Ponderosa State Park and Pancake House

I went camping with the Mountain View Branch this last weekend up in McCall at Ponderosa State Park... yes, this was my third camping trip in four weeks!  I couldn't leave until after work, so Emily and I got up there kind of late on Friday evening, but enjoyed good food and great company as we sat around the campfire chatting away.

Saturday morning, a handful of us got up bright and early to grab breakfast at Pancake House.  Gotta love those plate-sized cinnamon rolls and pancakes!

Lance, me, Emily, Carsten, Lindsay, and McKay

We got back to camp just after 8:00 because Lance and McKay were in charge of making breakfast for everyone!  Emily made Deidre a plate-sized pancake since she missed out on the Pancake House... I'm sure it was almost as good :-)

After breakfast, a handful of us decided to head out on a hike to a lookout over Payette Lake.  Emily, Sam, and I ran the trail (about 3.5 miles each way).  It actually felt good to be out running, but boy were my hips were sore on Sunday!  I have decided I'm starting a running regimen back up!

We ended the afternoon with lunch and some card games, then stopped in Donnelly and Rosebury on the way back home.  Thanks for letting me tag along with you guys this weekend!

College Game Day Commercial

Check out Coach Pete on this College Game Day commercial!!  Can't wait for Bronco football!!!

The Ten-to-Six Experiment

A couple weeks ago, Jen, Brooke, and I decided to try something new... going to bed at 10:00 pm and getting up at 6:00 am.  Eight straight hours of sleep a night.  We decided to try this for one month.  We would be a little lenient on weekends - like maybe 11-7, or even 12-8, but making sure we're not going to bed excessively late and that we're still getting in 8 hours of sleep (not less, not more!).

Well, the going to bed at 10:00 has been decently easy for me.  It definitely has been weird when I've had something going in the evenings (like tonight - I just got home from visiting teaching at 9:30) and thinking I don't have time to do much before it's bed time.  I previously had given myself a 10:30 bedtime (which meant I was usually in bed between 11 and 11:30!)... but it's been good to be disciplined and just go to bed instead of dawdling away my evening.

The mornings have been a little harder for me.  I have always loved my sleep, and pushed it to the last minute to get up.  I was even to the point where sometimes I would get up at 7:15, when I needed to be across town for work at 8:00!  But I have been doing well most mornings, getting up pretty close to my 6:00 am wake up call.  And it has been wonderful!  I am not rushed in the mornings.  I have had time to eat breakfast, make my lunch, clean the kitchen, do laundry, harvest my garden, etc.  I've even been to work early almost every single day.  I feel like my mornings have gone so much smoother, helping start me off on the right foot for the day.  And I've felt so productive!  Even on weekends, I've been doing better.  Take Sunday for example - I have 2:00 church right now (I know, that sucks!), so it was easy to really sleep in.  Sometimes I felt like I slept away my entire morning.  Well this Sunday I was up around 7:00 am, and rode bikes around downtown with Jen, enjoying the beautiful Sunday morning.  I was home and changed and was able to finish a book I was reading before church.

So our experiment isn't over yet.  We're only about 2 1/2 weeks in to our month.  But I've felt good, and I plan to continue with this routine.  So here's to a good rest of the month, and to one more healthy lifestyle change!

Second Shower

The other morning I was driving to work on my motorcycle and got a second shower when the car in front of me on the Connector decided to spray windshield washer fluid as they were driving down the road.  This isn't the first time this has happened to me.  At those speeds (well at most speeds actually), there's nothing I can do but get covered by the overspray.  So just a friendly request... if there's a motorcycle on the road behind you, will you please spray your washer fluid while you are stopped instead of when you are driving down the road???  It's not like I have windshield wipers on my face mask!  Thanks!

Quote of the Day

"I am fulfilled by my own life on an hourly basis." ~Julia Roberts

I love this line.  I want to live my life so I can say the same thing.

Life is All About Memories

I decided that one of the reasons we are here living on this earth is to create memories.  How boring would life be without those happy, funny, sad, scary, proud moments in our lives?  And without important people to share them with?  Beki and I certainly made memories together this weekend!

Beki and I had been planning to hike Mt. Borah this weekend for what seems like forever.  Unfortunately, everyone in our group dropped out, but we still wanted to do something to fill our weekend.  I plotted a trip for us to explore the touristy areas in south-central Idaho, and we set out Friday night after work.

The trip started out well.  Beki and I jammed out to music as we made the 2 1/2 hour trip westward.  As we got to Shoshone, and saw that the ice caves were only 16 miles away (the first stop I had planned for Saturday morning), I started to worry.  Where the heck were we going to camp?  All I could see for miles and miles was flat, sagebrush covered land.  I guess I should have already been a little leery when I googled "shoshone ice caves camping" and nothing came up... but the website did say the caves were near the Sawtooth National Forest, so I thought we wouldn't have any problems finding a camping spot.  Beki and I joked about which sagebrush plant we wanted to camp by.  A few miles past the caves, though, we saw a sign for Magic Reservoir, and it had several pictures indicating the amenities, including a boat and an RV.  Perfect - we decided if there was a place for RVs, then we could definitely camp at the reservoir.

Shortly after we got to the reservoir, we eyed a spot up on a hill that looked like a campsite.  As we were driving along the road to the site, we laughed because the GPS showed us driving on water.  We were completely on dry land!  We even took a picture because we thought it was funny.  Well, less than a minute after taking the picture, we were stuck in the mud - where did that mud come from???  Guess it wasn't as dry as we thought (come to find out later, the area we were driving on was covered with water only two weeks ago!).

Beki and I were resourceful and pulled out our camping shovels to dig out the mud and placed some wood under our tires in an effort to get unstuck.  No such luck.  A few minutes later, a man came walking by - he said he was stuck just on the other side of the hill.  We all decided to walk to town (a mile or so away) to see if we could get help.  Beki grabbed the shrimp and brownies she had brought us for dinner to take into town in case we got hungry... only the shrimp juice spilled in her purse all over the brownies so we had shrimp-flavored brownies!  Not the tastiest thing you've ever eaten.  You probably had to be there, but it was pretty hilarious :-)

We didn't even make it all the way to town before a couple men (one in a truck, one on a four-wheeler) from town came out to see if they could help us.  They said they had been watching us the entire time from their telescope (Beki had already decided before this that we were in part of a horror movie, and this only solidified her concerns)!  The men said people get stuck out there all the time.  To make a long story short, the truck that tried to help us out got stuck (you seriously got stuck in like an inch and a half of mud), and two more trucks of people and another four-wheeler came out with rope and chains and we were finally successfully pulled out of the mud.  I think the entire town of West Magic was there enjoying the show!  We drove up to the higher ground where we saw the campsite two hours after we arrived at the reservoir!

Beki and I had a great night laughing and laughing about the adventure we had had and talked about the nice people of West Magic who spent their Friday night helping us for free (thanks Jim, Jerry, Mike, Heather, Gordon, and Varmit!).  We ate dinner and made smores and were happy there was a bathroom right by our campsite :-)

The next morning we took a couple pictures before we headed out for our next set of adventures.

The leftover mud on my Blazer

See - I told you we were driving on a "road"!

Next stop was a private guided tour of the Shoshone Ice Caves (it's amazing how the cave can stay so cold in the middle of the desert!) followed by a self-tour of the Mammoth Cave.  We were given lanterns to take through the Mammoth Cave - which was 50 feet high and 50 feet wide in some places... It was so gigantic - I wished there wasn't a designated path because I would have loved to explore the rest of the cave!

The final stop on our adventure was the Little City of Rocks (which I had a hard time finding and almost turned around about 100 feet before the entrance - so glad I didn't!).  Beki and I had a blast climbing all over the rocks.  We even named our favorites: The Challenger, The Sisters, The Lookout, The Crack, The Cave, The Porthole, and The Face :-)  We took TONS of pictures on the rocks.  Here are a few of my favorites:

We made it back to Boise safe and sound, and with 22 hours of laughter and memories.  Here's to our next memory-making adventure!

Weekend in Donnelly

Last weekend, Jen and I joined Brandon and a couple of his friends at his family's "cabin".  I use the term cabin loosely because it was really a gorgeous three-story house right on Cascade Lake in Donnelly, Idaho.  We each had our own bedrooms... heck, Jen and I had our own floor!  Here's a picture of the back of the cabin... the stairs you see at the bottom of the picture lead out to the dock.

We started the weekend early by heading up to Donnelly on Thursday... after grabbing dinner at Chapalas in McCall, we had fun playing cards, watching a movie, and then laying out on the dock watching a really great meteor shower.  It was the most incredible view - we could see SO many stars up there away from the city.  I wouldn't mind having that kind of view all the time!

After a late night, we were out on the lake bright and early the next morning... and I learned to wakeboard!  I tried wakeboarding several summers ago when I had a boat (oh how I miss having a boat!), but could never really get up.  I think the longest I was up before this weekend was for like 12 seconds.  Well, I popped up the first time I tried this weekend!  I didn't stay up long the first time (it was longer than 12 seconds though!), and my next couple tries were much better.  I never got my guts up to try crossing the wake - maybe next time :-)  It was Jen's first time wakeboarding, and she did great too!  It was fun watching Brandon and Adam get so much air on their jumps.

We went into McCall for lunch, came back for an afternoon nap, and then went back out on the lake for some surfing.   I had wanted to try surfing, but it was really windy and I didn't really want to try surfing in the choppy water when it wasn't especially warm outside.  Adam and Brandon were awesome though, and I just enjoyed being out on the lake in the boat.

We ended the evening with some yummy dinner (including chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!), more card games, time in the hot tub out on the deck of the cabin, and another movie.  Jen and I headed back to Boise Saturday morning... It was definitely nice just getting away and relaxing for a couple of days.

Relief Society Campout

My ward had a Relief Society campout a couple weeks ago.  It was actually really nice to be able to go camping without the hassle of planning where to go, prepping and packing all the food, etc.  All I had to do was grab my sleeping bag and camp chair and head out!  We stayed on some property the Ranstroms own right on Horsethief Reservoir.  We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous sunset!

Or course we had a campfire that night, where we watched the lightening around the night sky for a while before the rain decided to hit.  We all ran for our tents (after securing everything down)!  The rain didn't last long, but by that time we were all in our tents for the night.  I can't remember the last time I laughed so much.  Yes, I was in "that tent" - the one who won't stop talking and laughing that I'm usually annoyed with, but we couldn't help it.  We were having so much fun :-)  It's amazing how entertained we kept ourselves with a camera taking pictures of our faces at random angles that made us look like aliens.  Sorry - there's no way I'm posting those pictures here!

The next morning we got in a hike before it was time to head home.  We started out on an old logging trail, but ended up bushwacking our way across the mountain for part of our hike :-)  I just love being out in the beautiful Idaho outdoors - and am happy that I've taken time this summer to enjoy them!

Eat Pray Love

Last night a group of us went to see the movie Eat Pray Love.  We started out with dinner at Goodwood.  Our group took up almost the entire length of the restaurant!  Outside of Costa, it seems like Goodwood is the only other restaurant we ever go to, but I love their food!  I usually get pulled pork, but last night I enjoyed the delicious salmon with dill & capers and smashed potatoes :-)

 

Only eight of us ended up making it to the movie, but I'm glad I was one of those eight!  I thought the movie was a beautiful story of one woman's journey to find herself.  Over the course of the year throughout which the movie took place, she really found out who she was and what was important to her.  I have to admit, the movie did seem kind of long, and we had gone to a late movie so I was pretty tired, but it really was the message that I loved.  I've added the book Eat Pray Love to my Goodreads list, and I have already started thinking about how I might take that same kind of journey.  I would love to take a year off and travel the world, but since that's not realistic for me, I'll see how I can somehow take that same journey here at home.

Please, Sit By Me!

I think this phrase must have been tattooed on my forehead a couple weeks ago.  I had two experiences that just amazed me!

The first was the night that we decided to go see the movie Salt.  It was a Friday night, but the theater was probably only 1/4 full.  Jen, Simone, and I were all stretched out with our feet on the seats in front of us, and I was the one on the aisle seat.  Just as the movie theater got dark for the previews to begin, a woman came into the theater, walked up the stairs to the row in front of us, and just stared at me until I moved my feet.  Um, hello???  Were there not enough other empty seats in the entire theater?  Was there a reason you wanted that exact seat?  Could you not have moved down one row, or perhaps moved in closer toward the middle if you really liked that row?  It's not like she even needed to save an entire row for her group because she was there all alone!  Weird.

The next experience came a few days later as I was on the plane headed to Portland for our girls trip.  It was an early flight and I could tell by the waiting area in the airport that I could probably look forward to having an entire row to myself so I could lay down and sleep for the duration of the flight.  As I boarded, I selected a window seat, put my feet up on the middle seat, and set my purse on the aisle seat.  I didn't make eye contact with any of the other passengers who boarded after me.  It was clear that I wanted the entire row.  Well, sure enough, one of the last passengers to board the plane decided to stand at my row and asked if he could have the aisle seat.  I was kind of stunned, as I looked around the plane and saw at least 15-20 completely empty rows.  Why did he have to pick my row???  Why wasn't the aisle seat in the row in front of me good enough?  It's not like that row had anyone in the middle!  I had my nap all planned out.  I was kind of irritated, and considered moving back a few rows so I could have my own row, but I was stuck because I was by the window and didn't necessarily want to climb over the top of this man.  I seriously thought I must have been sending out some vibe that I wanted people to sit by me!

Great Reads

The list of books I want to read keeps growing and growing.  In fact, I've got four books that I recently purchased and one book that I was given as a gift just sitting on my family room table waiting for me to start (The Help, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and East of Eden).  That doesn't count all the books on my bookshelf that I haven't started and my giant list of "to-read" books on Goodreads.  Just gotta finish my current read (The Girls From Ames) so I can get started on some of these other books!

I just wanted to post quickly, though, on three fabulous books I read this last month.  I started with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  Definitely in my top five books ever!  I love historical fiction, so this incredible journey of a family living in Nazi Germany truly touched me.  And what I found especially beautiful was that the book was narrated by "Death".  I know, "beautiful" might seem like a weird word for Death, but the insight and imagery really was just that.  If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it!!  You won't be disappointed!

The other two books are in a series - The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  These are the first two books in a trilogy, with the third book - Mockingjay - set to come out on August 24th.  I just pre-ordered the trilogy box set on Amazon :-)  These books probably fall into the teen fantasy realm, but were such fun, fast reads and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.  Great for kids and adults alike!

Garden Harvest

Because of the cold spring, I got a late start on planting my garden... and I'm just now barely starting to harvest some of my vegetables!  I sure am having fun though, since I planted a few different things than I normally plant.  In the past I've typically planted a salsa garden, but with a second garden bed this year, I've added several kinds of herbs, as well as some yellow summer squash and lettuce.  It was so much fun this last week to go out to my garden and pick some lettuce and tomatoes to put on the sandwich I was making that morning for lunch!

Being Involved

I think it's important to be involved in your community in one way or another... whether it be volunteering at a food bank or at your child's school, helping plan community events, etc.  I think my parents instilled this in me when I was growing up as they encouraged me to participate in the Congressional Award program.  Between age 13 1/2 and 18, I completed the requirements for and received the bronze, silver, and gold congressional awards, which, among other things, consisted of over 700 cumulative hours of community service.

Even though I don't have an organization for which I consistently volunteer anymore, I continue to stay involved and connected, especially through Boise Young Professionals and Boise Rec Fest.  I'm excited about something new on my horizon... I am going to be teaching a 1-credit discussion lab this fall at Boise State for a University 101 class.  I know it probably doesn't seem like much, but for a few years I've thought I might enjoy teaching at the college level, so here's my chance to find out what it's like!

But the main reason for this post is so I can say how proud I am of my sister Mandi.  She is finishing up certification to be a soccer coach here in Boise.  She will assist with coaching a U-11 or U-13 soccer team this fall.  You might think to yourself that a lot of parents help out with coaching.  The difference with Mandi is that she doesn't have a child on the team that she'll be coaching.  Her kids are too young to play any sport!  I think it's so cool that Mandi is not only following a passion of hers (soccer), but has found a way to give back to our community by giving of her time to help coach.  Congrats Mandi - I think what you are doing is awesome!

Girls Trip to Lincoln City, Oregon

Several months ago, Kris decided she wanted to organize a girls trip.  I, of course, jumped on board immediately... well at least after she changed the location from Vegas to the Oregon Coast!  This summer seemed to drag as we all anticipated the weekend we would be able to get away and relax on the coast, enjoying the beach and the cooler weather.  That weekend finally arrived last Thursday!  We all had the most amazing time!  I'm posting several posts from the weekend to break things up a bit.

I'll start with the actual trip to the coast:

Brenda and I flew into Portland and rented a car for the weekend to drive to the coast (everyone else drove the 9+ hours from Boise).  I was SO thankful my parents lent me their GPS.  I've never really used a GPS before, but I had so much fun plugging in our destinations and having it tell me step-by-step directions!  I think I might have to buy myself one for Christmas!

Our first stop was breakfast.  I had googled "best breakfast in Portland" and decided to try the Screen Door.  We plugged in the address, only to get there and find out the Screen Door is only open for dinners and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.  Bummer.  So we just checked the GPS for another nearby food location.  I think it took us to a Catholic mission.  Um, not exactly what we were looking for!  We scrolled through more options on the GPS and found a Paradise Bakery - I LOVE Paradise Bakery.  We had to-die-for ham and swiss croissant sandwiches and got a couple dozen cookies to go.  We then had a blast shopping in the mall - I found some adorable shoes (which I bought in two colors!), a dress, and a couple shirts.  We also got facials at Clinique, after which I ended up buying the products they used on me - they really helped reduce the redness in my skin!

After an entire morning of shopping in Portland, we decided to head out to the coast.  We stopped along the way to buy some fresh local blueberries.  Yummy!  We then headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  I love that place!  We had grilled cheese sandwiches and stocked up on some more treats for the trip... cheese cubes, cheese curds, cheese spread with crackers, fresh fudge, and more!

We traveled another hour or so south to our house along the most beautiful highway surrounded by forest.  We were amazed with the gorgeous flowers EVERYWHERE!  They were growing wild along the side of the road and flower baskets hung from almost every house.

I had so much fun traveling with Brenda!  I'm glad she decided to fly with me :-)

Our Beach House

Kris, Mandy, and I spent hours this spring looking through websites trying to find the perfect place to stay... and we succeeded!  Most of the rentals we found required a 5 night stay, unless you were filling in a gap in between two other reservations.  It just so happened that the house we stayed at - the Porthole - had the exact three nights open on the weekend we wanted to travel!  It was a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house that slept 10 people.  It had a wrap-around porch that overlooked the ocean, and less than a minute walk down the path to the beach.  Brenda and I walked up and down the beach and decided it was definitely the best house!  Some of the houses had no direct beach access, others had no privacy, others didn't have a deck.  Ours had everything.  We even had a hot tub on the back porch!

We spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the house... sitting on the deck and watching the seals or sea otters play, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing, playing games, and watching movies.  It was so nice and relaxing.

I wish we could have stayed just another day or two... I will definitely try to reserve the Porthole again on my next trip to the Oregon coast!

There were a bunch of "portholes" throughout the house.

Chilling in the hot tub after a day of playing

Lincoln City Beach

We of course spent plenty of time on the beach!  One of the first things we did when we got to the coast was take a walk on the beach :-)  I had just had a pedicure two days before the trip!

We also took a walk on the beach first thing Friday morning (right after Kris and I worked out - that's why we look so cute!) when the tide was low.  The barnacles on the rock were amazing... and we loved the starfish and "sea cucumbers" (we weren't sure what they were called so that's what we named them!)

I discovered the ocean was a little cold :-)  In fact, my feet got numb a couple times when they got too wet.  Here I am running toward shore when a wave came up further than I expected!  I didn't know Brenda was going to snap a picture... check out the reaction to the cold water on my face!

Brenda and I took thirteen different shots to finally get this one of the surf coming up to our feet...

We had a fire on the beach on Friday night and roasted marshmallows.  It took us a while to get the fire started, but it was lots of fun once we got it going!  Kris and Traci made smores, while Mandy and I enjoyed the roasted marshmallows one browned layer at a time.

And finally - we were excited to see Nye Beach as we were driving south to Newport.  Here I am in a picture with the sign!

Being Tourists on the Coast

Of course we had to do a few "touristy" activities while on the coast!  On Friday afternoon, after spending the morning checking out the little shops in Lincoln City, we headed south and checked out the Devil's Punchbowl.  Nature is just so amazing - how the water and elements have carved out the rock over the years.  As the tide came in, it looked like the water in the "punch bowl" was boiling.

On Saturday, we headed to Newport and went to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  We climbed the 111 steps to the top of the lighthouse.  When the lighthouse was first built, oil was burned to keep the light going.  The oil had to be carried from the bottom level up the stairs - usually 2 to 3 gallons a night depending on the length of the night (less in the summer, more in the winter).  The lighthouse operators could only use one hand to carry the oil, as they needed the other to hold on to the railing.  I'm sure the oil got heavy!  The lighthouse is still in operation today... only now the light is powered with electricity!

Checking out the view of the ocean outside the lighthouse...

My Vacation Diet

For some reason I think I can eat whatever I want on vacation.  Well, my scale didn't quite agree with me when I got home!  Oh well, at least I enjoyed every bite of the delicious food I ate on the coast!

The first night in Lincoln City, we went to a nice restaurant right on the beach.  Most of us ordered halibut.  I LOVE halibut.  Kris and I shared a couple different kinds of halibut - one with shrimp and pico, the other that was encrusted with Parmesan cheese and macadamia nuts and was topped with crab.  SO delicious!  I could seriously eat that every night (well, maybe switch back and forth between the halibut and Costa Vida!).

Here's a picture of all six of us at the restaurant - Brenda, Traci, Kris, me, Annie, and Mandy.

We tried out a 50's diner on Saturday for lunch - Flashbacks.  It was so much fun.  The decor was great - and we entertained ourselves with hula hoops while we waited for our lunch to come!

How could we pass up dessert in a place like this?  Mandy and I shared a giant banana split with double whipped cream.  We ate every bite :-)

We also made a couple fun meals at the house - tortilla soup and pulled pork sandwiches.  And when you're on the beach, you've gotta make fun drinks, right?  Kris made me a special virgin strawberry daiquiri.  It was delish.