sometimes...

i miss my blonde hair.

maybe i'll change it back one day...

an update

because a blog post isn't a post without a picture, AND because i love this quote - via

Where did last week even go?! I swear it is an exhausting blur looking back. I got an offer to teach a couple science classes to elementary and middle school aged kids at the local history museum and it started last week. Summer seemed so relaxing until it came to a screeching halt at 6 a.m. on Monday morning. I forgot what it was like to wake up to an alarm over my last two spoiled months. On top of preparing lessons and teaching, I also had my certification exam (the Praxis) on Saturday. Those things are so silly. I memorized hundreds of meaningless facts like the12 main deserts in the world or every president along with their years in office from Washington on down. Well, 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, I went and showed how many of those silly little facts I could put onto paper to prove that I am great teacher. And wait for it... 4 more weeks until I find out if I even passed. Silly I tell you! I just might even forget I took it by then. ha

In other news, you may have noticed the changes around here! When I finally came up for air on Sunday I spent some 'me' time redesigning this little blog and adore how it turned out. I finally added social media icons that I promised AT LEAST two months ago as well as a FAQ page. If there is something you are curious about, ask away :)

Today I started week two of teaching at the museum and it is proving to be very different than my experience last week. I had 1st-3rd graders last week and taught them about oceans and coral reefs. On the first day I had them make submarines out of cardboard boxes that they could sit in while "exploring the ocean" because you can't breathe underwater after all. Well, what I thought would be a short little activity turned into HOURS of fun! They added parascopes, propellers, windows, sea life and waves on the outside. Those little creative geniuses I tell you what :) This week however I have 5th-7th graders and so far they are proving to be little sticks in the mud which makes me sad. They don't quite have the spark of excitement about learning that the littler ones do. I also think the idea of learning about science in the summer isn't quite as fun as riding your bike with your friends at that age. But, it has been a great learning opportunity for me as a teacher and I'm loving every minute of it!

the weekend of food

I'm a little embarrassed to be admitting this, but this last weekend was totally all about food. It was one of those weekends where the weather couldn't make up its mind. One minute it was sweltering and the next it was pouring down rain. So naturally, we had to have cool down food and warm comfort food to compensate.

We tried this and whoa was it good! I seriously recommend it if you haven't already tried it. We also grilled on our little mini bbq for the first time ever which led to us both looking at each other like, "why haven't we done this before now?" That heavenly chicken cesar salad up there, you can bet there will be a lot more where that came from. There is just something about the taste of chicken from the bbq that you just can't get from a pan or the oven. We may have also had yogurt from Kiwi Loco...


Okay okay, enough about food ;)  

this guy

picture from our wedding

excuse me for a minute while I get all mushy about this guy -

Nic is a lot of things - smart, talented, devilishly handsome. But perhaps one of the things I love the most about him is how much he cares... about me, about his job, everything. His dedication is seriously inspiring. I have never seen someone work so hard at improving themselves. He'll come home from work and tell me all of these great ideas he has come up with that he can't wait to get started on and I just feel my heart swelling with pride that he is doing something that makes him happy. Well you can imagine how I felt when he got a random call last week, completely unexpected during his vacation, from his director offering him a promotion. I guess it is proof that I'm definitely not the only one who notices or thinks his dedication is pretty dang inspiring. 


So as of last Thursday, Nic started a new job. One that puts him well on his way to reaching his occupational dreams. One that meshes his love of health care administration and computer technology perfectly. And one that makes me more proud of him than ever. 

Congrats Mr. Operations Coordinator of Medical Practice! You deserve it and I could not be more proud of you.

A happy fourth indeed.

Yesterday was a pretty darn good day. No work for Nic which meant sleeping in for the both of us. I'd never been to Pocatello's 4th of July parade so we went just the two of us in the morning. The heat seemed to bring out the crazy in people which is why I even go to parades in the first place of course - to people watch for great entertainment! For many of the floats, it seemed the parade was just a glorified campaign opportunity this year but outside of those, my favorites were the school bus and free summer lunch program van. Made my teacher heart proud to see those cute little kids on the bus supporting school!

In the afternoon we went to my father-in-law's house and sat around the Williamson pool eating hot dogs and hamburgers and getting to hear a few embarrassing stories from Nic's childhood, my favorite kind. ;)
We are lucky to live so close to the fairgrounds so we just walked to the city firework show from out house. While waiting for them to start we stared in awe at that gorgeous sunset up there ^. With the recent fires going on around here it was a little nerve racking still having the city show let alone the ban being lifted for people to light them at their homes. The show only stopped once to put out a small brush fire that they caught quickly and as for the rest of the city, so far so good. The news hasn't said otherwise.

Not a bad way to end a great day laying with the one you love under the night sky watching the best firework show I've ever seen! So proud to be an American and even more grateful that we live in a free country.

Happy 4th you party people!

You'da thought I was the one in labor

Meet Ariana Jo Bradley 

(Ari for short)

This sweet little girl was born last night and if you could have seen the look on my face today you would have known the world got even brighter as of 9:21 p.m. Our best friends Mindy and Beau invited us to a 4th of July bbq for last night that we have been looking forward to for a few days now  but it quickly came to a halt when we got a text from them saying, "Party canceled, Mindy decided to go into labor two weeks early!" Seriously if you were standing next to me when I got that text you'da thought I was the one in labor! I was jumping up and down and pacing all over the place. Probably a good thing I was home alone haha Usually people aren't that crazy excited unless it is their own baby.

I'll tell you what, when I saw that little head of dark brown hair and tiny little toes my heart completely melted. Can you imagine what I'm going to be like when it is Nic and I's baby? Oh lordy, better make sure there are 12 boxes of kleenex packed in our hospital bag! I just can't get over how tiny and adorable she is. It makes me so excited to be a mom someday. 

Welcome to the world baby Bradley. You have amazing parents and a whole lotta people who love you!    

I'm a little drunk on you, and high on summertime

That song ^ played on repeat the whole way down to Bear Lake and it has been stuck in my head ever since. It has become one of those songs that will always remind me of this summer. We spent a weekend away at Nic's family cabin for my birthday and had the best time. We had Le Beau's famous raspberry shakes the moment we got into town. That in and of itself was worth the trip! We spent the rest of the sunny days reading by the water, attempting to swim before going completely numb, checking out the local shops around town, and playing game after game of Skipbo until Nic could finally beat me, but who's counting. ;)

Saturday night was probably one of my favorite parts about the trip. My father-in-law got us tickets to go see a musical at the Pickleville Playhouse. We saw "Forever Plaid" which I had never heard of before and let me tell you, that is a crying shame I hadn't. It was seriously the most hilarious show I had ever been to! I could go over and over again and still leave with tears streaming down my face every time it was THAT FUNNY. And of course Nic and I might as well have had glow in the dark clothing on because they managed to pick us both out of the entire audience to join in on the show. Nic became a drummer at one point in a mariachi band. I about died laughing when he looked at me like, "Are these people crazy!?" And then I of course forced him to play them. Who is he kidding, he loved it! Not two songs later, they were singing a love song and one of the actors had "never slow danced with a girl before." I found myself being pulled from my seat and dancing with a  complete stranger in front of everyone in the aisle. Oh the times we had :)

Bear Lake, I seriously love you. I would live there all summer long if I could.