Vacation Numero Uno

Summer passed so quickly, didn't it? Anyone feel just a little bit robbed. Of course, I shouldn't feel that way; I did plenty of loafing around, and even went on two family vacations. The first was a trip to Lake Tahoe, and thought it was over a month ago, I've been dying to share it with you:

On my Lake Tahoe trip I.....

....enjoyed driving most of the way so Mom would keep reading Beauty to Steph and me.

....celebrated Jared's 16th birthday with BTS cake and presents wrapped in socks.

....took some of the most beautiful and scenic hikes ever, and some halfway decent pictures to capture that beauty. You know, Colby and I went to Tahoe on our honeymoon five years ago, but somehow I don't remember the scenery that well...

....played in the lake with my big little bro's. The sandbar must have been nearly half a mile long; I could wade out that far before I was even up to my neck in water. Then Matt and Jared gave me piggy-back rides and had fun freaking me out, pretending they couldn't touch the bottom anymore.

....fished in the Carson River with Mom and Jared. No one else around us caught any fish, but we got a ton of them. Jared caught at least 10 of his own. I only caught three, but I had a lot of fun and also hooked a nasty sunburn...

....made cute jewelry with Mom and Steph. I even helped Jared make some earrings and a necklace for his little "friend" Kara. :)

....took the grand prize in a hilarious game of "Sardines," in which I squished myself into the cupboard beneath the bathroom sink and no one could find me until my leg started to cramp and my toes popped out of the cupboard door. In the end, I almost couldn't get out of the cupboard and nearly had to spend the night there.

....basked in the quiet of our secluded resort, and enjoyed every minute of my family's company. It's amazing how valuable that time becomes when it is available so infrequently.

In a Hurry

Here's a quick update, just so y'all know I didn't fall off the face of the earth....

I just got back from a fun little road trip to Lake Tahoe. It was the first time I'd been on vacation with my family, so even though some of us were missing it was wonderful. We caught lots of fish in the Carson River, and played a ton of games....who could ask for a better time? I'll have pictures to post a little later.

On Tuesday I had lunch with my dearies Teann and Lauryl. It was so fun to visit and catch up on each others' lives. I can't believe how amazing these girls are; I've missed our little barbershop quartet so much! It was a good time for all, little Jaron's toe-biting incident aside.



I also had a date with my dearest Vanessa last night. Ahh, I love that girl. So does Joshy; they're getting married on my anniversary (five years already?!?!)....I am so excited for her!



I'll have more time to share pictures and stuff in a couple of weeks, but right now I've got to jet. I'm on my way out the door....to go to MEXICO!

See ya.

Kind of a Disaster

I gave Colby a haircut last night (coughing nervously).

It's not my fault it turned out that way!

Though I managed to salvage it okay, this is undoubtedly the worst haircut Colby's received in our five years of marriage. After oiling my electric clippers, I forgot to replace the attachment. I shaved a 6" strip up the back of his head before I realized my mistake; I almost swore. It took over 40 minutes of careful blending and snipping to recover my blunder and produce a semi-decent-looking, military-short new 'do.

The huge bald spot only shows when he turns his head to the side.

They should put a warning label on those clippers.

A Week in Review

Last week was a bit of a nutter, and I'm still trying to catch up.

First, I made a whole lot of this....


Then, I helped a little with this.....


Colby and I also took a little trip to Boise (our first this year), where I spent some quality time with Grandma, playing this:


While in Idaho, reckless abandon with the hair-cutting shears resulted in drastically new 'dos for many -- including myself. I'll expound on that another time. Right now I am too bugged. I just caught up on the Bachelorette and am a tad upset: how is it that the sweetest guy gets the boot, while the jerk of the world gets to stick around? Wes has already gotten the publicity he wants -- I hoped he'd man up and bow out of the competition, but no such luck. In my frustration, I unwittingly inhaled half a bag of Sun Chips....and now I'm really mad.

I'm going to bed.

A Big Accomplishment

Yesterday was a big day for me -- I ran my very first 5K! About a month ago I joined a group of church friends who'd been training for the race since April. Coming in late, I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up. I hadn't had to run since middle school, and even then I was a sissy and usually walked half of the required weekly mile. My kickboxing class must've kicked my butt into shape, though, because I've definitely held my own.


1627 -- my new favorite number! Sadly, they were out of my t-shirt size. When I picked up my race packet I got a shirt two sizes too big! It went halfway down my thighs and made me look huge....not very sexy....


My cute running friends. I've discovered that it's much more fun running with other people. We've gotten to know each other better, and have definitely pushed each other to work harder.


Crossing the finish line....


My proud little sis came to watch me, along with my brother and his girlfriend.

The race was harder than I'd anticipated. The huge hill in the first mile nearly killed me, as I hadn't trained on hills and didn't pace myself very well. A couple of times I almost stopped running, especially as people around me slowed down to walk. I just couldn't bring myself to quit, though, and I managed to finish in less than 30 minutes with only a couple of stroller-pushers beating me to the finish. I was a little disappointed with my time, as I'd completed my last practice run in 24 minutes. I guess that means I will have to keep training, so I can do better at my next race!

A Little Free Time

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging comments. The search for a hygiene job is still on, but I've got my third and fourth interviews this week and should be hearing back very soon about last week's working interview. Hopefully something pans out quickly; I hate job-hunting! In fact, if I had my choice I probably wouldn't work at all -- not in the traditional sense, anyway. I could keep myself plenty busy just sewing, crafting, and decorating, with only occasional breaks for food and water. I guess I'll just have to enjoy the extra time right now while I've got it. I'm working on some new blessing dresses and would love some ideas of where to sell them. Someone suggested to me that I put them in hospital gift shops, which I may do. My Etsy shop will be up and running soon, as well.....I hope. In preparation for this, Cassidy took some beautiful photos of my finished gowns. I've been dying to share them with you:

Hygienist For a Day

Today I had my first working interview for a job as a real hygienist...I was SO stressed this morning, but it ended up being lots of fun. I spent the day at an office near my apartment, treating patients and trying really hard to impress the doctor. Having come straight from hygiene school (where we have 3 hours to treat a patient), I felt a bit frenzied at times trying to squeeze everything into 50-minute blocks; at the end of the day I was proud of myself for finishing only 10 minutes behind schedule.....and I got to give someone an injection -- one of my favorite things.

I won't know for about another week whether I'll get this job, but either way it was a good experience. I've got an interview on Friday at another office; keep your fingers crossed?