Southern Cali is Bloomin'

It was an unusually rainy winter this year in Southern California which has resulted in a rare “Super Bloom” of wild flowers in the desert areas. One of the largest areas of California’s state flower the California Poppy bloomed beautifully over a mountainside near our home in Lake Elsinore covering the hills with an ocean of orange. Thousands of people, news crews, and professional photographers are trekking out to our area to snap photos of the rare wild flowers. While my Mom visited a few weeks back, we too went out to get a few photos since we keep hearing how rare this is.

My takeaway from the experience?

ABSOLUTELY crazy. Thousands of people sit in traffic, to trek up a mountainside, to look at an orange flower. While we were there someone was arrested for stepping on the flowers because they couldn’t resist the urge to get the perfect Instagram photo by laying in the flowers. They have park rangers present to keep people on specific trails and if you get remotely close to the flowers they give you a stern warning to get away. They purposely have the public area gated therefore, technically you are trespassing allowing them to make arrests if you step on or pick the flowers. I had envisioned getting photos of Audrey frolicking in the flowers like Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music; but the flower police crushed my dreams and I was able to get her eating dirt instead. At least she has the photos to look back on, my Mom has the memory of climbing through a fence, trekking up a dirt path, and battling hundreds of people for these photos, and we had the opportunity to relish in God’s beautiful nature (until we were elbowed by an IG model trying to get the perfect lighting).

Happy’ish Valentine's Day

It’s been 22 Valentine’s Day holidays that have been spent without my dad. Losing someone on a holiday is an anomaly because once the initial grief and mourning have passed, life inevitably continues, and when the holiday rolls around you struggle with celebration or remembrance.

For years I didn’t acknowledge Valentine’s Day, I felt like it was a day that I couldn’t celebrate or it would be offensive to my father’s memory. After having Audrey, I decided that I wasn’t going to carry that on to her. Although it has been 22 years, when the anniversary of his death comes up, it’s always melancholic. But I’m determined to lose the sadness and manifest it into a day (albeit commercialized) to celebrate love and memories. Audrey deserves all the bells and whistles that comes with the commercialized holiday. Children have a beautiful innocence that transforms even the hardest days.

This year, I celebrated a day early with Audrey by taking her to a Sweetheart Party at Gymboree. She made adorable Valentine’s crafts for her Daddy and got dressed up in a cute red dress. I bought her a few Valentine’s day books and have been explaining to her that Valentine’s Day is about love and how much we love her. I am determined for our little family to make new traditions and celebrate any and every holiday we can. My celebration doesn’t mean that I no longer mourn my dad’s passing or wish that he was here to celebrate with us; it means life has evolved and so have I. I’ve grown to know that I don’t need to call off work, lay in bed, and look through old pictures crying. I don’t need to watch the clock for 3:00 to roll around, and relive the memory from the dreaded phone call we received. I don’t need to avoid being out on Valentine’s day and ugly crying at all the happiness around me. I can be grateful and happy for the gorgeous daughter I have, the baby I am currently carrying, and the most loving and devoted husband I could ask for. We can celebrate our family, our love, my dad’s memory, and the cheesy heart shaped cupcakes and candies we eat all at the same time. Wishing you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

The Baby Is A...

BOY!!!!

We couldn’t wait for our anatomy ultrasound so decided to be hipsters and went to a “boutique” ultrasound studio to learn the gender of the baby. They put the gender in an envelope because learning there wasn’t hipster enough. We had hopes of waiting a bit before ripping open the envelope but couldn’t wait and I convinced Jamari to open it that night. We learned we were having a boy and I cried with happiness, Jamari smiled and said he was “relieved”.

We shared with our families the next day. I made a batch of cupcakes with a blue middle but pink and blue icing to keep the extra-ness rolling. I sent my Mom a video of myself biting the cupcake to reveal BOY. We shared the cupcakes with Jamari’s family who came to visit for a lunch. We had to do the gender reveal photos for social media a few days later.

We are thrilled for a boy this time! Our family is complete now and this WILL be the last baby. I wrote it down and published it on the internet so it has to be true. We now have a little girl, little boy, a useless dog, while living in the suburbs of So. Cal; it’s the American dream.

We Had a Little (BIG) Secret!

I learned I was pregnant with Audrey on my 30th birthday, so the ongoing joke is that Jamari gave me a baby for my 30th. I guess he gave me a baby for my 32nd too? Yep! The Roland’s are expanding and will now be a party of 4, we are expecting another baby in July 2019!

We learned we were pregnant in early December but have anxiously been waiting out our first trimester to announce to the world, although if you have seen me in the last 4/5 weeks you realized I was pregnant or are concerned about my burrito consumption. A huge part of my absence from blogging was because I was couch bound during the first weeks of pregnancy. The first trimester hit me like a ton of bricks and I had no energy to come up with thoughtful content.

I shared the news with Jamari the day I tested, after he had spent 15 hours at work, over jambalaya, and written on a letter board in our kitchen…magical. We were able to share the news with my Mom the next day when she flew in for a visit and we shared the news with Jamari’s family on Christmas with an adorable shirt my talented friend, Chelsi made me that declared, “Merry Christmas, also I’m pregnant”.

We are thrilled to be expecting again and can’t wait to learn the gender. This pregnancy is completely different than with Audrey. For starters, I am in America this time. That equates to a lot of pregnancy cravings that can actually be met. (Thank you Jesus for Chik-Fil-A drive thru and Mexican food). I also have a 16 month old who has no idea what is going on and doesn’t slow down for anything. She has become really good at mimicking my morning sickness and walks around fake vomiting in garbage cans though. I’m also not spending hours Googling what is happening, what if’s, and what to expect. I feel more confident in myself and my body this time around.

I look forward to sharing our pregnancy journey.

While We've Been Gone...

We’ve been MIA for awhile; 8.5 weeks to be exact, but who is counting? I thought a recap of our recent 2.5 months would be better than individual posts. Keep reading, you’ll read about the plague that struck our house, Disney on Ice, and Christmas at the Roland Ranch.

Our New Roommate

We had a new roommate living in our home during November/December; a nasty, offensive, stage five clinger, lingering virus. Jamari is affectionately calling me “patient zero” because I may have been the first one to have symptoms. We all took trips to the doctor at various times, took antibiotics at multiple times, can successfully review every single OTC cold medication if asked, and have over a dozen bottles of hand sanitizer strategically placed around the house. We kindly evicted our roommate shortly before Christmas and won’t be sad if we never see each other again.

Thanksgiving

I blinked and it was over. I can’t even remember Thanksgiving under the haze of medication we were all on from our nasty virus. I do remember feeling like life wasn’t fair because I couldn’t even taste the food, which is what Thanksgiving is all about. We went to Jamari’s grandparent’s house to celebrate which was glorious because that meant no cooking or cleaning. I managed to take a single picture that day…and here it is.

My Mom Came to Visit

Grammy (My Mom) came to visit the first week of December and that is always my favorite! Although we talk at least a dozen times a day (FB, phone, text, video chat) having her under the same roof is so comforting. It was especially awesome that she was here during the thick of our illness and was able to nurse us ALL back to health. We didn’t leave the house much since we were all under the weather but lounging on the couch, watching Christmas movies, and playing with Audrey is the perfect trip to her.

Disney on Ice

We ventured to our first official “kids” event with Audrey, which was Disney on Ice. We weren’t sure if we were setting ourselves up for failure or if this would be an enjoyable experience, so we bought tickets with seats close to an exit and higher up so no one would hear the screams if she started showing her true colors. Nana, (Jamari’s Mom) came with us for moral support, extra hands, and the show. We were all surprised how much everyone enjoyed the show. We agreed we would go back next year and buy tickets closer to the ice so we can see the skaters without zooming in on our phones. Audrey did great! She danced her way through the songs she knew and ate her chicken tenders through the ones that she never heard before. It was really fun to have that experience with her because I can remember going to Disney on Ice with my Mom and it being a special memory. While we live in the States, I plan to make as many “normal” childhood memories for her as I can create.

My Birthday

I’m 32. Enough said.

Christmas

Jamari is equivalent to Clark Griswold in, “A Christmas Vacation” when it comes to holiday decorations. The day after Thanksgiving, the tree goes up, the garlands come out, and the wreath goes on the door. Are there ever enough lights? NO! Not to Jamari. Although, this year between being sick and our first attempt at the lights not “being bright enough” we never put up outdoor lights. (You’re welcome neighbors.) Christmas is becoming increasingly fun as Audrey gets older. Sure, it’s a challenge to have any form of decoration in the house because toddlers are savages, but watching her eyes light up each night when we put on the Christmas tree was special. We dressed in obligatory matching family jammies for Christmas morning and opened gifts. My Mom sent tons of presents for Audrey and we Face-timed her so she could watch Audrey’s excitement. Jamari and I hosted Christmas dinner at our home and had a great spread of food and desserts. Audrey received so many gifts she didn’t know what to do with herself and every single one HAD to be opened the second she ripped the paper off.

Note to self: space out gifts next year to avoid major meltdowns and have toys already assembled with batteries.

We have had a busy few weeks and LOT of quality family time. Tomorrow we hop back into our routine of Jamari going to work and Audrey and I doing hood-rat stuff that stay at home mom’s do during the day. Don’t worry friends, my New Years resolution is to continue blogging so you never have to wonder what we are doing.

5 Tips to Travel on a Budget

We love to travel, but that means we need to do it budget friendly in order to keep our wanderlust habit in full effect. Sure, we could drop a few mortgage payments on a once in a lifetime trip, but then we will be living in our Jeep and that is a tight squeeze with Audrey, and Kingston. While we have been known to splurge (coughKabulcashcough) here are a few of our favorite trip tips to keep costs down.

Booking your Flight

• There are dozens of internet sites you can search to find and buy flights but I have a few favorites that have always been successful. I read once that flights are cheaper to buy on a Tuesday and that always sticks with me when I am searching for flights.

• Do your research. I use the Hopper app on my phone for flights I take frequently (LAX to EWR) it tells me when flight prices dip so I can ‘hop’ on over and buy a ticket.

• Skyscanner, Google Flights, and Kayak are my favorite sites to buy from. I have heard horror stories from people getting booted from flights using all of the above because they are considered “discounted” tickets, but I haven’t had any issues and quite frankly I am too cheap to buy a ticket from the airline.

• Price out a one way ticket, then price a round trip. Sometimes booking two separate flights is cheaper. Layovers are cheaper as well, but I always try to avoid stopping if at all possible.

• Red eye flights (overnight flights) are your bestie (unless you are traveling with Audrey, then they are your enemy).

  Pack in a Carry-On

• You don’t need to pack as many clothes as you think you do. Think of your last trip. Did you return home with at least three outfits you didn’t wear? Everyone does, so learn to pack less.

• Baggage fees are ridiculous, avoid them by packing a carry-on.

• You don’t have to worry about losing your luggage or something being stolen if it is with you the entire time

• Buy essentials at your destination. You don’t need to lug around shampoo, soap, and lotion. Most likely it will be free at your lodging and if it isn’t then buy it upon arrival.

• After flying for 10 hours the last thing you want to do is stand at the baggage carousel and wait for your luggage, am I right? Skip that step and wave to all the over-packers as your skip out the door and into your Uber.

  Stay in Airbnb

  Now hear me out on this one. We love five star hotels with all the amenities, if they deliver a fruity drink to me poolside that is even better but, economically it doesn’t always make sense. We’ve learned that Airbnb is a great site to use for lodging in places that hotels cost an arm and a leg. Europe is a fantastic place to utilize Airbnb. You can book an entire apartment, get a feel of how the locals live, and often have use of a washer/dryer and kitchen. They also come in handy if you are traveling with kiddos, more space and privacy. If you are going to a destination to explore more than relax then staying in an Airbnb might be up your alley. If you are going to a beachy destination, sans children, and plan to eat and drink your problems away then go the all inclusive route.

  Eat Local

• Pet peeve #47 of mine is when people travel and eat at chain restaurants. I bet they are the same people who microwave chicken nuggets instead of putting them in the oven. You didn’t travel to eat the same combo meal you order from Chik-Fil-A at home.

• Local food is normally cheaper and tastes so much better.

• You can’t beat the authenticity. Pad Thai in Thailand is magical. Ribs in Nashville are divine. Falafel in Jerusalem, yes please! If you scrimped and saved to get to your destination, why would you want to eat the palate of back home?

• Yelp works pretty much everywhere so check reviews and get feel for where the locals go.

• Check out local markets and street food. You can grab lunch on the go to maximize your time and dime.

Prioritize What You Do

• After picking your destination start researching on what that particular destination has to offer. What are your top 3-4 things you want to do there? Check out TripAdvisor for unbiased reviews.

• Check local Facebook/ Instagram pages for coupons and discounts

• Weekday prices are cheaper and less crowded than the weekend. Pick your number 1 attraction and try to go there during the week when it will be cheaper.

• We love Lonely Planet books which often give walking tours of the city you’re visiting. Put on your walking shoes and get out and explore!

• Many large cities offer hop on hop off buses, which are a great way to navigate a city at a low cost.

• Convert money to local currency at the airport upon arrival. We normally hit an ATM in the airport and get out cash. Chances are things will be cheaper if you use cash and use local currency.

The Roland's Rocked Halloween

Around here, we are dedicated about Halloween. No. Correction: Around here, Jamari is dedicated about Halloween. That means everyone gets into costume and the costumes can’t be half-assed. I have always HATED dressing up, hated trick or treating, and hated the hassle of Halloween (even as a child), but Jamari is 100% all in; so I play along. Even before we were married, Jamari’s costumes were elaborate, so I knew once Audrey came along we would have some killer family costumes.

This was the first Halloween that we dressed up with Audrey since Jamari was overseas last Halloween. That means we had multiple costumes to make up for missed time.

We threw around some theme ideas. Since Audrey loves Moana we thought that was a no brainer, but Jamari kept saying I could be Hei-Hei and I vetoed that. After disagreeing on every single idea (who knew Halloween costumes were harder than baby names) I gave in and gave him full reign which fully explains why we were superheros and Star Wars characters.

We had a blast dressing up, so much so that we even went to an adults only (woo-hoo) costume party as Hulk and Superwoman. We attended a 1st birthday costume party, a Halloween party, two Gymboree dress-ups, trunk or treat, and trick or treat with Audrey. It was more fun than I thought it was going to be. Audrey could have cared less and really had no idea what was going on but loved her costumes. She even scored some liquor candies during trick or treat for Mama (who gives these out to kids?!)

Now it’s time to put away the pumpkin spice candles and pull out the peppermint. Onto Christmas time where Jamari turns into Clark Griswold and our house can be seen from outer space.

NYC Trip in a Nutshell

When Jamari received an assignment in NYC for a week, Audrey and I quickly volunteered to tag along. What could go wrong? A 5.5 hour flight cross country, staying in a hotel full of D.S. agents working round the clock shifts, a hotel room the size of my walk in closet, and the sights and smells of the Big City…sounds like a challenge to me! I knew Jamari would be working the entire time, so this was more of a vacation for just Audrey and I and I was pumped about showing her around, although I am fully aware she won’t remember a single thing. We did a lot of walking and less actual destinations. Taking a one year old to museums and roof top bars isn't exactly ideal, so we opted for more of a walking tour kind of trip.

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Central Park- One of my favorite places. You still get the sounds of the big city, but the views and tranquility of the park is special. Audi and I trekked around the perimeter of the park, stopping for photos, meeting other Moms, and seeing all the main sights. It allowed her time to get out of the stroller while I could leisurely sip on my pumpkin spiced latte. There is an awesome zoo at the park but for the $20 ticket price and lack of interest on her part we skipped it this time. Who needs a zoo when you can count bird lady's, pigeons, selfie sticks, and nanny's for the rich and famous. The whole park is a zoo!

Times Square- If I never went back to Times Square again I'd be happy but I really wanted a pic of Audrey there. So I schlepped to 42nd and got my obigatory photo amongst every other tourist. This area is great for the photo (specifically at night), but snap your pic and get out! Everything here is overpriced and packed with tourists aimlessly blocking sidewalks trying to figure out where to go next, or holding phones up for selfies. Avoid the elbows and get out as soon as you get your pic. Honestly, most stores that you find here have another location elsewhere in the city that is less crowded. And I promise you that you can find superior food just blocks outside of this tourist trap.

Bryant Park- A beautiful, small park, with a European vibe. The day we came here was after a torrential rainstorm so the grassy lawn was closed for mud but it didn't take away from our fun. We watched a few table tennis tournaments  We hopped on the carousel for $3 a ride. At different times of the year Bryant Park hosts various vendors selling cute boutique items. It turns into a Christmas Market late November-Christmas and is a must see if you're around the area.

Visiting Friends- Being from New Jersey means most of my friends are in the tri-state area. But, most of my friends have careers and aren't able to visit according to Audrey's nap schedule. We did however sneak in a few lunches with friends. I regretfully didn't see everyone I planned to, but that just means I need to plan another trip.

Food…oh the food- I ate my way through the city and defended the calories with the amount of walking I was doing. You name it, NYC has it and everyone can be happy; vegans, vegetarian, halal, carnivore, gluten free, every other speciality diet NYC will have a restaurant for you! I would pop in and out of restaurants as I was out exploring and order something easy to walk with or eat at a park. Most entertaining meal was stopping for lunch at The Original Soupman (Soup Nazi from Seinfeld) who jokes around with Audrey saying, "no soup for you". If you leave NYC and you had nothing satisfying to eat...you must've been on Staten Island 😂.

My favorites: 

• The Original Soupman

• Zoralies

• Juniors (cheesecake) 

• The Halal Guys

Walking- I walked so much and so far that I had to stop to buy sneakers because my Tom's weren't cutting it. NYC is such a walkable city it is nearly impossible to not go out an explore. No matter how many times I am there I find new things by way of walking. I wore Audrey in her carrier the first day and decided I had more seniority on the pavement if I had the stroller. She was such a trooper, for hours each day I'd strap her in and head out with no destination in mind.

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NYC was a success. It's a special place to me and feels closer to home whenever I visit, it was definitely a different kind of NYC trip than I was used to having Audrey in tow, but still fun. Until next year's UNGA... 

Calm down Moms, I only had her forward facing for the photo since it was our first family cab ride.

Five Fast Facts

Learn about us with five quick facts.

Maureen-

• Can use ASL conversationally

• Addicted to essential oils and can find a cure for anything with them

• Terrified of clowns

• Guilty pleasures include iced pumpkin spice lattes, leisurely walking around Target, and hours of The Golden Girls re-runs

• 90% of her clothes are “work-out” apparel…but she doesn’t work out.

Jamari-

• Has been to 33 countries and has 3 passports

• Served in the US Army

• Goes to the gym 7 days a week

• Has lived in California, Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York, Afghanistan, and Jersusalem

• Enjoys karaoke (and is actually really good)

Audrey-

• Loves Gymboree class

• Born Aug 21, 2017

• Uses ASL to communicate

• Favorite food is fruit

• Has been on 9 flights