The dress. The beautiful gown the bride will be wearing the first time she see’s her groom. The gorgeous options of silk, taffeta, lace, tulle, etc. that little girls dream of dressing up in one day. It’s an important detail to the wedding day and I personally think a special rite of passage getting to try on all the gowns and step into that bridal role. And I’ve been wanting to share my personal experience and a few tips, especially because we gave ourselves a unique situation by choosing to plan our wedding in just about 15 weeks! Ah! So if you’re worried about getting your dress in time, I hope some of my tips at the end will have you covered. But First…

The First Gowns…

The first moment I tried on dresses was the day after we got engaged! Woo! No wasting time over here. It was a last minute …

Last June, we took one incredible adventure together. Iceland was like none other, and perhaps you’ve seen my past few blog posts of those adventures, but one of my favorite memories is this video that Taylor made to always re-live this epic adventure. I thought it would be fun to share with all of you, I hope you enjoy!

{Click Photo for Video}

                                                                        IcelandVideo

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“He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”  Ephesians 3:20

{Photos by Taylor Leopold}

Wow. Another year is coming to an end, and what a beautiful year it was. As I find myself reflecting over this past year, I can’t help but look forward to 2017 and celebrate the possibilities and mystery of what is to come.

Before I look forward, I just want to take a moment to share a bit of reflection of 2016. As January 2016 rolled in I found myself in surrender to God’s ways more than ever before. Perhaps some of you have read my “My Epic Love Story” blog post before, which may give you a bit of insight to the state of my heart at the beginning of 2016. (If you haven’t read it, I recommend reading it after you read my words to come.) Just like …

Into the Blue…

{Photo by Taylor Leopold}

The Blue Lagoon. The MUST stop in Iceland.

When planning our trip to Iceland I KNEW that somehow we would need to fit in a stop to this geothermal spa. We considered making the stop at the Blue Lagoon as soon as we got off our flights to Iceland, as the airport is near, and it would be a nice way to begin a trip— but a friend that had been before had suggested maybe finishing our time in Iceland with our stop at this famous spa and Icelandic Landmark. So that’s exactly what we did, it was perfect!

After several days of driving and seeing the breathtaking sites of this magical country, Taylor and I enjoyed a relaxing night at The Blue Lagoon before our next flights and adventures. We soaked in the hot spa water, floated around sipping on wine, enjoyed an unbelievable dinner (completely gluten free for me), covered …

Dreamy London Days… and a Dream come true for me. Gluten Free Afternoon Tea!

{Photos by Taylor Leopold}

I had always dreamt of exploring the posh and historic streets of London. And when I say Always, I mean that this was something that I had wanted to do since the day I learned about Princess Diana and the two young princes that I was sure were awaiting my arrival to London just as much as I was excited to get there! 😉 (I had a vivid imagination growing up… let’s be honest, it’s still pretty active.)

When my sweet boyfriend and I began planning our trip to Iceland we realized London would be our gateway stop to our travels that would follow our Iceland trip. This brought a huge smile to my face, realizing I was finally going to get to explore a city that I had forever been fascinated by. And what made this even better is when we …

  The Black Sand Beaches of Vik, Iceland

Our first day in Iceland was full (read about our first day HERE), but we weren’t about to miss a beat for our second day exploring this beautiful and mystical country. I could say that this day was my favorite, but really, I’ll say that about each day. Iceland is just magical, full of adventure, romantic, and absolutely picturesque.

Day 2 we woke up and hit the road to the black sand beaches of Vik. Day 2 will take a couple posts to share, because yet again, we packed the day full, and kept going into the middle of the night. The first highlight of the day was horseback riding on these black sand beaches, this was something that both Taylor and I had said was something that we wanted to make sure we would do while visiting Vik.

The Iceland horses are something different. One, they’re everywhere, and they’re super friendly! …

{Photo by Taylor Leopold}

“Here’s to the twilight, here’s to the memories. These are my souvenirs, my mental pictures of everything. Here’s to the late nights, here’s to the firelight. These are my souvenirs.”-Switchfoot

How does one even put into words the beauty and magic of Iceland? Honestly. I’ve been home from my beautiful adventure to Iceland for some time now, but I’ve struggled to find the voice that I wanted to have as I shared this with all of you. I want to share the beauty we got to take in over the four days we spent driving across the south part of Iceland! But of course, I want to share with you the Gluten Free Eats we found along the way and any healthy travel upgrades I might have been able to put to use on this adventure.

The sweetest memories come with an adventure like this of course, so luckily I was traveling with my incredibly talented …

Time to stretch it out! Watch stress, weight, and illness stay at bay simply by stretching!

Did you know that stretching is just as important as being active?! Yes, of course we know that stretching is important for pre and post workout, but stretching itself can do so much for your health!

Stretching can lead to better circulation, it lends a hand to your nervous system, it can help with better posture, give you a clearer mind & happier attitude, and stretching of course helps you break down aches and pains!

Today I challenge you to stand up right now, wherever you are, stretch sideways, forward, & slightly backwards. Even if you’re sitting at your desk in an office full of people… actually, ESPECIALLY if you’ve been sitting at your desk. Maybe bring your foot behind you up towards your seat, holding your ankle and stretching your quads. Then try folding forward to help those hip flexers that have been …

One of the most frequent questions that I’m asked is about how to eat healthy (or even for me, gluten free) while traveling! It’s a great question as it seems daunting for many to be able to stick to eating for their personal dietary needs or even attempting to stick to their healthy eating practices while traveling, but after several trips full of trial and error (hunger pains to “gluten poisoning” tummy aches), I think I have found some must have travel snacks for domestic and international travel.

I’m highlighting some of my favorite travel snacks/foods that I’ve found work best for me, and even better, my DIY Cleanse business partner, Emily and I have created a full travel guide as one of our many bonuses when you download the cleanse! So if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to download your DIY Cleanse and join our community, I’d say the time is now! 😉 Click HERE for …

“Daring greatly means the courage to be vulnerable. It means to show up & be seen. To ask for what you need. To talk about how you’re feeling. To have the hard conversations.” – Brene Brown

Today is just one of those days that feels like “meh” for no reason at all, and as much as I know that it’s okay to have those days, I feel a little guilty saying it out loud. I know I can’t be chipper and on top of everything every day, and that’s okay, but I wouldn’t necessarily want you to know that. I don’t want to bring anyone down, you know? But today I’m tossing my “highlight reel” (the happy feels) to the side and sharing what I’m really feeling in this moment hoping that you know it’s okay to have “bleh” days too!

I ran into one of my good girlfriends, Tovi, today at the coffee shop, what we thought was going …