Griffith Observatory!

So yesterday Isaac picked me up from work, and we decided to go a on spontaneous date to LA! Drum roll please!!!  We ended up at the Griffith observatory! 

Pocket Change. . .

Okay, so one of my biggest tips on how to be able to buy the things that you want, is save your change!! I cant push that enough! Isaac and I are constantly saving our change for adventures, or for things that we want to buy! We were actually able to go to my senior prom because of his nifty change jar! The small things add up people! I seriously recommend this. It's easy, and fun! 

Let me know in the comment section down below what trips you guys are saving up for! I'm currently saving up for my road trip with my friends!

^^ I like to think I'm funny.

P.S. I'm thinking about changing my signature, do you guys have any ideas?=)

Target & Pink Haul!

So Today I did something a little out of the norm. I went shopping!  Haha! I usually don't put it in my budget to buy clothes, but I was talking with Isaac this week, and I realized that I am almost consistently wearing clothes that are given to me. Don't get me wrong, I am blessed beyond belief! But I realized that if I put some of my money aside each paycheck I can start buying clothes that are my style, and not the person gave me the clothes' style. So I did! I am really happy with this choice! It was just nice to get somethings that are new, and my style! So today I got a maroon windbreaker Parka, a plain white tank top, a brown Indiana Jones hat, a pair of tan corduroy pants, and Victorias Secret underwear! It was such a blessing to be able to buy some new clothes!, and I'm super stoked!

I got my ears Pierced!!

Ahhh! So these last couple of days have been kinda crazy, and I havent had much time to write a post!
Wahh! Hahah So Yesterday was my birthday, so isaac and I decided to change it up! He pierce my ears! It was crazy! Hahah What actually happened  was that his friend was supposed to do it, but then Isaac jumped in and asked if he could do it. Haha So he did!!  It was super painful, but also REALLY fun! So that was my last two days! Heres how I  mixed things up! How do you?

Planning For A Trip!!

So yesterday I began the start of what is going to be a three day girls road trip!! I am so excited! It's gonna be me and my three buds! SUPER exciting! Yesterday was just our planning meeting, we actually aren't even leaving until Oct. 3rd. So I just wanted to share some things that we are planning for, and how we are preparing for our road trip! 

^Always gotta have some inspiration with you! My personal fav. is the Sunset West's Best Camping Magazine! I literally carry it with me everywhere.

Okay so we started with was our vision of the trip... A.K.A. how much money we wanted to spend. We decided we were gonna keep it on the cheaper side, so we went with things like camping, and hiking, and sight seeing! After we got that out of the way, we decided our destinations, and what kinds of things we actually wanted to do. After that was discussed, we each wrote out our packing lists for what clothes and camping equipment to bring. Lastly we covered food. We decided to go on the cheaper side again, so we are bringing food up in a cooler! Thats all the planning we did yesterday. =) I'm SUPER stoked for this trip! Keep your eyes open for a road trip on the west! Have a good night guys! I hope this helped you in your planning! Peace.

Tattoo?!?

So for all those tattoo/art lovers out there, this is not some super fancy artsy post about tattoos, I am not a professional artist, just a gal who wants to put a few cool pieces on her body! With that being said, today I am just gonna share with you a tattoo idea I had in mind! The rest of my inspiration for my future tattoos can be found on my Pinterest boards! Anywho, here is the big unveiling!! This is the basic idea of the first tattoo I want!

 I love that its simple, and it has to do with one of my biggest passions! Adventuring! Woohoo! So yeah! Thats all! Have a great night guys!!

Questions?

Today as I sit down and take a break, I thought that I would write to you guys and ask you to share a few things with me? 

1. Any requests for posts?

2. If I did a small giveaway having to do with outdoor gear/travel, what would you choose? 

3. What's your favorite place to go to?

Okay! That's all! Thanks guys!!

Mt. Baden Powell

This trip was a blast! Mt. Baden Powell is SUPER beautiful, and quite the get away for a southern California city girl. Right when we stepped out of the car I was just overjoyed because of how crisp the air was, how perfect the temperature was, and how we had slightly cloudy skies making natural shade for us. I definitely recommend this hike! We did the Baden Powell Summit, and it was completely worth it! I'm a bit out of shape, so the hike was harder than it should have been, but it was worth every drip of sweat! Here's a Link on Google Maps to Mt. Baden Powell!

Oh, a travelers note: Make sure to stop and get a five dollar adventure pass. you'll get a ticket without one.

QOTD

Hey guys, so today is just a quickie!  I just wanted to encourage everyone to be yourself! I think it's so important to be who you want to be rather than an imitation of someone else! If people like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi,  Thomas Edison, or Steve Jobs, weren't themselves but tried to be an imitation of other people could you imagine where our society would be today? Our society needs you to be YOU! you are special and important. A puzzle piece for our generation! So my encouragement is to be yourself, don't be discouraged by what others say!  keep on keepin' on!

Google Field Trip Review...

So I just downlaoded a new app on my phone called Google Field trip! Here's my genral review on it! This one just a quickie because I'm still learning about it!

Pros: 

• Easy to use
• Gives detailed maps & directions 
• Designed around exploring
• Gives you detailed information about sites
• Can find nearest sites based off of your location

Cons:

• The design can be a bit confusing to new users
• Can be a bit more complicated than neccessary

Overall I really like Google... Every app/site that I use that's owned by Google are great. Although the app can be a bit complicated at first, but it's definitely worth having... 

➤ Kelty Back Pack Review!

So as a going away gift, for my trip to Belize( here's a link to a post I wrote about about my trip), Isaac bought me a Kelty backpack! So Today I thought I would share a review about it! Okay, so first off, I have the Kelty Redwing 44, which is linked RIGHT HERE . . . With that being said I'm just gonna give an average person review. As a an average consumer, what I liked and disliked about it. . . 

Money . . .

Traveling in General can get a little tricky financially... Between sleeping, food, and vehicle arrangements there is already quite a bit to take care of.. My best tip that I can give you for budgeting  a trip out, is to "over budget." Now when I say over budget, I do not mean go out and spend over your budget. What I mean is, overestimate what the prices that things are gonna be! Because a lot of the times things actually do end up being more expensive than you thought, and that way if you over budget you don't have to worry about where you are gonna get that extra money from. If you don't end up spending all of your money, then you have some extra money! Which is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS nice to hear!  When I went to Belize I ended up having to go home unexpectedly two weeks earlier! Now if you have ever traveled with any sort of airline company, you know that it isn't cheap! Well, Changing your flight date is especially not cheap! Hahaha, I had no clue when budgeting my trip out that there would even be a possibility that I would be coming home early, so I did not have that 200$ in my budget that it would take for me to get home on my desired date.  Luckily I love saving money! So I had some money stashed away at home, and was able to pay my fee without any worries! My point in telling you that story, is that plans change, things happen, and its ALWAYS a good idea to have "back-up" money, Just incase you have a rainy day! Like I said, money isn't important, but it sure does get the job done! Have a stellar weekend guys! Peace!

Keepin it real...

Life this week has been hard. A lot of things have been going on in my life, and my creative juices have not been necessarily flowing... It has been more like the juices of stress and worry that have been flowin through my veins... and that my friend is not very comfortable... now I'm not trying to convert you or shove any agenda down your throat when I say this, but man how I need Jesus! I am so filled with worries, and whenever I surrender those worries to Jesus, I am filled with a joy that surpasses my circumstances! Life has been basically just been NORMAL... I know this is meant to be a travel blog, but I'm just keeping it real and saying "Hey I'm just human, and I have kinda had a crumby week.." I am not perfect, and I am sorry I cant be! Haha I wish I was... that would be cool. But I'm not.... So your just gonna have to live with this "Normal Person" post! Maybe my creative juices will be flowing by tomorrow! Hahaha!! But for now I am gonna turn on an episode of Prison Break (a show I do not recommend for kids, but is totally interesting because it really gives you an insiders look at what its like to be in prison... In that case, maybe kids should watch it, so they get the crud scared out of them so they will behave like angels.... Hahaha no really... [KBS- Kidding But Serious]) and sleep an extra hour or two tonight... Because that my friend is what I need. This has been #keepinitrealwithivy I hope that my stress at least gave you a few laughs! If not, then maybe you should consider not reading my blog? Haha Night guys! It's been real.

Newest Obsession!

                        

Hahaha so I've began to have quite a bit of an obsession! Whoopsies! Anywho! I love travel magazines! They make me so happy and super inspired! A lot of these are where I get trip ideas, and just knowledge about things and places I would have never known about! I especially like the life magazine! It not only introduced me to new places, but taught me about the history  of each place! It was super interesting and fun to learn about! I totally recommend investing in some nice travel magazines! They are totally worth it, and super inspiring!  

My favorite ones out of my collection right now are the sunset magazine, and the life magazine! Woop! Have a great day guys!

Y.O.L.O.

"Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them."

-Henry David Thoreau

Basically this is just a really fancy way of saying that a lot of people get much too focused on the things in life that ultimately wont matter at your death bed! People can get so distracted about buying the newest Iphone, or buying the newest fashions... and I just want to encourage you, my most favorite reader ever, to remember this quote the next time you get concerned with those kinds of things! Exploring different cultures, reading, and taking long thoughtful walks are things that I would encourage you to hold a high value on in your life! You only got one life so why not explore this planet as much as you can! There's a saying that my generation loves to say, and yes I'm about to throw that on to you! Y.O.L.O!!! You Only Live Once! So don't be afraid to try new things, and be away from your comfort zone! You'll be surprised  at how even something as little as going to the next town over, can dramatically change the way you think! Have fun! Peace!

The last two days....

Hey guys! So I missed two days of posting ! WAHH!!! I'm sorry! Hahaha Anyways, these last two days have been CRAZY! On Saturday I went on one of the most beautiful bike rides I've been on in a long time!I biked from the Balboa Peninsula, all the way past the Castaways Park, and towards the Back Bay Loop... Here's some pictures of what it looked like!  

I was just messing around with my camera and found this purty flower!!

Ahhhh! I love old fashioned things, and Diners are just fantastic! 

Well this was on the bike path, and I just took a picture of it to remind me and others what other men sacrifice for our freedom! My best friends brother is a marine, and my cousin is in the army, and let me just say that even though our country is flawed, we are free, and I'm thankful for men who work hard and sacrifice much to keep it that way!

Fat vacation!!

Hahaha today I kinda just lounged at the beach and ate alot of food! Woopsies! Hahaha It was a little ridiculous, but enjoyable, and relaxing! So for today I didn't have an adventure, I just relaxed, and enjoyed myself! I definitely felt a wee bit fat, but hey, maybe I wont eat so much tomorrow! Have a great night guys!! 

Todays Adventures . . .

Today was quite the eventful day! The morning was super relaxed, I got to just chill out, Read and enjoy the morning... But by the afternoon we wanted to do something fun! So we decided we would go kayaking and paddle boarding! Which was seriously a blast!! If your in the Newport area right now, I totally recommend going! I also recommend using a groupon code! If you sign up on Groupon, and search the Newport areas groupons it'll be like the third offer down the list! It was super fun, and pretty gosh darn affordable! We rented two tandem kayaks and three paddle boards for two hours, and it cost us only 80$! It was a great deal, and made some awesome memories! We just paddled all around the Balboa peninsula bay! Here's a link to the Rental site! Unfortunately I dont have a waterproof phone case, so I could get any pictiures! Boo! Haha! So next we came home, and Dan (my brother in law) Casey, and I went out to the beach and searched for crabs and Starfish in the rocks! Dan is so good at catching crabs! haha it was a little insane! Anyways, there are lots of different ways to entertain yourself! It can be cheap too! Or free! Just keep your eye out for coupons, and be willing to try new things! I have to admit that that can be challenging for me at times as well! I really can be a major butthead whenever other people want to try something new, and I don't. Woopsies. Hahah.  Okay, so here are the pictures from when I went searching for crabs and starfish with Dan and Casey! 

Bicycle ride through Balboa Peninsula . . .

Emmerson . . .

In my opinion Ralph Waldo Emmerson is totally hardcore awesome! When I was in 10th grade I was fortunate enough to learn a bit about this guy and acquired some pretty interesting facts about him, so if your a history lover, I totally recommend researching a bit about him! But that's not really the point of this post today. The point of me sharing this quote is to encourage you guys to enjoy life! Go outside enjoy the sun! Enjoy the sweet air! Enjoy swimming in the sea! Don't let the daily tasks of life distract you from enjoying the simple yet extraordinary things of life! Life is a beautiful thing, and you don't want to miss out on such precious things in life! Go outside! Go on a Hike! Go swimming! Go on a bike ride! Enjoy your life to the fullest, because you only have one shot!!

P.S. For all my history lovers out there, heres a link to a Biography on Emmerson.