People: Either You Love Them or You Hate Them, Today... I LOVE THEM!

Today has been a pretty good day. B and I got a lot of stuff done that really needed to be done. But there is definitely a unique story about today.

I had a home health visit this morning at a facility in the valley. B dropped me off for my visit and went to run an errand while I was tending to my patient. I finished what I was doing about 5 minutes before B got back to pick me up. So I waited in the lobby of said facility.

I had not been there long when I was joined by a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties. He had some sort of social deficit. I am not saying this to be judgmental by any means... you just need to read on, in fact, to give the best picture, I will type up our conversation.

Man: How are you?

Me: I am good'nd you?

Man: Not so good.

Me: Bummer... (not wanting to pry, so I looked at the Christmas tree). Man I need to get my tree up.

Man: I had a doctors appointment.

Me: Oh... so... good news or bad?

Man: Bad.

(silence)

(awkward silence)

Man: (quietly) I have a rash.

It was at that point that B arrived in the parking lot. I don't recall what my reaction to this poor man was, it wasn't mean, I just can't remember what I said. I told B that story as soon as I got into the car and he laughed right out loud.

And that is the reason that I love people today. Yeah, it was kind of creepy. It was also really funny. It takes all kinds to keep the world spinnin' right?

Love to you all!

I Must be the LUCKIEST Person Ever!!!!

I say I am the luckiest person ever, and I mean this in only a greedy sense of it. The above image is that of 5 MILLION DOLLARS! That is right! On November 24th I received a phone call from a gentleman who could not even pronounce my name. He called from a completely valid phone number of 876-597-1737 and told me that not only had I won 5 mill, but also a Mercedes Benz!

I am POSITIVE that they would have awarded me with the Mercedes that is pictured above. But then something inside my head stopped me from accepting... the world stopped spinning and I just thought:
WHOA!

Though I normally do TOTALLY trust people with major accents and difficulty saying my name... something in my gut told me that there just might be something fishy here. So I hung up on him and told him to take my name off of his calling list.

It was too good to be true, right?

I mean the voice at the other end, so soothing, so convincing... I have really been kicking myself for not accepting these gifts (for a very small fee, so I was told).

BUT WAIT! Could it be? Another opportunity to receive yet another wonderful and extravagant prize? This is just amazing. Opportunity has come knocking!

Today, I received a call from: 876-422-5768. A warmth came over me as I heard the soothing voice of a man with a thick accent who again mispronounced my name. My winnings today? Just a mere $200,000.00 and a LAME Lincoln Navigator 2010.

I am sure that this is the Lincoln that would be coming my way.

At the beginning of our conversation, the sexy accent on the other end of the phone was named Mike Bond. Mid-way through the conversation, his name miraculously changed to John McCoy. Oh this smooth talker was soooooooo convincing. Mr. Mike-Bond-John-McCoy told me he retrieved my information from the local Walmart that I shop at. He was floored that I had received NONE of the mailed notifications of my winnings. All things aside, I was given a simple list of instructions. All that is required of me is to pay a small fee, confirm that there was more than $1,000.00 in my bank account and confirm that I was indeed a U.S. citizen. Simple right?

Oh my gosh, I am so irritated. I hung up on Mike-Bond-John-McCoy once promising to report him, and he called back. Just for the hell of it, I answered again... and threatened again... and hung up again. Well, he called me back AGAIN. I did not answer the last time. I did report him to the local Walmart where I shop. I have also reported the number to some phonephishing site. I just don't feel like this is enough. There are plenty of people getting swindled out of their money, and this upsets me greatly.

PLEASE don't answer calls from the following numbers:
876-422-5768
876-456-0288
876-597-1737
702-347-9485

These are all I have for now. I know that the men with accents are really easy for the ladies to fall for, but DON'T DO IT! I didn't and I just wish there was more that I could do to take these butt heads down. I am at a loss of what to do. If anyone has any advice of how I can take this to another level I would be grateful!

Other than all of my winnings lately, things are going well. I hope that is the case with ya'll!

A Post for November

I almost got away with not posting at all this month! Big surprise I know.

Things have been busy as ever. I am still working 3 jobs, still going to school, and still just overwhelmed with life in general. Blah, blah, blah.

Today is my first day off since Halloween. I have had nothing to do all day and I really do feel guilty. Oh well. I work this weekend, so that should help make up for the guilt of the nothingness in my life today. I am not sure why I feel a need to ALWAYS be doing something, but I do.

We have a ton of snow up here from the blizzard on last Tuesday. That was actually really neat to experience. It went by really fast though.

B has been doing well too. He is at work, for the stupid sales today. Poor boy had to be there at 4:30 this morning. I was smart. I stayed in bed. I tried my hardest to sleep in but only made it to 8:15. I would have loved to have slept until 10:00 or so. That just didn't happen.

In other things... I have a new niece! Her name is Daisy. She is Hillary and Max's newest edition. She is absolutely beautiful in every photo I have seen. I would have liked to have come down to meet her in person on the 24th, but we were unable to afford the trip.

I really don't have anything else to mention. I wish I lived closer to my sister, well, closer to anyone really. I am having a very down day, most likely because I am alone. I need a new scene. Up here in Smithfield is beautiful, but I really have no friends. It is just me, B and the dogs. I love this tight little circle that we are, but I want something more I guess. And on this note, I am leaving before I get too friggin' desperate sounding.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Perhaps I Just NEED to Vent!

So I knew that working three jobs would be a little bit insane. I was just not expecting this.

On Tuesday I started at my third job and they told me that they would call me and tell me where to go for training today, as I would be training on actual home health visits. I told them that I could start seeing patients at 2:00 PM and they said that they would just tell me where to be at 2:00 when they called.

I received no phone call.

So I showed up at the office of my new job at 2:20 because I didn't know what else to do. Right upon walking in I was talked to as if I were just to know to show there. I did some over the phone training with a very sweet gal who just assumed I was in the loop.

Apparently I was assigned a patient today, and I needed to be to her place like 20 minutes before showing up at the office. Hmmm, I was just a little aggravated. I explained to the sweet girl that I was told nothing. She understood. While talking with her she informed me that I needed to pass off on how to draw blood... ON MY NEW BOSS!!! Just a little bit intimidating.

All these things could have been mentioned and better planned out on Tuesday, but what do I know? I am just the new person.

After having gotten off of the phone, I then was informed of another patient with a blood draw order that I would need to go and see. Of course I couldn't do this until drawing my bosses blood.

Luckily, I got my boss on the first stick with a completely retarded blood collection kit. Then I was sent up the hall from my office to do a blood draw and an assessment. Of course all of areas assessed on the patient need to be charted on a document that is entirely foreign to me. I did my best, but boy do I feel dumb.

First patient, able to get a flash of blood, but the darn vein kept rolling. After my 3rd attempt, I threw in the towel on the blood draw. I did the assessment, but I know I will need some corrections made, at least I would expect it.

2nd Patient.

Went to her apartment which is at Terrace Grove, where I work most of the time. Of course her granddaughter is there, and she didn't have to leave, she decided to stay.

No pressure right?

Assessed, got the blood. Turned blood in to the correct lab, but I was 15 minutes after the doctors are not in their offices. Darn it!

I will get to follow up on that blood draw tomorrow at Terrace Grove, which will be good. But my goodness, whatever happened to my training? I just got thrown in which I suppose is good, but I also should have been done at 4:30 PM, didn't finish until 5:30 PM, Don't know how to bill out all of my time to get paid for it all, and I missed my 5:15 PM workout.

Things are going to get better, right?

I know they will, starting new things is just so hard sometimes!

Oh yeah, then I called my sister to vent and... my phone died.

Bummer.

I Must be Crazy!

So I got a third job. Blog posts will be few and far between, but I will post.

I hope all is well with everybody!

Hat Season and School!

Things here in Smithfield have been pretty chilly and wet! I am both excited for fall to come and sad to see summer leave. Oh well.

Lately things have been going just fine. I love this time of year because it is time to make hats for winter! I love to do this. B wants me to sell them, and I am happy to do so, but I don't have a lot of people asking for them.

Nonetheless, they are a blast to make.

Here are my latest:

I was really excited about the brown and green hat, but I made it a bit too small. I will have to find a friend with a small head to have this one. It looks like a swim cap on me!

This pink and green beauty is the perfect size. I do think that having both a ball and a flower is a bit much, but what do you think? It is cute either way, but I think one or the other... not both!

The little pink number above was made for my friend to give to her friend who is having a baby girl. I love the big ball on top. It turned out very cute!

I plan on making many more hats!

School is going wonderfully! I am so very grateful for my stepmom Bonnie who loaned me some money to pay for my tuition. Thank you Bonnie!

My class, excuse me, my LAST class before I get my bachelors degree is called Children in the Middle Years. I have only 2 books. Here is one of them:

I have to write 4 reflection papers on this book. I think I may post the true reflections on my blog. My other is a boring text book. So far, the 'Best Friends, Worst Enemies' is not so bad. There are some stupid analogies, but oh well.

Funny story that kind of relates to my book. I was reading it last night as I was waiting for an aerobics class to end, my class was next. As I sat there reading, other girls began to show up for the 7:30 PM Hip Hop class. 3 in particular sat close to me. They began to talk as if I wasn't there, of course, I listened in from time to time.

It came out in their conversation that one of them was the instructor. She said to the her friends "It is kind of a drag to come here on Wednesday nights and hang out with a bunch of people who can't dance." I glanced up from my book, then went right back to reading.

I paid no attention to my book after that because all of my insecurities about the fact that I can't dance were hot on my mind. I started to reassure myself that I could just fit in amongst the crowd and she wouldn't know that I would be that person who couldn't dance.

Well, including her two friends, there were 7 of us there. So much for blending in. I thought several times to just abandon ship. I stuck it out though. I am so glad I did. I laughed at myself and I had a blast! Oh and I learned a new hip hop routine! It is a way cute dance and I was able to do it. Not as quick as the other 6 girls who showed up, all of them younger than me and all of them with little hot bodies. On second thought, I guess I did blend in!

Well that is my life for now. Hope you all are doing good!

Some Wonderful People who are GREAT Friends!

This weekend was very memorable. We had a great time. On Friday, we hung out with Brett and Stacey. We ate dinner and that was about it. Called it a night after dinner.

On Saturday B and I were worthless. I got up and did my visit and then I came home. We just watched programs all day. We drove into town once, and then came home and fiddled with the watering device in our front bushes. After that we watched a movie called 'Adventureland'. I loved it. It was pretty darn funny.

Sunday was absolutely wonderful. We reconnected with our friends Bryan and Stacy Hansen. We haven't seen them since like 2007. It was so nice to reconnect. They are the type of friends where, even though 3 years had passed, we took up right where we left off, as if only a week had passed.

We had lunch at The Beehive Grill. It is actually owned by the Moab Brewery and should have been called that as well, but the owners understand that Cache Valley citizens would most likely not support a business with the word 'brewery' in it.

(I learned that fun fact today!)

We didn't take photos in the restaurant as we were eating, drinking and catching up. It was so nice to see them. They have a 2 month old baby girl named Ada. I feel like she looks just like her dad. She and Bryan have the same eyes, in my opinion. B says, 'she looks just like a baby'. He is so funny. I love that man.

Below is a great photo of me lovin' on Ada. When I finally got the guts to hold her, she was a little cranky, but still adorable nonetheless.

She eventually warmed up to me and we snapped this photo that I didn't rotate before blogging. I even got her smilin' a little bit... okay, it was probably Stacy who got her to smile. She is a doll!

Then B got the guts to hold her and just look at how cute they are!

AND... he liked holding her too! That smile is proof positive of him liking it!

We wanted a photo of all of us together, so we tried out our timer. In this first pic, there was no flash due to the windows behind us. Oh... and my big fat head got in B's way. He mentioned this as we were waiting for the timer. We all laughed and laughed!

Take two... better, but still awkward.

Our neighbor Stacey (of Brett and Stacey) was kind enough to come over and take this much better photo of all of us!

Stacy and Bryan, we had a wonderful time with you guys and cannot wait to see you again!

We love you guys!

After they left, Stacey (neighbor) stayed and we watched 'To Catch a Predator' that show on MSNBC. Those guys are creepy! That was fun.

Today has been interesting. It started out just fine. I got up and went to work my 12 hour shift. All was well until about 11:00. My kidneys started to ache and I started to chill, no fever though. I went home early and have had a pain pill and a heating pad on and am feeling much better, but that was really odd. I am sure that I am fine... but I thought I would tell you my odd illness.

Things are great... hope they are great with everyone else!

Birthday!

August 24th was a great day. We celebrated two birthdays: B's and Gordon's. We had a lot of fun. I went and did my home health visit. When I got home, I wrapped B's presents and set them up on the counter... no... I didn't take a photo... but you will not be let down... this post is still full of photos!

The dogs had hair cut's scheduled and just look at how handsome they are!

While the dogs were at their appointment, B and I ran some errands. This included going to USU and getting me set up for fall semester. We now just need to scrounge up tuition money. It is such a good feeling to be getting my degree done!

After that, we picked up the pups and went home. We did some laundry and B did some boring office work. We were just killin' time until our neighbors Brett and Stacey got home. They were at work and we wanted to go to dinner with them. Once they got home the adventure began.

Below is a photo I took of B once we got in the car. Girls ride up front and boys in the back. I thought this photo was funny!

We then just started to take photos of random people. Though the photo below may look innocent and random, there is a funny story.

The people in the car are strangers to us. They didn't notice us until the flash of the camera. We were all laughing, and then Stacey noticed that the dude in the back was angry and mouthed the phrase "what is wrong with you guys?" at her in an angry/mad face.

This made us laugh more, which in turn upset them more. Oh well.

The photo below is of Brent, a Cache Valley cycling icon. He is mentally challenged, but very accomplished and independent. He worked at USU for about 30 years and can still be seen riding his bike, all throughout the valley, ALL year long. We like Brent. He was the torch bearer in 2002 when the Olympic torch came through Logan. Brent makes your day when he honks his bike horn, smiles and waves at you.

And now... the birthday dinner!

We went to Happy Sushi. It is yummy and expensive... but most importantly... yummy.

Below is the Sake we ordered. How cute are those little cups and that little poorer?

Here we all are, so happy!

Here is our pretty sushi! All of it was fantastic, and that even includes the yellow tail (chef's choice) and the albacore tuna that are on the far right. That is considered the real sushi, not in a roll. I was apprehensive to try it at first, but it was indeed good. The tuna had more flavor. ALL of the rolls were fantastic!

Below here is the noodles we ordered and split. They were super good as well! (Super Good!)

The after dinner photos start now! Below is B and Brett. I just love those guys!

We stopped at Sweetly Divine (a pastry shop) to get dessert on the way home. Below is the cannoli's. I love those, and that is what I got. The finger belongs to Brett.

This is just a view of some of the many divine treats you can eat at this yummy shop. They are super good! Right Hillary?... Super Good!

On the way home B decided to take a photo of my head.

I then turned and smiled at the camera. Not my best photo, but good enough!

The birthday was fabulous. We had a blast. Our friends Brett and Stacey really are some of the best friends we have. It is so nice to have such wonderful people to share your life with. I just love them!

Now, onto today. I went to work (of course). I worked 13 hours today. After clocking out, I went to the gym and did Zumba! Stacey came with me. We had a lot of fun. I have noticed though, my skin on the underside of my foot is having a hard time toughening up.

I have literally danced my skin off!

Totally worth it!

Hope all is well with one and all!

What We Are Up To

So I lied... below is the only photo I took of MS Tour. This is after the race and once we got back to our car. We were riding up to the car and I told B "We've got to get at least one photo!" So we did.

I have been kind of a butt hole lately when it comes to taking photos. I didn't take one single photo of my brothers and their families when they were up here that weekend either. I just have been a nit wit.

Instead, I never miss a photo opportunity when it comes to bacon!

Yeah, I cooked turkey bacon yesterday and didn't burn it at all. We made savory breakfast sandwiches and boy were they yummy.

We made them again today and they were even better.

In my little world of crochet, below is a dinosaur that I made a while back. This is not my pattern. I have a blast finding other peoples patterns and botching the work to my best abilities!

Here is a black and white dog, much like my brown and... uh... brown dog! A sweet little lady that I take care of has ordered one of these dogs. I have got to get hoppin' on makin' it!

So now it is time for you to be prepare of a bloody carp fish photo. I have not blogged this and B caught this big fish back in like June or something. He is a big ol' fatty.

Look at that fish!

And again.

I put these here now because I have got to brag about B. He is so wonderful! I wish he knew that to it's full extent. He and our friend Brett are quite a pair. They were going bow fishing quite a bit at the beginning of the summer, but then, we got busy and bow fishing got put on the back burner. At least they were able to catch this big fella before they stopped going.

I love B's face in the pic where he is holding this big fish up by a rope. He is such a cutie!

It is B's birthday tomorrow. He is going to be 31. All morning long so far I have been pinching him, tickling him, bugging him and telling him that it is the last time I get to do this to a 30 year old. He just laughs it off. He is one in a million.

I am a lucky lady.

Right now, we have no idea of what we are gonna do for birthday celebration, but something fun!

It was also my friend Stacey's birthday on Friday (the 20th). We went out for appetizers and drinks at Cafe Sabor, then it was our first time with sushi for dinner. We went to Happy Sushi. Luckily Brett, Stacey's husband, has eaten there before and he is quite daring with sushi. He even ordered the real stuff, not just a roll.

We really do have a wonderful friendship in Brett and Stacey. They are fabulous people of which I am so happy to know.

We are also looking forward to seeing our long time friends Bryan and Stacey. They live in Escalante now and have been friends with us for quite a while. They have a new baby girl named Ada. She is absolutely beautiful! We are hopefully going to get to see them this coming weekend. I can't wait! I will bring my camera and I WILL take photos!

Other than that, life is pretty good. It is boring, but that is good.

I should be starting up with school again here pretty quick. Cross your fingers and hope that I get into the RN program, I am applying in September! Holy Moly, that is soon!

Love you all!

I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW!

So here's to catching up!

MS Tour

The MS tour was fabulous! We had an absolute blast! B and I rode the whole ride together and just enjoyed each others company. He is so wonderful. I am amazed at how he is able to put up with me and all of my bull crap.

I really do love the MS tour, and it is a fantastic cause... but I HATE the inconsiderate riders, and believe me, when you ride with that many cyclists, people are very inconsiderate! Still a blast and it was still a fantastic day!

Sorry, no pics!

Vegas

So the weekend after the MS tour, B and I had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas with our neighbors Brett and Stacey. They are some of the most wonderful people in the world! We love them so very much.

We left from Smithfield at like 6:00 PM on July 1st and got there at like 1:00 AM on July 2nd. We stayed with some of Stacey's relatives off of the strip in an absolutely AMAZING house. The estate was worth like 5 million $$$. It was amazing. And yes, I do need to be shot... we didn't take one picture. We should have.

Stacey's relatives are so very nice. We enjoyed their company entirely. We hit the strip pretty much every night we were there, except for the 4th, which was a shame because I bet there were some kick a$$ fireworks!

B and Brett played Craps. B and I lost money, but one of the nights we did start to make a come back, still came back to Utah with less money than when we started with. Didn't matter though, we went to play!

Post Vegas

We lit some illegal fireworks on the 24th for Pioneer day. That was fun, and they were amazing!

The latest highlight... B's sister Hillary (yogurt flavored) came up with her sweet husband Max. They stayed the first weekend of August with us. We don't have an extra bed, so poor lil' pregnant Hil' had to sleep on our couch, which was not super comfortable for a 6 month pregnant lady!

We absolutely loved having them here. I wish they lived closer to us. We had a great time.

We went out to eat, more than we should have. We played some Nazi Zombies, and we lit off more illegals. Though it needs to be noted that Hillary did not participate and ANY illegal activity.

We love you guys and hope you come again!

This last week, we have washed B's truck and worked. Oh I trimmed our bushes out front. They look super good!

This is a small update. I will blog again soon and I will start figuring out how to use my camera again!

Upcoming Events

I may go run a 7 mile stint with my sister on Sept. 18. I am gonna die. Must start training 2 weeks ago for that!

I also (haven't told B about this yet) have planned a potential trip to Boise (where photos will be taken) for later in October!

Vow

I WILL blog more!

I promise!

I now must get back to my entirely-too-scary-to-play-by-myself-game: BioShock... gulp... yikes!

Bow Fishin' and Other Stuff

We went bow fishing, which is self explanatory, and B caught this fish. We think he weighs 10 pounds. We were just about to call it good and go home, but then Brett and B saw the back of this fish rise and B to a 30 foot (approx) shot and got him! It is his first bow hunt kill!

I had to snatch another photo of the fish at home. Too bad Carp are crap! That fish went right into the dumpster. Apparently there are people who use them for fertilizer and stuff, but we don't know them, so we just threw him out.

Way to go B!

Below is a photo of the boys. They are mad because I just told them they are getting their hair cut today. Look at the disgust on their faces!

Below here is a behind photo of a dog that I made using a pattern you can find here:

Dog Pattern.

Here is his face! Isn't he just cute?

I sold him for $10.00 and got B that much closer to his MS donations!

If ANYONE is interested in having me make them something for more donations PLEASE comment and let me know what I can possibly do! We are getting down to the wire and really need more money for MS!

If you just want to donate PLEASE click below:

B's MS donations

We need your help!

Today I am going to place flyers all around our condos, we will see if that drums up any business!

Well, I have got to run these pups to their hair cut! Love you all and will post more fun stuff soon!

The Weekend of Little Red and my Super Sister!

FINALLY our ride has come... and sadly it has gone. Little Red was a complete success this year. My sister rocked it out big time! She and I had a fantastic time together. Unfortunately, she had to go home today. So sad, but now it is time to blog about our fantastic time together!

So I have decided to just use normal names for this blog. Nickie arrived to my house last Thursday (June 3rd) at about 4:00 or so. I was so happy to see her. That night we went to Zumba and had a blast and then came home and watched 'So you think you can dance'. That was just a wonderful evening.

The next day was Friday (the 4th). We went to a million places that day. We bought some fabric because we wanted to make costume skirts for the Wonder Woman themed bike ride, but that turned out to be really frustrating. We also bought some beading supplies and stuff to make a fantastic pasta dinner. Stacey even came over and the three of us beaded, cooked, tried to sew, and got our bikes ready for the ride. We had to pick up packets that night too and Nickie and I ended up buying some super cute athletic items from a booth called Born Fit. Nick got a very cute teal jacket that zips up the side and I got a super cute running skort that is brown and pink. I can't wait to wear it to Zumba!

We both realized we spent money that we shouldn't have. I kind of upset B by purchasing the skort. Sorry B.

When we got back we ended up staying up till about 1:00 AM just getting all of our crap ready. Nick and I still managed to leave our water bottles on the kitchen table when we left for our ride. Fortunately we had put a protein shake in the water bottles that we did remember, so we just didn't have water for the first 12 miles of the ride.

At the second stop we met up with Stacey and her Mom. Below is a photo of me and Stacey together. She can pull of ANY color of hair. Look at how cute that purple hair is on her!!!

Below here is the 3 of us. We are just such beautiful babes! I really would love to travel back in time and do it all over again!

And here is just me and my sister. I love that girl. I look like a complete fat face in this photo, but I am a fat face with my cute sister! I need to mention again just how awesome she did on this ride! She did have me worried, and I will tell you why later!

Below here is Stacey with her mom. Aren't they gorgeous? They have the same eyes. How fun that they can do this together.

The action photo below is Nickie coming up a hill. This year she never stopped and said 'It just keeps going and going'. She had a better bike and better skills for this ride. I am so proud of this woman!

Awe, isn't she cute?

We stopped for lunch at like mile 36. Before we ate I saw this cute English Bulldog. Her name is Sophie and she is 9 years old. She is so cute! Her dad was a proud dog owner and was very nice to let me take this photo and love up on her a bit.

Look at that face!

During lunch Nick took a moment to ponder life's larger mysteries.

Deep in thought...

And that is the last photo I took on the ride. Nickie and I thought that we ate a good lunch. Turns out we were wrong. This is where she started to worry me. After lunch there was a 4 mile climb. It wasn't steep, but we were riding into the wind and our speed was just atrocious. In the first mile, I lost her. I thought she was riding closely behind me, but as I got off of my bike to wait for her, it was a long wait. Okay maybe only like 4 minutes, but as it turns out, there was a bunch of cotton in the air and Nickie thought it would be awesome to inhale one of the pieces. As it turns out, that is just not a good idea. She had to stop and cough. Anyway, we pushed on. At about mile 45 Nickie got very nauseated. We sat on the side of the road and I called B. I wanted her to take a SAG wagon or allow B to come and get her but she insisted on going on. There was one more stop at about mile 48, so we got her there and stayed for about 25 minutes.

I again called B and he and Brett met up with us at that stop. I tried to convince Nickie to go with them because I didn't want to kill her. But She wanted to ride the rest of the ride. So away we went! I am so glad that she finished it off. As it turns out, she probably just needed to eat more at the lunch stop. She truly worried me though. I want us to do this bike ride for many years to come and I can't go killing her off on one of them! I also fear that she may start to hate the sport of cycling if I push her too hard, but she was determined to finish, and finish we did!

We crossed the finish line at the same time this year. It was so much fun.

And then we crashed.

It felt so nice to just lay there as we waited for B to come and get us. I had such a good time on this ride. Thank you Nickie for doing this with me! You are the best sister a gal could ever ask for! Next year we will have to try for 80 (we signed for 80 miles this year, but decided on 60 instead).

Besides riding a lot of miles on our bikes, we also beaded. My sister is just amazing at so many things, especially crafty things. She has gotten me hooked on beading.

Below here are the two watch bands and the watch face she gave me for my birthday. When I went to Idaho in April, we beaded and beaded and beaded.

Now look at all the stuff I have made!

Below is a necklace that Nickie made and I made the matching watchband. I just wanted to feature it here so Nick can see that I kept the band up to her super skills!

What a cute set!

Yesterday was Nickies birthday. Below is a photo of the cake that she baked. I bought the supplies, but Nick did the rest. She made the frosting and look at that cute icing job!

What a regular Betty Crocker!

Seriously, she has some mad skills in the kitchen. We were all just sittin' around the other night and she whipped up scones for us, from scratch, with stuff that I didn't even realize that I had in my kitchen. B wants me to do more stuff in the kitchen like her.

My sister is seriously amazing.

Below is a photo we tried to take of us. I didn't realize that my zoom was maxxed out.

So we took it again. But I hat my fat double chin to the left in this photo.

3rd time is a charm. Now we both look super cute!

So we took Nickie out to to dinner for her birthday to Cafe Sabor. Last year Nick and I went there and she got a Pink Zebra (drink). So now it is tradition. Here is B and I with our Pink Zebra. It was yummy.

Here is Nickie thoroughly enjoying her Pink Zebra.

What a dufus!

These next few photos were all taken today, and were done just to keep her here longer. I hated to see her go, but I know her family missed her like crazy.

Nick didn't like her in the first photo, so we did an upgrade!

Then we went out to walk her to her car. We photo'd bird poop on her door... and then decided that our reflections were pretty funny...

...so we took more photos...

...and more.

Alas, she finally evaded my stall tactics and got her van door open.

But I could see in her face she didn't want to leave.

Still, I am not convinced she really wanted to leave.

And just like that, she was gone.

Oh sister, I miss you already and you haven't even been gone a day!

Thanks for the super fun time and the great memories. I love you and sorry if this seems like an ode!

What a fantastic weekend!