Lavapalooza

Even though I was in Lava dealing with family crisis, there were some positive aspects of my trip. I reconnected with some family who I've been out of contact with, I got to have an awesome road trip adventure with my boy, and I got to witness 'Lavapalooza'.

What is 'Lavapalooza' you ask? It is when over one thousand motorcycles take over the tiny little town of Lava Hot Springs Idaho. Okay...so nobody actually took over anything, but when you have that many bikes in a town that has a population of about 500, it kind of feels like it's being taken over. What a crappy day for my camera to stop working! But I know you all have great imaginations, so you can all picture it as you will.

When I first started seeing bikes rolling into town on Friday afternoon I asked my aunt what was going on. She owns one of the towns two bars and I knew she would be able to give me the info I was looking for. She told me about the event. Just your run of the mill rally....bikes, bikers, bands, drinks, vendors....wait....no vendors, guess it's even better than your typical run of the mill rally. I immediately got on the phone with Dave and told him that if he and Willy got on the bikes right then they could make it by the next afternoon, but alas, they had just done their Arizona trip and couldn't make it. I started having major withdrawals for my bike. And my silly dad told anyone who would listen about how "his little girl rides a Harley", I was getting embarrassed, but it was cute to see my dad proud of me for that.

I was excited to see all the goings on, but then I started thinking logically....I was staying at my Grams, in her apartment, above the other bar in town, the big party was going to be on Saturday night, I had to be up at the crack of dawn on Sunday and drive 16 hours to get home. Oh boy, this could be bad.

Saturday night I tried to go to bed around ten, I would much rather have been down at the bar partying with my 1000 new friends, but the safety of my child came first, I needed to make sure I would be in good shape to drive.

And here is the breakdown for the rest of the night.


10:15- Loud, people yelling having a good time, laughing.

10:30- Arguing, escalating, can tell there is going to be a fight.

10:35- Screaming, women hysterical, fight, guys yelling, ends pretty quickly.

11:00- More arguing, different people, look out the window, two feet from my car, 8 guys, two different clubs, pushing, yelling, punching, getting closer to my car, one guy screaming,"I'll kill you if I have to, don't make me kill you", one guy on the ground, almost right on top of my car, guy down on the ground, another guy kicking him in the head, me thinking let them beat the shit out of each other, but what about my car, visions of my car getting a broken window and me running down in my p.j.'s yelling at the guys for breaking my car.

11:10- Cops roll up, guys jump off each other, assure cops they're 'all good', cops yelling at them, "why you guys have to act like a bunch of jackasses", some guy mumbling something I can't understand, cop smacks him up side the head and tells him to "shut the fuck up", guys hug each other, shake hands with the cops, everyone leaves, I get back in bed thinking 'this is the weirdest shit'

11:15- First bit of quiet for the night, interrupted by woman screaming, "oh my God, no! Don't do it", running, punching, again by my car, cops must be waiting around the corner, couple people cuffed, I go back to bed....I have got to get some sleep

After this point I lost track of time, but it went this way until 4 a.m., laughter & fun, fighting & screaming, back and forth.......
I have never experienced such madness in my life. Dave & I are planning on making it for 'Lavapalooza' next year..........anyone wanna go with?

Life is Grand!

Ahhh, life is so good right now. I have not been riding nearly as much as I would like to this summer, some of it is because I'm so busy, some of it is because I have neglected some things that needed to be taken care of, that's a long story and I'll post more on that later.
But.....life is good! Minus not having the kid here, it has been an amazing summer. Dave's kids have spent time with us and that was just awesome! Spending time with Dave's kids has made me realize even more how much I love him...if that was possible.
The wedding is close, and in spite of the changes of some plans, things are great on that front also. I am more excited than stressed, lately the lyrics for the song Anticipation keep popping into my head!
We have mice babies...okay, that may not seem significant to most people, but I just think it's really cool. Watching life start out amazes me, even if most of them will become snake food...it's still pretty amazing.
I tried yoga for the first time today, it kicked my ass.....but I feel awesome right now. I have a ton of energy, I'm typing like 100 words a minute right now, and the funny thing is...I don't know what's moving faster, my brain or my fingers. Okay, so maybe I'm just a little scattered too.
I just wanted to check in with my friends, I hope you are all doing amazingly well.

A Little Story About Plans

Rewind 11 years ago....I was pregnant with the kid. In my childbirth class the instructor told us we should write a birth plan. I am a huge planner, so I was more than happy to do this. I wrote a detailed plan about how my birthing experience would go.....the day came, and we might as well have flushed that plan down the toilet when my water broke. Every single thing that I wrote in my plan happened in exactly the opposite.

Okay, present day...Planning a wedding. First let me say, that to me, the most important part of our wedding day will be the fact that I will be married to the most wonderful man in the world. With that said, I have put a lot of thought, energy and time into planning for things to be the way that we would like them to be for that one day.

We are 42 days away from the wedding and in the last few weeks, my maid of honor has backed out, along with taking the flower girl (her daughter) with her, honeymoon plans have changed (due to the fact that the kid starts school earlier than usual this year), and now the cool porcelain flowers that I wanted for my bouquet are no longer available.
Now, like I said before, the day will be perfect as long as Dave and I are married at the end of it. It's just frustrating that I spent all the time planning for all the icing on the cake just to have it melt before I could enjoy it. Yes, I am disappointed, yes I broke down and cried today, yes it sucks. But I am also keeping my perspective, and I know what matters. And seriously when I think about it, more is working out as planned than not.
I look forward to marrying the man of my dreams and spending the day with people who I love and who love me back. It's going to be an amazing day, no matter what. But my new plan........no more planning!

Hi

Hi everyone! I am still here, I'm still breathing, and yes, I'm still planning on marrying the man of my dreams. All is well, well almost well! I'm busy, busy, busy. And I'm dealing with drama in my life right now, but nobody is going to steal my joy....you hear that you control freak, want everyone to live their lives for you, stupid jerks!? I'm happy and I don't give a shit if you aren't. When I go to sleep in 58 days, I am going to be married to a wonderful man who shows me more love each day than you will ever know in a lifetime! So thanks for making me appreciate what I have even more than I already did! Go ahead and continue living your lives of lies!
And to all of you who try to add to my joy rather than subtract from it....Thank you! You may not agree with everything that I do, or don't do, but I appreciate the unconditional love and forgiveness that you show me, I know a few people who could learn a lesson or two from you right now!

Dave....I am so thankful you are the man you are. I am so blessed to have you. I wouldn't want to be on this crazy adventure with anyone else. You are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo loved! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for letting me be myself and for loving me no matter what, and for letting me use my own brain, and not treating me like a child who needs to be told when to wipe their own ass!

Okay, whoa...I guess I needed to vent more than I thought that I did! Thanks for letting me! :)

Oh, yeah, and in case you missed it..................58 DAYS AND COUNTING!

Greetings From Tennessee

Hi everyone! I just arrived in Tennessee tonight. I'm spending the next few days here to see my favorite niece, Nastassia, graduate from high school. If you only knew the week I had, and all the obstacles that tried to stand in my way of getting on that plane.....big sigh of relief, I made it!
Anyways, I will have stories and pics of my trip when I get home to share with all my friends.

Dave- Thanks so much for helping me get through the past week and helping me stay (somewhat) sane. Thanks for being such a great man that I can leave my son with you and know that he will be well taken care of! Miss you guys, but I promise to be a happy camper when I get home!

Nats- I'm so proud of you. You are an amazing young lady and I'm blessed to have you in my life!
CONGRATULATIONS!

Happy Mother's Day

A very happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers I know.

Thank you to my kid for making being a mother such an amazing experience. You make being a mom the best thing in the world.

Thank you Dave for supporting and loving us, and for helping me get through the tough times of motherhood.

Thank you also to my ex for recognizing that even though I wasn't a good wife to you, that I'm a good mother to our son.

Thank you mom, as I've gotten older I realize that you did the best that you knew how. I realize now how hard it can be sometimes, and I forgive you for any hurt you may have caused. Thank you for teaching me to be forgiving, and for forgiving me as well for the hurt that I may have caused you. I really do love you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVE

Just a quick Happy Birthday to the love of my life. I hope you have a great day. I look forward to spending many more birthdays with you!