little man turns 4.

dreydan turning 4 is so last year. literally. it was last august. i never did blog about it because life got in the way. and then when i got rid of life, i realized i didn't have the pictures. i was in japan, the pictures were in america. so annoying.. but whatevs. here we are now though, highlighting homeboy's 4th birthday party. woot woot!

we had his party on saturday at the park, the day before his actual birthday. all of his favorite people came out to celebrate with him. he requested a 'dinosaur & football' themed party. if you remember, last years party was also dino themed, but he added the 'football' this year so it wouldn't be the same haha. he's so weird and smart.

anyways, sis-in-law made the cake, per the norm. we had a bbq, sang 'happy birthday', ate cake, opened presents, and then smashed a pinata. all while wearing dino hats, running in circles & listening to dinosaur facts from a newly 4yr old.

the day was so hot, drey was soaking with sweat! but like any little child who is having a blast, they don't care. all they wanted was candy...

the next day, on drey's actual birthday, we went to wheeler farm. there also happened to be a farmer's market going on! loooove farmer's markets. they are my peanut butter and jelly. for realz.

picture overload of that day here.

Our last day in Japan.

We were taken on quite an adventure on our last day in Japan. Our "guides" had plans for us all day & then I was invited to help make some homemade gyoza (which is a process! sheesh) for our dinner that night. It was quite the day and I can't wait to go back so that we can have another farewell day again... haha just kidding. But not really. Feed me gyoza until I feel like I'm going to pop and then give me a little more, and then cake & tea. Thanks.

Anyone see Memoirs of Geisha? Remember the scene where it showed the huge wall of boxes and they all had kimono's in them? Well, I've seen that. Not the actual scene, but kimono's on kimono's just chillin' so perfectly in a room in our Japanese guides' home. And then I got to pick one to wear. And then I was taken to a temple to walk around and be awesome, to pretend I belong there in authentic geisha swag. I had got to wear those wooden platform flip flops and I tripped like 67 times. Such an amateur, but they are HARD to walk in. Especially when you have these like thick silk booties type socks that goes with them. Not to mention I was walking on pebbles the majority of the time and if we're being honest, I can't walk on pebbles in regular shoes so I feel like I was being set up.

So after I was dressed, layer upon layer, in these gorgeous silks & endless other materials, (literally i was like 9 layers deep including a couple towels. yea, i had towels underneath the kimono), I was ready. Ready to be geisha. I. Am. Geisha. <--- name that movie. i'll give you a hint: it has geisha's in it.
Anyways. After Mami (pronounced like 'mommy' the wife to Nori.. aka our "guides") was dressed, we made our way over to the temple. I thought it was going to be a quiet temple walk with lots of gong ringing and giving thanks to their Buddha, but it wasn't. It was a temple, but it was a lively place to be! There were lots of people who were dressed in kimono's and boys in samurai attire, there were little food kiosks, there were trinket/souvenir kiosks.. it was really fun. We stayed only long enough to walk around the grounds and snap pictures. I mean, it took longer to get me dressed than it did for us to walk around there. Silly.

Once we got back from this temple (i forgot the name of it. saw-wee), I was promptly undressed and then we started on dinner. You guys, it took hours to cook dinner. I was so hungry, everything smelled so good, & I was getting antsy! However, I did learn a thing or two about Japanese home cooked meals. I'll never be able to cook like that, but I've got tips and tricks stored in muh brain for a rainy day. Aaaaand! Not only did I get the step by step (times 5438 steps) for homemade gyoza, but I also learned how to fold them. I wasn't fast, but I could do it. I'm (self-proclaimed) officially better than the average American now. Ya'll are just scum compared to me. Can you fold gyoza? Didn't think so.

After dinner, they surprised us with a little farewell cake. Even though we were stuffed with chicken, rice, gyoza, nettle soup, soy steamed sprouts <-- omg so good, and another vegetable dish, we managed to eat the entire cake haha. It was delish. Seriously, I was full for like 4 days afterwards. Just kidding, I stuffed my face with pastries from a local bakery the next morning. So fat and I don't even care.

 "see you again next year" :)

It was the perfect last day. Nori & his wife are the best kind of people.

They love Dreydan & Dreydan loves their dogs haha. He's so excited to see them again.

We can't wait to go back, we leave in March! Ahhhh.

Honey Bee True Co.

Drey just loooooves when I follow him around and take his pictures for no reason haha. Most of the time I try to make it seem like the coolest thing ever, but he can see right through that bull & fights the crap out of me. Literally. If I don't have candy or some sort of chocolate to bribe him with, he'll start throwing punches. And he'll yell random stuff like "mom! just get out of my property!" He's so mean to me.

But then sometimes in the same session, he'll just let it happen and smile his little badass smile that makes me forget all the bruises I have from him... The struggles are real.

Anyways!

This company, Honey Bee True Co., that I want to show off right now is the best. Not only is she freakin' hilarious, but her shop is so fun & it's one of kind (from my experience)!! When I think of HBT, I think custom custom custom! She's queen of giving you exactly what you want. In just a minute I'll let her share more about her shop, but I want to brag about Dreys tee's! Made from American Apparel, so you know they're soft, thin - yet durable, and they wash like a gem! *i washed them delicately in cold water and then hung them up to dry*
Honey Bee True Co. is only 6 months old, but has done so much already! Nicole is such a talented little lady & so easy to work with. I'm so happy our paths have crossed & I wish nothing but the very best for her, her company, and her family! Seriously, go check out her shop!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicole

Wife for 6.5 years

Step mama to Hailey (12)

Mama to Beez (Benjamin 3)

I received a BS in art, minor in art history from UofO. The same year I graduated,  I married and wr bought a house. There were no job opportunities available that would utilize my degree.  I studied a bit became a certified pharmacy tech. Doesn't make logic sense but my sister in law was in the field so I knew what I had to do (without paying for more school). I worked in that position for 5 years. In the end the job was straining on my family and my happiness.

About five months before I quit my day job I played a very small part in a fundraiser to help a family with urgent need for medical attention. A local shop friend @ryderandrhenn listed my (now available) 'XO' shirt in her shop.  She passed the details of size and address to me and I painted up and sent them on their way. My husband noticed how much I enjoyed it and together we worked through several methods to get the one that works the best for me. Then we worked out the details of living differently. I slowly built up HBTco and then quit!

I enjoy simple, modern and lot of color.   When faced with color, I want all of it. That is why I offer so many different colored shirts. Recently I have heard from customers saying, they don't see some of these colors offered anywhere else. It isn't something I paid any attention to, nor am I bragging about it. I applaud those in the screen printing world. It would be an impossible task for me to pick one color per one design.

I also adore fonts of all kinds! Several of my designs are by my hand and not generated from a computer.  All of my shirts are blank, mostly American apparel,  until ordered.  This allows my customers to pick from the available shirt and even the paint color. Yes I have a collection of those too. I believe everyone wants a one of a kind or a special kind of shirt and I am so happy that I can give that. I have had the privilege of being part of birthdays,  holidays, announcements all the while being home with my family. In the short six months of being honey bee true co I have met so many amazing people that are not only customers but people I call my friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

customized 'gangsta rap made me do it' tee c/o HBT

customized 'XO' tee c/o HBT found here

check out Honey Bee True Co. and when you find and create something you love, use code FREESHIPPIN for free domestic shipping!

~~~

also! check out HBT on Instagram @honeybeetrueco and show her some lovin'

lake powell.

I remember reading a post last year of this bloggers favorite posts of the year. She had the link to each one of them underneath the summary and a teaser picture. How she had it set up was so cute and creative and I remember thinking "that's what my 'into 2015' post is going to look like". I was pumped. I even emailed her and told her I was going to steal it and she couldn't stop me. Now that it has come and gone... meh. I gave up on it. It was a cool idea buuuut maybe next year. It's a lot of work that I didn't realize I had to do.

So instead of THAT, I decided to do this post that should've gone up the summer of 2014 and would've made my #1 favorite post, if it had gone up.

It's called: LAKE POWELL: THE BADDEST OF ASSES PLACE & OUR ANNUAL FAMILY TRIP. PART 1.

So for those of you that don't know, my mom is obsessed with Powell. Starting when we were really young, we would take yearly trips there. We go to a different spot/marina every year, but it's always Powell. We all love it so much. Don't we guys.. Yes we do. (subliminal messaging helps) Obviously with brothers and sisters, sometimes in-laws, there can be drama. There always is. Someone is pissed about this or doesn't agree with that.. blah blah. But honestly, it's pure bliss for me. There is nothing in this whole wide world that I'd rather do or that I'd rather do it WITH, than to camp at Lake Powell with my dysfunctional, psychotic, weird ass family for an entire week. 

And yes, we camp. Every year we always seem to find the perfect beach to call home for those 7 days. That first day is always brutal. Entertaining, but brutal. We get to Powell at the ass crack of dawn after driving all night, maybe get a couple hours of sleep and then we unload the boats. Then we unload our all of our crap from the vehicles to the boats. And then we're off to find our beach. After hours schlepping our stuff onto this slice of heaven, setting up tents, gazebos, organizing our 'kitchen', and making sure all of our children are still alive, people are hot, grumpy, hungry, swearing under their breath haha.. But finally, our camp is ready to party. We never make plans, but rather just take it day by day, hour by hour. The only thing we plan is an 'adventure day' where we all take our boats out together & explore the history of Powell. We take the little canyons, go on hikes, find Indian ruins etc... We have lunch in a cove somewhere and swim until the kids pass out. Our only other planned deal is our 'theme night'! That will be covered in part 2...

Seriously, I can't say it enough. I love Lake Powell. My favorite memories I've ever had were made there. The sun, the red rocks, our campfire chats, wakeboarding like a badass (that's right), my family.. it's perfect. I look forward to it every year. This upcoming year will probably be a little different. Minds have changed about whether they want to spend our family vacation at Powell anymore, or as much. It's hard work, yea. It takes months of preparation, weeks to pack & plan meals, and some of my fam aren't really interested in that anymore! And that makes me sad. But luckily, our vaycay to Powell will happen every single year regardless of who wants to go, because the head honcho's will never not go. And neither will I. It's sooo much funner with everyone there as a group, as a family, stuck together for a week and forcing us all to be in each other's company whether we like it not... I know ya'll are reading this..  But I can find my bliss under the sun, on the red rocks watching my boy play in shallow water without them, too. I don't really want to, but I will. 

And let me tell you about the storms. Lake Powell storms are seriously legendary. They're also inevitable. We camp like champs (<< that rhymes) through these storms. We've been through some pretty rough storms during the night & then we wake up the next morning with the weather being like "oh heyyyy, sorry about that. here's the blazing hot sun with no clouds for the next 6 days".. smh. Sometimes they happen later in the week, sometimes they greet us the first night, like this year.

I have to tell you about our storm this year. So we all know how bipolar the weather can be, so we've all got ourselves tents that work well in storms. Okay, except me. Ty has never been able to come to Powell with us (i know, right! it's always been football getting in the way. all these years.. next year will be his first foe sho) so Drey & I don't need a 12 man tent like everyone else has haha. So I bring a pretty good size 4 man which is perfect for us. We always nail/sandbag/rock/all of the above our tents down so the wind throughout the week doesn't blow them away or snap our poles, because it will.

This year, nobody had really done anything drastic to their tents the first night. After all, it was our first night, we'll do it tomorrow, no reason to panic. Haha we're so stupid.

So as our camp was falling asleep that night, the wind was picking up. Nothing too bad, but enough to be annoying. So I got out and took off my rain fly. I fell asleep & woke up a little later to the wind blowing like a damn whore & rain on my face. FML. WHY. Dreydan was out cold, nothing was going to wake him up, which was good. I drug myself out of my tent, rain fly in tow, and started the impossible task of putting up the fly by myself in the rain & hard wind. It took me forever & by the time I was done I was soaked.

I crawled back in my tent & the wind was blowing so hard it was flipping the upper side of my tent up. So I freakin' sat in the corner of my tent, straddling the pole, legs spread eagle holding it down. My wet hair was dripping down my face, my arms gripping the poles, my heels dug into the ground so the bottom of tent would stay down.. seriously? Once the wind died down a little and I could crawl back into bed, I felt rain sneaking in from the top down on me because I had put my fly on twisted. Worst first night of Powell ever. And it really was haha.. But worth it.

 the babies! cousin love. we were missing an actual baby though.

 morning marina run. and konnor photo bomb like a boss.

 the sweetest.

 you can see half our scattered camp in the background.

you just have to look past little man's sweet face!

 drey & kase tubing dirty solo. drey knows what's up.

me, sista's & drey haha. he didn't like the rougher ride.

we pretend we're still dancers, but that leg of mine... tsk tsk.

 the gang eatin' din din.

 random.

 lake powell wasted.

 poor little fishy didn't stand a chance.

.....

 throw out the noodles & jump in.

lunchy on the go.

because piyo, yo. nightly routine.

 i wakeboard & can like, do inch jumps and stuff. nbd.

mmm heaven