This winter, like the rest of this whole last year, has been weird – at least here in Utah.  We jumped in with new ski gear and a season pass at our local resort. Cees even signed up for a back country course. This was the year to really crush the slopes since we were living in Utah. We had plans of getting Theo into a little ski school so he could really learn. Well, the snow didn’t really show. We had a little, but nothing consistent. However, we can’t really blame it all on “bad snow” though – We ended up spending WAY more time in the desert than we planned on. It’s not just you ..read more

Supporting businesses that care about our planet is important to us. We try hard to be conscious with all of our purchases and try to buy products from companies that are doing their greenest – we aren’t perfect in this quest, by any means. But, we are aware that all of our seemingly small decisions add up. And it is up to us to hold companies accountable and vote with our dollar.  Hills Pet Food is all about pets, people, and planet. From their manufacturing sites being zero waste certified and their commitment to reducing their CO2 emissions as a company every year, sustainability is ..read more

We are 100% guilty of feeding Vladimir kitty “junk food” in the past. He loved cat food with questionable/who even knows ingredients and refused to eat anything else.  Typical, teenage behavior. He even started to develop kitty acne under his chin!!! We asked his veterinarian about his condition and they said most likely in his case, it was due to sensitive skin, food sensitivities, and allergies. He asked us what kind of food we gave him and we reluctantly told him. The vet laughed and said that we were basically feeding him total kitty junk food! Oops. We switched to ceramic bowls, k ..read more

We have a confession. When we first became pet parents, we used to let Vladimir have an all-access pass to the kitty buffet. We would just set out a bowl of food and let him leisurely graze all day. When he was younger and more active and we didn’t notice any concerning weight gain, but recently he’s gotten a little chubby and lazy. As pet owners sometimes we think our pets are just “fat and happy”, when really they are actually overweight and not very healthy. Overweight pets can be at risk for cancer, diabetes, joint and mobility issues. Noooo! As always, talk to your vet first if you have ..read more

Did you know? Vladimir is a rescue kitty! When we were in our last year of college, deep in the pit of our last round of finals, Madison needed a kitty to love. She had been keeping an eye on all of the shelter kitties and was watching all of the local listings. On a study break, I somehow stumbled across the epic cats vs. cucumbers youtube video. In between fits of laughter at these cats and their encounters with cucumbers, I said, “okay, we can get a cat… but it’s a today-only-deal!” Madison didn’t need a day. She only needed a few minutes. In fact, she had already been talking to who had k ..read more

We planned this trip months ago when we were in the roasting heat of Bali. “Being cold sounds nice!” we thought to ourselves. “Yeah let’s do it!” Little did we know, the week we planned for Wisconsin would have the COLDEST temperatures on RECORD! The Polar Vortex. The Frozen Blast. The Ice Age. All names they were calling it on the news. But we’re wild and crazy and went for it anyways, because that’s how we roll. Our very first adventure in Wisconsin, I’m not even kidding, was ice climbing in -5 degree weather. We have both climbed quite a bit outdoors, but this was our first ice climbing a ..read more

From RV tiny living to small living in the city. Welcome to our new little home! After years of travel and over 60,000 miles around the U.S. we finally parted ways with our dearest home on wheels. Selling a favorite car is one thing, but try saying goodbye forever to your favorite car and your HOME (that you built yourself and put SO much love into) at the same time. It was devastating to say the least. I couldn’t even be there when the deal went down and sent Cees to do it alone. Luckily, Vie went to the best new owner and they’re having great adventures together. It’s fun to see Vie out the ..read more

Going back to Rainier was on our list since we visited back on our National Park tour in 2016. There is something magical about that mountain that just pulls a person! The weather was awesome and the crew we went with was even better!  We spent our time there with Madison’s mom and her sister.  We got to show Tiny Theo around one of our favorite places and it was a party the whole time! One of the major highlights of the whole trip was hiking up to the Glacier Viewpoint.  It’s a trail that takes you up through Paradise, to a wall of ice – complete with a ice cliff waterfall ..read more

We loved our time at the Ghana Make a Difference home.  We wanted to give a quick tour of the whole complex! When you first walk in, you see the gatekeepers and the bus.  They haul the children all over the place for field trips (to the beach, the jungle, to church, and into the city). The main building houses all of the kids.  It also contains the office, kitchen, the dining hall, and an attached volunteer house.  The facilities are able to hold around 60 kids at their max capacity ..read more

My family has been “visiting” Chicago for over 20 years (one time, we even rode our bikes there… from IDAHO). We spent a considerable amount of time there for my younger sister Halle. She needed some specific medical attention and her team was based in the Windy City.  In fact, our family of 6 lived right down town in a one-bedroom apartment on the 21st floor! Pretty sure that is where my love for “tiny living” stems from. This last go around, we made it our personal goal to track down the BEST food in the entire city.  Some of the places we went are old family favorites, and some a ..read more