I was a bit more domestic last night than I usually am. Yes, on the Saturday night of homecoming (whoop-de-doo), I could be found doing laundry and making "applesauce". I figured that since I had bought so many apples and I probably wasn't going to eat all of them whole, I should do some sort of baking project with them. So, with the advice of Grandma D. that I needed sugar, I headed to the grocery store at 9 PM last night and came home with sugar, cinnamon, cinnamon-sugar (b/c they were supposed to be "Buy One, Get One Free"...although I later discovered on my receipt that this was not the case), bananas, and a Kit-Kat. I made the most wonderful "applesauce", until I discovered that I did not have a masher. That was when my creation turned from "applesauce" to "sliced-up-apples-boiled-with-sugar-and-cinnamon". Oh well. It worked, and they were delicious.

My beautiful apples...waiting to get sliced

Boiling Apples...what a talented chef I am

Do you see the snow on the mountains??? And PS this is where I bike everyday on my way to school

And I would like to give a special "Shout Out" to all those people who really listen to me on a "down" day and take the time to make sure I feel better. Thank you.

The Beauty of Life

There is definitely not a day that goes by in my life right now where I do not look around and say, "Wow...look at how beautiful this city is! How lucky am I to be here?". It's true - ask Julia. Every time we bike together, we usually comment on the beauty of Missoula. Today this was especially true. It's cold today - this morning, my computer said that it felt like 38 degrees. We biked to the farmer's market and enjoyed hot spiced apple cider, sampled different types of apples, and bought a few pounds of apples, potatoes, and strawberry-banana bread. We also made a trek to the Artisans' Fair, where there were many neat things that I chose not to buy. It makes me want to get out my knitting or crocheting again and make some scarves. Possbly I'll learn how to make a hat. But Missoula, amazing. Not only this, but it's homecoming week. Montanans go crazy for homecoming - every bit of it! There was a huge parade downtown which was so fun to watch (a little bit of it...we kind of boycotted). There were so many people out that just love Montana, love the University, and love their lives. On the way home, I noticed that the leaves are turning colors. Some trees are so brilliantly red and orange that they remind me of an artist's paintings, while others are still green. It is such a wonderful mix of colors. There is also snow on the tops of the surrounding mountains. Actually, this morning I noticed that the snow on a nearby mountain is actually not that far up or that far away. This means that winter is kind of setting in before fall gets its chance. Hopefully it is picture-esque. But to make a point, how wonderful is life right now?

Our grant is almost finished. We are working on the final copies and will hopefully have everything in by Monday or Tuesday. The stress level is a little down, so this is good. We also have a giant exam on Monday, so I better buckle down and study pretty soon. Life is good.

Laura and I getting ready for our "Almost done with our grant" Celebration - These clothes are darn fancy for Missoula

Lindsay and I - "We're almost done with our grant..."

Homecoming Parade - Yes, these miniature horses are dressed up in Halloween costumes

An old man dressed as a cowboy doing the hula-hoop is actually not that rare of an occurrence here...This is at the Artisans' Market

Missoula has a giant ceramic cow too! I still like Manitowoc's better...simply because it is usually accompanied by ice cream

How do you lose a crockpot!?!?

Craziness. Craziness. Craziness. Not only is this how I operate, but apparently this is how I operate best. I have an exam in a little over 10 hours, and hopefully it goes well. There will be another one on Monday, which I am (not going to lie) a bit scared for. Our grant is (hopefully) almost done...tomorrow is our workday, but can we really get it done?!?! I sure hope so. I have finished GUTS! training at the YWCA, and tonight I found out who my co-facilitator is and where we will be at. Coincidentally enough, I will be at Washington Middle School (not to be confused with Washington Junior High School, that I love so much in Manitowoc) working with 7th and 8th grade girls. So excited! I am also very pumped about my co-facilitator, because it's someone who I believe I will work well with and have a lot of fun with throughout the year. Our first group starts next week Wednesday. Good times. Now, don't get me wrong - there is still tons of training I have to go through (about 50 hours in the month of October)...and it may take over my life. Good times. Tomorrow night, we will be celebrating our finishing of the grant....or perhaps in anticipation of finishing the grant. Yes, that's right ladies and gents - that means dresses and suits for everyone! It probably won't come as a surprise that dresses and suits stick out slightly in Missoula. It's not a common sight, so we're pretty excited for this. Anyways, this may be the shortest and most boring update ever, but I just wanted to keep ya'll updated. And also, I definitely thought I was losing my mind this week when I lost both my favorite black sweater and my crockpot (you may ask, how does one lose a crockpot?!?!). Not to worry, my mind is returned and I have found both - alas! ...Until this weekend, when I may go crazy with studying...but that's in the future, so it's nothing to worry about.

Buenas Noches

Growing Up

This weekend has been slightly amazing, despite the rainy days and homework to do. Friday night, we all thoroughly enjoyed the potluck at Josh's place with fantastic food (including my boxed brownies and Julia's huge bowl of Tater Tots which incited some arguments) and great conversation. People in Missoula are so nice - I met lots of new and fabulous people, and the spiderweb of friends is beginning to grow. Afterwards, we found ourselves at Kendra's to cheer her up a bit and Laura and I headed downtown to meet up with my roommate and some of her friends. From here, we went along on a tour of Missoula's finest bars and finally ended up at a place that reminded me of a basement college house party/some of Manitowoc's sketchiest "danceclubs", if you will. This tour of the town incited a very warm heart-to-heart between Laura and I, where we both realized that we're past it. We're past the crazy-party-drink lots-remember none-philosophy of socializing. I'm done. I'm growing up. I love socializing, meeting new people, hanging out with friends, etc. but now my requirements are that it must be accompanied by great mutual conversation and genuineness. Wow, what a requirement. And why did it take me so long to realize this? I never thought I would be to this stage, but alas, I am. Pat on the back, Lynn.

So, last night proved to be a wonderful follow-up to this realization, because it was spent with good friends, quality music, genuine conversation, and oh yes - nice food. We attended the first annual "Rattlestock", which was held amongst some cottages along the Rattlesnake Creek. Performing at this wonderful friend fest was a bluegrass band that some friends play in, and they were awesome. We did some dancing to the music, all while trying to avoid the rain. That raincoat I bought in June really comes in handy at times like this. Anyways, we stayed for a good portion of the night and got to see a lot of the people we had met at the potluck the night before. Afterwards, some of the gals and I went to Charlie B's before taking the bus home.

Today has been a super productive day, meaning that I woke up and went to the grocery store, made vegetarian chili with all of the fresh veggies I bought at the farmer's market yesterday (what a great deal!), baked cookies for our cohort meeting tonight, did my laundry, studied for the exams I have coming up, and did some soul-searching. Now that's a productive day. I hope you all have a great week.

Peace, Love, Happiness...

My First Missoula Traffic Jam

This morning, I experienced my first Missoula traffic jam! I was biking to the YWCA, which is about three miles from my house (sidenote, definitely made it there in 12 minutes - NICE!) Anyways, so I was biking down Higgins, which is the main north-south street in Missoula, but it is only two-lane for the whole south side of the river, which is where I live. Anyways, so doo-doo-doo, biking along and all of a sudden I notice that all the cars are stopped both ways. Well, since I am a biker and I am privileged, I just get to zip right up that bike lane right to the front of the line. Low and behold, a very muddy dog with a collar on is what is holding traffic up. This dog was definitely suffering from dementia and must have been hallucinating. The poor dog! He looked so confused there in the middle of the road, and people were beeping. Me, being the nice person I am, parked my bike on the side of the road in order to try to get the dog to come over to the side. Mind you, this is the only day I have ever worn heels while biking (I had a meeting), so I looked pretty darn goofy/good. I patted my leg a few times, and the dog started to come towards me. A few more times, and he stopped. More pats, a few more steps. More pats...getting closer to the bike lane. I cautiously reached for his collar and realized that was not a good choice, but luckily I escaped without injury. More pats on the leg, and finally Rufus made it to the grass. What happened to him after this, I do not know. I hope he found his home. But, I needed to bike the rest of the way in my heels and aviators. That's what's cool in Missoula - being odd and dog-caused traffic jams. So, that was the start of my morning.

Also, to reverse time a little bit, we had our informational meeting last night for the Fulbright-Hays grant we are applying for to go to Ethiopia. It was a good turnout...there were about ten teachers from area schools that came and offered a lot of great discussion on what the students know about Africa and Ethiopia, what is covered/lacking in the curriculum right now, and what they are hoping to get out of an opportunity like this. It was wonderful. Our deadline is approaching in one week, and I just have a feeling that I will have a lot of work to do in the next week....my darn organizational skills. After that, Laura and I will start work on the grant we will be applying for at the YWCA for their transitional living program. We get to design a playground and do a rapid assessment!!! Fun!

Oooh, also something interesting. In doing a personality assessment in my Health Counseling class, I discovered that I am an ESFJ personality type, which has changed since I was in high school when I was an ENTJ...which, according to my professor, means that I am now closer to knowing who I truly am as a person. Cool. If you're wondering, ESFJ stands for Extrovert, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging. The extraversion is obvious. The Sensing means that I am practical, grounded, and remain in reality. My family members would probably dispute this one, but moving on...The Feeling means that I use value judgments to make decisions, make my emotions visible, and go with my gut feeling. True. And, the Judging means that I like closure, I establish deadlines and stick to them, and I work before play. Also true. The combo of the SJ means I'm a "guardian"...who are reliable, respect themselves for doing good things, enculturing as parents, helpmates as spouses, and conformity-oriented as children. Yes, true. It's sort of like a horoscope in a way....but cool, it helps me understand why I'm so neurotic and organized. Grrr.

Anyways, I'm off to a potluck. Yes, I baked. Brownies. Yes, they are taken out of a box mix. Judge me. I hope they are delicious.

Quote of the Day
I might not go, I have a lot of baggage in my pants right now...like, in the form of stuff in my pockets.

WHAT?!?!

Context: I am at the bike racks (which is a pretty popular place in Missoula), and about 10 feet away from me, there is a girl who is inviting a boy to her house/dorm room to "see" her new futon. Clearly flirting. This is how he turns it down. Wow.

How time flies...

Well, it's hard to believe that four days have passed since my last post. I was with Lindsay tonight, and we had the discussion about just how fast time flies as you get older (and when you're having fun, of course). As of this week, I have been here an entire month so far...doesn't seem like much until I consider that I will only be here for about 10 months total before leaving for the Peace Corps (or Ethiopia...cross your fingers). For those of you into numbers, this means that this time in Missoula is 10% done, but 90% left (wahoo!). We're also in our fourth week of classes...which means I am 26.7% done with this semester and 13.3% finished with the entire 30 weeks of the two semesters. Boy, how time flies by. But Missoula may be a place where I spend lots of time after the Peace Corps...I love it here. It's one of those cities where people come to visit and just end up staying. Amazing.

Well, some updates. I attended the "World's Largest Garage Sale" on Saturday morning, which was in lieu of REI's Scratch-and-Dent sale...which Lindsay and I decided would probably have been much more worthwhile. The garage sale was, well, not quite as impressive as I was expecting. Some spots literally smelled like a grandma's basement (like, other people's grandparents...not mine....my grandparents have basements that smell very lovely). However, there was quite the variety of goods involved in this sale, including several saddles, many many knives, and a Cadillac with a "free" sign on it...must have been a mistake. I did end up with a very wonderful purchase of two pairs of vintage earrings, which completely made my day. They were 2 pairs for $1.00, and in hindsight, I wish I would've splurged and bought a few more pair. One pair can be seen in my picture, where Julia and I are acting a little crazy with my aviator sunglasses:

...which brings me to the next section of today's "What's Going on with this Crazy Lynn Girl". Saturday night, we went to the River City Roots Festival, where they close off Main Street and have a music festival with many, many bands. We saw two bands--The Mammals, who were a bluegrass band from New York (very, very good music!) and The Gourds (since I am musically illiterate, I do not know how to classify their music...rock? bluegrass? who knows....but they were also very good). Fun times in downtown Missoula. We were lucky that the rain held out until Sunday, which must not have been too pleasant for those music-watchers.

And yes, you may have figured out....it rained Sunday!!! How exciting. Except that now it has rained more than once since then, which may not be acceptable. Oh yes, it also hailed for a while. Now, let me tell you the irony about this situation. Before I left my apartment on Sunday to bike downtown (which is 2 1/2 miles, mind you), I checked the weather online. This is a common practice before I leave to go anywhere on my bike. The weather said "Showers in the afternoon". So, I grabbed my raincoat and shoved it into my already bulging bookbag and was about to head out the door. But then, my mind got the best of me - "Lynn, do you really have to be that prepared and neurotic? Uhhh, you're always way over-prepared for everything. Just let it go...it's not actually going to rain! Leave the jacket at home....this is so like you, to be just sooooo over-prepared and anal about everything". So, listening to whatever voices were going on in my head, I left my raincoat at home. When I arrived at my destination downtown, I also decided to lock my helmet to my bike, rather than bringing it inside with me like I normally would. I figured this would be alright because it is blue sky, and the weather.com website didn't really mean that it was going to rain. They were just saying that. Looking at the blue sky, I also decided that I didn't need to cover my seat with a plastic bag, because that would also be over-preparation. Well, all that bit me in the butt. It poured, it rained, it hailed, it poured, etc. And it all soaked into the padding in my helmet, so I would have a nice shower when I had to put my helmet on later. Okay, I guess things could have been worse....but this is the irony. So, from now on, I have decided that I would much rather be prepared than "go-with-the-flow-ish". Hmmm...well, I kind of like "go-with-the-flow-ish".

Sunday night, we had a group cooking session, where we each brought fresh vegetables (well, except me...I brought coconut milk...oh, there is so much I am learning about food) and prepared a Thai curry dish together. It was amazing. And this is from someone who has never liked Asian food before, besides my Mom's stir-fry (which comes from a recipe from the Campbell's Soup Cookbook....). But, so many new things I have been trying!

Yesterday and today find me working, working, working....on the grant, on my AmeriCorps paperwork, on reading, on papers, on everything. Oh, sidenote - I have now been promoted to "Administrative Director" of our Fulbright-Hays Grant....which basically means that I am the compiler, the editor, the formatter, etc. and have to make sure that it looks nice before we turn it in. Oh yes, and compile a database of participants with their contact info and short biographies. The bonus is that I get to be listed under "Key Personnel" in the grant write-up, and what the heck, it will look great on my resume. Fortunately, the grant is due in a week and a half....and then the insanity will change from grant-writing into the many, many hours of training (okay, only 50 hours) that I will have to do for the YWCA. I love training!

Tonight, I took a trip to REI, which is definitely my new favorite store (hint, hint). The trip was due to the fact that Wisconsin-cold is much different than Montana-cold, and I was in need of some good layering clothes. Plus, I had a 15% off coupon because I recently became a member of their co-op. Lucky me. This means (drumroll, please....)...fleece! Yes, one of my favorite things! But, I also got a base-layer shirt, which I find will look very nice even not as a base layer. I may just employ it as a regular piece of my wardrobe.

Anyways, I must go to bed, as my eyes are sore and I have a slight migraine.

But, not too fast...here are some pictures as well:

The top picture is of The Gourds at River City Roots Festival...the bottom one is me, Julia, and Becca enjoying the music and trying to take goofy pictures of ourselves rather than just asking someone else to take one. So fun.

Time for a Garage Sale

Yes, it is decided. I have the ability put a magic curse on all electronics, without even knowing about these obvious witchery abilities. So, you knew about my computer. Well, it is (knock on wood)...better. So far. Yesterday, my printer started printing everything green, even though there are brand new ink cartridges inside. But today, it is okay. My DVD player has decided only to work when it wants to, which works out fine for the DVD player, but not fine for me. This is because I really only choose to watch a movie about once a week, which is just seldom enough that I forget that it doesn't always work. And, of course, I cannot forget my long and painful struggle with cameras - both digital and film. I don't even want to talk about it. And finally, last night my headlight on my bike died. Yes, I would count that as an electronic. Poor me...I had to bike home in the pitch blackness of the night! Thank God I made it home safely. One activity of today was to make sure I got some new batteries for my headlight. Nice.

Our group had a meeting today regarding the Fulbright-Hays grant we are applying for. I walked away from that meeting being both impressed with and thankful for the amazing writing abilities within our group. Everyone brings to the table very unique and articulate writing styles, and they are definitely doing a great thing for our grant. We definitely feel good about what we have so far. It is well-written, strong, and truthful. Halfway through the meeting, it kind of hit us all that we may actually be going to Ethiopia. Wow. Well, we won't get our hopes up too high quite yet, as we have a lot of work still to do within the next two weeks. But the ball is rolling along smoothly.

Tomorrow, we are headed to the "World's Largest Garage Sale" - literally! The University of Montana is host to this amazing display of vendors upon vendors, who rent spots in the UM parking garage and sell their junk, which is always another person's treasure! I am hoping to find some good treasures at affordable prices....I am not quite sure what in particular I am looking for. Perhaps I am not really looking for anything, but rather just want the experience. But then again, if I stumble upon something I can't pass up, we only live once, right?

Have a great weekend. Ciao.

I feeeeeeel good....nanananananana (like the song)

Yes, it's true. I feel good. Not high on life or anything, but just grounded. I am eating Wisconsin cheesedip (Grandma Debilzen's specialty)...how could a girl not feel good? When I was checking my email just now, I discovered two emails in my inbox from some of my favorite students at Washington. What a great way to top off the day. Just an example of how a simple thing can really make a difference.

So, I have a very funny story to share with you all. I guess it's not really funny, but more just wierd in a sense. (DISCLAIMER: This is in no way intended to attack or offend anyone who serves in the military, as I definitely hold a high level of respect for anyone who would choose to serve their country or their world in this way, in order to uphold human rights). Alright, that said, I can get on with my story. Perhaps you need a little background information. The IYFD Program is housed within the Schreiber Gym on the University of Montana campus. When they decided the location of the office, it must have been one of the only spots available. Seriously. We share the building with the ROTC groups on campus, which stands for Reserve Officer Training Corps. This makes me a bit skeemish - uniforms, buzz cuts, male egos, weapons, testosterone, chanting, etc. Ugh. Well, today I was walking out of class and had to walk to the UC to get my bike. As soon as I walk out the door, I look to my right and notice that there are several ROTC members on their knees, assembling and disassembling weapons....yes, as in GUNS. Double ugh. Not only do I have an intense fear of guns, but I would prefer that they not be anywhere near me. I do not want to see them or touch them or even hear them. No way. There is the whole saying that, "Guns don't kill people...people kill people." Yeah, right. Although don't people use the power of guns to their advantage??? Triple ugh. I don't even want to think about it...so I will end this now. And just let you know that my classroom day ended with large weapons all around me. Quadruple ugh.

But, things look up as we have a very important, super official, VIP meeting at the Kettlehouse tonight (the brewery that is honestly like hanging out in someone's shed). The purpose: quality management testing, to support local business, and to take care of our inner selves. Needless to say, I must go do some important reading before this super important meeting.

Peace.

Metaphor for my Life

Several things today:

1. Happy Birthday, Dad!

2. I had my interview today for volunteering at the YWCA here in Missoula, and I think it went pretty well. I am initially applying to be a group facilitator with the GUTS! Program (Girls Using Their Strengths), which primarily works as an after-school program at several elementary, middle, and high schools around Missoula. I would be co-facilitating with another woman, probably a group of about 5-12 girls each week. We will work off of the program curriculum, but also will be able to add some of our own activities along the way. The program also does monthly Community Adventures for the girls (such as building bicycles, canoeing, etc.), which I expressed interest in as well. Hopefully I will be able to combine this with some other volunteering with the women's shelter through the YWCA, and it will become an AmeriCorps position. I will also be working with Laura (from my program) to write a grant to get a playground set for their transitional living program....well, we need to discuss it with our professor, but the plan sounds good. I am going to be really great at time management after this. For more information about the YWCA, check out http://www.ywcaofmissoula.org/.

3. I finished my book that I have been reading - Eat. Pray. Love. It was absolutely phenomenal, and I would recommend that if you are a woman, you need to get off of your computer chair right now and march to the nearest bookstore (or, if it is past 9 PM and they are closed...the nearest Wal-Mart....okay, wait....skip Wal-Mart....check out a nearby mini-mart or just wait until the morning). Also, if you are a man, the book may not be quite as appealing to you, but let me tell you - you could probably learn a lot...wait, did I stress that enough? A LOT from this book. I think she may be my new writer-hero, as I really hope to write books like this someday. And, of course, based on real-life adventures like this someday as well. Although, instead of writing about my year spent in Italy, India, and Indonesia (like she did), I will maybe mix it up to Norway, South Africa, Antarctica, and Thailand. Ooh, possibly South Korea as well. And Brazil. Oh, and Germany too. Okay, I will stop - you get the point. But, honestly, what's stopping you? Go buy this book!

4. We have been diligently working on our Fulbright-Hays grant...and oh, it is coming along. Lindsay and I have rested on the Objectives portion, feeling that it is solid so far and leaving it for later review. So, we have now moved on to writing about "Project Impacts and Outcomes", another crucial part to the grant. Well, all parts are crucial, really. But we like to think that these are the most crucial...it helps us write better.

5. I suppose you are wondering what the "Metaphor for my life" is. Well, if you know me even slightly, you probably know that I am usually the last person out of a classroom or a meeting, because I am usually spending many, many minutes trying to close my bag, whether that means zipping my purse, stuffing everything into my gym bag, or trying to clip my messenger bag shut. Yesterday, I could not have possibly fit anything more into my schoolbag, as it was literally overflowing, and I had to start clipping things on the outside of it, such as my bike helmet, jacket, waterbottle, etc. My purse is usually the same way - I have to choose between my keys and my checkbook. Yes, this is definitely a metaphor for my life. I am the bag. Everything else are the contents - the books, the waterbottle, my calendar, my bike helmet, my jacket and my sweater, and on and on and on (they represent just everything I try to fit in). Now, don't get me wrong. The bag is organized, but just very, very full. Metaphor? I see it and feel it. Oh, help me. And pray that the straps on my bookbag don't fail as I'm biking down the road - that would definitely not be a very good metaphor. Knock on wood.

So, that's me. Simple as that. I love getting everyone's emails as of late, as they usually put a smile on my face or crack me up. I even got an email from Derby (my dog) the other day. Apparently, he wrote this email while Mom was at church...he had been studying for months on how to send them. You may be skeptical....the lack of capital letters, however, definitely proves it - because with his paws, he wouldn't have the abilities to hit shift+letter - duh! He also managed to use the timer on the camera and take some self-portraits of himself, download them to the computer, and attach them to the email. Talent, talent.

Speaking of Derby, here is one my favorite pictures of him...yes, he is wearing underwear on his head with a picture of a dog on them...ironic.

Okay, I'm out. Peace.

Long Day...

Well, guys - pictures are posted, and apparently my computer works! What is up with that?!?! Now, the debate is whether I should bring it in to have someone look at it...or just continue with my work, since it is functional now. Oh, the trials of life.

It's been a long day - I have a mini-headache and my eyes are sore. So much to do and so little time! I think I will head to bed anyways, because I will always be more constructive and efficient after a good night's sleep. Miss you all!

Oh, and PS I received the second round of my medical information for the Peace Corps from my clinic in Manitowoc today. Yay! Now, I only have to get a polio immunization, send it in, and wait for them to send me more endless health requirements to complete. Gotta love it.

Glacier & everything else...

Lake McDonald...crystal clear - check out that reflection!

The boats at Lake McDonald
Dad, Janet, and I at Big Bend

Lake McDonald...still gorgeous the next day

Our hike to Avalanche Lake

Dad & I overlooking...something...Big Bend maybe?

at Lake McDonald again...

Me and a view of...mountains...

The Billy Goat Gruff!!! Sooo cute...

at St. Mary's Falls

My sincere apologies for keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as to my overall health...as you might have thought I disappeared off the edge of a cliff. With Dad's driving through Glacier, we only came close to the edge...shwoo. We survived. And I am alive, very alive.

I have also been having computer issues lately...hence, the lack of postings. It has been equally, if not more, frustrating for me - trust me! I am just hoping that my computer does not poop out on me. Right now, I am using a campus computer and will hopefully get my home computer figured out.

Glacier was absolutely beautiful. And guess what? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it SNOWED! On Sept. 7th...snow...crazy. Nooo!!! I don't want winter to be here!!! Help!!! It is at least some consolation that the snow was in the mountains, rather than it being actual "typical" snow. But, it was cold. Because of the snow, we actually shorted our drive on Friday because we couldn't see any of the views anyways! So, we headed back to Whitefish in order to check into our hotel and go out to eat. It was during dinner that I discovered my like for "Wild Huckleberry" wheat beer...mmm, delicious. Curious as to where I could buy it, I asked the waitress, who directed me to the Great Northern Brewing Company, right down the street. So, after dinner I mozied over to buy my assorted 6-pack. Yum.

Saturday was a much better day weather-wise. We hiked to Avalanche Lake in the morning, which was beautiful. We must have been the first people on the trail, because we did not pass as single soul until on our way out. We also headed through the Going-to-the-Sun Road, the only road that goes through Glacier. Amazing views. Once at the top, we hiked to Hidden Lake, where I saw a billy goat! It was awesome. That goes along with the two bears we saw earlier as well, but were not quick enough to get pictures. On the way down from the Continental Divide, we also hiked to St. Mary's Falls, which was fabulous. If the weather would have been a tad warmer, I may have jumped into the water, which was crystal blue. To sum it up, Glacier was awesome...what a wonderful time had by all. My knee was, of course, bothering me at the end of all those hikes, but it's just another one of those, "Okay, deal with the pain" sort of things.

Sadly, Saturday night I said "bye" to Dad & Janet, as they headed off into the horizon. Okay, it didn't really happen like that. They dropped me off and headed back to their hotel. It was sad. I was also exhausted. I spent the rest of the night reading the book that I haven't been able to put down - "Eat. Pray. Love." It is amazing. I would suggest you buy a copy and read it for yourself.

Because of the cold weather, I encouraged myself Sunday to get out my sweaters, scarves, hats, and gloves to organize. How depressing. But it is all somewhat situated in my now-very-crowded room of mine, with all of my winter coats still tucked away under my bed. Hopefully it will be a while before those come out.

Feeling like I needed to put some routine into my life, this morning I woke up at 6:30 AM to go to the gym. I didn't even hit the snooze button once! It was crazy....normally I am a snooze button addict. So, I wake up and check the weather....the website says "33 degrees". What?!?! That is nearly freezing!!! Uhhhh....apparently I'm supposed to be consoled by the fact that the high for the day was supposed to be 80 degrees. That's pure insanity. How am I supposed to figure out what I am going to wear for the day, when the temperature difference is almost fifty degrees? Pure craziness. Anyways, so I made it to the gym to get my early morning workout. Wow, that felt so good! It will hopefully become a routine.

Also, on the way back to school, I almost hit two deer....on my bike. I love it. Two deer just chilling in the middle of a backstreet on the way to campus. Lucky for me it was a doe and a fawn, otherwise I may have been scared. Alright, I should be going, as I have work to do before class begins for the rest of the day.

Peace...and I promise pictures will be up soon....as soon as my computer is fixed.

Yellowstone or Bust!

The sunset we drove home to after three days in Yellowstone...

Old Faithful
Posing in front of Lake Yellowstone, clearly after not showering for three days

Water flowing over the top of Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Autumn, Laura, and I at the Lower Falls

The moose we chased for a mile through the woods

Hiking around Beaver Ponds

Autumn & I on our strenuous hike

One of the rainbows we chased on the way to Yellowstone

This weekend was crazy! I know I will forget things as I type, so hopefully I write an inclusive summary of what all happened. Well, my "I'm completely overwhelmed" feelings have been subdued slightly, and I am feeling better. Thursday was a full day of class, and we all ended up at the Kettlehouse after class for some good de-stressing. I popped a tire on my bike on Wednesday, and I definitely felt naked without my bike for a couple days! It's my #1 form of transportation, and it comes to be a long walk to campus and downtown otherwise. Fortunately, I got my tire fixed on Friday morning, so it should be all good for the rest of the semester.

Alright...and, to the weekend! Friday, Laura and Autumn picked me up at my apartment in early afternoon to make the roadtrip to Yellowstone. We were all so excited! We drove the 4 1/2 hours and found ourselves with very overcast skies and rainstorms once we got about an hour away. Needless to say, we were a bit worried about the fact that I didn't bring a tarp to put under the tent (mental note...need to buy one). We literally followed about five different rainbows (beautiful) into the north entrance of the park. Luckily, it stopped raining just as we got into the park. It turns out that the rangers plotted some very nice bighorn sheep close to the entrance, one of which almost jumped onto the hood of the car. It's our firm belief that they put these animals especially close to the entrances, just to suck people in. We made our way to Mammoth Campground and found a site. What an adventure! We pulled into our site, and our tent area was occupied by four elk, who were grazing nicely on the grass around our tent area. We tried to be quiet in the car, while I begged Laura to put her window up. For some reason whenever I am close to deer, elk, or any other large animal, my mind flashes back to a video (maybe Funniest Home Videos or something???) of a guy getting mauled by a very pissed-off deer. Anyways, we nicely told the elk, "Hey...we're supposed to put our tent there. Could you please move?" It took a while to get through to the them, but finally they gave up their stubborness and our campsite. We set up camp and headed to get dinner in Mammoth Village. Later that night, we attempted to play a rousing game of Scrabble in the dark, while all our neighbors sat nicely by their cute, warm campfires, cooking marshmallows. I guess we were completely under the assumption that it was too dry to have campfires! We weren't prepared. So, during our game of Scrabble, a neighbor (who looked like Harry Potter) completely snuck up on us to invite us to their fire. After calming down from my heart skipping a beat and finishing our round of Scrabble, we joined them. Laura also definitely took them up on their offer for S'mores. So, we spent the evening with Harry Potter and his silent friend, who were on a roadtrip from Florida and Nebraska heading to school in California. Fun times. We definitely went to bed early, as we were exhausted!

Saturday morning, we dressed for our hike to Beaver Ponds Trail. Well, since I do not have my beloved Tevas (they are at the manufacturers getting replaced...hopefully), I had to dig out the men's Columbia hiking boots I had. With the wool socks, I definitely had "man legs" for our hike. Nice. Our bodies had definitely not acclimated to the elevation yet, and we were all too proud to admit that we needed a break during the initial part of the hike (all uphill....). Finally, I said, "Wow, I need a break!". We all felt so out of shape! But, we were all thinking the same thing...wondering if we were actually going to make it, or if we would die from lack of oxygen. Anyways, the hike was great....it was a bit hot out on the last part, which was straight across meadow-type land with no shade. We went back to the campsite to nibble on lunch and to all work on our tons of reading for homework. After all almost falling asleep after a few hours, we decided to drive the north loop of the park. Beautiful! We saw a few waterfalls, some bison, a coyote, etc. It would be too much to describe here. The whole north loop took way longer than we were expecting, and so we were absolutely starving!

We decided to leave the park for dinner that night, so we drove to Gardiner, MT, which is right outside the north entrance. It is a cute, little town that sort of represents the Old West. And now, I will begin some of the most random stories you may possibly ever hear. We ate at a little diner and thoroughly enjoyed our food. Meanwhile, our waitress (who was possibly from Russia or Eastern Europe somewhere) brought out a piece of "birthday pie" to the man sitting alone behind us. It turns out that he was celebrating his 40th birthday, and he felt a bit pathetic to be alone (his words), so he invited himself over to our table. Such a nice and interesting guy! He was a first-generation Haitian immigrant who grew up in NYC, but had spent the last how many years in South Dakota delivering babies (he was an OBGYN) on a reservation. He had planned to do a cross-country roadtrip in 1993, but apparently it never worked out, and now, to celebrate his 40th birthday, he decided to give it a try. Anyways, we all had a very nice and interesting conversation, and when the restaurant closed, we got nicely kicked out and said our "good-byes". We never got his name. Random.

Anyways, so the night continues as we were walking back to our car to head to Yellowstone. It was about 9:00 at this point, probably. We (Laura, Autumn, and I) see a sign for "$1.00 Pints of PBR". How could we not pass that up??? We said, "Ah, let's go have just one pint." Okay. So, we decided to play pool, and since there were three of us, and we wanted to get a good game going, we took pity on one guy who was sitting at the bar kind of by himself. So Laura asked him if he wanted to play, and he said sure. As it turns out, this guy was actually a bartender at this same bar, and he happened to know everyone in the place. Hmm...last time we'll take pity on someone and ask him to be our friend! Anyways, so through the process of this all, we met some very nice and interesting people, including Jim - who had dreadlocks in his hair down to his waist, Irvin - who was a very traditional-looking Indian man who carried a very large knife on his belt, and Josh - who seemed to think he could dance, but I'm sure he will eventually figure out that he cannot. We also saw a guy who was obviously addicted to meth that persistantly danced with the casino machines, a 50-some-year-old man who decided to dress like a "gangsta" by rolling up one pant leg, tipping his hat to the side, and showing a little too much plumber-butt, and also a world-champion pool player who definitely did not look like a world-champion pool player. Alright...so the night continues, and we played a lot of pool and talked to people. However, the fun does not stop there.

(DISCLAIMER: These are observations about Montana, of which I do not participate...). So, many of us have noticed since we've moved here that Montana tends to have a lot of people who participate in drug-doing, especially there is a large amount of people who smoke pot. Just something we have noticed. Do not worry - I still carry my D.A.R.E. education from 6th grade around with me in the back of my head. This all makes sense, as this state tends to be a bit of a hippie-haven, and if we all know anything about hippies, we know that they like to party. Anyways, back to the night at hand. While we were playing pool, we got invited to go to the parking lot and "smoke" by two different groups of people, as if we were in junior high school and needed to go smoke cigarettes in the woods. We nicely turned them down, and they proceeded with their evenings. About a half hour later, when we decided to go home, we walked out of Red's Blue Goose Saloon and directly across the street saw two of our new "friends" having conversations with some nice federal rangers/police officers, one who was already handcuffed. Deciding to avoid a situation, we walked around the block and chilled out on somebody's front steps in order to kill time. Keep in mind that Autumn had not had much to drink because she was our DD for the evening. However, she had had something to drink, so we wanted to be safe. We headed back around the block, and Laura decides that it would be a good idea to ask the officer for a "pre-sobriety" test. She explains the situation, and tells him that if he does not give his approval for her to drive, we will camp in our car. The officer complies and kindly gives her a test, telling her that it's alright for her to drive. Meanwhile, only one of the two gentlemen had been arrested, and the other one asked the officer if it was okay if he asked us for a ride home. We respond with a "Sure" before we find out that he lives about 25 miles does a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. Hmm. So, flashing back to some Unsolved Mysteries episodes I saw as a little kid, I try to calm my anxieties. It all turned out okay. We found out that both of these young guys probably lost their jobs, because they both worked for a tourist ranch and since they were caught on federal property, they were being charged with felonies. Anyways, so it was a random night. We turned out safe and sound, and we returned to our campsite at 3:30 AM. So much for that "Well, let's just have one PBR" philosophy.

The random stories do not end, however. We woke up the next morning and packed up our campsite before we driving around the south loop of the park, to the falls and Old Faithful, among others. At our first destination, Norris Geyser Basin, we randomly ran into our friend from the night before who was celebrating his birthday. Crazy! How big is Yellowstone? And we see someone who we had just met?? Wow. Anyways, we exchanged names (Moise), and we all decided to caravan through the park and see the sights together....

blah, blah, blah...so I have been saving this post for about five days now, without the success of finishing it. I think you get the point - Yellowstone was beautiful and random all at the same time, it was a wonderful weekend away. And yes, I am alive. I know after about a week of no posts, you must be wondering what the heck I am doing!

I am now sitting at the Best Western in Whitefish (outside of Glacier) with my dad and Janet, who arrived on Monday. It's been great having them here, besides the fact that I've had class and haven't been able to spend as much time with them as I would like. But, we've been doing a lot of eating and sight-seeing. Glacier is wonderful, besides the rain today! Hopefully, tomorrow it will be clear. I will be posting pictures from Yellowstone soon...I promise...ohhhh the school work that has unashamedly taken over my life! It's wonderful and stressful all at the same time...

Peace and love...have a great weekend!