Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.
24. Have an awesome garden.
25. Take Lucy to Jamaica to show her where we got married.
26. Knit myself another sweater.
27. Laser off my pit hair and bikini line.
28. Find a style.

I think I lament about my lack of style at least every six months on the blog.  I need to figure out my style and I need to get clothes! I’m so tired of feeling frumpy and unattractive.  The problem is that I need to figure out my style and I have no way of figuring out how to do that.  There is a mom at school that always looks so cute.  Maybe I’ll ask her where she shops?

~~

I’m home today with Lucy.  We think she has Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  She was accidentally exposed to it last week and I thought we were in the clear and BAM-101* temp and a scratchy throat.  So we’re sitting at home.  I rented Winnie the Pooh from Redbox and she seems to be enjoying it.  I got her a peanut butter chocolate shake and she took two sips and said that she was done because it hurt .

With my unexpected day off I’ve set up a new bank account for us, scheduled my annual for my week off (joy!), signed Lu up for swim lessons, signed myself up for a gym around the corner (for $14/month!!!!), and folded literally 4 weeks worth of laundry (it was insane!). At least I got to catch up!

Poor Lu though, I wish she felt better .

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.
24. Have an awesome garden.
25. Take Lucy to Jamaica to show her where we got married.
26. Knit myself another sweater.
27. Laser off my pit hair and bikini line.

That would be awesome.

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.
24. Have an awesome garden.
25. Take Lucy to Jamaica to show her where we got married.
26. Knit myself another sweater.

I used to be a pretty prolific knitter. Then I had Lu. I think I’ve knit a few hats and a sweater for her since she was born and that’s it. Porter’s baby blanket is exactly half done and the kid is 18 months old. Nice. I want to start knitting again. I miss it.

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.
24. Have an awesome garden.
25. Take Lucy to Jamaica to show her where we got married.

Seven years ago today I married my favorite person in the world. He’s still my favorite and I love him more today than I did 7 years ago.

We got married in a little fishing village in Jamaica called Treasure Beach. It was amazing. I want to share that with Lucy too.

Here are our anniversary flowers that I picked out at the Farmer’s Market. My favorite-peonies and alliums.

In very sad news, my Zoe kitty died peacefully in her sleep today. I made an appointment to have her put down today but when I went to get her, she had already died. We were able to give her lots of love before she went and I know that it was her time to go.

It’s hitting me much harder than I thought it would. I’m really sad but I know that she had a happy life with me.

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.
24. Have an awesome garden.

I went with Megan, Anna, and Kathleen today to do the Boise Garden Tour. We saw some AMAZING gardens and some felt very attainable-like I could create that if I worked at it. So work at it, I will. Once bucket list #2 happens, I’ll start working on a pretty garden with succulents, peonies, hastas, and allium. 🙂

~~

5 years ago today I finished the Ironman!

In super sad news, my kitty cat is dying. If she makes it through the night I have to call to get her put down tomorrow. We have jokingly called her the vampire cat because she never seems to age. I got her 10 years ago and she’s moved across country with me multiple times. She was a rescue kitty and had a hard first few years until she found me. About 7 years ago, she had to have all of her teeth removed due to decay but she bounced back from that wonderfully. About 4 years ago she started puking 3-5 times a week but the vet could never figure out why. So we’ve been dealing with cat puke but a seemingly healthy cat for 4 years. I noticed on Friday that she was acting off but I assumed it was the heat. Today I thanked Shaun for cleaning her box and feeding her last week-he hadn’t been. 🙁 She hasn’t pooped in a week and hasn’t eaten very much either. She isn’t responding to me petting her (which is crazy unlike her) and is very listless. It has become very evident that she is just waiting to die. I’m incredibly sad. We’ve been through so much together and I can’t believe that it’s really her time.

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.
23. Support Lucy, unconditionally.

We were watching So You Think You Can Dance last night and the amount of people who get little to no support from their family broke my heart.  I hope that Lucy NEVER feels that way. I want her to feel supported and loved by us.  My brother always says that as long as your kids know they are loved, then you have done something right. I have to say that I agree!

These pictures don’t do our trip justice.  It was more amazing than I can ever relate. 

The first morning, I unzipped the tent to find snow had fallen in the 25* night.  We, surprisingly, stayed pretty warm in our tent.

We decided to check out Old Faithful first:

One of the amazing pools around Old Faithful:

We hiked about a mile to see Old Faithful go off and to avoid the crowds:

Here’s our view, before it went off:

We waited, in the snow, with one other couple and their 3 year old and then it went off:

Lu didn’t want her picture taken:

Old Faithful, the snow, and us:

We saw a few Yellow Bellied Marmots:

The next day we went on a 6 mile hike to Shoshone Lake.  It’s the largest lake in the contiguous United States that you can’t get to by car.  It was also right in the middle of a bear area.  We had our spray and we made A LOT of noise! No bears were seen!

The lake!

Shaun’s favorite part of Yellowstone was Hayden Valley, we had our best grizzly sighting here-too bad I don’t have a good zoom lens!

Some of the hundreds of bison we saw:

Lucy counting them:

A hot spring run off:

The Grand Prismatic Pool-AMAZING!

Lu and Daddy watching an Osprey.

As it gets a fish!

One of the MANY elk we saw!

The view of Yellowstone Lake from our campground:

A cute, but blurry picture of my Lu:

The Lower Falls:

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone:

Hiking down Uncle Tom’s Trail to the bottom of the Lower Falls:

At the bottom of the 327 steps:

And back up:

The Lower Falls from Artist’s Point:

Hello there, bison!

A fox! The only thing to actually scare us-it ran right at Lucy and Shaun!  We were very careful to follow the 25/100 yard rule while there!

The Petrified Tree:

We got to see babies nursing in this heard of bison:

Lu and Mommy having a peanut butter cup at lunch

ELK!

8 big horn sheep-4 ewes and 4 lambs:

We also got to see the sheep nursing!

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces:

Bison sparring:

A heard of bison right outside of the Old Faithful Inn:

Our last sunset:

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.
22. Be a positive force in this world. Not a negative, judgmental one.

~~~

Lu turns 4 in 3 months from today. *sob*

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.
21. Become the type of person who gives the perfect gifts. ON TIME.

Bucket List:

1. Write a book
2. Own an actual house with a yard (NOT a condo!)
3. Get to 20% body fat
4. Bike Tour
5. Be totally debt free!
6. Tour Hawaii in a VW Vanagon
7. Visit France, Italy, and Spain
8. Have a real summer vacation-no working summer school!
9. Visit ALL of America’s National Parks (I’ve hit 9 of the 58)
10. Work a summer in Yellowstone.
11. See a moose!
12. See Yellowstone in the winter.
13. Visit all 50 States (I’m up to 15-ha!)
14. Ride in a hot air balloon.
15. Ride the Idaho City Tour with Shaun-50 Mile Mountain Bike Ride
16. Take a helicopter ride.
17. Learn to juggle.
18. Go on an epic vacation with friends, sans kids.
19. Go sky diving.
20. Learn how to make pierogies.

My husband will thank me.