its monday?

oh monday...you came way to soon! Did anyone else have a crazy, hectic, busy, wish it was longer weekend? Because I most definitely did. Friday night was filled with Chinese New Year dinner party prep and an AMAZING OSU Gymnastics meet. These girls did such a great job! I can't wait to see how this season plays out.

Saturday was...well...it was a 16 hourish work day...thats what it was. I was up at the crack of dawn and thankfully my coffee, and extra energy boosts in my jamba got me through. But the dinner turned out great. There are always things I wish I could go back and do differently but I guess thats what makes us better for the next dinner. I sadly didn't even have a moment to snap a couple pictures on my phone but I will have the nice photos from the dinner in their own post hopefully tomorrow! I was really happy with the decor with this dinner.

Thankfully Sunday was a lazy, lounge around, do nothing day. We ended up making crepes in the evening. And let me tell you they were AMAZING! We made three different types. My favorite was the Apple Cinnamon crepe with a carmel drizzle and a bit of whipped cream..YUMMY!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Have a simply wonderful Monday! 

fill in time

hellloooo friday!!! i seriously cannot believe that it's Friday already! this week went super fast and although i normally love these weeks i could use a couple more days to prep before my dinner party tomorrow night. But everything will work out..it always does.

I am also super excited because today is a OSU Gymnastics Meet day!!! I sadly missed the first meet so I am sooooo excited to get to cheer on my girls tonight. If you are in the area you should totally check them out!  They are pretty much amazing! And its the perfect way to kick off your weekend :) 

Trust me! okay...time for the blanks! Link up at the little things we do! 

Fill in the Blank Friday is brought to you today,
by the lovely Erin of A Symphony of Grace.

1.   My favorite place i've ever traveled to is     Italy..i loved Florence so much! i could spend endless days just walking around the city and sitting at cute cafe's and eating gelato..it was so picturesque there...ahh..dreaming of it now    .

2.   Greece    is somewhere I'd love to go someday.

3.  I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by     watching movies..sleeping...reading...and music     .

4.  My three must-haves when I travel are     iphone/ ipod   ,    good book   and     extra clothes in my carry on   

5.  My favorite travel companion is    friends/ mamma.

6.  The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is    when the huge Tsunami hit in Indonesia about 7 years ago...and being in Indonesia...and the craziest part...we didn't even know it hit until we got worried calls from home...thankfully it wasn't in the area we were in but still super sad  .

7.  The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is    ..well dog was on the table when we were in indonesia this last time...but i did not eat it. .

8.  If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in    I would love to live in Seattle or maybe Cali  

9.  I have been to    six  

states in the U.S.

Hope everyone has a simply wonderful weekend! 

my obsession with nail polish

Over the last 6 months my obsession with nail polish has just kept growing. I haven't been this obsessed with it since first discovered nail polish in like elementary school. I had years and years of clean unpolished nails unless getting a french manicure as a special treat. But with the discovery of some amazing colors, and brands such as Essie and Butter I can't seem to get enough of them! It all started with this need to find the perfect Grey polish...I am kind of a cheap scape when it comes to nail polish so I tried the $1.99 and $4.99 polishes but nothing ever seemed to cover right and the colors where not the best. I finally gave in and spent $8 on a bottle of Essie Power Clutch and it my life changed...silly right? But ladies I believe you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was so nice to have it cover well and the color was exactly what I wanted. Anyways I just purchased my first bottle of Butter and i have officially declared it my special occasion nail polish A. because it was $14 B. its this amazing gold glitter...probably shouldn't have glitter nails every day...maybe... anyways take a look at what im obsessed it!

This is also a new addition to my nail polish family. This Essie 3 way glaze is amazing! my nails have never felt so strong and its also a base and top coat! love 3 in 1! $8

"I love the nightlife" I obviously need this one $18

"Boat House" perfect for summer $8

"Power clutch" the perfect grey! $8

"merino cool" love the mauves $8

"Absolutely Shore" $8

"West end wonderland" my pride and joy right now! looks so good on! and the best part that it's a smooth glitter..not all bumpy and weird! love it! $14

"Rosie Lee" This will be my next splurge. $14

family outing

on one of the last days the whole family was together we all took a trip over to my grandfathers grave. It sits on pretty much an open field at the moment. The family owns the property and built a structure for the grave. Unlike the traditional grave yards that people are buried in here it is more common to have graves on property that is owned by the family. It wasn't a sad occasion. More of an outing to pay our respects and do something as one big group for the last time before family started to head back home. One of my favorite pictures is walking up the little hill and turning around to see a huge line of family all filing up. I have this huge family on the other side of the world and i just wish we got to see them more often or wish some of them could visit us... maybe someday. We ended up putting down a tarp and all had a few treats, took pictures, and made our way back down the hill. it was a good day.

keep in mind this is just our immediate family

are my cousins not the cutest

snack time

Hope you have a simply wonderful Tuesday! 

home sweeeet home

are my roomies not the best for making me this sign! 

Hello Everyone! Let me tell you it feels SO GOOD to be home! After a total of 13 endless flights and delays and being sick I am finally home and finally feel somewhat back to normal after being away for almost a month. We flew in late last monday and it took me pretty much all week to get back into a more normal sleeping schedule, do tons of laundry, restock my kitchen and sleep off how completely exhausted I was from it all. It almost helped that we had some days off due to weather. But this will be my first full week back at work and why not make it even more hectic and throw in huge dinner party at the end of the week. Welcome home to me :) 

Anyways this week I will try to wrap up the Indonesia trip and show you tons of pictures that I didn't have a chance to do while I was away! Today I am going to show you the house that we were staying in. It actually is a little motel that my grandparents own. People usually come and stay for longer amounts of time though instead of quick trips. 

Here is the front of the house. 

Some views from the house...on a hill so it had some beautiful views

The living area...that no one ever really uses.

TV area...tiny tv and no couches...everyone sits on the floor 

The bathrooms normally looks like this in the area. Its more of a squat situation and tile thats built up in the corner is filled with water and is used to take a shower with. The bucket sitting there is how it pour it on yourself 

 THANKFULLY this was our situation. We had the one room in the place with an actual toilet! I seriously have never been so happy to see one in my whole life! 

Our room. We called it the green room because of its crazy bright green walls. The paint colors they have around here are primary and very limited.

 The other side of the room. Its pretty basic...they don't really use a lot of furniture.

Outside in between the house and the kitchen. Huge water tank and also the laundry area. The little thing thats covered in a blanket is the washing machine but it doesn't really work like our modern, throw it in and forget about it washing machines..more work then that. And you still hang your laundry out to dry. 

Or if there is no room left on the clothes line you let your clothes dry on the rocks.....

ummm yeah..

The kitchen. just stove tops. no oven..this looks so much better then it did compared to when we were there last time. 

other side of the kitchen sink and rain water faucet to use for cooking water

They also have a little pond in the back that they sometimes will fish out of. 

Phew! Sorry for the picture overload. Living in a totally different area with totally different living conditions for almost three weeks makes you very thankful for the little things we take for granted on a daily basis here in the states...your bathroom, microwaving your frozen lunch, or doing laundry...

I am very Happy to be home sweet home now.

 Have a simply wonderful Monday! 

headin out and headin to bali :)

Today we are heading out of the little village we have been in and starting our trek back to Oregon. I am happy to announce that we get to make a pit stop on our way back in BALI (hotel entrance pictured above) :) yay! it took a little convincing but I made all valid realistic points!! I was able to convince the mamma and I am SO EXCITED! I am looking forward to a couple days of beach, shopping, and restaurants!  It has been an amazing trip so far and I think this will be the perfect way to top it off. It has been SO nice to see family and friends but I do think I'm ready to start heading back home. Anyways, this is also the last day of real computer use for me until I get back. I'll still be checking in here and there on the phone but I will be back and blogging next week! 

Have a simply amazing day and even better week!

a trip to Sapari

not going to lie i was kind of excited to get out of Malianu for a night. im kind of stuck at the same place here and there really ins't a whole lot to see. So going to another town seemed like a change of pace and something different. However, i was warned of A. the lack of internet, and B. no traditional toilets. (side note: we are in the one room that actually has a real toilet..so very lucky) and C. more bugs that will bite then where we currently are. I wasn't really that worried about the internet thing and well...i just hoped for the best for the bathroom situation. Thankfully it wasn't horribly hot, it actually had been pouring rain all night to the point where its so loud you wake up because of it. The rain didn't really let up until the afternoon and I didn't understand why they wanted to wait for the rain to calm down but as we began our adventure i realized exactly why...the roads, the flooding, the stopping at massive pot holes deciding what dips seems less worse then others, roads that were now mini lakes that the motorcycles couldn't even get through. Let me just show you...

This is how much it rained...umm yes...houses completely surrounded by water

 

 A field totally covered in water

Us treading through the water hoping it wasn't to deep to go through

 

If you look closely through the window you can sorta see the massive pot holes in the way...yeah..it was a fun drive.

 

I would like to mention that the edge of the pavement goes straight down...the road broke..and we were seriously that close to the edge! umm scary 

 

passed lots of little houses and huts

 

sadly i didn't get a good shot of some of the extensive jungle that was happening along the way...the area we were in all of the trees were used for paper and owned by some paper company..so some areas where totally cleared... but here is some of the beautiful green along the way

 

The little village of Sapari is over an hour from where we have been staying and it is the more permanent home for my Grandma. They have a little shop with basic food items and they also sell all the weaving my Grandma does. She is one of the few people left who actually does this anymore. She is quite talented! This is one of the sets of shelves with things she has made and sells.

My Grandma lives with my moms youngest brother and his wife and kids. My moms brother loves animals and their cat just had kittens..they were sooooo cute! totally kept me entertained :)

Here is the kitchen area...and where they do most of the cooking..not like our stove tops at all.

And yes that is one of the kittens finding himself a little lunch

And now for a little reality check and something to be thankful for. Your bathroom. Because even though this was one of the cleanest and least smelly i've seen in these types of bathrooms they still aren't ideal.

It was a nice little trip but I am happy to be back with a real toilet and a little AC..and not to mention some internet. :) 

Hope you have a simply fantastic day!

The book i read in 3 days...thats real good for me!

When it comes to me and reading it’s one of those things I wish I did more. All through middle school and  most of high school I was a pretty avid reader. Especially during the summer months. It wouldn’t be a shock to go through a book a week. But as I grew up and went off to college the only reading I did was from a text book and to be honest I probably have read maybe half of two different books in the last 6 years…how sad. I was determined to pick up a couple books for this trip. And being unsure if I would have internet or not I figured I better have something fall back on. Aka: reading. 

 

I started the trip with The Happiness Project. A non-fiction book that I really enjoyed but that’s another post. Today is about the book that I started Saturday afternoon and finished Monday afternoon… One Day by David Nicholls. It’s very possible I would have stayed up  all Sunday night reading but with two other really sleepy people in my room the lights had to go out. It was recently made into a movie and I believe it just came out on DVD. No idea if it’s good but I vaguely remember hearing about what it was about and figured I would read the book before watching the movie…which is what I wanted to do with The Help but failed when my roomies were watching it and I couldn’t resist either. 

The book is a love story that is more like a cursed love story of two people who are too prideful to admit they want to be with the other. And with life and other boyfriends and girlfriends, the timing was just never right. Each chapter is dated July 15th with whatever year it is, and talks about where each of them are in their personal lives and in their life together. It was a book that after the first chapter I was immediately addicted to. One of those books where you just know they are bound to end up together and I’m not going to lie, they do. However, I didn’t see the end result of the book happening. I literally gasped out loud at the end of one of the chapters..haha.. silly but I must say it was a great light read. A perfect vacation or beach read. I’m a little sad I read the whole thing in 3 days…I could have drawn out the almost 500 pages over the next week. But with nothing better to do and annoyed with my internet I read. 

Anyways totally recommend it for all you ladies out there…now im almost hoping that this movie is one of the options on our flight back to the states…ugh..i really don’t want to think about the 14 hour flight…let’s hope I can pull some sympathy about losing our precious luggage and get an upgrade or a good discount on some upgraded seats ;) A girl can dream can’t she?

Have a simply lovely day :) 

PS: just checked the movies on the flight home and One Day is totally playing…lets hope that it somewhat lives up to the amazingness of the book…probably not but here’s to hoping :)

a night out in malinau

to be honest once it gets dark around here there really isn't that much going on...however, when the locals are finally tired of cooking and sweating over a hot kitchen they head out...to the one area that has mini little food stands. i almost would say its a fair but more of the food aspect rather then the fair aspect. However they do have a couple booths with some fun kiddy things. Don't worry I have pictures that literally just took me at least an hour and a half to upload....(i wont go there now) but anyways here is what our night looked like 

Tons of little food stands with people making a variety of different things.. 

 

this guy is making chicken sate's...delish and totally what i had for dinner

My cousins found the one little "ride" they area had..

 

the best part about the ride...it's totally man made power...peddle, peddle, peddle! 

Mom was so amazed that she wanted to try it out! Let's just say it was harder then it looked...peddling 4 kids on a ride is hard work!

They even had a little stand where they sold gold fish! my mom for some reason wanted to buy one but dont worry we didn't waste money on fish

 

However....we did spend money on my future husband..here is a pic of him :) 

pretty sure he could build me a house ;)

I didn't want him to be lonely so I had to get him a friend. 

Who obviously would be a cow with pink horns...

haha...it was a fun night and a nice change of pace from our normal routine around here.

It was fun to be silly and pick out a couple of these ridiculous little toys.. and don't worry only cost me like 2 US dollars. Everyone needs a little silly in their life :)

Hope you have a simply silly Friday!