I'm AliVe.

Hi hi!
It' s been awhile! Geez...
School is back in full swing and it's been nice being back to a routine.
We went to a super cool wedding last weekend for one of V's interns. It was so amazing. It was just one big party! They even had TWO after parties after the reception. Two! You had to choose which one you wanted to attend. The decor was amazing... made me want to plan a wedding all over again. The table centerpieces were really cool, all so quirky and unique.

I went to Casa Bonita for the first time! Heather and Ali were in town for Ali and Roma's birthday so we did it up right. I got to spend TWO weeks with this face. Ahh... it was such a treat.and Roma... such a doll...who got her first taste of sugar on her first birthday. Summer seems to be flying by... I'm really enjoying the cooler evenings. We've been sleeping with the windows open all night and waking up to a chilly house. It's really the best.

I'm now blazing through my second trimester so I've got all my energy back... feel like myself again. :)

EnjoY your FriDAy. xo

virus..boo.

my computer seems to have gotten a virus so I won't be back here until I get it taken care of. boo. We're enjoying our last couple of days here in Idaho but I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed within a few days. xo

IvY.

My cousin Ivy was up for the reunion so we got to spend a lot of time together this weekend. The weather here has been nice and hot! Perfect swimming weather. It's been great for my white body to see the sun! The newest addition to the dock... a 9 ft diving board! Apparently the small one (above) just wasn't cutting it. :) I still haven't gone off the big one but everyone else seems to have broken it in. Jumps, dives, flips, twirls, accidental belly flops... it's gotten a lot of use.

I had a great time the last few days at my class reunion, so fun seeing people I haven't seen in years. Hope you're having a restful weekend. :)

Yesterday we drove out to the middle of nowhere to an antique store. This place is so far out that you have to call the day before you go so that they can make sure someone is there to unlock it for you. There are about 5 cute little cabins all full of really unusual things. It was quite the experience. The road getting into this place is so narrow that when they have events people have to all arrive at a specific time and leave at a specific time because the drive in is only a one lane road. It's too narrow for cars to meet each other on the road. Derrick used his money to buy a cowboy hat and then asked me to take a picture of him. I asked him why he wasn't smiling and he said, "because it's my serious cowboy face..."

I bought this huge metal letter "O." Not quite sure yet how I'm getting it back to Denver.

It was really fun.. and sort of bizarre.

My nephew Austin had his 13th birthday party at the cabin on Wednesday.

The little kids weren't too excited about swimming so they just spent the afternoon collecting pollywogs.

I stopped by my brothers house and found the kids up in their own little cabin building a fire making lunch in the woods. This little fort provided us some serious entertainment when I was a kid and now my niece and nephews practically live in it.

It's really small and has just a little wood stove, couple of chairs and a tiny loft.
They were making Top Ramen for lunch. Jamie looks like Laura Ingalls Wilder...

It was so funny..

Well I'm leaving in a couple hours to go and pick Vito up at the airport! yay! Super excited to spend the next week here with him.

xo Have a great weekend.

When I was in high school we didn't have malls and movie theatres to entertain us. We went outside for our entertainment, but once we got our drivers license driving became the entertainment. We would drive around the county for hours. I realized on Saturday when we took "the long way" to the farmer's market why we drove.
This place really is beautiful. Every direction you look, beauty.



We bought some lettuce at the market and then drove the long way home to enjoy the scenery. Stopping along the way to hit a few garage sales and admire a few gardens.

Yesterday about 20 of us went floating down the river. It was a really mellow three hour ride. I wanted so badly to take my camera but everyone discouraged me afraid it would get wet. We're going to go again next week when Vito comes into town and I'm totally going to bring it. I can't wait!

Last night my brother Josh and I drove and hour and a half to go see a comedy show at a little youth center in Clark Fork (population 530.) It's a really quaint little town and the show was cute.

At intermission... they served coffee and strawberry shortcake. We were the youngest audience members by at least 25 years. It was perfect date.

But the drive was even more magical.. we drove along lake Pend O'reille most the way home. This lake is 148 square miles and 65 miles long... huge!


I told my mom tonight.. this is the last time I will ever come up here alone. Next year at this time I'll be towing a baby with me. I'm excited for that... but really trying to savor this time alone. Enjoying the stillness.

Today... more of the same.

Went for another really long ride with dad today, we went up to check on a couple of lakes. Everything was so quiet and beautiful. I've wanted to blog more while I'm up here to try and capture the stillness and peacefulness of this place. Time tends to stop here and it really fills me with so much inspiration. I bought a new sketchbook today and I'm planning on filling it!

My dad has 4 game cameras he checks on every week. He has them stashed all at different locations way out in the middle of nowhere. He makes a trek once a week to change all of the memory cards. I went with him today and it really is a serious trek. He then comes home and turns on the computer (gasp..) to watch the slide show of animal photos. Deer, elk, turkeys, cougars, coyote, geese and bear.. it's so fun for him. He averages more than 75 photos per camera, it's a serious hobby!Hope you have a lovely weekend. xo

HomE!

Today was the best day. It was super warm and I spent most of the afternoon watching the kids jump off the dock into the water.... a bazillion times. My dad and I went for a couple rides on the 4-wheelers so he could show me around. There are quite a few ponds and little lakes on their property so we had fun checking on all of them. We rode over to check on my Uncle's cabin about a mile up the road. ...and we went for one more ride tonight after the sunset. But I think the highlight of my day was watching my cute niece Jamie stand out on the road all day in town trying to sell her 6 week old puppies. She stood out there for hours and it was over 90 degrees out there. I went to visit her in the a.m. but forgot my camera so I came back a couple hours later so I could take her pic with the pups.

She sold 2! ... and called it a day.

It is so nice to be here, so quiet and slow. I'll be back tomorrow with more pics. Hope you're having a lovely week.

xo