cream. On our way to catch the ferry for the San Juan Islands, we received bad info and were taken to the wrong ferry harbor. Apparently there are 3 ferry harbors. SOOO, we were stuck in Canada. The hubs was bummed because we were suppose to go whale watching the next day, so we made some calls and chartered a private plane to take us back to the U.S. You know, no big deal. Sheesh. The hubs loved it.

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I guess you could say the plane ride was worth it though because we were able to make it to our whale watching tour where we saw transient orca whales (killer whales) teaching their young how to prey on a huge sea lion. It was crazy and the hubs took some AMAZING pics! Will share soon :)

After 1 ferry ride, 2 bus rides, 1 plane ride and 2 car rides, we arrived home. It was bittersweet, as was our 1 year anniversary. Happy to be home, but sad that our 1 week together with no interruptions is over. Happy to have made it one year together and excited for many more to come, but sad that we are no longer newlyweds. Cest la vie.

 Please forgive the emotions; Eugene has made her monthly visit :)