Have you ever been....

...to a country music concert? Most of you who know me would place large bets on the fact that I have never been to a country music concert.

Um....sigh...see photo below.

Steve got free tickets to the Kenny Chesney concert. I had no idea who he was, never even heard his name before. Now I know that he is the guy who sings the "She thinks my tractor is sexy" song. Cringe.

Okay, it wasn't all that bad. I enjoyed being there. It was fun to go to a live concert no matter who it was. I must say, Mr. Chesney was very enthusiastic and his fiddle player was amazing. I purposely didn't take my camera so there would be no evidence of the event. But then Steve had his coworker take a picture of us and then said "Good, now you can blog about this."

Pillow Fight!

It took me a while but I have finally finished these throw pillows for our front room. They look like a simple project but between cutting the material the wrong size and having to patch pieces together, sewing on pieces backwards and having to unpick them, and using an old temper mental sewing machine, I'm surprised I made it out alive! It was a struggle but I think in the end I won the pillow fight.

Time will tell.....

Last week I noticed an old man sitting alone in church, hunched over, trying not to doze off. I had a very sympathetic reaction...'Poor guy, living alone. What does he do all day?...must get pretty board. I bet he hates going grocery shopping alone. I feel so bad for him. He looks sad, sitting there....all alone. He must miss his wife all the time.' After my moment of compassion or sympathy or pity, whatever it was, I realized there are also plenty of women who sit alone. I never feel sorry for them. I never think that they must be lonely. I admire their strength and and a life well lived.

What causes this dichotomy of thought? I guess I have this idea that after a lifetime of being married, when one loses their spouse, women seem pull through while the poor men suffer. True or not, where does this idea come from? (and I'm not saying the women don't miss their husbands, I just imagine they fare better than their widowed counterparts.)

Funny, because it seems as though the stereo-type of the pre-marriage individual is that men love the single life and fear the commitment marriage brings, while women long to have a companion to take care of them and to spend all sorts of quality time with.

When does the table turn when women find that they can take care of themselves if needed and men realize how good married life has been to them all along ? Or is this just some strange notion I have with no solid footing. Am I totally off my rocker? Should our husbands (or future husbands) pray they don't out live us women?

In the mean time, enjoy life, every moment of it...get a little crazy if you have to.

P.S. Steve, I love you and hope we enjoy a long life together...and I will try to plan on living longer.

Cabins are a Girl's Best Friend!

Steve and I visited Wyoming this weekend with some friends. One of our friends grew up in WY and has connections to these cute little cabins that we stayed in. We have stayed in these cabins often and I love coming up here. This is the amazing view from the cabins. This just might be my favorite view in all the world! Amazing! That is our friend's Dad raking the hay that led to my hay fever all weekend. Ah-choo!We went for a beautiful hike near String Lake on the other side of the Tetons.


Dutch Oven cooking!

4th of July Camping!

Beautiful Mirror Lake Lilly Pond

Biking around the lake, and around the obstacles...

Harvest Time!

CHERRIES!

RASPBERRIES!

PEAS!

The peace and quiet of the back country.

We went camping to Lava Hot springs in Idaho last weekend. We found a great little camp spot away from the masses of people who were in the "improved" camp sites. It was quiet, beautiful and secluded. Quite....except for the fact we were unknowingly right next to a set of train tracks. We had a train pass us about every hour all night long! And every time its horn would go off. You can see and hear it in the video below.

Whip it! Whip it Good!

Steve once said the only thing redeeming about Midvale (where we live) was Murry (the neighboring town with the beautiful city park). I agreed! There is not much in Midvale to get excited about. Then one day I was on my way home from work....and saw this!

Could it be? My beloved Dole Whip right here in Midvale at the car wash/laundromat/coffee hut? It took us three attempts to find the little hut open and sure enough, they had Dole Whips! Okay, they were not as good as the original...not quite the creamy-wonderfullness I remember, but it gave me a little more respect for Midvale.

Capture the Moments....

I just read a heartfelt Father's Day blog from my friend Megan who lost her dad at about the same time I lost my mother. (to read her thoughts click HERE) She had an adorable photo of her and her father on the beach. I don't have very many photos of me and my mom because she didn't like her photo taken; didn't like the way she looked. If only she knew then how little that would have mattered now...So advice to all who read this: Don't be afraid to make and capture memories often, even if you are having a bad hair day or are tired of standing still for one last photo. In the end you will have no regrets.

Squeaky Clean....

Have you ever seen that 1963 movie The Thrill of It All, staring Doris Day and James Garner, where a bunch of detergent gets into the pool and fills the backyard with suds? Kind of reminds me of this....
The latch on our washer doesn't work so well and the other day it popped open during the spin cycle. Our laundry room floor is very clean now.

Winter Wonderland....in May!

After finally getting some warm weather, Steve and I were craving a good day hike. We read about a hike up to a lake in one of the Cottonwood canyons and decided to check it out. We ended up hitting snow, losing the trial, but in the end after some scrambling finally found the lake. Well, it was more like a sheet of ice but it was still beautiful and we were the only ones there....imaging that!

Fowl Play?

In loving memory of: Obrahma, Isabeau, Uncle Tom, Maya Angelou, Golden, and Princess Leia
8 April 2009 - June 6 2009

I guess Steve and I failed as god parents to Merissa and Jason's chicks. While they were out of town, the chicks disappeared and probably met an untimely death. After hearing about the tragedy, we did go over to the house to see if we could find our god chicks but had no luck. Here is a eulogy from the parents....

We regret to inform you of the death of our dearly beloved baby chickens. Jason and I were in Montana this past weekend, and between the time we left and when our friend came to check on them the next day, the door to the shed was opened and the chicks were gone. How the door got open we know not. Our neighbor saw a fox early Saturday morning near our house running off with something white in it's mouth (our favorite chick, Obrahma, no doubt). That wily fox probably came back and picked them off one by one until they were all gone. Fortunately the adult chickens were fine.

In lieu of flowers please just make an omelet or custard and while enjoying your tasty meal remember the good times with the chicks.

Love, Merissa & Jason

Never trust the weather man.

Last weekend, despite claims of thunder storms, my family and a few friends went camping in Heber. We debated going but couldn't pass up a camping trip even if it was going to be stormy. In the end we had great weather and a great time.

This was a luxury camping trip complete with cabins and a cooking pavilion. Nice!

Breakfast is always better outdoors with friends and family (with lots whipped cream), and my Dad cooks up some mean bacon...nice and crisp, just like I love it.

We spent the morning on the lake in paddle boats and canoes.

Hummm... That is one good looking husband.

Trip to California

We (Steve, my sister April, and I) took a trip to California over Memorial weekend to visit my Grandma. It was a quick trip but we got to see lots of family and even had a little fun. We did some hiking in the Muir Woods National Monument among the beautiful red wood trees.




We found this huge banana slug which brought back great memories of when we all had to kiss one during my 5th grade camp out. Yuck!




This is what Steve would look like with facial hair...just testing out his hippie side since we were in California. The beach was freezing...so much for enjoying a little sun and sand. We stayed just long enough to eat out lunch, stick our toes in the watter, watch someone try to ride thier bike in the surf and jet out of there.
It was a great trip, we ate too much of Grandma's good cooking, did not eat enough dewberries, and can't wait to go back.

Weekend fun!

We played a game of ladder ball and a game of get the ladder balls off the power line. One set of balls got caught accidentally, the other got caught when it was thrown to try to get the first one unstuck. After some tricky acrobatics and team work, we were able to get them all down.

We checked in with our "god chicks" to see how they were doing and they have grown so much. Jason (who owns the chicks with Merissa) likes to carry them around on a big piece of cable. Beats transporting them one at a time across the yard.

And finally an amazing Kabob Birthday Bash for our dear friend Megan. Her husband, Bobby, rigged this great kabob cooker and we rosted meats and veggies into the night.