Moving Plans, Wedding Plans, Job Plans; an update

It's been awhile, I shouldn't have left you. Without a dope blog to read to... wait...

Well it really has been awhile. And there are a few updates. Well not update updates so much as lack of updates. That to certain people will serve as an update. We are still planning on moving to Idaho. We haven't listed our house yet, partly because I've been so busy at work that I don't have time or energy after work to keep packing up the house. There are boxes strewn about, some packed up and taped, others waiting to be filled and others set to be donation boxes. We've sold a few things on craigslist which has helped to lighten the load, but still have a few large items we'd like to get rid of and hopefully make some money off of. The cost of the moving truck will be based on the weight and the mileage. The mileage we can't do anything about, but the weight we can try to slim down here and there and not having to take a 200 lb sleeper sofa is in our favor!

Regarding our wedding plans we were tossing the idea around of just getting married now and having a reception in May to limit some of the cost, planning and for a job benefit for Dave's new job. However we think it would be best to just stick to the original plan of getting married in May and having the reception on the boat. We really like that idea, and if it turns out we're in Idaho already, we'll just fly back to MN for the wedding like everyone else. I'm actually going to go try on a wedding dress today. That's something I've only had in the back of my mind latetly, not making it as much as a priority, because if we did get married early and had only the reception in May then I wouldn't need a wedding dress. But if we're sticking to the original plan then I will need one, so I'm going to start looking again.

Regarding our job plans, they aren't plans so much as Dave loves his new job. He has had to travel a lot in Dec for a week of training, shadowing at events and learning the ropes. He'll have to travel again every weekend in Jan and the first week of Feb. It should slow down though by the mid of Feb. Most schools and organizations have their main annual events in Jan and Feb and then slow way down. He'll be in Albequerque, Boise, Twin Falls, Las Vegas, back to Boise and then a week in Phoenix. But then he'll be home again for a little while. And he'll be home in between the trips, there will just be a lot of them. And he'll be racking up airline miles and hotel points so that will help. He does have to go to Seattle in Feb over Valentines Day and he's taking me with him, so that will be fun way to spend V-Day. He really does like his job. He's a Regional Member Benefits Rep and covers ID, NV, MT and parts of CA. So he does have to live in one of the states he covers. And he will travel throughout the states and a few more as well for various events. He will be doing a lot of presentations to NEA members and mans tables at event fairs. He has always had a flair for speaking and presenting. And that has even improved from his time spent in Toastmasters. So this job is really right up his ally. Once we move to ID he should be able to travel a little closer to home and visit various NEA chapters throughout Idaho. For now though, it's a lot of travel to various events he needs to attend so he can shadow other NEA MB reps. One thing that is really cool is that he does work for a union, and they had already arranged through the contract that everyone would be given paid time off from Christmas Eve through Jan 5 without it counting from their actual paid days off. They just got the time. So I matched my pto that I had stored up so we were both off from Christmas through Jan 5. I had been saving my days off because I thought I was losing my job and wanted to stockpile as much time off for them to pay me out when my job ended. As it turns out I'm around at least another month so all of a sudden I had to use my pto or else I would lose it. So I'm using it all baby!!!

Anyway these are pretty much all the non updates :) The house will be our biggest agenda item. As soon as we can get it sold we'll be in a position to be moving and buying and shaking and rolling. And we'll still plan on the wedding in May. So start watching for tickets to come to our MN wedding!!!!

A few more pics

These are my dad's pics from my mom's birthday dinner at Chili's. Yummy birthday dessert!

Trip to Idaho

We're home from our trip to Idaho, and it was a great trip. We did a lot of driving, since we flew into SLC and then drove up to Boise, and then on the way home drove to Pocatello and stayed the night there so our return trip didn't have to be all the way back to SLC from BOI in one shot. But we had a great trip, good time with family and got to see a friend from high school. Dave had never been to Boise or Fruitland before, because every other time he's come to Thanksgiving with me we're in Riverton, UT and then drive up to Pocatello. So this time I got to show him around where I grew up, we stayed at my parents house, and we got to eat some yummy food!! Now I'm just tired and not ready to be back at work, but back at work I will be! It was nice to see my grandma again, and I hadn't been to her house in like 3 years, so that was nice. And I saw my cousin Kim for the first time in a few years. She came with us to a bridal shop for a wedding dress appointment I had. My mom had called her and it worked out that she was able to meet us. That was fun, because it had been a long time since I had seen her. I should've taken a picture with her, but I was all caught up in trying on dresses, so missed that boat. But we found each other on Facebook, so it's all good :)

Election Madness!

I'm so tired of election campaign commercials with all the mudslinging, and junk mail, flyers and phone calls! I am looking forward to having a new president, if just for the fact that the campaining frenzy will be over!

Planning, Tasting, Signing, Planning

We got some big stuff accomplished last weekend regarding wedding plans. We went and looked at a ceremony option at the hotel we'll have our guests stay at, to see if we could do a nice outside ceremony before going to the boat for the reception. It's a nice pretty area, and they aren't charging an arm and a leg, considering we'd be having most of our guests stay there, and we'd only be in the space for like 30 mins. We also had a tasting with our caterer on Sat, which was the last thing we wanted to do before we signed the contract for the boat, and the food was so good!! So we knew we were ok with moving foward, since this was the only catering option for this venue, we really wanted it to be good and it was! So after our tasting of really yummy food, we called up the boat captain to see if we could head over and sign the contract. So we're confirmed for our requsted day on the boat cruise. Now we just have to decide for sure if we're going to have the ceremony at another location (the hotel) or stick with having both on the boat. And that decision will help determine my wedding dress style and options, so just a few more big things to knock out of the way then it's smooth sailing!

Tiffany's Trip

here are some pics from when Tiffany, my good friend from college was visiting. We didn't do a ton of stuff, but we were able to catch a University of MN football game, and we had great seats!, we ate some good food, did a little shopping at the Mall of America, saw a few movies, and really just had a good time talking and catching up. So enjoy this photo documentary.

Yeah this kid thought he was pretty funny.














It was a real good time, she was a welcome guest, and I'm hoping she can come back and visit again. And to all my other college friends who haven't been here yet... Tara, Joe, Jena, Tracy, Emma... you should follow Tiff's example and get your behinds on up here (or down here, if you live in AK).

I'm blaming Facebook

For my lack of posting. Facebook has consumed all my online energy.
Sorry Blog. I do miss you, and I will always be true to you. Once the novelty of Facebook has worn slightly, and it shines a little less bright, I will come back to you. In the meantime, view my profile on Facebook!

Friends, trips, pics

So last weekend I went down to Des Moines to visit some friends and had a great weekend. Dave wasn't able to go because he had a business trip that he didn't know about until 2 weeks before hand, and unfortunately it crossed paths with our planned trip. And since this trip hinged a little around Bella's 1st birthday party, I decided to stick with it. Not only the party, but Michele had already changed her plans a couple times and got work off becuase this was the weekend we had decided on. So I went down Fri afternoon and came back Sun afternoon. It was a really good trip, good friends, good food, good times. I stayed with Michele and we got to hang out with Jake and Jaime W, which was fun. Played guitar hero forever, and I finally got to play GH3, which was pretty cool. I'll have some pics to show eventually, but since I forgot my camera, I'm at the mercy of the folks who actually took the pics :)

But it was a really fun trip. I was sorry Dave wasn't able to go, but next time. And next weekend Michele and Jason will be up to visit us, so he'll see them soon. And in just a couple weeks my friend Tiffany from college will be here visiting!!! I can't wait to see her. I see her usually about once a year around Thanksgiving, at least that's been the case for the last few years. So I'm really excited that she'll be here to visit. Yay for friends and trips and pics

Wii're Fit

Well we're getting that way. We got a Wii Fit system over the weekend and we really like it. They're hard to come by, so we were glad when a friend saw the ad showing they were finally for sale again in a few select stores. So after driving to 2 different places we got one. And we've been using it every day and it's actually a lot of fun! It's hard and it does give you a work out. My only complaint/concern is it does it in 1-4 minute intervals with each activity. So once you finish an activity, you go back to the menu and choose something else. It's not like you have a steady amount of time that you're working out. But the idea of it is actually pretty cool. The balance board is pretty cool, as it reads your weight, whether you're moving slightly, putting pressure on your toes or heel, inside or outside of your foot, etc. It gives goals for you to reach by trying to put your balance in a certain area as you do an exercise, or a yoga pose, or a fitness activity, and it's pretty amazing that it can sense that. The BMI test isn't fun, especially when your Mii goes from skinny to chubby after you're weighed, but I guess that's part of the incentive to use it!

Anyway, we've been doing it every day, and it's been worth it.

Tennis Shoulder

So after playing tennis while my parents were here, which was the first time in almost a year that we played the Wii, we realized we've been missing out. So Dave has been playing tennis a few nights this week, and I joined him last night. We played against each other, which is always fun, but it doesn't improve your individual skill level if you're playing against someone. But once you play against the computer when you win you can increase your skill level. So while Dave and I played against each other, I held my own pretty well. But not too long after we started playing my right shoulder started hurting. This had happened to me last year, when we'd play all the time, and I called it my tennis shoulder. So last night my tennis shoulder started acting up again. We played maybe 3 or 4 best out of 5 series, but then I played against the computer. And the sad thing was, my skill level was about 560, and I was playing against a pair that had around 80 and 110 skill level, and they beat me. How does that happen? My skill level went down, I'm embarrassed to say (but apparently not too embarrassed to blog about). And to top it all off, all day my right shoulder has been hurting. I'm watching Dave play right now, and it's like watching a real tennis match on TV. He's really good, up in the high 900 skill level so he plays for a long time in a best out of 5 series and he just keeps getting better. I had to play a few more times against the computer to redeem my skill level and break 590 finally. I don't think I'll ever go pro, but maybe if I ice my shoulder or really stretch it ahead of time. Wow I sound like a Giik.

Mi Familia

My mom and dad came to visit us last week and we had a great time!! We didn't take a ton of pics, but we got some really good ones. They were only here from Tues evening through Saturday afternoon, and it felt like the time flew by! It felt like they were missing when we got home on Sat from dropping them off, cause it was just so great having them here. They'll be back next year, and we might see them at Thanksgiving, but it just will seem so long now.

They came in on Tues afternoon and we drove a little through St. Paul to show them the downtown area and the capitol and various places that we like. Then we met up with Dave and cooked burgers for dinner and had a nice visit. We played Boggle for a little while and that was fun. Mom is a very timid Boggle player, so it was good for her to play against some avid players. Wed I had to work for half a day, which ended up being 2/3 of the day, and then I helped her make her famous steak and potato dinner, which was super tasty. Then we really just hung out Wed evening, got a chance to talk and really catch up about everything from family to wedding plans to food options to books we're reading, etc.

Then Thurs I ended up working again for half a day while we did a few other things. Dad helped us with a vent cover that needed some tweaking and we replaced a thermostat to a programmable one, which is nice. Mom and I also spent a couple hours on Thurs afternoon at Davids Bridal wedding dress shopping. It was nice to have her there this time, because the first time I did it alone, and I wanted to have my mommy there with me. I was glad we got to have that experience together, because with me having picked up and moved so far away, there is a lot of wedding planning that would be nice to do with my mom and my sister, but I picked up and left. So I do it on my own and then give them updates over the phone. So it was just really special to me to have here there.

Thurs night we took mom and dad to Rudolphs, which is this great ribs and BBQ spot in downtown Minnepolis that is so good! We've taken all our visitors there and the ribs are awesome! The food there is just good but the ribs are outstanding. And we got a great group picture, including all the food from Rudolphs. It was really good. We were so stuffed from the ribs, briskett and corn bread. And we had told the waitress how my parents had come from Idaho and they had heard for a year how great this place was and so the waitress surprised them with a free piece of cheesecake. And it was HUGE! That was really a great treat for them.

Friday I finally had the whole day off, so after breakfast and hanging out for a little while mom, dad and me drove through parts of Wisconsin, into Stillwater, and did a couple errands. We stopped at the LDS temple that isn't too far from our house and took pictures there.

And mom and me are silly.
It had been a really humid and muggy day, but we had a few more errands to run before we could come home. But even just running around town was good because having the chance to show them various parts of our neighborhood and general areas. Dad is such a mapper, so he was already a little familiar with the area. And the fact that in the past I would call him when we'd be out driving somewhere and have him mapquest something if we were a little lost. So it was fun to show him the areas.


Then we got home and hung out a bit more. Dave got to come home early and he and Dad played the Wii a little bit. I was excited for Dad to try it, because he had had a chance to see it for the first time over the 4th of July.


My cousin had brought it up to our grandma's and the family all got to play the Wii, so dad got to see it for the first time. But I think he had a good time playing it. We made him a Mii that was really cute and named it Grandpa.

They both really loved Camille. She's such a good dog and by the end of the trip she was really attached to both of them. Dave calls her my little lamb cause she follows me everywhere, but she was doing good sitting and playing with dad. Mom knitted us 3 new dish rags, which is nice to have, cause I use them! And we had a lot of time to talk, catch up, sit and chat, we talked a lot about wedding options, plans and thoughts, and they really liked our house. We told them pretty much about every nook and cranny and what we had done, what we were going to do, showed them all the flowers we planted, what we want to do landscaping wise and all our ideas and wants regarding the house. We spent some time outside and had lunch on our screened in porch on Fri, which was nice. And we ate really well!! We did a lot of sugar free options, or lower sugar options, since my dad has recently been diagnosed with diabetes in the last year and Dave has had it for a few years. So we talked a lot about food options, lower sugar substitutions, and we baked cookies that have 1/4 the sugar you'd normally have, substituted with 1/4 splenda as well. Those went over really well!


It was just a great visit overall. It was too short, of course. I'm really looking foward to when I can see them again and when they come visit here next spring for our wedding. We had a lot of fun together and with catching up. I sure do miss them and cried just a bit when they left. But hopefully we'll see them again at Thanksgiving and if not, definitely at the wedding.

בת מצוה

Yesterday Dave and I went to a Bat Mitzvah for the daughter of a gal that Dave works with. This was the first time I had ever attended anything pertaining to the Jewish culture or Judaism as a religion, and it was really quite amazing. Viewing it from a completely outside the group vantage point and trying to acknowledge and appreciate the artistic aspect of the service, it was very beautiful. There was a rabbi and I believe a 'chanter' who were conducting the service, of which half was in English and half in Hebrew. They sang a lot of prayers in Hebrew and even without having any connection or familiarity at all to the language, it was pretty to listen to the prayers and chants in the service the service. After it was done I wanted to find the woman who had been singing the prayers and tell her how beautiful I thought it was. Cause it really was. Listening songs in different languages can either be annoying or pleasant, and this was definitely the latter. Dave and I both were glad we had gone and although we didn't know the daughter, it was good to support the family. There were a lot of people from Dave's job that had come to support their friend and co-worker.

And just for the benefit of everyone who was like me, according to Wikipedia: In Judaism, Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה, "one (f.) to whom the commandments apply," is one of the terms to describe the coming of age of a Jewish boy or girl.


It was a very good experience and we both enjoyed ourselves and the service. And so I will say to you now, Shalom שָׁלוֹם


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Please Simon Fuller, put a MUZZLE on Mary Murphy!!!!!

This is the first season I've ever watched So You Think You Can Dance. It seems to take me awhile to get into Simon Fuller shows. I didn't start watching American Idol until the 3rd season, and I think this might even be the 3rd season of So You Think You Can Dance. But as I've been watching it I really am pretty amazed at how talented the dancers are. Some of the choreography is a bit beyond my comprehension, especially when it's modern dance, or interpretive dance, I just don't get it. But it's amazing how difficult these dances are and how easy they make them look. So overall I'm feeling this show.

What I'm not feeling is freaking annoying Mary "Horse Mouth" Murphy!! I know she's got quite the dance history blah blah blah but holy HELL is she annoying! So incredibly annoying. The annoyance level I feel for her is way beyond any of what I feel for Paula on American Idol. I've yelled at the TV more times than I can remember for Paula to just shut up!!! Of course she never listens, but I still yell at her, and Mary Murphy is way beyond that. I'm afraid of her teeth for one, they just go on forever, and it seems at any given moment she could reach over, grab a dancer, and chew their head right off. So the teeth thing is scary, but her screaming, her laugh, her overall being is just so annoying! Everytime she speaks I want to poke sharpened bamboo shards under my fingernails. That is how much I can't stand her. She's almost enough to make me stop watching the show and it's only been 2 weeks into the top 20.

I found a montage of her craziness and although I can't post it in here, I'll link you to it. so Click Here to see her crazy antics.

So my humble request to Simon Fuller and the producers of So You Think You Can Dance is to get Mary's input on each performance via a locked (possbily padded) room and a TTD phone set up and she can phone in her opinions.

We're Engaged!

I've started this post so many times but keep getting distracted by phone calls and telling live people about this story. But I think I might have only told a few people all the details of the story. Some know parts, and some know other parts, but only a few know from start to finish, so here is the start to finish of how we got engaged last weekend (6/7/08 as it turned out - a nice way to remember the day).

At the end of May Dave had suggested that we take a weekend getaway trip up north to Duluth to see Lake Superior, which is something we have wanted to do for over a year and had just never done. He said that he would check out hotel options/dates/prices, etc for the weekend of the 20th. But when he started looking into options everything was booked for that weekend, or else rooms were just very expensive! So he looked at the weekend after and it was the same thing. There must be something going on in Duluth, cause everything was booked. So then I suggested that we do it the weekend of the 6th and he was completely ok with that idea. In my mind I thought there might be a chance he might be proposing, but to have bumped up his plans by 2 weeks, and not to be sweating it at all?!? So then I thought maybe he's not, because he wasn't nervous and didn't mind the idea of moving it up, so he must really not be. I checked on priceline and we got a good deal on a room and then the trip was set, cause there's no getting out of priceline :)

We got to Duluth Fri evening, checked in, had dinner and drove around the town to see some sites. And it was a pretty area; we drove over the road of the aerial lift bridge and saw the beach, took pics, etc. We had plans to take a boat ride on Sat at 1:30, but we had also talked about driving up the coast of Lake Superior and wanted to do that earlier, so we called and changed our time to the 11:30 ride so we could get an earlier start. The boat ride was really cool. We got to ride through the harbor, see a lot of the town from the water front view and I took a lot of pictures of the area from the boat. It was really nice. Windy, but nice. Then after that we headed up the scenic route of Hwy 61 up to Two Harbors and saw a lighthouse there. There was a small pier that you could walk out to, but we decided not to stay and do that, because we wanted to head up to Gooseberry Falls State Park and see the waterfalls. That was really nice, it was pretty and we were able to take the trail to the middle falls, which were just awesome. We were so close to the water falling that we could have reached out and tough it. I wish I had cause it was really amazing.

At one point while we were at the falls, Dave kind of knelt down to tie his shoes and I thought how cool it would be if he pulled out a ring. But he didn't. And at one point I even put my hand in his shorts pocket and he didn't try to stop me, and I didn't feel anything ring like and he didn't seem nervous, so again, I thought there really wasn't a chance. We stayed around Gooseberry Falls for a little while, took a lot of pictures, hiked up a little higher, took more pics, and then decided we wanted to really push and head up to Canada, because we wanted to get a stamp in our passports. We've had passports for 2 years and had yet to use them. But now we have! Over the course of stopping to see the lighthouse, falls, and then the 2nd town we stopped in, Grand Marais, to see the light house and eat a little dinner, it was getting to be about late in the afternoon but we really wanted to keep going.

By the time we reached the border it was probably about 7 or so, and we waited in line for a bit, and then when it was finally our turn, I asked the guard if he could stamp our passport. He looked at me like really? but then he did have them stamped. He had asked us where we were going and how long we'd be there. I told him that we really just wanted to be there long enough to get our stamps, turn around and head out. Then Dave asked if he had any suggestions to where we should go and the guy said there wasn't anything until Thunder Bay, which would be about 40 miles away. We knew that but I really figured there would have to be something between there and Thunder Bay, so we drove on in. But there really wasn't anything in between. There were no gas stations, small towns, or anything but farmland and houses between the border and Thunder Bay. By the time we got to the outskirts of the town, it had been another 45 minutes or so and I was getting concerned about how long it would take to get back to Duluth, cause we were going to have to turn around and drive it all the way back. So we stopped at the first gas station we came to, used the rest room, and then I started telling Dave my concerns about driving back. I set the navigation up to get back and it was saying 180 miles. Dave asked me if I was really sure I wanted to turn around without seeing Thunder Bay, and although I wanted to, I didn't want to get home super late, because we had had a pretty busy day. So I told him that I thought we should turn around and he said ok. Little did I know that he had put the ring in his pocket back in Grand Marais and was planning on asking me in Canada when we stopped in Thunder Bay.

We headed home around 8 and got our passports stamped again on the US Border, but it took a little justifying as to why we wanted it. I guess there's not a big demand for passports around the Canadian border on that little highway. So during the drive home I kept thinking that if he was going to do it he would have done it in one of the pretty areas we had been, like the waterfalls, or the lighthouse, or somewhere beachy. But what I didn't know was that I had thwarted his plan now more than once. We got back to the hotel around 11:30 or so. I headed up to the room and Dave went to get some stuff from the front desk. I was in our room, got some ice, turned off the a/c and was pouring us some diet pepsis we had brought up with us. I was pouring the second one when I heard Dave come in.

He was behind me and I said something about how cold the room was (it was 60 degrees in the room with the a/c on full blast, thanks housekeeping I'm freezing!) and he says something like, but you turned it off, right? And I said yes, and he was like, alright then. So then I turn around with the soda in one hand and he's down on one knee, holding the ring box open and I'm just looking at him like what is happening? And he says, "Sarah, I love you. Will you marry me?" Those were his exact words. And I was literally looking at him trying to comprehend what was happening. He had this big smile on his face and kind of a little gleam in his eye because he knew I was so surprised. I had had to put the drink back down, and started to go for the ring, but then told him to put it on me and then I said yes as he was doing that. I had kind of forgotten to actually say yes, but I did finally say it. And I had started to cry a little bit but then when I saw the ring on my finger I just couldn't stop crying. And he got up and hugged me and I was just crying.
He asked me if I knew and I said no, but that I really wanted it to happen this weekend. He kind of led me over to the bed after we hugged and I just couldn't stop looking at it. Then all the questions poured out, like how long had he had it, where had it been in our house, where had it been on this trip (I had packed us and had never seen it!) when did he have it on him? All these questions! Then he told me he had actually gotten it when he went to his parents in CT in May. I couldn't believe it! I was actually supposed to go on that trip with him, but I got cheap and didn't want to pay the crazy ticket prices for 2 plane tickets. So I didn't go. But as it turns out the plan was to go into NY and he was going to propose there. So that was thwart #1. Thwart #2 was that he wanted to ask me in Canada, and I didn't give him the chance. Possible thwart #1.5 was at Two Harbors lighthouse, he had asked me if I wanted to walk down the pier. That would have been a pretty cool spot to do it, so I think he had considered it there, but here again, I had wanted to keep on going.

He also told me he had actually called my parents earlier in the week and got their permission and blessing. And he called my sister and told her he was going to do it, and of course made them all promise not to say anything, which no one did. My family is tricksie!!!

In the end, the way he proposed was the absolute best way it could have happened. Because I had pretty much decided it wasn't going to happen after all and that we really were just taking a weekend getaway trip. And I was really ok with that. Because I had been the one putting these ideas in my own head. I had tried to be subtle and ask questions I thought would give me some idea, but his answers were not what I thought they would be if he were going to be proposing. So I had come to terms with it not happening, so when it die it was the absolute best way it could have!

I'll start a wedding website sometime soon with a countdown ticker once we have some more info. I'm so excited. The ring is awesome! it's just beautiful and exactly what I wanted.

So yay for us! Yay that we're engaged. I love him so much and it's exciting to be able to share this with everyone. We've had so many people congratulating us and being excited with us, and it makes this a really great time!!!

Craigslist: 2 - Newspaper: 0

We officially sold Dave's grand prix today. We listed it on Craigslist.com Sun night around 11pm and had a buyer by Mon at 5pm and they were ready the buy the car last night. But due to a small title signing error, we couldn't actually make it official until this afternoon. But by 3 today we walked away less one car, plus lots of cash. And we even made a profit! Way to go Craigslist. Way to be free to list an ad! This is now the 2nd vehicle we've sold on craigslist and they've both sold in 24 hours with no hassles.

Hence, Craigslist: 2 / Newspaper: 0

Our First Dance Class

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Spring. Finally!

I'm so glad it is finally warming up! I'm actually wearing capri's today for the first time in months. We swapped out our winter for summer clothes a couple weekends ago so I have shorts and capri's in stock. But still glad I held onto some of my sweaters cause we had snow last week. Very possibly the longest winter I've ever dealt with where we had snow on a consistent week after week basis. Yes, it would snow on Sun/Mon and be gone by Thurs/Fri but still it would turn around and snow again! In April! But I think we're on the end of that. Now I'm looking forward to the trees budding and seeing all the green again. That will make for some nice scenary.

Yay Spring!

Sorry Tara

I can't come up with anything interesting to blog about.
so instead you get a nice hello.



HELLO!

enjoy! :)

Trips and Pics

We had a great time on our vacation last week. We flew into Idaho Falls late Fri night and then drove up to West Yellowstone, MT early Sat morning and met up with my good friend from college, Tara. She's been a snowmobile guide for the last few winters and I finally took her up on a chance to go snowmobiling through Yellowstone Park. This was another first for me and Dave, as neither of us had gone snowmobiling before. I've been to YNP before, but never in the winter. So it was a lot of fun checking out Yellowstone in the snow.
We started snowmobiling early Sat morning, after getting bundled up in 2 layers of long johns, sweats a full on snow suit and winter coats. We were bundled and warm!!! We saw a lot of wildlife - the buffalo were crossing the roads right in front of us, walking right along us, and were between 5-10 feet away. It was insane! We also saw a fox, a bald eagle, a coyote and multiple elk. More than once the buffalo literally came up next to us from the forest on the side of the road. Quite intense.

The first day we were able to go just with Tara, she didn't have to work so she was able to take us out on a tour, just us 3. Then the second day she had to work so we went with a typical group of 8 or so. We were able to take a lot of cool pics. So I'm going to just fill up my blog with pictures of the trip. Some are from YNP, and some are from Jackson. Anything that is sunny is probably Jackson, cause we didn't have much sun while we were in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone, here we come!

Well we have all our plans laid out for our Yellowstone Nat'l Park trip. We leave pretty late on a Friday, and get in at 11pm into Idaho Falls airport, but the car rental place at the airport swears they will stay until we get there, so they better! We'll stay in I.F. Fri night, then drive up to West Yellowstone, MT early Sat morning, meet up with Tara (the BEST Minivan Ever!) and start our day of snowmobiling through Yellowstone. Dave has never been there, so I am very excited for him to see some true wildlife, and I hope we can get some cool pics of buffalo, moose, etc that we just don't see here. And I want to get some landscape shots and ones to document the fact that we are on snowmobiles!! So we'll spend a couple days in Yellowstone, and then on Tues we'll drive to Jackson, WY where my cousin Brian is hooking us up with a nice hotel for cheap. So we'll hang out a few days in Jackson, and hopefully go skiing there. That will be another first for me and Dave. I've gone once or twice, years ago, but Dave has never gone, so it will be fun to go together. And again, another picture opportunity! Then we'll go back to I.F. Fri and fly out early early Sat morning.

We're really looking forward to this trip. Our friend Tara will take us on a snowmobile tour, and we'll get to hang out in Jackson with my cousin Brian.

Very fun!!

Hella Busy

I can't blog. Nothing to blog about. Just busy. Nothing else going on. Just busy.





Hella Busy