Young Folks

I picked "Young Folks" for the soundtrack of this post for a couple of reasons: A)I love the whistle in the song and if I knew how to whistle, I would have whistled a lot while I was home. B)My parents/folks and my Aunt Lee and Uncle James are SO young, literally and in heart I LOVE THEM! C)As good as the trip was, there were ups and downs and I felt "the breeze" and I were able to understand each other better and the song fits us. On a side note, during this trip I noticed what a peacemaker Richie is in our family & Bree too. Which surprised me because I always thought I was the peacemaker. I was SO wrong. Maybe it's because I would always hear the middle child is the peacemaker and assumed that was me. I don't know what I was thinking but I was SO far off and sometimes wonder why my family is so patient with me. Maybe it was different when I was younger?
After we saw Grandad, Richie and Dad's show in Logan (It was SO great to see & hear Dad's voice on stage, I LOVE his voice! and Richie and Grandad were absolutely AMAZING! I was in awe with Richie though) and met up with my Aunt Lee and her family (which felt like a dream!) we drove to Burley. It was so nice to be in my parents home! Dad was able to get some help in his garden. But, Mom had taken such good care of the garden it looked SO beautiful!

Lunch with my Chanc"e" & her cute fam. She always makes time for me. I adore this chica and her hubby is so great. It was also the first time I was able to meet the new little one!

Radik said he would be disappointed if he didn't see a cow and a potato while he was in Idaho. ;-)

We went up to Pomerelle to play in the snow patches with my cute Texas Fam!

We also played in the FREEZING Snake River! (because of the cold, you'll notice the hesitation the guys have before they jump.)

"Toe Touch Jump"

"Cannon Ball Jump" (I think the Texan should get extra points for jumping in the melted snow water!)

Father & Daughter

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I LOVED being home. Cute Chrislynn & Sophia picked me up from the airport. My cute Father always makes sure to be waiting below the escalators for me. I think there has only been two or three times he hasn't been there when I arrive. Once because he just had his heart attack and was in the hospital, the others because I had insisted he not make the long drive. He is always so willing to make the trek from Burley. He was in a show the night I arrived and cute Chrislynn and Sophia were waiting, just like Dad always does. I wish I would have gotten a picture of that Sophia getting so excited as I was coming down the escalators. I think she some how knew, she needed to over compensate in Papa Bears absence. Then we went to pick my Radik up from Temple Square (he arrived 10 hours before me from NYC). Thanks to all those who gave us such good ideas on stuff for him to do. He really enjoyed SLC and was able to meet a Russian Sister Missionary too. Then we headed to Logan. I have SO many pictures, it's funny because thinking of the trip now, I'm wishing I would have taken more. I didn't get a picture with my cute Aunt Allyn and fam who let Radik and I stay in their wonderful home, while we were in Logan. :-( This weekend I'll try to post some slide shows of the pictures I do have though. This one is from feeding the ducks (growing up, Dad would always find ponds with ducks for us to feed. He still does!) and fishing with Dad. I love my Dad SO much. I made him promise he would make time to take me fishing and golfing. I always feel like I don't get to spend as much time with him as I want, when I'm home. I'm so glad I did this because we had some special time together. I need to start doing this with everyone. I wish I could have spent more time with Mom (thank you for staying up and chatting with me that last, late, late night we had) and the munchkins including Bree and Trav (I'm glad we were able to car pool together) and my Aunt Lee and so many of my dear friends (Peasha, Em and Carrol :-( I'm so bummed!). I've decided I just need to come home more often to just spend time and catch up with everyone. Radik is trying to make plans for us to visit again in August. He loved Utah and Idaho and my wonderful family SO much. I love them SO SO much too!

"There's no place like home...there's no place like home..."

SWEET HOME IDAHO!!! Things have been crazy, "tying loose ends up" with a pretty bow of course. I'm having second thoughts about the 5 week summer class I'm taking. It is SO fast pace and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed! But, my professor has been so great. I think I have a girl crush on this lady. She is SO amazing and SO passionate about what she does. So GREAT! I'm flying home tomorrow after work for 9 days and am SO excited!!! The "breeze" has returned with a little stronger of a wind this time and he will also be flying in for the visit! Which will make things extra special. SO excited!!! I'll get to see some of my cute faced friends and some with new little munchkins!! SO excited to see my family and some of my fam that I haven't been able to see since FOREVER!!!!! Granddad's, Dad's and Richie's Lyric productions! Bree's Wedding!!! MY little munchkins!!!!!! Logan Canyon, B-town, Oh, how I can't wait to eat my mom's yummy food, see her beautiful face and lay on my parents' couch!!!! Ah, I love the way my parents' house smells and feels. There really is no place like home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In my plum purple slippers this morning, clicking my heels before work. SO CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

PINKalicious & Hillary's historic speech

Saturday I was in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, National Race. It was SO great and there was SO much support! So far, our race has raised $3,020,434.00. I should have posted this link sooner but if you want to contribute here is the link with all the deets: http://www.nationalraceforthecure.org/ I hope some day the National Walk for Epilepsy will have this much support. The Susan G. Komen race really was such a wonderful experience. Our firm organized a team and it was great to see so many people from work get involved. I decided to ride my bike into D.C. that morning (I was walking not running the race w/Feli). It was SO foggy and muggy that morning. I couldn't see very well and ended up biking all the way to Arlington Cemetery, which isn't that much farther but we had one of the hottest weekends (102 degrees). The detour caused me to just make it in time to lock up my bike and join the pre-walk stretches, with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and her personal trainer (Cool huh?!). So please excuse the scary pics of me. ;-) After I crossed the finished line I ran over to the National Building Museum to join my friend Jack (Jack and Holls are my only two friends that are Hillary supporters.) in line for Hillary's Concession Speech. I had thought I wouldn't be able to go but Jacks offered me a ticket at the last minute (while I was walking in the race)!!! I was SO excited to go. To make a long story short: with Jacks' smoothness we ended up switching lines and found ourselves in the VIP section, front row to the podium ;-). Besides the fact that I was drenched with sweat, it was an amazing experience. I didn't even mind standing the 4 hours to ensure our front row spot (there was a moment I felt a little light headed and took a quick bathroom break, to eat the orange I had in my back pack). But it was worth it and my back held up like a rock star! I was inches away from Ted Danson, John King (blew kisses to Mom behind his interview with T. McAuliffe) shook hands with Terry McAuliffe (and managed to get a very fuzzy pic with him), Chelsea Clinton (who I thought looked fabulous and had on the cutest pair of purple shoes!). I also got a hug from Bill Clinton (while he chatted with the person behind me, he kept his hand on mine) ;-). Next was of course Hillary! Below is a slide show of my pics and a video of her speech (Once in a while you see my pink bandanna on the left corner of the screen). Her speech was so hopeful. There were times my heart wanted to burst. I loved when she spoke of our mothers (Oh, how I LOVE my mother) and ancestors. I also loved her analogy of the "highest, hardest glass ceiling that now has about 18 million cracks in it, and the light shining through like never before, filling us with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time". Most of all, I loved her encouragement for us to pursue our goals "always aim high, work hard and care deeply about what you believe in and when you stumble, keep faith and when you are knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone that says you can't or shouldn't go on". SO empowering! I know all my dreams really are going to come true! I'm so thankful for those who have made this possible for me.

Here's to Feli's birth, friendship, cupcakes, love & shoes!

Ah, Friday was the night to celebrate Feli's birth, friendship, cupcakes, love and shoes! All while getting "Carried" away of course. I LOVED Sex and the City the Movie. I so could have done without the rated R scenes though. I had gotten spoiled being able to watch it on TBS. But, I did SO miss Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte SO very much and it was nice to see them on the big screen. ;-) The movie also got me thinking about the love in my life and how I really do need to get down to the "The Heart Of The Matter" and maybe it really is about forgiveness... Eeee! It was a fabulous night! We ended up with a great group of sexy ladies (seriously, love love LOVE these ladies!). We put on our sexiest shoes, enjoyed a birthday din din with Feli and then headed to the movie with cupcakes in L's purse! I haven't worn heels since I hurt my back. Goodness, I think its almost been two years. I decided to go big or go home and buy some heels (had given all of mine away so I wouldn't be tempted with a hurt back). The sexy pair I bought weren't even that high but it was still a big deal for me. After telling the sexy ladies that I had forgotten how to walk in heels my cute friend L, with the look of a complete broken heart said, "You never forget." She is too cute (and of course won the award for the sexiest shoes of the night) and she was right, I hadn't forgotten!

Carrie: "The fact is, sometimes it's really hard to walk in a single woman's shoes. That's why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun." I LOVE this quote. To be honest though, single... dating... married... ALL us ladies, really do need really special shoes to make our walk a little more fun. ;-)