[helena handbasket.]

I am so horrible at taking photos on trips. Mostly, because I tend to leave BOTH of our cameras behind. However, I did capture a couple of highlights over the past couple of days.

Jonny was sent to Helena on a last-minute trip for work. I had Wednesday and (most of) Thursday off from work, so I decided to drive out and meet him. We had a pretty good time, and Helena is a quaint little town. We ate some delicious food (Chili's and Macaroni Grill! I love civilization!!) and visited with friends. And that was about it! I did get a pass to go down to the local health club, so I did a Les Mills BodyPump class. Our old gym here in Missoula had these classes, and I LOVE them!!

 I found out that Gold's Gym in Hendersonville offers Les Mills classes, so I am excited to join for a month when I visit! I am so sore and it feels so good.

Also, I discovered a doable way to wear a top knot/sock bun. Life changing. I may never have to wash my hair in the morning again. Tuesday, I wore it slicked back and high with pearls to work. Last night, I wore is loose and down with an oversized cardi for a relaxed look.

Mirror shot, camouflage, hotel bathroom. I redefined class with this one.

I got home and had a few hours to kill before a grueling workout. So I snuggled with my dog, DUH.

I am feeling a little odd (but awesome) after a 4 mile walk-to-sprint interval workout, so I settled for a shake for dinner.

Chocolate protein powder, strawberry greek yogurt, fresh raspberries, & almond milk.

Sadly, I have a couple hours of work tonight ahead of me. However, it is the Glee premier tonight and my client insists on watching it. I'm not complaining!

[bad dog.]

Well, she isn't bad, but she is difficult.

I'm dippercult.

Dipper has social issues. We tried very hard to socialize her when she was a puppy and paid a lot of money for obedience school, but her Beagle instincts are just too strong. We can't take her for walks (she yips), can't take her to the dog park (will sniff away until she's lost/in the Clark Fork river) and can't go on "play dates" with other dogs (because she doesn't even know they are there due to sniffing). 

I woke up today feeling pretty icky and didn't go to work today. Dipper was restless, so I decided to take her down to the baseball fields to run around like a crazy puppy. She is really bad at fetch, too! She gets the general concept, but doesn't understand she is supposed to bring the ball back.

 Look at her little booty up in the air. She's so cute.

 Here I come! 

 I actually forgot the ball. Oh well. What's that over there?!

Imma go sniff over there.

And for my friends and family back home that don't know where I live, these baseball fields are in one of the best spots in town to see the mountains around Missoula! 

This was meant to be a panoramic view.

Also, it is not always this hazy and gross out. Hello, fire season!

As soon as we came in, she ran right up onto the couch and puked up everything she has eaten/drank today. So, now I'm gonna go figure that out :(

[friday's 5... for fall!!!]

Happy Friday! I spent most of the day relaxing and enjoying a day off from BOTH of my jobs. I did have a few meetings this morning, but they came complete with lattes, so they were easy to get through. Most of my "highs" of the week came today. The rest of the week was okay, but today was awesome! 

1. Jonny and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to grab some mats for the kitchen. We left with no mats in hand but we did hit up a 75% off Tervis Tumbler sale! Does it get any better than this?! HE even got a Rockies tumbler (surprise, surprise that it was the only MLB logo in the clearance bin;-).)

2. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back. That's all I have to say about that.

3. Jonny got off work early today, so we made it to Mustard Seed in time for lunch specials! Woop! We followed it with a 2 hour nap, which was the only thing that makes a Chicken Teriyaki bowl better.

4. This was a view of the Clark Fork on my run tonight. Complete perfection.

5. Jonny and I are going on a surprise vacation next week! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating. Jonny has some job training in Helena and I am going to drive up to tag along halfway through the week. I am going to stay here for a night before hand to do some crafty stuff with a friend. Can't wait to share that ;-)

[good smells]

Happy Tuesday, that is like a Monday!

I only had to work one job today and it was a.... ahem, "crappy" day. But that's ok, because I got to sleep in and watch Michael Strahan's first day on Live! with Kelly (& Michael!). I am such an old woman. I think I will handle retirement just fine in 50 years.

I skipped breakfast today. Okay, fine, I didn't, but I did have a popsicle. At lunch, I made a strawberry banana smoothie that tasted JUST like Smoothie King. Working there years ago has made me quite the smoothie queen. :-D

For dinner, we had greek yogurt pancakes... again! I swear we eat other things, but these are SO easy and good for you!

Also, I was trying to organize some things today. I decided to get crafty and make Scentsy bars out of old candles that the wicks are too short to burn. Frosted Cranberry is my FAVORITE winter scent, so I always have it in candle form, Wallflower, room spray, and anything else they make for the year. We have our Scentsy warmer on about 90% of the time, so it makes sense to have the bars instead of candles. (Don't get me wrong, I love candles.... for some reason, they are so comforting when it gets cold and dreary and snowy here!) This was not a difficult process at all, either.

I just melted the entire candle on the warmer and poured it in to an old bar carton! I think the candle will make 4 or 5 more, so I just tucked it away in the closet until next time.

I have a few more small, inexpensive projects on deck for the week, too! But I am also working all day, e'rday :-/ BUT, Saturday will be full of football, so I have light at the end of the tunnel!