Go Big Blue!!!

What makes Boise State football stand out from all other NCAA Division I teams?! A little something referred to as smurf turf. Boise State plays on a blue field!! No other Division I team plays on a field color other than green. It takes a little time to get used to and looks a little weird at first, but it is definitely unique.

Yesterday, my parents, Jared and I went to take a tour of the stadium and we actually got to walk on the blue turf! It was pretty fun and I couldn't believe how soft the field was. It didn't feel at all like I expected it to.

Dad and Mom on the fifty yard line, right in the middle of the field.

Along with being able to go on the turf, we got to see all of the trophies and history of Boise State sports. There was also the Sports Humanitarian Hall of fame in the stadium. Jared compared his hand to Wilt Chamberlain's...it was amazing how big Wilt's hand was. My entire hand only fit in the palm of his (didn't even reach his fingers)!!!

It doesn't seem right to talk about Boise State football without mentioning the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. This is the display case that has the trophy, game ball, Emmy award and other memorabilia!

I must admit that I'm pretty excited for football season to start. I love football, but especially college football!!! Can't wait until the opening game against University of Oregon!!!

Surprise Makeover

I think Jared is an amazing designer and he decided to put his design skills to work and surprise me with a blog makeover!! He 100% designed my new look and I love it! Jared designed the header of my other blog and I thought that was great with the picture montage, but this new look is very summery and fun!! Hope you like the look too! Thanks babe for the fun surprise....Love you!!!

Colorado Getaway

Last Wednesday we went to Colorado to visit my very bestest friend, her husband and cutie 2 year old.

Allikaye is such a sweetie and it was amazing how much older she has gotten since last July. She has such a great personality and is really creative! It was fun to watch her play and listen to the things she said. She kept cracking us up!!

Ashley and I went to college together, played volleyball together, lived together for 4 years (shared a room for 3 years), were both education majors, and have managed to see each other every year since leaving college!!!
That's commitment!!!
I feel blessed that the Lord placed her in my life 10 years ago and know that we will be life long best friends!

Fortunately our husbands get along super well and the 4 of us always have tons of laughs and good times!

Thursday we went to a fun little town called Manitou Springs that has a penny arcade, old fashioned games and a ton of cute little rides for Allikaye.
(I didn't have any good pictures of Manitou Springs, but this was in the park!)

On Friday we headed up to Glenwood Springs which is past Breckenridge, Vail and all the other little ski towns. Jared and I had never been up there and it was sooooo pretty. It was fun because Jared got to reminisce all about his college days and share tons of stories from the mountains (he was seriously up at the ski resorts 4 days a week!)

We stayed at a fun old school hotel, called Hotel Colorado!
There was miniature golf, hot springs, fun places to eat, an intense midnight game of "Last Word" and a hike to beautiful hanging lake (where Ashley and Matt got engaged)!!!
Sounds like a blast huh?!

Well...as Jared, Matt and Ashley got to experience the beauty of Glenwood Springs I stayed in the hotel room! I got some sort of stomach bug on Thursday that lasted through Saturday afternoon. No fun...especially on vacation!! So, like all of you, I get to live vicariously through the amazing pictures my hubby took!





Isn't Hanging Lake beautiful?! Jared said it was amazing...and the views, water, mountains and trees were incredible!

On Saturday a good friend that Ashley and I played volleyball with in college got married! It was fun to be at her wedding and she looked soooo beautiful! Here's some of our college volleyball posse (Ashley, Erin, Me and Libby)

On Sunday it was back to reality, but we L.O.V.E our Colorado friends and the stompin' grounds of our college years!!

Thanks for being such great hosts Ashley, Matt and Alli...we love you guys!!!

Lip Gloss Mania...

I have an addiction...
I thought it was innocent, but realized it was more than that when I got this text from my sister-in-law the other night about my niece:
"She is putting on lip gloss, combing her hair and saying she wants to be just like Aunt Rhonda"
The next day I got this text:
"She just got four more tubes of lip gloss today and said NOW she is just like Aunt Rhonda"
Whenever I spend time with my niece I always let her dig through my purse and put on my lip glosses. I had never really counted how many I had until now...

Did you count all of them...17!
I carry around 17 lip glosses with me everyday in my purse (and that number could easily increase the next trip to the store!) It's an addiction! I seriously love lip gloss!

I used to just put them in a pocket of my purse, but once I bought too many I had to buy this cute little carry bag (notice it is made out of recycled material)!
I guess I didn't realize how much lip gloss I buy. Whenever I go to department stores, target, or the mall I always seem to find lip gloss that is on sale for such a bargain...and I can't help myself! There is always a new lip plumper, shine, sparkle, color or flavor that sucks me in!
I guess there are worse things in life to be addicted to...
Here's to the next lip gloss I can't live without!!!

A Little Taste of Summer

I thought I would share one of my new favorite summer treats. It's not an original recipe, but I just discovered it, so it's new to me! It is soooo good...but you have to like tomatoes (which I know a lot of people don't). I think I eat this with dinner at least 3-4 nights a week, and I've started taking it for lunch too. I'm addicted and it is so easy:

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Fresh Mozarella (it has to be fresh, floating in liquid...I know it sounds weird but it's fabulous)

Olive Oil

Pepper

Salt

Optional: Fresh Basil Leaf (I don't use the basil because I never have it and I like it better without)

Slice the tomato thick

Place a thick slice of mozarella on the tomato

Cover with olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

If you add the basil just put it between the tomato and mozarella

OR you can chop the basil and sprinkle on top

That's it!!!

It is so easy and I think it tastes like summer in my mouth!

Hope you like it too!!!!

So You Think You Can Dance...dance...dance!!

I love summer! Not just because the weather turns nice, the flowers bloom, the grass turns green and it is fun to wear a different wardrobe but because of...

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

I have been so excited to watch this season. I know it might sound silly and like I am a TV addict, but I seriously love this show. I am a big fan of reality TV and can easily get sucked into dumb shows but this one is so fun to watch! Last night was the first time the top 20 dancers performed and I couldn't believe how good they were. Usually I can pick my favorites right away, but this season I am torn so far. There were so many dances that I loved from hip hop to contemporary to bollywood!! I love watching all the different styles and then trying to re-enact them afterward. Jared and I have joked that we should argue through interpretive dancing because it looks like so much fun! I think it boils down to the fact that in my heart of hearts I wish I was a dancer and by watching the show I can pretend for 2 hours that I am!

Side Note: Jared is gone this weekend at a bachelor party in Vegas. This is the first time that I have had to stay alone since we lost Lucy. Usually when Jared was gone Lucy comforted (and slept :) ) with me so I am a little nervous because I can freak myself out at night. Prayer would be greatly appreciated that I can rest well and turn to the Lord if I feel anxious, allowing Him to provide me with peace, reassurance and sweet sleep!!

"When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet."

Proverbs 3:24

Miniature Golf + Blacklights = Good Times

Well it's about time I posted a new blog! For the past couple of weeks I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with a good post and unfortunately I have had a mental blog block and couldn't come up with anything remotely interesting.

Well that all changed tonight. Jared and I went out to dinner and then went minature golfing with his Aunt, Uncle and two cousins. But it wasn't just any regular old minature golf it was blacklight minature golf...yeah, that's right BLACKLIGHT!

Not only was it blacklight but you could also purchase 3-D glasses to ehance the overall experience. Here is Jared and his cousin, who is sporting the ever fashionable 3-D glasses. Notice the bunny ears behind Jared's head...you've got to love 11 year olds!

It seems like it is impossible to go on an outing and not take a self-shot closeup. Apparently Jared did not get the memo to smile!

Jared almost got his head bitten off by a giant T-Rex...this place was CRAZY!

Afterwards we went to their house to play a cut throat game of Uno. Jared's cousins begged to ride with us and we had a foreshadowing experience of what our lives might be like some day with kids. They talked and tickled and screamed and sang and played the entire way to their house in the backseat of our car. It brought back many memories of when my brother and I did the same thing (which usually ended with someone crying, screaming or tattling). Seriously though, there was not a quiet moment for 20 minutes of driving!

We had such a great time with them and it was nice to do something different.

It was amazing just how quiet the car ride was home!!