Love-Hate Relationship

I have a love-hate relationship with wisteria.

One of my favorite things about my house is my deck. I love sitting out on my back deck - barbecuing, eating dinner, reading, talking with friends, roasting marshmallows in my fireplace, etc. The deck has a slatted roof that is completely covered by wisteria. In the spring time, I get to enjoy the beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers on my wisteria plant. The flowers cascade down and practically envelope my deck. I smile each time I step out my back door. I love my wisteria.

Fast-forward a few weeks when the first summer storms hit. We have had a few of those this week... fierce winds, pounding rain, giant hail. The poor purple flowers can't endure through those storms and end up ALL OVER my yard and deck. So I sweep them up. Oh, but if only it was that easy... Of course all the flowers don't drop at once. Sure, a lot of the flowers dropped with the storms, but some still hung on, and will continue to drop over the next few weeks. That means sweeping my back deck about every other day. Wisteria has got to be one of the messiest plants ever. I hate my wisteria.

But then, once I am done sweeping, I get to enjoy the lush green covering of wisteria leaves over my deck all summer long, providing shade and relief from the hot summer sun. Once again, I love my wisteria :-)

Book Club

For some reason, I've always thought it would be so much fun to be part of a book club. I've always enjoyed reading, and I have pictured a book club being a place for intelligent conversation on the most interesting of books. Needless to say, I was super excited to find out that my new ward meets monthly for book club and I jumped at the chance to join in the fun. Tonight was my second book club meeting - we discussed the book Kite Runner (I'll be posting a review on my book review blog soon). The book was definitely thought-provoking and produced some deep conversation. I can't wait until next month!

Hooray for Saddlebags

I've been a proud Harley owner for just over a month, but I feel like I haven't ridden as much as I should have by now. Part of my excuse is we've had some crazy weather lately, but the other part is that it is so much easier to ride around when I have saddlebags on my bike. There have been a few times when I've wanted to ride to work, but I also wanted to bring in a lunch and some gym clothes. How was I supposed to ride with those in hand? It is hard enough cramming the essentials of my purse into my motorcycle jacket (cell phone, drivers license, insurance, registration, and credit card), let alone anything else.

Well, my dad and brother came to the rescue this weekend and installed some fancy Sportster branded saddlebags on my bike. This was no easy task - my turn signals even had to be relocated in order for the bags to fit on. Thanks Dad and BJ - you guys are the best! You'll be seeing me cruising around a lot more now... especially with sunshine in the forecast :-)

Healthy Living Challenge

I saw this great idea on my friend Jennie's blog and decided this is exactly what I needed... So on Monday, a few of my co-workers and I started this "Healthy Living Challenge". Here's how it works: There's a list of 10 things we are supposed to do every day. You get one point for every completed item each day, and Sundays are free (you get all 10 points)! Whoever has the most points at the end of the challenge (we picked August 1st) wins :-) I love this idea because it's all about balance and overall health.

1) Get 7 hours of sleep
2) 30 minutes of exercise
3) 30 additional minutes of exercise
4) No sweet treats (cookies, candy, ice cream, etc.)
5) 64 oz. of water, milk, or juice
6) 5 servings of fruits/vegetables
7) No unhealthy snacks or soda
8) No eating after dinner or 8 pm
9) 15 minutes of uplifting reading (scriptures, etc.)
10) Personal habit of choice (practicing instrument, journal writing, reading to kids, etc.)

So far I've done pretty well... I had 9 points the first three days of the week (it's SO hard for me to get in 5 servings of fruits and veggies!) and I got all 10 points yesterday! I was getting ready for bed (gotta get in bed so I can get my 7+ hours of sleep!) and realized I hadn't done number 10 - personal habit of choice. I decided blogging counts as a personal habit so had to get on and get this posted today :-)

Chinden Chicks

My sister emailed me a fews days ago asking if I was okay, as I hadn't posted in a while :-) I decided I needed to get with it and write a few things down... starting with Race for the Cure! Last Saturday was the annual 5k race - I have loved participating the last few years, and this year was no exception. The Race for the Cure never seems to turn out like I have planned. One year something came up and I could only stay long enough to do the one-mile loop. Last year, Beki had just torn her ACL, so we walked the 5k instead of running like we had wanted to. This year I signed up for the 5k run, but everyone in my group (the Chinden Chicks!) was walking, so I decided to join them instead of getting lost in the sea of thousands of people at the end of the race! We all had a great time and are looking forward to running our next race together :-) I'll post pictures as soon as I get them - they were all taken on my friend's camera.

Update: I found this picture on someone's facebook page, so thought I'd add it here! This is part of the "Chinden Chicks" team :-)

Boise Farmers Market

Reason number 503,467 that I love Boise... the weekend Farmer's Market. This morning a group of us rode our bicycles along the beautiful Boise greenbelt into downtown where we visited the Farmer's Market. From April through October, 8th street is lined with local merchants and farmers selling hand-crafted goods and freshly grown flowers, produce, etc. I love supporting the local farmers, and try to visit the market several times over the course of the summer. By purchasing locally grown food, I not only get fresher food, but am helping the environment (it is more sustainable to purchase locally rather than trucking in food). This was my first trip of the year to the market, and I purchased a bag of delicious dried cinnamon sugar apple bites, a container of creamy wild salmon ravioli, and some fabulous fresh feta cheese. Yummy!

What is your t-shirt made of?

My newest, coolest, Boise State t-shirt is made of 50% recycled plastic bottles and 50% organic cotton. Cool, huh!?!