Christmas 2010

Ya know...I wanted to take more photo's this Christmas...but the truth is my heart just wasn't in it.  Not that I didn't have a good Christmas!  Mom & Glen took us to a cabin in the Crowsnest Pass for a weekend...it turned out I had to write an exam on the Saturday afternoon and I will admit it was both a relief and VERY sweet when my little brother waited to drive me up...I was absolutely exhausted.  Actually I have to say some of my favorite memories from this Christmas are spending some one-on-one time with Warren.  We got into some pretty deep conversations...and then since we were the 'singles' we got delegated to the room with the twin beds and stayed up late giggling like little kids.  Anyways, the mountains are always a nice get-away...full of R&R, hot tubbing and goofing off. 

This photo of Warren and I is a little blurry...but I heart it anyway...

Christmas Eve is Dad's birthday so we went on a 'date' to watch Little Fockers.  My dad, what a guy...I'm 99% sure he wanted to watch it just so he could say Little Fockers like 15,000 times...but hey, it was his party lol!

Christmas Day...I stayed home and hung out with Neena...this semester was pretty tough on both of us and it has been SO nice to have some daylight hours to play outside with her.  We went for a walk with a friend and her dogs...then she came over in the evening for a visit.

Boxing Day was Christmas with Mom's family...its always cheerful chaos.  I really enjoy the kiddo's...its fun to remember who they were a year ago...and how much they've grown and changed.  And I never had a sister so it absolutely kills me to watch Victoria & Sydney bicker...LOL!  I also managed to steal my newest cousin Jaxon for more than my fair share of baby snuggling:).

Finally...today...well I guess yesterday now...started with some crazy border collie action.  Neena went to Amanda's while we were in the mountains and now she is BFF's with Amanda's foster dog Davie, its very cute.  Thanks for the great photo's Amanda!

Later we had Christmas with Dad.  Dustin & Tabitha hosted this year...it's nice to have some other gals to help with the planning/preparation.  Although the boys will ALWAYS be in charge of the turkey...no WAY I want that responsibility, especially after today's near disaster!  Halfway through cooking the turkey the burner died...it was pretty tense for a couple minutes...in the end the guys stole parts off Warren's truck and managed to get it running.  And then we proceeded to giggle through supper about how they saved the Christmas turkey with a little help from GMC.  I actually might not have blogged about Christmas at all except the boys are pretty good sports about having a camera in their faces all the time...and there was a grumbled comment about how "that had better make your blog" lol.

Its been nice to spend some extra time with Colton over the holidays...it was pretty cute, we all had to give him rides on the John Deere trike Dad bought him for Christmas.  Its really not that surprising Dad nearly dumped the poor kid off taking a corner too fast.  I guess its kinda like the saying...you can take the racer outta the car...

And I had to take a few photo's of Dad's birthday cake...I seriously don't think I've made a better cake in my life...

Yummo!

Vegas Photo's...

Ok...so its more like 1...but it makes me laugh so hard!  Mostly because I appear just a wee bit manic...what can I say...I'm a fan...and it was Vegas!

I also made KISS sing to me...and I'm pretty sure I mighta kissed them...but I'm a little foggy on the details ;)!!!

Las Vegas 2009 Blurb Book

In October Mom and I went on away on our annual scrapbooking trip.  I was (am) struggling with calculus at the time, and my brain was too fried to do much actual scrapbooking.  Instead I put together this Blurb book from my Vegas trip last year, its a slightly edited version of the blog posts.  I've been struggling with the cover ever since and finally finished tonight.  I'm pretty excited to see it, if I like it I can see myself making more books like this in the future! 

Family Camping & Quadding Trip 2010

In July my family headed up to the Crowsnest Pass for some camping and quadding. I thought I’d be in Denver when they went…so I was very excited to make it! It was an awesome opportunity to be outside and away from the ‘world’, being with my family made it even better.

After I 4x4’d my little sunflower to the campsite, I found a new way to crush cans…just wish I’d been able to finish my drink first!

I decided to see if I could get Neena on a quad, I honestly doubted she would, so I was thrilled when she proved me wrong.

I wanted to make it a good experience for her when I started riding (not driving lol)…so I made sure it looked/sounded like I was having the best time of my life…my family thought I was nuts. But it worked…she chased beside me in her crazy Neena way, and when I stopped she even got back on again…brave puppy!

Friday morning Glen, Dustin and I went on a firewood finding expedition, quad and chainsaw in tow. It was decided that even though I haven’t watched “Ax Man”, I was ‘teachable’ and was allowed to use the chainsaw to cut down and de-branch a couple tree’s with only minor critique.

And this might seem lame…but it was a moment for me!!! I was sawing away, mildly freaking that I’d cut my foot off, somewhat giggling because I had ‘the power’ and the thought popped into my mind that for 8 years I was ok with letting someone ELSE do this for me, instead of experiencing it for myself. Sometimes I’d like to go back and kick my own butt. All because I played with a chainsaw. I’m a head-case for sure;).

When we got back to camp the wood had to be sectioned and halved, I wasn’t going to sit that out either. Sadly, I am MUCH better with a chainsaw than an axe.

So my brother’s can do ANYTHING with a cigarette in their mouth… shoot guns, brand calves, fix vehicles, light birthday cakes, you name it. I have the pictures to prove it. I’ve started to feel a little left out…so I decided this weekend I wanted to join the family tradition.

No worries, I couldn’t smoke a cigarette if my life depended on it. Dustin’s comment when I gave it back was something like “Eww…it’s like someone french-kissed it”.

That afternoon we went for a quad ride, of course this gal can’t afford her own toys…but between family and friends we usually have enough quads for everyone. I’m spoiled and I know it! I do have my own helmet & goggles; I think it might be a good idea to get a pair of riding gear after my adventure!

Of course Dustin has his own quad...I think it looks mean…it’s awesome...

We had a great trip…I’ve usually rode heavier 4x4 quad, think Yamaha Grizzly, so the Scrambler was a fun change. It’s really amazing what you can go over and through with a quad, and it’s a pretty neat feeling when you get to the top of the mountain and can see for miles.

Coming back DOWN the mountain is what got me. So I can be a hot head…I’ll admit it. I really hate being left behind, although I try not to be a total idiot especially when I’m on borrowed equipment. Anyways, I was following Dustin back down the trail; at a steep spot I slowed to give him enough room. As I followed I must have hit a root wrong, and before I knew it I was thrown over the front left tire with the quad following. I remember landing on my shoulders and thinking “the quad is going to squish me”, and then I remember seeing my pant leg get caught and thinking “OH MY GOSH…it’s going to take me WITH it!” Freakay!!!!

I was pretty lucky, besides a scrape on my lower back and some bruises on my legs I came out pretty unharmed. But adrenaline…let me tell you!

Of course when we got back to camp I wanted a photo to memorialize my near death experience!

Other highlights of the trip…got to spend some time with Brady’s girlfriend…it’s a very sweet feeling watching my little brother with a gal.  And scary lol!

And SEE!!! I wasn’t lying about the cigarette’s lol!!!

And I also got to hang with my nephew. We had a blast going for little quad rides…although there were a few comments about whether I was qualified after rolling a quad *eye roll*.

I love his dirty little finger in this picture...I think its a sign of a kid who's had a good weekend!

It’s going to be fun in a couple years when he’s big enough to ride his own!

We try to make this a yearly trip, sometimes it doesn't work, but I am really hoping it works out that we can go again next year.  I've really missed the mountains, and quadding.  I'm getting more and more determined to do some snowmobiling this winter...its been too long!

Where Alberta Girls Play Hard - Part 2

July 13, 2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GIRLFRIEND!

Dragged our sorry butt’s out of bed this morning to attend my modeling debut, aka Kim’s presentation on some of the E.coli work we’ve done. Afterwards, we tried…we really did…to take in more of the conference, but we were exhausted. We went back to the hotel and crashed.

For her birthday Michelle wanted to take some photographs downtown, and she wanted Italian. So later that afternoon we headed out, camera’s in tow.

We toured around and stopped at Coyote Ugly to buy a couple of souvenir T-shirts ;). Then we tracked down this amazing little restaurant that makes its own pasta and cheese. I had ravioli and Michelle had another pasta dish…it was to die for.

Even with our afternoon nap, these Alberta girls were still played out; I’m STILL a little ashamed to admit we called it an early night.

July 14, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!

Feeling a little rested we headed to the conference this morning to meet with Michelle’s master’s supervisor, Karen. For breakfast we had crepes…yummo! It was good to chat with Karen, she is ‘the’ animal welfare scientist here in Lethbridge…its all work I’m very interested in, and its future is so big!

Temple Grandin was scheduled to speak that afternoon and I was determined to catch it, so while I listened to her, Michelle went to a Livestock Transport session. It’s a well known fact that Temple has autism and I was super curious to see how she presented herself…I found her quite funny! Its mind-boggling the amount of reading that woman does, and how much she retains.

I was able to catch Karen’s presentation on cattle transport. Although I helped collect some of the data, and am fairly familiar with the work she was talking about, it was really neat to see it compiled and presented.

I also got to attend Cheryl Morris-Dikeman speech about enriching our pet’s lives. Little did I know she trains agility dogs and actually competes at a national level. Was a very interesting seminar…I am glad I caught it, and wish I’d had time to talk to her after.

That night was the awards banquet for the Canadian Society for Animal Science. We got to chat with some familiar faces and a few new people as well. And the food was fantastic! Later we headed out with a couple co-workers to find a place to ‘celebrate’. We played some pool and some beer pong, fine tuned our line-dancing skills and in the end we shut the playground down…it was a fabulously fun time.

July 15, 2010
I woke up to find Michelle had put her contacts in with mine. Awwww.

It was time to start heading back to Canada...I was sad. On our way out of Denver we found this...

I’m not trying to make a political statement here…but it kinda hurt my feelings!

Left Turn navigated us the Coors factory which we ‘toured’ M&J style. Unfortunately I was driving, and I’ve turned into somewhat of a light-weight…so I didn’t get to enjoy my samples.

Would LOVE to work in this lab;).

Next stop was a western store where Michelle found a to-die for pair of cowboy boots (watch for them later!!!).

So we are driving along, minding our own business, when out of no-where a Budweiser factory pops up…my girlfriend very kindly let me stop. Left Turn, on the other hand, was not so pleased with this turn of events.

A co-worker/friend of mine is in the process of moving to the ranch her husband now manages in Lander, and she had offered us accommodations for the night, so after the factory we raced across Wyoming so as not to be bad company.

The Red Canyon Ranch is absolutely beautiful. I believe it’s actually a state-owned nature conservancy of ~60,000 unfenced acres. It hurts my brain to think about how big that is. The farm house is historic, and although it has had some updating, plenty of charm remains. I had a great visit with Emily & Bob; it was neat to talk to them about the ranch, about school, agriculture, etc. And of course there was some girl chat too lol!

July 16, 2010
Big day today...Yellowstone National Park in a day! We called it our quick & dirty visit. Drove in from the south and stopped to photograph some water falls.

Next stop was Old Faithful…which we timed it perfectly. We walked up, she did her thing, took a few pictures, and walked back to our car.

My navigator (not Left Turn!) decided we should check out this Canyon Village area…so we did. And I am so glad. It was beautiful. One stop was called Inspiration Point…and it really was inspiring.

By this time we were sort of in a rush…the plan was little red dress night in Bozeman, Montana! We arrived with just enough time to check ourselves into a seedy little motel, primp and prep ourselves into our dresses, and do a quick photo-shoot in the remaining light. Only a few people stared at a couple gals in red dresses lying in a weed field in Bozeman, Montana.

I absolutely hate to write this…but it just wasn’t my night. And I think that’s enough of that.

July 17, 2010
My girlfriend…she just blows me away. I woke up to a latte and breakfast. I heart her more than I can write.

We had scoped out a few stores during our walk the night before…so that morning we did the last of our shopping at pet and western stores. When we’d finally blown the bank we raced across Montana in an effort to make it back to Canada for a modified race and a Miranda Lambert concert.

I can honestly say I’ve never had a trip like that.  I'm not sure I ever will again...some things just seem to be once in a lifetime experiences.  I've been fortunate enough to have several of those this summer...hopefully I have many more to look forward too;).

Where Alberta Girls Play Hard - Part 1

First off...I know some of my family have been wondering how my recovery is going...I'd say its been colorful! This was a couple days ago...today its mostly John Deere colors. I can live with that:)


I've really debated posting more about Denver...it sort of seems like a 'had to be there' deal. We DID write a trip log…its 8 typed pages long…and the first edition left my mom a little speechless. In the end I decided that NOT blogging at least some of it would be to leave one of the funnest weeks of my life off my 'journal'...so I compromised and this will be the sweetened-condensed version ;).

July 8, 2010
As usual we were running, Michelle showed up and we had 15 minutes to throw my stuff in the car and get across town to drop Mack off at his sitter’s.

After that it was off to the border! Let’s just say we hadn’t seen each other since May, we had A LOT of girl talk to catch up on:)!

The border…well Michelle gets “chatty” when she’s nervous, I was pretty sure we were going to get strip searched…we just HAD to tell them how we were taking pictures at the border. That’s a no-no. The border guards were also a little worried for us when they saw ALL the service lights in Shelley’s car were on. Somehow we convinced them we weren’t a risk to national security and they let us through. We rocked on to Great Falls where we spent the night.


July 9, 2010
Woke up hungry…needed some toast STAT!

We weren’t in a rush, only had to make it to Denver by Saturday noon, so we drove, and we shopped, and then we drove some more. Michelle slept…or so she said, she was awake enough to laugh at what a bad singer I am!

We were pretty torn over what we should do that night. Michelle had her heart set on playing in Wyoming; however we also had an invite to a stockyard party in Greeley, Colorado via text. Finally we (very wisely) decided to stay in Wyoming. We rented a room in a motel across the street from our playground of choice; coincidentally it was the last room…it was almost like it was meant to be! We got ourselves cleaned up…and proceeded to show Cheyenne, Wyoming that Alberta girls really do have more fun ;). Although did you know American chicks line-dance? I’m STILL impressed.

July 10, 2010
We woke up giggling at our adventures. It was awesome!

Denver bound...little did we know that Left Turn (aka. the GPS) was set to avoid freeways, we were following the directions and suddenly we are cruising through suburban Denver. I might of…ok I did get a little cranky because it didn’t feel right…and sure enough guess where we ended up? Back on the freeway!

We made it to the hotel, got ready for our white water rafting trip and headed to the meeting place. It would have been handy if Left Turn could give us directions to the nearest parking. Caught the bus and passed the trip to the rafting location by chatting with the tour guide and deciding we should start introducing ourselves as “Al” and “Berta”. The rafting trip…well it just didn’t really cut it for this adrenaline junkie…but we made best of it lol!

That night we attended a student mixer at a lounge in downtown Denver. Turned out from the rooftop patio we could see the Coors Stadium where the Rockies were playing…in was really beautiful in the evening light. The organizer of the mixer had also hired a couple of country dance instructors to give lessons to those who wanted. They were fantastic dancers, never seen anything like it!

After the mixer, we decided to practise our moves at an establishment next door where we continued to mingle and met this 43 year old grandma who I seriously thought was my age. She was from Greeley where they ‘kill cows’. Still giggling about that one.

July 11, 2010
Michelle woke up feeling like hell this morning, I felt fantastic…even showed her my new ‘line dancing’ moves. I think she wanted to kill me.

We headed to the conference center to register, grabbed our conference packages and decided to do a little downtown touring. We ended up at this awesome pet store where I was able to get the collar I wanted for Neena. SO excited!

Stopped for lunch at this burger place…was delicious! Later we took in a movie (Grown Ups) and some shuffleboard at a David & Buster’s. Us gals are surprisingly good at shuffle board…

July 12, 2010
This morning Michelle let me sleep (left me a love note saying she couldn’t wake my “pretty face”) and headed to the conference to present her poster. Temple Grandin stopped to talk to her about her research…pretty cool!

Plan A that night was…well it’s a super long story…essentially we crashed an alumni event and got accused of ‘browsing’. It was both VERY embarrassing and VERY funny. And to top it off, for a door prize we won Texas A&M POULTRY tee’s…*nose wrinkle*.

So instead…as Michelle puts it, we “took in the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Denver, Colorado, United States of America”.

The night started out kind of slow…at one point Michelle wanted to leave…I convinced her we just had to “ride it out”. And we did. Alberta Girl Style!!!

On a side note…this is how sheltered my little life has been…until this trip, I had no clue what beer pong was. Fun game…especially when you have a gal pal who will always bail you out!

To Be Continued....