rushley & crew

Exercise and I, we've never been friends. I'm just not one of those people who loves to work out. This is why I have to find things that are fun for other reasons. Throughout high school, it was dance because I love to perform and I love hanging out with friends. In college, I did zumba as often as I could find a good class because it basically gave me the same perks as dance. After marrying Russ, I adopted running (because he likes running), but had to make it better by having a running buddy or listening to good music. But lately, I hadn't been doing much of anything. So then I decided I was going to start hiking the Y every day. It's a kinda steep hike, so if you only do it every once in a while, it's pretty hard. In past times of hiking it, I'd have to pause at a lot of the switchbacks to catch my breath. But I started doing that, and have been doing it mostly every day for about 2.5 weeks. The hike has gotten a lot easier, and I can now do the whol...

We moved into our house mid-May. When we got here, the weeds were just starting to grow, and we didn't do anything right away. Then we went to Europe and when we got back, it was already crazyyyy hot, so we opted to do our yard this fall or next spring. And by doing that, we basically didn't do anything about the weeds for a while. And those weeds got OUT OF CONTROL! We're talking a 4-6 ft. tall forest of weeds. Which just so happened to be the perfect home for a little cat family! One protective mama cat (who would stare us down through the windows!) and three little kitties. When we first saw the kitties, they were verrrry little! But after a week or two, the kitties got a little bigger and when Russ and I would wake up in the mornings, we'd look out our window and see the kittens playing around :) Then I really wanted to keep a kitty, so I bought some cat food and started feeding them. But every time I opened the door, they'd scatter. In fact, i...

Yosemite A few months before labor day, we found out that Russ's cousin was getting married in Yosemite that weekend, and his parents were definitely going. We love any excuse for a vacation so we decided to tag along! We camped, ate food cooked on a camp stove and in a fire, and did a little bit of hiking. Dad, Russ, and Russ's cousin S. Curtis all hiked Half Dome on our first full day there, so that tired them out pretty good, and after Mom rolled her ankle, we girls were pretty content with shorter hikes, too. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to do more hiking, but all in all it was still a fun trip and good time spent with family :) The weather was perfect while we were there--usually sunny with a nice breeze. It was a great weekend :) And now, a picture dump! {But really, my favorite part of the post is about the wedding, which comes after all the pics, so don't miss out on that :)} before the half dome hike ...