Random Fun People

Actually, none of these people are random, they are all great friends, and SUPER fun.

This was my sister Marissa's birthday party from this summer! Wow. These people are; (first row) John, Keegan, Eric, Me, Christel, Nick, (Second row) Marissa, Kenan (We almost lost his face in both these photos. I don't know if he was avoiding being in the photo or not!)

Too many legs to count.

And 155 miles south from Marissa's birthday bash, was another party in Butte. If you are going to a wedding reception, these are definitely the guys to take with you!

ICE BLOCKING!

Yup. It's that dangerous. Ice Blocking is so dangerous that men will hold onto each other in fear as they start to slide down a hill on blocks of ice.

So dangerous that men have to come up with new, scary ways of stacking the ice to make the slide a even more exhilarating.

Only the brave will attempt "human surfing." (Andy and Miles)These men even make goofy faces at the camerawoman to hide the fact that they are a little amazed at themselves at the danger they are facing head on.

The observing bystanders are concerned for the Ice Blockers' lives and they are worried. (Can't you tell by John's face?)

Explanation...
On our last trip to Butte, we joined our friends for some "Ice blocking." I'm amazed I made it til my 27th year of life before doing this! I had heard about it when I was a kid. But I remember an adult explaining to me what it was, and since they were an adult, they included all the reasons why ice blocking is so dangerous and shouldn't be done. Now I've experienced it and know that you do have the possibility of breaking your arm off, cutting a gash in your leg, or severely grass-staining your pants. But not if you are Andy or Miles! (Except they definitely inflicted grass stains on their wardrobe.)

I'm Back!

Now is the time to throw something new up on my page! The fact that I haven't blogged for almost a year means that, yes I was a slacker, but also I've just been having too much fun with doing the normal daily stuff to write out what I'm doing. So now, I'm back! (Let's see how long it lasts!)
Marissa, Christel, and I had an impromptu photo session on Marissa's birthday. (Christel is the photographer.) That's the picture above. It was part of her birthday celebration. If I ask most people if they would like pictures taken of them for fun, they would look at me funny. But Marissa is a different type. It was super fun, and I think she enjoyed it!

Then Christel snapped a few of me and John. These were a couple of my favorites.

I want Marissa to put those feathers back in my hair soon, and wow, my husband is handsome!!

John bought me a new vacuum!! It wasn't that our old one was ancient; we probably got it in 2006, but it had developed an offensive habit of overheating after just 2 minutes of use, and then not turning on again for thirty minutes or an hour!! You can imagine the frenzy that puts you in when company is on it's way! My new one works amazingly!!! I had Gnocchi sit beside it for this picture, even though it makes him very nervous, so he thinks he's in trouble.

Birds Everywhere!

I've never thought I was much of a bird person. They're fine animals, I just haven't thought about them much. But recently, they're everywhere! And not just all around our home where they love to perch and sing in our trees. It seems that I am actually attracted to them more lately. Whether it's the black bird necklace that Marissa gave me, or the business card that John designed for me, I seem to be migrating towards liking birds!

Here's the little guy that couldn't fly for some reason, and on a pouring day this summer, our dogs found him hanging out under my vines along the fence. I noticed them batting something around as they often do when they discover insects or other small creatures, and I rushed over to save this little birdie from being mauled to death. I then brought him inside and John (the everlasting animal lover at heart) attempted to feed him worms and bread and dry him off a bit. Then we decided to let nature take it's course and let him loose in the front yard. I try not to think of Harry and the Henderson's every time we let an animal "back into the wild." It only makes me want to build pens and coops and start a mini zoo in my back yard.

That's "Momma Robin" in her nest that was built up in our eaves on the west side of our house. I've always been intensely interested when a bird decides to build it's nest anywhere near where I am. This is probably linked with some memory or something, but it just seems special. So I awarded "Momma" the respect of snapping pictures of her from far away, even though she stared me down with an alert eye anytime I walked beneath her.

And here are the eggs! I had to wait patiently for one of these short windows of time when a mother bird goes away from her nest for food. I almost felt like I was doing something wrong as I balanced on the edge of our porch railing, holding onto the roof with one hand, and clutching the camera with the other hand! And the whole time, wondering what the neighbors think or when "Momma" will be back to peck my eyes out!

The Babies!!! Two cuties with tiny wings and bare, red bellies! I have no idea how old these little ones are, but they're adorable!

And here's our dorky pigeon friends. I don't mind them on top of our roof so much, but I think I'm going to put pigeon strips on our eaves so they can't hang out there. Our perpetual cooing alarm clock that goes of at 5 in the morning still hasn't grown on us!

Cute, Cute Video!!!

Check this out. My husband found the most talented dancing dog I've ever seen!!! And I've seen a few dog competitions where people dance with their dogs. This is the BEST EVER!! I guarantee you you will crack a smile when you see the grin on this dog's face!!!

CLICK HERE!!!

We're on the News!!!

We've finally hit it big!

Check out our news story HERE!

Check out John's site HERE!

Fun Parts of Summer

A few of those oh-so-special parts about my summers are...

• Friends traveling to our place to visit, and us traveling to visit friends.
• The beautiful summery weather!
• Festivals and markets that don't happen during the rest of the year.
• Getting in the river, lakes and any other body of water to cool off!
• Barbecuing and eating outside!!!

FINALLY!!!

After what seems like weeks of rain, the sun came out today!!! During all this pouring rain we've been having, (seriously, flood warning amounts of rain!) my plans for cleaning up my yard and clearing out all the flower beds have been foiled over and over! Usually, I'm the type of person that can see the blessing of the rain and wouldn't get bent out of shape by it, but by yesterday I couldn't stand it anymore. I was done. After this many dismal days in a row, the gloominess had snuck past just blocking gardening goals and into my soul until it was truly a blue day. I'm super blessed by God, and nothing in my life is meltdown worthy, but yesterday, everything was!!! My husband played the perfect roll of "picker up of the pieces," and gently lifted me into his arms, figuratively and literally. He asked me to list all these things in my life that had "fallen apart," and then he slowly and softly led me back to the truth for each of those items. Then he took on the role of doctor and prescribed dinner out, ice cream, and a movie to completely lift me out of the soggy day blues! What a gift from God!!! John is an amazing husband!

Now the sun is out, I'm heading out to my garden, and I am reminded at how awesome God's grace is! He never leaves us, but gives us people here on earth to hold us, pat us dry, and gently lead us back unto the path that he has for us.
But now, both John and I agree, we hope that path is NEVER going to lead us to Seattle!!!

Gym Psychology

Finally!!! After being sick for a week, I went to the gym. My nose is still running, and I didn't work crazy hard, but I went! And yes, everyone's already told me that it's better to keep working out when you're sick, but I just didn't have the will power.

Ok. What is it with us people and looking at each other at the gym?!
I know what I just wrote might sound strange, but I always wonder about this. For instance, I walk into the weight room at the gym and every eye immediately is on me! Which of course makes me feel that I either need to avert my eyes and stare at the floor as I sheepishly decide what weights to try to pick up, or I need to meet every gaze like a predator ready to attack if you dare tell me my form is wrong!
Yes, there are a lot of guys in there, and yes, they will ogle at any female that sets foot in the building, so that probably answers a large percentage of the "why do people have to look at me" question. But I find it very intriguing that once I make my way through the weight room to the safer area of all things cardio, and get settled using a machine, I start doing the same thing! When someone new walks into the room, I look up, (if I'm not distracted by TLC showing wedding dresses on the TV,) and I LOOK AT THEM! And I watch them avert their eyes the same way I did mine! And I watch them awkwardly walk as coolly as they can to the nearest treadmill! Now I know I'm not checking anyone out. And I also know I don't want to make anyone feel awkward. So what is with the stare thing?

Here's my guesses.

1. It could be that people are generally by themselves when they are at the gym. This might make their self-preservation instincts kick into gear, and they have to watch every move made in the room and be on guard in case they are attacked. I like the thought of this just because I enjoy imagining people morphing into different animals and roaming about the gym looking for food. Which just isn't a normal activity at the gym.

2. It could be we are all reeaaallly bored at the gym. And nothing is better than passing our time looking at each other. I know that I am a little bit in this category because every time I step on a treadmill, I suddenly become aware of every clock in the room. And I can't wait to get off the stinking thing! Keep my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes? Uh, lets try for three. Wow, that guy's running really fast!

My conclusion is.... It's both.