I am thankful for vacation!

Once upon a time, there were 4 friends wanting a little rest and relaxation. So they planned a trip and went off to Mexico for Thanksgiving week! Gorgeous beautiful Riviera Maya.
We flew through Charlotte NC in the middle of the night. The airport was freezing cold! After trying to curl up in a ball (you know it is bad when you have dreams about being cold!), we were going to give up. But then we found them...beanbags! Those were genius! I was so tired that I forgot to be squeamish about the potential germ-factor, and promptly fell asleep much warmer. Smart idea!

But it was worth the discomfort to get here! What a gorgeous resort for relaxation. We layed by the pool. I read 4 books. Lovin' it!




And, of course, we had to throw some adventure in there too. We went to Xplor Adventure Park. There was driving amphibious vehicles, swimming through caves with stalactites, rafting through caves, and my favorite..... zip lines! We spent all day there doing everything (and the zip lines twice!) What a fun adventure, and not to mention flirting with all the cute guys working there (hee hee).


The next day we went to see the ruins of Tulum. What a gorgeous day! We walked around seeing as much as we could, and just enjoying everything, despite the crowds.

Then off to Akumal, a cute little town out of the way. We got there right before sunset. Just enough time to take a few pictures and do some walking on the beach while enjoying the view and the spectacular sunset. The pictures just don't do it justice!




We ate at Lol-Ha and had delicious food. It was a great end to a great vacation. Good times, great company, and great memories.


And this view of lighted palm trees was a great way to kick off my Christmas season too!

Is there a New Moon out tonight?

This is a little belated, but I had to post about my "New Moon" experience....
My wonderful sister, a faithful Nordstrom shopper, was shopping one day, and ended up with 2 free tickets to a special preview on "New Moon". Since the vampire/werewolf saga is not her thing, she graciously gave them to me! Yay!
I was super excited to share the teeny-bopper madness with my fun sister-in-law (whose thing IS the vampire/werewolf saga)!
The night of the premier, my sis-in law got caught in horrible, awful traffic and she could't come.... sooo sad! But my good friend Kari happily jumped in to come experience this with me!
The theater was open only to people with these special lanyards given by Nordstrom. Every one of the 14 theaters was showing New Moon. They were very serious about us wearing the lanyards the WHOLE TIME. I must admit, it was kinda fun to be able to walk right in the to movie theater, not pay, and then go find a seat. Although, it was a little sad having to pass the die-hard fans already waiting outside for their show to start in 4 hours in freezing weather...wow!




I must say that watching the movie with a theater full of girls 10-30ish was worth it. I loved hearing the screams and gasps through the movie with every appearance of Edward or Jacob. I am "team Edward", but I must admit that this movie has temporarily made me waver to "team Jacob"--- hello hottie!

Volunteering

In the season of Thanksgiving, we can show we are grateful through our actions.
One of my favorite quotes says, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
Our ward youth group went to MedShare to volunteer in sorting through donated medical supplies to send to other countries. We had a great time in serving others. We have so much, and it feels so good to give back!

Cute or spooky?

When Halloween comes around, the burning question comes up....

Do I dress up as something cute or spooky?

This year, the answer was both. Since I had 2 parties, I did 2 different costumes... Yay!

Last weekend I went to my boss' party. They tend to be a little crazy in the costume department, so I stood out as the good girl that I am.



I am the Center of the Universe, of course!
(and no roller girl mishaps this year. Phew!)

Then last night I went the the "funeral" Halloween party. Everyone was supposed to come as something "dead". Not everyone took that to heart, so there were plenty of cute looking girls, but I ended up looking dead as a lightning strike victim.




Happy Halloween everyone!

Nathan and Auntie Hoot's Day of Fun!

Yesterday, I had a "special date" with my nephew Nathan. I gave him a gift certificate for his birthday, and he got to decide what he wanted to do.

We went to Rock City on Mt. Diablo to do some rock climbing and hiking. Perfect! Right up my alley!
So I drove to pick him up, and drove up to find him waiting on the sidewalk, sitting in his booster seat, and holding on to our sack lunches (which he packed himself). SO CUTE! I didn't get a picture of that because the minute I pulled up, he was up and gettin' in the car.

We went to Rock City, and true of any young boy, he just started scrambling around like it was no big deal. Loved it!!


Climbing into "caves"


Standing at the top of Boy Scout Rocks. He scrambled up there easily saying "This is good practice to be a good rock climber!"


Good times! We had great weather, good times, and ice cream to end it off. So great to spend time with a little boy who is growing up to be so fun to be with!

I will never do this again.... until now

So, last weekend, I went to hike Half Dome in Yosemite.

Almost exactly 9 years ago, I hiked it the first time with a few people, including my sister Andrea. At the end of that adventure, I said I would never do it again.... Well, never say never!


This was my third time doing this hike. I loved the two girls I hiked with: Kari and Alicia. We really did enjoy each other's company, and thank goodness because it took us 14 hours to complete the adventure. Yikes!


We were on dusty switchbacks, natures granite stairmaster, and sucking serious wind as we climbed the major elevation.


It looks like a trail of ants. A trail of ants over 600 feet long!


Those cables are pretty steep...


I have never seen anything like this... I am standing in this line to get up those cables! It was just as packed as a ride at Disneyland! Was there an email sent out to get EVERYONE to hike Half Dome today? It was fine, it just delayed our hike by 2 HOURS and we ended up hiking part way down in the dark.


At the top and loving it! (Dad not loving that I was so close to the edge though!)

Now, will there be a fourth time? We shall see....

Someone else's trash is my treasure

I have been needing a new dresser for a while. My old dresser is fine. I bought it at IKEA 8 years ago, and it was just starting to get old, and have issues. (maybe it is because I was CRAMMING the drawers full.... whatever!)
So I have been on the hunt for something new. I decided to browse the consignments stores too for treasures. And, guess what..... I found a treasure! I went in and saw a beautiful dresser, but then noticed it had a "hold" tag on it for someone else. (how dare they!) I put my name with the store just in case things changed.... and they did! I got a beautiful, solid, espresso dresser that hardly has a scratch. Score!

I don't really have a good before picture.... but my dresser was light like my bed.



And now.... check it out! New pictures (thanks to Sam Moons!), and gorgeous new dresser! Happiness!!!




Thank you to whoever got rid of this gem so that I can enjoy it! And a BIG thanks to my dad and Matt who helped heft this behemoth up the stairs and into my room! Not an easy task, but worth it!

Just around the riverbend....

Nothing like a fun day down the lazy river with the youth in our ward.

Good times.... some girls don't like getting their pictures taken without makeup on! :)

My crew on my boat. Such cute girls. However they were much more interested in water fights and boys than rowing....Wow. I got my work-out for the day!

How y'all doin' down in Texas?!?

The Aunties decided to go take a trip and see where our cute niece and nephew moved to. Welcome to Texas!
We immediately felt the heat and humidity, kinda like a tropical vacation. The heat didn't bother me too much, but then again, we spent most of our time indoors!
Our first night, we decided on an outing for dinner where the kids could be entertained too.

The food was great at this classy restaurant. A huge salt water fish tank, a view over the water....

That's right.... we ate at the Bass Pro Shop! Welcome to Texas!

There was a mini "beach" out back by the water. Lest you think we have left, you can see the sign in the background. Yep, still in Texas!

A little target practice for the girls. A great after dinner activity!

The best way to beat the heat... Swimming!!!

Love having the waterproof camera to catch cute moments at any time.


One of the great reasons to go for a visit was cute Rini-roo's 4th birthday!
Happy birthday cute girl! It was so fun being in Texas with family who I love so much. It was a fantastic trip. Good food, some great swimming time, and just being with family. Love you guys!

Campin' with the Girls!

Ah, to be 16ish again....
Oh wait! I got to be 16 again at Girls Camp a couple weeks ago!

The outdoors. The great food cooked for you. The ponytails and pigtails. The fun and water fights. Lots of giggling. Late nights and cumulative sleep deprivation.
Yep. That's Girls Camp AND being 16ish again! Lucky me.

So, as usual, it was so great to have my Dad up there too. It is so great to have him there and also to see him being so much fun with all those teen girls that look up to him.


And I had the great experience of having a long time friend be up there too as a cook. We got a chance to hang out a little bit and found out that we are mean kayakers!


And then I also got to relive a little bit of the college days and be a roomie again with my old roomie. Look at us.... we don't look a day older! (or something like that...) So fun to have a good friend that has known me for a very long time, and still finds time to be a good friend inbetween being a great mom to 3 great kids. I loved catching up on the chit-chatting!



Good times! No wonder I love going every year!

Big climbing on a big wall!

Okay, so I am finally posting these pics.... About time!
Andy and I decided to attempt Washington Column in Yosemite one more time. We did it a year ago, and got 2/3 of the way up. We were on a mission to succeed!
The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was actually decent!

Climbing up the 6th pitch. Glad I didn't look down!
See my little red helmet at the bottom of the picture. Great pic Andy!


A more up close look at a sweaty and grimy climber on day 2 of the climb. We were working hard! Andy was a champ! Being the lead climber is hard work!


The kind of climbing we did is called aid climbing. It is labor intensive, gear intensive, and time consuming. Check out all the stuff Andy is carrying! I must admit that the climbing itself is not as fun as regular climbing, but it makes it worth it to get to the top of things that you can't get to otherwise.


This is the great view from out not-so-spacious sleeping spot. Spacious or not, I was tired and actually slept pretty decent!


Everytime I got a chance to hang on to a rock, I took it! I love rocks!


Unfortunately, we did not make it to the top this time either! But this was the highest point we reached. We made it 3/4 way up, so hey, at least we did better than last time!


I like this picture for 2 reasons. First, it looks cool. And second, when you compare it to the previous photo, you can tell how far up we climbed. Yeah!


Lookin' tough. Well.... we gotta carry all the stuff somehow! I actually put my backpack on over the top of the ropes even. Crazy!


Good climbin, and good times! I am not sure if I will do this kind of climbing again.... but it was a good experience anyway. All that effort is exhausting!