Dress up...

Playing dress up is the best.  I get a bit bummed out lately because I have NO extra money to spend right now. I know the money situation is entirely my fault but based on my shoe closet alone, many of you know I take great pleasure in shopping.  Even though I've mastered the art of extreme thrift shopping by now, I don't even have the cash for a fab $6 summer dress, necklace, or whatevah...  Sooooo, what to do, what to do??  SHOP MY CLOSET, that's what.  Even if I'm just playing with new combos of jewelry, it's been fun getting creative with limited stuff to work with.  Perhaps even more fun than blowing all my money on the latest and greatest... perhaps.

Most of these are from back when I lived in Iowa and was working at Victoria's Secret.  That was my prime money-blowin' stage and it makes me shudder to think how much was spent on jewelry, Vickies and of course, SHOES.  The skull and crossbones necklace was a lucky find on the ground and the promise ring I added is just another way of giving Jeremiah a hard time.  :)

I bought these shoes for my last day of high school.  No idea on brand.

Sunnies&Shorts: F21  Necklaces: Monet and found  Shirt: Walmart  Shoes: Express  Purse: Thrifted NW for $1

The belt was given to me by Jere's mom Debbie.

I wore less jewelry this day as too much is just too heavy.

This night was quite fun.  Jere and I went to dinner with my Dad, brothers and Addy and explored Fort Collins in all it's glory.  We walked past the Drunken Monkey and ahh.... MEMORIES. 

JEREMIAH CUT MY HAIR OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He did pretty alright, huh??  Kelsey is going to laugh when she sees the back but no worries for now.  I had a lot of fun watching Jeremiah stress out over his "technique" and can always get the back fixed later.  He's so great! 

Package...

About a week ago, I was having the absolute worst day ever.  I was having a major freak-out moment.  A moment where I realized a person from my past no longer wishes to be a part of my life.  DRAMATIC, I know.  But!  I had a frank talk with Russ in which he snapped me out of my mopes and then moments after the tough-love talk received the sweetest package in the mail from EVA.  Best. Timing. Ever.  My day did a complete one-eighty because of the tough-love and love-love and I have you both to thank.

If you're curious about the Lucky Strikes, it's a little inside joke between Eva and Jeremiah.  Silly Smokers.

Crush...

It's time for me to crush some spirits... including my own!!  I am no longer coming back to Iowa for a week.  Ugh.  Long story short, I need to take care of some school stuff and I need to take care of my broke-ass car I didn't know was broke till yesterday.  There's really no bright side. 

But! I am extremely excited to get back to school and be done with my laze of a summer.  I'm just not productive when I don't have anything on my plate.  At this point.... I NEED SCHOOL.  And volunteering and a job and choir and more horseback riding and hiking and climbing and skiing and something, ANYTHING to get me out of the rut I've been in this summer.  With that said, here are some pictures of the much needed 15 mile hike my roommate and I took a couple weeks ago:

Mills Lake. 

Taking in the mountains.

The last few miles were extremely treacherous as we were forced to trudge through thick snow.  I fell through the slush multiple times.

Wow, that was fast. At the end of our journey.  Frozen lake.

 This is my roommate, Adam.  And my other roommate, THE BEARD.

 Being goofy.  But seriously, it was cold up there. 

 So happy but already feeling the wear on my legs.

 Adam at the top of the world.

 Snow Snow Snow Snow.

 These planks are fun.

 I have an irrational fear of mountain lions and even got in a tiff with Adam because he left me alone hiking for 30 minutes.  I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!!!!  But instead I found this animal darting around the trail.

Me.

This hike was special because my brothers and I completed the hike years ago when none of us lived in Colorado yet.  The trip brought back a lot of memories but most of all, I was happy to have handled the strenuous hike much better this time.

BAM! SHOES!

I've found my favorite summer shoes at Buffalo Exchange!!  The brand on the inside says "Speed Limit 98"... whatever that means but no matter, the shoes are fab.  The fabric is canvas and I took forever to figure out what to wear with them.  I finally settled on something simple and borrowed one of Jeremiah's canvas bags to match.  YES! 

Look at all the rubble!  This is on the new deck.

The shirt is also Jeremiah's... sort of a mousy color with lots of random holes.  PEEKABOO!

Sunnies: F21  Shorts: Pimkie  Shoes: Buffalo Exchange 

Oh, and pink nail polish is my fav of the week.

 Sexy boyfriend, no makeup Sonja.

 Just to compare...

This week is an exciting one as I'll be getting school stuff settled, cleaning my house and heading back to Iowa with my mom and brother Mike.  I'll be getting my wisdom teeth out while there but will hopefully spend a few days at the pool and with friends.  IOWA!

Birthday...

Jeremiah's birthday went quite well.  I hadn't seen him for a couple days so when I pulled up to the ranch Tuesday morning, I was more than excited to see him preparing our horses for the day.  J's cousin Tinah joined the action and it felt nice to have all four horses out moving the cows.  The weather stayed cool and crisp.  Despite the dark blue clouds and flood warnings we stayed dry and enjoyed the never ending pastures which I've never seen so green.  Greenland, indeed.
We ate lunch together, took an epic nap, ate dinner together (with cake!) and then watched Jeremiah open his presents.  I bought him two Larry Brown books (one is signed!), a penguin USB flash drive, and underpants!!  He was so happy.
The ranch is so good.  I feel rejuvenated every time I go down there and J and my relationship always seems to take on a new light.  I plan to head back down on Thursday for a mellow day with J's folks and time to break in a new saddle I've been using.  So far, the "breaking in" has only led to extreme soreness and bow-legged walking but I'm determined!!

Either way, I loved that Jeremiah was feelin' so much love on his birthday.  He certainly deserves it.

Water! World! Yeah!

Kelsey and I went to WATER WORLD today and had quite the time.  Things we learned:
1.  Everyone and their moms are wearing Walmart swimsuits.  I saw one youngin with the same suit as me!
2.  Waiting in long lines leads to the giddys/uncontrollable laughing/dropping family sized tubes on peoples heads.
3.  The lazy river is the bombest ish!!!
4.  Aaannd bean dip is yum.

I had so much fun I plan to go back as soon as possible.

The next big thing for me is the celebration of Jeremiah's 27 years of age.  YAY!  I did a really great job with presents this year so I know he'll be thrilled.  After that I will be headed back to Iowa for a hot minute and at the end of summer get to see my oldest friend Michelle during her visit to Denver.  I have a TON of pictures to come including my long lost Europe photos.  Until then.