So...I cut my hair...myself

Well, I started cutting it myself, anyway. I should have known better--as I was holding scissors to my hair, three friends called my phone. Did I heed their calls? I let them leave messages because my hair would have looked even worse if I tried cutting it while I was holding the phone with my shoulder. "Step away from the scissors, Sarah" my conscience kept whispering. But alas, I have absolutely NO self-control in things dealing with hair or chocolate. I can only take frumpy hair for so long and then I snap!!! If I don't get my hair cut that instant, I resort to cutting it myself (or worse, going to Super-cuts). I called in Marla for back-up support. She was supposed to say something like, "Gee, it looks wonderful! I've never known anyone who cut their own a-line bob before, I must know your technique!" To which I would reply, "It's easy, you make a pony tail with the under layers and cut it off. Then, grab random chunks of hair and snip snip. Nothing to it!" Instead, after trimming up some stray hairs, I heard something more like, "Yeah, you might want to go into somebody to get it fixed. You see, there's this hole here..." There's nothing better than a truthful friend in times of crisis! Not only that, she watched my kids while Lulu "fixed" it. So, here you go:

When I went in, Lulu was actually very complimentary. She said she was expecting way worse. She stacked the back a little and thinned it a TON so I wouldn't have mushroom syndrome like I normally do with cuts like these, and sent me on my merry way!

Now that's crazy!

Allright, forgive me if this seems a little outdated, but I lost the SD card for my camera. Whadya know, when you clean your desk, miracles happen! So, for the last week of school at Compass, the kids celebrated "Spirit Week" and got to dress up. One of the days was "Crazy Hair Day." Now, I know you're thinking "For BJ, every day is crazy hair day!" But he had other ideas in mind. No "bedhead express" for him that morning, nosirree. He was going for the "Quill Pig" as seen in Rockband, but c'mon, he has horse hair, not pig hair, so what's a mom to do? (Sides, I only had about 5 minutes to pull this together....) My simple solution: hairspray and a blowdryer. (It seemed to do the trick for my hairdresser some years back when she styled me with an enormous mullet and left me crying for days, so I was pretty confident in my tactics. Note to self: never sit in a dresser's chair when her hair is so big a 5-gallon hat wouldn't keep it dry in the rain.)What a silhouette, eh? You be the judge!

Oh, and check out my desk...

For those of you on your toes, you'll realize that not only is it clean, but it's been relocated! Now I have a window where I can spy on my neighbors and also glimpse horse butts now and again. Here's what took its place:

Ah, redecorating!! I don't think the beauty will last long, though. Dan told me Helena (his interior designer) would be by soon to take anything cute I have to stage one of his homes. And that's precisely why I had to take a picture of my genius before it got snatched right before my eyes!

"And here we have I--DA--HO..."

Believe it or not, folks, Boise ranked a whopping no. 2 on the list of best cities to live in America! Ironically, "affordable housing" was one of the reasons....But despite that, in my mind, Boise is truly one of the greatest places on earth. In case you were wondering, here are some reasons why it is so appealing. (and you just might find yourselves packing your bags to get here!)

1. Where else can you live in the heart of the city and look out your window each morning to cows and horses? (yes, that is our back fence. And yes, they smell like roses.)

2. In my eyes the weather is pretty much perfect. (although I know there are those of you who vehemently disagree, MOM, but here we have a little something called AC...) I admit, this year has been a tad strange, but where hasn't it been?

3. The library system, need I say more? (but shhhh, I owe $10.60 in fines. I really should pay up so a.) I don't get any nasty letters from a collection agency, and b.) I can enter my kids in the summer reading program so they can win cool prizes like more books and trinkets and PIZZA, of all things. Could someone explain the logical reason of why winning a personal pan pizza is a natural consequence of reading?! Anyone?)

4. You can go to the temple and back in under 3 hours.

5. You can go to Costco and back in under 3 hours. (but not under $100.)

6. Idaho boasts the likes of famous people who have utterly changed the course of the history of the world: J.R. Simplot. Thank you for perfecting the fry and consequently the ba-donk-a-donk butt. Philo T. Farnsworth. Thank you for inventing the television so we can be reminded how much we are craving those fries during the commercials of "The Biggest Loser."

7. I like to believe that there are very few options for natural disasters here.

8. There are enough Mormons here that people don't ask "Are all of these kids yours?" too often, but few enough that I don't get asked "So is this just half of your kids?"

9. Holy recreation opportunities, Batman!

10. Rednecks and white trash are just a fact of life. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Let's Get CAMPY!!

CAUTION: CAMPING WITH CHILDREN MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH! (and possibly more work than it's worth, but I'll never tell...)

We obviously disregarded this warning as well as the weather reports and headed for the hills with all our gear and all our crazy kids! The only thing that turned out to be truly hazardous were the "HOT" hot dogs....yeow! Nothing a little extra ketchup and relish couldn't fix.


About the caution tape: my in-laws were kind enough to go up early to Leslie's Gulch and reserve our spot. They did so with that yellow tape. It kept the boy scouts out and the kids in (well, sort of). As far as it looking like a crime scene, the only crime committed was the diabetic (not mentioning any names!) downing too many roasted marshmallows.

Our site was right on the river which made me a little nervous considering my two boys' history with bodies of water, but everyone had a great time throwing rocks and getting dirty. According to BJ getting dirty is "the whole purpose of camping." Let's say everyone fulfilled their purpose. Luckily, it only rained a little that night after the kids were in bed, so we just hung out in the car playing cards until it died down. (Mike and I won Rook, for the record.) It was a little chilly, but other than a few frost-bitten fingers, our kids didn't seem to notice.

We camped with Mike and Katy and their kids and I had to include a picture of little Brocky-boo. He was a fine lil' camper and didn't keep me up at all! I could have done with out the morning birds and the resident snorer and the rock in my back, but Brock was AOK (as opposed to KOA).

Here are some shots of our fabulous hike. I have to admit, the kids were more energetic than I was and much more adventurous when it came to climing precipices and skirting rockslides. They loved to find obscure little caves and hide out to "scare" us when we walked by. I was content to be the photographer and catch them in action! The views were incredible and we can't wait to go back. (and next time Katy won't be sick, so she can enjoy all this, RIGHT?!)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Ooh la la, was this so yummy! What a way to bring in my 29th birthday! (much better than the last 3 times!) I had a wonderful day full of wonderful people. I was looking forward to a romantic outing with Dan, but he switched it up on me and took me to a different restaurant (which I have to admit I wasn't too thrilled about at first...) where all my friends were there waiting! Ami made me a chocolate trifle (see photo and drool) that we all shared for dessert. All in all, it was pretty much perfect. Your sweat was all worth it, Dan! I have to say--Dan knows what I want. Just earlier that day when the thought went through my head "what I really would like is a surprise party, but I can't tell Dan that because then it wouldn't be a surprise! Maybe I'll just leave hints for next year." He read my mind! A big "thank you oh thank you" to everyone!"

p.s. if you can believe it, I'm wearing earrings. Thanks, Leslie!