Saturday Morning

I've been making myself get up on Saturday mornings instead of sleeping in. I don't like to exercise when it's too hot outside so that means I have to get out of bed. As much as I love sleeping in, it's kind of worth it to be up. I left my house just before 7 this morning (which was actually later than I had planned) and walked along the river parkway and then kept going to Birdsong trail and then back home again. It was about 6.6 miles round trip.

 

It was a beautiful morning. Ok - no "kind of" about it. It was definitely worth getting up. And I was early enough that there weren't a lot of people out when I started.





 

 

The wind always comes out of the canyon in the morning. It was pretty strong walking against it. But once I got in the trees and out of the open areas, it didn't bother me.

I texted my sister and she ended up meeting me part way when she took her dog for a run. After I got home I took a really fast shower and put on some sunscreen and mascara and ran out the door again to meet part of my family at the Farmer's Market downtown. I got a pastry and a fresh squeezed mint lime-aid for breakfast.

My legs are a little stiff. It's been a while since I've walked that far. And I didn't stretch when I got home. I'm already thinking about where I want to go next Saturday. I really do live in a great place.

Lazy Days of Summer

I had a hard time falling asleep last night and I’m just feeling a little tired and slow today. These last few days have been wonderful. This is just the way I like summer. The temperature has been in the mid to high 80’s. It’s actually raining right now and it feels so good compared to the 100 degree weather we had in June. On Sunday, we had family dinner at my parents’ house and ended up putting the sprinkler under the trampoline. It felt great.

Last night after work I took a little hike on Birdsong Trail. It’s a pretty easy trail and only about 2 miles round trip. It felt good to get out. I haven’t had my hiking shoes on since last summer so it was about time I dusted them off and put them to use again. I think I’m going to try another trail later this week.

My sister and I are deep into planning a trip to SE Asia this fall. Nothing set in stone yet but we’ve got an idea of flights and will be purchasing soon. Now it’s just the hard and fun part of deciding where exactly we want to go and what to see. There are just so many possibilities. We have found that we always go with things planned (especially if needing advance tickets) and then end up being fairly flexible once we get there. Flexibility always helps when travel goes awry or you realize you planned way too many things to see.

I also recently booked a flight to Portland for later this year. My parents are renting a house on the Oregon coast for a week and I’m going to meet them there and stay a couple days. I’m excited about that and I got my airfare with my rewards miles. It’s not often I have enough to use but I love it when I do.  

Anyway, it’s been a good summer so far and I have lots of fun stuff to look forward to.

TGIF!!

It’s pretty sad that some weeks Monday is actually the high of the week. My motivation has been lacking again this week. I’ve gotten things done. I’m actually kind of happy with what I’ve gotten done.  But getting out of bed in the morning has been hard. I read somewhere recently that the bob haircut is in style right now and I’ve been rocking the messy bob. Ok, maybe not rocking it. Unfortunately for me, it probably looks unkempt and tangled and not like all those pictures on Pinterest. Ha ha… ask me if I care?  Right now I’m just happy that tomorrow I can wake up without an alarm clock.

My dad had some surgery yesterday and after work I went and saw him for a bit and then mom and I went and got something to eat. I haven’t watched TV this week (I really have been getting a few things done) but last night I was tired and not really in the mood to read. So I pulled up Netflix and ended up watching Meet the Mormons. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the movie. I didn’t find it preachy (but that’s possibly because I am one) but instead thought it was uplifting. More along the lines of the fact that there are good people everywhere and of every faith and I want to be one of those good people. There was a line in there that struck me and seemed pertinent to the type of week I’ve had. The guy from Nepal (I’m too lazy to go look up his name) said that he isn’t perfect except for one thing. He’s perfect in trying. I kind of like that idea. Just keep going and keep trying. Ha ha… or swimming as Dory would say.

Blue Skies!

I do love a good rainstorm. And we’ve been getting them a lot lately. Today has been sunny and I can see a lot of blue sky. I think all the rainy days have really made me appreciate the sunshine. I took my lunch to the park today and just enjoyed the sun and the green grass and the sound of the birds and the fountain in the pond. It was a really nice way to spend an hour.

 

I have found that life really does go in cycles.  I typically say that I have low motivation for life when I’m having a down cycle.  That about sums it up.  Memorial Day weekend is coming up and if the rain lets up, I’m planning to plant flowers. My gardenia and cactus bloomed in my house, but I need some flowers outside.

 

I want something to look forward to.  And since I love making lists, I decided to make a bucket list for summer. 

Go camping

Plan at least one day hike

Go to the Spiral Jetty

Spend a day at Bear Lake

Go to Minnetonka Cave

Take the kids to an outdoor concert in Park City

Go to the Farmer's Market

If I can get half of these done this summer, I’ll be happy with it. Some of them I’ve wanted to do for years and others I just thought of.

Seattle... Again

Last week I got to go back to Seattle for meetings for work. I flew in a couple hours earlier than I normally would have and met up with my friend Heather and we did a little exploring the night before the meetings started.

We ended up at the EMP museum which has a Star Wars costume exhibit. The geek in me had a blast.

 

 

There were lots of fun costumes to see from the new and old movies.

 

 

Queen Amidala's costumes were especially fun. She had a bunch of them. 



 

 

 

 

Not only did they have Star Wars but they had an exhibit with random stuff from a bunch of sci-fi movies and tv shows.  And another exhibit with costumes and things from fantasy movies.

 

 

For dinner that night, I got to try a pasty, which is a Cornish meat pie type of thing. It was pretty good. 

After the 2 days of meetings, a couple of us took a later flight out on Friday so we spent a little time at Pike's Market, which is always a fun thing to do. We ate breakfast at a place called Biscuit Bitch and it was absolutely delicious. Biscuits and gravy with scambled eggs and bacon on top. I couldn't finish it.

It was kind of cold and rainy and rainy when I got home (but not so cold, thank goodness) but since I like rainy days, it was ok with me. It was a nice week and nice to get away from home for a bit. I'm glad to be sleeping in my own bed again though.



Freak Snow Storm

We seem to get snow at least once during the springtime. I love it! Probably because I know it won't last and will be gone by the weekend. I love sunshine and blue skies, but there's just something about a storm (rain or snow, I'm not picky) that just makes me happy.

The view from my front window this morning:

And the view from my back window:

And it's still coming down. No signs of stopping yet. Too bad I can't be home with cocoa and a good book.

Today

I took a half day off today. My nephew and nieces are on spring break so my sister and I took them to see Cinderella. I liked it. It was a cute movie.  My 6 year old niece told her mom they have to buy it. She's still at that age where princesses are magical and it's fun to watch, even if I do get a little tired of whatever princess she is currently wanting to be. 

But even at my age, I still love a fairy tale. There really is something kind of magical about them. And we all need something magical we can believe in at times, I think.