Lady.

So Andy and I have acquired a new pet/friend (although Andy would disagree on the friend part.) Her name is Lady and she is a robin. Awhile back Andy went out to water our hanging baskets and discovered a Robin's nest in one of them. My first thought was to take it out. But, then I felt bad cause that was their home. So, we decided to let them keep their home in our hanging basket. It is no longer our hanging basket. In fact I don't even think Lady and her man recognize the good dead we did by allowing them to stay. Now we have (I believe) 4 babies in the nest. The Robin's have become very territorial. They have not swooped at me yet but Andy has had many encounters. Lady is pretty chill and hangs out in the nest most of the time, her man on the other hand is not. He has kicked out all the other Robin's from the area. He sits on the fence posts guarding the area, and I think one of his favorite hobbies has become attacking Andy. This AM Andy captured some cools picks of Lady with a huge worm in here mouth feeding the babies, but in the meantime as Andy puts it, the male came at him "like a 747" haha. Anyways it has been fun watching her. Here are some cool photos we have caught. I love this camera.

Lady.

Guarding the eggs.

On guard.

Feeding the babies.

Happy Campers.

The weekend of June 1-3, we spent it camping in Gardiner, Montana. Finally we were able to get out and enjoy (a little) sunshine. It was still raining, snowing, and cool but, we were eager to get out and camp. We found a little camp area in Gardiner were we car camped. It was a lot of fun and very beautiful. We spent Saturday being tourist in West Yellowstone National Park. Although some feel that the park is too touristy and don't want to take on the challenge of dealing with the challenged tourist- I love going through the park. It brings me back to being a little kid when my dad use to take us through this park. I love it, I never take it for granted. It's beauty is unreal. On Saturday we saw 5 grizzly bears, elk, buffalo, and many other creatures. We hiked the Grand Canyon of the Park and also did the Fairy Falls Hike. It was beautiful. Overall the weekend was great, spent with good friends. I also got to practice with my new camera some more. Enjoy the photos.

Ryan and Jessica

Amazing. One of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Beautiful

A skull.

Fairy Falls Water Fall. 5 Mile round trip hike.

AHH! <3

He was in our campsite. Wasn't afraid of us at all.

Lovely. Love this Camera. Although I had a zoom lens on he was close. 

Our home for the weekend.

Grizz. Big One.

The Amazing sunset one night. The clouds were on fire.

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams."

Sunshine

 Memorial Weekend for us was spent mostly indoors. We did manage to make it to Pony, Montana for the duck races. Yes, they literally race little rubber duckies down the river. Despite the snow (huge snowflakes), and cold wet weather, it was a ton of fun. I don't have pics of the ducks just a video. And no, my duck did not win (Insert sad face). We then made our way back to Bozeman to watch the UFC fights with some friends. The rest of our weekend was pretty much spent indoors. So, tonight when the sun finally decided to show it's face, Maddie and I couldn't resist a walk outside. I took my new camera with to practice. I absolutely love this camera. My hubby is the best. Here are a few pics. I need to take classes or go shoot some photos with someone who knows what they are doing and can give me lessons. For now, Enjoy!

Best Friends.

Right in my backyard.

Oh the places you'll go...

Finally... On May 10th was my pinning ceremony for my BSN degree (Bachelors in Nursing). I know many of you including myself are saying "haven't you been going to school forever?" Why yes I have. But, I also like to play A LOT. In the past 2 years that I have went to school for my BSN, I have also did the following:
*Went to Belize
*Got Engaged
* Planned a Wedding
*Numerous trips to Minnesota. (About 20,000 miles worth).

I should of had ropes. I borrowed these. I did have a high GPA.

*Got married in Minnesota
* Went to Italy
*Went to Nicaragua
* Went to Fiji
* Snowmobiled lots
* Snowboarded lots
*and worked full time.
Life is never boring for us. Now, I can officially say that I am done (for now). I really never had the desire to walk for my graduation. I always felt that I am already a nurse, have a degree, and a job. But, I am really glad that I decide to walk. It left me feeling like I accomplished my goals and I achieved what I was after. I can't thank my family enough especially my husband for all their support and motivation over the past 2 years.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss

My Instructor Denise who I went to Nicaragua with.

Catching up to him.

The cake my Grandma made. She is so creative.

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Life is so busy. I am having trouble keeping up with our blog. I guess that is a good thing right? So here is the start of me playing catch up. On May 5th (Conveniently after I FINISHED school for my BSN degree) Andy and I went to the Professional Bull Rodeo in Billings with our friends Ryan and Jessica Gaard. It was a ton of fun. Andy had never been to a PBR before. He gladly brought out the pearl snap, cowboy boots, and belt buckle.  Afterwards we headed out to some bars for a few cocktails. The last bar was filled with cowboys, some good western music being played by the band, and some good 'ol swing dancing. Even though Andy and I have no clue what we are doing (and the cowboys put us to shame), we tried out some swing dancing. We sat out a few songs and took some lesson from the real cowboys on the dance floor. I had so much fun. Andy is a good swing dancin' partner. I think I fell in love with my hubby all over that night. XOXO. Can't wait for the next swing dancin' night.

Shredfest 2012

 This weekend Andy and I loaded up the car (let me say that most of the time my bags don't even get unpacked before the next adventure begins), loaded up the dogs into the car, and grab all our snowboarding gear and head to Kellogg, Idaho for Shredfest 2012. We met Tim and Tom in Kellogg and spent Saturday shredding Silver Mountain. We arrived in Kellogg Friday night at approximately 8 pm. Tim was already at the bar waiting impatiently for us to arrive and for Shredfest to begin. Let's just say that Friday night was fun had by all, lots of laughs, lots of stories, lots of drinks, and a bar tab that our wallets could have done without. Saturday was lots of fun spent on the mountain in beautiful scenery. The snow conditions weren't too bad either. Saturday night was spent having dinner, becoming way to full, and once again somehow managed to get a bar tab that didn't agree with our pocket books. Oh, and thanks to Friday night and the number of fireballs that were consumed, Tom won a fireball snowboard. But, being that he wimped out and had to go home the snowboard went to the next winner, which wasn't us. Sunday we woke up feeling the lack of sleep kicking in and the presence of the bunny himself (it is Easter Sunday after all). To give our thanks and appreciation we took a little drive up into the mountains to take in all that we are thankful for.  

 “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”

Things we learned on this trip-

• Tim stinks really bad.
• Tim thinks Kellie is really loud
• Tom is still Tom 
• We are all really awesome. 

The Hubby

The crew

Andy getting air

Tim Enjoying Life

Love my Life

 

Send me on my way...

March 31st

Skinny Lister and Her Large Drink

Andy and I spent this weekend up in West Yellowstone, as I mentioned before this is one of my favorite little places. We went here to see the band Rusted Root. We couldn't pass up the opportunity of seeing a big band in a little venue in such a fun town. They only sold approximately 220 tickets for this show. The show turned out to be awesome. Rusted Root was great and their opening band was awesome as well. We ended hanging out with members from Skinny Lister and showing them that a small town knows how to have lots of fun. They actually posted on there blog, "We were thinking how can this place be sold out...but sure enough soon people started coming out of hibernation...hung out with locals, drank colorful shots while many tired to stay standing." Overall it was a great night and Rusted Root was beyond my expectations. We tried to snowmobile the next day but the avalanche danger is quite high right now and after seeing slides all over we decided to head back and be safe. Enjoy the pictures.

.

Honeymoon 2012

This blog post is going back to March 8th through the 17th. Only 10 days after getting home from Nicaragua, Andy and I took off and went on our Honeymoon. We have been married for 7 months now. So where did we go? All the way to Fiji. Approximately a 4 hour flight to California where we literally almost ran into Ice Cube. Then took a 10 hour flight to Nadi Fiji (once we left California, we never crossed land until we landed in Fiji). Once in Fiji we took a hour cab ride to where we would leave on the boat and then hopped on a 5 hour boat ride to our first island adventure at Coralview.

So how did we pick Fiji? We wanted to go to one place that we may never go back to being it was our honeymoon. When we were in Belize, we met an Australian couple who were traveling the world. We kept in contact with them and asked them where there favorite place was. Fiji was there answer. So, that's where we went.

It was quite incredible. It was like we were on the discovery show. The beauty of Fiji was unlike anything. The people were awesome, so welcoming, loving, caring, and nice. The food was great. Andy and I booked a back packers deal. We stayed in little hut/cabins. The first place that we stayed was called Coralview. Our little house was great (once again we never had warm showers, which is great). This islands were laid back. We snorkeled at a place called the Blue Lagoon. This is where the original movie the blue lagoon was filmed. The snorkeling in Fiji was amazing. We didn't even know snorkeling like this existed. One of our days snorkeling we were literally swimming with thousands of fish. The colors and the coral were out of this world. We even saw two shark's (Yikes). We also saw little jellyfish (they did sting us) and we also saw huge beautiful jellyfish (it was like we were in Finding Nemo). Speaking of Finding Nemo, we learned that clown fish are quite brave. I am sure if they were bigger the would attack. Here is a list of adventures that we did while in Fiji. 

Andy feeding the fish

The sun was a beast, Andy had to barrow my Hat :)

Loved this.

• Lazy days spent at Coralview (laid back resort).
• Snorkeled at the Blue Lagoon
• $15.00 for a Corona 
• Fed the fish
• Took walks along the beach
• Days spent reading on the beach and in hammocks
• Played Fijian games at night with the locals (Head n' tail game, push the stone, dodge ball, 3-legged races, box game (Andy almost won this one).
• Went cave snorkeling (Scary)
• Encounter swimming with sea lice.
• Transferred from a little boat to the big boat in the middle of the ocean
• Stayed at a place called Mantaray (our favorite).
• One glass for water that everyone shared from
• Spent a afternoon at a local village, visited the schools
• Lots of Geckos
• I learn how to weave a basket out of leaves
• Went deep sea fishing. Caught a big fish.
• Andy attracted a cat who spent the night with us
• 2 random dogs followed us around on our hike along the beach
• Fed baby turtles (my favorite)
• Saw baby sharks at Bounty Island
• Kayaked around Bounty Island
• Learned how to travel with the locals and not pay $150 each for a cab ride
• Stayed at Hide away resort (will probably never stay at a resort again) 
• Went to local zoo
• I held a snake, Andy wouldn't
• Held iguana's
• Went to a local pub outside of the resort, hung out with locals, drank kava.
• Donated our supplies (liquids etc.) to Appie and his family.
• Slept in mosquito nets for 2 nights.
• Most of all enjoyed life and our honeymoon.
• Had 40+ hours of St. Patty's Day. Drank a beer in two different countries and two different states.

 That list pretty much sums up our trip. I must say (and I speak for both of us), it was an incredible time. We loved every moment and look forward to our next Island adventure. I will post some of my favorite pictures, although there are quite a few pictures so next time you visit with us be sure to ask to see all of them. 

A beautiful sunset

We didn't catch this but it was still a ton of fun.

Embracing my fears

So much fun, We are so adventurous.