ready!

We leave for NoDak on Wednesday morning. It looks like summer finally decided to show up, so we are happily taking the motorcycle. I think I've mentioned how freeing it is to only have the items with you that fit into a saddlebag. The hard part is deciding what those items are in advance. It's funny how many things that you "need" as you start packing and how little you need once you're on the road. LBK, as usual, is right there to help...
I laid out all the shirts I wanted to take and then eliminated 1/3 of them. I did the same with sunglasses.
Also, during by back and forth from the saddlebag in the living room and my dressing room, I managed to get my choreography done for class when I get home. I did that last year and remember how good it felt to just know that it was done and one more thing off my mind for vacation. Which is good because I've been working on a project at work since March that launches the day I get back. My life right now? totally rules.

Fashion Friday

This was not the first fashion choice this week.. I was super cute yesterday, wearing my wedding shoes and a fresh flower in my hair.. But it was super hot and by the time I got home, I looked like this. I've been rolling around this post in the back of my mind anyway, so maybe the timing is apropos given our current weather situation.

Swimsuits! It may not come as a surprise that I have a ton of them. A whole drawer, in fact. and I wear them all. I wear the supportive ones to teach dance and I tend to believe that when traveling in the summer, a swimsuit top and a skirt is the perfect outfit. I also love to add a bandanna or hat and earrings (and usually a necklace if rocking it with a skirt) and I am ready to go! Most of the time, I like to mismatch tops and bottoms. Below is an example. The top is one that I liked because of the skimpy, clasping back (not a tie...) and the metal rings. But it was a little too big, so I unstrung it, folded the bottom of the "V" up and sewed in a seam. The I restrung it and now I wear it all the time!
The bottom I like to wear because the inside is hot pink, so if I roll over the waist (like I tend to do with everything), a bit of color peeks out. and on the back is a silver guitar.
Does that make me a butt rocker?

Text 2-3-4, drink, and shrug, hold 7, drink drink!

as fun as this looks, it's even funner :)

Happy Anniversary!

4 years ago today, JJ and I got hitched!!!! I wish I could make some of those cool slideshows with music, but I, well.. OK, I never even tried, I just wish it would magically happen. So you get the ghetto version...

Right click on this to play our wedding song. Then right click on the Slideshow function here!

If that first song runs out, click on this to play our first dance song.

Happy Anniversary JJ! I love you!

Wordless Wednesday

Wayne and Dottie's rustic fishing cabins

Because so many of you were intrigued by the last one I thought it might be fun to share the little gem of a hotel we had for the weekend. It was a full house at JJ's folks' vacation house, so we went down to see about securing a spot in the tiny town's hotel. The sign outside directs you to an address, which in a town that maxes out at about 4th Ave, isn't very hard to find. We were greeted a little yipper of a dog and by Dottie, who was going to rent us our room. She was delightful and made sure to give us a card and invited us to take a pen so we could call if we needed reservations next time (which is actually really good, because these rooms go fast. I'm not even kidding). It was just me and JJ staying there, but we could have housed much more. There was a twin bed and also a twin bed with a single bunk! It had a little kitchen and everything. and then there was the bathroom... with a walk in shower... with a sink.
and an exposed pull chain light fixture. What could possibly go wrong?

Fabulous Fishing Photos with the Family

Though the weather was really threatening to not cooperate, we left on the motorcycle Friday afternoon and headed to Pendleton for the night. The next morning, we had a chilly ride across most of the rest of the state to meet up with John's family in Huntington for a weekend of fishing....

The weather was a little more July-appropriate once we got onto the lake and we spent the next two blissful days fishing... It goes like this: Once you catch a fish, you remove the hook..
Then you have to determine if it's big enough to keep....
If it's not, back it goes into the water...
If it is....
you pose with it...

We tend to get a lot of the same fish holding poses...
Bryan busts out a new one...
I'm not as creative...

Sometimes, there's swimming...
and since I don't actually fish (I'm the helper :)), my day looks a lot like this....
After two successful days of fun in the sun, we headed back....
When a weekend consists of motorcycle and fishing boat as your major modes of transportation, you know you're doing it right.