Nebraska

At the beginning of the month my younger brother, sister and I went to Nebraska for a quick trip. My grandpa Fred broke his pelvis last month and he and my grandma celebrated their 73rd anniversary on the 6th so we decided we should probably go down and say hello. Can you imagine spending 73 years together with the one you love, and they are still very much in love. Grandma stays every night in the hospital so that my grandpa is not alone. He's kind of a shy guy and oh so cute. The last few years he's had a few health issues, but it never stops him. A pelvic break can be a life altering issue for people his age, but he was already walking around when we went to visit. He needs help but the fact that we can do it is amazing. Their love is very inspiring and I love listening to them tell stories of when they were younger.

Before they got married they had moved to Colorado to try and make money to save to actually get married. My grandpa made $25 a month working on a farm and my grandma made $3 per week tending kids. They decided they would never really be able to save a lot and just wanted to get married so they headed back to Nebraska to take out a loan and start farming. They have both been such hard workers all their lives and I love them both so much.

It was also fun just spending time with Dee and Mikie, we don't do stuff like this near enough. I got to see my sister's new house in Fort Collins and Mikie and I had 4 hours of quality time in the airport while Denise enjoyed the Denver Broncos game. There is nothing better than wonderful siblings and I've got three of the best.

Random

Just some random things going on in my life.

1. Had a sleep over with Lindsey Saturday night. We went to Ice Age and had treats (popcorn, juice and an airhead of course), watched cartoons, sang songs, then went to bed. In the middle of the night Lindsey fell off my bed in between the wall and the bed. I think it scared me more than her, I don't think she ever really woke up. It was so much fun, I love my Lindsey Bean and spending time with her. She is so funny, sweet, and clever.

2. Rode on a bullet bike for the first time in my life. Never thought I would do it, but it was a little scary, a little awkward the way you have to sit, and a little more than a little bit fun.

3. It's fall so of course watching football. Rather not discuss the Cougars performance on Saturday, hopefully the rest of the season is better. Went to a BSU game with Ben and actually cheered for the Bronco's for the first time in my life. Don't know that it will happen again, but it was fun to hang with my big bro and watch my new school's football team.

4. Have to find a new place to live, YUCK! So sick of moving.

5. Loving that fall is slowly creeping in. Can't wait for sweaters.

A Post

I would love to be reporting on all my summer adventures and places I've been, but this has been my most boring summer that I can remember. Minus my fun little trips at the beginning of the summer I have been confined to the four walls of my house or school studying all summer. It was a lot of work being at school 5 hours a day (for one class) for 10 weeks straight, but I actually enjoyed the pace. I have been very bored this first week of school, but I'm sure it will pick up.

I managed to go camping once with Ben & Becky and the girls and hit up the fair. But other than that nothing really remarkable comes to mind. I have been living in my friends house all summer, as he lives in New York and has the house on the market. I have actually enjoyed taking care of the house inside and out on my free time. It was also very nice living by myself with little distractions for studying. Luckily for him an offer might be made soon, but not so lucky for me.

That seems to wrap up the last few months of my life. Hopefully this semester is as successful as the last few and I am excited for fall to come. Football, fall leaves, and cooler temperatures sound perfect right now.

Santa Monica

I am taking a break from studying to finally write this post. If I don't do it now who knows when it will get done. Two weeks ago three of my girlfriends and I took a girl's trip to sunny California.

My three beautiful friends; Amy, Hailey and Chelsey needed breaks from being wonderful mothers and wives and I needed a break from studying and work, so off to Santa Monica we went. We hit up every cupcake store we could find, even getting sick at one place. I think we would all agree that Sprinkles in Beverly Hills was the best. We stayed right by the beach and could see the Santa Monica Pier and ocean from our hotel window, at least Amy & I could. It was a perfect weekend. The weather was great, food oh so delicious, poolside views of the ocean and muscle beach relaxing and entertaining, and the company to die for. I love these girls so much and had so much fun RELAXING with them. The little detour on Sunday was an extra bonus, thanks girls ;).

4th of July

Most years we spend 4th of July in Bozeman. It is always so beautiful, fun and great to spend time with family. This year we floated the river as a family and had a blast. The Madison is a beautiful river and perfect for a leisure float. We were lucky enough to see pelicans, otters, a fawn laying by the river and the coolest was a moose. No joke there was a moose hanging out drinking in the river, it was so awesome. Too bad non of us had our cameras with us. On Saturday we played outside most of the day and had a BBQ. The boys have always lit the fireworks, but this year Dee and I got to do it, so fun. As usual it was so good to see everyone and the time was way too short. I think if I lived in Bozeman I would spend everyday hanging out in my parents backyard. More fun to come tomorrow!

Catching up

I have not been around too much lately and when I am, I am usually studying. I also had the worst cold I have had in years the other week. Just to shed some light on how bad it was I had a lab test two weeks ago that I took with a 100 degree fever (not the best idea I know, but I didn't realize it was that high and didn't really have another option). I did fine on the test, but not as good as I would have liked. In my delirium I did things like choose D when your options were A through C (woops!) or I would look at something, identify it in my head, but on paper I filled in something completely different. I had a little melt down when I returned to class and saw what I did. Did I also mention that my pervy professor was terminated the last week of class. We are guessing partly because he said some very disgusting things in class (school is so different in Utah thank heavens) and because he was failing most of the class. For the last four days we had a different professor with a different testing and teaching style, very stressful. Luckily she said we could drop our lowest grade, a lovely tender mercy, so my A stands. I am still recovering from the cold and even have a nerdy inhaler that I am supposed to use for a while. I have found myself saying "Ah I need my inhaler!" several times lately. I am turning over my contacts for a lovely pair of bottle capped glasses with tape across the middle and a pocket protecter and you can find me in the periodical section of the library if you have any questions, comments, or constructive criticisms.

The Reunion

So my high school reunion was more enjoyable than expected. I really was using it as an excuse to see my mom and my cousin Amanda, but ended up reconnecting with some good friends. Amanda and I got ready together beforehand and it was so much fun. Totally reminded me of high school giggling in the bathroom, helping each other with our outfits, and going silent when my uncle came in the room and giggling when he left. Aw, I guess a part of us never grows up. Being a little nervous we wouldn't have anyone to talk to Amanda and I were ready to go as soon as we walked in the room, but ended up having a blast. I took a few pics but mostly was too busy chatting and laughing. I have known some of these people since I was like 5 or 6. I have to mention that seeing my mama was the best part though. She's wonderful and I miss her so enjoyed spending every minute with her.
Tara, Amy, me

Kristal, Amanda (with baby on board), me