tidbits of life

(from left to right)

+ My dad basically has the best backyard ever now. He extended the basketball court and added a pickle ball court to it! + the volleyball net is up + horseshoe golf is still set up back there. So basically, I've become a mega-butch this past week and all I've wanted to do is be in my basketball shorts and play everything in my parents backyard. On Friday, my dad held his annual movie night where all of his zoobies employees come over to play in the backyard and watch a movie on the projector. It was so fun! Except Dash didn't think watching World War Z was too fun. Poor kid... I was impressed that he made it 20 minutes into it, though!

+ My mom's side of the family all got together for the Dash for Donation 5k to run in honor of my Uncle Darin . It was such an awesome experience and there were definitely tears shed while running. I thought it was a great way to celebrate my uncle D, especially since it's his birthday month. I hope it becomes a yearly tradition! Oh, and aren't those shirts so awesome?! My aunt Les never ceases to amaze me.

+ My grandpa and his brothers put on a little concert for us on Sunday. Again, tears were shed. I love hearing my grandpa Walker sing with his brothers. Except it makes me wonder how I got skipped in the musical talent department? Between me and Chris, our kids have no chance... sorry future Gourley children.

+ My boss' last day at work was on Friday, so we had a going away party for her (my department looks for any excuse to have a party and bring food) and made a shrine of her complete with candles and inflatable dinosaurs! Never a dull moment in my department. I'm not sure I'm really ready for transitioning to a new supervisor, though. Luckily, I only have one semester left before I start student teaching! Then onto a grown-up job... yikes! Can someone please teach me to adult?!

+ I am a closet cat lover. I'm always hesitant to say I love cats because anytime I mention cats all the dog lovers come out and start giving me the stink-eye. Like, am I not allowed to love both?! Anyway, I've become a little obsessed about getting a cat ever since I played with my brother's new kitten. I bug Chris about getting one at least five times a day. I think if I bug him enough, he might just give in. Even if he claims to be "allergic." Keep your fingers crossed that I can convince him to get me a cat for my birthday! :)

+ Summer is almost over... and I am not even sad about it. Believe me, I want to love summer and wish it would never end, kind of like I want to love Breaking Bad, or I want to love green smoothies--but I don't. I get giddy thinking about buying notebooks for school and walking through crunchy leaves and drinking hot chocolate! The rainy weather lately is not helping me suppress my love for fall, either.

+ My sister-in-law Emily had me do her makeup for family pictures. I had to keep telling her, "Okay, I've never done this before! So if you hate it, I'm really really sorry!" But I was actually quite pleased with the result! Thanks for letting me experiment on you, Em!

+ The Gumball Gang is growing. I swear every day they knock (more like pound on my door and then ring the doorbell 4 times) and I open the door, there is about 3 more kids in their group that I don't recognize. We are running out of candy and we've had to dig deep into our cabinets to find something to give them. Our inner 90 year-old selves have resorted to giving the kids caramels-ha! The picture above was taken on a day that I was in a particularly good mood and I invited them in to drink some Tang-I've regretted that decision ever since.

+ That picture was taken at the top of Squaw Peak while I waited for my cross country kids to run the whole way up there (I wasn't even mad that I was on popsicle duty that day). Anyway, I'm leaving for cross country camp tomorrow and I'm so excited! I'm also super nervous... who am I going to hangout with?! And how am I going to hide my cellulite from all the little kids (cellulite is non-existent in high school girls' legs--I hate them) when we go swimming?! Also, I heard the girl's saying that we only get to shower twice while we're up there.... wish me luck for 5 days with 60+ teenagers.