2 1/2 weeks off work...oh yeah...

Leaving this morning for California (San Francisco & Napa Valley) and then coming to Kansas next week! Oh, and did I mention the California trip is kid free! Amazing.

Be back in a couple of weeks...

-Emily :)

Ta-Dah!

This brings a tear to my eye:

We have a tree now! The sod still needs to green up a little bit, but such an improvement!

Our attempt at xeriscaping at least part of the lawn. I'll probably plant some drought tolerant things along the sides eventually. I feel like the pics don't do it justice, but trust me, it makes our house feel so much more like a home now that we don't have to completely ignore our backyard.

-Emily :)

Facing Death

Dramatic title, huh? Since next week will mark the first time we've been away for Helena for an extended period of time, I decided it was probably a good idea to get our end of life affairs in order. We found a great, free, online tool to use until we actually have an estate to help us organize all of the documents (Thanks Suze Orman!) and I'm almost finished up with everything. Now if 'Aimee the Notary' were here, it would be perfect. Ha!

I decided to clearly lay out my preferences for funeral arrangements, etc. to avoid familial conflicts and wrote this letter to communicate them. It became somewhat emotional for me to write it and I was surprised by my lack of a real opinion on certain things. For instance, I'm kind of on the fence about burial or cremation. But hey! I can always change my mind. Anyway, I thought I'd share excerpts of it here because A.) it's a good idea to have one (you'd be surprised at how many people don't) and B.) I tried to be funny, you know, because in the event of my untimely death it might be nice to remind people of my sense of humor.

Here's to not dying on vacation!!

********
Memorial Service: I’d like a memorial service to be held outside somewhere (possibly graveside or at a park) or at a funeral home. Some music would be nice (I’ve always liked Amazing Grace and the Rock Chalk Chant) and a short message by the funeral home director about how great I was. Please no preaching at my funeral. If Ashford or the executor feels a viewing would be nice, then I am not against that. Please dress me in something you knew I liked a lot and that I looked good in. I’d also like mementos and pictures of my family in my casket if possible. Please feed people after the service, if possible, and make sure there are plenty of mystery salads to go around. And pie. I like pie a lot. I’ve always thought it was nice to have this luncheon so people can commiserate and comfort each other in a more informal atmosphere. Also, for the record, I’m not OK with everyone getting drunk before, at, or after my funeral. Save it for the next day.

Funeral Home Preference: At the discretion of Ashford or executor. Please do not spend a lot of money on my casket.

Other specific requests: I’d like a small, tasteful headstone (that’s not pink and does not have any engravings of angels or hearts on it) and for someone to plant flowers on top of my grave from head to toe so no one can step on me. Please visit me every once in awhile, but do not feel obligated to put fake flowers, flags or signage of any kind on my grave. Actually don’t ever put fake flowers on my grave, please. I hate those things.
********

Let me know if I've forgotten something.

-Emily :)

The Back Yard: a.k.a a DISASTER

So when we moved into our house the previous owners had done a smashing job on the front yard: new sod, good stones as edging, new fence, etc. The back yard, yeah, not so much. It was what our realtor affectionately called a 'blank slate.' Pretty much a bunch of dirt, some weeds, and a concrete patio.

However, as months passed and our time got sucked up by other activiites, we started calling it 'the moon' and telling people when they came over just not to look out the back door. Because it was ugly. Very, very ugly.

After endless months of me talking Ashford out of doing this multi-weekend job by himself, we hired a landscaper. And hopefully said landscaper will start this week after being delayed by one of the wettest Junes ever in Salt Lake. I can hardly wait. No more sticker bushes or chasing Helena around the unfenced front yard. It's going to be great.

Some before pictures (OMG, I'm so embarrassed):

Looking to the East. As you can see, the weeds have overtaken the plain old dirt.

To the North - nice grass and a tree will replace this patch.

The grand finale. The very pokey weed that's as tall as me right next to our house. I think that's the biggest weed I've ever seen - and my grandpa used to make me pull weeds out of our quarter section of milo on the farm!

-Emily :)

Hooray for Girl Trips!

Two weekends ago my super good friends Aimee & Erin flew to Salt Lake City so we could all head up to Jackson, Wyoming for a short but well-deserved girl's weekend.

We headed out on Friday morning, meandered through Idaho (where they have some kick ass potato souvenirs, by the way), ate some burgers, fries, and pie at a place called 'Angus', and a little later than expected, arrived in Jackson. After a short decompress at the hotel, we headed downtown to get dinner and wander through the shops. We stumbled upon a fabulous restaurant for dinner...about the best salmon I've ever had...and then went back to the hotel to crash in preparation for our long day of nature sightseeing ahead the next day.

Saturday we headed up to Grand Teton National Park and successfully dodged the rain showers that plagued our entire trip. We did a short hike around Jenny Lake and accomplished my major objective of the trip: TO SEE A MOOSE!

Seriously, how freakin' cool is that?!? I was so pumped (there may have been jumping in the air and rockin' out fingers involved)...he was just chillin' right above the trail we were on. And then later we saw another one!! If I had to guess both were probably 2nd year/teenagery moose. It was so awesome. I heart wildlife.

Then, just around the corner, we saw a bear!:

Ha! Just kidding. It's just a log that LOOKS A LOT LIKE A LITTLE BEAR! Sure did scare the crap out of us!

After our morning hike, we headed up to Yellowstone National Park to witness the supervolcano in all its glory. That place was amazing as well, that is, if you try not to think about how all the geyers and boiling mud and acid pools might be a precursor of a catastrophic event way overdue.

Unfortuantely, my camera died before we got to Yellowstone, so head on over to Erin's blog for some great pics of our time there.

It was so great to see good friends and be able to spend some quality time together. Erin (being pregnant and all) was a trooper when we couldn't find a restaurant to eat at in Yellowstone and a great designated driver to boot. Aimee was an excellent nighttime deer spotter and navigator, allowing me to only look at a map a couple of times even though I drove the entire time.

Here's to more girl trips next year! Yay!

-Emily :)