My dear mother... and other things.

Well I am proud to say I figured out how to title posts! yay me. purpose of this blog is two fold.  1. It has been a week and I actually did a few things and 2. It is my beautiful mothers birthday and it seemed only fitting to do some real cheesy and completely embarrassing post about her and all that she means to me.

1.  This week was exciting. Last time I blogged, I mentioned that my aunt gave me a backpack and told me to go hiking so guess what? I did. Just like I said I would, and I actually enjoyed myself.  And I promised Michelle I would take pictures of myself (thank goodness for self timer, even though I felt like such a goober posing by myself at a camera that didn't even having a person pushing a button saying the traditional 'say cheese' (what does that even mean? why cheese?) I did it) so for some visual memory, here are a few of my favorites.

yay for self timer

guess where i found this?? a wildlife refuge.

super pretty

I found a bridge!

my day hike trail.

this is stitch. he was my hiking buddy.

Okay! So I went on two day hikes, one with the cute doggy to the right and one long day hike by myself which was actually real fun. [I would like to take this time to also thank my mother for teaching me how to pee in the woods, not easy to do, but thanks to a cabin property with no bathroom, I have learned how to use the woods.]  Ummm so yeah those were fun and I saw a couple animals, like birds. Besides hiking I am proud to say I spent multiple hours on the phone with Michelle, we had a lot to talk about after 3 weeks. I read the entire Hunger Game series which is a really big deal for me cuz I don't really like reading but I read three whole LONG books.  I did henna, on myself, it looks ugly, but I was bored and I wanted to try it.  I now appreciate the artistic skills of people and will leave it to them from now on.  I also helped my dear Kathleen Cotter from camp move to Helena, met Chef Erin's husband to be and ate dinner with a few other people from camp.  Plus more sleep, more tv and TOO MUCH caramel popcorn.  I was eating all healthy and now, I have consumed a lifetime supply of sugar. but it tasted real good.
 I'm actually heading to camp in about 15 minutes to face the awkward first dinner with core staff where everyone is sizing each other up and deciding whether or not to be nice to them, lucky for me I already know people so I get to watch other people try and fit in.  I'm so excited though! Here's to three days of super intense staff training before diving into camp!

2.  My MOTHER.  diane. thats her name. and to put it simply, she is cooler than any other mom. I could go off on a huge rant listing all the things I love about her but I would have to theme it off her age and the last thing I want to do is give away the fact that my mother is turning 53 today. So I will leave at this: I love my mom so much and am so grateful for the advice, experience and comfort she provides me with every day.  She puts up with so much from me and has never done anything but support and encourage my dreams.  She has taught me to work hard and play hard and enjoy even the little things in life.  I love the way she always smells like flowers and that her idea of fun in pulling weeds and doing science experiments.  She is so passionate about every thing anyone in my family is involved in.  I can't count the number of snowy and rainy soccer games, terrible concerts, and parent teacher conferences she has been to for me and my sisters.  I hope one day to be just like her. 

my mom is cooler than your mom.

HA! who knew I would write one blog and then not want to write any more?  Oh, I guess I knew but decided to try anyways. So here is my second blog straight from the cutest little coffee shop I could find in Missoula that actually has super amazing chocolate raspberry truffle frappuccinos and free wifi. yay!

I'll start with a quick run down of the past 5 days that have been spent crashing at my darling aunt and uncles house in Huson MT.  Not a very big place.  Their whole entire community is about 20 houses and dogs.  But they have been great to put up with me waking up at noon and eating the entire kitchen.  My aunt and uncle are super into healthy food, only problem with that: healthy food tastes gross. But what can I do? NOTHING. So besides secretly feeling myself loose weight because I'm actually eating food that is good for me, I'm enjoying myself. ( i am really not loosing weight, that is something my body is incapable of, but i like to think that way, it makes me feel better about eating dirt and trees).  Enough on that, haha I have literally spent like three of the five days so far in a cave in the basement of their house watching t.v. sleeping and reading.  Finally my aunt brought me a backpack and a map and told me to go on some hiking adventures (i think she was getting worried about me becoming a hermit) so i said "thank you, i will!" (thinking in my head...'tomorrow' heh heh) but i really am going to! I have some trails picked out and I am ready to go... tomorrow! So I have a backpack, a map that i have no idea how to read, a water bottle and a sandwich.  Hopefully I don't die.  And hopefully I wont get lost (way less probable for anyone who knows me, getting lost is a daily routine).  But I am doing it anyways because I have eight days left and I would feel pretty lame if all I did was sit and watch movies on HBO.   Besides doing that, my cousins who are just about as "BA" as they come have taken me rock climbing (i regret to say i am still a little nervous bouldering because of falling last year. dang it.) and then this weird game called folfing.... pretty much you go into the woods and throw mini frisbees twice as far as you would ever dream of throwing a normal frisbee and get them in a basket on the other side of the woods. (see video below for people folfing here in missoula... ignore the dog at the beginning... the basket is the yellow thing... and you have to throw it way farther than it looks to begin with) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61rWZpkIAtU

Needless to say I was REALLY BAD at it.  I ended up just chucking it as hard as I could and being proud of it moving twenty feet.  I like to pretend I am a natural Olympic athlete the first time I try anything but this was a "no. you are not." moment... (teen girl squad reference.) 


That's about it for me today.  A few other side notes... criminal minds is still my favorite tv show thanks to the crazy amount of channels offered at my temporary home. i need to spend zero money in the next eight months because i calculated my semester abroad and once I add everything up, its gonna be like $8,000 dollars (who can say lawn mowing and babysitting??).  Scholarships. cross my fingers one or two of those pull through. 


oh, and mom don't worry about me hiking alone, I know self defense.  and if I get lost I will just find a horse and shoot its face off thanks to the instruction of my friend Joe that eats horses.

Montana-
     One of the biggest states in the United States with one of the smallest populations... in the entire state there are 998,199 people. Compare that to the amount of people living just in salt lake city: 183,018 people--> okay so we have less but we are all smooshed into one city, they have a whole state. Total in Utah there are about three million people.  Point of all this:  i am going to a state that is arguably more populated by cows, buffalo, and red necks than people. ( side note: nothing against red necks- one of the best memories i have from last summer is having a jam session with a bunch of them at a local bar, they are awesome and i like them)

Gold Creek, Montana:
- a small town in south west montana...baha wikipedia calls it a ghost town.
        -population 227. men women and children.
        -86 houses. total.
       - there is one post office that is open once a week for a 3 hour window.
- apparently way back in the day it was sort of a big deal because of gold... but now, what puts this little "ghost town" on the map is an amazing place called Camp Mak-A Dream.

Camp Mak- A Dream-  I think the best way to describe this little piece of heaven is to start with the text book answer to the question "what is camp mak- a dream?"

  It is a medically supervised, cost-free Montana experience, in an intimate community setting, for children, young adults and families affected by cancer. 

In a little bit more detail, this is a camp that brings people from all over the country together under a common condition of being effected by cancer.  There are 6 camps over the summer where different age groups ranging from about 6 years old to 30 years old get the chance to come and get away.  For a week they get to push limits by doing ropes courses, horse back riding, swimming, fishing, dancing, singing, doing crafts and making friends. 


whooooooohhh dont be jealous that i am spending the summer there. more on what i am doing up there later but i will start the count down to montana---- 4 days!