REI- I love you

I have loved REI for a long time and Kevin has been a member for even longer but this past Saturday was our first garage sale experience. You heard me correctly. You see, REI has this fabulous return policy where you can return anything at anytime for pretty much any reason. They collect all those returned items several times a year and hold a big sale, open to members only. 

They say people line up before the store opens for the good deals and while I don't doubt that good things exist early on, why face the crowd and hoarders. We showed up around 1pm and there was tons of stuff. The best thing was, while we were there they marked everything down to 50% off. We kinda got a steal. Check it out.

You might think the above is a little much but we live in the mountains. And incase you didn't know, we love patagonia. Maybe more like obsessed. We like what they stand for. For example, they use recycled threads for many of their products and even have an ebay link on their homepage so you can reuse someone else's old patagonia and recycle. They have been consistently ranked on the list for the best companies to work for and I like supporting that. Did you know it takes several hundred liters of water to make 1 new T-shirt. That's a lot of wasted water when you could buy it at an REI garage sale and save money. 

Here comes the best part, all these items above cost us just under $300 and we will use them until they are unusable. The value, as in their original price, is over $1500. Talk about a steal. So excited to use these good. To learn more about patagonia, click here

Hump day

Check it off my list of things to do: wear a cute little hair wrap. 

I have a million of these in hopes that I will wear them. Since 2010, I've been collecting super cute scarfs from goodwills but I always chicken out before I wear one. Well, today I got called into work and I haven't washed my hair in three days. Really, it doesn't look dirty but my self-conscious got the best of me and I am sure happy it did. My hair looked so cute without even trying. So happy for myself.

Happy Hump Day. 

"This is your world. Shape it or someone else will."- gary lew

Loch Vale

The problem with summer is that, in all reality, we get nothing done! The weather is too perfect to get your errands done. This weekend we had high hopes of looking for cars in the valley and doing a little shopping, just spending some kev and meg time together. That didn't happen. It was so lovely here in the mountains that we had to get out and explore. Let me tell you, I might have explored a little more than I wanted too on Saturday. We took a hike in the national park and it was so wonderful. It's been a while since we had done that!

Since Earth day was today, the park was free all weekend and it was packed! We almost didn't find a parking spot but luckily, the trail we took was less traveled. We started at the Glacier Gorge trail head and hiked about three miles inward to Loch lake. I had never been on this trail and didn't know what to expect. Let the pictures tell you, it was lovely. The best rock faces we've seen since being there! There was a little hiccup.

On our way back, we decided to go back another way, on a different  "trail" which was actually covered with snow like all the others. We assumed, just follow the footsteps and it will lead us. Wrong. Somehow we got lost in the national forest and for a minute, I almost panicked but thankfully, I had an eagle scout with me and thanks to my dads diligence, I'm a pretty decent map reader. Seth was with us too which always means we will be laughing and we did laugh the entire way down the mountain, mainly at him because the snow kept collapsing under him and his entire lower half would be in the snow. We were able to climb to the highest point and find a road to aim for. The problem was that on that side of the mountain, snow was deeper than our legs. Many times we fell through but it was still fun. I knew we would always make it home and it taught us a good lesson; always bring a compass.

Our original plan was for sky pond (another half mile+ past Loch) but it was impassable, at least without snow shoes (we had none). Next time.

[On our way to Sky Pond]

Catching Air... and a lot of it

When you are an only child, you never imagine having sisters. Growing up, I longed for siblings and thats why I took so well to babysitting. I loved babysitting for a family of two little girls, ages one and almost three (when I started). Now they are 12 and 15. I can hardly believe it. In the beginning, I would be over there everyday during the summer starting at 7am and stay till dinner. Many times while their parents were working, we would eat dinner together. I taught them to play in the sprinkler and the joy of apples and peanut butter. As they aged, we would have dance parties to Taylor Swift and I even got them addicted to my favorite place, Camp Tecumseh. I love(d) Emily and Ava . They became my sisters and their mom a very close friend. I miss the Peterson girls. 

But I have to share something that brought tears to my eyes. I am so proud of those girls. 

Catching Air is a fundraiser that Ava started for Cistic Fibrosis. A good friend of hers has the diagnosis and she has been raising money for research and a cure. For those of you who don't know, Cystic Fribrosis is a genetic disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and and digestive tract, making it hard to breathe and fight infections as well as digest food. There is still no cure and even though years ago, it was considered a death sentence, today kids can live well past their teens and twenties. I remember when I was on the pulmonary floor at Riley Childrens Hospital, they said some kids were into their thirties now! Even though research has made great strides, these kids don't have it easy. We need to find a cure! 

I was reading a website that said 1 in 29 people carry the gene. It only take two parents who have the gene to pass it along. This one day could affect your kids or even family down the road.

If you want to check it out, please do. If you have extra money to sponsor a leap, I know Ava and she is honest. She would love your support. Feel free to visit her facebook page to read about what she is doing. LIKE her Facebook page! 

Check out a news clip about what she is doing here 

and watch the video. 

The good life

The other day I was driving around Estes. Normally, the radio isn't on in my car because lets be honest, I rarely get stations to come in. Well, I just happened to turn on that radio and I heard a song by OneRepublic called The Good Life.

It reminded me of how wonderful my life truly is. I have such a great life. I have been blessed beyond belief and sometimes, I loose sight of how lucky I am. I have never experienced a natural diaster or loss of a parents. We always have plenty of food and have spare time to play in the mountains and do what we love. We are lucky.

But sometimes I struggle with the knowledge that I have. It is often easier to ignore the thoughts of Africa and other nations who are suffering. I've been there and seen it first hand. I know that they are starving and walk miles for water. I know rape is a constant fear in the minds of women everyday in certain villages. It makes me so sad in my heart. It makes me angry that I can't stop it all. Lately its been heavy on my heart. Why do I deserve to be safe and secure while other innocent people don't. It just doesn't make sense to me. And I think I am maybe being a little harsh. Just because they have to walk a long time for water and eat rice and beans or mush for their meal doesn't mean they aren't happy. Even in the midst of this, the children are radiant with joy and happiness. They make soccer balls out of trash bags and play all day. They are happy but I just wish their bellies were always full. I hate going to bed hungry and I can't imagine. I want they to have a chance to be educated and bring that education back to their villages!

Occassionally, it hits me hard. That's all. Sometimes it really sucks knowing. But enough of this. I know a great organization called Bead for Life. I love this group so much for all the good they are doing in the lives of women and children. It's not a handout which is what I like about it. Handouts don't encourage change. I want to have another Bead for Life party! My best friend Courtney and I had a party several years ago and it was a huge success! The other day I wore my beads and I got so many comments so I figured, why not! I can hardly wait! I will tell you guys all about it so you can have one too if want!

Sorry about all that rambling. Talk about a debbie downer but this blog is like a journal. Sometimes things just come out.