We did not waste that extra hour of evening daylight yesterday! My boyfriend and our friends Sarah and Jared trucked out to the Idaho desert with a small artillery.

Zeb had just put a new Vortex scope on the pistol I’m holding in the picture below, so that was my favorite to shoot. I hit our paper target 5 times out of 5 with it!

I really like the shotgun too, because it’s more like what you see in the movies where you cock it between each shot. We threw clay pigeons but I’m not at that level where I can hit a moving target yet. It was still a blast to try, and the boys were hilarious while they aimed for whistle pigs (pretty sure that’s just what Idahoan’s call gophers?) and shot some badass drone footage of the desert in golden hour. It just felt incredible to be outside in the sunshine, honestly. Winter has been going on forever 😛 It’s such a mood booster to know that sunny days and long summer nights are coming. Where we live in the Boise area, the sun sets around 10pm in the middle of the summer and it’s the best!

Country music, cowgirl boots, guns and a drone. It was a perfect springtime Idaho double date. When it eventually got too chilly, we headed into town for a margarita and dinner together. We ended the night back at our apartment talking about our favorite styles of humor and which movies we consider the funniest. There was definitely a difference between guys’ and girls’ humor preferences 😀

Somewhere along the conversation, I agreed to join the co-ed kickball league again next month. We all know how well that went last year…… (Urgent care for 2 broken fingers after my second game.)

At the end of the night, I could barely keep my eyes open though. The night before, I was at a wedding. We got home around midnight, and our Uber ride to the airport was at 4:30am. But with the time change happening that morning, we really only got 3 hours of sleep. After the early wakeup call, 6 hours of travelling, an amazing double date, and a margarita, I was using every ounce of energy I had left to keep awake. This morning was really difficult to get up at my normal time before work so I cashed in my free Starbucks drink reward on the new Caramel Cloud Macchiato. Tastes delicious but the downside to the “cloud” part is how little liquid you actually get in your cup!

The wedding on Saturday night that I just mentioned was for my mom’s best friend’s daughter, Emily. My mom and has been friends with Lisa since they went to high school together and Lisa’s daughters were practically cousins to me. I’ve known Emily since she was a baby and I was 4 years old!

My mom and I flew back to Riverside, California on Friday. I haven’t been back since the day I moved to Idaho three years ago. Riverside is a very populated city, and that’s largely why we left. But I have really great memories there. I lived in the exact same blue corner house from the day I was born til I was 23. It’s a bizarre feeling to drive by it now, knowing another family is living in it. For over 2 decades, it was the only “HOME” I ever knew!

My best memories of Riverside are during high school cross country. There are certain trails and routes that I’ve covered hundreds of times. I have their landscape memorized. While they might not be the most beautiful or stunning trail, they are so nostalgic to me because they come with memories. Sometimes I’d run them with just my high school coach at 5:30am before school started. Sometimes my dad would ride his bike next me, keeping me company and setting my pace. During the week, it was with 5 of my boys varsity teammates since there were seasons where I didn’t have a girls varsity team to train with. And sometimes it was just me and my iPod. I LOVED long distance running and I was on fire to be the fittest athlete I could be. So most of what I associate with Riverside when I visit now is the lifestyle I led when I lived there. I was an athlete with a team and a coach and my crazy supportive parents. Even though I will never move back, I really enjoyed visiting and reliving my Victoria Avenue bike path long run memories.

XO, Kenz