As I previously mentioned, Warsaw, Indiana is a gem of a town and I truly loved living there. So, please, if you’re anywhere near northern Indiana in the future, consider visiting this cute town and the surrounding areas.

I realized this is my third cross country move. Each time has been very different, especially as the years go on and we get in bigger places, our stuff just seems to expand.

Here’s some things to keep in mind when moving, and action items post-move to make you feel more at home sooner.

I've been to Las Vegas. Quite a few times. The land where... there's gambling? Hangovers? Also known as "Sin City"? Despite the reasons why I would avoid Las Vegas, I was pretty determined to make my Vegas experience everything good, sober and without gambling. And I have a fun and memorable time every time. ;)

Thus, The Sober Guide to Las Vegas*:

• The "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign
• The Neon Museum (day and night tours available)
• The Mob Museum
• Walking through the hotels including the Bellagio (just look at the air-blown glass ceiling and be amazed) and Caesar's Palace
• Dancing fountains at the Bellagio
• Roller coaster at New York, New York
• Rides at the Stratosphere
• M&M Store
• Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity 
• In-N-Out
• CSI Experience
• Zombie Apocalypse Store
• Fremont Street Experience

Bonus (places that are more of a drive):

• The Hoover Dam
• Lion Habitat Ranch
• Valley of Fire State Park

*This is a list I'll continue to add onto. I mean, the shows in Las Vegas alone some people travel to see specifically (Beatles Love show is definitely on my list...and Blue Man Group). We also tried to go to the aquarium one visit but the line was too long, among other places — including food. Food is everywhere. Just watch out for the price of everything. It seems exponentially greater in Las Vegas.

Read more for further information and photos about my experiences in Vegas...

When April was here #waybackwhen (specifically November), I wanted to go on a day trip somewhere else aside from Nashville or the immediate surrounding area. Researching various options (including other nearby states), and asking others who are from here, Chattanooga was the chosen city considering it was nearly everyone's first recommendation.

We initially had the idea to set out super early, had even bought tickets to ride the Southern Belle Riverboat cruise at 12:15pm. But sometimes not everything goes as planned. 

The night before, I got a flat tire. So the next morning — the one where we were supposed to head out super early — we had to go to the tire shop instead. We got breakfast after, thinking we had a lot of time, and left around 11am. After realizing we might just barely make it, we called the Riverboat company at about 11:30am asking what would happen if we were five minutes late, to be informed that the boat had left 15 minutes ago. We were so confused until we realized that Chattanooga is one hour ahead of Nashville. 

We had literally missed the boat.

I was able to get a gift certificate for the money I spent so I could go back later. I'll be sure to share the actual experience. But in case you want to go now then I recommend you get a Groupon.

Here's what we actually did instead:

1. Lunch at Good Dog and dancing on the sidewalk ;)
2. The Incline Railway
3. Clumpie's Ice Cream (made from local ingredients)
4. Drive through Lookout Mountain en route to Rock City
5. Side trip to Georgia look out and a fairytale village
6. Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge — awesome at sunset
7. Carousel Ride at Coolidge Park
8. Took night pictures at the Polka Dot Wall — exact location hard to determine. By Broad and Main St, near The Feed restaurant.
9. Dinner at Sugar's

With additional time, we could have explored:

• Tennessee Aquarium — world’s largest freshwater aquarium
• River Gorge Explorer
• Raccoon Mountain Caverns
• A show at Track 29
• Some more districts of downtown Chattanooga —see a breakdown here.

For all pictures and trip details/experience, read on...

Two weeks ago last night, April flew in to Nashville. I was BEYOND thrilled. The reality didn't even really hit me until I had blown up the air mattress and got ready to go pick her up. 

We went straight to Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (because I swear that's the best ice cream ever in my life so far (gelato is it's own category)) and then hit up The 5 Spot for their Monday night throwback dancing — making the oldie's good again.

Since she had just come from visiting her sister in Montana, I figured it was better to ease her into the Nashville city life. Instead of going straight into the tourist Nashville, we focused on a few key Nashville aspects before spending most of the day in Franklin.

The itinerary included:

• Breakfast at The Pancake Pantry
• Pictures with art walls nearby (like the one above)
• Carnton Plantation
• Lotz House
• Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge which also included a drive through some of Natchez Trace Parkway
• Dinner at The Loveless Cafe
• Music at The Bluebird Cafe

CLICK THROUGH TO SEE PICTURES & DETAILS