San Antonio Summer

More photos from our vacation! I love going through these memories, like Audrey's first slushie and her tiny Mexican sandals we bought at the market.








San Antonio summers are slushies from the vending carts, hot sunny days, visits to the Alamo, and matching Mexican dresses.

xoxo
Talia Christine

Away We Go

Source

In just a few short hours we will be leaving to head to the airport. We're flying all the way to Texas to see my family! Audrey will get to meet my parents and family for the first time, and I'm really really really really really excited. (understatement)

We'll be traveling for 22+ hours, which I'm not wildly looking forward to. But seeing my family greatly outweighs the traveling woes!

So, any last minute tips for traveling with a 1 year old?

See you on the flip side!

xo

Packing

At this very moment I should be elated. I should be jumping-up-and-down excited.



Today is packing day. Tomorrow I leave for the airport at some ungodly hour of the wee morning. Tomorrow I leave for the States to visit my family for three weeks and tomorrow I say goodbye to Phil for three weeks. Ack!

Instead of being elated I feel super overwhelmed with the huge amount of stuff I have to do today. I'm still in my pajamas. My hair is still a mess. I haven't packed or sorted anything yet (but I do have a list of things I need?). I need to remember my vitamins, my phone charger, my camera, my insurance, lots of undies, some sort of coat since it will be cold there, oh and my toothbrush. And probably some other things.

So after I finish this cuppa I am off to start my day and get packing!
Wish me luck! I hope I don't forget anything!

xoxo
Talia Christine

Dearest dearest Texas, I am going to see you very soon and I will eat lots of Mexican food and an inordinate amount of breakfast tacos and chik-fila. Oh yes I will.

Love love love love, Tal

Wedding Photos

Remember that time we got married? Me too.

Every girl has her dream wedding. Sometimes her dream wedding changes from time to time as the things we fawn over changes, but the dream is there just the same. I had my dream wedding. I married the love of my life and my best friend.
Some dreams are worth holding onto.











I love you Philip van der Wel!!

With Love,
Your Wife (always)
Talia Christine van der Wel

Our things have arrived

We got the finally email on Thursday night telling us our shipment was officially ready for pickup in Auckland. I was beyond excited! Oh, to have my spinning wheel again! We made the arrangements to borrow a work van and to drive up the next day to Auckland. We also made plans to have KFC for lunch (MY FAVE!) and to stop for ice cream in Pokeno. It was a celebration after all.

We hit the road around 9 and right out of the gate we had van troubles. Ah! Of all times! We drove it to Dad-In-Law's work to have the boys investigate what was going on. While we're there and walking about I couldn't help but snap a few photos of Phil.

Sigh.



After half an hour and a cup of hot chocolate we were on our way!



After a good long drive, we were finally there! We had arrived at the shipping gate. We paid our dues and made our way towards the terminal where our stuff was being stored. We were told to wait a few minutes and that our stuff would be right out. We waited and I considered snapping a few photos and whether or not I would be told not to take photos. Hmm, ...
There were security cameras.
I had only just decided against it and there it was. A forklift was bringing our pallet of goods! Everything looked pretty good! At last! The only thing that was slightly worse for wear was a plastic tub that held alot of my yarn stash. It was smashed up pretty good, actually. Don't worry though, all the yarn inside was safe and sound.



After a few minutes of dumb grinning, we started packing it all into the van for the haul home. It didn't take long and we were on our way! We did it!





Shipping all my things from Texas to New Zealand safely seems like a small miracle. I am overjoyed to have my things and now I'm slightly overwhelmed to unpack it all. At the moment, everything is scattered in our small rooms in boxes with small paths to and from the door but for now I am happy and glad it got here safe.

What an adventure it is.

xoxo
Talia Christine

Our Shipment

(Cute cat not included.)

Remember this? It's here! We packed up all my belongings my favorite belongings in Texas and prepared them to ship overseas back in June/July. The shipment arrived in Auckland last week and I'm so excited! We had to wait for the shipment to go through all the paperwork and clear customs. We received an email last night that it cleared customs yesterday and we can go pick it up!!!

Then plan is to drive up to Auckland on Friday and get all our stuffs! EEEE!!! I can't wait to have all my craft stuff again. And my shoes. Oh and my banjo. Oh and my sewing machine. Oh and my vinyl.

I'm very very excited.

xoxo
Talia Christine

The things I miss!*

My beautiful, gorgeous, incredible sister Jaime Lynn.


My lazy, comfy, fussy cat Bieow Bieow.


The girlfriends.



My beautiful Texas sky!



A hot Texas summer (never thought I'd say that about the heat!)

And last but not least:


My beautiful Mama.

xoxo
Talia Christine

*Not a complete list ;)

Honeymoon Road trip: Part 2 - Destination Canada

For our honeymoon, Phil and I decided to drive across the country on an epic road trip. We drove from San Antonio, Texas to Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (where we met) to visit friends. From Canada we drove down to the Oregon coast, through the redwood forest, and to the Grand Canyon.


Part 2: The Drive to Canada

Phil and I left Gruene, Texas to make the trek to Canada on June 28th. We made the trip over three days, driving across the Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washtington, and finally Canada. We drove, on average, 14 hour days. It was beautiful and exhausting. I thought it would be completely grueling but it wasn't too bad. I was enjoying the company of my best friend, having just been married a few days earlier, and we had a great time.

We saw some incredible little towns. I would have loved to stop for longer and take more photos. Here are a couple of my faves.
(My other favorites were photos we took with our Instax and have not scanned into the computer yet.)







Road Trip Day 1: Drove 729 miles (=1173 kilometers) through two states from New Braunfals, Texas, through the Oklahoma "Panhandle" and on to Springfield, Colorado.

Road Trip Day 2: Drove 796 miles (=1275 kilometers) through two more states; from Springfield, Colorado, all the way through Colorado and Wyoming to Billings, Montana.

Road Trip Day 3: Drove 792 miles (=1275 kilometers) through three states and a province; from Billings, Montana through Montana, Idaho, and Washington, onto Kelowna British Columbia. Happy Canada Day!

Check back soon for more updates on our trip and photos with friends!

xoxo
Talia van der Wel

Honeymoon Road trip: Part 1 - Gruene, Texas

For our honeymoon, Phil and I decided to drive across the country on an epic road trip. We drove from San Antonio, Texas to Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada (where we met) to visit friends. From Canada we drove down to the Oregon coast, through the redwood forest, and to the Grand Canyon.

Part 1: Gruene Texas We started our trip from Gruene, Texas. Gruene is a little historic town filled with antique stores, cute shops, restaurants, and the coolest little general store. We stayed at the Gruene Homestead Inn, an amazingly little bed and breakfast, for two nights. It was the best!!



They had the cutest little lopsided cat. Her name was Sneakypie.



(I asked and she was lopsided due to a stroke some time ago. She is okay now! She was as cute as could be)

Breakfast was my favorite I think. (Okay, breakfast is always my favorite) We rearranged what time we left for our road trip to make sure we got to have breakfast at the inn again. A-MAZING!



Our time there was so nice and so special. We relaxed. We stopped by an antique mall and bought a belt buckled for the mister. We had dinner on the river. It was perfection. After our two days there it was the open road. We were on our way to Canada.



More on our trip soon!

xoxo
Talia Christine

Fredericksburg, TX

Fredericksburg is so cute!!

This afternoon me and Phil drove up to Fredericksburg, TX along with my parents and grandma. I had never been to Fredericksburg before and it was sooo cute! It was the cutest little historic Texan town with loads of cute diners, shops, bakeries, and ice cream parlors.


Our first stop was a diner with the claim "Best burger in town". We had to check it out to test its claim.




The burgers were sooo big and they were pretty good! I wasn't wild about the bun though. It was kind of sweet? Sweet buns with a burger? Not my thing. I think we are still on the search for the best burger ever. Suggestions?

The main street of Fredericksburg is too cute! The shop fronts are amazing. So many cool little stores!




My favorite was the bakery ice cream parlor we went into. It was soooooo cute inside. SO many cute things, delicious bottled sodas, ice cream, and baked goods. We got a couple of bottled sodas and an ice cream for me!





If you get the chance to go, do!

On our way home we stopped at a peach fruit stand. Amazing!! They had fresh local peaches and blackberries.








It was a very good day.

xoxo
Talia Christine