A Little Bit of Bling

About 6-8 months ago I lost my watch. The clasp had gotten pretty loose, and one day it just fell off and I didn't realize it. I decided to try going without a watch for a while... It seems like nobody has watches anymore because they just look at their cell phones to see what time it is. Well, that's all fine and dandy if you carry your cell phone everywhere you go, but my phone pretty much lives in my purse, and I hardly ever carry my purse around (unless I'm driving or shopping). It absolutely drives me nuts not knowing what time it is, especially when I'm sitting in a meeting where there's no clock in the wall and I want to know how much longer the meeting will last. I started wearing my sports watch/heart rate monitor on a daily basis, but it was bulky and didn't really match my work or church clothes. Anyway, I broke down in Portland and bought this new watch. It has a pretty pink face and a little bit of bling around the face of the watch. I love it :-)

Conference Success

How can you tell if a conference was successful? By the spoils of course :-) I just spent several days in Portland for a work conference. The conference was really great - I learned a lot and am excited to go back to work and see if I can put to use what I learned. But one of the best parts of the trip was the shopping! This was just one evening's worth of shopping and didn't include my trips to the Gap, Fossil, Nike, etc! My suitcase was pretty packed on my trip over to Portland, and I was so nervous the suitcase zipper would pop on the way home. I literally had to sit on my suitcase to get it zipped! Plus, I had to put a new pair of shoes and several items of clothing in my backpack carry-on. I have really never been much of a shopper, but I am finding that I enjoy it more and more :-)

Oklahoma!

I love Starlight Mountain Theater & try to attend at least one play. It is set in the beautiful mountains just north of Boise in a small town called Garden Valley. Last night we enjoyed the production of Oklahoma! in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater. The actors and actresses did an amazing job with the singing and choreography. Here we are at intermission with "Curly" aka Tyson Duffin.

Pepe le Pew

I have always loved camping. I don't think I camped once last year, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed up to Garden Valley this weekend. I typically stay at a free campsite just along the river, but Jen & Jessica wanted a campsite with toilets, so I found a new place to stay this time. The campsite was actually really nice - it was right next to Starlight Mountain Theater and there was a pretty big with a picnic table, fire pit, and trees all around us. I was pretty proud of how quickly I started the campfire. As we sat around the fire, though, we heard a rustling. I thought someone from the next campsite over was coming through our trees. We shined our flashlights in the direction of the rustling and guess what we saw - a SKUNK!!! Yuck! As our lights hit it, it ran in the other direction, but I was still kind of freaked. I did NOT want to get sprayed by a skunk! I think that would be one of the grossest things ever. We kept hearing the rustling, and a little later saw it venture into our campsite again! My flashlight reflected off its beady little eyes, and it retreated back into the bushes. I was paranoid the entire night that it would come up and spray us. We had all sorts of questions about skunks, so I came home and researched :-) Here are a couple interesting facts I learned:

* Skunks are omnivorous, but in settled areas will seek out human garbage. Jen said she heard rustling around our tent after we went to bed. Good thing we hung our garbage bag up in a tree!
* They are solitary animals when they aren't breeding, but they sometimes gather together in communal dens when it's colder. I'm glad breeding happens in early spring. We were worried there was a whole den of skunks living by our campsite.
* Skunks are reluctant to spray. They will typically hiss and stamp their feet before spraying - they only have enough chemical in their bodies for 5-6 sprays and it takes 10 days to produce another supply. They usually only spray as a defensive weapon.
* They have an excellent sense of smell and hearing, but horrible eyesight. They can't see more than 3 meters away. So maybe we can use the excuse that the skunk couldn't see us, but I am sure he could hear us talking!

Anyway, looks like we were probably safe from getting sprayed by the skunk, but I was still nervous all night until I was safely zipped in my tent! Needless to say, we nicknamed our campsite Camp Pepe le Pew :-)

Neighborly Kindness

I love productive evenings. Tonight I did three loads of laundry, washed and polished my motorcycle, cleaned up my garage, fixed a broken fence board, and ran 2.25 miles :-) When I pulled my bike out of my garage to start cleaning it, my across-the-street neighbor walked over and told me he had something for me. He proceeded to give me these three framed pictures. He told me that he had come over one day and taken pictures of some of the flowers in my front yard and wanted to give me the pictures. Isn't that so nice!!! I thanked him and thanked him, and when he left, I even got a little teary eyed. That was so thoughtful. It made me want to be a better neighbor - to get out and talk to my neighbors more, to get to know more about them and their lives. I appreciate my neighbor and hope I can pass along the kind deed.

I Love to See the Temple

When an LDS temple is first built, and before it is dedicated, it is open to the public for tours. I think the temples are so pretty from the outside, and even more gorgeous on the inside. I'm so glad we took the opportunity yesterday to drive the two hours to Twin Falls to attend the temple open house. As our guide walked us through, I enjoyed the beauty of the architecture, the artwork, the chandeliers, and just the attention to every little detail. I loved the room where three walls consisted of a painted mural of local scenery. In my favorite room, nobody spoke, and we just enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us. I think everyone there could tell that the temple was a special place.

Twilight Criterium

I haven't been able to get enough of downtown Boise, so we headed down tonight for the Twilight Criterium. A criterium is a short course bicycle race and the cyclists ride a specified number of laps along the course. The Boise Twilight Criterium has been going on for over 20 years, and this was my first time of watching it. Tons of people line the course, and each time the cyclists pass, everyone cheers them on with their clickers (these cool free noise makers they pass out). At the end they announced that the winners rode over 30 miles per hour for an hour and a half! Crazy! I think I would be dead :-)
After watching the race for a while, Jen, Jessica, and I took a break and enjoyed dessert fondue at the Melting Pot. Anyone that knows me well knows that I LOVE fondue. We got the Cookies 'n Cream chocolate fondue - oh, it was so yummy! If you've never had fondue, you absolutely have to try it sometime.
The highlight of my night, though, was after dessert. We went back to watch the very end of the criterium and see the awards ceremony. Kristin Armstrong took first place in the women's race, and I got my picture taken with her! Kristin (a fellow Boisean) went to the Olympics in 2004 and is headed back again next month. I am excited to watch her race in Beijing, and will be cheering her along as she goes! Jen took this picture for me - she made sure to get my shirt in the picture :-)

Ride that Bull!

Tonight was another exciting night! Twelve of us decided to head out to Nampa to watch the Snake River Stampede. The nice thing about this rodeo is that it is inside an air conditioned arena :-) We got all decked out in western shirts, hats, and boots! After dinner at Costa Vida (where else?) we made it in time to watch the pre-show, which included mutton busting. Oh my word - those kids looked so tiny out there trying to ride the sheep! A little five year old boy won that portion of the competition - it's just amazing how young they start! The show went on to show bronc riding, steer wrestling, tie down roping, team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. I loved the bronc riding and the bull riding. I can't even imagine getting on a horse or bull that would throw me around like that. I definitely don't have the guts! I made a short video of some of the highlights. I was hoping to find the Snake River Stampede theme song online so I could put that in the background, but I couldn't find it. Live sound will have to do!

Boise Hawks Game

Tonight our ward went to the Boise Hawks game. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I do enjoy supporting the local team every once in a while. It was a beautiful night - warm with a light breeze, just perfect for watching baseball. We only ended up staying for the first half of the game (we had to go running to keep on our training schedule), but the Hawks did great. They ended up sweeping the Tri-City Dust Devils 10-4!

Memories

I'm stealing this from my friend Nancy's blog - it's a great way to get some fun memories out in the open and to take us back down memory lane.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Nicety or Necessity?

I have decided I absolutely cannot live without my cell phone. What used to be a nicety for me has turned into a necessity. Let me explain.

I had a cell phone when I was in college. It's funny to think about it now, but by having a cell phone, I was in the minority. It was just nice to call my parents with so I didn't have to use a phone card for long distance. I think I rarely used it for anything else. I hardly ever gave out my cell phone number because I didn't want to waste my minutes. Fast forward to today. My cell phone is now my only phone. I got rid of my home phone when I realized I was paying $40 a month for 8 people to call me! It's like people stopped trying my home phone first, because they knew I would always have my cell phone. Everybody seems to have cell phones these days, even 7 year olds! I think you are in the minority if you don't have a cell phone. Oh, and text messaging has practically replaced email and half of my phone calls... I'm still getting used to that. A couple weeks ago I left my cell phone at work and practically had a panic attack. How was I supposed to communicate with anyone??? Good thing I still had my internet so I could text message my friend's phone via email :-)

I would seriously rather have a house without a dishwasher than not have a cell phone.

So what about you? What things were once niceties to you, but are now necessities?

Picture Blog Tag

Liz tagged me with this fun Picture Blog Tag. The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning or wiping your child's nose. Then you tag five others.

1. The fridge. Um, yeah, I really need to go shopping. All I have to eat is condiments!

2. The closet. I actually have 4 times this amount of closet space, but the closet doors are those slider kind, so I only took this one shot. Good thing I didn't have to show a picture of my bedroom floor. That's where the rest of my clothes are right now :-)

3. A self-portrait.
4. Your favorite room. I really don't use my dining room much, but I love to decorate the table!

5. The kitchen sink.

6. The laundry room.

7. The toilet.

8. What are your kids doing right now? Um, I don't have kids!

9. Your dream vacation. I love Europe, but have never been to Italy - that's where I'd like to visit!

10. Your favorite pair of shoes. I have different favorites different days, but I always love my chacos.
Okay, now I tag Mandy, Mandi, Erin P., Jessica J., and Maile!

Satchel's Movie Night

I've been thinking lately that it would be kind of cool to live close to downtown Boise. The culture there is so different than that of west Boise. It is more hip, more trendy, more green, more casual, and there is always something going on. No, I'm not going to move (I love my house too much), but the thought of living downtown has definitely crossed my mind a time or two in the last couple years.

So, the last two nights Jen and I ventured downtown to experience some of the nightlife. Friday we went to Bown Crossing, a new little upscale marketplace close to downtown. We sat on the rooftop of the Tavern, enjoying the beautiful view, a little bit of live music, and some chocolate cake :-) I loved the atmosphere and will definitely be back (even though they didn't have the virgin strawberry daiquiri that I wanted)! Then last night, we went to Satchel's and watched the movie Goonies on the side of an old building. The place was packed when we got there at 9:15, and the movie didn't actually start until after 10. It was a beautiful evening, and again, there was a super cool atmosphere. We had some delicious hummus and enjoyed dessert for a second night in a row :-) I didn't have my camera with me, so used the camera on phone. It's not the greatest quality, but you get the idea! I love Boise!

Something

A couple weeks ago, my friend and co-worker Ross excitedly told me he got me "something" for my birthday. I was confused, so he went on to explain that he bought me something off of SomethingStore.com. Basically, you pay a $10 flat fee and "something" will be mailed wherever you select. He told me it could be anything from an iPod to a hair brush. What a cool idea! I was excited to open my package when it arrived last week, and found a cute litte bag made of zippers. I think it will be just perfect to carry makeup or act as a medicine bag or first aid kit. I'll definitely put it to good use. Thanks Ross!