Boulder visit and of course karoake

I went to Boulder and visited the school a week ago Friday. I left Unalakleet on Wednesday and arrived in Boulder Thursday cross-eyed from sleep deprivation. I took a nap and then went to dinner with a little over half of the other prospectives and one of our graduate student liasons or whatever you want to call her. She was very nice and it was slight awkward at first but as dinner progressed, we started asking questions and talking. The two from Tennessee were severly annoying and everyone else was nice, kinda bland, but nice. I asked a few questions but one girl really took the reins and went to town asking questions. So I rode those shirt tails and she basically covered every question that I'd thought of. After dinner I was still fair tired so I read for a bit and honestly went to bed at 9:30. Pathetic considering the time change would have put me at 7:30. Rockstar. Let me tell you.

Friday dawned at about 7:00 and I took a shower and ate breakfast. Little did I know that starting my day with food with lead to an entire day of eating! Seriously they must have thought that food was the way to get us to go to school there. The other graduate school liason met us in the lobby and we walked on over to the university. Short lovely walk. :) We had a meet and greet thing with more breakfast in the Math building. I could barely eat but I totally managed to stuff coffee down in my tummy no problem at all. David Grant spoke for a while and then a professor and a grad student both gave short talks. They finished just in time for us prospectives to be rushed to Analysis and then Algebra class with almost no time to pee! After the classes, which were slightly awkward because we just jumped in with no real notice (one professor was quite nervous, it was quite cute), we met up with some other graduate students and went to lunch on the hill. I went with one of the graduate liasons and another prospective to a sushi place. Now this prospective was the most amazing question asker ever! She even had a list that she read over a few times. Every question that could possibly be thought of was asked by her along with several variations that expanded the graduate liasons answers. Amazing. And great. I didn't have to think at all and his brain was being picked clean. Nifty. After lunch we had some down time. I sat with two graduate students and talked with them and read a tad bit just to get my mind off of crap for a second or two. After downtime and some more coffee there were three more talks and then dinner with grad students and professors. It seriously felt like we just had eaten lunch! But I managed to eat a little and socialize. I was definitely getting a good vibe from everyone and from the campus and Boulder. Kinda nutty. Didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. After the dinner we had two options, happy hour with the grad students or bowling with grad students. I chose happy hour with the grad students. I was one of two to do that. :) Hehehe... It was a pleasant evening and I even ran into someone that I knew from Durango. Colorado is small. Almost as small as Alaska.

Amanda dancing

Speaking of Alaska here are some pictures of my Anchorage time. I went and saw Amanda dance at the Biker Show thingy. We also got coffee and went to dinner and hung out and it was awesome. :)

Me and Jason

This is Jason and I becoming intoxicated at a karaoke bar. We started out this evening at Koot's and proceeded to let Lucy out, seek out a karaoke bar, and get quite intoxicated. Pretty sure we were both still tossed the next am.

Such a rockstar

This is me singing karaoke at the karaoke bar. The classic Journey move. I think I do this everytime that I sing "Don't Stop Believing." Bitchin', I'm so bitchin.

I love karoake

And this would be Jason singing at the karaoke bar. We're awesome, aren't we? He also played a lot of air guitar. It was AWESOME. Shenanigans.

So this grad school thing.

The offer was pretty amazing. At least I think so. I'd get a Teaching Assisstantship that would pay just over 15,000 for the school year, they would waive the tuition for 9 credits (full-time), and I would get a 2500 fellowship. I'm going to look at the school in two weeks. Just bought my ticket. It's startling to think that I'll end up back in Colorado after all of my planning towards what I thought was my inevitable move to Montana. Part of my heart is forever stuck in Montana with Hanna, Luke, Mama Rodli... I bought car insurance in Montana. My car is already there. I've looked at apartments and kittens online since April (even thought I wouldn't have been moving there earlier than January.)

But I can picture myself in Boulder as well. It's 4-5 hours closer to Missoula. I wouldn't have to drive through Utah anymore but I guess instead would have to drive through Wyoming. It's close to Durango, so I could still visit. I know a few people in the Boulder/Denver area. Megan and her family, Nicole, Chris, Madison, Jenny (she'll be moving to Seattle shortly though.) Two of my professors went to graduate school there so I'm assuming the school was good and that they liked it there. Denver is a larger airport to fly in and out of and a lot less expensive than Durango or Missoula, both are small airports. I've looked at some classifieds for Boulder and I could afford to have a two bedroom all to myself. I love living by myself. I wish I knew where I was going to be 5 months from now. That way I could be planning on what I need and want. I just want to be there, buying a new bed, putting up my book shelves, taping up pictures on my walls, cooking, cleaning, reading in my bed at 5 in the morning, dancing while I do my dishes, piling magazines up in a corner, stupid stuff. I think I've had too much coffee this morning and am just too restless.

I did it.

I got into grad school. I'm slightly freaking out about it. Can I do this? I want this. I don't want to fail, I don't want to mess this up. All I keep thinking is I did it. But can I do it?

I wish I slept more, better. :)

Blizzard

School was canceled here for the first time in my knowledge. Amazing. The snow is sliding and swishing on my ceiling and I feel a bite in the air of my room. Gusts of wind are shaking the mobiles I have hanging. The wind sounds come and go like animals racing around the buildings. It kind of makes me feel small, and yet really happy to be an Alaskan.

Do you ever just stare at yourself so long you no longer recognize yourself? I feel as though my eyes change. They become empty. Hollow. Lost. And then all of a sudden the fill up with life. And it cycles back and forth till I feel exceptionally strange.

I'm really happy that I didn't bypass Anchorage. I was able to spend some quality time with Amanda, Chelsea and reconnect with Jason. Wicked rad. My flights home were on time and uneventful. What was eventful however was me winning $500 for the halftime score on the Superbowl. Mom apparently bought me a square on a board and my numbers won at halftime! Exciting stuff. Mom kept $100 for the squares and then we went halfsies so I walked away with $200. Pretty much awesome because of my unexpected car costs and plane change fees and such. Lovely surprise. Marty picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at her place, she had more errands to run. I had a snack drank like 5 glasses of water and pooped out hardcore. I didn't sleep amazingly well because I had to get up and pee like 3 times but I slept reasonably well. Woke up Monday morning not so bright and early and went and picked up my rental. And thus began what turned out to be my week in Anchorage.

Once in my first car rental ever I decided to get my mittens from Marty's and then do exactly what I wanted. I got some food and then started running around for my Mom. Ironic that that's what I wanted to do but hey, I wanted to get it done as soon as possible so I wouldn't have to worry about it because at this point I was still going home on Wednesday. So I went to Fred Meyer and picked up stuff for my Mom and a few treasures for myself. I got some really great earrings and a new pair of knee high socks. Then I went to Walmart and picked up some things that I couldn't find at Fred Meyer and then Carrs when I could find everything else at the other two stores. At this point it was almost two and I had a relative date to keep so I scooted on over to Pete and Doris's and sat and visited with them for about an hour and a half. It was great seeing them and Pete gave me some books to read and study, math ones of course and Doris gave me some of the best felted slipper socks my feet have ever seen. (I'm loving them, wore them last night and this morning.) I was somewhat over Mom shopping and decided to go to Value Village and do some Sissy shopping. Oh man, I found some treasures. Books, movies, and clothes. Amazing! I called Chelsea and left her a message and then called Amanda and connected on the phone with her. She was working but wanted to meet up later. So I went to Marty's and played online a bit and just relaxed. At the appointed time I cruised on over to Borders to meet up with Amanda and had some marvelous coffee and me time. I love coffee and me time, especially around strangers where I can write or read and people watch all at once. Oh man. Perfy. Amanda came and we visited and caught up, I totally got to gawk at her rock and Chelsea connected with us and invited us over to Lee's for dinner. She came and grabbed us, we picked up some beer and found ourselves in Lee's living room. It ended up just being us three girls kind of having our own little catch up party and laughing and goofing off like we were in high school. It was the first time us three had been in the same place just hanging back and chilling in years. Great stuff I say. At about 10:30 Chelsea, Amanda, and I cruised over picked up our cars and then went to Chelsea and Jason's. We played a game, I won!, and then Amanda had to get home cause she had an early meeting the next day. Everyone else hunkered down and watched tv till we slowly dropped to unconsciousness one by one.

Best friends

The next day I woke up and slowly motivated. I hopped in my car and did some more fun shopping. I got myself a new bathing suit, went to a different value village than the one I went to the day before. I had some more time so I decided to drop by Sportsman Warehouse to see if my friend Jason was working. Some of my other friends had seen him there and we'd kind of lost touch over the years. ( We're pictured below and yes we always act like that when we're chilling.) He's now married to a really cool gal named Frannie and has a new doggie named Lucy. :) It was flipping awesome to reconnect. He wanted to hang out that night (Koot's and Trivia, awesome) and got my number and such and I got his, but of course his cell was at home. Anywho... When he tried to find the place that I was staying he got a little lost and went without me but then called me afterwards. So I went over to his place and we totally rocked Wii for a good bit. He killed me at tennis, bowling and cow racing. But I was the champ at boxing because it's awesome and totally my favorite Wii sport. We played a few other ones to... Ping pong was somewhat even. Fishing was 2/3 him and 1/3 me. And shooting was fairly even as well. It was marvelous. Then we watched Kung Fu Panda. There is no price for awesomeness. Great movie. Fricking hilarious, good kid message. Be yourself, ya dig? He totally started snoring about halfway through the movie but I stayed up for the whole thing.

Typical :)

Wednesday, day three, the day I was supposed to go home but the day before I decided to stay through Sunday because things were finally going so well for me in Anchorage. Normally there is bitter disappointment because my friends don't return phone calls or don't show up and do what they say they're going to do. But this time things were different. Everyone did what they said they were going to do and were returning and answering phone calls. Awesomeness. So I woke up and went and got breakfast/lunch and read some of Deep River and wrote in my journal. I love sitting in a busy place and just watching people and having that background noise and movement all around me quieting my mind. It's close to perfection. That's part of why I love doing things by myself. There's no need for mindless conversation or just filler conversation. No awkward silences. No need to entertain or be entertained. I love it. Wednesday slowed cruised by, I went to Title Wave and browsed and read and browsed and read. I totally found a great book for Karis and mine's road trip in 2010. We're totally rocking the coast to coast thing all over seeing things like the biggest radio flyer and the Spam Museum and fun stuff like that. I think we're planning on staying in a treehouse in Oregon. Pretty much ridiculously rad. I also got 3 other books to add to the 50 or so that I have already that need to be read. And I read! It's crazy. I need to kick one of my habits. Beading. Knitting. Reading. Music. Movies. Writing. Crap. I love 'em all and don't think I want to quit anything. Oh well. Marty, Sandy, Kenny and I went to the Thai Orchid for a late lunch/early dinner. Amazing. I love that place. Garlic Calamari. Number 91. Everytime. So so f*cking amazing. Afterwards I cruised on over to Amanda's for some coffee and one on one catch up time. We kinda had a rough patch but things are really smoothing out nicely. I've really missed having her in my life. And spending time with her just made that all the more clear. We talked about what the little things and the big things and also just sat for awhile. Then we started looking at wedding dresses. She's getting married to a fella named Rob Pittman and asked me to be in the wedding. :) Couldn't say no, didn't want to say no. So I'll be in my second wedding within a year or two. Means a lot to me to be asked even if I am somewhat of a curmudgeon. (I think that's spelled correctly.)

Oh yes, this happened

I woke up nice and slow on Thursday. I looked at the clock at 7:30 and went back to sleep. Repeated the process at 8:00, 9:30, 10:30, and finally just decided it wasn't worth it anymore and got up at 11:00. I hate when my sleep is all funky like that. I wish I could just sleep in like a normal person. The big event today was Postsecret. I went over to Chelsea's at about 6:15 while it was dumping snow outside. Seriously dumping. I was practically crawling. We headed to the University after she scarfed down a yogurt and then met Amanda there. It was really interesting. Frank Miller talked for a bit and then read secrets that weren't able to be published and then there was a sharing time. It was kinda funny and kinda cheesey but actually kinda cool at the same time. I don't know. It wasn't exactly what I expected but it was awesome to share it with Amanda and Chelsea. Afterwards Amanda had to do a dance thing and Chelsea and I picked up Justin, Rueben and Lee and went to first tap at the Bear's Tooth. A hippy band was playing so we mostly ended up standing around in the lobby drinking beer of course. We hung out for a quite a bit and of course the evening ended up downtown at the Gaslight no less. And guess what I did? I'm sure a glance to the right will tell you that I rode a mechanical bull for the first time. And yes I was fair intoxicated but it was bloody brilliant and I loved it and now of course I'm considering becoming a professional mechanical bull rider. Ha. If only. That would only be too cool. Definitely too cool for me.

The next morning Jason made omelets, which were so f*cking good and just what the doctor ordered. Yum yum in my tum. Then I went to Marty's and was going to take a nap but I got a phone call from my mother dearest saying that I had to call someone at Boulder back. Apparently my transcripts didn't make it to the math department so I had to go to the University there and order transcripts and hop online and order some from Fort Lewis as well. So much for nap time. But I figure the grad school thing is kind of important so I went for it. I wasn't up for much so I got some coffee and went to see He's Just Not That Into You. Which I really enjoyed and laughed at and related to and actually, yes I'll say it, loved. Reading was in order afterwards and the night ended with me and Jason rocking the pants off of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii for hours and hours. He stayed up till 3:30 or so and I stayed up a little past 4:00 playing. So much fun. And we're such good kids about it too, sharing and taking our turns.

Amanda trying on wedding dresses

Jason got up and went ice fishing I said screw it and slept till 11:30 or so before waking up and playing a bit more Super Mario Galaxy before deciding I had to get the rest of my Mom's shopping done, seeing how I was leaving the next day. I called Amanda was supposed to call me for breakfast and we decided to get breakfast at about 2:00 pm. :) Rock. We went to the Snow City Cafe which was very yummy and highly recommended. Totally on a different tier than Leroy's, and yet I still like Leroy's better. Maybe it's all the memories there. Afterwards Amanda was awesome enough to come do some shopping with me so we could hang out more. She asked if we could stop by Anderson's Bridal shop and I was more than willing to watch her parade around and try dresses on. There were a lot of really bad dresses and a few okay ones. It seems like there was always something off about each dress that she tried on. The sales lady was either really annoyed with us or really amused by us. Quite possibly a combination of both. We however had a really great time, being goofy, being ourselves, doing whatever we wanted. After one more errand I had to drop her off so she could get ready for her evening. I boxed up everything, it miraculously fit into two boxes and then went to the airport post office, which is where I ran into Leona. We mailed our packages and then chatted for a little bit. She's going to come over sometime and we're totally gonna rock the Wii. I'm down. :) I'll challenge anyone anytime! Then Jason called and we totally zoned out to Super Mario Galaxy for one last evening. We were both up till 4:00 am this time and then instead of couch crashing I went back to Marty's because I had to get up and return the car and check in and all that jazz. Harder than I thought. I couldn't even pull myself out of bed until 11:00, which coincidentally was when the car was supposed to be returned. Oops. So I drug myself up, packed up my last minute stuff and headed out to refuel and return. Once that was accomplished Marty picked me up, I checked in (screw Hageland/Frontier), and then I picked up chinese food to bring home. I hate carrying food home. The plane was late but the plane ride was fine. It was bloody amazing to hug my Momma hello. :) I missed her. We visited over chinese and then I started unpacking. By unpacking I mean throwing my clothes in front of my closet and tossing everything else on my desk. Awesome. Needless to say, it's great to be home. I slept so f*cking hard that night that I had a headache in the morning. But it was sooo what I needed and the headache was cured with two advil and 3 cups of coffee.

So lately I've been residing, for the most part in Missoula Montana. I've been staying with this gal. Pictured below. :) One of my best friends, Hanna. And no matter what else I do on vacation... Chicago for a bit, with another best friend and a truly unique New Year in Michigan.

Me and Hanna

Somehow Montana always trumps everything. Maybe it's because I feel so at home here. It's my home away from home. I think that's one of the reasons that I want to live here so bad. It just feels so right to me. Not to mention I love having my car and the world at my fingertips. Durango was so isolated, which was great but frustrating at times. It was always at least 4 or 6 hours away from anyplace worth going. Here... a different story. Bozeman is 3 1/2 to 4 hours away. Spokane is like 5 hours away. Mental note: Drive to the coast one day just for kicks. It's only 7 hours to Seattle, where my friend Kylie is currently residing and working. I haven't been to Seattle in years. And Sophie is living and rocking the school teacher thing in Portland. Another place I haven't been and would like to go. I have a feeling that I'll be visiting both those places within a year! Knowing me and my spazzy I want to go on a road trip right now feelings that I can't seem to live without. Lol... But I'm getting ahead of myself. The biggest thing on my mind is getting into graduate school here at the University. I don't know why I'm freaking out about it so much, probably because it's out of my control. I hate things that I have no control over. Hanna things I'm nuts for even worrying about it. She things I'm in like flint. But I wanna hold a little paper that says that. Anywho... Mom thinks I have a 75 percent chance of geting in and that's kind what I'm feeling as well.

Dallas and me

Stupid time, it moves too fast and too slow all at the same time. I guess life is just supposed to be filled with uncertainties. What's the fun in knowing everything? I certainly didn't know ahead of time that Warsaw was going to be playing in Missoula when I booked all my tickets for my marvelous vacation and it was a flipping awesome surprise! So I got here to Missoula in one fell swoop because the driving conditions were absolutely magnificent. Clear skies. I got up at 7:00 to optimize my daylight time and made it over the last pass just as the sun was setting, fog was rolling in, and I was in snow covered mountains just in awe of the radiance around me. Hanna couldn't wait for me to get here, so I made the extra push and just kept going. I picked her up from her friends place and then we pitted in for some bonding, beer, and talking. So good to just sit with her not in a moving vehicle. I don't know how many more times I want to do that drive solo and in one day. Even with perfect driving conditions like that. I just gets a bit much and your brain just slowly fries away as mile marker after mile marker tick by. Maybe with someone or in two days. Or we'll just see. I don't think I'll be driving it as much now that my car is here in Missoula and the only thing I'd have to drive it again with is a UHaul stuffed full of all my junky possessions sitting in Durango. Hanna had the next day off so we puttered about not doing a whole lot but enjoying ourselves none the less. Thurs, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday she had to work but she got off work at three so we managed to get some shenanigans and tomfoolery in. We went to Ross and tried on dresses for the hell of it, I went and saw a movie by myself... I'm kinda pulling a blank on what I saw, which is pretty damn rare for me to do. Huh... OHOH! The Day the Earth Stood still. Not too shabby. I was quite entertained by it or by looking at Keanu Reeves. Either way I had a good time. We hit the bars up a few nights and hung out with Prairie and had a girls night. Went out to Mama Rodli's for a football game and also another night for dinner and laundry time. It was really good to see her as well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were Hanna's days off. I found a blockbuster selling 50 cent videos and went a little nuts, but I love my movies and that's a cheap way to get a fix. Chinese food has been eaten, meals have been cooked at home with extended movies nights on our blanket bed in the living room. Lots of conversations have been had. And I think my being here motivated Hanna to get registered for school and pull herself out of her vacation funk. :) She's sad to see me go tomorrow but knows that I'll be back. For all the times that she's held me together, I think I'm holding her together right now, merely by being myself and by showing up whenever and however possible. Onto fun...

Dallas

The Warsaw show. We got there early to get some visiting time in. Joey was the door guy and Hanna's friend so after getting us in two for one he chilled with us as the band set up and wandered around and such. The guys were a little surprised to see me out of my Durango box but a warm welcome was given. Dallas is the bass player pictured left and again above with me. Really cool guy, kinda sweet, you know the sort. Music started happening around... 10? 10:30? My time frame is slightly off I'm sure. And Hanna and I sat and listened for a few songs and then got our dancing shoes on and shook our groove things till the set break. New drinks were in order and Hanna wanted to smoke so I took care of the drink business and met her in the hallway where Joey, Dallas, and Hanna were smoking. Everyone chattered away having a great time till the next set. This is when we ran into Jojo, an absolutely hilarious and wild and fun guy that I'd met a year or two ago when Mom and I had come up for a weekend. Lovely surprise and it was quite wonderful because he remembered me and who doesn't love being remembered? :) More dancing ensued with a few breaks here and there. An older lady came and danced with us and sat with us on and off for the rest of the set and then we invited the band over to Hanna's to hang out after the bar closed down. They were all for it cause we're such fun chicks and I don't think they'd lined up a place to stay. So we sat around in Hanna's living room till oh 5, 6, 7 in the morning respectively. Hanna was one of the first ones down because she had work at 7. Trooper, that girl. I was one of the latest up because well... that's just how I roll. I turned all the lights off and distributed the blankets to myself, Dallas, Monkeybone and Aaron (pictured left). I think I started getting restless around 11 so I moved from the floor into Hanna's now vacated bed and slept in a little bit longer till 12:30 or so when Dallas and Monkeybone started stirring. Aaron just kept sleeping like a rock so we three decided to walk to the Oxford and get some tasty breakfast. We all chatted and ate and then met the rest of the guys at the Rhino. I was about ready for a nap afterwards so I wasn't overly energetic but it was nice none the less. I said goodbye a little before they were leaving and walked back to Hanna's for a nap and the Ellen Degeneres show. Hilarious and always kinda sweet. I think it might be becoming one of my new favorite shows. Nothing I can't live without but definitely entertaining. Relaxed the rest of the day and then bite the bridle and called Jeremy in Bozeman. I'd been saying for like the last 3 or 4 times that I was in Montana that I'd come and see him and hang out for a day or to. He was all about it and didn't have any plans for the weekend so the next morning I left in time to get there when he was getting out of his last class. We wanted to get some lunch and just had to wait for his roommates to finish whatever it was that they were doing so we went to his bar the Crystal and were having a few pints when guess who walks through the door? This guy pictured left, Mike, and the rest of the band. What are the odds. We visit for a few, they invite me and Jeremy to the show and J and I head off to the lunch restaurant we were going to. Then we go to a happy hour and then we head back downtown. This kid can drink a lot more than me. At this point he's probably had twice as many drinks as me and is still in fairly decent condition. We go back to the Crystal and he plays pool while I visit and after his friends leave there we head to the Zebra something or other which is where Warsaw was. We hang out, listen to music and eventually J goes to meet up with his friends upstairs because they're not into the 8 dollar cover than I got us out of. I stayed and hung out and ended up going to an after party type thing with the band while J decided to walk home in like 20 below weather. Not for me thanks, I'll get a ride in the Warsaw van warmth to another warm place. The next morning, got some coffee and then went and picked up J who was just pulling himself together. We went and met some of his friends at... who guessed? Another bar. :) This one served breakfast though so I totally ate and J started going all over again. Eventually we went and got sushi and then headed back to J's house and played some beerpong and asshole. Satisfactory evening that ended with pizza and Superbad. :) Not a bad weekend by anyones standards. I headed back here to Missoula the next morning fairly early because snow was just starting to build up in Bozeman and I figured the earlier the better when snow is concerned. Got back here in fine time with very little trouble on the roads and hung out with Hanna. Everything was going just marvelous. Laundry at Hanna's Mom's, boxes mailed to my Mom, and as I'm running errands my car starts massively overheating. :( Poop and guess what. It's Wednesday and my flight leaves at 4:55. And when I get my car towed to a shop they tell me that they can't get the part needed till Thursday morning. Aw.... SHIIIT! I end up paying an arm and leg to change my ticket to tomorrow and stay to take care of my baby. It was strange not having my car for less than a day, but the next morning, fairly early with the sun shining, I get a phone call saying my fella is all better and they'll come pick me up and give me my new and improved baby. So I what do I do, come park the car and Hanna's and walk around downtown a little. Hahaha... Oh man. Yesterday I mailed cake mixes and powdered sugar for my favorite Mom and then read part of a book. Then I decided to head to the bars for a beer or two, thinking to come home early. Hanna had to work so she was sleeping. And ended up running into this kid Jake that I used to go to school with in Durango. Wicked rad so I ended up staying out later than I thought, but I still got up early this morning and did the dishes and straightened up the house and then have basically been playing online all damn day. In my car, where I miraculously manage to pick up signals that work.

I head home and by home I mean Alaska, tomorrow and I'm really excited. I wish I could bypass Anchorage but there are some things that I'd like to get done and people I'd like to see so I have a feeling it's just going to cruise by and that'll be that. It'll be Wednesday before I know it and I'll finally be home, in my bed, with my Momma and doggie close by. And I'll be able to visit with Karis in person and hug my little man. I'm excited. Truly.

Aaron

Mike

Drago

Jesse

from Montana - about Durango

Genevieve, Aune Mieke and me

Aune Mieke, me and Matty

My first day in Durango was delightfully mellow filled with Chinese food and Bones. I drove into town and tried to stay awake and it seriously did not happen. Gretchen and Matt came home and found me asleep on their couch. :) I believe my Mom even called me and woke me up kinda and I mighta snapped at the poor lady. I'm really not someone that wakes up cheery at any time, morning or night. Wednesday was all about lazing and running some errands. I went to lunch with G and Matt and then went to Walmart where they had on sale transformers, a ipod connector radio thing for my car, new wipers for my car, and some new toothpaste. All amazing stuff I tell ya. Then I spent a few hours in my storage unit digging around for vitally important stuff... some socks, my printer, my button maker, my cooler, my sleeping back, some more hoodies, and of course my coffee mug for my car and my travels. I was most excited for my button maker. Then on my way up to Gretchen and Matt's out in D-West I almost crashed my lovely loving car. I was driving at like 50 or 55 around what was apparently (although not to me) and icy corner and started fish-tailing. I think I flipped and flopped about 4 or 5 times before I got control of my vehicle back. Kinda really maybe sorta definitely freaked me the hell out. I was extra super cautious (probably annoyingly so to other drivers) for like the whole week afterwards. Not a pleasant experience but I'm thinking it's make me a more cautious aware drive than even though the roads look fine they might not be. Eep

Pat and me at the Ranch, where else would I find him?

Davis - my favorite bartender

Coun

Fresh

The ranch is just awesome folks. I dig it.

So Thursday night I went out with Isaac and Nadia and we hung out at the Ranch, Steamworks, and of course the 8th Ave Tavern. Brian, Ryan, Gin, Chad, Joe, Steve, all my homies were there. I totally rocked singing Journey - Don't Stop Believin'. I mean who doesn't rock when singing karaoke, but I believe I was particularly amazing. :) Friday was spent finding some great deals at JC Penney for me and my favorite little man Kollin Duke. I found the most hideous pukey yellow sweater that's absolutely comfortable for me and some bitchin' transformer T's for Kollin. Speaking of... I need to get a box mailed that direction. Bride Wars came next with lovely buttery popcorn and ice water. Then Gretchen, Matt and I had dinner and watched I am Legend and Bones. Great stuff I say! G even stayed up till 10:15. It was a rager! Saturday was lunch with my professors, whom I absolutely love and adore, at Carver's. It was nice catching up a little with them and just small talk visiting with them. :) They're really just awesome for taking the time to see me. Then I hung out with Sarah, after a bit had dinner at No Way Jose's, and ended my evening at the Ranch on Saturday night running into all kinds of fabulous people. That's what the pictures are above. Lol... Just about the only pictures I took when I was in Durango, unless you count funny pictures of Gretchen and Matt's cats.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and watching Bones up at the house. I packed up and kind of reorganized and got some early sleep in. Monday was spent running errands all around Durango and getting myself and my car ready for the drive to Montana. I ate lunch and then drove to Cortez to hang out with TK for the night. We watched Pineapple Express, which was fucking hilarious, went and got some dinner and sodas, then watched The Dark Knight. Flipping awesome as well. Went to sleep fairly early because the sun was up at 7:38 and down just after 5:30 so I wanted to optimize my daylight drive time. The drive was perfect as far as a long drive goes. The weather was sunny the whole way, the roads were dry, I never hit any major traffic while driving through cities and I had an amazing sunsetting, fog moving in, purple sky, pink snow in the mountains situation just as I was driving over my last mountain pass. Uh-mazing. I got here to Missoula at a little before 9 pm. One of my best times and I rocked between the speed limit and five over. It was effing great to see Hanna and get a big old hug from her then Luke. We had a few beers at her place and then went to the Rhino for a few drinks and met some hilarious really wasted people and then put a movie in and curled up and passed out. Quality stuff I tell ya. And now I'll leave you on the note that I'm sitting in Blockbuster's parking lot and I have to pee.