The Misadventures of Andy & Miranda: Camping Edition

Me and Andy went camping for the first time since being married. And we went alone. It was only mostly bad. Not all.

But mostly.

We went to a lake lot that his family owns in Missouri. Sounds pretty awesome, right?

Welp, this is what it looked like when we got there.

Apparently no one had been there in a few years. 

I'd like to label that Things That Fell Through the Cracks #1.

After seriously considering getting back in the car and driving home, we started pulling them weeds. Andy has at least two machetes in his car at all times, so he got out one and started going at it Rambo style.

Then there were the mosquitos. So many mosquitos, so little bug spray. Or no bug spray. Yep, no bug spray. Things That Fell Through the Cracks #2.

So here we have me sitting in the tent hiding from the bugs.

While that awesome guy makes a fire. And calls me "princess," to which I responded something like, "if that were true, I wouldn't be camping."

Don't worry, this has a happy ending.

The sun went down, we roasted hot dogs and I burnt my leg on the skewer. (Side note, the burn marks looked like a snake bite. The next morning I woke up and was convinced I was bitten by a snake. I was so confused.)

Aside from the burning, things were actually pretty awesome. 

Until we heard some rustling in the weeds.

Just kidding!

Actually I'm not.

I was all like, "what's that?" and Andy was all like, "probably someone gathering firewood...at midnight."

Ya, it wasn't

It crawled through the weeds to Andy's car, where we could see it.

And Andy thought it was a MOUNTAIN LION.

"Get in the tent," he told me.

"No, it's fine."

"Get in the TENT." He said it this time in his super serious voice, and then grabbed a log out of the fire and yelled "GEEEET! GEET!" to the mountain lion/small cat.

The night ended with us both in the tent, with the food (that was my idea), listening for the mountain lion, then eventually falling asleep.

Although I didn't sleep very well. I give credit to the FREAKING BIRDS that took turns torturing me. I guess I'm a light sleeper.

In the morning Andy made bacon on our awesome camping stove. That was pretty awesome.

Then, at 8am, we decided to pack up and head home.

But not until we discovered Things That Slipped Through the Cracks #3 which mmmm just let me say involved the fact that there was no running water and Andy said he thought there was a port-a-potty near, which there wasn't so...

Moving on.

This cute little screen thing was where Andy's Grandma cooked everyone biscuits and gravy for breakfast whenever they camped as a family. I mean, adorable. Although not so much anymore. Now it looks like a scene from one of those horror movies where you know that the young couple camping alone is definitely gonna DIE, but we didn't, so there's that.

We did take a 10 minute hike before we left to see the lake. And that was definitely long enough.

The good news is that I'm not ruined for camping forever. I mean, it was rough. At one point I pulled out a trash bag to clean up a little and Andy was like, "Oh, bringing a trash bag was a good idea. I wouldn't have thought of that." Oh Lord.

Here's to getting better at this thing, and making lots of memories.

love, emm-kay

real life

this is my husband. sleeping.

he is one tough guy.

he is taking a fair amount of classes this summer, and boy, are we both feeling it. 

 please note the nice tropical print shorts he is napping in. 

he was supposed to go wake boarding with his buddies this evening but instead cancelled to do homework.

i caught him asleep on the couch with his physics book in his lap. the man's had three tests this week. 

yeesh.

ya. this real life stuff is a lot harder than i imagined it would be.

but, like my momma says, there's grace for that :)

Amen momma.

while the husband's hard at work with schooling endeavors, i've been busying myself with projects. 

meet our menu board:

i made this cute little guy from a frame i found at nice twice (thrift store in waterloo) and this magical stuff. 

chalkboard contact paper on amazon. 

the possibilities are endless!

and the quinoa patties, you have to try.

link here.

i discovered the recipe from heidi swanson's supernatural everyday cookbook. that book is challenge, my friends. 

but the patties are good and are part of my attempt to get the mister to eat quinoa. so far, this was successful. i ate mine with some avocado and plain greek yogurt. yumm.

love, emm-kay

little corners

i love our home. 

it may be small, but it is perfect for two people who like being close.

i am so getting into decorating. it is so easy to do here in a fresh environment, and andy gives me the go ahead with all the major decisions, so that's nice :)

here are some of my favorite little corners and spaces.

1. window with a nice view of the grain mill or whatever it is that we live next to. and one dried wedding bouquet.
2. recycled wedding bunting.
3. lamp from target.
4. new couch. lovely.
5. bedding from west elm and some "modern art" i painted.
6. sunlight.
7. paint chip art i made awhile back.
8. oven.
9. latte bowls from anthropologie courtesy of my bridesmaids.

newness

i am the luckiest.
newly married.
living in the cutest town.
with this man.
and i started working at a coffee shop this week.
i'm having a difficult time thinking of things i don't enjoy about life :)


love, emmkay