Tag: Nature

Weekend Getaway
Life · Travel

Weekend Getaway

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment
I say cheese and this is how she responds.

Everyone must have some place they immediately gravitate towards. For some it may be beaches, and don’t get me wrong I love beaches too and I love relaxing in the sun, but that darn sand getting everywhere makes it so hard to want to go often. For the Ciui(Pronounced Chewy) House our go to will probably always be mountains.

What is your go-to vacation spot?

We just love the mountains. We love camping (tents) and we love cabins. Granted, I probably enjoy cabins a lot more than I enjoy tents but you really can’t beat being surrounded by nature and the spectacular view.

Happy Birthday!

We had a weekend getaway this weekend. I wasn’t able to take more than one day off from work but thanks to Airbnb we were able to turn our 3-day weekend into a 3rd birthday getaway for Emily.

To be honest, the weekend totally snuck up on me and I was NOT prepared. The week has been a rush of laundry, packing, and I didn’t even have a chance to think about what we would do in our little cabin. Then found out that forecast showed thunderstorms so that also put a crimp in out plans.

Mouse Trap! Fun for all ages.

But with 2 small kiddos it’s not about trying to cram in all the things you can do in one short weekend, it’s more about doing things the whole family can enjoy. Like visiting nearby farm, or having fun with bubbles or just having a family game night and hanging out playing board games, Mouse Trap is the current favorite. Honestly, I’ve learned not the stress the big things with these kids. I might like to show them new experiences and go and see new things and we still do those things. But they are also perfectly happy relaxing and hanging out in the “cute tiny cabin” as they call it. Of course the birthday cake and presents helped.

Bubbles!

Overall, I think the weekend getaway was needed by all four of us. Having fun at the Darnell farm, spending time together while not being stuck in the house that we’re in every minute of every day was needed. Taking a break from the monotony of our usual routine has been both literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air.

Cades Cove Camping
Photography · Travel

Cades Cove Camping

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Had the awesome opportunity of going camping with my husband’s family this year. It’s an annual tradition on their part but this was my first time attending. It certainly was an experience, I don’t think I’ve been camping since I was about 5 or 6 years old.

But I enjoyed it. Huge family gathering in the mountains, no cell service, no internet, if you needed to make a phone call you had to drive down to the ranger station to use their phone. It was a completely tech free  vacation… except for my camera.

To be honest, I was a little worried about sleeping in a tent. Mainly I was worried about falling off the inflatable mattress! But I was glad we weren’t sleeping on the ground, it was freezing at night. One thing I was not expecting, were the pretty frequent visits from Black Bears. They generally skirted the edges of the camp ground but always managed to slip away before I had a chance to capture them on camera, only picture I got below is pretty blurry but managed to see this bear cub as well.

Of course seeing a couple of bears right outside your tent door so to speak (it was really probably 200 feet away) made it even harder to sleep at night.

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But anyways. Other than the wildlife and cold, the trip was over all very fun, I can’t wait to go again next year. We had fun in the streams, checked out the nearby historic sites, and just overall had fun. I also caught up on some reading. I will admit, this was a much needed, reprieve from the harsh realities of life. Didn’t have to talk to anyone on the phone or have customers yelling at me for trivial things. I wish I could do this once a month.

 

Hello 2017
Photography · Travel

Hello 2017

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

The new year has gotten off to a VERY BUSY start. Work and life have been preventing me from doing a lot. There has just been so much to do. But I’m starting to get that balance back. Have started drawing more and reading again. Still taking pictures even though I don’t have quite as much time as I hoped I would.

I’m working on starting my photography business. I’d like to start using this to make some additional income on the side. I’m building my profile up currently but I’ll get that started soon. I think everyone should work towards their dreams and goals.

2017

Is definitely going to be a great year. After all, I have my wonderful husband to spend it with. And one thing we’ve decided this year is to get out and have fun. For my birthday we went to visit West Virginia, somewhere neither of us has visited. It was definitely a lot of fun, a nice little getaway.

We have another trip planned in two weeks for Joshua’s birthday. Another weekend trip up in the mountains. Should prove promising for some great pictures. Not going to say where we are going, though. You will have to wait until my next post. Sorry being away for so long. I promise I will try my hardest to post more pictures and more often.