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!