Wednesday, June 26, 2013

WISHLIST wednesday: No. 49


i really want a long board!
(and long crazy hair!)


jeremy and my parents think they are too dangerous. 
someday i will get one, i say.  i imagine cruising around on a nice flat street with my future children close by on tricycles or razor scooters.  totally reasonable, no?  i need to get one now so i can practice!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

what a day!


what a fun day, really!

i put in a call to quaker,
 because a whole box of instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal was not so maple and brown sugary.  so after suffering through quite a bit of the box i decided to do something about it.  i called the number on the box for "comments and questions" (or complaints and concerns in reality) and told the sweet lady on the phone of my tragic breakfast saga.  she apologized for my ruined breakfasts, took the box information and my information, and promised coupons for a replacement and other quaker treats would be on their way.  what wonderful customer service?  she was quite helpful and the whole experience makes me want to eat more quaker stuff.

i made a visit to our beautiful library.
 it's a gorgeous building, complete with fireplaces!

i love reading!  especially FREEEE books.  my goal is to read one book a week.  i have this whole routine going right now that i just love.  it was slow going at first because this particular library is pretty small and they rarely have the books i want to read.  but my friend Janet, the dear librarian, orders the books from different libraries in the area and then just gives me a call when they arrive.  so now i go every other week to: take back the two books i read, pick up the two books that i put on hold last time, and to put two more books on hold for next time.  it's a great system! and Janet is just the nicest.

i also booked a HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE!
in new hamsphire!

remember when i wishlist wednesday-ed it years ago??  well, i figured now was a good time to make my dreams come true.  you know... why not?  so i gathered my graduation monies and booked a sunrise hot air balloon ride in august complete with a picnic afterwards.  it's going to be AMAZING!  charles is our pilot and he is sure friendly.  i told him jeremy is afraid of heights and he assured me that some people get in the basket kicking and screaming and by the end they want to go again.  he also told me all about how being afraid of heights is different then being afraid of falling and that jeremy was probably afraid of falling. he went on about how when you are attached to something on the ground the fear of falling is more real than when you are not (so in an airplane, hot air balloon, etc) so it shouldn't be a big deal.  i'm not really sure i understood, but he assured me jeremy would be fine and offered to talk to him to answer any questions.  charles has been flying balloons for 20 years and totally knows his stuff and i REALLY want to go!  so i asked jeremy if he could handle it and after some unfair pressure from me, he said to just go ahead and book it.  he loves me.  in the mean time we will be working on exposure therapy, so we can get him ready for this wonderful adventure.  i am so jazzed about it.

i also completed a french braid for the first time.
can you believe my luck?!  it must be a fluke.
especially since i consider myself hair impaired.

i have understood the concept of french braiding, but i have never been able to do it, especially on myself.  i don't know what came over me when i was getting ready for work, but i thought i would attempt a french braid.  to my surprise i was able to get through the whole thing without fuddling it up.  i was so excited that i took this picture at work and sent it to my mom with , "Look mom!  I did that!"  after i sent the message, i felt a little like i was 5 years old.  you know... just showing my mom the cool tricks i can do.


Monday, June 24, 2013

saving lives


as of today, i am CPR certified.

that's a first for me i believe.  i had to go to the training for work and it was way more exciting than i thought.  i mean look at this guy below:


i saved him!  first i made sure the room was safe, tried to wake him up, assigned someone to call 911 and get the AED, counted to ten while i listened/searched for signs of breathing, did sets of 30 compressions and 2 breaths with that safe guard thing until the AED arrived, pressed the green button on the AED, and followed its instructions (remove clothing, stick things to body, clear area, press yellow button... done!). those things are smart machines. although the one i practiced with was only for training purposes, i am totally prepared to use the real deal instead of being deathly afraid of it.


see, i had a blast! in all seriousness though i do feel prepared to do CPR.  i almost grabbed an extra safe guard thing to keep in my purse for safety.  (oh and my supervisor thought the blog would love some pictures so she whipped out her phone in the middle of the action, thanks joanna!)

Saturday, June 22, 2013

day of longest light


i remember one occasion from my childhood where on the first day of summer we walked with a bunch of people from our neighborhood to get ice cream.  we went late enough that we walked home as the moon was making its grand entrance in the night sky.  i must have thought it was the coolest thing ever because even after all the years i still remember it being pretty awesome.  we stayed up late solely because it was the longest day of the year, we had to enjoy every bit of that delicious light. i decided to bring the ice cream walk back and make it a first day of the summer tradition!  i convinced jeremy it was a brilliant plan and texted our neighbor friends to join.  we gathered a pretty good crowd, we had 12 total including the wee babes, and walked the mile to banana splitz for some delicious creamed goods made by our local favorite: richardson's dairies

 

we got kiddie sizes and again, they are huge!  jeremy went with his usual green monster, mint with fudge and oreos. i branched out this time for some strawberry cheesecake. there were huge chunks of cheesecake and whole strawberries! so good. when we were stuffed to the gills on our sweet treats of choice, our gang moseyed on back as the sunlight dimmed and the brilliant full moon guided us home.  it was a gorgeous day and a perfect way to start this summer of fun!

may the first-day-of-summer-walk-to-the-ice-cream-shop-celebration tradition never die!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

WISHLIST wednesday: No. 48


i am still loving the alex and ani bracelets.  i hear they just opened a store in utah for my buddies out west.  they are all the rage out here.  they came out with a couple new ones that rock!  here are my favorites:





i love the meanings for them all, especially the make your mark charm and spikes of confidence (click on the pictures to get to the website).  i am trying to start up my gold collection, because i already have some lovely silver ones. since my birthday is 3 months away (EXACTLY!! and i am sooo excited about it!) i figured i better start thinking of things people can buy me.  ha!  so wishlist wednesdays are making a comeback!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

another try


due to lack of water, our plants died.
 (which may or may not have had anything to do with us.)

i felt guilty every time i looked at the dead ones so i finally went to home depot to get some new beauties.  i got a cactus this time because they don't need much water and a beautiful succulent.  i am crazy about that cactus.  coolest. thing. ever! and for $2.49, i may need a whole cacti forest.  it is tricky to plant though, especially when you don't have gardening gloves around.  and look at that  gorgeous succulent!  sure brightens the place up.


  such a pair!

p.s. this is my 1200th post.  crazy!



Sunday, June 16, 2013

he's still not a dad


and we still celebrate father's day!
jeremy usually thinks it's a dumb idea, until he opens his presents.


he scored jack reacher, phil jackson's new book, tennis balls,
and some of his favorite treats.

we started the morning with jeremy's favorite breakfast: cinnamon rolls. and after a relaxing day, we ended the night with some angel food cake topped with our farm fresh strawberries and fancy cool whip.  i love that combo, especially in the summer time!

 well sweetie, you will be the best dad someday!  
until then we will continue to celebrate your future fatherhood.

to my papa



happy father's day, daddy! 
you have taught me so many important lessons in life: honesty is always best, God loves me, that i can do anything i set my mind to, the differences between pot guts and rock chucks, how to swing a golf club, and how to throw a baseball to name a few.  i sure am lucky to call such a wonderful person my dad. hope your day is fabulous and full of Hebrew national hot dogs.  you deserve it!

xoxo, 
your favorite daughter

Saturday, June 15, 2013

our picks


this morning we spent some time at connor's farm picking our own... strawberries.



last year we completely missed the strawberries and ended up picking raspberries.
we made sure to get our favorites this time around.  they are delicious!

date night

last night we went north to richardson's dairies.
the rainy morning dissolved into the most lovely evening. the weather was absolutely dreamy. 

 we started with some of their delicious ice cream. can you believe we got the kiddie size?  and for less than $3 a pop, yes sir!  i think i want to go back next weekend.  we also visited the livestock: the cows and goats!  i love goats.  i totally want one someday and jeremy thinks i'm nuts.  but seriously, the little guy was so cute and friendly.  he ate grass right out of my hand.
 
 
 one of the cows licked my arm all over after tasting my shirt and 
i swear its tongue was like a foot long.  it was kind of gross.

 after the ice cream we decided to hit some balls at the driving range right next door.  smart people to have such awesome things next to each other.  we weren't planning on it, but we had our clubs in the back of the car, so we figured we might as well.  livestock, ice cream, and the driving range with my favorite person... yeah, it was a great night. 

Friday, June 14, 2013

too many steps


i just scheduled my licensing exam!  

hooray!

it has been such a process.  i first had to graduate, that one is obvious. then i had to fill out an application (because graduating is not enough) to take the test and send in my transcript, letters from three references, along with a picture, a notary's approval, and money of course.  then i got a letter saying i was approved to register for the exam.  so i got online to register for it and pay more money.  but who knew that registering for it was not the same as scheduling it.  so i had to wait for an email with a link so i could schedule the test.  i got the email today and finally got to pick a day for this big test.  the soonest i could schedule it was for the morning of July 10th.  so in just under a month i will hopefully pass and be able to put some more letters after my name.  this is exciting stuff!  i better get studying!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

get on this bandwagon


now that i don't have to read for school... i have been reading for FUN! and it's the best.  i love reading.  i finished about 4 books in 4 weeks.  the hard part is that i get so sad when i finish a book (am i the only one?), so i guess i remedy that by reading more and more.  if you have any good suggestion please send them my way!  if you need suggestions, please read divergent, and then insurgent.  or you might want to wait and read them in october because that is when the third book comes out, ready for it... allegiant, and i am dying to get a hold of it already.  i finished both of them in four days and jeremy just finished the first one.  oh and the movie comes out in march.  i'm telling you it is good.  get on this bandwagon before there is too much hype (because too much hype turns me off of a good thing and i don't want you to miss this). next in line for me: the great gatsby, some flavia de luce, and maisie dobbs.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

first of the summer


today was our first beach day of the summer.  it suddenly got hot and humid around here so we headed to the beach.  the lot at our favorite beach was full so we headed north along the shore until we found a parking spot.  where we ended up was a bit rockier than we hoped for, but it was a fun beach day all the same.  we topped the outing off by getting slurpees on the way home to cool down from the heat. (those things are DELICIOUS!, underrated, and always remind me of riley.) 


we are looking forward to many more beach days ahead!