New Glasses

Hurray! They finally came! My old glasses I broke on the way to Brasil were sagging from the athletic tape we used to put them back together. So with some birthday money I bought some sweet vintage glasses from www.WarbyParker.com. (Check em out, they're the "Belen" model)

By the way, I totally love that company. With taxes, glasses are only $95 and for every pair you buy, they donate a pair to a non-profit organization. Love these!

Our Awesomest Weekend

Fourth of July Weekend!!! Possibly the second best weekend of the year--with the free chicken sandwich weekend at Chik Fillet being the best. (Not.)

Recap:
Thursday I had a kidney stone. Ouch. Haven't had one since 2006 and this one wasn't too bad. I passed it without the aide of serious medication! (Ibuprofen and water is how I survived)

Friday: Kidney stone started to pass. That evening we left for our new annual tradition of backpacking Lake Blanche. Ate huge meals first at Cafe Rio. (BAD idea for someone who hadn't been eating because of kidney pain.) I barely made it up the trail and felt like I wanted to die. But hurray! We made it and the view was outstanding.

Saturday: Came back down from Lake Blanche and took a big long nap while watching soccer.

Sunday: BBQ!!! Dang it. I forgot to take pictures. My parents had a ginormous BBQ with wild boar ribs, chicken legs and everyone brought oodles of side dishes. Guest list: Whitings, Bakers, Limas, Einfeldts, Johnsons, Evelyn and Adrienne T. It was so fun! Afterward Dad let off illegal fireworks and the Lima kids went nuts. So did Evelyn. She kept looking for things to blow up with firecrackers.

Monday: Boring. Did homework.

Tuesday: Went to Lugano's for dinner! Was very disappointed. Food was over-rated. Service sucked big time. My risotto cost $27!!! I can freaking make risotto and grilled chicken at home for $3.00! (Although the wine reduction would be tough because I don't have any wine and buying alcohol in Utah is ridiculous... for the fact that I would get dirty looks from neighbors if they saw cooking wine in my cupboard and I have no idea where liquor stores are around here...)

And here we are.

I have been working on some fun little projects for my nephew, unborn Noah. I started sewing cute shapes on onesies. Here is one of them. It's a pear! (I also started a rain cloud with rain drops going across the front of the tummy.) Also started a tag blankie. Here is the fabric. The lighter blue and green is Minky fabric- so it's soft and cuddly (almost like microfleece). Can't wait for the final product to be finished. It would be a lot easier if I actually owned a sewing machine. Oh man, I'm getting so crafty. (Although I still and will always refuse to scrapbook.)

Also! Funny work story. One Monday my co-worker, Bobbie and I had a couples massage. The husband kept joking around the entire massage. I asked him what he did for a living and he replied with three answers, "I work in a cafeteria. I read the notes doctors leave on their napkins and that's how I learn stuff." "I tried to go to massage school but they wouldn't let me because they said I rubbed people the wrong way." "Actually I dropped out of med school because I wanted to be a breakdancer on SNL. I even made a sequin bandana to wear, but it fell apart." Kind of a bizarre guy, right? So after the massage we were changing the sheets for our next massage and I found these on his side of the table. Yes. Huge women's Victoria's Secret panties. I totally thought it was a joke (which is why I took a picture of them with my phone). We had a good laugh. Then in the middle of our next massage we heard a knock on the door (VERY unusual). Bobbie answered the door. It was his wife! She asked if we had seen some panties because she had left hers there on accident. Bobbie literally had to pull them out of the garbage (because we threw them away, obviously) and give them back to her. So embarrassing!!

Anyway! It feels good to sit in my bedroom with the fan on and the windows open. I love the Rockies in the summer time.

Barefoot Running

Justin is doing a physics project on Barefoot Running and the differences between forces on the body during barefoot running as opposed to running with shoes. Unfortunately, he somehow missed the big black bolded warning on the training tips website that said, "Build up slowly!" So after his 2.5 mile run barefoot, he has some sad looking feet. I would post pictures of us popping the blisters and draining them so it won't ruin our backpacking trip to Lake Blanche this weekend... but someone might read this and throw up.

Privatization and Goodbye Facebook

Hello few readers.

You might have noticed that my blog is now private. I didn't know everyone's email address so there are many people I would still like to invite to read this but just haven't been invited yet. I have privatized this blog for many reasons. Mainly it has been done to create space between our little family and others out in the cyber/real world. Nuff said.

Also! I got rid of my facebook account. As my friend, Jocelyn wrote in her blog, facebook is not a good place for those with addictive personalities. For the same reason that I cannot have potato chips or french fries in the house, I cannot have a facebook profile any longer. Justin still has his Facebook if you want to keep in touch with him. Or... we could just actually talk on the phone! If that is still too personal, I do love texting.

With that said, I am off to get things done that normally would wait until after my facebook stalking was complete. (I.e. apply for jobs, write papers, study for tests, work on some crafting projects I have going on, cleaning, running, etc.)

Tribute

My cousin Mike sent me an article today that was published about Denver water treatment history. In it my Granddad was mentioned a few times and this picture of him (on the right) as Lab Chief taking the USGS director on a tour in 1976 was posted. My Granddad was a chemist for the US Government and worked under the US Geological Survey for many years. He was a leader in setting up water treatment in different states across the US including Denver and Utah. He retired with my Grandma in Virginia for 20 something years. Last fall we moved him here because he suffers from Alzheimer's disease and now he stays at Silverado Alzheimer's Retirement Home. My Grandma also suffers from less severe Alzheimer's and lives at Sunrise Assisted Living just up the street.
I'm so grateful for their contributions to society. I love them both very much!

Whitewater Weekend

The end of a glorious weekend... sigh. What an awesome time we had. We went whitewater rafting three times down the Snake with Justin and some friends guiding our rafts, played cards, sat around and talked, ate cobbler, spent time in a homemade sweat lodge, shopped in Jackson Hole and ate at Bubba's. Perfection? Absolutely. It was a fun weekend with friends and we celebrated my birthday, Father's Day and my sister, Hilary's birthday all in one.
Why must all good things come to an end?

Changes and Celebrations

This week brought some changes for my family and we also had a few small celebrations.

My baby sister, Hilary, graduated from high school. She is amazing. I can't say enough good about her. She's brilliant, sweet, funny and laid back. It was bittersweet for my parents seeing their baby graduate, but we're all really proud.

The next day my parents and I drove to Ogden to see my grandparents' graves. I miss my Grandma Maughan all the time. She left quite a legacy for her 7 children and 20 something grandchildren.

On Sunday Justin and I spent the quiet day together. We went on a long drive up Emigration Canyon. We also went to visit our favorite dog, Zoey.

On Memorial Day we had dinner with Justin's family and roasted marshmallows up the canyon with his brother Zach, sister-in-law Brandi, and their kids Rylee, Oakley and Ashton. Some of the smores were a little out of control.