Manuel Antonio National Park

On day four of our trip to Costa Rica we headed to Manuel Antonio National Park! After finally finding somewhere to park we headed in and started exploring. My dad and I choose to get a guide in order to see more animals while Sophie, Alex, Grace and my mom spent the morning walking around and at the beach. The park is beautiful, but it is pretty difficult to spot all the animals without help! Our guide had a magnifying lens that we could hold our phones up to to take close up photos of sloths, snakes, dragonflies, and more!

After our tour ended my dad and I met back up with everyone and walked around the beach for a bit. By then we were hungry and decided to head back into town for another round of casados. That evening we enjoyed more time at the house, just relaxing in the pool was one of our favorite parts of the trip. And Grace even found some time to do a couple photoshoots, with the scenery to work with she couldn’t help it!

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Nauyaca Waterfall

On day three of our trip to Costa Rica we got up early to head to the Nauyaca Waterfall! Before heading out we were greeted by a pair of macaws in the tree next to our pool. After some time spent watching the birds and eating breakfast we were finally on our way! In order to get to the waterfalls you either have to hike, go by horseback or take a car. Our family took the truck and really enjoyed the ride! I would have loved to take the horses but was outvoted :)

Once arriving at the falls it was a short hike to the top. We were lucky to beat most people and had a peaceful few minutes to enjoy for ourselves. After taking some photos we hiked down to the bottom part of the falls and swam and enjoyed the waterfall for around an hour! We then hiked back to the truck and rode back to our car. By this point we were hungry and stopped at a restaurant off the road close to Nauyaca which ended up being one of our favorite meals! Once again we had casados and amazing smoothies.

After lunch we relaxed at the house for a bit before heading to the beach in the late afternoon. We watched the sunset while sipping on coconut water before an evening swim back at the house. If you are staying near Quepos I would definitely make the trip to Nauyaca, early morning is best!

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Hola, Costa Rica

Hello, friends! Today I’m beginning to recap my family’s recent trip to Costa Rica. I’m really grateful the timing worked out where we were able to go on the trip at all – I have a feeling it will be our last big trip for quite some time. We stayed in a beautiful home right outside of the Manual Antonio Park. Our first two days in the area were spent soaking in the views from the pool, driving around Quepos to get a lay of the land, eating our first few casados paired with fresh fruit smoothies, and grilling out at our place.

Dale wasn’t able to join us with his work schedule, but I’m so grateful to have parents who are still willing to include me on family trips! This time my parents, Sophie and Grace, and Sophie’s boyfriend Alex made the trip. Costa Rica is already more beautiful than I even imagined!

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January Around The Web

Hello, friends! This month was filled with much more football than anticipated (Go Chiefs!), dinners with friends (including our second annual trip to Fogo de Chão for KC Restaurant Week), meetings for a new volunteer position I took on, and time with family! At home I spent some more time working on our sunroom and have also started researching/getting estimates for a bathroom remodel. I stumbled across this post from Ashley about redoing her old home’s bathroom and learned a lot!

• January was also filled with lots of travel planning! I’m headed to Costa Rica in March with my family and loved this recap from John & Sherry.

• We also booked a trip to Santa Fe in June! More research needs to be done but this got me excited. I also got lots of recommendations from friends from work making the decision to spend our anniversary in NM super easy.

• Have you tried Rent The Runway Unlimited? Curious to hear thoughts… but love this dress!

• Really hoping February is filled with more cooking at home. Excited to try this lasagna or kale pesto (notice a theme?)

• This quote seemed to be floating around Instagram recently and I loved my friend Brittany’s beautiful lettering!

• Love a good before and after.

Closer to the future, now.

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November Around The Web

November has come to a close and I’m super grateful for another Thanksgiving spent celebrating with family and friends. This month was filled with new workouts (a bootcamp class and rock climbing), lots of actual work, Fiesta Friendsgiving and Girlfriendsgiving, the last of #My5Days spent drawing at Family Tree Nursery, and some holiday shopping. This month around the web I found lots of place setting inspo, how amazing would it be to use costume jewelry like this idea from A Fabulous Fete??

• Living in a smaller house myself I loved this article about how Ashley utilizes space in her 1,400 square foot home

• Saving this list for when I get reading in the new year!

• My mom, sisters and I are pretty excited about the new CATS movie!

• What is your favorite food at Thanksgiving? I always look forward to the stuffing

• I also love having gratitude cards at the table!

• I’m always in the mood for cider all winter long

• Foil balloon arch inspiration!

• Some fruit art with fall vibes

• I would love to visit Charleston around the holidays one year!

Grateful and Thankful!

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Devil’s Den

After spending a night in Eureka Springs we headed to Devil’s Den outside of Fayetteville to hike and camp. We had amazing weather, saw lots of wildlife (including a few too many spiders) and really enjoyed some time in nature. Enjoy!

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