This is my life...

Zucchini Boats - Delish!

2011-10-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Now that I am officially addicted to Pinterest I have been baking, cooking, and crafting daily. It's been fun and I'm really enjoying it!

However, this recipe is a spin off of Matt's sister's zucchini boat recipe. I've never actually seen this recipe OR seen her cook this, but I've tried her zucchini boats before and I've been wanting them ever since! SO, tonight I decided to wing it and I will be making these again VERY soon!

Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:
4 zucchinis (cut lengthwise)
1 pkg. mild sausage
1/2 red pepper (diced)
1/2 green pepper (diced)
1 smallish sweet onion (diced)
Monterrey Jack shredded cheese (8oz. bag)
1 TBSP butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise. Place in oven cut side up on a baking sheet for about 8 minutes.

While the zucchini is baking... Melt your butter in a large skillet or sauce pan and add your onion, red pepper, and green pepper. Saute over medium/high heat until onions are translucent and peppers are cooked.

In separate pan brown your sausage.

Now, scoop out the meat of your zucchinis (you can use a spoon or a melon baller), chop it up and add it to the onion mixture - cover and cook until the zucchini is soft. Then, add the browned sausage and mix well. Last, pour around half the bag of shredded cheese in and mix.

Lightly salt and pepper the inside of your zucchini boats. Then spoon the sausage mixture into the zucchini boats and sprinkle more cheese on top.

Place them back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try it!! :)

Family Reunion

2010-07-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

I got back from my family reunion last week. My dad, mom, Gram and I went to Olney, IL together and enjoyed the sights in "The Home of the White Squirrel." We got to see and visit lots of family and had a good time together. I hope to post some pictures soon!

The weekend after we got back my mom, Kelly, and I had a garage sale... MAN THEY ARE WORK! Didn't make much money, but got rid of some of my junk! Took me a few days to clean up and gather some stuff for the sale. I hope to upload my pictures and update again soon!!

Still on vacation!!

2010-07-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm still in San Diego, CA with Mary Grace, Grady, Katie, Beau, and Anna Cross. We've been having a GREAT time! Katie and Beau are wonderful hosts and Mary Grace, Grady and I are having fun experiencing California! I will post lots of pictures and details about our trip when I get home, but for now..... Here a few pics from the week. :)MG, AC, & GM

The Beach Ball cake I made for Anna Cross's First Birthday!

Beau, Anna Cross, & Katie (AND the "after" of the cake)

Grady & Me at the BEACH!

Me & Mary Grace

EARTHQUAKE!!!

2010-07-07T19:10:00.001-07:00

I made it to San Diego, CA today! Mary Grace, Grady, and I arrived around noon and Katie and Anna Cross were there ready to greet us at the airport!

We've had a great day, but you will never believe what happened today!!!

We were all sitting on the ground in Katie and Beau's house and all of a sudden MG said "What is that??" and the ground was moving under us... it was like a dizzy, standing on jello kind of feeling... and Katie said "It's an earthquake!" Well... before we could even move it was over, but HOW CRAZY!!!! I survived my first earthquake... apparently they happen all the time here, but you wouldn't know it... It's been on the news here from the moment it happened... going on 3 hours of coverage right now.

More updates to come!!! - Hopefully earthquake free! :)

Beach Day!

2010-07-06T20:04:00.001-07:00

My cousin came down from St. Louis for a Florida beach weekend... It rained EVERYday she was here! :( BUT we went to the beach anyway and laid out in the rain - yes, I'm serious.

This is what the people next to us did... haha!

It was great to spend some time with Kristin, though! I hadn't seen her since I was in elementary school. It's going to be fun to see all of my cousins at our Family Reunion in a couple weeks!

My friend, Kelly just started a blog! It's going to be fun to follow because she is expecting a baby! We just found out today that she is having a GIRL! Yay!!!!
Congrats, Kelly!!!

Today I saw this advertisement on a car.... Is this for real???

I leave for San Diego, CA in the morning!!! I'm so excited to see Mary Grace, Grady (my Godson), Katie (MGs sister), Beau, and meet Anna Cross!
It's going to be a great trip! I'll post pictures next week! :)

DENVER!

2010-07-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

I just flew back from Denver, CO last night!
My school sent me to the ISTE conference with 20,000 other educators from all over the world! This is a technology conference that takes place every summer in cities all over the US. I'm fortunate enough to teach at a charter school whose focus is on technology. I was one of 20 people that got to go from our schools. I know that I am lucky!!!

I learned a TON and had a lot of fun too! We stayed at the Sheraton downtown and were walking distance from the Denver Convention Center and all kinds of GREAT local restaurants! We ate a LOT of great food this week!
Here are some pictures from this trip...

Downtown Denver!

My team member and me!

The view from our hotel room!

Moby and Me!
If you are a teacher and know about BrainPopJr... You know (and love) Moby!

Down the center of the main road in downtown denver there were pianos, lots of pianos. There were always tourists and beggars playing the pianos, too. It was pretty neat to see the pianos in all their artistic glory right there in the middle of the street!

I had to get in on the action! - I know 2 songs, ya know!

Cinnfull Pancake, Strawberry Margarita Pancake, Sweet Potato Pancake
These pancakes are from a restaurant named "Snooze" off the beaten path in Denver. It had a variety of interesting breakfast choices with many pancake options. The Sweet Potato one was my favorite!

Outside on the 5th floor by the pool! Soaking up those moon rays!

I had to eat at Sam's! YUM!

Overall it was a GREAT trip!!! Next stop... San Diego, CA!

New Pictures!

2010-06-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

We had a BLAST in Tennessee at Matt's family reunion!
Here are some pics of a few of our adventures!

The Valhalla Manor - Where we all (52 people) stayed in Sevierville, TN.

On the Ski Lift on Ober Mountain in Gatlinburg, TN.
We were just about to go down the ROCK SLIDE - So fun!!!

Matt's Aunt & Uncle, who we adopted as our parents for the weekend. We didn't have a car and they drove us EVERYWHERE! We had so much fun with them - they're awesome!!!

.... and these are pictures from Matt's cousin's wedding. :)
We went to the wedding before we went to the reunion.

Okay... so far, so good! I have posted twice this month!!! YEAH!!! :)

Summer is HERE!!!

2010-06-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! YAY!
I thought about starting this blog with something new, but I have to say it again... I have NOT been a good blogger! HOWEVER, I am going to TRY to keep up with this over the summer.

So.. Here we go!

As soon as school got out Matt and I packed up our bags and headed to Graceville, FL for a wedding. We rode with Matt's sister and niece, which made the ride much more exciting. We stayed with some of our friends in Dothan, AL for 2 nights and then left there for Matt's Family Reunion in Sevierville, TN. We got here on Monday night and will be here until Sunday.

We've been playing LOTS of games and having lots of fun.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures uploaded soon!

SPRING!

2010-03-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here! YAY!
This means...
Spring Break - YES!
My Birthday - Wooo Hooo!
Warm Weather (hopefully) - FINALLY!
and best of all....
School is almost OUT! - YEAH!

I like the spring!

March is a busy month for us, but filled with fun things! However, this week is PACKED!

First of all, Matt just signed a lease for his recording studio (The Vanguard Room). Demolition started last week and it's been crazy! The space is awesome, but was in terrible condition and not set up to be a studio at all. Matt has been up there helping with the demoing all week and I went up there yesterday. I have to admit I was pretty excited to go up there and help. So, I picked out my best construction worker outfit...
*old jeans
*long sleeve shirt (arm protection)
*with my Sea World T-shirt on top
*old tennis shoes
*Budweiser hat (yes, I have one of these.
It was a gift from the people I
babysit for that sell beer.)
*mask (you aren't allowed to go in without one)

At first I just stood around and collected all the tools off the ground while Matt was sweeping things up. Then, I got bored so I started filling up the wheel barrows with stuff they had already torn down. By the end of the day, I had scraped up all the aluminum flooring out of an entire room and made a million trips to the dumpster. Construction work is HARD! And let me tell you, when I woke up this morning... my whole body was sore! If I did that for a living I would have one amazing body!! I worked muscles I didn't even know I had!!!

Back to my busy week...
Today... Family Fun Night with Matt's family and we're celebrating my birthday!
Monday... Matt's dad is in town, so we're having dinner with him!
Tuesday... LOST night at my house and getting a massage (tell you about that later)
Wednesday... Church, then birthday dinner with friends!
Thursday... Birthday dinner with my family!
Friday... Leaving for the St. George Island!!!
Saturday... MY BIRTHDAY and VACATION!!!

Ready to start my week!!! 5 Days until Spring Break!!! YAY!!!

February...

2010-02-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Well... I'm not a great blogger. I guess I need to have a kid to really have exciting pictures and funny stories to post about... My life isn't that exciting. However, since it is February and I haven't posted anything since CHRISTMAS I figured I better do something! - Thanks for the push, Katie!

Everything has been going well with me. Staying SUPER busy. I basically have something going on EVERY night, but that isn't a bad thing! I'm not bored - that's for sure.

I'm half way through course 4 (the final course) in my Wilton Cake Decorating classes. I have learned a LOT and it's been really fun! If you are interested at all in decorating cakes, just for yourself even, you should take the courses. It's been awesome! You can take them at any Michael's Craft Store.

Here is a picture of my last cake in course 3...
I also have my first paying cake request... I'm making a cake for a birthday party this weekend. YAY! I think it will be fun. Maybe I'll post that one before summer... we'll see! :)

Santa Claus is coming to town!

2009-12-20T13:33:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Family Christmas Photo
(Layla, Michael, Steph, Dad, Mom, Matt, Me)

Our trip to Celebration to see it "snow"
(Deena, Grandad, Matt, Me, Mom)

Matt at the Lakeland Christmas Parade!
Playing around while wrapping gifts! :)
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

AirTran

2009-12-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

I just thought you guys would like to know...

After several emails and empty threats I finally got AirTran to give me a voucher for a one-way ticket to anywhere I want to go! FINALLY!

It doesn't make up for me missing Grady's baptism, but it does ease the pain a little. :)

PCola Visit!

2009-11-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday I headed up to Pensacola to see my best friend, Mary Grace's son (my Godson), Grady get baptized. Unfortunately, I got stuck in Atlanta FOR 6 HOURS and missed the whole thing! However, after being VERY upset and MAD at AirTran for not letting me on the plane that was sitting right outside of the window, after THEIR plane was the reason I was late for the connecting flight, I DID finally make it to Pensacola (I'm not bitter though).
Good news... I'm VERY familiar with the Atlanta Airport... Want to know anything about Terminal B?? - Let me know! :)

I had a GREAT time visiting with MG, Grady, and Mikey. They are always so good to me and I really miss living in the same town as MG, BUT our visits are always fun. Grady has changed so much since the last time I saw him. He is such a good and fun baby! It was a wonderful trip! It was good to catch up with Mary Grace and spend time with Grady.

Oh, and if you haven't had MG's Grape Salad... You NEED to try the recipe. It is SO GOOD! I ate so many grapes, they probably think I'm a freak! I didn't even want to share with anyone!

Here are some pics from my trip!

Our attempt at a group pic...
Me and MG

Grady looking at his mommy like.... "What??? I'm NOT
supposed to eat the soil out of the potted plant?"

Happy Baby!

He is so stinkin' cute... I feel like I
have to comment on every picture!

I'm likin' the new jacket!

How Sweet!!!

I can't wait for him to start walking!

Trying to get a picture withOUT his tongue
out is practically impossible! haha!

LOVING that face!
"It's WAY TOO EARLY for pictures, Aunt Sam."

"It's NEVER too early to take everything
out of my drawers!"

What a fun trip! I can't wait until next time!

- MG, I'll send you pics this week! :)

Ready, Set, Smile!

2009-11-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

Matt's good friend from high school got married over the weekend. She asked Matt to play the piano and sing a song at the ceremony... so he did. He wouldn't do this for very many people, but Anna is a very GOOD friend! It was a beautiful wedding and we had a lot of fun at the reception.

Matt's beard is starting to get out of control again...
He says he's not cutting it until Christmas...
Lord, help me!
He's lucky I love him!!!

It's Tim and Liz's last week in Florida. They leave for Portland, Oregon on Monday. We are certainly going to miss them, but can't wait to visit!I just wanted to post some pics of us all dressed up! It doesn't happen very often!

And... I love sparklers!

What happens when Matt helps babysit...

2009-11-24T18:27:00.001-08:00

This Week...

2009-11-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

IS GOING BY SO SLOWLY! I don't know if it's just because I know next week is the last week before Thanksgiving Break, but I feel like I've been in school for 6 days this week and it's only be 2! GEEZ!

Fall Fun!

2009-11-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

Okay.. so basically I'm not the greatest blogger in the world... BUT I sure do love reading everyone elses!

I've been pretty busy lately... Let me catch you up.

1. We've been enjoying every possible holiday celebratory activity possible. We've been carving pumpkins, baking cookies, listening to Christmas music (I know it's early, but I don't care!), and decorating for all the holidays.

Matt's Cookies:Group Effort:

My Pumpkin:
Matt's Pumpkin:Celebration & Pumpkin Spice Lattes (Matt LOVES them!):
Matt made this for me (he's pretty awesome):

2. I started the "Good Morning, Wildcats!" morning show at my school. It's been going great! The kids love it, the teachers love it, and administration loves it too! It's a LOT of work, but it's totally worth it. Matt has helped me SO MUCH with this. He has taught me how to use iMovie and been very patient while I asked MANY questions that first week (when he did a LOT of work). It takes me and another brave teacher (whom I love for helping me) 30 minutes everyday after school to record the kids... Then it takes me about an hour and a half every night to edit it to make it work for each morning. I'm hoping this will get faster as I get better. *I wish I could put an example on here, but I can't because of all those school rules!!! - bummer!

3. I started taking a cake decorating class once a week. I really like it and I've learned a lot. It's once a week and my Aunt Pam is taking the course with me. We just started course 2 last week.

4. Mary Grace and Mikey asked me to be Grady's God Mother! I said yes and I couldn't be more excited. I love Grady and I love MG (and Mikey) and I really feel so honored to be apart of their lives in this way. They will never know how loved they have made me feel!
*I'm going to visit them in 2 weeks - I can't wait!

5. We had a big fall festival at school a couple weeks ago and there was a big auction. Each grade level had to give a basket(s) to be auctioned off. The grade level that raised the most money from their basket(s) received a 1/2 day off of school (the teachers only) paid and it doesn't count against your hours. WE WON! YEAH! I auctioned off (along with 2 others on my team) a date to see Junie B. Jones the Musical at a local theater and ice cream with ME! Check out this blog to see how well it went! - Too funny!

Oh, and at the festival there was a game to see who could eat a doughnut hanging on a string the fastest... no hands! It was a fight when we started playing! I came in second! It was much harder than it looked! haha!

6. We've been cooking a lot... Matt has came up with some pretty crazy, but tasty recipes!

Spaghetti Burgers:

Taco Burgers:*Yes, they were actually REALLY good!

Okay... I think you're caught up. Now, leave me some comments! :)

I Love Candy!

2009-10-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

So... This week at school there was a "candy drive" for our upcoming "Autumn Eve" thing. The class with the most candy IN POUNDS wins 10 tickets per kid to the Autumn Eve and the teacher wins $50 to Lakeside Village (shopping/movies/restaurants). This was a BIG incentive and I was ready to win!

Monday: Mrs. R was in the lead
Tuesday: Miss Lewis was in the lead
Wednesday: Miss Lewis was in the lead
Thursday: Mrs. R was in the lead (by 6 pounds)
Friday: Miss Lewis WINS (by 16 pounds)

My class brought in 231 POUNDS of candy!!!!!!!!

It was so crazy and close all week! I couldn't believe it!! My class was so excited that we won! They had brought SO MUCH candy in all week! and I was totally excited to get my gift card! It was a SUPER FUN day!

Today... I love candy!

New Neighbors

2009-09-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Matt's sister and niece, Nancye and Bug, moved into my apartment complex last week. Their place is really cute and only 3 buildings down from me! :) Once we got them all moved in we got to go to Target and pick out some fun stuff to decorate Bugs new room. I don't know if you've seen them or not, but there are these new sticky decals you can use to decorate walls and they are too cute!
Check out her room!! I wish my room looked like this!I love the hedgehog/porcupine guy!

"Those People"

2009-09-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

Matt wanted to put his desk in the garage sale at his NanNan's house...

NanNan lives 2 blocks down the road...

The desk wouldn't fit in the car...
Yes, this actually happened... We are "those people."

Then, we went to Target. I do love Target! I want to look at everything EVERY time I go. I mean you just never know when that one thing you don't really need will go on sale. While I was looking at every end-cap to see if there was anything I couldn't live without... Matt and our friend Steele were making their own fun! :)Again... We are "those people" in Target.
How am I supposed to NOT take a picture of this?!

This actually happened...

2009-09-04T14:12:00.001-07:00

Today on the board I wrote 3 SIMPLE sentences and this is what happened....

student: I can't read Spanish!

me: Do you think this (pointing to the sentences on the board) is Spanish?

student: Yes (he was totally serious)

me: THIS is ENGLISH!

Oh my! This is NEVER a good sign!!!

Finally...

2009-09-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

So, I've been a total slacker! I haven't updated my blog in forever!!

I've been working hard though! School has started and I have a really good group! I think it's going to be a good year! I'm excited.

AND! I decided this week that I am going to take on a new challenge this year. Everyone at my school wants morning announcements... not just on the intercom, like we do now... but "real" announcements... videoed with student anchors. I have decided that I'm going to take on this responsibility. Matt has agreed to help me with the editing and initial start up (which is awesome, because he is REALLY good at this stuff) and I will get the videos. Matt is going to teach me what he knows and hopefully I will learn a lot! I am going to have the kids (4th graders) come to my room after school and we will set up a nice background and video everything in there with my Flip Video Camera. Then, we will use iMovie on my apple to edit. I'm really excited! I'm going to have a theme for each day (like "Wacky Wednesday") and record different school activities to share with everyone. Anyone have any good ideas??

Should be fun!

I promise to post some pictures soon!

Oh No!

2009-08-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe school starts in 2 weeks!!!!

Where did the summer go??

The New APT

2009-08-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I moved into my new 2 bedroom apartment at the beginning of July. However, 2 days after I moved in I left on a babysitting trip, then Chicago, then my friend, Kelly's wedding, and well basically I've been busy! So... Here are the long awaited and requested pics of my new place (same apartment complex, but new apartment).

Here is the living room...
Standing in the living room looking at the front door/kitchen (open floor plan).dining room kitchenSpare room... I obviously haven't gotten to this room yet!! YIKES!
MG... It will only take me about 6 hours to get this room ready for you and Grady, so tell me when you're leaving and it will be ready when you get here!! :)
The spare bedroom closet is where I decided to start the cleaning... Extra bathroomMy Bedroom My bathroom Who wants to come visit?!

Cupcakes!!!

2009-07-24T22:11:00.001-07:00

So... My friend, Kelly is getting married next week and I'm throwing her a shower tomorrow. We are all meeting at MiMi's Cafe for brunch, presents, and cupcakes! I decided I would make the cupcakes instead of ordering them!I only needed about 13 cupcakes, so I made the rest of the batter into mini cupcakes. Matt got me lots of icing tips for my birthday and I've been using them every chance I get! When I got done decorating the ones for the shower Matt got in on the fun too!!
He's pretty good!I'm pretty sure his philosophy is the more icing the better!

New Blogger

2009-07-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

I talked my sister-in-law, Steph into starting a blog. She's going to be great at it! Her and my brother, Michael have all kinds of good stories and exciting things going on in their lives. You'll want to add them to your list of people to stalk! Go check it out! Live Laugh Lewis -Isn't she creative!?! Oh, they have a cute little dog too, Layla (my dog-neice).

(Michael, Steph, & Layla)

Also... Have you went and bought Matt's CD yet?? It's really good! I swear you'll like it!
See the post from a few days ago for details!

The Windy City

2009-07-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

We LOVED Chicago! Matt and I had so much fun on our trip. I don't think we could have fit in one more thing on any given day. We woke up early (for Matt) each morning and stayed out late each night. We arrived early in the day on Wednesday and left late on Saturday, giving us 3 FULL days.

THE HIGHLIGHTS:

The John Hancock Building
-fastest elevator (27 seconds up 94 floors-WOW!)
-best views of the city
-delicious cafe/bakery at the top

Second City Comedy Club
-FuNnY

Giordano's Pizza
-my first experience with the "Chicago style deep dish"
-Matt's personal favorite (yes, we compared with Gino's East)

Gino's East Pizza
-my personal favorite
-you get to write on the walls (of course I did)
-the walls are crazy!!!

Water Taxi/Tour
-$7/person to take the boat from the Navy Pier to Museum Park
-We took a survey and got 2 FREE tickets
-We used our tickets to go on the $28/person Architectural Tour down the river for FREE!
-It was FUN & a little COLD at night!

Lou Mitchell's
-AWESOME breakfast
-doughnut holes while you wait
-milk duds for the girls
-fun and friendly atmosphere
-great coffee!
-THANKS for the recommendation MG!

Millennium Park
-THE BEAN
-4 blocks from our hotel
-THE BEAN
-pretty, cool, fun, relaxing
-THE BEAN
-nice little park restaurant (good burgers)

MOSI -The Harry Potter Exhibit was great (Matt LOVED it).

The Art Institute - FREE on Thursday nights 5pm-8pm

The Beach
- Seriously... Is Lake Michigan really a LAKE? It sure feels like an OCEAN while you are standing on the sand, drinking a frozen mango margarita, watching the locals play volleyball, and the little kids making sand castles. I mean... I've never seen a great lake before this... it was INCREDIBLE!! I could not stop talking about how BIG and unbelievable this lake was (I guess I still can't).

The Navy Pier
-Ferris Wheel (quite possibly one of the scariest things I've done since the horseback riding)
-beautiful views
-lots of ice cream
-boats (water taxi/tour)
-funny mirrors

FUN FACTS:

-The Professional Silver Robotic Street Dancers (I'm pretty sure that is their official Chicagoan title) were AWESOME! I want to be able to do "the robot" SO BADLY! I practice often and I am basically the worst robot ever!

-Matt HATES frogs!

-We ate nothing but burgers, pizza, and hotdogs the ENTIRE trip (excluding breakfast). I'm pretty sure that is some kind of major accomplishment. We felt good about it and are basically professionals at picking out, tasting, and rating food in these 3 categories. Feel free to contact either of us for more
information on this topic. :)

-Chicago has the coolest parks!

-I kinda have a crush on this guy...

-Saturdays are VERY crowded in the city.

-This was me and Matt's first official trip together! AND we still love each other! - So it was a success!

We really had SO MUCH fun exploring the city, riding the busses, going on many adventures, and spending lots of time together. Matt's the best!- I think we'll do it again! :)

**I know this post looks completely unorganized, but what is showing up on my editing page is NOT happening on my blog page. I'm frustrated and giving up on it looking the way I want. If you have suggestions... I'd like to hear them!**

WOODALE

2009-07-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Matt's CD is officially out tonight!!

You can get the Woodale CD ("Don't Say It Too Late") on iTunes or Amazon.

Go check it out! I promise you will love it!!

P.S. I'll be posting Chicago pics tomorrow!! - YAY!

On Our Way!!

2009-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

We made it to the airport (on time this time) and will be on our way to The Windy City in about 1 hour! YAY!!!! I cannot wait!

Chicago Here We Come!

2009-07-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Matt and I leave for Chicago early in the morning! We are VERY excited! Matt has been there twice before, but this is my first time. I'm sure we'll be taking lots of pictures and videos.

We just got a Flip Cam that is AWESOME! I can't wait to video our trip... and everything else we do in life. I've basically been following Matt around with it all afternoon. It's fun!! I would put up a video now... but I'm pretty sure I would be going on the trip alone if I did that!

Idaho Recap (LOTS of pics)

2009-07-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is where I stayed: "COLDBUD" front view

Rear view View of the Grand Tetons from Jackson Hole (above)

Jackson Hole shopping... an antler entry on every corner - this is for you dad!

Me and my horse, Annie. We went on the sunset dinner ride at Linn Canyon Ranch. It was beautiful. I wasn't able to take pics while I was riding... but I will get them from their camera soon! It was quite the experience!

"Miso Hungry" - I HAD to eat there with a name like that!

Special Request:
Mary Grace has requested that I post ALL 21 pictures of me and my fish. So... Here ya go!
(I know it's a bit self indulgent, but ya gotta do what the people want! - I hope you're happy MG!)

Victor, Idaho

2009-07-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to my destination! YAY!

I'm here with the Tallahassee family I've been babysitting for since college. They are tons of fun and spoil me rotten while I'm with them. I'm so lucky that they take me on so many of their family vacations. Now that I've graduated they fly me from Tampa to meet them on their many destinations.

This trip takes us to Victor, ID. They just got this BEAUTIFUL home in the valley (I didn't take a pic of the house yet) with a great view of the grand Tetons. It's AWSOME here!

This is the view from the back porch.

I got here on July 1st and I leave on July 10th.

So far, we have hiked up a mountain, gone to a rodeo, white water rafted, biked 12 miles (3 days in a row), went to palates, biked to yoga, went horseback riding (that will have to be a different post... I'm so not an equestrian), experienced the famous huckleberry milkshakes at the Emporium, got massages, and went fly fishing with a guide.

Here are just a few pictures... I'll post more later!

This is where we hiked - Targhee Mountain

Mustaches the kids picked up in town...

hahahaha

Driving ABOVE the clouds to go raft!

Crazy random hail storm - yes, that is all hail!!

Fly Fishing - I caught 21 fish!!!

I'll spare you ALL 21 pictures :)

I'm having a BLAST!! Tomorrow we are going to shopping, to the pool at the country club, and then to the movies! I hope to post some more pictures soon! :)

My First Post.

2009-07-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. My best friend, Mary Grace decided that I needed a blog... So, here I am. My life is not that exciting, but at least I have one reader!

Today was the PERFECT day to start one because I'm stuck in the airport. I know you are wondering why... LET ME TELL YOU!

I'm going on a babysitting trip to Idaho. My flight leaves at 11am. I wake up in plenty of time. Everything was packed and ready to go when I woke up. I leave for Tampa, a 45 minute drive, at 8:30am. This should put me at the airport at about 9:30 which will give me plenty of time to check in and get a Starbucks coffee for the flight. WRONG! Traffic on the way to Tampa was HORRIBLE. We were moving about 5 mph and I was FREAKING OUT! Matt was driving (a calm, cautious driver) and assuring me we would make it in time for me to get on my flight. Until the clock read 10:30 and we were STILL NOT AT THE AIRPORT. At this point I'm REALLY freaking out! When we get to the airport at 10:50am I rush out of the car to get into a line that is 100 people long (all who also missed their flights). They try to find me a new way to get to Idaho, all while I'm tell them that I HAVE to get to Salt Lake City to meet the family I'm babysitting at their connecting flight. They assure me they will do whatever they can to help me get to where I'm going...

So... It's 11am and the best they could do...

Leave Tampa at 5:30pm to Salt Lake City
Leave Salt Lake City at 9:11 to reach Idaho Falls at 10:15pm

That is 5 hours AFTER I was supposed to be there and now that I wont be there at the same time as the family... I will be driving by myself an hour away to Victor, ID (wherever that is).

Let me tell you... Tampa Airport... NOT that exciting!

Luckily Matt stayed with me for the first 4 hours and we had a lovely lunch at Carrabba's.

OH... and It's pouring down rain right now... I'll let you know if I ever make it to Idaho! :)