BLOGGERS, TAKE ME AWAY: Details & Pix-1st Installment

You. have. no. idea.

There are sooooo many words in my head right now from my week away.....too many to list them all and do the weekend any justice.  However some of the trigger words that had us rolling the whole time were:

• bat(bleep)-crazy
• brazillian
• crafting
• sex

Laughing until tears rolled down our cheeks was an epidemic, and some of us may or may not have had to keep their inhaler at the ready....as in, at my fingertips....as in, constantly. 

Speaking of tears, I had them rolling down my face quite frequently...not just from laughing, but from the spiritual moments, as well as the sisterhood we were forging, and simply due to being emotionally overwhelmed by how great the getaway was...and how badly I'd apparently been needing it.

I was finally able to quantify in words what was going on with me when I was telling Mr LKP that I finally felt grateful to be a woman...comfortable being a daughter of God....and I am glad to be re-learning how to be me.  My life has always felt like I was living it, but barely scraping by with how my lot was cast.  Whether due to family circumstances, events, lack thereof or whatever, I never really have felt like I have been who I was supposed to be.  Now does that EVEN make sense?  Not saying I wanted to be a dude.  Just saying that I've never felt good enough as I am.

This weekend, I totally felt good enough.  I should say I FINALLY felt good enough.  Just me.  Who I am.  As I am.  It's a good place to be.

So, between crashing at Cherie's for a few hours, the cabin experience, and then seeing my favorite Brennans in the world, and then spending a few days with the Hopkins family, I'm feeling that I'm exactly who I am supposed to be after all, and I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do here on Earth.

I was mentioning to Kim, while we were in the LDS Church History Museum (if you haven't been, you need to go!), that I missed the old musical "My Turn on Earth."  No lie.  I LOVED that cassette.  Pretty sure I wore the thing out.  But anyhow, I bring this up cause I finally feel okay with my turn, and I can see why its important.

Also, in addition to talking & eating & laughing & CRAFTING (No. lie.  Tauna taught us, so it was serious crafting!  Absolutely nothing gross, M-cat!  At least not as a group effort!  lol.), we played some wicked-fun games!  Which of course just got us in hysterics again. 

Cherie's birthday was the day we got to the cabin.  My 31st birthday was the day we left the cabin.  So there was ample celebrating the whole go-'round.  And I even scored a perfectly pink, marabou feathered tiara....wasn't until I got home late Tuesday night & Mini-Me found it that it was discovered my tiara LIT UP!!!  Sweet headgear for sure!
 
So, with all that outta my head for you to chew on, here are all the photos from this weekend that i have on my camera.  No re-touching, and only limited narration since there are so many photos....and I mean MEGA photos.  They'll take you up Bear River Canyon, to reveling in the cabin at Bear Lake, to the lake itself, then past a dead body (I said PAST it!  No pix of that-totally creepy, since it was my first dead body besides dead grandparents at viewings who look like they're only sleeping and are gonna reach out and touch ya at any moment...and besides, everything was pretty much covered with the white sheet....besides the guy's arm.  But that was enough for me!  All I can say is that my heart goes out to the man's grieving family and that I'm glad we got lost on the way to dump our trash...), on to the Logan temple, down to Salt Lake City, Up to the This is The Place monument, to the Brennan's place, then to the Hopkins' house, off to the LDS Church History Museum, to the top of the Oquirrh Mountains for a lovely view of mist/fog as it came rolling in and a peek down into Kennecott Mine, all over Temple Square, through Brigham City, and then home from there, with of course as you already know a flat tire & popped out fender in Snowville along the way.

Pretty much you get to take my weekend journey with me.

So buckle up, cause here we go (and please toss all thoughts about photography skills out the window.  This trip was about experiencing & enjoying my surroundings, NOT pro-photog skills.  A-thank you!)......

Cow trailing as we headed through the canyon towards Bear Lake.

First glimpse of Bear Lake.  Gorgeous!  That blue just explodes out of the surrounding colors of Autumn.

Okay, L to R: Ann, Monica, & Heather

Heather made this.  Isn't it adorable?!?

Monica is freaking talented!  And she made one for each of us.  Squee!

No Cherie shindig is complete without the big red lips!

What else do you give the Cullen-addicted woman who's got everything?  A custom sparkly "Team Gusty Ridge Ranch" t-shirt of course!

No party is complete without Wendy...

Embroidered 3 of these for Cherie's REAL birthday gift.  Hey a girl's got to have options when it comes to her kitchen in the Fall....so here's her gratitude pumpkin one....below is her candy corn one for Halloween (since she's a candy-corn-aholic, lol)...and there's a third one not pictured yet with autumn leaves & an acorn on it.  I'll find a picture of that one & toss it in here somewhere.  They were so. much. fun to do! 

Ann spoiled us all rotten with fabulous antique dishes (1 selection per gal)...but Cherie absolutely scored MAJOR with this one for her birthday gift!  So many things you can do with a piece like this!

AH!  I'm in love!!!  It's a jar full of honey!  Not gonna lie, was a teensy bit jealous...but then I remembered I had a jug of honey in my Jeep outside, and then all was good.  Kimmie dressed the jar up so cute though I think.  Totally homestead-like which I adore in ALL things!

Tauna & M-Cat...what a pair!  M-Cat could only stay one night with us, and we were all sad to see her go, cause she is a TOTAL kick in the pants!  She was also a great source of laughter & trigger words for the whole adventure!

All I can say with this one is, Tsk! Tsk!....   (:

Okay, so L to R: Ann, Monica, Heather, Me, Kimmie, Cherie, Tauna, and M-Cat

Okay, so L to R: Monica, Cherie, Brittany, Heather, Ann, Me, Tauna, & M-Cat...Katie was waking up at that time so we missed her for the big pics.

"Now it's time to say goodbye.....to all our company...

.....M-I-C....See you real soon.....

...K-E-Y....Why?  Because we like you...

M-O-U-S-E...."

The neighbors....and, yes, by George, it IS for sale!

Katie & Brit, a couple of regular pool sharks.

Our temporary digs, in all it's glory.  Had 3 floors (counting the loft), a full bathroom on each floor, full kitchen, Pool table as you saw above, a Foosball table in the basement, and a total of 10 beds (including a futon)....all were queen size except one was a king.  Seriously ample room for us all and then some!

Kimmie's gonna blush, but she's got a good butt.  Just sayin'!

Felt like we were at the coast, seriously.  Have NEVER seen these shades of blue so far inland before!

Yeah, all that gravel?  Hehe, nope.  All teeny-tiny shells!

(Above image stolen from Heather's blog)

All I gotta say is, GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!  lol.  (Above image stolen from Heather's blog...and I think she may have stolen it from Cherie's blog)

Aren't they just the cutest sisters?

Friday's lunch menu: Homemade Cheese soup, Homemade Chicken Noodle (with HOMEMADE noodles even), & Baked Potato Bar.  Grubbin'.  No lie.  Can I just tell you all how much easier this adventure was to say "It's my party & I'll cry if I want to..."  actually, more like "It's my birthday weekend/week and I'll eat if I want to."  And really I did pretty good.  Kept up on my meds, didn't GORGE myself, and all I saw was my skin flare a little with the psoriasis, and I was only a touch gassy, but not gas-chamber-ish....NOT AT ALL AS BAD AS I WAS WORRIED I WOULD BE.  Sorry TMI.  There went all your visions of me being proper & ladylike.  Sorry to let you down.  (Oh & in case you were wondering, Cherie's amazing lasagna was our dinner fare on Thursday night...We scarfed down waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for Friday's breakfast.  Nummers!)

Saturday morning, Katie & I had our breakfast.  We needed something easy-breezy since we had to be completely out of the cabin by 11am, sharp.  So we did the only natural thing to do: HOTELESQUE CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST BUFFET, BABY!!!  Katie made the signs, I brought my fancy Thanksgiving tablecloth & napkins, and we threw together a spread with a little something for everyone.  So awesome!

We even got the Wendy & Gigi seal of approval.  Heehee...

Ahhhh, the Bakow Babes!  (Just cause Brittany married Mr. Perfect doesn't mean she's not still a Bakow Babe.)

Okay, L to R: Kimmie, Wendy, Ann, & Tauna

Gigi felt left out, so we had to be sure she was pictured with the rest of the cool kids!  (Aren't Gigi's massive pucker lips totally rad?!?)

Okidokie, so it looks like Blogger does not want to take on anymore of my photos in this post.  So, I'll work on another post for the next 100 or so photos, and you just enjoy everything thus far!  Toodles.