Vision Board

I spent the past weekend at a retreat - I was one of three featured speakers, with a topic of "work-life balance". Ultimately, I think I have a decent balance, but there is always room for improvement!

Anyway, one of the things we did at the retreat was build our vision boards - what we'd like our lives to look like, things we'd like to do or have, words/phrases that describe us and who we want to be... so - below is mine.

First, I want to live a life of purpose... a life I choose. I don't want to feel like life happened to me, but rather that I chose it. Secondly, I want to travel with my husband... it doesn't have to be far, but time away to enjoy the country we live in and enjoy time together. Third, I want Josh and I to be healthy... which includes fitness, and a dance class. :) He already said he'd take one...

Fourth, I want to cultivate relationships with supportive girlfriends. Fifth, I want to focus more of my energy on my true passion, which is cooking. When I have a day to do anything I want, I want to be in my kitchen. There has to be something I can do with that. I don't know what yet, but I'm working on it. :)

Sixth, I want us to live in a house. Our apartment has been wonderful, and it's in a fantastic location. But, I'm ready to think about a house again, with a fireplace, an outdoor living space, and a huge kitchen. Lastly, I want to allow myself time to dream, to just be.

There you have it! I'm not ready to specify goals related to each aspect of my board yet.... they will come. For now, I want to ponder on what prompted me to choose each of those pictures and words, and focus on what choices I want to make so that I have chosen to live my best life!

Boise Fall Parade of Homes

Josh and I spent this afternoon walking through 6 or 7 of the Boise Fall Parade of Homes. No, we're not house-shopping... we just wanted to see what builders are doing, see what ideas we would be inspired by, and have a fun afternoon out of the house. :)

We had so much fun! There were aspects of each house that we liked a lot... my favorite "aha" was a 24"x24" door in the laundry room that opened into the master closet. It was brilliant! I could pass the laundry basket through from the master closet into the laundry room, and vice-versa. So easy!

We are concluding our "date" by sharing a caramel apple and a glass of wine... we have had a great day!

Cooler Weather

The weather has finally started to cool down, and I love it! Now that we're in the 70-80 degree range, I want to take more walks, plan picnics, and take drives to see the leaves as they turn colors. Cooler weather also means more crock-pot cooking, more soups and stews and hearty dishes. Fruit desserts with cinnamon and spices, the aromas filling the house and wrapping me in cozy memories of home and family.

Today I have been able to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen, kneading dough for cinnamon rolls and baking zucchini bread. It smells like fall, and I am in heaven.

Spirit of Boise - Balloon Festival

This past week was the Spirit of Boise - Balloon Festival. Hot Air Balloons from all over the country come to Boise to participate in the four-day event, where they lift off each morning and play different games (quest, chase, etc...). Friday night they hold Night Glow, where the balloons light up like large lanterns.

So Friday night we walked down to the park (about a mile-and-a-half from our complex) to participate in the festivities!

 There were a couple of exhibition inflations prior to nightfall. The Coca-Cola bottle (above) and Mickey Mouse (below) were the fan favorites. Mickey Mouse is apparently the only hot air balloon to have risen from the base of the Grand Canyon.

Once darkness fell, we waited in anticipation for the balloons to light up.  

And then they did! They tried to do a "wave" effect with the lighting, calling out the balloon leaders names... it was too slow to really be the wave, but it was still interesting to watch.

Josh was able to catch one of the moments on video!

After 30 seconds it goes dark... we kept recording thinking they would light up again, but they didn't.

We enjoyed the balloons so much Friday night we decided to get up early Saturday morning and drive up to a viewpoint to watch the balloons lift off on the final day of the Festival. One did so right away, and the rest were trying to catch up.

Our view, with over half of the balloons in the air.

It was gorgeous! We had a wonderful time watching the balloons and chatting with other people who were up early to watch the final day of lift-offs. It was a wonderful way to begin our weekend!

Labor Day... a week early?

I got up this morning anticipating a nice, relaxing day... a little grading, a movie, and a good book. After my morning coffee and the Sunday paper, I headed back to the office to set up my laptop, and Josh suggested moving the desk. Moving the desk turned in to rearranging the office, but before we even got started we decided to move one of the bookshelves into our bedroom. That turned into a plan to rearrange the bedroom... fast forward a few hours, and the bedroom is rearranged, but the office is torn apart and we haven't tackled our walk-in closet.

SO - my relaxing day turned into a "labor" day after all... I called off the work for the afternoon, and scheduled it for next weekend. We can finish when it's really a weekend for laboring.

For now, I'm trying to recapture the relaxation I had in mind...

Annual Hike up Table Rock

Last year during my "stay-cation" we hiked up Table Rock. This summer we decided we needed to do so again, at least once.

Today was the day.

Once again, I made it to the top! I didn't have moments of thinking I was going to die, or throw up (which I did last year, more than once)... but, I still had to rest a few times on the way up. It's really only about a mile-and-a-half up to the top, but I'm kind of a wimp.

My friend Crystal, who spent the weekend with us and was brave enough to join our hike this morning.

So - I feel a sense of accomplishment... and, no desire to hike this particular hill again until next summer.

Coupons

Using coupons is a craze, and I recently decided to bite. I have been attempting to save money through coupons for a couple of months now. Some of the things I've discovered:

1. Cutting out and using coupons requires a significant amount of time.
2. The food that I purchase more of rarely goes on sale with a coupon - fresh fruits and vegetables and meat are not often on sale with a coupon... which means that in order to try and eat a little healthier, and fresher, coupons are not much help.
3. I can, however, get great deals on household items and toiletries using coupons.

So, I do use coupons... but I do it my way. I still make my meal plan as usual, and my grocery list... then I go through my coupons and pull out the ones I can use based on my list. Then I head to the store! My last two trips I have saved about 10% of my total bill by using coupons.

I feel proud of 10% - although I'd like it to be more. And then I remember discoveries 1 and 2, and think 10% may be my magic number. :)