Trails 2 Travel

 It's the Most Wonderful time of the year! I love Christmas Time! (The only thing that makes Winter bearable.. let's be honest) We didn't get to make it up to see the SLC lights before Christmas so we went the Sunday after with Jordan and Amol! It was cooolddd and it snowed on us the whole time... but we survived and really enjoyed the lights!  We took a fabulous selfie where all the lights are blurred into one giant light blurr. Hurray!  And the classic temple shot... Quite lovely is it not?  Let's have some more honestly? I love this man!  After freezing for an hour or so we had some hot cocoa with Jordan and Amol at their place in Lehi. Little did we know this was the start of more crazy snow storms! Seriously it dumped all that day and the next and now I'm enduring arctic conditions! Oh Utah... you could've been perfect.  Also BONUS! My Grandparents drove all the way from Indiana to spend Christmas with us. They are staying at Ke...

 So I saw the Hobbit (the very last one... sad) yesterday and can we just TALK about how I've been in this exact spot?! Probably the coolest part of all of the movies now for me will be the Shire because I've stood in that EXACT spot!! Sure there were less Hobbits around, but still a few! (I admire the people who dressed up..)  Ok. I was REALLY excited about this movie... Braden too but this blog isn't about him. Like I could barely work all day since all I wanted to do was watch the other two movies in prelude.. but I am, after all, a responsible adult. And yes I wore a NZ shirt, a NZ bone neclace, AND my HOBBIT hat from on location! Yes, I was possibly one of the most legit people in that theater. (Who else can say they spent thousands of dollars to fly to NZ and see the place?)  And of course Braden has a hat too.. Merry Christmas! haha This was actually after the movie I'm afraid.. which explains why I'm squinting to hide the fact that I cried. Real ...

 I'm so excited about Christmas time and I feel like the time is a little too short for my taste! (Especially since I missed the Thanksgiving to Christmas pass) This year I have especially gotten into decorations and Christmas lights.  The weather has also been especially fine! Sure snow is nice.. but we'll have plenty of that in the dead of winter after Christmas! Braden and I had a lovely walk around the neighborhood and in the ritzy neighborhood there was the typical house that lights the whole block... because that's how bit it's property it is. But hey! Props for doing it cause it's beautiful! I loved the big lit up gates! Hopefully they didn't mind us hanging around taking pictures. We also set up my tree and decorate the apartment. New tradition? Kissing under the Christmas tree instead of the mistletoe. haha We just hung out under there for while. I love my tree! It's not the largest but I have all of my childhood ornaments on it, plu...

 The last big day we had in New Zealand we spent exploring the Coromandel Peninsula which was amazing! Like honestly I don't know which was better between the Great Ocean Road and this place.. Above: The Cathedral Cove Left: Some harbor in a city to be honest I don't remember the name of.  Right: The same harbor but looking the other way. Looked like a cool place to swim, but it was a bit too chilly for my taste. Josh dove in a couple of times though.  Above: Cathedral cove. That huge arch is probably the coolest thing I've walked under.. very humbling. And I would recommend swimming here in a heart beat. DO IT! Left: Hot water beach. There's a really nifty cafe right near the beach that is really good. (It's called Hot Water Beach Cafe. haha) Go there. This was also a REALLY cool experience. You did a hole during key hours of low tide and if you're over the right place, the hole you dig will fill with hot water. and I mean HOT water. One ...