The smell of exhaust on a warm summer morning....

This year I wasn't able to go here....


But yesterday we went Here!!

World Superbike Championships out at Miller Motor sports Park! These guys are crazy! We went out for half of the day and had a great time. We had AWESOME tickets inside the clubhouse, but we quickly found that our crazy family was more comfortable lounging on the grass outside. They have a great banked grassy area right by the turns of the track, it was great!

The girls were able to run and play, have races rolling down the hill, etc. The bikes were great entertainment and smelling the exhaust and hearing the engines tear by gave me the taste of racing that I've been missing on this Memorial Day weekend.

This is race weekend... Indy 500 folks. I love being able to go out to the race, but I wasn't able to make it to Indy this year. I get to watch it on TV tho! Wahoo!! Now I get to hear all the commentators and get the scoop on what's going on! Much different than sitting in the stands.

Flower time!!

One of my prides and joys will always be my Columbines in my flowerbeds. They are growing like CRAZY and this is the time of year when they are blooming. I have about five different colors of them and love them all.


I have always loved them. They are the official flower of Colorado and I guess I will always be a Colorado girl at heart....

But come on, they are just GORGEOUS, right?

Runnin' With the Pack

Yesterday we went out exploring. Sam headed to the desert a bit south of us and started trying to find a place where we could shoot the guns and explore a bit.

We came upon a small town of Genola, Utah (I'm guessing population:200). As we approached the town, marked by the small green sign that says "GENOLA" and the first house on the side of the road I could see a pack of about 3-4 dogs running toward the road. I warned Sam, "Babe, there are dogs running toward the road, keep an eye out."

Well, they emerged from behind the tree and it was two teenage dogs and a GOAT. Just exploring. Just hanging out. Just doin' what "dogs" do. We had a good laugh and kept exploring.

After we explored up a little canyon, shot the guns (by the way, I'm a horrible aim.... haha) and took the truck off road a bit (YES, we tried our HARDEST to be complete rednecks) we were headed back out of town.

We approach the edge of town and once again, in front of us on the road runs a cat... followed by two dogs... and a goat.

I couldn't help but laugh. Two dogs and a goat that run as a pack. It reminds me of my childhood days when we had a piglet who ran with the dogs. Ohhhh, the joys of country life. :)

It kinda makes me miss it.

WARNING: RECIPE HOARDER

I have a confession. I hoard recipes.

I like to collect them. I tear them out, print them off, copy them down, whatever... if I think they look or sound good, naturally.

Well, here is the problem. I collect WAYYY more than I use.

I have books full of recipes that I've never tried.

So, I'm now making a conscious effort to use more of them. To test them out. If we like them then I am going to try to bring them into the rotation of yummy food that I'm trying to keep in the house. If they aren't AWESOME then I'm going to get rid of them. I've decided there is no use in keeping OK recipes when there are FANTASTIC ones out there.

So, I'm starting on my new goal. To try out recipes. I need to try more than I collect, which is no small task!!!

Today I made TWO new recipes. I made a blackberry lemon coffee cake with lemon glaze icing that apparently Sam LOVED because he asked for seconds and thirds.

Then for dinner I made pork with a white wine and apricot sauce. It was super yummy, I think! Sam was still sleeping before work so I don't know how he liked it, I left him some in the fridge... I hope he found it!

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook, so it's fun for me to try new things and use new recipes. The best thing will be that the more I try new things the more I will be able to "experiment" more effectively. THAT is an exciting thought! I love being able to whip up a yummy meal from random things in the fridge and pantry.....

Ahh, I love it. I'm already getting excited to cook something new tomorrow. I'll have to look through my recipes when I get home.

HIKING - Mt. Nebo

On Saturday Sam helped me with some stuff at the house and then escaped to go hunting. He knew I was a bit bummed that we wouldn't have some time together after a long week of work.... but he came home with these, picked from high on the mountainside. He told me that I would love it up there and then asked if I was ready for an adventure.


He told me that it was like "Snow White's Forest" up there.... deer, flowers, squirrels, birds, EVERYWHERE. He was right. It was absolutely gorgeous.

We saw a lot of gorgeous flowers (some which I recognized from my bouquet). Sam said these remind him of me....

See what I get to spend all day with? AWESOME.

I LOVE spending all day outside. I feel really balanced and calm when we come home from being in the mountains all day. I love it. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of turkeys.... which was the goal.

FAUCET FAIL

Last night before Sam left for work I realized our bathtub faucet was about to blow. This has happened in the past and Poppa has always helped me fix it (before Sam and I were together) so I felt I knew what it needed. I asked Sam to help me get under the house so I could turn off the water and I got to work right after he left.

Well, I got the water turned off ok, after braving all the cobwebs (EEWWWWW!!!) and then started to dismantle the faucet. I got two screws into it and for some reason the screw with the allen wrench was WAYYY too tight to get off! I almost broke the allen wrench, so I quit. Pops couldn't get it either. :(

I let Sam know I failed.... I should have listened when he said he would work on it tomorrow. Sometime's I try to be too independent.

I turned the water back on and hoped that the leak would hold at least until Sam could get home and help.

This morning I stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower before work, while Sam is still at work. This is one of those mornings that we pass in the dark.

I turned on the water and pulled the knob to send it to the shower.... AND THE TUB FAUCET SHOT OUT INTO THE TUB!! I had only a pipe spouting water into the tub! I turned off the water and put the faucet back on, it shot off again! Finally I had to sit down and take a bath, it worked, but the thing is still broken.... :(

I don't know if I broke it... I don't know how I would have broken it, I didn't even touch that part of the faucet!!! But still, it's broken.... and now Sam has a mess on his hands. Sorry, Babe. :(

Mother's Day hunting

Yesterday was much different than it was for me a year ago.... for the first time ever I was included in the whole Mother's Day celebration.

In the morning we dropped the girls back off at their mom's house and I got hugs and kisses with a few "Happy Step-Mom Day!" giggles in there as well. They were awfully sweet and got me some great presents that were included in with my birthday loot.

It's the start of the turkey hunt.... which means that Sam took me turkey hunting on Mother's Day. I don't hunt, but I got to go for a big long hike while following Sam as he hunts. Going hunting and fishing with Sam gives me the opportunity to be outside ALL DAY and see him in his element, which is pretty fun. (hubba hubba! haha)

This was my view from the blind, which honestly I wasn't in long... prob only an hour or so, but enough to make my bum fall asleep!! Those hunting chairs aren't incredibly comfy.


A close up of that picture reveals Sam out in the trees.... checking to see if those turkeys we were calling to (and who were responding!!!) all day were really out there or not.

I'm sad to report that we didn't get a turkey, but Sam got really good at using his call and we had a great time. It was gorgeous up there and I really enjoyed spending the day together.

On the way back we saw this stump, a heart shaped stump! A perfect ending to a great day together....

p.s. Pics from the birthday BBQ to come!!!

Feliz!

It's Cinco de Mayo!! Which means me and my coworkers are celebrating with.... chinese food!! haha

This kind of negates my run last night.... first night of 5K training.

I'm feeling suprisingly accomplished this morning, even tho now my belly is full of chow mein. :)