Well, it's officially the 'new year', and I (like a billion other people) am squarely in reflective mode. 2014 was such an incredible year. I married my best friend, was fortunate enough to travel to some breathtaking, incredible places, and moved to Colorado (which I'm completely in love with).

Here's a six-second Vine snapshot of our year! You can see more pics and adventures at www.instagram.com/SweetDivergence

So it's going to be pretty tough to top last year, and make 2015 even better, but I'm sure going to try!

Have you ever made a bucket list...just for travel? My husband and I are making one now. Actually I think it is more likely to turn into two bucket lists, one that can be achieved in 2015, and one that might take us a little longer to complete.

So far we've added:

- River cruise through Europe
- Patagonia, Chile
- Vancouver, Canada
- Iceland
- Road Trip from Seattle to Big Sur (south of San Francisco)
- Overnight train anywhere
- Japan
- Explore more of France (specifically Saint-Emilion, Riquewihr, and Colmar)
- Czec Republic
- Poland
- Croatia
- Austria
- Grand Canyon
- See more of Switzerland (specifically Gruyeres, Montreux, Jungfrau Region, and Interlaken)
- Galapagos Islands
- Bruges, Belgium
- See more of Spain (specifically Ronda, and Seville).
- More of Germany (specifically Berlin, Cochem, and Konstanz)
- I'd like to take my husband to Italy because he's never been (Lake Como, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terra)

- Then there are the national parks here in the United States!

     - Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
     - Redwood National Park, California
     - Yosemite National Park, California
     - Glacier National Park, Montana
     - Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
     - Virgin Islands National Park, US Virgin Islands
     - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
     - Yellowstone National Park, Wymoming

Now we just have to work out what we can fit into this year, and what will have to wait until next year.

Do you have anywhere else you think we should add to our list? I always love hearing other people's travel stories and about places they loved, hated, and were surprised by! Leave me a comment below!

And if you're interested in winning prizes for topping your 2014, check out the contest that LifeProof is running at the moment. Super easy to enter, and there are some cool prizes up for grabs! Details here.

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On a whim we decided to take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff. It is only a five minute drive from our hotel so we thought we would squeeze in a quick visit between other activities.

As we arrived at the base of the mountain, we looked up....and up...and up. The tops of the mountains disappeared into the clouds, but the sun shone through, making the snow twinkle all around us. It's hard not to feel humbled in the midst of such beautiful and awe-inspiring scenery!

The base of the Banff Gondola has a cute souvenir shop, and the highest altitude Starbucks in Canada. Each gondola car seats four, and only takes eight minutes to reach the top.

Not having done any research ahead of time we really didn't know what to expect, so our surprise was magnified when we reached the top of the mountain, and walked outside to discover views like this!

You can walk from the gondola station along a wooden walkway to the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station on the next peak. It has a fascinating history, which you can read more about on the Parks Canada website.

Visiting on Christmas Day was pretty magical, with the snow-covered trees and glittering mountain tops. I can't remember ever seeing a more beautiful view!

From one side of the mountain we could even see our hotel, the Fairmont at Banff Springs (which I'll be writing a blog post about soon)!

There is something really special about standing above the clouds looking down. Really takes your breath away (and not just because of the high altitude)!

And just because I still can't get over the beauty of the Canadian Rockies, here are a few more pics...in hopes they will inspire you to visit one day!

We veered off the wooden walkway near the Cosmic Ray Station to do a little exploring down the side of the mountain. The views were worth the few slippery and scary moments we had along the edge further down.

Our 'quick visit' turned into several hours, as we explored the view from every possible angle. Check out the video below to get a better idea of just how incredible the view was!

Tips
It's very, very cold up there this time of year, and extremely windy. So wear a decent scarf, jacket, hat, gloves, and glasses. We saw so many miserable people who were completely under-dressed!

Go in the morning. As we were leaving, mid afternoon all the tour buses started arriving. There were no lines when we arrived before lunch and at times we had the mountain top to ourselves, but it got increasingly busier as the day progressed.

Let me know if you have any questions about my Banff adventures, and I'll do my best to answer them! And of course, you can see more photos over on Instagram: @SweetDivergnece 

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Last week I flew into Los Angeles and drove down the coast to San Diego. Along the way I stopped at a few different places, including Santa Monica Pier, Huntington Beach, and Rancho Santa Fe.

I stayed at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe for a few nights before flying out. It's a beautiful spot, the food is great, and it's perfect for a relaxing long weekend! They have a gorgeous little pool with cabanas, a croquet lawn, cottages, and outside fire pits perfect for sipping cocktails next to.

Here's a quick wrap up of my road-trip highlights.

It was so much fun that I think I'll start up at San Francisco next time! So if you have any suggestions for things to see and do along the way, let me know!

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This year was the first time I've actually made it out to SXSW. If you haven't heard of it before it is a huge interactive, film, and music festival held in Austin, Texas.

My main reason for going was to attend the interactive and digital media sessions, but I stayed on afterwards to help launch a new product (more about that later) and to soak up the general awesomeness that is Austin.

Hands down, the best thing I discovered was the Hope Outdoor Gallery, a huge graffiti / street art project run by SpraTX. Words can't describe how incredibly cool this place is, so check out the video and photos below. It is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in Austin!

While I was in town, a friend who lives in Houston flew his helicopter in for a visit. We went on a rainy-day adventure along the Colorado River and out to Lake Travis, where we landed on a tiny island in the middle of the lake (yep, having a helicopter is pretty awesome). Here are a couple pics from our excursion.

If you'd like to check out more of my friend's flying antics, check out his Instagram feed: www.instagram.com/theodorerobertwrightiii

And last, but not least, here are a couple of pics from my time in Austin and at SXSW itself. It's a pretty cool city, with a lot of live music, great food, and art. Austin is also making a name for itself as being a hub for start-ups and entrepreneurs, which makes for a very cool vibe.

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Last month, my boyfriend whisked me away to Paris on a surprise trip, and proposed! Here's how it went down...

I was on a work trip right before Thanksgiving last year, when the boy surprised me by showing up at my hotel with two plane tickets to Paris. The only problem was that I didn't have my passport! So while I was at work the next day, he drove back to Denver, got the first flight to San Diego, searched through the house for my passport, and made it back to the airport in time to get the last flight back to Denver, then driving for an hour through the snow to get to where I was!

The next day (Thanksgiving) we headed back to Denver to fly to Paris for five days. Let me tell you, no-one actually flys on Thanksgiving Day so we had the plane almost to ourselves! We did have to eat McDonalds in the airport for Thanksgiving dinner, but we more than made up for that meal with all the amazing food we ate in Paris. 

We arrived, and were taken to our hotel, which was only a block away from Trocodero Square, with our room looking straight through to the Eiffel Tower!

We spent the next two days exploring Paris, the museums, walking along the Seine, shopping, eating, and eating some more.

 

Then on the evening of December first we went all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I was too busy taking photos and looking at everything, to notice whether he was nervous or acting strangely. 

It was freezing up there, so he pulled me close to keep me warm, and proposed. I could only tell you about half of what he said, I think excitement took over and made things a bit fuzzy. But I said yes. 

So, now we are embarking on the journey of planning our internatinoal wedding. You see, we have family and friends all over Australia, all over the USA, and we are also completely in love with France. So just picking the destination is proving to be difficult!

If you'd like to follow along as we plan our big day, check out Our International Wedding Blog or find us on Instagram or Twitter!

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