Best Friends

These two babes make me so happy.  I am so in love....

10 things...

1. 4-H Camp.  The weather was great, the kids were fun and the bears stayed far away.  So, in my book 4-H camp was a great success this year.

2. Growing a garden.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that our 2 tomato plants and 1 pepper plant survive.

3. Puppy Hangout/Sleepover.  That's what we tell Millie, but really, we just boarded her at a kennel for a couple of days.  We always think it's a good idea, but the second we drop her off and drive away, we get all sappy and miss her too much.

4.  Angel Food Cake Explosion.  Who knew that my pan (that I just bought because I thought it was cute...and because it was yellow) is too small for a standard box mix of angel food cake?  My house filled with smoke and it still smells like burnt cake batter.

5. Working in the yard and sharing water from the hose.  These two are best buds.  It's pretty darn cute.

6.  I finally got around to making our year's supply of homemade Strawberry Jam.  And by homemade, I mean good ol' pectin.  Easy and fool-proof....just what I need!

7. Laying around trying to stay cool in this hot, hot weather.  There has been a lot of this going on.

8. Family walks.  We try to take Millie on a walk every night.  It's the only way to settle her down.  Plus, it's just nice to get out of the house....and it's fun to watch Millie drag giant branches down the street.

9.  Successful batch of cookies.  This rarely happens, so when it does, I do a little happy dance and then post about it on the blog.

10. Growing a belly.  There is a cute little boy growing in that belly of mine.  We are pretty super duper excited about it!!  And in just 2 short months he will have a new little brother or sister!  Holy cow, we can't wait!!

all things fair....

Last week was our county fair. I think a good 'ol traditional county fair is something I missed out on growing up in the city. These kids are amazing!! They were up working with their animals before the sun came up and they were still at the fairgrounds when I left at 9PM....every night of the week!  I'm telling you...these kids are awesome!!

Just look at these two working together to get their lamb ready for the show.  It doesn't get any better (or cuter) than that, folks!

And we can't forget about the fair food...no-siree.  Hotdogs, BBQ, tacos, nachos galore!  Yum.

Next week I'm off to State Fair to do it all again....

bragging rights

Not only is my hubby super cool, super attractive and a super good kisser, but he can also do this...



DUH duh duh da-da-da DUH duh duh duh DUH duh duh da-da-da DUH duh duh duh DUH da-da-da DUH da-da-da DUH da-da-da-da-da DUH duh duh duh....




Impressive, I tell you!!

If this whole attorney thing doesn't work out, at least we have a back-up plan.


For me, well...I'm still in training.



"don't be a scaredy!"


Our kids are either going to think we are super cool...or super embarrassing. Probably super cool.

you asked . . .

Many of you want to know what I do now that I'm not working from home.

Thanks for asking.

My new job is with the County Cooperative Extension Office (it's quite a mouthful...answering the phone at work takes deep concentration). It's a cooperative extension through the University of Wyoming.

What is Cooperative Extension, you ask?

I had to look it up myself. This is straight from our website . . .

"Cooperative Extension is built to provide practical education that focuses on issues which influence daily life that helps to keep Wyoming competitive in a global society. Extension Specialists and Extension Educators are committed to a theme of excellence with educational programs customized to meet the needs of all Wyoming residents.

Our office brings you reliable, research-based information in agriculture and natural resources, consumer and family economics, community and economic development and 4-H / youth development. Our goal is simple... to help you put knowledge to work!"

I am the secretary...administrative assistant...office administrator...or whatever you want to call it.

It's a good fit for me. I like paper. I like organizing. And I like Pam from the Office.

Speaking of which, last week, a couple of people I work with wrapped our boss's desk in wrapping paper while he was out of town. And I've heard talk of a scheme involving the county clerk's stapler and jello.

As I was saying, this job is a good fit for me.

I enjoy what I do and I work with wonderful people.

[my first day on the job...don't I look happy?]

catch-up

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

The past couple of weeks have flown right by.

Here's a little recap . . .

We took a quick (really quick) (too quick) trip to Utah. We left Friday after work, drove the 6 1/2 hour drive, got into Utah late, spent Saturday with family, left Sunday afternoon and got back into town super late Sunday night...just in time for work Monday morning. I would have LOVED to stay longer, but work beckoned, darn-it. It was however a much needed little trip and I'm glad we got to go.

We brought back one of Curtis' scooters from Utah. I think we are now down to just four scooters left in Utah. ha ha. A true scooter enthusiast indeed!

Here are some pics of our ride home:

Isn't wind energy awesome?!?

Pretty view:

beautiful sunset:

just us and the open road:

We've been fortunate enough to watch the Dinosaurs play their second and third soccer games. I can't get enough of how cute these kids are. I love this picture below. It shows perfectly the nature of the kids. You'll notice the boy on the left is doing his own thing, our goalie is inside the goal box facing the wrong direction, and our star player is running for the ball with her brother close behind. Plus, check out the background...true wild west fashion!


I took 2 days off of work last week to work on our house. I painted one of the downstairs bedrooms. I love it. It's a whole new room.

Here is the bedroom before:

And here it is with the new paint:

We helped milk a cow. Actually, Curtis helped milk a cow. I admired from a distance.

this one kept a close eye on me

My allergies are now in full swing. This will give you an idea of what my nights are like.


I've been sportin' these gems lately...Skechers Shape-Ups. Totally Awesome!


And lastly, I have been cheering on the Utah Jazz (which I will continue to do tonight)!! I will forever be a Jazz fan at heart.


I think this pretty much sums up the last couple of weeks of my life. Pretty exciting, eh.


So, what have you been up to?

paint, paint and more paint

We spent the weekend painting (again) . . .

Our bedroom before:

Curtis used the existing nails in the walls to hold his belts. He wanted me to leave the nails there...sorry dear. Looks like we need to find another place for your belts.


Our bedroom now:


I ordered some fun pictures yesterday to put on the walls (pictures we have taken ourselves). We'll throw those up on the wall and our bedroom is good to go.


And now to celebrate...

. . . it's going to be a good day.

a cold morning in Thermopolis

The thermometer doesn't lie. It's a chilling -22 degrees outside this morning. Burr! Time to cuddle under a blanket and drink hot chocolate.

go bobcats!!

The Thermopolis High School Bobcats have won the Wyoming State 2A football championship.

WOOHOO!!

This is BIG for our little town. In the previous 3 seasons, they have only won a total of 3 games, so this is HUGE.

Way to go Bobcats!!

Here they are being escorted into town after their big win. (It's more fun to watch if your volume is turned up ... for dramatic effect)

You may think there is some kind of big emergency in town, but no, its just every single emergency vehicle joining in the celebration of welcoming our champs back to Thermop. Oh the joys of a small town...I love it!





Its been fun living right on the main road into town. Living here, we are able to see all the action right from our front porch. Not only did we get to see all the hooplah involved in our team coming home, but also yesterday a beet truck tipped over on the main road covering the road and nearby parking lot with beets...tons of beets.

I'm going to miss living right on the main road where all the action is....more on this later.

an afternoon get-a-way

Last Sunday Curtis and I took an impromptu drive to Ten Sleep, Wyoming. Ten Sleep is about an hour away from us, and with a name like Ten Sleep, how could we not stop by for a visit?

Here's a tidbit about Ten Sleep:

It's a small ranching community with a population of about 300. The town website says that "Ten Sleep is a true example of western lifestyle" and that "travelers are welcome and greeted with friendly smiles" ...both of which we found to be true.

Ten Sleep has quite a history. It is "recognized as being the site of many historic battlegrounds between Indian tribes and the white man. Among those sites are the Bates Battlesite, an engagement in which the Arapahoe were defeated by a coalition composed of U.S. troops and the Shoshone. At the Dull Knife site, Dull Knife and Wild Hog were defeated leaving the Big Horn Mountains under the control of the white man." (Information found here)

Ten Sleep got its name because it was ten days (or 10 sleeps) between the Great Sioux Camps, the Platte River and the northern camp near Bridger, MT.

The town was a very quaint little town and we will be sure to visit again soon.

It's also quite picturesque. See . . .

small town life

I am finally able to find my way around town. Even though we only have 1 stop light in town (that's right, ONE), I was always getting lost. I think I've finally figured out all the turns and how to get to the grocery store. I'm still confused as to which way is north, south, etc, but we'll get there. Just one thing at a time.


In Laramie, we had a pet rabbit that hung out in our yard. He liked to sleep under Curtis' truck and he liked the taste of our grass. I think he liked us too. I miss our little outdoor friend.



We've made some outdoor friends here in Thermop too. These pictures were all taken from our front door.






You may be wondering what we do for entertainment in such a small town (besides get lost and take pictures of deer). Well . . . we go to the derby. D E M O L I T I O N - D E R B Y that is. And we have ourselves a grand ol' time. I so wish I would have had my camera, but this picture from the local paper will have to do. The derby lasted SIX HOURS. We got there at 6 PM and didn't get home until midnight. Can you imagine? Six hours of engines revving, cars colliding, metal bending, tires popping...it was awesome!


And you know what else we do? We go garage sale shopping! Last Saturday, we spent 2 hours, TWO HOURS, at a garage sale. This garage sale happened to be in a little town called Kirby (population of about 50 people) that is 12 miles away. We met these awesome hippies who were also artist (of course). They took us up to their gallery and showed us all of their artwork. The husband probably has every record ever made, some of which we bought. They gave us their business cards and told us we could come back and look at their art any time. We're thinking of having them over sometime for a game of scrabble. Not really, but wouldn't that be fun? You would just have to meet these people for yourselves to understand how truly awesome they are. By awesome, I mean so completely odd that you can't help but think they are the coolest people ever.

prairie-doggin'

What do you do in rural Wyoming while waiting for the road to open?

You torment the prairie dogs.

Up close and personal:

The Showdown:

And yes, we are in a cemetery.

I apologize for the shakiness of this video, but it's pretty funny nonetheless. You'll have to have your volume turned up pretty loud to hear it.

A-R-T

I took a break from packing and have been painting the last couple of days.

The results . . .

This is a present for an upcoming holiday:

[fishing: acrylic; 10x10 canvas]


This one is for the hubs. He really, really, really wants a VW Bus. I suppose this painting will have to do until we can get the real thing. I wouldn't mind one either. It's just what we need in Thermopolis. Then, once we start our tie-dying business, we can deliver the orders in our very own VW bus, like this one (or close to it). It's a step in the right direction to becoming hippies! Plus, according to Curtis, we could carry a scooter in the back, which is very important to any scooter enthusiast.

[VW Bus: acrylic; 10x10 canvas]

SCOOTER ART

Here are some scooter silhouettes I have been working on these past few days. I love how they turned out! The yellow one is my favorite. It is a real silhouette of Curtis on one of his Vespas.