R, S and later T

R is for

Rain-- I LOVE a good rainstorm. Nothing like curling up on the couch with a good book or mag listening to the rain outside. I love the sound of the rain on the roof or windows, especially a tin roof like the one on the Ranch House at Golden Bell. I also love the smell of rain--that dusty, earthwormy smell. And I love the feel of a warm, summer rainshower. Aren't there more than a few love songs that talk about dancing in the rain? I've never tried that yet, but I do like to play soccer in the rain. We get our share of rain here in FL, and I love it.

Rachael Ray--I used to catch 30 Min. Meals every once in a while, but I've never purposely watched RR until this year. Now that I'm staying home, 2-3 p.m. Channel 5 is a pretty regular thing around here. I've picked up a few cooking tips, although Matt wouldn't appreciate all the recipes I'd LIKE to try.

River Rafting-- One of my favorite outdoorsy things to do is go rafting. I have been 3 or 4 times in Colorado, 3 times in Idaho, and twice out East here. By far the best place we rafted was the South Fork of the Payette River in ID--huge rapids and huge adrenaline rush. I took a rafting class (Outdoor Ed) in college and the time I went with my college classmates was class IV rapids, and was a serious thrill.

Roller Coasters--I LOVE a good roller coaster park. A dream vacation for me would be to spend a few weeks driving across the US hitting all the best coasters. (skipping the rest of the twirly rides.) Living here in FL there are some good rides --The Hulk and Dueling Dragons at Univeral's Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, etc. Kings Island (Cincinatti) was pretty good, but the best place I've been by far is Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. They have something like 17 in all, several that are record setting for the highest, the fastest, the largest wooden, etc. On that note, I reeeeeally don't like wooden coasters, but any metal one is good for me. The more loops the better.

Rascal Flatts--one of my favorite bands. Yes all their songs sound pretty much the same and yes the lead singer can be kinda nasally sometimes, but I have worn out their c.d.s .

S is for
Shopping at Sam's Club--I just realized during a recent visit how much I enjoy shopping at this place. I love to get a good deal, and the variety of items they have there is also pretty good. I've always enjoyed cooking for our teens on the mission trips we take because it means at least 2 or 3 trips to Sam's, and people are always impressed with the meals we're able to eat at an affordable price. I wish I had a deep freeze freezer so I could go shopping at Sam's once a month and stock up!

Saturday Samples from Sam's--'nough said, right?

Sports--in general, I love sports. I played 3 sports in highschool at the varsity level and would have played softball too had it fit into the year. I still love to play and watch sports of all kinds, everything from whiffle ball to croquet.

Soccer--probably my favorite sport, I miss playing so much. I played from 2nd grade all the way till a Senior in College. I feel very lucky to have been able to play at the collegiate level, because of all the opportunities it provided me to travel and meet people. My friends from the soccer team have remained my closest. I wish we had a women's league here like they do in Boise, that is one thing that I continually hope I'll find one day-- a group of women to play with.

Snow, and snowskiing--2 more things I grew up with in Colorado and miss very much. I've skiied since I was like 5 and could ski through my dad's legs. It was one of the things we used to do 5 or 6 times a year as a family. The older we got, into highschool and college, the less we were able to go. Matt and I got to go skiing with some young adults just 2 weekends ago, at Snowshoe in WV and we had a great time. (Skiing out East is totally diff. than CO skiing. The runs are soooo short) There was actually powder in some places and more than just 3 or 4 ski lifts.

and finally
Scrapbooking--I don't do it as much as I wish I could/would, because I am indefinitely behind, but I love the way it feels when you finish a page, and then an album, and it looks good.