For you, Ruth Ann!

More than two weeks ago, my mother-in-law Ruth Ann sent me an email telling me that she was stalking me--or my blog rather--and most of the blogs that I stalk. Susan, a sister-in law, has also told me that she stalks my blog because it has all (but one of) the links to the blogs that she reads as well. Of course I was flattered that my blog was actually getting looked at often (although the comments might not always suggest so) but then I realized, were these gentle suggestions that I update a bit more often? Well, perhaps.

It's true, my blogging has gotten quite lazy the last couple of months, and with no excuse. It's not like I'm swamped with homework or housework--I'm taking an aerobics class and my internship, and we keep our apartment clean and tidy on a daily basis. Even today when I asked Rob if I needed to do something around the house while he was at school, the answer was no. Even all of the laundry is done. Wow. So what did I opt to do? Take a three hour nap, of course.

In all honestly, during the last couple weeks of October I was quite miserable. I got a NASTY cold which kept me in bed for an entire week, even missing work for multiple days. After sleeping an entire week away I started my second block aerobics class and aside from the glory of learning the dance to The Thriller, I was sore and stiff from the sudden increase of exercise.

After having completing the second week of my class today, I still feel like an old lady because of my tight hamstrings and quads. This week we did kickboxing, step, body pump (aerobic weightlifting), and pilates. Lets just say that I REALLY enjoyed the pilates today after ripping my quads to shreds yesterday.

Let me not forget about Halloween either, this year we carved pumpkins with a friend the night before all hallows eve, in hope of attracting trick-or-treaters. We think that it worked, because this year we got a whole seven kids that came begging for candy, whereas last year we had none, and the year before, just one.

The best part of Halloween this year was that my quest for a road bike finally came to an end! We met a couple from Pocatello in Idaho Falls to test ride a 2007 Trek 1000 bike, and to our joyous surprise it fits my 26.5 inch inseam! I think the difference between this bike and the others that I've ridden is that it's specifically designed for a woman's body. This is what my tasty little bike looks like:

And the best part? It's FAST! The entire bike is only 21 pounds and the rear cassette is tiny, which makes getting up and going so easy and fun! The entire bike is actually quite small. It's a 43 cm frame (17 inches) which is the smallest frame that Trek makes before downsizing into kids bikes. When you put Rob's and my road bikes side by side, my seat and handlebars are the same height as his top tube. My bike is also seven pounds lighter than his.

So we now own four bikes and two vehicles. I guess it's not the typical setup for two college students, but we are pleased to have so many options. We only wish that it wasn't so danged cold outside now and that we could get out and ride more often. We did get a short ride in on Sunday, but my road bike needs a tune-up before I lay down any serious miles. This bike was totally worth the money from selling my LoveSac and the majority of the first paycheck from my internship.

So yes, we're still alive and thriving. I've taken up researching how to find the perfect red lipstick, and Rob is endlessly busy with schoolwork. We're going down to Utah this weekend for my nephew's baptism, and then back up to Idaho Falls for Sunday dinner with Rob's great-aunt Arvilla. She's Rob's grandfathers sister and we're excited to meet her.

Ode to the LoveSac

A part of my glorious days of being single died today. Yes, I know, I haven't been single for almost two and a half years, it's true, but I feel like a part of me died today. Let me explain.

As a young, single girl, I had a pretty good job and a lot of empty space in the house I lived in. My income for a time was, more or less, disposable, and I had just received my first shiny gold credit card. I was 22, and had virtually no line of credit established for myself, so I decided that rather than spending my nice green cash, I'd accumulate purchases on that new credit card, then pay them off in full--to show that I was a responsible consumer.

My LoveSac was the first thing I purchased with the card. They were all the craze in the 2004 college town I was living in, and we were one of the few houses in the neighborhood that had one. We were the Brinker Bandits, and we had a LoveSac. It was awesome.

After later moving into another house with ample room for the LoveSac we, as the now Iowa Idols, still used and loved that large sac of recycled couch foam. It was well used by the many that passed through my door, and when I moved to Virginia, my good friend Johnny babysat it for almost two years. Upon my return, Rob kept it in his apartment before we got hitched, it got babysat again by friends, and then when we moved it into our apartment where we now live. Aside from another short babysitting stint from another friend, we've had it taking up our entire living room floor for the last two and a half years.

Today however, I sold the LoveSac. I sold it for about 40% of the price I originally paid for it. Honestly, not too bad for it being five years old. I would have liked more, but for selling something that is somewhat expensive in a small town like Rexburg, I'm at least satisfied with what how much I got. We now have a living room floor that is covered in carpet, not a huge sac of foam.

Although now I've got some extra spending money, I do feel a little hollow inside. As a single girl I spent a significant amount of time nuggled up by myself in that fluffy sac. As an engaged girl, upon it I kissed my future husband, and felt his warm embrace hold me close to him. Since being married I've had many tender moments in its presence; moments of sadness, comfort, passion, drowsiness, frustration . . . too many to count. It's been my safe place for many years, and now it is gone. I watched it get loaded onto the roof of a black Honda Civic, and then driven away. It makes me a little sad. At least while writing this post I've gotten some tears out. Hopefully it will be a sort of therapy for me.

Summertime, when the livings easy . . .

The summer for us has been good. Since being released from the jaws of homework and projects, Rob and I have spent a significant amount of time outside--hence no blogging. I'm only blogging now because a friend of ours is experiencing car troubles, and Rob left for Idaho Falls to the rescue, leaving me at home. He said he needed "guy time". It shows what a great friend Rob is, considering it's his birthday. He got a motherload of awesome gifts though, so I guess that will have to make up for me not making him a birthday breakfast (I was at work before he got out of bed) or dinner (because he's to the rescue--and I'll probably be in bed before he gets home). Not even cake (we don't like it).

We both ended out the semester well. Rob got another 4.0, and I got a 3.8.

My birthday was pretty uneventful, except that Rob got me a REALLY nice tripod and connect plate and a wireless remote for our DSLR camera. It made a few of my final photography projects a lot easier to complete.

We've gone on quite a few nice long bike rides. The longest being out to Egin Lake, a healthy 27 miles. We would like to do a bike tour in Yellowstone next month. The tour starts in West Yellowstone, MT, then goes to Old Faithful and back. It would be 60 miles round trip and a complete blast . . . The only catch is that it's a little expensive ($50 per person), so we're still trying to decide about whether or not we're going to do it.

We've also done some mountain/trail riding on our bikes, which has had its ups and downs. The longest ride was on an old railroad graded trail just outside of Ashton, ID into the Island Park area. We elevated over 600 feet in about eight miles, and then rode back down. That trail goes all the way to West Yellowstone--about 48 miles. Before we move out of Idaho a goal of ours is to ride the whole thing. Ideally we'd like to ride up it one day, stay in West Yellowstone, and ride back down the next day. The problem is that hotels in West Yellowstone are EXPENSIVE, and if we wanted to camp, we'd need to pack our tent and all our gear on our backs or in a trailer (which we don't have, but could rent) which would slow us down because of all the extra weight. We're still trying to figure out the logistics of the trip.

The downside of our mountain biking experience was trying to take on a trail that was SLIGHTLY above my mountain biking ability. To be completely honest, in the hour and twenty minutes that we were on the trail, I fell off my bike five times, almost rode off a bridge into a creek, and ran into a tree. After the tree incident I walked my bike the last half mile back to the car. I've got some spectacular bruises on my arms and legs though. Needless to say, Mountain-7, Kristin-0.

We've hiked a few times, the longest so far being to Salamander Lake in the Centennial Mountains. The hike included a part of the continental divide trail, which was pretty awesome. It was only 7.5 miles, but absolutely beautiful, and worth getting a slight sunburn on my shoulders. Next week we plan on climbing Oliver Peak, which is just over 9,000 feet high, and close to Jackson, WY. We're trying to get in shape so that we can climb the eight 12,000+ peaks before we leave Idaho.

As of last week, we've started running. We're trying out the "Couch to 5k" program, and some of my siblings are going to join us too. So far we're doing well, and I haven't died yet, although according to my heart-rate monitor, I peaked at 192 beats per minute yesterday during my run. If I keep that up, the running just might kill me.

Last big piece of news; I started my internship at the end of July. I'm doing it at The Floral Shoppe here in Rexburg, which is nice because I can ride my bike there, and I get to live here with my honey, Rob. As of today I've completed 59 of the 400 hours required for the program, so I'm about 15% done. Most of the orders I've done are small arrangements for birthdays or babies, but I have done a couple of wedding bouquets and some funeral work. I've never done funeral work previously, but a couple of weeks ago I did a few large funeral pieces and they turned out beautiful. The camera is in the car (with Rob), so I'll have to post pictures later.

Whoa. this turned out to be a lot longer than I expected. Sorry for the novel. Basically Rob and I are doing great, we spend as much time as possible outside, I'm enjoying my internship, and we are taking up running. Goodness, why didn't I just write that? Because it's not as interesting, that's why.

Last semester I spent a significant amount of time on Pole Line Road in Rexburg. Over the course of the semester in my color photography class we did a "Monet" project. Monet was known for painting the same subjects over and over again in different lighting conditions and time of year, and we were encourage to do the same. This is my project. If you click on the picture it will expand.

I really loved shooting this spot and thankfully my teacher liked my work as well. The night shots are my favorite, especially the one in the third column, fourth row.

Weeds

As I'm not much for updating very often as of late, I figured I could post a few pictures while I'm waiting for Rob to finish his homework, before we can go home. For my color photography class this semester I've done a small series of pictures. Here are my four favorite.

I chose to photograph weeds because being a horticulturalist I naturally tend to take pictures of flowers and plants. Most people see weeds as a nuisance, but I think they are beautiful. I hope that you can appreciate their beauty as well.





They finally loaded. It's about freakin' time. 8/22/09

Teri and Clint!

My baby sister Teri married her sweetheart on June 27th, 2009. Her colors were hot pink and lime green, which made the floral work a lot of fun. I was pleased to create . . .

Teri's hand tied bridal bouquet of hot lady roses, white cala lilies, green hypericum berries, lily grass, and salal with white satin ribbon.

Three bridesmaids bouquets, consisting of a white cala lily, hot pink gerbera daisies, white waxflower, and salal with green polka-dot ribbon and bow.

Nine boutonnieres--each one unique--consisting of a hot lady rose, accented by combinations of green hanging amaranthus, green hypericum berries, kermit mums, lily grass, myrtle, salal, and curly willow.

Five wrist corsages with either two hot lady roses with wax flower, salal, and a bow; or one hot lady rose with kermit mums, waxflower, and salal with a bow.

A grand buffet design which included hot pink gladiolus, white cala lilies, hot lady roses, green hanging amaranthus, pink heather, myrtle, salal, curly willow, and limes.

The flowers on the cake were hot pink gerbera daisies and kermit mums.

A hand-tied throwing bouquet, which had hot lady roses and white waxflower--the fun of this bouquet was that it was actually two separate bouquets that we disguised as one.

When Teri threw it, it separated--as planned--and two lucky girls (both bridesmaids) were given the fortune of "catching the bouquet".

Congratulations to Teri and Clint! It was a beautiful wedding and one heck of a party!

Just in case you forgot . . .

My birthday is coming up.



I have a wish list. :)

Photo Journal

Since June 5th I've been doing a photo journal for my color photography class. So, here's a sampling of what my last ten days have looked like:

June 5th

June 6th

June 7th

June 8th

June 9th

June 10th

June 11th

June 12th

June 13th

June 14th

I really liked the assignment and I'm thinking about keeping it up by doing a photo journal blog.

I'm happy to answer any questions you have about why each of these pictures best describe each day.

Up Close and Personal

This semester I feel like I'm branching out a bit more than I have the previous three semesters I've been at school. I've started taking a visual media class where I'm learning about the Adobe Creative Suite, I'll be going to Portland in a couple of weeks to design floats for the Rose Parade, and I've officially joined the Photographics Society on campus; which is basically a photography club. At the Photographics Society meeting today, a contest was held with the theme, "Up Close and Personal".

This is the shot that I submitted, and to my surprise I was awarded second place! I'm now fifteen dollars richer, and it's basically burning a hole in my pocket. Perhaps I'll be able to convince Rob to let me take him out and celebrate. I don't think that it will take much convincing if I say we suggest we go to the new Star Trek movie . . .

Okay People, Really?

I'm going to go off on a little rant now about a huge pet peeve of mine--please understand that I'm usually a very nice person.

A little background information first. I like to read peoples blogs. Since I'm in school right now I usually only get to the internet once during the day, and it's usually in a school computer lab. To see who's updated their blogs since I last read, I use my blogroll and click on the blogs that have new posts, opening each blog in a new tab. This is where my fury begins.

So I'm in a dead silent computer lab, and all of a sudden, music starts streaming for my computer. And not just one song, but three songs. THREE SONGS! I've just opened eleven new tabs and I'm scrambling like crazy trying to figure out whose blog is spouting REM, some annoying country song, and something else that I can't figure out. ARGH!!

Basically what I'm saying is that while I think those music players you can put on your blogs are cool, I HATE when they automatically start the music. There is a setting that allows you to start the music only if you hit the button. Perhaps some of you could look into that feature?

Anyway, sorry about the rant, but it makes me so ANGRY! At least this time that it happened I was in a computer lab with a bunch of horticulture students that heard me go off on this rant three days ago in class--so they too now understand my hatred for those automatically starting music players. GRRR!

How we have fun in Rexburg

Remember these guys?


Well Rob and I saw them in concert last night. And they were AWESOME.



I felt like I was ten years old again when they sang the Folgers Coffee jingle from the early 90's . . .

And who can forget . . .


The Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego theme song. So cool.