the perfect way to start the season...

i just had to do a little follow up.

the boise state broncos started their season off just right tonite...with a 56-7 win over weber state! here's to another GREAT year!

GO BRONCOS!!!!!

GO BRONCOS!!!

today is the day the whole city turns blue and orange. it's the first boise state football game!

Boise State vs. Weber State

GO BRONCOS!!!

so long 3rd ward...

many of you know when i made the decision to move back to boise almost 2 years ago, i had no intention of staying for more than a few months. even my bishop reminded me a few months ago of the first conversation i ever had with him..."ya, i won't be here too long...this is just a neutral stopping point so i can figure out where i should really be." and the funny thing was, boise was the place i was really suppose to be (for more than 2 months, that is)!

well, the morning i drove away from salt lake city, i never could have imagined the way my life would be blessed by making the move to boise. truth be told, i didn't even want to move back to boise...but something kept pushing me here...something told me to keep driving north. AND TODAY, MORE THAN EVER, I AM GRATEFUL I KEPT DRIVING!

well, sunday was a day that made me think about and realize just a few reasons why boise was the best place for me. the bishopric of my single's ward was released and it was pretty much my last sunday before being released from my calling as the relief society president as well as the last sunday of the 3rd ward as we know it. we are all being split up and being sent in different directions, as they have changed the boundaries and made the wards in the valley student and non-student specific.

being a part of the 3rd ward has been such a blessing to me. it is there that i have met some of life's greatest friends. it is there that my testimony of just how much heavenly father loves each of us has grown. it is there that i saw the gospel completely change lives. it is there that i learned serving in the church should be fun and exciting. it is there that i learned heavenly father's plan is ALWAYS better than mine!

i will be totally honest...being released from my calling will be a bit of a relief. but more than anything, i will miss the girls i was able to get to know and serve SO MUCH. i will miss laughing my way thru ward council each sunday and the weekly 'dating' updates. i may even miss the dating interrogation from brother price and the bishopric :). i know everybody says it, and it must sound so cliche but i have learned so much from my calling and feel so blessed to have been a part of something so good!

so it's on to a new house, a new ward, a new calling, and meeting some new people in just a few weeks. as sad as it is to see the end of something so good, i know this will be a positive change. the 1st counselor in our bishopric, brother dunn, said something very wise to me on sunday. he said, "you came here almost 2 years ago and progressed to a point you didn't even know was there. now go to your next experience and just keep progressing!"

These are a Few of My FAVORITE Things.

when i was looking at lisa's blog yesterday, i realized i am one of the luckiest girls in the world...i have 3 (almost 4) of the sweetest and most adorable nieces and nephews to love! of all the things i am, being aunt cindy is my absolute favorite!

some of life's sweetest moments have come to me because of these little ones. i will NEVER forget the day sirri marie was born. my family still teases me about it because i was a sobbing mess! but i will tell you right now, the love i felt the second i held that little girl in my arms was like nothing i had ever felt. i thought i would never feel anything like it again...and then the day connor was born came...and then baby meg arrived...and i felt that crazy love for each one of them all over again! the best part is that my love for each of them is unique in their own way. sometimes it scares me, how much i love these kids...i wonder if i will have enough love to go around by the time my own children come! there are times i feel like i am just going to BURST with love!

i am most excited for baby snap (richard and kim's baby) to arrive. that baby will definitely be much too far away, but i am sure i will have no problem loving it all the same :) !

HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO BE AUNT CINDY!!!!

we are moving...AGAIN!

kristie and cindy...cranky about moving AGAIN!

it seems like we just moved doesn't it? well, that is because WE DID!!! we just moved into our little house that has worked so perfectly for us this summer and after 2 1/2 short months we have been booted out...and now we are homeless! our landlord's home in california sold much quicker than they had planned, so they are moving back to boise at the end of this month.

we don't like moving.


we are too tired to go anywhere with a bed tonite...

so like i said, we are a bit homeless now. we found a great place to live in south-east boise, but it is not available until september 15th. that leaves us bumming off of our parents for a few weeks until we can move in (THANK YOU mom and dad!). we were having a real hard time finding a place we liked in the area we wanted to live, so when we found this place we decided it was worth the wait. it is a most adorable, never been lived in townhouse in southeast boise...it is close to the river, the greenbelt, and boise state. it is in a new ward, which will be a good change. it is a bittersweet thing for me as the 3rd ward has been so good to me. i have met some of life's greatest friends and have an incredible relationship with the bishopric. but i know that time has come again...time to step outside of my box and spread my wings a bit! although, timing has worked out quite perfectly with all of this. they have been working on a lot of changes in our stake this summer and are splitting wards up between students and non-students. so, i would have been kicked out of my ward sooner than later as is. so for me, getting kicked out of our house when we did has actually turned into one of those funny little blessings. with all of the changes in the stake, it was the perfect opportunity for me to make the move out of the ward boundaries without feeling like i was tapping out on my calling or deserting the bishop and/or sisters in my relief society. just one of those little "heavenly father loves me and is watching out for me" reminders :)!!!!

i am excited to live the downtown boise life, as i never have. i always remember going to my sister, kim's, house when she lived downtown and thinking it would be such a fun area to live. i love that everyone rides their bikes everywhere...to the grocery store, to go out to dinner, to the saturday market, or to hit the trails at camel's back. so i guess i need to get myself a bike now don't i????????






(sorry for the random pictures of kristie and i. we were tired of cleaning and doing last minute packing and found a little comic relief in the camera that is on my computer and thought maybe you all would as well :)).

5 great days in Santa Cruz!

katie, africa, cindy, ty, trever.

i just returned last week from yet another FUN and successful road trip with my friends...aka "the ski posse :)". we strapped the surf board to the top of my car and made our way down to santa cruz for 5 days. and 5 days of pure fun it was! not only has santa cruz turned into one of my favorite vacation spots, but i have the world's most fun friends that would make a 5 day vacation to kuna, idaho 5 of the most fun days of your life (no offense to those of you from kuna...you get the picture right???).

natural bridges beach.

ski posse shadows.

the cave with the killer spiders.

we drove thru the night on friday and got there saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. we drove straight to the beach to dig our bare feet into the sand and of course, get ourselves in a bit of a wrestling match leaving most of us wet and soggy (fully clothed of course). we spent the next 5 days surfing (attempting), boogie boarding, taking sunday drives down hwy 1, building sand castles, playing beach volleyball, riding the roller coasters on the boardwalk, exploring caves (which resulted in 10+ of the world's largest daddy long legs crawling on my face and back...horrible), and camping at a different campsite each night...except for the one night (saturday) we didn't have a campsite reserved. so just like good, single, mormon kids would, we found ourselves a church parking lot and camped out there. it worked perfectly as we were able to wake up, change our clothes, and walk right into 9:00 church :).

i tried to convince one or two of my friends they should have just left me there and brought all my stuff back down a week or two later...they wouldn't allow it. i decided santa cruz is a place i think i could live for a year or two. i realized it has everything i love...the beach, the mountains, the arts, biking, and i decided there had to be a lake somewhere in the mountains as i saw quite a few wakeboarding boats headed out. after sharing that realization with one of my friends, he had to burst it by reminding me it was missing 2 of the things i love most...my family and the ski posse. so back to boise it was!!!

the boys fitting in with the locals.

38th street...where the locals surf.

happy birthday, africa!!!

trever. gross.

trev, katie, africa, ty, cin, and jeff.

a beautiful beach we found on our sunday drive (i can't take credit for this awesome picture...this was all ty's doing!!!).


a crab i found.

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A BLOGGING I GO...

so my amazing big sister (lisa marie) has inspired me! i have secretly wanted to start a blog of my very own for quite a while now, but silly as it may sound, have been, i guess you could say...SCARED...to even begin! i guess i have this fear i don't have too many things of worth to share. it's just me, myself, and i i have to write about. i don't have adorable and amazing children to brag about or even a handsome and wonderful husband to rant and rave about...it's just me and my crazy day to day things i get into! but then one night about a month ago i found myself sitting at home with a few extra hours to kill (that doesn't happen very often) and i found myself on my computer ooohing and aaaaahing over my sister's incredible blog. i was realizing what an amazing journaling tool it had turned into for her and i found myself struck with envy. i've always wished i was a better journal writer but have to come to terms with the fact that i never have been and probably never will be. as i sat there, admiring what my sister had created, i decided it was something i should give a shot. afterall, i LOVE to send emails and LOVE to share my pictures. so here i am...one month after creating my blog attempting my first post (thanks for the message today lis...it was the kick in the pants i needed to do this!!!!)

so, if you have any desire to know what i am up to or what my crazy single life gets me into...READ ON (and keep checking back, i guess). i am sorry i don't have pictures and video of a charming husband and darling children like the rest of you...mostly just me and my ridiculously fun friends!

so a blogging i go...