Gone but not forgotten.

Marjorie Emily King Poitevin passed away today. I will forever miss her.

I will never forget the power outages at the cabin or the way she closed the curtains.

I will never forget how she cut the crusts off my ham sandwhiches and didn't even care when I just wanted to lick the mayonaise.

I will never forget her size 5 feet.

I will never forget her cat sweatshirts.

I will never forget her playing the piano.

I will never forget how she spoiled us rotten at Christmas and on our birthdays.

I will never forget making fancy hair bows.

I will never forget feeling like a princess when we dressed up in her jewelery.

I will never forget her wonderful life lessons and all her wonderful stories.

She was a sister, a wife, a mom, a friend, and a wonderful grandmother.

She's gone now, but will never be forgotten.

Dinner, drinks, movies, and a scary jacket...

Much to the dismay of my family, I headed back to BTown aka The COT aka Boise on Friday afternoon for one very specific reason-KARI SPOFFORD BURKETT! Despite the fact that her husband decided to call BSU over-rated without even saying hi first, it was fun to see both of them.

Here's a little something that I know Kari and Scott will love.

One foggy night, a Boise State fan and an Idaho fan were driving the opposite directions on a road near Boise. While crossing a narrow bridge, they hit each other head-on, mangling both cars.
The Idaho fan manages to climb out of his car and survey the damage. He looks at his twisted car and says, "Man, I'm lucky to be alive!"
Likewise, the Bronco fan gets out of his car uninjured, he too feeling fortunate to have survived.
The Idaho fan walks over to the Bronco fan and says, "Hey, man, I think this is a sign that we should put away our petty differences and live as friends instead of being rivals."
The Bronco fan thinks for a moment and says, "You know, you're absolutely right! We should be friends. In fact, I'm going to see if something else survived the wreck."
The Bronco fan then pops open his trunk and removes a full, undamaged bottle of Jack Daniel's. He says to the Vandal fan, "I think this is another sign - we should toast to our newfound friendship." The Vandal fan agrees and grabs the bottle. After sucking down half of the bottle, the Vandal fan hands it back to the Bronco fan and says, "Your turn!"
The Bronco fan calmly twists the cap back on the bottle, throws the rest of the bottle over the bridge into the river and says, "Nah, I think I'll just wait for the cops to show up."

I know Kari will probably beat me up the next time I see her, but it's just sooo funny to see how mad she and any of her fellow Vandal friends get. And no, Boise State is not overrated, and while we may have a weak schedule, take a look at BYU's and where they're ranked and then get back to me.

Ok, enough picking on the Vandals. Hillary and I met Kari for dinner at Bardenay (my favorite!) on Friday night.

Here's a classic Kari pose!

Afterwards, Hillary had to go home and take care of her poor, sick daughter and I dropped Kari off to take care of her poor, drunk husband. Don't worry-he wasn't drunk enough to not make fun of my Boise State car sticker.

Saturday, I was supposed to meet Mike and Brittany to see Mike get his tattoo, but I was late of course. So once he was done, we went and saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Super good movie! You might think it will be predictable, but they throw in some unexpected twists and turns. It will definitely be one that I own. Afterwards, we were bored bored bored and decided to hit up our favorite place. Target, of course! From there, we played some hoops at Shoe Carnival (RANDOM!) and saw some slutty Halloween costumes at Hot Topic. My favorite was watching people watch Mike Jones. He gets the greatest reactions.

And I wonder why? Add this scary jacket to his denim cut-off shorts, mullet hair, and blanket scarf and I would be scared too if I didn't know him.

I ditched the married couple later on and met Kari, Scott, and Jess at Reef. A band from U of I was playing, and although I was surrounded by Vandals, I will admit that I had a good time. The band was actually really good! You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/soulserene.

The best part was watching people dance. I don't know why, but watching old people dance together and not care about where they are or who might be watching makes me so happy. You can bet that will be me sooner or later!

Sunday was a lazy day until Brittany got off work and then we went to see 'How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.' So funny! Also highly reccommended. And then we played a nice quiet game of Pictureuka! Quiet, my ass! That game is definitely open to interpretation. What exactly do they define as spots or marks? We needed some more specifics, but we made it work. All in all, it was a perfect Boise weekend and one that reminds me why I love living here. Now if I could just find a job...

So sleepy I can't sleep!

In case anyone can't tell, I seem to be Halloween-obsessed. And since I don't really have a space of my own to decorate, my blog must suffer the consequences. At least it's only for a month!
And no, I did not carve those pumpkins. I merely stole the image. That will change soon.



On a completely unrelated note, LeeAnn Rimes was in concert in Idaho Falls last night (anybody else wonder why a Thursday night?), and it seemed we were headed in the same direction the following day. As I was driving back to Boise, I passed four tour busses all in a line. And where were they from? Tennessee. Using my amazing detective skills, I deduced that it was the star herself. And using my superhuman driving/picture-taking skills, I was able to capture this amazing shot of the caravan.




Please do not be scared-I had full control at all times. Where she was going, I do not know. But I do wonder why she needs four busses. Wasn't she popular like six years ago? And only mildly popular at that?



Here's another random tangent. I am in a state of mourning. My husband, Channing Tatum, gave his heart to another. I know we have spent an inordinate amount of time apart and come from extremely different lives, but I thought we could make it work. Guess I was wrong. Jenna Dewan, you are a lucky girl. You're tires, however, might not be so lucky.

And Renee, it's not like you ever really had a chance with Channing. He was mine from the start! : )

You're it!

I will keep this short since I won't be able to add any pictures. And who really wants to read me rambling on and on?

Anyways, I drove home to Idaho Falls today. And lucky me! I was just in time for Grandma Wava (GW) day!

For those of you that don't know, GW day is when all the cousins still residing in IF converge on the Bott household to eat all they can eat, perform awe-inspiring tricks on the trampoline and generally wear GW down. We try and wear Grandpa Bill down, but he can asleep anytime so it's not quite a challenge.

Anyways, as I was saying, I arrived just in time for a delicious dinner of salmon patties and lumpy potatoes (aka fried potatoes). They were delicious as usual and we finished up with some peaches and homegrown pairs! Oh how I miss dinners like that!

Afterwards, I was challenged to a game of butt-war by Rylee and then I attempted to show everyone how to juggle. They all need a little (ok-a lot!) Of work. Good thing I'm a pro!

Then, the alley neighbors, Alisha and Dylan came over and just like that, I was transported back in time. We were in the middle of a rowdy game of toilet tag, when I was struck with a brilliant idea. I decided to teach them how to play sardines. It took a few games but they finally caught on.

I remember still being in junior high and even high school and playing sardines, kick the can, capture the flag, and any other night games we could think of with my sister and all the neighbor kids. We would play for hours and all over the neighborhood. It kind of makes me sad to think that in this day and age my cousins won't get the joy of running around all night and hiding under or even in the neighbors cars.

And so it shall be my mission to at least pass on the tradition of these wonderful games. And for those of you that get the pleasure of spending time at my cabins this next summer, plan on partaking in all of the above.
Ready or not, here I come!

And just so you know, playing tag almost killed me. I'm definitely not as sprightly as I used to be.

Finally fall!

My favorite season is finally here. Tomorrow is the official start of fall and I couldn't be happier! As much as I love the summer season and 100 degree weather, I love rainy, cloudy days and colder weather just as much, if not more. I love being able to wear layers and layers of clothes. I love wearing all of my favorite hoodies and sweatshirts. I love the fact that Halloween is right around the corner, which means that Thanksgiving, Christmas, my birthday, and New Year's are all close behind. I love the smell of controlled fires burning in the distance and I love college football.

Speaking of football, Boise played Oregon yesterday and THEY WON! Not that I had any doubts, of course, but I'm sure the rest of the nation did. They played an amazing first half, and it's a good thing, because they kind of sucked it up in the fourth quarter and could have lost it had Oregon put in their new freshman quarterback any sooner.

I really do owe it to Boise State for kindling my love of college football. Before 2002, I probably couldn't have told you what the Pac-10 was. Now, I am happy as a clam watching almost any college football game in the nation. It's just so american, so college, and so fall-ish. I'm sure I will get some crap for posting this video on here (especially from all those crappy Vandal fans out there; Kari, in particular!), but it still gives me chills watching it, and anything that still gives me chills 2 years later deserves to be shared!



Enough about football. As far as my life goes, I've been pretty not-busy since I got back on Tuesday. Mainly because I'm not quite sure what my next step is going to be. I have a couple of options. I'm considering getting my teaching certificate and if I choose to do so, I will do so at Boise State (it BY FAR makes the most sense, both financially and logistically). However, nobody is quite sure that I really want to become a teacher. They are partially right: teaching is not where I thought I would be at this point in life, but I have always secretly wanted to be a teacher. Plus, I love the schedule and I love school supplies! : )

I'm also still considering moving to Portland. After talking to my sister today, if I do so, I am not allowed to work in retail unless it is in the corporate arena. She says I didn't major in entrepreneurial management to fold shirts all day, and she makes a valid point. Therefore, I am on a hunt to find a job or internship in the following business catagories: wedding/event planning, journalism (preferably print), and publishing/writing. All of the above are future endeavors that I could see myself pursuing long-term and on my own. At this point, I'm pushing for wedding planning, because it peaks my interest the most and there is a definite need in the Boise area. There is only one real wedding planner in the area, and her website is not something to be proud of. So here's hoping something pans out in the next few days! I will keep you updated.

On a completely unrelated note, I had a great time last night hanging out with Hillary and her work family. They had a fiesta at her manager's house and I tagged along. We got involved in a heated game of flip-cup and come to find out, I am quite the player! Good thing, because I can't say the same thing for beer pong! We are planning on going to the corn maze this weekend and we even have an idea for a sweet group halloween costume. Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays! Here are some pictures from Halloween's past:

Halloween 2006: I was a Red Sox player, Brittany was a Yankee's player (BOOO!), Whitley was Tinkerbell, and Mike was the best Edward Scissorhands since Johnny himself!

Renee and Kristal were Laker's players. Not sure why everyone was sports-related, but we had a good time!

Halloween 2007: I had 2 different costumes going on this year! First, it was Paul Abdul and his 80's groupies!

On the actual holiday, I was a ping-pong player and Whitley was the cutest lion ever. She definitely had her 'rawwwr' down! Kudos to Mike and Brittany who impersonated Jim and Pam from The Office!

Fall is finally here and I'm definitely ready.

My family will be so proud...

I almost forgot about the most important thing I learned from my summer job. I learned how to JUGGLE! My family is very excited to see me in action, so I will post a little preview here. Hopefully it works. And don't worry-I'm still practicing. Someday I will have my own traveling show!

(Sorry it's sideways. I blame Rachel! :D)

Back in Boise...

I finally made it back to Boise, and this time, I'm here to stay for a while. At least two or three weeks! :) The drive home wasn't too bad, especially after I somehow managed to meet up with Mike and Brittany in Pendleton as they were driving home from Portland. Crazy how that worked out! Last night, Tammie came and helped us pack everything up and then we went to dinner with Rocky and his employee Brent. Rocky owns too many businesses to name, but at this fair he was running the mechanical bull. I got some good tips, so I'll have to try it out again! Rocky has some crazy good stories-he's met Carmen Electra at the Big Boy Toy Expo in LA, his bull was featured in the Carl's Junior ad and in Charlie's Angels, and he just recently bought a giant lemon to sell lemonade out of. Marissa and I are considering driving it around the country for him next summer. And I'm really not kidding.


Anyways, we ate at this restaurant in Spokane called The Onion. Besides the delicious food, we had an awesome waiter who gave us all some super cool buttons that say "No Problem!" on them. Come to find out if someone in your party wants something else not listed on the menu-say French Toast, macaroni and cheese, fish tacos, or even King crab legs, they will go get it for you, NO PROBLEM! How cool is that? If your kids want McDonalds, they'll get it. If you want pizza, they'll call up their favorite delivery guy. All you have to do is pay for what you want, nothing extra. That's my kind of service. If you're ever in Spokane, I highly reccommend it, for both the service and the food! Anyways, here are the last couple of pictures I took.

This is Rachel. She hails from the Bay area in California and just graduated from UC Davis. She's moving to San Diego and will most likely end up managing a MotoCross team. She's FANCY! (Inside joke :D) And yes, we are wearing super cool red vests. I know you're jealous and want your own!This is Marissa Faye, my much younger twin. We really are so much alike, it's scary. I told Tammie that she inherited another daughter. Marissa leaves for OSU in a week and I'm seriously considering going down there for the BSU game even though there aren't any tickets. Anybody else want to go?

Marissa decided that we needed to bust out some champagne to celebrate our last weekend as carnys. So what did we decide to buy? Yep, $4 bottles of Andre. Took me back to my college days. Yuck. Although the blush kind was actually not too bad when we mixed it with orange juice. We hung out at our friend Greg's house (he was sick and in bed, so we actually hung out with Ben, his fellow employee) and watched SuperBad for like the 12th time. It just never gets old. "I'm gettin' that fo sho!"

Now that I'm back to the real world, I have days of laundry to do and lots of sleep to catch up on, but other than that, I just need to get my life in order. I have an 'appointment' with Diane (otherwise known as a lunch date where she will give me lots of wonderful statistics on becoming a teacher) on Friday. I suppose I will look for a job both here and in Idaho Falls. In between that, though, I'm in the mood for a little miniature golfing and trivia. Anyone interested?