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. :)

Anne of Green Gables

Josh and I love to go to the theater. Fortunately, Boise Little Theater is an active organization! Over the summer, BLT runs a youth theater program, and this year their play was Anne of Green Gables. Josh and I went Saturday night, and it was incredible! The talent was amazing, but more than that, it reminded me of one of my favorite series... as I reflected on why it was one of my favorite book series, I realized that Anne's innocence, her infatuation with the world and all of its beauty, and her ability to see everything as it could be (otherwise known as over-dramatization) is captivating.

There are times when I would like to be that innocent... to view the world like I've never seen it before, to be so enamored with every experience that I have, every opportunity that is afforded me... to not be so caught up in the race that I forget to enjoy the scenery.

Life doesn't have to be about where I'm headed as much as it can be about how I get there. The destination may be important, but the journey should not be missed.

Vacation Week in Alaska

I had a wonderful week in Alaska. These are some of my favorite pictures of my cute nieces and nephews!

At Chena Lakes:

Carter, being an ostrich. Hard to say why this was his favorite pose, but we caught him with his head in the sand at least half-a-dozen times!

Playing ball in the yard - Jacob is quite the little athlete!

Trying to catch a photo of the kiddos - obviously they were not all happy with the idea.

I made cookies one morning - Chase got to help!

Bowling with the Hirt family - the boys had to make sure they had a perfect view.

Carter, enjoying a cupcake. I love that he put the entire top in his mouth!

Jacob, being a wonderful big brother and trying to help give Beckham his pacifier.

Chase at the airport in Seattle - we had breakfast, and then let him play until it was time for me to catch my flight. :) He's such a happy little guy!

I had a wonderful week... but was so glad to come home!

Plates of Cookies

I baked this weekend. 10 dozen sugar cookies, 12 dozen peanut butter cookies, 14 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies, and 16 dozen chocolate chip cookies.

Some of the plates, prepped and ready for delivery! We're hosting a Hero Appreciation Day at work, and the plates of cookies are part of the invitation.

I'm exhausted!