Birthday #33

There is a lot of pressure on Matt to make my birthday special. I start counting down to the darn thing 3 months in advance because I love having a birthday so much. I don't care that I am getting older, I just focus on the good part. Cake, ice cream, an excuse to not work out all week (because I need at least a week to celebrate) and fun surprises. All things I love!

I had just purchased this fun cake pan from Williams-Sonoma and my birthday was the perfect occasion to try it out. Or in this case, Matt was the first to try it out since the honored guest should never have to make their own cake. I think he did a wonderful job.


And what do you get the girl who has had 14 speeding tickets throughout her young driving career? A chance to go really, really fast. By pulling a few strings I was able to do some "hot laps" at Miller Motorsports. Matt was so excited about his gift to me he has been trying to give it to be for over a month. Unfortunately I didn't get to drive the car, but going 115 mph in a mustang even as a passenger was pretty sweet.
Though I don't care about getting older each year, and sure don't feel it, I did get a small reminder that I am not as young as I once was. After speeding around the racetrack a few times I did start to feel sick. Thankfully nothing came up, but maybe next year I will just have a party.

Looking the Part

A few of you have asked to see me in my full motorcycle glory. And I don't blame you. It's like I take on a whole new persona once the gear is on and the motorcycle engine starts to purr. But I am happy to have been able to stay true to my girlish ways by incorporating a lot of pink and a sparkly butterfly or two. One of my coworkers filmed a short video of me getting ready to head home. Check it out here.

Our 4th of July Adventure

July is one of my favorite months. I have a birthday and since I live in Utah, an entire month of fireworks. It's nothing compared to ending everyday with fireworks like I did in Florida, but I will take what I can get.

Now that I am a certified and legal motorcycle rider, Matt and I planned a fun ride over the 4th of July weekend. Overall we rode almost 800 miles. We left Thursday night and rode as far as my sister's house in Wellsville. It was raining, which had me worried, but I handled it like a pro. Especially if you have heard me describe my first time on the freeway only a month previous. There was a lot of pulling over and freaking out happening on my part. But I eventually overcame the fear because I knew I had to in order to make this trip happen.

Day 2 started with a ride through Logan Canyon. We stopped in Bear Lake and enjoyed a raspberry shake and fries from LaBeau's.

The morning started off great with clear, blue skies, but by the time we would arrive at our hotel for the night we rode through 6 rainstorms. That's right, 6! The good thing is that most of them were short-lived and we could always see clear skies in the distance to help us keep going. Our agenda for that day was to continue on US-89 to Jackson, stop for dinner and then ride over Teton Pass into Drigg's, ID. The last rainstorm just happened to start right as we left Jackson and were headed over the pass. The scariest 10 miles of my life! It was bad enough going up the pass, but once we neared the top I realized I would also have to ride down. By that time the rain was coming down pretty hard, I was cold, wet and the roads were covered in water. I was sure I was going to drop my bike but with a lot of careful maneuvering we both made it down safe. Initiation over. We arrived to our cabin in Drigg's cold, wet and tired. After a hot bath I was asleep by 9.

One of many elk arches in Jackson

Our cozy cabin in Driggs
My favorite day on the bikes was Saturday. From Driggs we rode up through Ashton, ID to Mesa Falls. Who knew Idaho could be so beautiful. Ashton is full of rolling hills, which were a blast on the motorcycle, and green, lush farmlands. And Mesa Falls was so beautiful I couldn't add just one picture so I put together a slideshow for your viewing pleasure. The other plus to this day. No rain!

After Mesa Falls, we continued south to Idaho Falls/Shelley where we were staying with some friends of ours. I had always heard that the fireworks in Idaho Falls were some of the best. And they really were. It helps to have such a picturesque backdrop with the temple on one side of the river and fireworks on the other. Add in some cuddling and Neil Diamond and my 4th of July was complete.









We left Shelley after church on Sunday for the final 200 miles. It's amazing how comfortable I am on the bike now and happy for Matt's sake. We are now able to share in a hobby that he has loved for so long. And I look forward to many more road trips in the future.

Don't Cha Wish Your Weekend Was Fun Like Ours?

This post is long overdue because the weekend I'm referring to was almost 2 weeks ago. We traveled to Stanley, ID to do some river rafting, stopped for dinner in Sun Valley, and brought home our puppy, Kingston. You can read more about our river rafting adventure here. But I want to introduce you all to Kingston Bret Michaels. Isn't he the cutest thing? And no, Dad, we are not planning on having a puppy replace babies.

If you are wondering about his name, I have a thing for animals who have human names. I thought it would be hilarious to have a dog named Bret Michaels but for some reason Matt thought it might be weird calling out to him in public places. Go figure. So one night as we were going to bed we started thinking of names and came up with Kingston. And since we spent out honeymoon in Jamaica it has some meaning for us as well. He has been so much fun though he gets us up very early to pee. Who knows, maybe all this training will make us ready for a baby sooner than later.