Weekend Trip to Columbus

Happy Tuesday, friends! I started an Instagram post late last night and then realized that I had a lot to talk about, so I thought I would blog about it! I'm trying to be more intentional when it comes to blogging, because obviously I want those raw organic memories written out so over the years I can enjoy and look back on it. Plus if I have any friends/family that want to see what we're up to, this is a great source!

Saturday morning Aaron  + I headed down to Columbus to spend the weekend with Rose + Bronson. (Aaron's brother and his wife) I have not been down to Columbus in almost a year I do believe, which would have been for their wedding in July of last year. So it was way over due that we both took a trip down. Once we got down there we headed to the Clintonville Farmers' Market, checking out all the vendors and exploring. I had the yummiest avocado toast from the cutest food truck I've ever seen, The Little Kitchen which focuses on using in season fruits and veggies while also supporting local farmers and artisans. I ended up choosing the 'Love Avocado Toast' and it was so good!

After the market we headed to Seventh Son Brewing Co. This brewery was seriously so cool! With the garage doors opening right when we got there. With so many outdoor seating,  I even loved that they're a dog friendly brewery and had water bowls for your furry friends. We got a bite to eat at the food truck Street Thyme, I tried Peach Blossom which is a fruited Saison. It was so refreshing! We then headed to the second floor where it all happened and I got so excited seeing all of the plants that they had on display. I was on cloud 9, what more could you ask for?! Good craft brews and all the green plants! We got to hang out with Rose + Bronson's friends, Megan + John, which they were so much fun!

Later that night we had dinner at Harvest Bar + Kitchen, which seriously has the best pizza! It's so fitting because when I went on their website and checked out the 'About' section, they had to say "to serve the best possible pizza in a genuinely hospitable environment." which I felt like they nailed that. Also, their motto is "Local Taste Better," couldn't agree more! I ended up getting the mushroom pizza and it was so yummy! After dinner we took a Uber and headed to Jeni's Ice Cream which is one of my top favorite ice creams. Sometimes I stick with what I know I like and sometime I adventure and try something new but I got my favorite, Wildberry Lavender. That evening we headed back to the house and spent the evening hanging out on the back patio, which is my dream to one day have one of our own.

Sunday morning we got up decently early and went and had breakfast at Northstar Cafe . I ended up ordering a Big Burrito which had eggs, organic black beans, roast sweet potatoes, sauteed peppers and onions, melted white cheddar and their own salsa. So good and filling. I also tried the Shooting Star which Rose recommended, it's a juice with orange, organic carrot, lemon, and ginger. I really want to make this at home, maybe I need to invest in a juicer in the near future. Also, Bronson makes his own cold brew coffees at home and that's something else I would like to try!

It was seriously such a great weekend spending time with Aaron and our family and trying new places that we've never been to. I definitely can't wait to go back down again, Columbus is such a cool city!

Until next time!

Angela xo

Monthly Round Up

Happy Thursday, friends! It's been quite a while since I last posted here on my blog. Lately, I have been focusing on my Instagram and producing good content that I feel passionate about and want to share. But I also want to be able to continue to write since there are some days where I just have a lot to talk about! Aaron + I  have a lot of fun things planned this summer that I want to document and share our experiences. I feel inspired to write, even though I'm not the greatest writer I have this for myself and to also share with my friends and family. I look at this as an outlet to being able to look back on and relish the memories and experiences. So I decided my first post of 2019, and yes I do realize we're almost 6 months in but in my world there are NO rules to blogging for me, I want it to be authentic with no pressure.

So let's talk about my Instagram monthly roundup, and what I have been up to this month since tomorrow is the last day of May.

My first post of May was my very first jumpsuit that I purchased. I loved it and had to share on my Insta stories for the very first time. Out of my comfort zone and terrible lighting but I did it and also got some great feed back from you girls! Thanks again for being so encouraging and up lifting. That night my bestie Ashley and I had dinner at Craft in New Philadelphia. You can't beat a gourmet burger, fries, and a beer for $10.

Second post I wanted to share my new mule slides that I got at Target and thought I would also showcase our current door mat that is also from Target! I love decorating and I even get excited when it comes to the porch. I can't wait to get some flowers potted once this rain gives us a break. On the topic of porches I dream of having a porch swing one day. When I was younger my grandma and I would swing on her porch swing. So thinking of that brings back some very special memories and is very nostalgic.

Third post was an impromptu dinner at East Main Kitchen with my dad + Aaron. We had a knock at our door and it was my dad. He asked if we would like to go get dinner with him, which hardly every happens so it was very sweet and it was great spending time with him. East Main Kitchen makes the best Chipotle bowls. It's so much better than actual Chipotle and the ingredients are so fresh and so very yummy!

My fourth post was of my latte from the Grand Opening of Amish Country Donuts and Cafe. I had a busy day that day, I was on my way up to Canton to try on brides maid dresses for my brothers wedding that is this summer. I knew I couldn't do their famous Amish Donut since I would be trying on dresses but I opt to have a yummy latte. Looking forward to trying their food besides the yummy pastries that they have.

Fifth post is probably my favorite one! I was so very sick earlier that week and missed a couple days of work due to the stomach flu. But this Saturday I finally had some energy to check out the vehicle I've been eyeing for awhile. Aaron + I were originally going to go on Wednesday after work but I was so sick and had to leave work. I had a hair appointment that early morning with Katie and then when I got done with my appointment we headed up to Willard. I ended up leaving with a 2013 Ford Escape. I'm so very happy with the choice that I made on that type of vehicle!

Sixth post was a photo of an Indian's game that I went to in 2017. My last Indians game actually, we had plans to go to the game that weekend which I was so excited for!

My seventh post was a photo of my second jumpsuit that was added to the potential collection. I love this one so much! It fits my body frame so good, especially with the defined waste line. Perfect for curvy girls like myself. The color is perfect for summer and it's so light weight which is what you'll get with linen. Such a good buy for me! Oh yes it's from Old Navy, my weakness when it comes to shopping.

Eighth post I woke up super early that morning and went to Amish Country Donuts and Cafe to get Aaron + I a donut and coffee for breakfast. Aaron is such a fan of these donuts. He said it reminds him of his Amish grandma that use to make donuts like these when he was a child. That morning I spent donut eating and reading the newest Magnolia Journal.

My ninth post was a last minute idea from Aaron. We were up in Cleveland that afternoon for the game but the game never started and there was a long weather delay. We didn't think they would play and we couldn't get any answers so we decided to leave and head to Minerva to have some brews at Sandy Springs Brewing Co. I've been wanting to check out this brewery ever since I helped Aaron work an event when he was working at MBC. The owners Andy + Amanda are so sweet and know how to brew some good craft beer.

Tenth post was right before going into SSBC. It had just stopped storming and was moving out. The village of Minerva is so cute so I had to take some photos and the lighting of the storm wrapping up was the finishing touches to this City Hall photo.

My eleventh post was a day to pay respects to the fallen soldiers and to remember them on Memorial Day. I have the upmost respect for the men and women that have or are still serving our country.

My last post was my most recent purchase at Marshalls. I've been wanting to get a shelf for my Young Living Essential oils for the longest time and I had seen a couple that I had liked so I took the plunge and got this cute geometric one. Aaron has such a good eye and helped me out on the placing of it.

If you're still here after that long winded post....thank you! I can't wait to share with you all our adventures on this blog and on Instagram.

Stay tune folks!

Angela xo

the Kinfolk Gathering

Tribute

It's the day after one of the worse days of my life, it's 3 am and I'm awaken from this bad dream, oh but wait its reality. All I can think of is re playing that day over and over in my head from how it started to how it ended. Even though I can't believe you’re gone, I knew this day would have to come. All I can say is how blessed I was to spend 31 beautiful years as being your granddaughter. I was the first granddaughter in the Miller family, my uncles thought what is this girl going to do with all these guys in the family.  (Seeing that grandma had 5 boys) I like to think I was that daughter she never got to have and I was given to this family by God.

 I have so many fond memories of my grandma growing up, how she helped my dad and us kids when we all lost our mother. She was that mother figure to me that I always looked up to. Grandma was always known to make us grand kids whatever we wanted to eat when we were over at her house, I would want french toast and my brother Joel would want pancakes....she never would say no. As I got older and graduated from high school and eventually moved out of my parents’ house, I was working two jobs to pay for my rent. I got the privilege to work with my grandma at what we called "the restaurant" - Millers Dutch Kitchen where grandma worked there for 43 years. I thought it was so cool to work with her and she would always help me when I needed it! Especially when I had a customer that wanted a milkshake… I hated making milkshakes, but grandma would always make them for me. My wedding day then came and how she looked at me that day, I just knew how proud she was of me! When life was hard and didn't make sense at times I would call grandma for advice and some words of encouragement.

My last real memory of grandma was for her surprise 80th birthday that we somehow pulled off a couple months ago, and she was actually surprised! I don't know what it was about that certain day that I just had a feeling that I might not get another day like this again. It was her birthday and I wanted to pamper her and make her feel beautiful so once everything calmed down a bit I told her I was going to do her nails! Looking back now I am so happy that I got to do that for her, you see as child grandma always took care of me, she would french braid my hair all the time when I would come over and she would let me "do her hair" and I always loved looking into grandmas makeup and jewelry as a little girl. So at her birthday party I wanted to be the one to give that special moment of pampering as she use to do for me!

Life won't quite be the same without you grandma, family get-togethers will feel off because you're not here with us. But one thing I do know is that I am rejoicing that you are in heaven and that you have NO MORE pain and that YOU are with your Heavenly Father and that I can rest easy in.

I love you so much grandma

Love Always,

Angela

A day trip to Porto Venere

So I've been a little MIA on my blog lately, I always do good for awhile then for some reason just stop. I want to catch up on some fun things that have been taken place in the last few months. I feel like I have so much to say and photos to share!

This entry will be about my day trip that I took with some lovely friends, Kegan and Barbie! We headed to Porto Venere which Kegan had already been once so she was our tour guide that day! It was seriously a beautiful April day and I got some really awesome photos of that day! Once we got there we had some lunch, where I had a pesto pasta dish. After lunch we then explored for hours.

https://plus.google.com/106953657587666922615/posts/CegagQqvbZE

Birthday Fun in London

For the next few blogs that I am planning on writing I will be going back in time and sharing trips that we took that I have not blogged about yet. {I promise I want to be better at doing this}

November 6, 2012

This trip that I am going to share about was a sneaky one! ;) Aaron's birthday was coming up and I really wanted to do something special for him seeing that he always seems to know the right gifts to give me and well in my opinion he is just darn hard to shop for. {he would disagree haha} But seriously it's hard to shop for a man that tends to have everything. I had this idea of going to a concert, I thought it would be a great idea since my very first concert was with Aaron back in 05' when we saw Rise Against, I remember that day like yesterday singing.... "Swing Life Away"

Am I loud and clear, or am I breaking up?
Am I still your charm, or am I just bad luck?
Are we getting closer, or are we just getting more lost?
I'll show you mine if you show me yours first let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words
We live on front porches and swing life away,We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end, I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move
The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow
I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go

Well that was a little off subject but back to the story! I knew I wanted to take Aaron to a show but where and who? Well at that time we were listening to a lot of Coheed and Cambria and one day Aaron and I were talking about all the concerts we have been to and who we would still like to see one day and he had mentioned that he really wanted to see Coheed! DING the light bulb went off in my head and I thought okay I'm going to look up their tour dates but in the back of my head I was thinking who even knows if they will be touring in Europe. I was a work that day and went to their website to look at tour dates and sure enough they were touring in Europe! I about flipped out and told Amanda I have to do this for Aaron it's just too perfect! Then the idea of surprising him and not even telling him where we were going but just to plan on taking off work. They were touring in the UK and were making a stop in London, I thought why not! London is one of our favorite cities and Aaron just loves the UK! So I booked the concert tickets, booked our flights, and our hotel room. I always love surprising friends and Aaron if I can, I seriously get pure joy out of it! 

Aaron is always good at not ruining surprises when I'm the opposite and always asking questions and details, he just let me do this planning and let me surprise him! I wasn't sure how I was going to all do it, I knew that I couldn't keep it a secret the whole trip only because we were getting to London a day early before the concert. So once we got to the airport, mind you Aaron still didn't know. We looked at the departure board and I said okay where do you think we are going? Pisa is a really small airport and there were not a lot of departures on the board. He kind of laughed and said London...? I told him yes and that we need to check in! Once we got to our gate I just couldn't hold the surprise in anymore so I told him I am going to let him know. I kick myself in the butt because I wish I would have recorded it but I didn't so I'm just reliving it through my memory. We were sitting down and I gave him the folded up concert tickets and said here open this! He opened it and had the biggest smile on his face and said we are going to Coheed and Cambria?!?! Yes hunners :) 

That trip was a nice get away, very relaxed and just what we needed! We went to Camden Towne where we first stayed our first time in London back in 2010 visiting the Worthen family. Which is a fun artsy town where they have some cool markets to check out! Aaron introduced me to Nando's for the first time...yum my favorite! We also checked out the Westfield mall and got to watch a movie! I loved it! We miss those kinds of dates. 

Here are a few pictures of our time in London and of the Coheed and Cambria concert! By the way they put on an AMAZING show, it was such a good night for us and I will never forget it!

                                                              Aaron & I on the train to London

My first experience eating Nando's

                                                                             Camden Towne

                                                          He's such a good "in the moment model" ;)

Of course we had to stop at a Starbucks

                                                                          KOKO Venue

I wanted to add a video clip of our favorite song that they played but for some reason it's not uploading for me, so I'll try again later! I also forgot to add some pictures of the band which I will do when I get back home today! (at work right now)

https://plus.google.com/106953657587666922615/posts/FNgALdsq5dt

Ireland // Northern Ireland

Ireland & Northern Ireland have to be one of my top favorite places I have traveled to! I can say this trip was such a great time with all of my friends by my side, I couldn't have asked for a better group! 

Seeing that I took a year off (or so) from blogging I want to still be able to blog about some of the trips that I haven't yet talked about. We left February 2 - 5 2013, a nice long weekend get away! Sadly Aaron was not able to make it on this trip due to work but I'm hoping that I get the chance to take him there one day! We also missed Chelsea, seeing that she was stuck back in the states..

Our trip consisted of exploring the city of Dublin while enjoying the local pubs in the area, great food + the best beer = a great time with my friends and some of the drunken locals/tourist ;) We of course toured the Guinness Factory and the Jameson Distillery. Us girls got a little shopping in at Penney's (amazing store) and Forever 21! We only had about an hour before the shops closed, but I think we all found some good stuff! We all stuffed our faces with local Irish food and downed the Guinness and many different kinds of beers! 

One of the days we all took a "day tour" by bus to Northern Ireland. Our first stop was Belfast where we got to explore for an hour or so and then we were off to Giants Clauseway! The country side of Ireland/N Ireland is so gorgeous! After some lunch and checking out the sights of Giants Clauseway we made a unexpected stop at Bushmills Distillery!  

All these moments in life... I treasure all the good times that we all had, the true friends I have made while living over here. I wouldn't have had it any other way! I know at times being stationed over seas can be hard but I am so THANKFUL for our military family. You all know who you are, and I love you all so dearly. 

<3

                                Amanda & I having a Guinness at the Factory (a view of Dublin behind us)

                                                                       Belfast, Northern Ireland

                                         A list of all the names of the people who died on the Titanic

                                                                             Guinness Factory

                           The oldest Pub in Ireland:Tony, Adam, Henry, Ben, Steph, Amanda, Me, and Kegan