Category Archives: Liz’s Life

Dear Daddy

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Dear Daddy,

Yesterday, I started thinking about Father’s Day this weekend and how sad I was that I wasn’t going to get to spend it with you. I felt down for a little bit until I switched on an oldies radio channel and “Under the Boardwalk” was playing.

That song always makes me think of you for some reason. It makes me remember of all those long road trips we took to get to whatever gym my next volleyball tournament was in. We logged a lot of time listening to oldies on those trips!

This got me thinking about how lucky I am to have you for my dad. There are so many things to thank you for. Here are just a few:

– Thank you for holding my hand all the way, every day on the drive to pre-school. Those pre-school days were pretty overwhelming with all those colors I had to remember and forced naps on hard floor mats. Having your big paw wrapped around my little hand each morning was just what I needed to give me the courage to face the day.

– Thanks for making bedtime fun by carrying me over your shoulder singing “Yaw Hee Haw!” like you were a big giant. From the stories I hear about me screaming “I HATE my bed!!” when I was little, I’m sure it took some imagination and patience to get me to sleep.

– I appreciate all those hours you spent coaching, practicing with me and cheering me on in my athletic pursuits. You were always the “nice coach” and that was a big relief for me in jr. high when nothing was worse than having your dad be the mean coach.

– Thank you for giving up all those weeknights, weekends and money to let me pursue my dreams of playing volleyball. I learned a lot about myself through that sport, but more importantly, I got to spent lots of quality time with you.

– Although it bothered me when you didn’t always agree with my decisions – like when I quit volleyball my sophomore year of college instead of accepting that scholarship – I am happy I had you there to challenge me. It made me even more motivated to prove to you that I had made a good choice and ultimately helped me succeed in many ways.

– Thank you for sympathizing with me when I got my heart broken by a boy. Remember that one time when I called you upset because a guy I liked a whole bunch was clearly playing games and stringing me along? I told you I felt so stupid and you said “Liz, guys like that are the real losers. The ones who never let anyone really in and play with girl’s heads for fun…they are the ones who will always end up losing in life. You’re already ahead of him because you opened yourself up.” That was great advice.

– I’m so grateful for so many of your qualities. Your kindness, thoughtfulness, loyalty, drive to succeed and even your cheesy sense of humor. You’ve shown me what a real man should be like. Luke is so like you it’s almost weird. They say girls look for guys like their fathers, and in my case that is definitely true.

I know this is just the tip of the iceberg for things I want to thank you for. You’re a great father and I hope you’re proud of how I’ve turned out. So much of who I am is because of you.

Have a great day today. Play lots of golf, eat a steak and miss me just a little.

Love your youngest child,

Diz

The Newest Member of our Clan!

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No….it’s not a baby!

lol I’m sure that disappointed some of you. Luke’s little brother, Matt, moved in with us this week!

That’s him on the right with Luke. He’s going to fit into mountain life just great with that beard.

I couldn’t be happier to have a family member in our day to day lives. Living so far from the ones we love is tough, so having Matt around will be a real blessing. Plus, I know how excited Luke is to get his climbing buddy back and I’m already planning on converting him into my trashy tv-watching partner, since Luke refuses to get into The Bachelor.

We don’t mind sharing our space either since we have plenty of room with our three bedroom, two bathroom apartment. I think this is the first time Matt is getting his OWN bathroom. :)

I came to know and love Matt when we all lived in Chicago at the same time. He’d often meet us out on the weekend and was a regular at our “Sunday Suppers.” He has an awesome sense of humor and makes me laugh with his random comments.

Now I just have to do my part to make sure these two don’t get too competitive…

 

Just Roll With It

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All last week Luke was like a kid looking forward to his birthday party, except what he couldn’t stop talking about what our Saturday guided rock climbing lesson. He’s been climbing indoors for a couple years now, and this was going to be his first outdoor rock climb.

We woke up early on Saturday and drove down to Reno to meet our guide. That’s when things started to go awry. When we showed up, we were told our guide was supposed to call us to tell us to come a half hour later. Hmm. Ok. After killing time walking around, we returned to hear that our guide, an “old hippy pothead” (their words, not ours), had blown off work and wouldn’t be in to take us climbing.

The tour company offered us a free rafting trip instead. This was a fine alternative to me, because I’d heard the local rivers were flowing fast right now because of all the snowmelt, but I could tell Luke was pretty disappointed he wasn’t going to be climbing. He’s not one to mope though, and quickly he got on board with our new adventure.

The awesome outfits we had to wear also helped lighten the mood.

It ended up being just us two and our guide in a small 9.5 ft raft on the Truckee River, which goes through Reno, NV.

We went about 18 miles, averaging 8 miles per hour, through some 3.5 class swells. Several times we were bounced high in the air on a big wave and got totally soaked with water.

Man, it was a blast! At one point, after riding a huge wave, I couldn’t stop grinning and giggling like a little kid. That was a pretty cool feeling.

I love that we live in a place where a planned day of outdoor rock climbing can quickly turn into a white water rafting adventure. Even better? That I have a partner in crime who is willing to roll with the punches.

What did you do this weekend? I hope you felt some thrills like we did!

Handmade Bird Feeder: Perfect Porch Entertainment

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One of my favorite parts of our new apartment rental is that it has a front porch. I don’t what it is, but I’ve always liked front porches more than back decks, patios or other outdoor living spaces.

Soon after moving in, I noticed that we have a lot of lively, pretty birds around our apartment and got an idea. Hmm…front porch + birdies = birdhouse!!

Etsy had quite a few adorable birdhouses to choose from. Click on any of the photos below to go to the listing on Etsy.

After looking at about 100 different birdhouses on Etsy, I decided on this affordable ($9.00!), red bird feeder made from an old barn door. I loved the rustic look of this one.

Luke used a staple gun to hang it from the awning over the porch and we filled it with some seeds we got at a local nursery.

Within minutes our yard was filled with birds chirping away. We went inside to give them some privacy to explore the new restaurant in town.

The one bird we saw the most of was this black & blue, regal-looking Stellar’s Jay.

This guy LOVED the seeds we put out but had a hard time landing on our “small bird” sized feeder. He kept sitting below it to check things out,  flying up to the feeder, deciding he was too large to land and kicking the house before flying away in the hopes that he could free some of the seeds.

It took about a half hour before be finally devised a plan to let him perch on the house just long enough to get his fill. It was quite entertaining to watch from our living room! I was starting to think we could just pitch our TV with all the action our bird feeder was supplying.

Who knew a tiny wooden bird house could make our temporary rental feel like home? :)