Where the heck have you been?!

Hey! How’s it going?

We know… it has been MONTHS (five to be exact) since a post has been added to this blog. Frankly, we’re just so freakin’ busy that we’ve neglected this little corner of the interwebs. However, we are going to make a concerted effort to actually post again. With that we introduce the new “what the hell happened to the Haugens last month” format.

Starting with… April!

JoAnna

· Upon coming home from the Cook Islands, Jo was ready to take the plunge and get her first tattoo. She was very brave and has a beautiful piece of art on her shoulder. Learn more about the reason behind the tattoo here (be sure to read all the captions and look at all the pictures).

· Jo continues to write like crazy. She is working on everything from blogs to books (Go to your local book store and pick up the Idiot’s Guide to Barefoot Running, she has a mention in the acknowledgements).

Cory

· Successfully produced his first high school play. Survived.

· Spent a large chunk of April planning Prom. Survival yet to be determined.

Around Vegas

· We went to see the Jabbawockeez perform. I think we were both a bit hesitant about the quality of the show, but were both pleasantly surprised at the showmanship and artistry.

· We also saw V: The Ultimate Variety Show… this one was… not so good.

· Over Spring Break we went out to Primm and spent an evening goofing around on the roller coasters and at the outlet mall. We bought Star Wars pancake molds. So all in all, a total success.

· We also bought a new car! A Barcelona Red (you can’t make these color names up… I swear) 2011 Toyota Rav4… we call it the RavBerry.

Kittens

We had a long succession of foster kitties go in and out of the house in April, so many that I am only going to post the names of the babies and direct you to the Facebook page that Jo runs for the organization through which we foster. And the kitties were:

• Emmy and Jewel
• Benjamin (who was adopted), Sage and Monkey (who is still with us until Thursday).
• Hallie, Oscar (so named because he is a grouch) and Melissa. All three of which are still with us as well.

*Please note that Oscar is the only one we named.

OK… we promise to do better and post about May the first week or so of June.

Welcome back!

Cory

Four days in Curacao

Last June, Jo attended the Travel Blog Exchange conference in New York. While there she won a three night stay at a luxury resort in Willemstad, Curacao. So, over the long Thanksgiving weekend we flew off to Curacao.

The island is still a part of the Netherlands – The Netherland Antilles to be exact – and is inhabited by a combination of Dutch citizens and native Curacaoans. It is a very colorful, albeit small, island.

Our first night, Wednesday night, was an adventure. We arrived after dark and picked up our little rental car. We grew to love our Chevy Spark and called it The Speck.

We quickly realized that the streets on the island are poorly labeled, and what should have been a 25 minute drive from the airport to the hotel took roughly an hour and a half or so. Once we checked in to our first hotel we walked around Willemstad and found a nice little hole in the wall bar to have quick bite.

On our first full day we decided to walk around Willemstad and explore the little town. Unfortunately, we also had a boat load of rain. We spent time walking in and out of little shops, looking at the local market and the local floating market. We also spent time avoiding a downpour by crowding under the tarps that cover the floating market with the local shoppers. When it wasn’t raining, we toodled around town taking pictures of all of the beautiful buildings. We also checked in to our luxury resort and made dinner reservations at a very nice local restaurant.

The resort room was huge; with a bed on an upper level balcony and a bathroom as large as most living rooms.

Friday we went beach hopping but not before going to the Curacao liqueur plant. We were surprised by the smallness of the plant but enjoyed a few free shots of tasty liqueur.

Then we headed to the other side of the island. We started at a cute little local beach where we swam and took in a bit of sun. However, there were no frilly drinks available at the beach bar! So… we packed up and went to the beach that our resort had permission to use. They had frilly drinks! I spent a lot of time looking at all of the gorgeous fish hanging out along the wave breakers for the swim area. Jo read and hung out in the sun. When we got ready to leave the beach we discovered that someone (me) left the lights on in The Speck. Four young men from the landscaping department managed to jumpstart the car using a pair of screwdrivers to make a connection between the two batteries. We had a nice dinner, courtesy of the sales manager of the resort and prepped for the next day’s adventure.

Saturday we headed off to Christoffel National Park on the north side of the island. The park is a lot like our own Red Rocks in that it is a driving loop with hiking trails off of the road.

We took the chance to hike the trail to the top of the highest peak in Curacao. The hike was… well, more of a climb… up steep and jagged rocks. We had a great time but were surprised by the skill required to climb up to the peak. The view was definitely worth it, though. For the second part of the day, we thought we would go to the beach again. However, we did get swamped with rain so our trip to the beach was short lived. We ended our stay on the island by having a simple dinner at an outdoor diner.

Overall, the trip was nice. Curacao is not a place we would have gone without a little prompting – like a free room. Nor do I know that we would suggest it as a destination. While the island was nice, it wasn’t really overly…exciting?

Frilly drinks and sunshine,

Cory

Another Itty Bitty Kitty...

Our last adventure in fostering was completely different than all the other adventures we have had thus far; this time our foster kitty was – almost – full grown.

Sweetie came to us as a very young momma. Basically, she had kittens as soon as she was physically able to do so. Her three week stay with us served two purposes: first, we had to fatten her up. Her litter of kittens really took a toll on her body. Second, we acted as a getaway from her kittens.

Sweetie lived up to her name. She was calm and loving. She and the other animals bonded quickly and well. She fit right in and just felt like a part of the household. It was nice to have an older kitten this time. While we love having babies, Sweetie was a lot easier to work with and fell in to the routines of the house a lot easier. She loved to sleep on the guest bed and take a nap. In fact, she saw the guest room as hers and would often go running into the room if one of the other cats entered.

I think the most entertaining part of having Sweetie stay with us was the fact that it was the first time Jo experienced the joy (?) of a cat in heat. Sweetie was very loving the last few days she was with us.

We don’t have any new kittens at the moment, and won’t be receiving any more until after Thanksgiving… a holiday we will be spending in Curacao.

Sending love from the Caribbean,

Cory

Itty Bitty Kitty Committee #4

It's been a few weeks since we were living with the energetic bunch of Itty Bitty Kitty Committee #4, but we wanted to introduce you to these five (that's right, FIVE) little cutie patooties that called our house home for two weeks anyway.

We weren't exactly up for taking on five kittens at a time, and they offered to split up the litter, but how could we possibly split the litter? So, of course, we took all five. They were an incredibly large bundle of energy that tore through the house and caused mayhem in every sense of the word, but they were so adorable and absolute lovable balls of fur. I'm so glad they got to be part of our family, if only for a couple weeks.

And now, with no further adieu, I present the five members of Itty Bitty Kitty Committee #4:

Adelaide

By far the largest and most boisterous of the bunch, Adelaide was the first to approach us (which was just minutes after opening the kennel). She loved to be pet and would suckle when she was tired or scared. She also loved to play with all the kitten toys that we have, and if one of the other kittens had a toy, she'd often take it away so she could play with it.

In many ways, Adelaide had to be the center of attention. If one of us left the room she was in, she had to leave the room too. If one of the other kittens was being held, she had to be held too. There was never any question about where Adelaide was because she always made her presence known.

Berkeley

Berkeley was, in many ways, the perfect kitten. First of all, she was incredibly cute, with tabby stripes and long, soft fur. Second of all, she was extremely well behaved. She didn't meow for attention or try to be the center of attention. Berkeley was very much an observer, but once she started playing, she had a ridiculous amount of energy. One of her cuter habits was trying to meow, but all that came out was an itty bitty "meh."

We let the kittens sleep in the house a few nights (versus being shut in their room), and Berkeley just curled up on the bed and zonked. When the lights went out, she knew it was time to go to sleep.

We found out a couple days ago that Berkeley was adopted within just a couple hours of being up for adoption. I'm so stoked she has found a forever home!

Harlem

Harlem was incredibly soft and sweet. She loved to play with the other girls and frequently carried the toy mice around in her mouth. In fact, she thought she was quite scary and often growled at her toys as well. This was actually very funny coming from a skinny little two-pound kitten.

Harlem was hysterical when it came to going to sleep at night. While most of the girls would settle down for the night, Harlem went one step further and absolutely zonked out completely. She often slept between Cory and me, and I was afraid I would roll over her. Sometimes I'd wake up and she'd be on my pillow, her little paws flung up over her head. Seriously, this girl could sleep in any position with any sort of obstacle in her way. It was quite impressive.

I'm happy to report that Harlem has been adopted into a forever home already as well.

Juneau

Out of the five girls in Itty Bitty Committee #4, Juneau was the shyest. She didn't hesitate to play or snuggle with the others, but she just wasn't as outgoing as Adelaide or Mojave. That's okay, though, because everyone gets their time for snuggles in our house, especially if they're a bit quieter than the other kittens.

Juneau was definitely more independent than the others in that she would nap while the others were playing or go find somewhere else to hang out, but she also didn't like to be left alone. Like Adelaide, she would suckle when she was tired or scared. What was really cute about Juneau is that, even though she was a bit more aloof than the others, she still definitely had a streak of kitten in her, and, just like Harlem, she would growl at her toy mice.

Mojave

And then there was Mojave. Oh, Mojave. What a funny little kitten. Besides being undeniably cute, she was so pushy that we couldn't help but to love her. She might look small and innocent, but she would loudly and defiantly tell you who's boss. She actually has the ability to meow, chirp and purr at the same time, which is absolutely hysterical.

Mojave was incredibly affectionate and would crawl all over my lap for attention while I was trying to work. She would put her paws on my chest and nudge my chin. Every once in awhile I would scoop her up like a baby and just cradle her against me, and she'd fall right to sleep.

And that's it ... our five little girls who made up Itty Bitty Kitty Committee #4. It's hard to believe they're old enough to be spayed and adopted out already. *sigh*

Twenty Feet and Too Many Toes to Count ~
Jo

Jo Travels the World

Hello World ~

I'm still alive. I know, hard to believe, but I've been busy tripping around the globe. It's not a good excuse, but when you consider that I've been pushing two blog posts a week live over at Kaleidoscopic Wandering and am still juggling a ton of writing assignments, maybe you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

If that doesn't work, I still have some chocolate in my refrigerator from Switzerland.

So where have I been?

I should back up briefly to our pre-Arizona road trip, when I made my first trip to New York City for a travel blogging conference. The conference was decent - I picked up a few good tips and met a lot of people that I've only ever corresponded with through social media and email. I even won a trip to Curacao (which Cory and I are going to take advantage of over the Thanksgiving holidays)!

But one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was actually exploring the city a bit. I'm not going to mince words: New York City is overwhelming. But it was fascinating and interesting, and relatively self-explanatory to get around once I figured out how the commuter trains worked. I went to the top of Rockefeller Center, explored Times Square at night, ate some wicked food, stayed in a hotel that was designed after a ship and caught up with a friend of mine from Burning Man who lives in Brooklyn.

A few pictures from my trip to New York City:



(Seriously, what's with all these people? Yeesh.)

Home from NYC, Cory and I hit the road for northern Arizona, which he wrote about a few months back. Within days of getting home from our road trip, I was boarding a plane for Jamaica.

My trip to Jamaica was a blogging trip, and it was comped by the Jamaican Tourism Board. I stayed at the lovely Secrets Wild Orchid property in Montego Bay, Jamaica, which is adults-only and all-inclusive, so I could enjoy my frothy Bob Marley drink without any kids underfoot. Yep, kind of a little piece of heaven. I spent some time on the beach and indulging in delicious meals, but we also got out and did a few things on the island as well.

Anyone who goes to Jamaica has to check out Dunn's River Falls, a series of several waterfalls that people can walk up. So. Much. Fun.

Another one of the highlights of the trip to Jamaica was the opportunity to go dog sledding. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Remember, though, that this is the country that had a surprise bobsled team in the Olympics. Although the actual dog sledding part was a lot of fun, the part of the visit to the tour company that I most enjoyed was learning that the dogs trained to be on the dog sledding team are actually rescues from the local pound. How fantastic is that?

Here are a few of my money shots from Jamaica:





Shortly after arriving home from Jamaica, my sister flew into Las Vegas, and Cory, she and I drove to San Diego for a long weekend. Rebecca was there for a conference, but she still had lots of time to enjoy some of the city. Cory and I took full advantage of our time in San Diego. We hung out on the boardwalk, saw dolphins swimming off of the coast, visited Hotel del Coronado, explored Balboa Park and stopped at Cabrillo National Monument on the coast. Again, we indulged in tons of delicious food (especially one night, when we splurged at an awesome Indian restaurant).

We stayed downtown in the Gaslamp District, which was equivalent to party central every single night. The owners of the William Penn Hotel were gracious enough to grant me a comped stay at their hotel, which was right in the middle of the Gaslamp District, which meant that we were within easy walking distance to restaurants, clubs, shops and even the convention hall where Rebecca's conference was.

Good times.

A few photos to commemorate our time in San Diego:






We'd just dropped Rebecca off at the airport when I hopped on an airplane myself, this time for St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the #BloggersParadise that is sponsored by Marriott Resorts. There were nine bloggers spread out over the Caribbean, and I got to go to USVI. For this trip I stayed at Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star, which was a nice but unpretentious hotel that was out on a peninsula of sorts on St. Thomas, so it was surrounded on three sides by water.

The highlight of that trip was a day trip I spent on St. John, which can be reached by a 15-minute boat ride. Rebecca and I did this when we were in the Virgin Islands for our cruise earlier this year. This time, though, we had the whole day, so I got to see more of the island and go snorkeling at a beautiful beach (where I received my worst sunburn of the summer ... I still have the lines to prove it). I love Virgin Islands National Park. If you ever have a chance to check it out, do it!

Some pictures from my trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands:




As was the routine of my summer, I got home from the Virgin Islands and barely had time to say hello to Cory and the animals before I hopped on a flight to Vietnam. This is the trip that I won way back in January through a travel writing contest. It was a 2-week, almost all-expenses paid, luxury tour just for me, so I wasn't there for work per se, but I did pick up some great article ideas anyway.

I started my two weeks in Hanoi, where I stayed in the backpacker district for one night before moving to a hotel on the other side of the lake. My immediate impressions were regarding the incredible amount of traffic and the lack of English that people spoke. But I felt safe walking around the city and checking out the temples. It's an extremely cheap country to visit, which makes it easy to travel in.

From there, I went to Halong Bay, where I spent two nights on a junk and got to go sea kayaking. We had a bit of rain, but it didn't spoil the fun. After that, I went back to Hanoi and caught a flight to Nha Trang, which is the water sports and backpacker capital of Vietnam. I booked a tour to go snorkeling one day (which was actually a bit chilly, so I'm glad I had a wet suit), but if I were to go back, I would skip Nha Trang and spend a few days hiking in Sa Pa, located in the northern part of the country on the border of China instead.

After Nha Trang, I made my way to Hoi An, which, for me, was the highlight of my trip. Hoi An was a lot smaller - only about half a dozen streets - so it felt a lot more manageable. Hoi An is known as both the food and clothing capital of Vietnam, so I took a cooking class and had some clothes made! Seriously, though, the food in Hoi An is to die for! I think I could live on the spring rolls and white roses in this city. Definitely on the list of places to revisit.

My final stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, which was like Hanoi on steroids. The traffic was INSANE! But I did visit a fun market where I bought Vietnamese candy to share with my neighbors. I also spent some time at the War Remnants Museum, which was truly eye opening. On my last day in Vietnam, I took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, which is where people lived underground during the Vietnam/American War. I even got to squeeze through one myself, which was sort of terrifying.

I took more than a thousand photos in Vietnam, so choosing just a few to post is hard, but here they are anyway:






Once again, I made it home from Vietnam, just to turn around and head for Switzerland for a press trip sponsored by the Switzerland Tourism Board. As much as I've enjoyed every trip I've taken to Europe (which isn't very many), I find it to be incredibly expensive, so it was pretty nice to enjoy Switzerland for a week without having to foot the bill. Two quick observations about Switzerland: It is exceptionally clean and people really care about their country.

We spent our time in two distinct parts of the country: Appenzell and the Lake Geneva region.

Appenzell was absolutely fantastic. It really is the stereotypical Switzerland that people talk about, with men in leiderhosen and cows with large brass bells. I borrowed a bike from the hotel early one morning and rode through the hills around the Alps, and it was absolutely still and stunning, except for the hollow ring of cowbells in the distance.

In Appenzell, I got to do a lot of local, traditional stuff. I learned how to yodel and made a Swiss pastry called bieber. I also learned about leather craft and did some hiking. Truly a beautiful part of the country. I would go back in a heartbeat.

To get to Lake Geneva, we had to take the Swiss Rail System, which is super efficient and an awesome way to travel. I can't wait to go back and take advantage of it again.

The areas we visited near Lake Geneva were busier and more built up but had that old-world-meets-modernity feel. We drank a lot of wine and ate a lot of cheese. I gained four pounds in one week. No joke.

The thing I liked best about this part of the trip was the afternoon that I spent at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, where I got to check out Olympic memorabilia, touch an Olympic medal and learn more about the history and culture of the Olympics. I spent hours at the museum ... it was absolutely fascinating.

Again, I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites:







And so now I'm home and have been for the past month or so. I'm starting to get a bit of the travel itch again, but I'm keeping it in check. I know that our trip to Curacao really isn't that far away, so it helps to see that on the otherwise blank calendar.

Around the world and back again ~
Jo

Itty Bitty Kitty Committee part 3

Our third set of kittens was only with us for two weeks. These little ones needed to get acclimated to living in a house and needed to fatten up so they made the weight required before they could be fixed.

These three came to us already named.

Adam was the biggest of the three and the bully of the group. We really had to watch him when it was feeding time because he would push the other two away from the food dish. Any other time he was a purr machine. You could just look at him and he would purr. He also squeaked when he ran. It was like throwing a squeaky toy down a hall… squeak…squeak…squeak.

Keenan was the smallest of the three. He too was a purr machine. He spent a lot of time on JoAnna’s lap helping her work. He was also the most vocal. He would walk up and squeak at me or Jo for no reason. He also slept on Bianca's bed right next to her.

Isabella (Izzy) was our shy little girl. She only came out for petting if she was jealous of the attention the boys were receiving. Izzy was a unique little girl in that she had extra toes on each foot. There were a few times when she actually got her toes caught on each other and ended up hopping around until one of us fixed it for her.

All three were cute in their own way and we definitely would have like to have them a bit longer but we did fatten them up and get them ready for new homes.

More toes = more love.

-Cory