I'M ALIVE!!

So, I'm totally a slacker for not having done ANYTHING on here in over a month. Seriously, time has just flown by! Here are some highlights from the month of July:

My parents and I went up to Aberdeen, Idaho (on the back side of American Falls Reservoir) for the 4th of July weekend. We've been up there several times in the last 12 months helping my aunt and uncle with the electrical on their new house.
On these trips I have completely fallen in love with the country up there! It's so beautiful - not to mention the peace and quiet!!
Mom and I adventured up to Blackfoot on the 4th and happened across a historical gem: the Idaho Potato Museum. It was - sadly - closed, but we wandered around outside to look at the interesting farm equipment and some other odds and ends... like this:
Later the next week, I went to a vendor's open house and showcase where - after dinner - I was privileged (?) to see Macy Gray in concert with her amazing (?) back-up singers in gorgeous (?) pink tasseled dresses. Macy was incredibly sober (?) and sounded great (?). I left after 10 minutes.
About a week later, I was on my way home from a long Friday at work and rear-ended the car in front of me. (I was going all of 3 miles an hour... and the picture below is a testament that that is WAY too fast if there is a car right in front of you. ;0) My sisters would argue that I did it on purpose, as the car I rear-ended was a PT Cruiser and they're basically my favorite (?????) car out there!! (GROSS!!) I was able to get my car in for repairs on Tuesday of the next week and my rental car for 35.7 hours was - drumroll please - yes, a banana-custard-colored PT Cruiser. Needless to say I have been sufficiently humbled and my driving skills are slightly less Californian than a few weeks ago...
I got my car back on Wednesday evening - a WONDERFUL thing, especially as I was driving to California on Friday! Thursday night I met up with some great friends - my old roommate Erika, her husband John, and sister Dana. We went through the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House (amazing!!) and followed that with dinner at Johnny Carino's. It was so good to see you guys again! We need to not make it so long before next time!!
My aforementioned journey to California with the Pearl and none else was due to my parents' celebration of 100 years of life (between the two of them). My sister Julie, her almost-two-year-old daughter Caylee, and I had not originally planned to make the journey (for various reasons, not the least of them being that Julie is due with Cambree (her next daughter) on September 9th). But our great family friends Rob and Tove wanted us to come out and surprise Mom, Dad, and Kimmy - and after a little persuasion and some Dr. approval, we agreed! It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time! There is NOTHING better than spending an unexpected weekend together as a family, complete with a party, games, Caylee, and a trip to Digger's Diner! Here is a shot of Mom and Dad wearing the birthday hats Kimmy made for them:

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, MOM & DAD!!

In addition to everything else awesome that I did at home, I was able to sneak over to my Mom and Dad's hair stylist and got myself a new look. I'd been debating it for about 4 months, but I finally did it and I LOVE IT!!!
Officially carrying over into the beginning of August, my roommate Rachael had her birthday "party" via a girls' night out to Macaroni Grill. It was a lot of fun! I already planning something similar for my next birthday... Any suggestions as to where?
So, that's my last 30 days in a nutshell. I never truly realized how much can happen in such a short time, but even with as rushed as everything feels from time to time, life is amazing! Hopefully the next 30 days are full of as much excitement, laughs, and great memory making moments!