Posting

I never have anything very exciting to post, plus I don't really think anyone really reads this blog anyway, ha ha... maybe if I had kids it would be more interesting to read... oh well, Matt and I are just boring. :)

I LIED!!!!

I totally lied about the "beauty" of Laramie. I HATE it and the crazy weather. Yesterday we had rain, hail, lightening, thunder, wind, snow, sun, and (best of all) TORNADOES!!!! Stupid Laramie, tornadoes are one of my biggest fears! I was in class in the basement of the classroom building at the time and we all were gathered together in the hallways, but Matt was in our 2nd story apartment, ONE BLOCK away from the Jr. High School where an equipment shed was blown to shreds and took many trees, fences, and goal posts with it. There were a few tornadoes really close to my inlaws house and lots of stop lights are out. The one closest to their house still has the polls, but no lights except one that is wrapped around the poll. And there are a TON of trees down in that area, torn up by the roots or broken in half and hanging out on top of houses. There was a ton of rain coming down yesterday and the day before, so the weight of the water on the trees and the soft ground probably didn't help out in the fate of those trees. And to top things off, we don't have power and probably won't for a few days due to downed power lines. I'm at the university right now cause they have power (bummer cause I had to go to class). So, bottom line, Laramie BITES. :) We were actually pretty lucky though cause Windsor Colorado got hit pretty bad and as far as I know no one was hurt in Laramie. But still, it was scary, and it's really annoying to not have power. It makes me count my blessings and think about maybe actually getting some food storage... but on the other hand, we do have a propane camp stove, and I could eat a few things on that. :) Good thing I'm going to Lyman today where I will have power, but where I'll have to boil my drinking water... I'll post some pictues of the damage later.

Bike Safety

I have this friend, and her name is Sarah. She's a great person, but sometimes klutzy. People make fun of her for it sometimes, which is sad, but when I do it's totally out of love and she should know that by now. So the other day, while Matt and I were on our adventure, I didn't have my phone and when we got back there were two missed calls and a text from Sarah. The text basically said that she got hit by a car on her bike but she was ok. I kinda freaked out for a second, but remembered that she was ok and called her. The poor girl was doing nothing wrong but a car hit her while she was crossing the street at an intersection and it was turning right; the guy didn't even see her til they hit. She thought he saw her, so she kept going. Not her fault and it didn't happen cause she's a klutz. But still, if anyone would have asked me before this happened which one of my friends was most likely to get hit by a car, I would have said Sarah. :) If she reads this she may think that I only wrote it cause she was talking about it today, but I actually saw a guy almost get hit today on his bike, but he was being dumb so it would have been his fault. So I wanted to comment on general bike safety. :) She has some bumps and bruises, but over all she's ok cause she was wearing a helmet and close toe shoes. Way to go! Everyone remember to be SAFE! hee hee

The Unspoken Beauty Surrounding Laramie

I started summer classes and work yesterday, so it was a pretty long day. So when Matt came home from work at around 5:30 and wanted me to go "help" him catch a fish, I thought it would be nice and relaxing.
We drove about 20 miles outside of Laramie (kinda toward Cheyenne) to Curt Gowdy State Park. There's a reservoir there so I thought we'd just go and fish, but Matt had other plans. We started to hike. I really do like hiking, and it looked like a pretty easy trail so I went with it even though I didn't plan on strenuous activities. The trail went up above the reservoir, and it was really pretty to look down on the water. After hiking for awhile, we saw a little trail map nailed to a post and saw that the one we were on was 2 miles long, and ended at a "hidden falls." We both wanted to see it, so we decided that we could make the journey; 2 miles there, and 2 more miles back. Along the way we crossed a few neat bridges, identified trees (a fir is flat and friendly), climbed rocks, and heard animal sounds.

When we finally arrived at the hidden falls, it was a disappointment. Pretty I suppose, but alas, not what we thought it could be. So Matt decided we should climb up on top of the cliff to look down at the falls to see if it was more impressive.

That was the hardest part of the hike because it was just flat out climbing rocks, but the end result was worth it. I didn't take a picture of the falls from above, cause it just looked like a river, but the view was really pretty, and we had to climb pretty steep to get there. We're a lot higher than the pictures look, you have to kinda look at the trees down below to get perspective.

Matt climbing with me waiting on top. heh heh

At the top. Man I'm outa shape!

Next we headed down the path and about half way back when Matt stopped me and said "Mel! It's a bobcat!" I hurried, as quietly as I could, over to where he was hiking, and low and behold...! not a bobcat. BUT it was a cute little baby fox scampering away from us. I got out the camera, but it was too late and we couldn't find him again. Then Matt, being the outdoors man that he is, decided we should leave the trail and pave our own way back. It was pretty fun and not too hard but I was attacked by a couple of trees and small birds along the way. Then we (well, Matt) fished on the reservoir but didn't catch anything.

Matt always gets me out and about to hike, fish, climb around on Veadauwoo, (if you don't know what it is, google it) and other out doors things. I LOVE that about him, cause I'd be too lazy to do it on my own. I know that I love it when I get out there, but it's hard for me to be motivated. So it felt really good yesterday to get a 4 mile hike work out in (yay! met my goal) and see nature. I had no idea how beautiful it is around Laramie until I met Matt, and he has shown me a ton of it. I'm tired of people who think it's ugly, and if any of you still think it is, come visit and I'll show you that you just have to go 20 miles in almost any direction and you will find BEAUTY!

5K

Right now, Matt is happily running in a 5K race. He asked me yesterday if I would join him, and I said yes without really thinking. Then this morning when we woke up I realized that I haven't gone running in about a year, and that I didn't want to kill myself by either embarrassment or asphyxiation. Also, this race is a fundraiser for the local Junior High, so common sense tells me that I really shouldn't pay $20 to kill myself in public, even though it's probably for a good cause of some kind. So, much to his chagrin, I stayed home while he left and said he'd be back in a half hour... meaning he'd have to run the dang thing in less than that. Some of you are probably laughing at me because 3 little miles is really not life or death, but Matt doesn't run on a regular basis, so I'm proud of him and disappointed in myself. :) This has made me realize that I need to get back into the habit of exercise; I used to run 2 miles a day! Matt's dad, who will be 50 in a month, is also running in the race, along with Matt's younger siblings, Brad and Mary, ages 9 and 11. They actually would have KICKED my trash, but seriously, if they can all do it, what's wrong with me?! New goal: go running at least once a week! :)

My Hair

So I decided awhile ago that I wanted to chop off all my hair cause it was really starting to bug me. I asked my cousin-in-law, Megan, who cut her hair and she told me about Stefany Willie (who I happen to know from High School...) :) so I called her up and she said she'd come and do it. Well, when she got here on Tuesday I had no idea what I wanted. So she cut off about 5 1/2-6 inches and I thought that would be great. But even though she did a great job, I wanted something more drastic so I called her back and she came back today and cut it again! She was really great about the whole thing. So here are some pictures of the process.

Before: (man I look attractive...)

After the first cut: (attractive again! yikes)
And the finished product! I LOVE it!

I'm officially a blogger!

ok here goes. i've decided to join the rest of the world and become a blogger! yay! so bear with me (anyone who may be reading this) 'cause it may take awhile for me to get used to this. :) and if anyone has tips or ideas, sharing them would be a great idea. ;)