see you later

hi lovelies. Since getting back from our big trip I've pretty much stayed away from blogging. It was unintentional and then I found I didn't miss it. I've struggled with comparison and jealousy in my life and though I've found the blogging community to be open and encouraging I want to eliminate any unnecessary reasons to compare. I got rid of Facebook a few months ago, and honestly it's been one of the best decisions. Coming home after our trip I've felt more content than ever and I don't want to do anything that will disrupt that. I've also realized that I've used blogging as an excuse to not put myself out there to make friends in the area and to really make a community for myself down here. I've hidden behind my posts and I don't want to do that anymore. I'm not saying goodbye forever, but I am taking an indefinite leave of absence. I've loved blogging and I'm sure I will again, but until I feel that need to come back I will be staying away. I won't be reading blogs or writing. I hope that those I've formed real friendships with will continue to keep in touch with email and texts.

As I walk away from blogging (for now) I want to say thank you for reading and sticking with me through the good and bad times. I'm hoping I'll be back at my little space of the internet soon but until then: be well, stay kind, and keep in touch.

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.

MIA

Hi friends. It's been a while since I've been on this here blog. I left you with some wonderful guest posts while Dave and I were on vacation with his family. We had a wonderful time relaxing, reading, playing tennis, golfing, swimming and playing games with family.

Now we're off on a new adventure- we're in Australia. Dave is here for work and I am accompanying him and playing during the day while he's at work. We had Sunday together with two of his co-workers and decided to explore Fremantle. You guys are 12 hours behind us and as I'm writing this it's 4:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake. I'll be going back to sleep in a bit to try and get on this schedule. Here are a few pictures from our first full day in beautiful Australia.

               {up at King's Park}

            {the coast at Fremantle}

       {part of the markets at Fremantle}

      {drinking a Fosters and two birds}

You can follow me on Instagram ( @lobo86) to see what I'm up too. 

Thank you sooooooo much to my mother in law who is staying at our house and taking care of our Finley. Love you!

Guest Post: greek salad recipe

We're wrapping up the week of guest posts with one of my oldest friends, Aubrey. And she's got a great recipe for one of my favorite foods: greek salad. So I hope you enjoy her post as much as I do. 
HI! I'm Aubrey and you can find me over at The Found Life. I love the Lord, I am married to the best man I've ever known and we have two fur kids - a dog, Hubble, and a cat, Phoebe who make our days more interesting! I am pluviophile, and a lover of weird words like that. I am a wedding and lifestyle photographer in Northern Nevada. I've known Lauren for years and years! We met when we were in middle school when we were both living in Germany! I can remember plenty of sleep overs and days of laughter and fun with this sweet girl! She is kind, so nurturing, and encouraging! She is beautiful inside and out and has such a fun laugh! Thankfully over the years we have kept in touch, and I am so thankful for our friendship, and the fact that we can call each other and just cry and pray together! I recently just got back into blogging (on the personal side), so I want to give a huge thanks to Lauren for letting me take over her blog today!


I love to eat (who doesn't!?) but I am a very picky eater, the flavor and texture has to be just right and sadly for me, a lot of what is healthy has either a weird texture or flavor to me. So because I am so picky, when I find a healthy recipe that I love I get super excited! So I wanted to share a recipe for Greek Salad with y'all that I absolutely love!! I am not a chef by any means, but I enjoy cooking (I'll let you clean up any day though!!) and making things my own so I don't follow the recipe too strictly and you can feel free to modify it to fit your own taste.

Greek Salad with Herbed Pita

serves 4

Ingredients:

• Lemon juice, from 1 lemon
• Garlic, 1 clove, minced
• Freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil, 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons
• Pita bread, 4 rounds
• Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon
• Your favorite salad mixture
• Cucumber, 1 half-whole
• Grape tomatoes, as many as you want
• Olives, black
• Feta cheese
• Green onions, 8, thinly sliced, optional
• Green bell pepper, 1/3, optional
• Red onion, as much as you want, optional

1. Make the vinaigrette:

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, and a generous amount of pepper. Gradually whisk in the 1/4 cup of oil until smooth.

*I'm not sure if there is a reason for not mixing all the ingredients together or not, so I just throw them all in the bowl and whisk them together, none of that gradually mixing stuff... :)

2. Warm the pita:

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Cut each pita into 4 wedges. Arrange on a baking sheet and brush both sides with the 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with the italian seasoning and place in the oven to warm for about 10 minutes.

*I enjoy the pita just a little bit crunchier so I tend to leave it in for a few extra minutes, or if you are running short on time, you can up the temp to 325°F (165°C).

3. Assemble the salad:

Meanwhile, add the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, green bell pepper to the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Arrange on plates and top with the olives, and feta. Place the warm pita wedges alongside the salads and serve.

*I always cut the wrong amount of the vegetables to add in, so I usually cut them all right before I add them in and like I said up above, feel free to add as many as you want of everything. Cut everything how you like to cut them. I like the cucumbers cut smaller and I usually cut them into 4 pieces and for the tomatoes I prefer cutting them into multiple slices because the pop of the grape tomato when you bite into it (even when cut in half)  is too much for this picky eater.