Fun times continued!

When my friends from WI arrived, we headed downtown to the local farmer's market.  We bought some homemade kettle corn and Jessica and I were quite excited about it! :)  (Again, if you click ONCE on the picture, it will make it MUCH bigger and easier to see.)



Next, we headed to the local sushi restaurant.  Jessica was NOT excited about this, but we managed to talk her into trying it out.  It was delicious!  Jessica thought it was so-so, but she still was okay with some of it. :)  Beth and I...

The spread....

Jessica getting ready for her first big bite!  And, no, that's not fear you're seeing...she's just trying to remain positive!  :)

In the meantime, I'm shocked at what Beth was brave enough to try.  Can you tell? :)

All-in-all, it was a nice evening.  The next day, we decided to head to the Cheyenne Frontier Days.  Those rodeos are about four hours long and when it's your first time there, it's kind of overwhelming because there is SO much going on.  Seriously, it's a non-stop four hours of activity and things going on.  It's fun, but definitely sensory overload.

A mass of cowboys during the wild horse race...

Crazy buckin' bronc!!

Even crazier bull!! :)

This part of the show was pretty impressive.  This BEAUTIFUL team of six horses was able to turn this wagon rig around and around in circles, over and over.  VERY impressive!  Here's a series of photos of the event...

Look at the front wheels in this one (below)!  Impressive!!!

As always, there's a rodeo clown.  This guy was SO funny!  Here he is playing his fake electric guitar.  HILARIOUS!

Next, he wanted to be sure that the steers in the steer roping weren't running too fast, so he tried to "clock" the steer.

Here he is, announcing how FAST the steer went...91 mph!!!  Isn't that crazy-fast?  Oh, wait, what's that?  Oh...the clown had the clock turned upside down.  The steer was actually running 16 mph.  hahahaha!!!! : )

There were all kinds of eventful things that happened that day...this guy face planted...

...this guy didn't look like he was gonna be able to hang on a second longer...

...and THIS guy about lost his hat!  Whoo-whee!! :)

Beth & I at the CFD (Cheyenne Frontier Days)

Beth & Jessica at CFD

Oh, and one of the best things about CFD...the fair rides!!  Here's a cool shot that Beth took through the fence...

When I asked Jessica & Beth if I could go on one of the rides, they said NO and that we had to head home.  This was my reaction...yes, that's right...I was NOT impressed.

We had a great day at the CFD, from the parades to the buckin' broncs to the steer wrestling, it was a grand 'ol time and we had SO much fun! :)

Fun times!

Way back a "long" time ago (about two months), two lovely ladies came to visit me from Wisconsin!  They were here for a crazy-short three day visit, but we had a lot of fun (or so I felt...I didn't ask them!)! :)  Here's a bit about their visit.  These pics were selected out of 600, so there's LOTS more that happened during their visit and I'll show those pics later. :)

Oh, and don't forget...if you click ONCE on each picture, it will open up the picture to a bigger view! :)

Beth is one of the girls that came to visit.  This pic was taken while we were all hiking around one day:

Jessica was the other girl that was out here for the visit.  This pic was taken on the same hike as the pic that was taken of Beth & I.  Yes...there were still large patches of snow up in the mountains that we were able to hike around on:

This was ONE of the many beautiful flower pictures that were taken that day.  It was cold and rainy on our first day out there, so we ended up taking a second day trip out there and that was much better weather.  It just opened up opportunity for LOTS more flower pics! :)  It was great!

On the first rainy day of our adventure, we decided to head back for home because it was just too rainy.  On the way back, though, I was sure I had seen some elk, so we swung around to drive back and look.  We couldn't find them, but we noticed a car had stopped in the road, so we slowed down to see what they were looking at and we saw this gigantic MOOSE!  I've lived out here for nine years and this was the FIRST time that I saw a moose up in these mountains.  It was awesome! :)

We never did see any elk that day or the next and I was kind of bummed about that, but on the way to go rock climbing, we got to see a TRUE Wyoming experience...cowboys moving cattle! :)  I was excited for my friends to actually see this because it's just a neat experience.

We finished the day hiking and climbing and it was then time for the girls to head back to WI and for me to head back home.  So, we said our goodbyes and off we went in our separate directions.  Wouldn't you know, less than three miles away, I saw this massive heard of elk on the side of the road!  I was SO bummed that the girls missed it, but SO glad I was able to catch some photos of them.  They're such beautiful animals.

And that's that!  We also went to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and out for sushi, so I'll show some of those photos later on.  For now, though, take care and have a great day!!  Bye! :) 

Catching up...

Hello!  Since last posting here, I have been incredibly busy with work.  Classes at UW started on August 22 and I went in early and worked late almost every day this past week.  I was exhausted by Friday afternoon.  To top it off, I started the week battling allergies and then that turned into a head cold.  I didn't start feeling somewhat "normal" again until Thursday evening, but was still waging war with my allergies.  Today, though, I slept the ENTIRE day away!!  I'm not even joking.  And I feel a thousand times better than I did any one day this past week!  Yay for sleep!! :)  Now let's hope that I can keep my allergies under control. :)

It's been a great feeling to know that classes have started and I don't have to go to any!!!  Just another reminder that all my hard work paid off. :)  It's been great to just be working rather than working and having to worry about classes.  I feel like I can really focus more on my job and with helping the students.  It's great!

This past month was FULL of visits with friends.  It was great!  Mid-August, on my last free weekend of the summer, I went to Montana to visit my good friends, John & Esther.  They are the friends that I used to stay with in Cheyenne every time I had my cancer check-ups and they are very dear to me!!  They are the kind of friends where it's just good for the heart and soul to spend some time with them.  I loved my weekend there and being able to see their new home! :)

This past weekend, a lovely family came back to Laramie for a short visit and it was good for my heart to be with them, too.  Warner & Crystal used to live here but then moved away a little over a year ago to a MUCH bigger state.  I really miss them here, but I completely understand that sometimes you just have to do things that may not be easy but are necessary.  Since leaving us, though, they have added to their little family and so this was my first time to meet Tucker.  He is four months old and one of the sweetest, most contented babies I've ever met.  I love him SO much!!  I was so glad for my time with this wonderful family.

Then, at the end of July, some good friends from Wisconsin came for a short visit and it was just SO great to be with them again!!  Beth and Jessica came for three and a half days and in that time we went to the Farmer's Market, to the Cheyenne Frontier Days, to the Snowy Range Mountains and to Vedauwoo.  We had a wonderful time!  I have a LOT more pictures from that time, so will share more later.  For now, though, I wanted to include them on my re-cap of friend visits. :)

All-in-all, my last month before classes starting was a great time!  A lot went on and the time flew by, but I wouldn't change a thing and am SO glad for the memories that I now have.  I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful friends!!! : )

How?

How has it been two full weeks since my last post?!  I just can't believe how the days and time just seem to fly right by and the next thing you know, two weeks=gone. *sigh*

Well, the weekend of the 4th-7th, I took a nice trip up to MT to visit some good friends of mine (John & Esther).  I have a picture of the three of us that was taken on my last day there, but of course, that's on my camera at home and not with me here at work, so you'll get that picture later.

Since returning from that trip, I have been swamped at work.  Classes for UW start on Monday (have I mentioned here how thrilled I am that I am not one of the ones who will be going to the "first day of class" because I'm DONE(!!!!)?), so I have been frantically trying to prepare for that and to get things in order before students show up.  I'm still not ready and I'm still a bit panicked about that.  I've put in extra time every day this week and plan to do the same through the weekend.  I don't mind, but would love to have the feeling of being READY, you know?  Hmmm...I could turn that into a spiritual message, too! : )

The folks are coming out to visit in just a few weeks...the second weekend of September, to be exact.  I'm looking forward to that! :)  While they're here, I have an appt. with a doctor to talk about sleep apnea. :o(  In June, I had an appt. with a different doctor and he is about 99.99% sure that I have pretty serious sleep apnea, so he referred me to a sleep specialist.  Apparently it's quite the problem because the doctor was booked through the end of August and I couldn't get an appt. until Sept. 8!!  I guess most specialists are booked for months in advance, but when I first called, I thought it'd be a few weeks, not two months and a few weeks. :)  Anyway, since that June appt. and hearing the news that it's very likely I'll be officially diagnosed with sleep apnea, I've found that I am exhausted all the time.  Of course, it's supposedly all related to sleep apnea (my mom and aunts have it and this is what happens...you never feel rested), but it's almost like since that June appt. and since the idea of having sleep apnea is more real, I just haven't been able to tolerate the exhaustion.  When you're in denial about something, I think it's easier to press forward and manage it by telling yourself that "everything is okay."  When you're slapped with the more serious reality, though, and the problem becomes a reality, I just think that your tolerance levels change.  Does that make sense?   It just seems since that appt. in June when I was referred to a specialist, I have just had the hardest time functioning because of how tired I am.  And no matter how much I sleep, I never feel rested.  And this is something I'm just beginning to see in the last couple of weeks.  Until that point, I just kept commenting to my mom about this "funk" that I've been in but now I see that it's really not any "funk," but more because I just feel TIRED all the time and that makes the days kind of long, you know?  *sigh*

So, there's the latest from me and a little deeper explanation of what's been going on with me this summer.  I'm to the point now that I'm super EXCITED about my appt. on Sept. 8 because I'm thrilled about the prospect of being able to sleep well again and to finally wake up feeling rested.  It's been a LONG time since I remember feeling rested when I woke up and it makes me giddy to think that my quality of life is likely going to experience a 180-degree change.  I'm excited about that!!! :)

I will try to post some pictures on here sooner than later of my WI company a couple weeks ago (friends who came to visit) and also my picture of me with John & Esther so that my blog is more than just a bunch of boring 'ol words! :)  I hope you're doing well, though, and having GOOD days!  Take care!

Hello!!

Hello, my faithful blog readers!!  I hope you know that I have NOT forgotten about you!  This little blog break has been nice, but I've sure kept busy through it!  I've gone to a wedding, had some friends visit from WI and now tomorrow, I'm headed off to MT to visit some good folks up there.  The days have been good, that's for sure!  In two weeks, classes start again at the university so this weekend trip is going to be a nice time-out before the chaos begins.  I'm looking forward to it (but not the long drive by myself). I can't believe that summer is almost over, though.  The time has just FLOWN by!

Anyway, I wanted you to know that I'm doing well and that I will have LOTS of pictures to show you in the next week or so!  I hope that things have been going good for you too throughout this past month.  I'll try not to let a full month go by again without an update, okay? : )  Take care!

A Monday update

I suppose I should update this thing before too much more time passes.  Honestly, I'm just not feeling the whole blogging thing right now and am contemplating a break until the end of summer.  There's too much going on in the summer and we have to make the most of it,  you know?!  haha! :)  Oh, we'll see what happens.  As soon as I decide to take a break, then I'll think of something that I want to blog about and there goes the break! :)

I actually haven't updated since the 4th of July because I've been sick off and on since then!  I'm not real sure what is going on, but it's almost like I'm fighting off some type of flu bug or something.  I've had a couple of not-so-good days and then a couple of so-so days and only a couple good days.  So, who knows.  I just hope that it passes sooner than later!!

It's official...six weeks from today, the new academic year will start at the University and summer will be over. :(  I cannot believe how quickly this summer is going!!  I'm actually starting to feel a like panicky about it.  I made a to-do list for work at the end of May...things I wanted to accomplish this summer.  So far, I have only crossed TWO things off on that list (out of 16 items)!!  Yikes!  And in all reality...I probably only have FOUR good weeks of uninterrupted work time left before the professors start returning and things kick into gear for the fall semester.  Aye carumba.  Time to really kick things into gear, I guess!! :)

I have no big travel plans for the rest of the summer, I'm afraid.  I'm thinking of going to visit my good friend, Monique, at her new home in the far North, but I'm not 100% sure if that's going to work out yet.  I wanted to also go visit my other good friends, John & Esther, since they moved hours away and I'm not sure when that is going to work out, either!!  I do have some Wisconsin friends who are going to come out and see me at the end of July, so that will be quite fun. :)  Now if I could just make things work for my other travel plans, that would be fantastic!! :)

Hope all is well with you!! :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

Have a wonderful and SAFE 4th of July  holiday!!  I'm thankful for the freedoms that we have in this country and I'm SO proud to be an American! :)  THANK YOU to all of our soldiers that continue to serve and protect.  We're proud of you!!