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Introducing…Sophie Louise!

She’s here! After 18 long, agonizing weeks of waiting and wondering, our little Sophie Louise made her debut into the world on January 16th! We’ve been on such a rollercoaster of emotions to get here…. [read more]

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  • Confession: If you meet me in real life, you'll quickly find out I'm a huge introvert and proud homebody.⠀ .⠀ It literally makes NO SENSE that I love to travel so much.⠀ .⠀ Honestly, it don't understand it myself. 🤔⠀ .⠀ But when I started blogging and following other travel bloggers closer, I realized there's a whole bunch of us weirdos out there! 😝⠀ .⠀ Which got me thinking...I don't think a love for travel is so much about being adventurous in the sense of introvert vs. extrovert. It's more about having a curiosity for the world. ⠀ .⠀ And for us introverts, that curiously pushes us out of our comfort zone. Traveling inspires me to try new things that I would NEVER so easily do at home.⠀ .⠀ And so, I can't give it up. Because it gives me a sense of feeling alive like I can't get anywhere else!⠀ .⠀ Are you an introvert or an extrovert? How to does it influence the way you travel?⠀ .⠀ [ PS. ☝🏻Pic of Evelyn who is definitely NOT an introvert like her mama. 😂]
  • Take me back to those warm, sunny days on the beach! ⛱⠀ .⠀ Of all the places we've lived or visited, Southern California really takes the cake in the weather department.⠀ .⠀ If houses didn't cost like a million dollars (literally), we probably would've settled in Orange County years ago.⠀ .⠀ But, I guess Nebraska winters are pretty same, right? RIGHT? 🥶⠀ .⠀ Where would you live, if money and visas and being close to family were no issue?
  • Happiest 1st Birthday to our sweet Sophie! 🎉⠀ .⠀ You have taught us to be patient. To be persistent. To never accept the first answer. And most of all, to appreciate what's really important in life.⠀ .⠀ Your milestones may be mini, but they're not mini to us. We see how hard you've worked to accomplish all the things you have already. And we know 2019 will bring even bigger things for you!⠀ .⠀ 💜,⠀ Mom & Dad⠀ .⠀ #Happy1stBirthday #ForeverMyBaby
  • This girl can really drive me bonkers sometimes...⠀ .⠀ Evelyn is SO strong-willed. Like, whatever she wants to do, she’s gonna do it. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell her no or how many time-outs she has to sit, she will find a way.⠀ .⠀ [I keep telling myself this will serve her well someday when she’s a boss lady.]⠀ .⠀ But her new thing is being totally out of control one minute and then saying “hey mama, I gotta tell you a secret!” Then she’ll gently whisper into my ear, “I love you so much!” ... and I mean, how am I supposed to be mad after that??⠀ .⠀ Anyone else working with a master manipulator? 🤣 Have you found anything that works??
  • Is a day trip to Yosemite National Park a good idea? 🏞 Ehh...no.⠀ .⠀ But with Matt’s time in San Francisco winding down, it was now or never! So we loaded up the kids for the 4 hour drive (each way!) 🚙⠀ .⠀ We hit the highlights in our 6 hours in the park, but will most definitely need to return another day to see it all. And when we do, a minimum 3 days will be in order.⠀ .⠀ Have you ever visited a place “just because”, even though you knew you’d never have enough time to fully do it justice? Do tell! 👇🏻
  • Our day trip to Yosemite didn't go exaaactly as planned.⠀ .⠀ Sophie got sick and threw up at least 6 times (I stopped counting after awhile). And our little #threenager, figuring she needed to get in on the drama too, copped an attitude that didn't fizzle out until sunset.⠀ .⠀ Oh yes, our lovely little minis were a REAL treat. I think at one point I actually turned to Matt and said, "I seriously can't believe just how bad this day is going." 😂 (<--tears of disbelief)⠀ .⠀ But that didn't stop us from taking in incredible views like THIS. ☝🏻 Because it's a lot harder to give up once you're there, 4 hours from home. 😆⠀ .⠀ So lest you thought all our days out traveling were full of rainbows and sunshine and oh so magical, let me assure you, we have our own trainwreck days too.⠀ .⠀ At least we made memories at Yosemite National Park that will last a lifetime (whether we want to remember them or not 😝).⠀ .⠀ Tell me your travel disasters in the comments! 👇🏻⠀
  • What's the biggest thing holding you back from traveling more?⠀ .⠀ Money. 💸 It's money isn't it?? 😩⠀ .⠀ I kind of figured. Because the first couple of years that we spent trying to figure out this whole family travel thing, we felt like we were always running out of money. 😬⠀ .⠀ We started to get really crazy with our savings. We'd set aside a certain amount of money each week for travel. But still, sometimes it wasn't enough!⠀ .⠀ So we found other ways to save money quickly when a new destination was calling us. 🌎⠀ .⠀ What if you could save $2000 for travel in as little as the next 30 days? Where would you go??⠀ .⠀ I've put together a totally free email challenge to help you get traveling faster, and it's live right now for anyone to join!⠀ .⠀ 5 days. 5 emails. And 5 actionable tips to give your travel fund a much needed boost!⠀ .⠀ Ready to JUMP START YOUR TRAVEL FUND?⠀ .⠀ Click the link in our bio to get signed up! ➡️ @our.next.adventure
  • Can I be honest for a moment?⠀ .⠀ I've been delaying posting this 11 month update of Sophie's. I couldn't find the words to say. I wanted to talk about how wonderful she's doing and how fun she is.⠀ .⠀ But I just couldn't bring myself to be that happy, cheery, hopeful person. Because this week has been a particularly tough one. I'm not sure exactly why. It just creeps in from time to time.⠀ .⠀ As Sophie approaches her first birthday, there’s more and more sadness and anxiety about the things she can't yet do.⠀ .⠀ But as if to disprove my doubt, guess who decided to start rolling over this morning? Not once, but twice! This girl! It's a milestone we've been waiting 11 1/2 months for.⠀ .⠀ If you're having a crappy day (or week), just know you're not alone. And the sun WILL shine again. Sometimes it just takes a little longer.⠀ .⠀ #holoprosencephaly #WeHaveHoPE

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