So Long September!

September, it's been real.
I covered three continents, went to two Giants games, spent a lot of time with my cute pup, spotted the shuttle, celebrated a couple birthdays, and hung out with a ton of cute kiddos. Oh, and it went from Summer to FALL.

October is just beginning and I have a lot of adventures ahead.
A road trip, a concert, the Giants are in the playoffs, and more birthday celebrations!


Reports on all that coming soon! Linking up here:
 

Hot August (Days &) Nights

Let's recap.

Katygirl & Cammiegirl came to visit.
There were plenty of summery adventures to be had.
And then my sis and I lived the high life in the desert.
My blog turned 2, and to celebrate I hosted a mug swap that went BSC.
I celebrated my birthday for hella dayzzzz.
And then I went to Europe for 2 weeks.

Summers are usually great, but more specifically, August was pretty amaze.

Here's a quick look back....

Linking up with Jeannett.

 

Palm Springs: The Recap

With our toenails painted, we were ready to peace out of San Mateo.

 We had our lion pride packed and ready to roll rawr.

 A quick stop for 21 & over chocolates, America, and a little bit of spelunking.

{Insert driving for dayzzzz here. And traffic. Hella traffic.}

Finally. Windmills. Glorious windmills. 

We're getting close.

We're here. 

We're pumped.

Which way to the pool?

Coffee.

Palm trees. 

Solitude.
Jesus.

 A quick little desert 5k with my workout buds.

No, you are not seeing a mirage.

That is a camel. 

We are in the desert after all.

 Back poolside.

With a local.

Diet coke delivered to my lounge chair.

Do you see why I never wanted to leave?

And the Giants played.

A lot of baseball.

And we took a little break from the sun. 

Someone was concerned we were missing out on all of the fun. 

Cindy and I both woke up to this nosy nelly.

After naptime, for both of us, 

Haydenboo and I caught up a bit on life.

 Oh, and then we went to the conference.

Al Mohler.

I love that guy's humor, and teaching style.

And his love for the Lord.

3 points on the sufficiency of Scripture.

Followed by 7 more points.

It's a good thing I'm a linear thinker.

Back to the house where craziness ensued.

There were poolside s'mores.

And a poolside fife jam sesh.
You read that right.

And another morning spent poolside.

Under this.

Followed by a lot this.

And then somebody turned 9. 

There was cake.

And a curly hair party.

And the next morning, you could find me here.

This is what our compound overlooked.

Desert for dayzzzz.

Compound living means communal eating.

Grilled Cheese Factory. 

Everyone had a job. 

I can butter bread like no one's business.

Post grilled cheese swim.

Handstand push-ups in the pool.

As unathletic as I am, growing up in a pool taught me to do a mean underwater handstand.

Add a push up? No problem.

Like a boss.

Time to cook dinner, already.

We ate a lot this trip.

It happens.

Also, poor ventilation happens.

Followed by the Lord shining down on compound life.

Also, could we have had a cuter visitor? 

She loves herself some Hope sippy.
And goldfish.
SO. MANY. GOLDFISH.

Another full day of swimming.

Ending with 8 adults and two littles in the world's smallest hot tub.

And this night sky. 

Palm Springs, you were good to us.

A fun alternate route, avoiding the grapevine and all it's construction traffic drama.

Route 66 style highway. Straight out of Cars.
I'm pretty sure I saw Mater out there.

And more windmills.

I don't think I could ever get enough of the windmills.

And vacation fun lasted just a smidge longer getting to see Katygirl & her little Giants fans.

A great way to end an incredible 5 days.

PS I think these fans are the Giants lucky charms!
They went on to sweep the Dodgers and tie up for 1st place!

May. Annnnnnd Done.

Hello May.
Goodbye May.

Another awesome month.
So many great adventures.
A few hikes.
An 8 year old and dog slumber party.
Two Giants games.
A wedding.
The Soul Stroll.
Mother's Day/Santa Cruz.
And a lot of physical fitness.

Here comes June.
Palm Springs
Long days.
Warm nights.
Palm Springs.
More hikes.
Did I mention, Palm Springs?
I am a little excited.


Alright fools, here is a quick snapshot of May 2012:

Bible in a Year?
It rocks.
By the end of June I will have read 100% of the Old Testament and the Pentateuch since January.
Currently in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms and Revelation. Heavy stuff. GOOD stuff.
The Lord is GOOD.
I would say at LEAST 5x a week the passages cross reference. The Bible is amazing like that.
Jesus in the OT. So much about Israel and the Hebrew people in the New.
Anybody else still on track? Playing catch up? Report in here! I'd love to know how you are doing!

I have a few catch up blogs from May - and even late April that I'd love to post.
Maybe next week.
Maybe not.

Weekend is a few short hours away.
Sunshine, Schnoodlekins, and the outdoors are on tap.

Will report back.

Boom.
It's JUNE!

PS: Extra Happy Shoutouts to my friends KATY and HANNAH.
Katy is celebrating her upcoming birthday with an AWESOME month of giveaways over at her place (also, new blog design, hellooooo adorableness!), and kicking it off with a Happy Days with Wifey Singer giveaway. Chickety check it. They are both pretty BA.

And do be sure to say hello to both of them if you pop over! It's always nice to know that people are reading, and where they are stopping by from! A quick hello always makes my day!

Life on the 'Gram

I think a lot of bloggers are doing life over on Instagram these days.
Or the 'gram as I like to refer to it.

A lot of "sorry I haven't posted in so long" posts around these parts.
It's cool though.
I heart the 'gram.
But, for those of you who aren't on there.
Or those of you who just want more CuppaGrams, here is what life has been looking like these days...

Last week I had my teeth cleaned.
By my sister.
Ashley did too!
Afterwards, Laura treated us to lunch.
That is full service dental hygiene!

The weekend was kicked off with some goodies from THIS lovely bloggy friend.
Thank you JenniLynn...these notecards are like the most amazingly perfect thing in the whole world.
LOVE THEM.
THANK YOU. <3

Saturday, my sister and I hiked the Dish again.
It's almost a 5 mile adventure when it's done.
A 3 mile loop, but 1 mile each way to and from the car.
Boom.
Lunch at Chevy's.
Shopping at the outlets.
And a little Sonic Happy Hour for the drive home.
Except, my sister, while trying to read the bottom of her cup (note, there is nothing on it)
hit the straw on the ceiling of the car, which then punctured the bottom of her cup, and we had diet cherry limeade streaming out the bottom of her route 44.
Faster and faster.
I rolled down the window, did three u-turns, and tried not to crash the car while I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks, and hyperventilating.
Do not divide by.
We couldn't even breathe by the time we got back to the drive thru.
Thankfully, she had managed to save her  bev in a plastic bag, and they happily replaced it.
That was $1.90 saved.
CLOSE ONE.

Sunday my mom requested that we take her to Santa Cruz.
Not a problem.
We had lunch on the wharf.
Checked out the cute seals (my fav) - there was even a CUTE baby jumping around in the water when we walked up. She climbed up on the dock, and then onto what I assume is her mama, and then all the other seals gathered around and barked at the annoying ones who tried to come close.
It was adorable.

We walked the Boardwalk for a bit.
I bought my mom cotton candy AND taffy.
They are two of her major food groups.
And on our way home, we stopped at Marianne's.
REQUIRED.

For the record, my brother in law got the two weirdest flavors they have.
Cantaloupe, and Black Licorice.
You may gag now.
VOMIT.

Laura got Pineapple Coconut, and I got my fav 10-20. Excellent life choices.

Betsy came to town for Mother's day, and a few extras, so we headed out to the Yard.
I printed the tickets.
But I was kinda low on toner.
I got in no problem, and turned around to find out they were stuck behind the gates.
Theirs wouldn't scan.
Please note their annoyance.
Whoops.

Betsy and Laura had a fun little Crossfit bonding time.
I stopped by after the gym.
And ended up working out with them too.
I also ran that morning.
I believe that is the definition of beast mode.

I get to see my favorite Miss Abi every Wednesday. And sometimes other days too.
Here are two of my Weekly Abs shots.
I've been trying to secure favorite status.
I think I'm doing pretty well.

Happy, happy weekend friends!
Lots of adventures await!
Go enjoy some sunshine!

April. Done. Insta-ntaneously!

April is gone.
See ya first third of 2012.
It's been swell.

Four months into the year - and I'm 33% through my Bible in a year plan.
I write this just to share my excitement, and to keep track for myself.
As of April 30th, I've read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
Kind of awesome.

I only did one photo challenge this month - slightly less stressful.
At one third through the year, I really, REALLY hope to get 12 months of these badboys on the books!

Here is what April looked like in photos!

Linking up with Jeannett: