a case of yellow fever

I’m back from camping and I've got the mosquito bites to prove it. A small price to pay, if you ask me. Our long weekend in Yellowstone National Park was nothing short of amazing. We covered the entire park in a matter of days, saw at least a dozen bears including a handful of bear cubs (and let me just tell you, those sweet little fur balls look like they’re practically begging you to pick them up and give them a good cuddle… until you take another look at Mama bear and remember she’d have no hesitation plucking your arms right off your body, eek), we wandered around bubbling geysers and steaming geothermal features, counted bison like stars in the sky and hiked to the bottom of majestic waterfalls. I swallowed at least 99 bugs because I just couldn’t keep my jaw off the ground, but like I said, it was a small price (and probably good protein).

I’m a sucker for the great outdoors. And nature is kind of a big deal to me, so I was absolutely prepared to fall utterly in love with this place, and sure enough that is exactly what happened. Over and over and over again. Plus I loved being with Honey’s family. Loved it. They sure know how to camp and sightsee. That is a fact. Remember when I told you that Honey’s parents are practically bona fide national tour guides? I wasn’t kidding. We spent full days soaking up every bit of the park that we could, we learned all sorts of interesting facts and history and we made some dang good memories. It was a trip to be remembered and most definitely a trip that will be recreated again and again. Yellowstone, you’ve rejuvenated my soul and stolen my heart with all your beauty and super volcanic-ness.

So if you haven’t been to Yellowstone, go. And if you have, go again. And if you’re just not sure, I’ve got the pictures to persuade you, and you’re going to want to get comfortable for this…

         

 

 

 

Goblins and grasshoppers and bears, oh my!

Good news. I have a new iphone. You cared, I’m sure. It totally sucked. Okay it really didn’t. Well losing it did, and paying for a new one did, but being without it wasn’t really so bad. In fact, I kind of liked it. But I’m relieved to be back online, or should I say, 3G? And I missed instagram most. Documenting mostly pointless moments throughout my day just does something for me I guess.

I’ve seriously had nothing to write about lately. So pardon my absence. Again, I’m sure you cared. I’ve been working, catching up on episodes of Game of Thrones, and sleeping. In that order. For a week. It was a complete headache. But this afternoon, we head out to Yellowstone and I am way super excited. I’ve never been to Yellowstone. And Honey’s whole family is going and I’m seriously not pulling your leg when I tell you that his parents know about every single awesome spot in the entire continental United States. They’re like bona fide national tour guides. It’s going to be so much fun.

And since we’re talking about fun, and camping and outdoor things like that, Honey and I spent a few incredibly awesome days in Goblin Valley two weekends ago. We camped and hiked through the slot canyons of Little Wild Horse and Ding & Dang and we ran amuck with the goblins. I’m so in love with this Utah place. There is so much beauty here, and I’ve got a whole lotta pictures to prove it…

           

It was a weekend that my soul desperately needed. Good company, beautiful scenery, sunshine and silence.

I have pictures of the actual Valley of Goblins (amazing). However they are on my other camera and I haven’t quite figured out the whole upload thing with that one. But I will. Soon enough.

But anyway, cross your fingers I won’t get eaten by bears while I’m away. That really happens in Yellowstone! So, if you don’t hear from me in a week, well, it’s been real.

xoxo,

Kait

the week my dog died and i lost my iphone

I know, rough, right?

Don’t worry, I’m not here to grovel and complain… after this paragraph. But I mean, come on, my iphone too? Perhaps it’s a lesson in life. A lesson about paying more attention to the important things. As if instagram isn’t important *eye roll* Ugh.  This week, you suck. Next week, you’d better shine.

A few days without my phone might actually be good for me. I admit I can be pretty consumed by that pretty lil thing. But for all the right reasons of course! Reasons like documenting the beauties of everyday life and staying in touch with my favorite celebrities family and friends. Nonetheless, I do find myself looking down into my palm a lot (a lot). And not looking up so much. So, this week, this, “are you over yet?” kind of week, is going to be finished while looking up. Literally. Figuratively too.

In an age where stuff didn’t really happen unless there’s a picture, or at the very least, a facebook and/or twitter post about it, it’s easy to forget and overlook the beauty of simplicity. And the sweet sound of silence. In fact, it’s funny this should happen now because over the last few weeks I’ve gradually been learning and reading more about minimalism and purging life of the unnecessary. I’ve been trying to simplify life a bit by de-cluttering, getting rid of the old and improving our small space. Unfortunately for Honey, my iphone is actually quite necessary, but I’m not afraid to take a little pause from it to smell the flowers while I patiently wait for my replacement. And in between smelling the flowers, I’m going to continue ridding my teeny tiny apartment of everything we don’t really need. Like, everything. In fact it’s not even 10:30 AM and I’ve already rummaged through my closet, listed a few dresses on ebay, and filled four garbage bags full of more clothes to donate. Four! If I had my iphone, I totally would’ve instagrammed it. Proof it really happened, ya know!?

So I guess the moral of this post is to hug your iphone tighter tonight. Or your dog. Or both. Or maybe the lesson to be learned is to look up more often. Or to clean your room. Or to come over to my house if you’re in need of some hand-me-downs or extra pots and pans. Whatever it is, consider it learned and let’s just please get movin’ on to next week (which btw, will be spent in Yellowstone, so see what I mean? Let’s get on with it already!)

xo,

Kait

Sweetie

I laid in bed last night and googled, “how to cope with the death of a pet”. It’s not because I’m unfamiliar with loss or death, but the sudden death of our Sweetie girl this weekend feels like something I’ve never experienced before.

As a family, we waited years and years for Sweetie. We wanted her so badly. We’d cut out magazine pictures of her and paste them into our “Dream Books”, and we’d talk about what life would someday be like with her. We knew with all our hearts that a family dog would be a part of our future.

When the right time arrived, we fought for her. We did all of the proper pleading and begging, pulled all the right strings and pushed all the right buttons. Shelby scoured the internet, and when she happened across a rescue named, Sweetie, she followed her heart and insisted that this one was the one.

Sweetie was awkward and scrawny and full of so. much. energy. She wasn’t exactly a beauty queen either and from the right angles could’ve resembled a reptile. Not to mention the fact that she had no tail. But she was playful and gentle and had a brightness that was impossible to miss, a brightness that has filled our lives with so much light for years.

Sweetie loved us. She knew every single one of our hearts and was always mindful of spending quiet moments alone in each of our arms. Sweetie moments. She was our companion, our girl, the missing piece to our puzzle. The dog of our dreams.

Together, we waited years for our Sweetie girl, and she was so worth the wait. She brought us joy that we would never have known without her. She shared the purest form of love with us and allowed us to love her in a way we’d never loved before. She was our angel. A reflection of the best parts of who we are as a family.

I’m never going to forget that awkward dog. The way she’d sing out with excitement when being greeted at the door, or how her collar would jingle as she’d run. and run. and run. How we’d always regret giving her ‘human’ food but how we could never deny those beautiful amber 'human’ eyes. And the perfect fit she was against our chests. No one cuddles like Sweetie. No one does a lot of things like Sweetie.

I’m missing her so much. Losing her feels like an end to a sweet chapter of life. It reminds me that my family is growing up, and life is changing. And sometimes I don’t want to let go. I just want to hang onto anything left of that part of our youth when days were simpler and we were all together.

But life carries on. And as life’s chapters come to an end, new ones begin. I’ll always keep our precious Sweetie girl in my heart. She is a part of who I am and a constant reminder of the love we share as a family. Thank you, Sweetie, for loving us without any conditions. For being the truest friend and the sweetest comfort. You’ve left quite the paw print on each of our hearts.