Colorado Bound

We just got back from a very rejuvenating and relaxing trip to Colorado. This is the main reason we went... to see one of my best friends, Chauri, her husband and their new baby.


One day we drove up to Estes Park, Colorado and found ELK ON THE GOLF COURSE!! Sam was shocked and completely impressed. I think this is the moment his love affair with Estes Park started...

There was a large crowd looking at the elk, we couldn't help it! We had to join in!!

The crowd they drew was amazing. There was one buck that was in charge of everything, yet they were very docile and used to people being around. It was shocking how comfortable they were with everyone around.

What do you get when a 3 year old baby girl has a hunter/fisherman father?? You get a 3 year old that looks at a herd of elk on a golf course and asks, "CAN I SHOOT IT?" He was so proud. LOL

We saw lots of amazing scenery. Estes Park is truly beautiful.

On our way back down we ran into two more bucks on the road. They were headed down to challenge the big guy for some of his ladies.... Sam stopped for pictures, I wished the two of them luck as I cleaned up the back seat a bit. They looked like strapping young men, hopefully they got some women of their own.

And of course, Sam found some of this.... like I said, he fell in love with Estes Park. Apparently there are LOTS of fish there. :)

Thanks Chauri and Ryan for a wonderful time!! We will make it out again, hopefully soon! We had a WONDERFUL time.

The Honest Truth

Sometimes it's just healthy to say it how it is.... tell people how you REALLY feel.

No pussy footing around, no sugar coating it.

Straight up honesty.

You go, kid.....

(double click on the picture if you need a closer view to read it)

Guilty as Charged

WE ARE CRIMINALS.

In the past WEEK we have accured the following:

Sara - 2 speeding tickets

Sam - 1 speeding ticket

Max (the dog) - 2 nights in dog jail and 2 "Running at Large" tickets

Apparently Porter (the pup) is the only saint among us.

Yes, that was ONE week. Uggh.

Progress

I just ate four cookies.

I'm still "in" this weight-loss journey, but I'm on a bit slower track now than before...

Total weight lost so far = 43 pounds.

I haven't lost much in the past two months or so. It's time for me to get back to it.... But my life is so stinkin busy now! This summer it was pretty easy to find the time to work out, now with two full-time jobs and a man I want to spend every waking moment with it gets more difficult.

Today my professional athlete of a boyfriend went to the gym... I took a nap. Now wait, I have an excuse. A GOOD ONE. I worked ALL NIGHT and only got about 45 minutes of sleep (between interuptions)... I am at work again tonight, so I needed to prep myself a little.... It was a survival decision. Skipping the gym today won't kill me, going without sleep will.

However, I'm missing it. I miss the energy it gives me. I miss seeing the numbers go down. I'm SOOOO CLOSE to getting into some of those stores that I want to shop in, yet I'm still far enough away that I can't justify the shopping trips just yet....

So.... I'M RECOMMITTING. I'm going to tell you all now, I'm recommitting to my goal. I'm going to find a way to make it work. TIME is my biggest enemy right now, yet I WILL find a way to overcome it.

I'M RECOMMITTING to my next goal.... 12 more pounds lost by Hope's wedding (in 6 weeks). This one could be challening.... I'll keep you posted. :)

I'm a List Girl

I've been accused, and I admit... I'm a list girl.

I make lists for quite a few things, but mostly I make TO-DO LISTS.

I've been known to always have an ongoing to-do list in my planner, but just recently I found one IN MY PHONE!!! Ohhhh, how I love my Blackberry.

Now I have an electronic version. Internally I am pleased when my list will fit on one page and I don't have to scroll to see the whole thing. I can update the status of different projects for if they are "in progress" or "completed." It's wonderful.

It's like giving chocolate to a chocoholic..... I'm in heaven. :)

So Lucky To Have Found You

I know a girl who changed her blog when she got engaged.... Her new blog...

So Lucky To Have Found You (.blogspot.com)

I thought it was such a cute saying!!

Tonight I feel the same way. I'm sitting here at work after a CRAZY day of cleaning house, running errands and working BOTH jobs.

I am LUCKY to have found a man who not only supports me with all this, but can put up with it.

He dropped me off at work tonight, after running around all day with me, and I could tell that both of us are pretty disgusted with the idea of having to sleep by ourselves tonight....

I am lucky... but definately looking forward to the nights I get to sleep next to him.

Raccoon Country

First off: Camping on Labor Day is CRAZY!! We saw HUGE HUGE HUGE lines into the canyons and people where EVERYWHERE. Lucky for use we had our spot reserved and were away from all the hustle and bustle. It was gorgeous and we can't wait to get back.

Secondly: When they say that this is "Bear Country" and you should put away all food and food preparation items, they mean it.

NO, we didn't see a bear, but close.

Our last night camping we were all exhausted. We decided to put the fire out early and I quickly went over the table to get all of our last food items securely in the car. I threw a few non-food related items in the tote and we were off to bed.....

Sometime between when the sun went down and the stars came out we heard our water cooler get knocked off the picnic table. Sam and I immediately woke up. He said, "did you hear that?" I replied, "yeah, what do you think is out there?"

He unzipped the sleeping bag, grabbed his gun and unzipped the tent door. In the moonlight I saw him perched there at the door of the tent, in his boxers, holding his gun, telling his dog to go check things out.

Well, before long they were both out there, Sam and the dog, and I lay in the tent with the baby girl and waited for our protectors to come back to bed.

Well, apparently Sam found the ziplock bag of dog food laying on the picnic table with holes nibbled in it. When he told me this my stomach dropped.... OH MY GOSH!! I totally left that bag of dog food in the tote under the table!!

It was totally my fault, I should have been more careful!

He decided it was a raccoon and he had scared it off sufficiently, and put the dog food in the car....

I'm lucky it wasn't a bear; but hey, even raccoons can make your heart jump in the middle of the night!

Food Critics We SHOULD Be

We love to go out, experiance new things, especially when it involves food.

A few times we have talked about being food critics.

Well, today we officially had our first "bad review."

I told Sam about a resturant that was really good the last time I went.... he took me there for lunch today. The bad news is that it has completely changed since I was there! Totally new resturant! Well, this one SUCKED.

The menu looked good... but when the food was delivered it all failed to measure up, miserably.

The "light creamy broth" was more of rice floating in cloudy water.....

The sushi rolls were made with warm mushy rice....

Nothing really measured up.

Afterwards Sam nodded in approval at my choice of words when I used, "UNSATISFYING"....

Then we stopped at Mad Greek. Even though I had to enter the kitchen through the back door to use the restroom (which was shared with stored dish detergent and a grill grate)... the food was reliably delicious.

There ya have it....
YELLOW FIN (in Sugarhouse) -- 1 out of 10 (for the decor)
MAD GREEK (in Salt Lake City) -- 9 out of 10 (only lacking in comfort of restroom facilities)

When boys get sick...

OK, here it is.

IF A BOY IS REALLY SICK, I mean moaning-instead-of-talking type of sick, he wants to be left alone. Don't wake him up for anything. If you bring him cold water, a new movie, etc - just leave it on the nightstand, don't wake him up. If the house is burning down, gently touch his leg, tell him that the house is on fire and if he would like to escape he should probably do so now, but it's his choice. THIS is what they want, how they want to be treated.

Their idea of hell would be for a woman to sit with them to watch a movie, stroke their back, keep waking them up for nutritious juice and supplements. JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE.

IF A BOY IS ONLY KIND OF SICK, you know, the feeling-yucky-but-i-can-survive type of sick, he wants to be babied. He wants to whine. He wants all of his favorite foods and drinks, wants to go out to a movie, wants you to throw away his Popsicle wrapper for him, etc, etc, etc.

LUCKY FOR ME my boy progresses through the "only kind of sick" part rather quickly, I can handle a couple hours of it.... especially when it means I get to have him back. I've missed him making me laugh. Even more so, I've missed his laugh.

Oh, and he woke up this morning and first thing went out and fixed the fence!!! Hallelujah for feeling better!!! :)

Visiting Captain Poppa

Last Saturday we had a great day, starting off with a stroll around the Farmers Market (which included buying WAYYYY more than we were planning on... but definately all on ABSOLUTE TREASURES, none the less)...

After a Farmer's Market lunch, while playing on the playground, we called up Poppa to see if we could go look at the fire trucks.

While we were getting ready to leave that morning we heard the sirens go off and I was asked by a sweet little voice, "What's that?" I explained fire trucks, then explained that Poppa rode in them.

She calls him "Poppa", not "Spud" like the other grandkids. She heard me call him Poppa, so Poppa it is....

She asked after lunch, "Where's Poppa?" So we went... and this is pretty much what happened.

Please notice the GORGEOUS earings that Sam got me at the Farmer's Market. He went to take stuff back to the car while we played on the swings... I noticed he had been gone awhile, then when he showed back up I got a kiss - and these. I LOVE them.

She adores Poppa, often asks where he is, what he is doing, etc....

So there ya have it... Captain Poppa!!!