Saturday night we decided to head out on an impromptu camping trip with my aunt and uncle and my newlywed cousins. The kids and I had a wonderful relaxing time – it was just what we needed.

My cousin and her new husband carved their initials into a tree.

clover, my cousin’s dog

don’t know what my uncle was demonstrating here

Honor loves Scott, my cousin’s husband. He is craving his dude time lately. Scott was really patient and took the kids fishing which is basically a practice in changing lures and untangling line.

I feel so lucky to live in a place where I can drive for less than an hour in nearly any direction and be in such beautiful mountains.

Friday was another yard sale-ing success. Amy is not only my canning friend but she is also my yard sale-ing friend. We go at least every other Friday all summer long and it is one of my very favorite things to do… evar.

Chairs before

Our last score was a set of wooden chairs. We split them up, each taking two for the front of our houses. There was a little damage done to the wood by what appeared to be a very large dog, but Amy’s husband took care of that really easily with his saw.

Amy’s look so darling in front of her house.

I painted mine aqua to match my fluorescent steps. They still need a touch up and I have little patio area planned for the space underneath them (just as soon as I can talk someone into helping me with it!).

(if you look very carefully, you can see Dexter peeking his little weenie head out the curtains.)

I’m feeling a little discouraged with the state of the outside of my house… it’s so much work to keep up with by myself. But these chairs gave me some much needed inspiration and motivation.

Saturday was my cousin’s big in-town wedding and we had such a blast! I usually feel this big letdown after weddings – there is so much planning and work that goes into just a couple of hours. But this wedding was SO much fun and went SO well that I felt like it was all totally worth it.

The ceremony was so laid-back and special. The kids totally behaved and the twinzies even let Honor pull them down the aisle in a red wagon. Cat Mayer photographed the wedding and I’m sure the photos are going to be totally amazing. The food was delicious and the DJ was super fun – at one point every single person at the reception was in the conga line.

Overall, it was a great day and Alyssa and Scott were thoroughly celebrated.

My third June party was one my friend Danielle and I threw for my dear friend Carrie.

Carrie and her husband, Seth, have been traveling the country since the beginning of the year. They are home for a short visit before they go out again. We are sure happy to have them home for as long as we can. They’ve been chronicling their journeys on their blog, Short and Hat.

We decided to keep it really simple for the party, just burgers, hot dogs and lots of fun sides. Our friend (and my trainer), Janae, made the most amazing cupcakes.

There were 10 little kiddos there so having the party at the park was perfect. We also supplied the kids with water guns, so there was a pretty fun water fight that went throughout the night. Honor ended up (deservingly) soaked.

Happy Birthday Carrie, we love you!

(I’m in Wyoming for my cousins wedding at her family’s ranch.)
Yesterday my uncle took me and my cousins for a ride in the dune buggy. We went flying around the ranch, it was kind of like  a rollercoaster ride in amazing scenery. It was one of those moments where I found myself stamping every detail into my memory.  I soaked up every second and will treasure that little dune buggy ride always. 

My uncle’s  grandfather made this dune buggy from a 1970ish vw bug. He had to chop the body down to make it smaller and had the custom fiberglass made. 

When I was little and visiting the ranch, I rode in the dune buggy and it is one of the things I remember the most from that visit 21 years ago. 

25 years ago my aunt and uncle got married near the ranch and my uncles dad forgot to pick him up for the wedding. So he tossed his suit in a garbage bag and rode to the wedding 10 miles away in the dune buggy. Today my cousin will ride down to the wedding site in the dune buggy with her dad driving. 

This time at the ranch preparing for the wedding has been so nostalgic, reminders of the wedding 25 years ago. The flowers were prepared by the same florist, the bride will ride in the same vehicle and ceremony is in roughly the same place. I’ve been giving my cousin a hard time for having two weddings (the second will be back home next week) but now that I’m here, feeling all the history, I see how being here is so important and so worth it. 

(more to come) 

The second party this month was a baby shower for my friend Rickelle. This was a fun one because four of us friends threw it for her which made it much easier and it was a Tangle. We’ve been toying with the idea of renting Tangle for private parties… I’m not quite sure how it will work out, but in the meantime, it’s fun to thrown my own parties there.

Here’s the first round of photos, just of the food. I haven’t transferred the photos from my camera yet.

I think fruit was my favorite part, although I loved it all. We had cranberry scones, a really delicious, fluffy cookie, chocolate covered pretzels, chicken salad on mini rolls, spinach dip, lemonade and iced tea.

I ordered the straws from Shop Sweet Lulu. I thought they were really fun!

June is the craziest month for me – full of parties! The first was a shower I threw for my cousin Alyssa who is getting married next week. I just love throwing a party – planning out the menu, making the house perfect, and planning all the details.

I wanted to go for a little whimsical sophistication for the treats, so we had marshmallow pops dipped in dark chocolate with sprinkles, antipasto skewers, smoked salmon dip and a 4 layer red velvet, strawberry shortcake. To drink I made naughty limeades which is 7up, half a lime squeezed, maraschino cherries and vodka.

Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself.

(excuse the blurry phone photos)

I’ve recently started collecting old china to use for such occasions. I love the look of mismatched plates. This was the first time I got to use it which made me super excited.

So I’ve lived in GJ since 1989. I was in 2nd grade when we moved here. And I have never been to a JUCO game. JUCO is kind of a big deal around these parts. It’s the Junior College World Series and our little city has been it’s host for over 50 years.

I remember when I was in high school, the halls would be empty the last week of school because everyone was ditching for JUCO. I don’t know whether the school district got smart and arranged the school schedule around JUCO or if JUCO changed to accommodate the school district. All I know is that school is now out whenever JUCO is in.

I’ve never been to a game, until last week that is. I’ve wanted to go for the last couple of years, but not enough to make it happen. So this year, the kids and I had a plan and we were determined to go. Carrie happened to come home from her great US adventure a little early so she was able to come with us too. Our friend Troy is a JUCO diehard so we sat with him and Danielle and Becky in the very special O section.

The kids had a blast and I got such a kick out of watching them cheer at every home run. I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed the game too. I think out of all the sports I dislike, baseball would be the one I dislike the least. (ssshhh, don’t tell anyone.)

Next year we plan to buy a pass for every game so we can really live up the week of baseball.

Shifts in my heart have never been gradual… more like giant leaps and bounds that come on all of the sudden. Each phase that I have gone through has been brought about so quickly. Like one day I wake up different… one moment I find myself a different person that I was the moment before.

It think that is because I’ve always been pretty adaptable. I’ve always been able to accept change… especially if I saw it coming – then I could plan. Change is well upon me and I’m finding myself settling into it. Right now, change and I are friends. I’m feeling content with my life; I feel a peace and freedom that I’ve never felt. But I’m also starting to get glimpses of how different it could be. I have this feeling that I don’t even know what great things are in store for me… but I have my suspicions and they fill me with so much hope.

Today, right now – this very moment, is already so much better than I’d ever imagined it could be. I feel so, terribly thankful.

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

-Martin Luther King Jr. + someone else

(thanks Elaine)