My other guilty pleasures...
1) When I had a television my guilty (and OMG do I feel guilty every time I watch it) pleasure was watching TMZ. I am so very ashamed that I even hate to admit it but there it is for all the world to see. I LOVE TMZ!! The really dumb thing is that I don't even know who the hell they are talking about half the time but there is just something so sick and appealing. It's like a train wreck.
2) Reading a book all afternoon. I know this isn't really a "guilty pleasure" in the strictest sense but the part that I feel guilty about is that at 5:30 I jump up off the couch, throw dinner together, pick up the kid carnage and act like I've been slaving away all day when Jimmy walks in the door at 6. (hehe)
3) Nacho Cheese Doritos. I can actually eat an entire Family Size bag...without throwing up. I also really love those disgusting tacos from Jack In The Box...but I have to be pretty drunk to eat those.
I'm sure I can think of more later...right now I'm headed back to work!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Rexburg, my guilty pleasure
I had a lovely weekend in Rexburg!
We left Thursday afternoon and arrived just in time for dinner. The kids were FANTASTIC on the drive there. I kept bracing myself for a pull over on the next exit in a big ass hurry moment and it never came. They colored, they ate, they slept, they colored some more and then we were there! I was so proud of them. I think they were annoyed at how gushy I was about it. "You girls didn't fight at all!" "I'm so proud of you for being such great travelers" and on and on until Jamie actually said, "I know mom! You think we're great hikers too," in her most exasperated voice. Apparently I gushed about hiking also.
Friday we went grocery shopping and played at the splash park downtown. We picked up lunch and then Kelsey told me about a place that only serves....drumroll....gourmet hot dogs!! I wanted to throw my lunch out the window and go there instead. I've made a mental note to go there next time....for EVERY meal!
Saturday was spent at Bear World. I wanted to go to Yellowstone but the time crunch won and we went just down the road to Bear World instead. You drive through really slowly and look for bears that roam free through the park. (Well, as free as electric fences around the perimeter could be.)
We were right behind the feeding truck so all the bears were out on the road when we went through. A HUGE ass black bear licked all the bugs off the front of our car and then sniffed around Kelsey's window. It was a little creepy.
Ooh, I forgot about Saturday morning! We spent the entire morning in the front yard watching the crop duster. That was actually the highlight of my trip. I tried to take a picture but the sun wouldn't cooperate. I should edit that to read, I spent the entire morning watching the crop duster. Everyone else lost interest after 5 minutes. Once again...easily entertained. Hey, at least I'd be a cheap date, right!?
"Do you want to spend 75 dollars at Bear World or do you want to drink cheap beer and watch the crop duster?" See, totally a cheap date. Shut up...I think it's a good quality to have!
I decided to head home Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning so we hit the road at 5 and once again...super little travelers! Our ipod died somewhere around Burley so that kinda sucked but the really great thing was all the talking that the girls did...for a while anyway. It got annoying around Mountain Home but before that...hilarious!
Oh and one more thing. Despite my eye rolling about Rexburg, I actually really love it. I love that we rode 4 wheelers to the dunes and my kids swam naked in the lake, I love that the crop duster was my favorite thing, I love that when I asked Kelsey where the next gas station was she said, "There isn't another one between here and my house" (20 miles-ish), I love that across the yard is a giant spud cellar that is empty right now so some guys from the church are building a parade float in it, I love it that Kelsey sees someone she knows everywhere we go, I love that there are streets and hills named after her family, I love that Kelsey's dad was 5 minutes from the house and of course he had jumper cables in his work truck, I love (and am terrified of) crossing on the freeway instead of over it, I love all the little dorky things that make it annoying and rural. It's my guilty pleasure, for sure.
To be fair, I would actually drop dead if I had to live there but I do enjoy visiting!
We left Thursday afternoon and arrived just in time for dinner. The kids were FANTASTIC on the drive there. I kept bracing myself for a pull over on the next exit in a big ass hurry moment and it never came. They colored, they ate, they slept, they colored some more and then we were there! I was so proud of them. I think they were annoyed at how gushy I was about it. "You girls didn't fight at all!" "I'm so proud of you for being such great travelers" and on and on until Jamie actually said, "I know mom! You think we're great hikers too," in her most exasperated voice. Apparently I gushed about hiking also.
Friday we went grocery shopping and played at the splash park downtown. We picked up lunch and then Kelsey told me about a place that only serves....drumroll....gourmet hot dogs!! I wanted to throw my lunch out the window and go there instead. I've made a mental note to go there next time....for EVERY meal!
Saturday was spent at Bear World. I wanted to go to Yellowstone but the time crunch won and we went just down the road to Bear World instead. You drive through really slowly and look for bears that roam free through the park. (Well, as free as electric fences around the perimeter could be.)
We were right behind the feeding truck so all the bears were out on the road when we went through. A HUGE ass black bear licked all the bugs off the front of our car and then sniffed around Kelsey's window. It was a little creepy.
Ooh, I forgot about Saturday morning! We spent the entire morning in the front yard watching the crop duster. That was actually the highlight of my trip. I tried to take a picture but the sun wouldn't cooperate. I should edit that to read, I spent the entire morning watching the crop duster. Everyone else lost interest after 5 minutes. Once again...easily entertained. Hey, at least I'd be a cheap date, right!?
"Do you want to spend 75 dollars at Bear World or do you want to drink cheap beer and watch the crop duster?" See, totally a cheap date. Shut up...I think it's a good quality to have!
I decided to head home Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning so we hit the road at 5 and once again...super little travelers! Our ipod died somewhere around Burley so that kinda sucked but the really great thing was all the talking that the girls did...for a while anyway. It got annoying around Mountain Home but before that...hilarious!
Oh and one more thing. Despite my eye rolling about Rexburg, I actually really love it. I love that we rode 4 wheelers to the dunes and my kids swam naked in the lake, I love that the crop duster was my favorite thing, I love that when I asked Kelsey where the next gas station was she said, "There isn't another one between here and my house" (20 miles-ish), I love that across the yard is a giant spud cellar that is empty right now so some guys from the church are building a parade float in it, I love it that Kelsey sees someone she knows everywhere we go, I love that there are streets and hills named after her family, I love that Kelsey's dad was 5 minutes from the house and of course he had jumper cables in his work truck, I love (and am terrified of) crossing on the freeway instead of over it, I love all the little dorky things that make it annoying and rural. It's my guilty pleasure, for sure.
To be fair, I would actually drop dead if I had to live there but I do enjoy visiting!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sorry
Oops...I completely forgot to post postcard pictures. I will be making more this weekend while visiting my little brother in the beautiful town of Rexburg! Maybe I'll post them all together.
So yeah...Tonight I'm taking my kids to their first Hawks game and then I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for Rexburg. Here I come! I'll be back Sunday!
So yeah...Tonight I'm taking my kids to their first Hawks game and then I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for Rexburg. Here I come! I'll be back Sunday!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Summer
I planned on posting pictures of my postcards today but I forgot the stupid cable to hook my camera to my computer.
But a little update anyway...
The girl that is organizing the swap took an early vacation so I have not mailed any out. Turned out to be a good thing because it sounds like I'll have to make 15 and I've only made 7.
I decided to go with a "simple pleasures of summer" theme. It wasn't hard because I am all about the simple pleasures in everything. (My friend, Buffy, would call it "easily entertained". hehe)
So, I decided on some simple pleasures and then to help me with a direction I labeled them with a color and basically stuck to that color for every piece of the postcard.
I promise to post pictures tonight. I know the pictures won't quite do them justice because they are very textured. On one of them I even embroidered on a piece of an old sheet. I had so much fun making them. I'm hooked.
So, here's the list. Read it and then leave me a comment about your favorite simple pleasure of summer. I need 6 or 7 more!
1. Bare feet in the grass (green)
2. Colorful cotton skirts (red)
3. Summer love (pink)
4. Hot sun (orange)
5. Cold water (blue)
6. Cool sheets (white)
7. Sleeping under the stars (black)
But a little update anyway...
The girl that is organizing the swap took an early vacation so I have not mailed any out. Turned out to be a good thing because it sounds like I'll have to make 15 and I've only made 7.
I decided to go with a "simple pleasures of summer" theme. It wasn't hard because I am all about the simple pleasures in everything. (My friend, Buffy, would call it "easily entertained". hehe)
So, I decided on some simple pleasures and then to help me with a direction I labeled them with a color and basically stuck to that color for every piece of the postcard.
I promise to post pictures tonight. I know the pictures won't quite do them justice because they are very textured. On one of them I even embroidered on a piece of an old sheet. I had so much fun making them. I'm hooked.
So, here's the list. Read it and then leave me a comment about your favorite simple pleasure of summer. I need 6 or 7 more!
1. Bare feet in the grass (green)
2. Colorful cotton skirts (red)
3. Summer love (pink)
4. Hot sun (orange)
5. Cold water (blue)
6. Cool sheets (white)
7. Sleeping under the stars (black)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Partially successful
I am home a day early because our backpacking trip did not quite go as planned.
We left Friday and after much debate decided to drive through Mountain Home....through Ketchum...to get south of Stanley to our desired "base camp". We planned on camping in our tent on Friday night then getting up early to set out for 4th of July Lake and stay the night there.
Sometimes my kids are fantastic in the car but sometimes....dear god someone kill me!!!
By the time we got to Hailey I was going to rip someone's head off and stick it down their bickering throats. (Ugh, I'm still annoyed) So, we decided to camp at the SNRA Headquarters campground and then head over Galena Summit in the morning. 4th of July Lake is a 1.5 mile hike so we could have set out pretty late and still made it.
We found a nice little camping spot, made friends with the camp host, built a fire, hung out and then headed to bed.
I could not, for the life of me, sleep. I won't get into the sordid details here but suffice to say...sometimes anxiety gets the better of me. Especially at night and especially in "bear country". And it was so freakin' cold that we ended up sleeping in the car (a tight fit in a Toyota Camry wagon) Jimmy and the kids were in the back with the seats laid down and I was wedged in the front seat.
In the morning we walked to the ranger station and asked about hikes close to town. We decided to day hike and then head home Saturday evening. We would try backpacking again when the night time lows were above 2o degrees. Too damn cold for my babies.
So, Baker Lake it was. 2.5 miles (5 roundtrip). We were a little nervous that the kids might not make it but decided to try anyway.
Let me just say...my kids are so cool. They made it 2.4 miles and then some really friendly guy gave Olivia a shoulder ride the last .1 miles because he thought she was so cool for having hiked that far. So with Jamie on Jimmy's shoulders and Olivia on the nice guy's with a dog named Max..we made it. We fished and played for about an hour and then headed back.
This conversation between Olivia and I on the way back is definitely the highlight of the trip:
"Mom, I'm feeling happy because we made it all the way to the lake. We fished and now we are going back to the car and I'm going to fall asleep."
"Do you know how I'm feeling, Olivia?"
"Yeah, you're feeling proud of us"
"That is exactly how I feel, baby."
We left Friday and after much debate decided to drive through Mountain Home....through Ketchum...to get south of Stanley to our desired "base camp". We planned on camping in our tent on Friday night then getting up early to set out for 4th of July Lake and stay the night there.
Sometimes my kids are fantastic in the car but sometimes....dear god someone kill me!!!
By the time we got to Hailey I was going to rip someone's head off and stick it down their bickering throats. (Ugh, I'm still annoyed) So, we decided to camp at the SNRA Headquarters campground and then head over Galena Summit in the morning. 4th of July Lake is a 1.5 mile hike so we could have set out pretty late and still made it.
We found a nice little camping spot, made friends with the camp host, built a fire, hung out and then headed to bed.
I could not, for the life of me, sleep. I won't get into the sordid details here but suffice to say...sometimes anxiety gets the better of me. Especially at night and especially in "bear country". And it was so freakin' cold that we ended up sleeping in the car (a tight fit in a Toyota Camry wagon) Jimmy and the kids were in the back with the seats laid down and I was wedged in the front seat.
In the morning we walked to the ranger station and asked about hikes close to town. We decided to day hike and then head home Saturday evening. We would try backpacking again when the night time lows were above 2o degrees. Too damn cold for my babies.
So, Baker Lake it was. 2.5 miles (5 roundtrip). We were a little nervous that the kids might not make it but decided to try anyway.
Let me just say...my kids are so cool. They made it 2.4 miles and then some really friendly guy gave Olivia a shoulder ride the last .1 miles because he thought she was so cool for having hiked that far. So with Jamie on Jimmy's shoulders and Olivia on the nice guy's with a dog named Max..we made it. We fished and played for about an hour and then headed back.
This conversation between Olivia and I on the way back is definitely the highlight of the trip:
"Mom, I'm feeling happy because we made it all the way to the lake. We fished and now we are going back to the car and I'm going to fall asleep."
"Do you know how I'm feeling, Olivia?"
"Yeah, you're feeling proud of us"
"That is exactly how I feel, baby."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Big plans
I am taking my kids on their very first backpacking trip this weekend!
I'm so excited and so is Olivia. I think Jamie and Jimmy could do without it but no one gets to be a party pooper at my party! (Some people have been know to find this trait of mine annoying).
We are going to 4th of July Lake in the White Clouds. It's a super short hike (1.5 ish) and if we get there and decide we want to keep going then there is another lake 1 mile away and several more another 3 miles.
Last night Olivia and I spread everything out on the living room floor and double checked that we had everything we needed. She quickly caught on to the fact that we were carrying all of this stuff on our backs so we wouldn't be taking any stuffed animals or Polly Pockets. My favorite part of the conversation was when I said, "Nature is the toy, honey. We are not bringing toys."
Whatever the hell that means but she totally got it.
Later on she said, hoisting Jimmy's sleeping pad up off the floor, "Mom, this is heavy, maybe we shouldn't take it." Hehe. Priorities baby, priorities.
I'm so excited and so is Olivia. I think Jamie and Jimmy could do without it but no one gets to be a party pooper at my party! (Some people have been know to find this trait of mine annoying).
We are going to 4th of July Lake in the White Clouds. It's a super short hike (1.5 ish) and if we get there and decide we want to keep going then there is another lake 1 mile away and several more another 3 miles.
Last night Olivia and I spread everything out on the living room floor and double checked that we had everything we needed. She quickly caught on to the fact that we were carrying all of this stuff on our backs so we wouldn't be taking any stuffed animals or Polly Pockets. My favorite part of the conversation was when I said, "Nature is the toy, honey. We are not bringing toys."
Whatever the hell that means but she totally got it.
Later on she said, hoisting Jimmy's sleeping pad up off the floor, "Mom, this is heavy, maybe we shouldn't take it." Hehe. Priorities baby, priorities.
Free to blog, at last
I was tagged by someone to do something and the only thing I can remember is "What were you doing ten years ago?"
Lets see...
Ten years ago I was 17 and heading into my senior year of high school. I wish I could remember the details of what I was thinking and doing. How I felt. Time flies and your memory fades really quickly, huh? I do have something to say to my 17 year old self,
"You have no idea how much different your life will be than what you planned. You will not die if your parents forbid you to date him. In fact, he will become so insignificant in your life, you will be amazed. Please don't give up anything for him because this is it. This is the only time in your life that you will have the luxury of being selfish. Please have fun and stop worrying about the future. All your worrying will be for nothing. You will end up upside down and inside out from what you planned so please enjoy today."
I'm sure that someday my 37 year old self will say to my 27 year old self these very same things. Why can't I hear it now? I don't know anyone who can.
Lets see...
Ten years ago I was 17 and heading into my senior year of high school. I wish I could remember the details of what I was thinking and doing. How I felt. Time flies and your memory fades really quickly, huh? I do have something to say to my 17 year old self,
"You have no idea how much different your life will be than what you planned. You will not die if your parents forbid you to date him. In fact, he will become so insignificant in your life, you will be amazed. Please don't give up anything for him because this is it. This is the only time in your life that you will have the luxury of being selfish. Please have fun and stop worrying about the future. All your worrying will be for nothing. You will end up upside down and inside out from what you planned so please enjoy today."
I'm sure that someday my 37 year old self will say to my 27 year old self these very same things. Why can't I hear it now? I don't know anyone who can.
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