Chattanooga, TN

Hey everyone,

So we just got back from Chattanooga, TN one of our annual destinations. This time we did a few different things than we normally do, one being white water rafting! We headed up Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Atlanta. Friday morning we drove over to the Ocoee River close to Cleveland, TN. I was the only one who had never been white water rafting before, so I was super nervous and excited! The river was considered level four, the highest level that is raft-able is a level 5+, so it got intense at times. We had an awesome guide named Maggi who was super informative about different kinds of rafting and promised us as long as we followed her lead, no one would fall out. Luckily, she kept her promise! We got to use our GoPro on a helmet cam to video tape a majority of the two hour ride, however cut it down in our YouTube video to the best parts of the rafting experience. Sitting up front, Madi and I got the most wet, but everyone pretty much got drenched by the end! At one point Maggi asked Madi to sit up front and hold on to the tube when we went down our last level four, talk about a face full of river water! The company we used is called Quest Expeditions and they were wonderful! It was $39 on weekday trips and $49 on weekends but WELL worth the price. It was an amazing experience and made us want to look up other level 4 and greater rafting places in the world. Who knows maybe the Franeks will adventure the rivers of the world again someday :).

Another new thing we did was go to a mystery dinner at the Vaudville Cafe in downtown Chattanooga. It was $30/person and included dinner and the show. At first we were unsure about the whole thing, as it started out a tad slow but they really involved the crowd and Madi's best friend Michael even got picked to go on stage! The comedian Derek Zoo was hilarious! Sondra ended up being the killer's accomplice (see the video posted at the end). It was a lot of fun!

The rest of our trip included regular favorites such as meeting up with one of Madi's best friends Michael, Lupi's Pizza, Northriver shopping, Coolidge Park, and of course McKays where I found lots of new books! It was a quick trip but we had a great time. As usual if you want to see more of our adventure look at our video, the link is below!

http://youtu.be/KcVEOiF-NFw

So have you ever done white water rafting? Did you like it? Any favorite places to go? I would love to read your suggestions! Thursday is moving day and it is quickly approaching! Can't wait to share our newleywed adventures as we take on moving to a new state for the next three years!

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia 

#BookWorm: The Scorch Trials

Hey fellow readers!

So I just finished the second book in the Maze Runner series: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. So the second book was a super slow start, I had a really hard time motivating myself to keep reading it (considering it took me two months to finish it). But I can't start a new book once I'm into another one so I had to stick with it. Once I got halfway through it actually got more interesting.

CAUTION SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVENT READ OR SEEN THE FIRST MAZE RUNNER SKIP TO THE NEXT BOLDED SECTION!!

So this book continues at the end of The Maze Runner when Thomas and his friends are taken in by WICKED. The whole first half is them trying to figure out what is going on, and Teresa goes missing. After that they're put into something called the scorch trials where they're in the desert and found out they have this disease called the flare. Once you get through that part it gets more interesting and is worth reading. 

NO MORE SPOILERS YOU ARE SAFE :)!!

The book ends with another cliffhanger, making most people want to jump into the third book, the final in the series besides the prequel, however I need a break from Dashner's crazy world with the most random names ever. Overall I would give this book a 7.5/10 only because you can only read "RUN!!" so many times in a book. Like aren't you physically exhausted already? Id be dead for sure. But if you read the first book, you have to read this because you want to know what happens right? Duh. And you want to see the second movie even though the first one was basically a lot of darkness like me right? Basically were all seeing it because of Dylan O'Brien's hotness. Obvi.

So did anyone else struggle getting through this book? Or just me? Well the next book I started is called The Lake by Annalisa Grant a romance novel that popped up on my Amazon page when I went into a book buying spree after working a ton of overtime in March. I needed a change but then I promise I will go back and finish the Maze Runner series. This weekend we're in Chattanooga TN for our annual family trip with our moms, and then the big move is next Thursday! Can't believe how this summer has flown.

Love you guys,

- Olivia

DIY Furniture Renos

Hey everyone!

It's been soooo long since I've been able to do anything DIY and post about it (and it's been even longer since I've done a DIY post not about food lol) but with the big move close in our midst and being a newly married couple on a budget we decided to keep some pieces we had bought or were given to us. For our new apartment we are trying to do white grey and a pops of aqua (sounds like our wedding colors right ;) ). So yesterday and today I spent learning about how to spray paint furniture and I definitely learned a lot. It wasn't as simple as I had originally anticipated. We did our headboard from black to grey, our desk from black to grey, and wooden frames and a key holder from wood to grey. Here are the steps and supplies followed by the finished products!

What you'll need:

- Old sheets (free)

- Sand paper and/or a sander ($5)

- Krylon glossy spray paint with primer ($4-5/bottle)

We bought 6 bottles of spray paint for all of the projects.

Step One: Sand the furniture

This wasn't too bad as the furniture we had wasn't very glossy but more of a stained black wood. 

Step Two: Wipe off the dust

Step Three: Lay the piece flat and spray even coats.

Step Four: Let the piece dry and re-sand any areas that may have drip spots or the grainy look. 

TIP: Sand in the same direction on the wood otherwise it will look way too grainy.

Step Five: Do 1-2 more coats and let dry. If you see any more areas that need to be sanded repeat step four.

And wall-ah! Here are the finished products before and after! Not too shabby for my first go around huh ;).

I hate moving so much but doing fun reno projects and planning our interior decor makes it slightly more tolerable. I can't wait to put up pictures of our new place! It's going to be gorgeous! Have you done reno projects with spray paint? Any suggestions on how to make it easier or tips? I would love to hear!

Thanks for keeping up!

- Olivia