Singapore-Day 1

We're still 12 hours ahead here in Singapore. Currently it's Sunday evening and we've already had a full couple of days here since we arrived late on Friday. Saturday we woke up early and had an amazing breakfast at our hotel, Dave loves the coffee they serve. After breakfast we took off walking and exploring. It was Singapore's National Day-which was commemorates the 49th year of Singapore's independence from Malaysia. It was very cool to be here for this holiday.

{largest indoor waterfall}

We walked to the Gardens at the Bay and bought a ticket to the Cloud Forest. It was really amazing. I wasn't a fan of the highest walkway, but the whole place was beautiful.

Dave and I walked along the cross way from the gardens to the Marina Sands Hotel to meet up with his two coworkers that are on this trip too. In the background you can see the Singapore Flyer (the ferris wheel) and on the right that dome is the flower dome at the Gardens by the Bay.

We walked around and went to Merlion Park-a landmark of Singapore. 

The original statue at the Merlion Park measures 8.6 metres high and weighs 70 tonnes, and is one of Singapore’s most well-known icons. The lion head represents the lion spotted by Prince Sang Nila Utama when he re-discovered Singapura in 11 AD, as recorded in the "Malay Annals", and the fish tail of the Merlion symbolises the ancient city of Temasek (meaning “sea” in Javanese) by which Singapore was known before the Prince named it “Singapura” (meaning “lion city” in Sanskrit). via YourSingapore

It was hot out so we went back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. before figuring out dinner and splitting up for Dave to buy some shorts and me to get a mani/pedi. We watched the fireworks for National Day from our hotel room. A great way to end our first full day in this beautiful (and oh so clean) city.

Perth, Australia

Hi friends! It's been a while since I've been on my little space of the internet. And it's been far too long since I've read my daily blogs (I'm missing your lives Cassie, Aubrey, Christa etc-but I'll catch up when I'm home).
Anyway, we're now in Singapore but I'm recapping our time in Perth. I still can't believe we were lucky enough to have traveled to Australia! It was a fun week with perfect weather and honestly I enjoyed my time exploring on my own.

{Dave and I with part of the Perth skyline}

{me taking the train (metro) out to Fremantle}

{no matter where in the world I am, I'm happiest by his side}

{kangaroo at the zoo!}

{venison, gator, kangaroo, wild boar}

We went out to this cool restaurant that served a game platter on hot lava stone. The brought out the steaming hot platter and you had to cook your own meat. I really wanted to try kangaroo and I'm glad I had the chance. I wanted to try emu as well but couldn't find it on any menu. However, I did find emu jerky at the airport right before flying out, so I bought that and ate it. I crossed both things I wanted to try off my list! Kangaroo was really good and as for the emu jerky, it tasted basically like regular jerky.

{Dave after his dip}

It was a little chilly but Dave and his co-worker decided they wanted to get in the water anyway. We all wanted to go to Penguin Island (behind us) but when we got there we were told there were no ferry's going over because it's their mating season. So close. It would have been neat to see the penguins that call Australia their home year round.

Meat pies are also a big food in Australia so I may have had 3 of them during my stay! It was a great week and I'm glad I've checked off Australia on my world travel bucket list.

Summer Bucket List- Link Up!!!

I wrote here about my summer bucket list and really want to start making headway with it. I have a tendency to put things off, so making a list really helps me when Dave asks what I want to do. I'll be checking back the last Thursday of every month (June-August) to see how you're doing with your lists. I found this awesome printable How To Summer list from You Are My Fave. 

  

Get your own here. 

 

I've added a few things to my list including: make homemade ice cream, go to a farmer's market, possibly visit a local nude beach, beat Dave at Scrabble, tea time with Momma, and make cards more. I'll hope you'll join me in keeping track of what we're up to this summer and sharing our fun with others!

 

 

 

<div align="center">
<a href="http://boundsblog16.blogspot.com/" title="Bound by Love"><img src="http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n226/lbounds/642006f4-3e1a-4193-8b60-d13788abf094_zps39700089.jpg" alt="Bound by Love" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

summer flex

I'm so excited for this weekend. It's the unofficial start of summer and with that it means beach trips, friend visits, and lots of Slurpees after a long day in the sun. My job has an awesome thing for summer-flex schedules. Basically I work 4 longer days and can have a day off, as long as there is coverage in the office. I'm starting my flex schedule today and will have tomorrow off so I can be home for the window repair guys. It give me a nice long 4 day weekend with Dave to play.

Don't you think ALL jobs should do this for summer?

Weekend-bucket list

{the guys that went before us}

I was a little surprised when Dave agreed to go para sailing with me. He's afraid of heights, as am I, but I'm a little more adventurous and willing to do things that scare me (hello skydiving!), so I was elated when he told me he'd try it.

{our boat.....wayyyyyyy down there}

It was so much fun and a little unnerving at the same time. You sit on the back of this boat speeding along and then you basically get released and start floating up in the air as they let out the rope. We were up for about 10-15 minutes and really enjoyed the view.

{beautiful view}

{me and dave  way up high}

 This seemed to be the weekend of crossing Tampa To Do things off our list as Dave starts his new job next week. We finally went out and ate at the Taco Bus, which we had seen in an Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives episode, and man was it good. I'm excited  because they're opening one in the town where we're building and I'm sure we'll be frequent customers.

AND

We visited a couple breeders this weekend and found one we really liked. We will be bringing home our very own little bundle of fur in mid September. Dave and I are really excited and will probably be really annoying about our puppy for a good while.

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Dulles Air and Space Museum

Yesterday Katie and I spent the whole day together. She came up Monday night and spent the night so that we could have an early start together (and by early we mean 11-since it's summer and we sleep in around these parts!). We went to the Dulles Air and Space Museum that has been on my bucket list for a while. It was a massive hanger with all these amazing aircraft and the Space Shuttle Discovery. After we did some outlet shopping and came home to hang out. It was a great day to just have Katie/Lauren time and I'm really going to miss this girl when we leave. But like all good friends we'll only have distance between us and will always keep in touch. 

Thanks for such a great day Katie!

Get up and leaf

Will fall just arriving (September 22nd to be exact) I'm beyond excited to come up with some things I want to do. It's my favorite season and I want to take full advantage while we're living up north and especially in the DC area.

via

I want to:

jump in a pile of leaves

get kettle corn at Eastern Market

hike a trail at Shenandoah state park

host a football party
carve pumpkins

bake a pie

dress up for halloween

make one of the apple carmel things I've pinned on pinterest

pick apples and pumpkins from a farm



Anything special on your fall bucket list? It's always interesting to see how other like to embrace this season.