3 Years Ago

Three years ago on July 30, 2011 Thomas and I got engaged. With little tears in my eyes I said "Yes!" as he knelt atop Sandia Peak overlooking Albuquerque.

We'd wandered around Santa Fe earlier that day, there was a street fair and we bought a kids book. In the evening we rode a tram to the top of Sandia Peak for dinner at the High Finance restaurant 10,000 feet above the desert. As we stood alone on the observation deck gazing at the city, Thomas played "More Than Words" by Extreme and then "Marry Me" by Train. Once I had the ring on my finger a few other people had noticed what was going on and came to congratulate us. A man in the distance started singing "Unchained Melody" and it was just perfect.

 

To celebrate three years since we got engaged Thomas played tennis (won the match!) while I crocheted at home watching Dawson's Creek. We ate a simple dinner at home before walking around Home Goods looking for picture frames. We picked up some Ben & Jerry's at the grocery store and watched Project Runway on Hulu. Not quite as exciting as getting engaged but it was still just perfect. 

Chip of the Flying U

My grandma Jean says that when she first met grandpa he was wearing crisp, new Levi's 501 jeans and a snap button western shirt. As she eyed him up she thought, "Well, here is my Chip of the Flying U!".

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I'd heard her say this a few times but never paid much attention to this reference. I asked Gram more about it when we were visiting her this summer and she explained that Chip of the Flying U is a classic western novel she read as a teen. She fell in love with the main character- Chip- and met him in real life when she went on a blind date with one Keith Anderson- a cowboy from southern Idaho. I was intrigued and looked for the book on the Kindle store as soon as we got home. I was excited that they had it and delighted even further that it was free!

The book begins around the turn of the twentieth century with Della Whitmore, a young, fresh out of medical school doctor from the East coast. When she arrives in Montana to spend the summer at her brother's Flying U Ranch she's greeted at the train station by Chip, a square jawed, young cow-puncher at the Flying U. Chip and Della take a liking to each other and discover there is more to each of them than just a city girl and a rugged cowboy.

This romantic frontier story is unfolded bit by bit without ever being too blatant. It's a perfect mix of cowboy excitement, coy romance with a few mysterious characters. There is a certain innocence to the whole story- no unsavory language and it's definitely romantic without being too cheesy. The writing has a poetic quality to it although I suspect it just has better grammar than anything I've read in a while.

I love the way that the characters aren't explained all at once. I was left on a few occasions to re-read a sentence or flip back through the pages where implications were made about the characters lives outside of the book's written content. I'd read a sentence and think, "Oh wait, does that mean...?" I enjoyed being able to sit and think on these implied circumstances and really generate the character's history for myself. It sucked me in and made me feel like I really knew the "Happy Family" of the Flying U.

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 I would recommend this book to almost anyone. I would normally pass over a western novel but I am so glad I picked this one up. I fell very much in love with this it from the start and finished it in one night plus an hour by the pool. I look forward to reading it to my kids someday and telling them all about how their great grandpa was Chip of the Flying U.

Chip of the Flying U was written in 1906 by B. M. Bower, considered to be the first and most successful female western writers. Of course everyone knows Louis L'amour as the authority when it comes to Western novels but Ms. Bower wrote over 40 books in the genre and paved the way for other female writers after her.

I'm On A Boat

Some friends of ours have a sail boat at Swampscott harbor. Every Thursday they race some of their friends around the harbor and are always looking for a crew to help out. We decided at the last minute this to sneak out of work an hour early and help sail one of the seven seas this week. Thomas grabbed his three-corner hat and I screwed on my peg leg and we headed out. Just kidding, I put on my eye patch. I don't have a peg leg.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, not too hot or humid like it's prone to be here in July. There were the fluffiest marshmallow clouds floating across the sky all afternoon. It's been so rainy this week so I loved seeing the sun peek through.

Can you see the Boston skyline over there?

We unfurled the sails and out captain started giving us orders. He taught us about the different sails, the ropes we needed to pull and how to do it without smashing a finger off. We caught some good breezes and did a little practice loop in the harbor. When it came time to start the race we were a little ways from the start line and the wind completely died down. It' took us forever to actually get to the starting point, we were barely moving at all. Luckily this isn't too serious of a race, just some friends that like some competition every week.

Essentially these indicators were telling us we were standing still.

The Dr. got to steer for a few minutes. 

The captain's son entertained us by reciting almost the entire Lego Movie from start to finish. It was amazing! 

We ended up floating around for a few hours and getting almost nowhere. We had a great time though, there were a few other friends that came to help sail so we got to know them a little better and the sunset was amazing from the water.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me!

My Homies {Utah & Idaho}

Whenever we end up going out West we always have a list of friends and family to see. I have always had an enormous feeling of gratitude for my friends. Over the last 15 years I have moved quite a few times and everywhere I go I seem to find kindred spirits to buoy me up, push me to grow and who don't mind goofing around with me.

We had to meet up with my friend Larry, I mean Antony, his name is Antony. We became friends shortly after I moved to Santa Barbara and for whatever reason I couldn't remember his name. I went up to him once and said, "Isn't your name Larry or something horrible like that?" and I proceeded to call him Larry from then on. He protested of course but in the end he got me back by dubbing me Louise. So, Larry and Louise we were. That first year in SB we were thick as thieves. He was one of the founding members of our prank crew (Black & Gold) and although he may not know it, he is one of the people that really encouraged me to get back into school in SB. He graduated from UCSB, moved away to Utah and I was a little lost without him. It's hard to loose a best friend. Larry found a great gal whose real name is Brittany and they got hitched last year. It makes me so happy to see him married and doing so great in Provo. He is motivated and determined, he is definitely going places in life.

Larry & Louise

Our next stop was at my high school Siamese twin Jeanette's house. We used to joke that we were connected at the brain. I practically lived at her house during our high school years. We'd spend long hours napping on the dining table benches in her mom's kitchen, eating spoonfuls of peanut butter rolled in chocolate chips and watching movies. We also worked when we were at the Ralph's house. We mucked out the sheep pen, dug dyer's woad and put in fences. We bought Jones Juices every day after school (Bada Bing flavor- the best!), we were in Key Club together and we wore the same thing to church without planning it almost every week. We even bought a shirt together and shared it for years. Are you getting the picture that we were inseparable?

Jeanette is married now (I caught the bouquet at her wedding and what do you know, I got married the next year) and has the two most adorable little boys. Oh my goodness I am so jealous of her! Max was just waking up from a nap and didn't want much to do with us but her newest little baby Bennett was happy as a clam. He got along very well with my brother Seth and giggled the whole time.

Jeanette is such a great mom. She's so smart and creative and relaxed. She's not afraid to be herself and a mom all at once- does that makes sense? She makes me believe that I could be a great mom someday too. She had just baked cookies (we've talked for years about opening a bakery together someday) and it felt like the old times. Except with more babies. Just look at this little guy! I die!

Can the mountains be counted as friends? I think so. They looked so lovely and the clouds were extra puffy and white as we drove through Cache Valley. There are few things more beautiful than this view in the summer. 

I loved seeing my Grandma Jean on this trip as well. She is pretty much always the highlight of any trip out West. As we were sitting around the bonfire in the back yard roasting hot dogs Gram entertained us with some poetry. I'd never heard The Night I Cremated Sam McGee  but my grandma knew it by heart (it's much longer than the expert below). 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

      By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

      That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

      But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

      I cremated Sam McGee.

Gram is a card shark as well. When we play Continental Rummy she means business. It's probably one of my favorite things to do when I visit Arimo- sit on the front deck playing cards with Gram and the fam. On occasion it turns into a full-contact sport but mostly we just shoot snarky insults back and forth across the table. Our family has a... unique(?) way of showing how much we love each other.

We took some time to visit my Grandpa's grave while we were in Idaho. He's buried next to my Uncle Evan who died when he was just 9 years old. The McCammon Cemetary is small and the view can't be beat. I love going with my family to chat about our favorite memories with Gramps and telling him a little of what is going on in our lives. He died 9 years ago and I miss him a lot. 

Have I mentioned how amazing and beautiful my cousin Irene is? When I was a little girl I remember her coming to my house to play Barbies. She left behind a tiny Barbie shoe when her family moved from Oklahoma to American Samoa and for most of my childhood I knew I had a super awesome cousin out there somewhere but all I really knew of her was that little shoe. 

When my auntie and uncle came back to the states for a visit in 1997 with their 5 kids the rest of us cousins were in heaven. Who were these strange family members from another land? Ha, I remember asking if they had things like potato chips and Jolly Ranchers in Samoa. They assured us that Samoa is not, as we thought, on another planet. We spent the summer of '97 picking out stars, drinking Slurpees and getting up to mischief in Arimo. 

A few years later, these Lolofie cousins moved back to the US and Irene and I became great friends. We used to bomb around town in my old Camaro, teaching our younger cousins how to drive. We'd blare music and zoom down the country lanes with 13-year-old Erika in the driver's seat. (If you are one of my auntie's then I am just joking, we never really did that...)

For old time's sake we drove up to The Gap. No, it's not the store where you buy jeans. It's literally a gap in the mountains just across the valley from Gram's house. It's a narrow road that winds along a tiny creek with sheer rock cliffs on either side. 

It's like, pretty cool

Since my little sister got married at warp speed I didn't get to meet her husband before our 4th of July trip. We were in Europe when they got married so I was looking forward to making sure this guy was up to snuff. As you can tell Annalie looks pretty darn happy and that makes me happy. Her boy Keveren is pretty rad too, I fully approve of him. We had a great time just hanging out with these guys up at the gap. Annalie found some berries (I am assuming they weren't poison) and we found some shade where we could stick our feet in the water. It was a hot one out there!

Kev-bot, the new brother-in-law

I have to mention my amazing travel companion and husband too. He just fits so nicely into my extended family. He can take a joke and doles them right back without hesitation. He's been called a "little sh*t" by my grandma, he jumped right into the water fight and he likes being in Arimo almost as much as I do.

And now for a few random pictures of the sunset on our last night in Idaho. It was bright and colorful, I forgot what real sunsets are like. In Boston there are too many trees in the way of the horizon and there aren't any mountains for the sun to sink behind.

God is good!