E.T.

For someone like me who is weary of extra terrestials (a.k.a. terrified of aliens and all things alien-like) I find this photo somewhat disturbing. 

Fwd: Sweetness

Fun with Flare

Matt found an awesome program for me called Flare where you can do all sorts of fun stuff to your photos. Needless to say, I've been enjoying it! 

My brother Ben, his wife Chantal and my nephew Jett were here ages ago (at least it feels like it, come back soon guys!) and I never did post very many photos of their visit. Here are just a few of my favorites of the two BBC's (best boy cousins). 

McCall

This last Sunday I went up to my parents cabin just for the night. They needed to go up to do some maintenance on it Monday morning, so Sawyer and I just hitched a ride for fun. We stopped at the lake for Sawyer to splash around in. He loves to play in water, walk on grass and play in sand, but with the one and only stipulation that his shoes or sandals MUST be on. This kid is so particular about his feet! Then again, he is the offspring of someone who used to cry as a little kid about their socks feeling funny when the sock lines weren't lined up precisely with her toes.

 I finally coerced him to get into the water even though he was pretty disturbed at the sand and rocks touching his feet. Finally he decided it was alright and started cruising right along the shore.

I had forgotten about breathtakingly beautiful McCall is in the summer! The past few times I'd been there it had been hidden under snow. I wanted my mom to take a photo of the little squirt and I with the boats in the background, but this was the best we could get out of him.

And this one the light was perfect for taking a great photo, but there was zero cooperation at that point. S was beyond the loopy stage of bedtime and had gone into wild man mode. I thought for sure once we got the cabin he would CRASH. Oh no, he decided to stay up until almost 11:30.

 
While I waited for him to fall asleep, Sawyer and I watched the sun set together.

And right before it did some deer decided to come out and play for the evening. There were two doe's and two bucks (which I refer to in the video below so technically as girl deer's and boy deer's) and then a little baby one too! The baby was hiding in the grass so this was the best photo we could get of it. It has spots just like Bambi! It was so adorable hopping over the tall grass like a bunny!

Below is a video of the deer when they were playing near the cabin. I realize I am in dire need of video-recording skills as Matt said he felt nauseous watching it because I zip the camera every which way. My apologies if you too get a little seasick from watching. I had to include it though not only for the wildlife but also the amazing scenery. Too bad I move the camera around so fast it's hard to catch either!!

Going on 15+ years

What's the longest relationship I've ever had? That would be my friendship with these girls: Melissa Smith, Kim Cook, Corinne Vause, Jennifer and Jessica Roundy. We all met when we were around 11-ish years old and in middle school.  We survived together the awkward years of braces, acne, curled bangs and gel scrunched hair.  Last weekend we were all going to be in the same town at the same time so we decided to have a mini reunion! Unfortunately Kim and Corinne couldn't make it, but there will definitely be a next time!

We had reservations at the restaurant The Reef downtown. I hadn't been a part of the nightlife downtown in years, at least not since I was 16 and would ride around "the cruise" when that was the cool thing to do. It has changed a lot since then and has so many more places to go than it used to. 

I wore my half of the Winnie the Pooh friendship necklace I had given Melissa for her birthday almost fifteen years ago, just to see if she would notice.  I also brought along an old photo album so we could peruse all the photos of our years together back in the day. What can I say, I'm a sucker for reminiscing.   

Before I left home I told Matt I was clocking out as a mom; however, then I reassured him that I was not clocking out as a wife. :) It was an awesome night full of laughs with great friends and just what I needed to come back home refreshed and ready to resume my role as mom again. 

Celebrating America's Birthday

For the 4th of July we went motorcycling! My dad arranged to borrow the bikes and gear for Matt and I and all we had to do was show up! Pretty sweet deal, Next time (and there will definitely be a next time) we'll help you get everything together dad! 

This was Matt's first time riding a motorcycle so my brother Bryson is here explaining the basics. Clutch,  throttle, hand brake, foot brake, the kickstart, the gear shift.  I grew up riding on a motorcycle with my dad, but never actually drove one myself. It was a lot to think about and do all at once! So hard in fact that right when started out to go, I ran right into Matt! Oops! I couldn't remember how to brake until it was too late. Luckily no one was hurt, but I did wonder if perhaps we should have put a will in place before we had left! 

Thanks to my cousin Sarah letting me borrow her awesome pink helmet I could still look fashionable while taking some tumbles off the bike! Thankfully the bike my dad got for me was only a 100 which is little and doesn't have as much power as the ones they ride. It was the perfect bike for me to start out on. 

The trail we were going to ride was a dirt road leading up to a lookout tower above Idaho City. The only problem was that a few years ago the beginning of the road got completely washed out so it was pretty rocky to ride through for a few hundred yards. It was way beyond our skill level (trust me we tried) so instead Matt and I walked that part while Bryson and my Dad rode our bikes through. Here's my dad on the 100 after getting it to the easy part for me and after popping a few wheelies of course! 

Once we got to the actual road it was smooth sailing there on out....for the most part. I had some shifting problems in the beginning, but finally got the hang of it. We stopped for a little while off the road for some water and snacks. 

Here we are on top of the tower. The 360 degree view was breathtaking! 

Here's Bryson on top of the tower. The 'scary' parts of riding, which to me is having to dodge anything, is the part he likes the most! When it comes to snowboarding or motorcycling his motto is go big or go home! My motto was to have fun and go home in one piece. Which I did. Mission accomplished! 

My dad said there was only one consequence for going out riding together....that Matt would comeb back wanting to get a motorcycle! I think he was right about that one. 

Our gang hanging out on top of Idaho. 

The way back down I was sad that the ride was coming to an end since I was finally feeling comfortable in knowing what I was doing. Matt must have been thinking the same thing because he was up ahead and took a wrong turn which led him about 3 miles out of the way. I waited under a tree trying to remain calm, while my dad went searching for him. Finally after about 15 minutes I saw them coming back and could breath again. I've heard too many stories of Howell men getting lost and having to spend the night in the mountains! 

We got back to the truck to load up just as it was getting to be really hot which made it the the perfect time to head home. We got back around 4 where Sawyer was having a ball running through this sprinkler. I don't think he even missed Matt or I while we were away. 

After we were all showered and cleaned up, we attempted at getting a 4th of July family photo of us in our festive colors. 

But Sawyer was too distracted eyeing the corn on the grill and wanted to chow down, not take photos. 

We gobbled up a delicious 4th of July dinner consisting of barbecue shredded pork sandwiches, grilled corn on the cob, grilled pineapple. spinach and bacon salad with poppyseed dressing, baked beans and followed by root beer freezes. YUMmmmmmm. Thanks Mom!

We thought about sticking around to watch the fireworks either in my parents neighborhood or downtown Boise, but decided not to. I could blame Sawyer for us calling it a night super early because he was tired, but the truth of the matter was that it was Matt and I who didn't think we could make it 'til 10 to watch the fireworks! Instead we went home, tucked Sawyer into bed and then tucked ourselves in too. What time was that at? 9:45. Yep. We totally went to bed before it was even dark outside and neither one of us had any regrets about it! We do the same thing on New Years Eve, why go all crazy now?

It was a fabulous 4th of July and to top it off right before dinner I found out my one and only sister is going to be a mama!!! Congratulations Megan and Kevin on the news! I figured now that it was 'facebook' official I could blog about it :) Come next March there will be 4 grandkids in our family! (the third one is Ben and Chantal's little girl due this November). So excited for new babies!

Snooze Button Please

I'm in a rut. A rut called I can't wake up. I'm completely and utterly exhausted lately. If the duty of motherhood at 7 am wasn't calling I would probably stay in bed until noon just like this. 

Because this is exactly how I feel throughout the day. An ice cold bucket of water should be handy at all times for someone to dump on me just to wake me out of my stupor. 

Car rides are even worse. I've always been a narcoleptic as a passenger, but the other day on my way to school WHILE driving I almost fell asleep! I'm not even kidding when I say I had to resort to slapping my face just to snap out of it and get to school safely. But not before I stopped at Chevron to get a 5hour energy shot since there was no way I was gonna make it through class without my head hitting the desk if I didn't have some help. 

 It's not like it's a mystery to me why I've been feeling so 'blah' lately. I know exactly why and the two main reasons are that I've been doing a lot of this:

  

and this,

And none of a thing commonly referred to as exercising. Not even a smidgen. Not even a run around the block. And the scary part is that I have a 10k to run THIS coming Saturday. Yea, it's not going to be pretty. How did I go from running a marathon a mere 10 months ago, to this lazy state of half awakeness I'm now in?? I've got to get my mojo back! I'm certain once I do I will actually feel like a person again.

 And yes I do realize that it is almost midnight and for someone complaining of lacking zzzz's I should be collecting them right now, but after staying up late finishing homework I figured what's another ten minutes of staying up to bloggity blog.