HOME!!

We made it home!!

 I made new friends, 

was introduced to some new foods and drink (frappe), 

took a ridiculous amount of photos, 

and explored so much that my feet hurt for days. 

It was fantastic.

And after our flight was delayed by 15 hours I practically cried when I saw the mountains surrounding Bozeman. That could of also been from the lack of sleep from being in an airport/airplane for over 24 hours still.

I couldn't wait to see this face.

It's good to be home.

Busiest Summer of my Life

I'm so sorry I've been so neglectful around these parts this summer. 

Between the weddings,

Bachelorette Parties,

Las Vegas,

 and camping trips complete with giant hikes to gorgeous lakes,

I'm afraid I've left my little blog out in the cold.

And today I'm heading out on a trip to

LONDON

and 

Amsterdam!!

I couldn't be more excited!

I have always wanted to go to London.

When I was a teenager I used to think that my "life would begin once I went to London."

And now I'm finally going!

I'm afraid it might continue to be quiet around here for another month. 

But think of all the awesome stuff I'll have to show you when I'm back!!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

Cinco De Drinko

It's Cinco de Mayo y'all!!

You know what that means.

A day to eat lots of delicious food and drink mucho tequila! 

Like we really need a special day for that.

Amiright???? 

Anyhoo, I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful day. 

Now if you'll excuse me I have very important business to attend to.

 Ahhh yeah....

Bottoms up.

Last Summer Party

A few weeks ago we had a last hurrah for the summer and invited our friends over for a party. It was our first time hosting a larger get together and I must say it went very well!

With school well underway it's super important to remember fun times with friends.

And drinks.

Lot's and lot's of drinks.

The Summer List-Results

Well this is my last week before I head back to class and give myself away to my studies. Gone will be the days of watching Regis and Kelly while lazily sipping cappuccino. I have a busy weekend in store full of fun activities to get me ready to buckle down and get to learning!

Weather wise the summer isn't over quite yet so I suppose I have a little opportunity for a little fun.....but study wise....this is the end.

So it's time to revisit the list of things I wanted to do this summer and see how i did!

1. Go through my Nikon book and complete all assignments.

My goal here was to get myself accustomed to the professional modes on my camera and get away from using the auto modes. This has been a SUCCESS! I am now more comfortable with my manual mode than any of the other modes. I love it because it makes me feel like I did when I staring photographing with my 35mm in high school.

Success!

2. Get a fishing license.

Success!

3. Catch a fish.

Fail. But I'm working on it!!

4. Go hiking. A lot.

I think I did VERY well with this one! I went on many hikes during our camping trips and then there was that awesome 12 mile hike I did up to Blackmore!

Success!

5. Start my Shakespeare book.

Success!

6. Go to the midnight premiere of the last Harry Potter.

I went with my bff Jocie and we dressed up as....wait for it.....

WIZARDS DRESSED AS MUGGLES!! Seriously could I be a bigger nerd??

This was a SUCCESS!!

7. Get a job.

Ummm....yeah. Let's just say I had a great summer full of lot's of free time which I used to have fun and sleep in....yeah..

Fail.

8. Learn to play a song on my harmonica.

Sorry to put you all through that. Hopefully I'll get better with a bit more practice!

SUCCESS!!

Well there you go folks! That's how I did with my summer. Did you all complete everything you wanted to do??

Blackmore- In Pictures

Here are some pictures from my hike up Blackmore near Highlight.

Music On Main

Summer is coming to a close my friends. Last night marked the last Music on Main in Bozeman so the boyfriend and I headed down for the festivities.

For those who don't know, Music on Main is an event in Bozeman where they close off main street for a few hours and there's a band and you can drink in the streets. It's pretty much awesome.

We listened to the music, made silly faces and enjoyed the freedom of drinking on the street. You always see so many people it's like a mini high school reunion!

Afterwards we headed over to a local bar to listen to our friend who's band The Boozehounds was playing that night. It was wonderful. We made new friends and even got to dance a bit!

It was a great end to a wonderful event that keeps all us Bozemanites amused through the summer months. It's sad to see it end again but soon enough we'll be back there again!

Blackmore

Two days ago I hiked to the top of a mountain. You heard me. The TOP.

The views were incredible and I had so much fun with my friend Jen. (We literally yelled about boys and the government in order to motivate us up the steep parts)

And even though the last mile out of those 12 was pure unadulterated torture. Seriously every switchback that didn't lead to the end broke my heart a little...... Alright, a lot...................... Alright, maybe I thought they would have to airlift me outta there because the trail would never end and I just COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! UGH! WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS?? WHY AM I PUNISHING MYSELF? THIS IS JUST THE WORST!!

I'm still really glad we went.

Why you ask?

Well I'm pretty sure I can do anything now.

It was definitely a challenge but it feels so good to overcome something that you wouldn't normally do. AND now I have amazing pictures and you can bet that this is a day I am NEVER going to forget.

My butt still hurts.

In conclusion: Take advantage of these last days of summer and go conquer something. It feels fantastic! And even if you are too sore to move for days after, at least you have an awesome excuse to not exercise.

Weekend Fun!

This weekend marked another super awesome funtime camping trip.

Here were some of the HIGHlights.

Jumping off the rope swing and not taking 20+ minutes to do so. Yay for bravery! Or maybe just sleep deprivation....hard to say.

Hanging at the rope swing with my dad. He LOVES the rope swing.

Boyfriends camping meatloaf. My boy is a super big foodie so of course he has to find new recipes EVEN when we're roughin it. Not that I'm complaining : )

So anyhoo, he improvised a meat loaf to try out and it was SOOOOO good you guys. We will definitely be doing that one again.

Hanging out with my Bro Face and his lady friend. She's heading away to an awesome tennis program in a few weeks so it was great to chilax a bit with her beforehand.

Discovering yet again how much my dog loves ME. My dad and I left her and the Boy for awhile to go to the swing (she can't come because it freaks her out and she tries to save EVERYONE!) And my little girl threw a fit the whole time I was away. Annoying? Sure. But it makes me happy that she's such a mommas girl!

Having fun taking pictures. The one above is a random one from the first night. I was trying to be artsy and not focus things. I actually really liked how this one turned out!

And of course, one of the greatest parts of the weekend was not getting eaten or attacked by any wild animals. I know they say bears are just as afraid of me as I am of them....but I'm a 115 lb blonde girl so I'm not so sure I really believe that......

Be Bear Aware!

BOAT!

As before promised, here are the rules and details of the game "BOAT!"

BOAT!

Description- A car game whose purpose is to spot and call as many boats as possible.

Origin- My boyfriend and I were on our way home from visiting his parents on a summer day. I was veeeeeeery tired and was attempting to nap which irked my bf who wanted me to keep him company. In an effort to wake me up and annoy me he began telling me of every boat he saw, which on a summer day in Montana is A LOT of boats. Thus the game of "BOAT!" was born.

Rules and Regulations

1. Only boats attached to a vehicle may count towards points.

2. When a boat is spotted one must yell "BOAT!" to obtain points.

3. Canoes, kayaks, and rafts will not count for points.

4. Each "boat" called counts towards one point.

5. A boat may only be called by one person.

6. If a boat is called by more than one person at the same time that boat is henceforth negated and no one may claim points to it.

7. Any non-boats called will result in the deduction of two points.

example non-boats- already called boats, boat not connected to a vehicle, calling items mentioned in rule two.

8. A game of BOAT will be considered complete in one of two scenarios

A) At the end of a trip (a trip is considered the time after you leave home to when you arrive back) the person with the highest tally is the winner.

B) Once someone has a tally of ten points more than whoever is closest behind in points.

9. A semi truck carrying a large number of boats is considered a "boat load".

Any caller of a boat load wins "BOAT!" for eternity. This honor may be forfeited in order to play more awesome games of "BOAT!"

10. Boats in the water no longer count for points.

(The creator of this game holds the right to add additional rules and regulations as he sees fit until said rules are "formally laminated")

And there you have it. The rules of the aforementioned "BOAT!" I would also like to mention that while the bf 'created' this game, I continue to whoop his butt at it EVERY DAY!