High School Reunion

It doesn't seem like that much time has passed, but this coming weekend is going to be my 10 year high school reunion.

A lot of people would rather forget high school, but I am actually one of those that had a really good time. I'm by no means saying it was the best time of my life, but I do have a lot of good memories. Growing up in a smaller community made high school enjoyable for me. There was always support for local athletics, homecoming parades, dances after football games, spirit days and pep rallies. Now that I live in a bigger city, that has a big university, it makes me realize how nice it was to have community support and emphasis put on our local high school. I rarely hear about high school activities, events or athletics in Boise because most of the support and attention is towards Boise State University. Although there were some downfalls to living in a small community, overall, I am thankful for the experiences I had.

It has been fun to see old school pictures pop up on Facebook as the reunion gets closer.

Graduation Day (I'm second from the right).

To eliminate parties after graduation, our parents did fund raisers and raffles all year to raise enough money for project graduation. The night of graduation all seniors piled into charter buses, which drove all night to Six Flags in California. We spent the entire day at the amusement park and then drove all night back to Southern Oregon. I'm the one with braided pigtails!

Senior prom, there I am in blue.

All of the seniors gathered together for our last home volleyball game. Athletics was definitely was a huge part of my life in high school and volleyball was the reason I went to Colorado Christian University to play for the cougars. I'm front and center in the short green dress.

I'm looking forward to the reunion and think it will be fun. Unfortunately Jared couldn't get the time off work, so I will be solo, but it will still be great to catch up with people
I went to high school with...some whom I haven't seen for 10 years!

Big News...

I'm sure most people know by now and it has taken me a really long time to post this but we have some exciting news for our family!! It took us a long time to come to this decision and realize that we are finally ready for this next chapter in our lives (at least as ready as we can be). On July 3rd, I woke Jared up at 5:45 am by telling him that:

We will be married for 6 years in December and decided it was time to expand our little family. We are both really excited about it (although it still feels slightly surreal). We got to tell both of our parents in person, which was really special. My parents flew out here last weekend under the false pretense that we were going to Sun Valley for the weekend. I just couldn't imagine telling them over the phone, so it required many white lies! Needless to say both sets of parents are extremely excited.

On July 31st we had our first ultrasound! It was so incredible! Here's the first picture of our sweet little bundle of joy!

Our due date is March 7, 2010. March is a popular month among my family, as my brother, Aunt, myself, Mom and cousin all have March birthdays.

I know that a lot of people have been curious as to when this was going to happen and some even had their suspicions that I was pregnant, but just for the record...I REALLY was sick in Colorado with some sort of stomach bug. I have been feeling great with no sickness or nausea and my doctor told me that a viral sickness was going around that week :)

Last disclaimer is that there will probably be lots of posts and pictures of my pregnancy and events surrounding it. Since my family is so far away this is the best way to keep them updated!!

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!!!!