1st Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Grant and I are laying low today and just enjoying our first Christmas married. We figured this may be our first Christmas just the two of us. We woke up bright and early to open presents, Grant made pancakes, then we watched "Christmas Vacation." After being lazy for a while, we made dinner. Grant roasted a chicken and i made hash brown Casserole. To finish off, we had pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream.

...and many more

We made it 6 months. We can no longer qualify for an annulment, it would be a legit divorce now. Not that the thought of that ever crosses my mind, but Grant's mom did make a mention of that soon after we got married, that we only have 6 months if we don't want it to get expensive to split up. Grant and I never speak of divorce, the word never leaves our mouths. Before our wedding, we read "The Love Dare" which opened our eyes to the weakness of relationships and how to make your marriage "fire proof." I would strongly recommend this book to any couple.
Anyway, enough with my tangent. Being married is amazing, I can't believe its been 6 months already. It feels like it was last weekend.

Photo by LPA

I thank God everyday for allowing us to have such an amazing life.

Shredding '09-'10

So it begins. Today was the first day of snowboard season 2009-2010. We woke up bright and early, packed our lunches, loaded up all of our gear and headed to Red Lodge Mountain. This will be my eighth season on the slopes and Grant's second. I've some what slowed down on my board. After bruised ribs, concussions, and bruised spleen, I realized the trophies and glory weren't worth my health especially at such a young age. Now I just strictly cruise down the hill, no more rails, jumps, or tricks. Now that Grant is getting more confident on his board, he's wanting to jump and doing some daring things. I just give him advice I learned the hard way, sit back, and watch (or cringe when he falls). Thankfully he's not above wearing a helmet to protect his brain.

Grant did very well today, only a few tumbles but he got right back up.

I'm so excited about this season, its going to be so much fun! While looking at my lift tickets from last year on my coat, I found the latest one, April 5th, so if the weather cooperates we'll be hitting the slopes for a solid 5 months again this year!

Thanksgiving.

Well this is it... Our first holiday with out any family, only the two of us.
Last Thanksgiving my dad flew out and spent a few days with us and Grant flew to Michigan to be with me and my family on Christmas. We even drove back to Michigan for Easter this past spring. So its just me and him. For Her, this is the norm, but for us, its a first. Sure we will miss our families but its nice to be on our own, as husband and wife. Oh, but no fears, we were asked weeks ago to attend the Mickelson Thanksgiving, so we will not be missing the meal! We were asked to bring some food, it makes us feel so grown up!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Home?

I wrote this first part about 4 months ago:
Moving to Wyoming was the best decision I've ever made. I graduated college, met my husband, and started my life over. Since moving here a year ago, I've lived in the dorms at NWC, with Grant in Powell, and finally in our rented house in Lovell. Recently we've been really debating on buying a house in Lovell or not. We love it here, its home to us now, but we're not sure if we want to be tied down here. When in Lovell and I say "home" I'm referring to Mattawan, Michigan, and to Grant its Enoree, South Carolina. When either of us are at "the place our parents live" we refer to our Lovell as "home." We've both came to the conclusion that home doesn't mean that much to either of us. To some people home is everything, but for us, if we're together that's all that matters. Even if we decided to move "home" from our current residence, one of us would be away from our family. Moving to Michigan would be unfair to Grant, moving to South Carolina would not be home to me. Recently we've been house hunting pretty hard, trying to find a place that doesn't cost a fortune but is still nice. A part of me hopes we find one but in the back of my head there is Grant's voice, reminding me of how wonderful South Carolina truly is.

Update:
Now we've found a house we love and are waiting on the bank to get back with us about our loan. We dug ourselves out of a mountain of paper work and are excited about this whole process. The thoughts of staying or moving away are no longer present. We both love it here and want to start our family here. We would miss the mountains and the open land.

"Home is where the heart is"

Winter Wonderland

Last winter, I taught Grant how to snowboard and it was love at first (or maybe second) run. He became addicted. His birthday present this year was a new snowboard since his $5 board he bought off Ebay wouldn't suffice any more!

This past four days that Grant had off work, we decided to head up to the mountain and stretch our snow legs. I called my mom on the way to tell her where we were going and when she should expect another call, just in case something happened. We drove for about an hour before reaching the perfect spot, on the road up to The Medicine Wheel. We suited up and headed down the hill. We rode down the hill for about 2 minutes, which is a long time in snowboard time. We sat at the bottom for a while and enjoyed the beauty and the wonderful weather. We decided to start the hike back up the mountain (notice the hill just turned into the mountain). Neither of us realized how far we had gone down. It took us 2 solid hours to hike up, stopping many times to rest since the snow was knee deep. Upon reaching the truck we sucked down some Gatorade and decided to explore.

We had heard of a ski resort in the Big Horns but neither of us had seen it before. We drove farther down 14-A and at Burgess Junction we choose the less traveled route. After a few miles and moose later, we knew we had found the allusive "Antelope Butte."

The abandoned building gave a spooky feel, the giant moose and coyote tracks made us feel a little uneasy as well. (For a measly $225,000 you can buy the rights to this gem for a full year! You must however provide all road clearing and maintenance). After exploring for a little bit we decided we should leave when we heard snow mobiles coming, the "Property of The United States" signs posted all over the building made us feel less-than-welcome. We'll be back next year, the resort is scheduled to open!

Halloweenie

Unfortunately Grant has to work on the night of his favorite holiday. He'll wake up in time to help pass out candy to all of the neighborhood kids. It's probably a good thing he has to work because before we knew he had to work we had plans to buy really elaborate costumes, so we're saving money this way. Since he's working nights this week, he obviously has to sleep during the day. I guess for Halloween this year...he's Sleeping Beauty.

Old Man

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband.

Hope you enjoyed your surprise birthday party! Love You.

Sweet September

Whoa, September, where did you go? Its hard to believe its already October! September was a great month. We started out the month in Michigan enjoying time with the family. Upon returning to Wyoming, we went camping for a few days with the Mickelson family. We had so much fun spending time with our faux family. Grandma and Grandpa came over to Lovell the week, for a trip into the Pryor Mountains. Our adventure in Grandpa giant Ford dually was one to remember. Grandma got so excited about seeing a black bear with 3 cubs so couldn't take a picture. But the trip was well worth the horribly bumpy mountain road when we came into a valley full of wild mustangs. Nothing can beat the authentic feeling of "west" you get when you see wild horses running in a field in the mountains. This summer I has probably seen my grandparents more than in one year when I lived in Michigan. Now the times of going to Cody to visit them are over. Sitting at the good ole' Ponderosa campground people watching with my grandma, dinners with the Tucker family (even Clayton would make an appearance once and a while), and listening to the rodeo car drive by.
We celebrated my my 21st birthday near the end of the month. Since Grant had to work, he surprised me with a day at the spa. I got pampered all day, it was wonderful. After he got off work, we went to Cody for a nice little dinner, just Grant and I. While waiting for a table we walked to the bar and had my first free birthday drink, woo. We really celebrated in style by driving 7 hours down to the University of Wyoming, in Laramie and partied it up for the weekend.
The month ended on kind of a somber note when I came home from Laramie and had the worst sore throat. My mom and Grandma were staying at the house since grandpa left with the camper that weekend to head back to Michigan. Since I was sick, mom cut her trip short. Grant took me to the ER and I ended up having a nasty virus. Thankfully Grant had that whole next week off to take care of his sick wife.
This was by far the best summer of my life, enjoying our new life together.

Me...Take It or Leave It

I've...
stayed out too late and gotten up too early, done things I'm not proud of, thought I was in love, been lazy, made big mistakes, cared what others think, cried myself to sleep, partied too hard, wasted opportunities, seen things I wouldn't wish on anyone, overreacted, laid friends to rest, been so jealous its made me sick, lied, learned you can't change people who don't want to change, been depressed, got mad over stupid things, worried too much, been so scared I peed my pants, procrastinated, been ashamed, taken people for granted, gotten in trouble, never done drugs, realized you can't change the past, made bad decisions, hurt people's feelings, had my feelings hurt, broke hearts and had mine broken, made my parents proud, done things people can only dream about, stopped to take pictures, gained friends and lost ones I was very close to, fallen madly in love, married my best friend.





I've been kicked down and been on top of the world.

Move On and Shut Up

While sitting at my computer and looking at facebook and other social networking sites, I see peoples views about the past. I wonder if all you can talk about is the past, then why did you leave it, why did you change the way things were? I had a boyfriend/fiance for 5 years and I don't talk to him nor do I talk to anyone in his family. When we broke up that was it, we haven't spoke since. I left him in the past. I just can't understand how people can be so hung up on the past, clinging to every memory they had. Sure I have plenty of memories from my childhood and high school, but they don't include my ex. I've moved on in my life, got married and I'm making new memories with Grant. I don't sit around and think about things that happened with my ex. I do miss some of the friends and (his) family I lost when we went our separate ways, but I knew that was a loss I was going to endure. We (past friends and family) were around eachother almost everyday so we all became very close, so I can't understand how people who barely saw eachother can still, especially againts others wishes, keep in contact....loneliness is the only thing I can think of.
If all you think about is the past, how can you move on?

"Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Love this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed." -Wayne Dyer

Smitten With The Mitten

Grant and I made our way back to Michigan for our third and final wedding reception. On the way I got very well reacquainted with my old friend Concerta, which helped me make it through the night driving. Leaving at 7 P.M. was not a very wise choice but its what we had to do to get there in time for our reception. I saw the biggest bucks of my life on the east side of Wyoming, which would all scare the dickens out of me when I saw them. My co-pilot wasn't really much help, seeing how he slept almost the whole way. Twenty-two hours later, we made it home on Friday at 9 P.M. to find everyone else returning to the house at the same time. Grant and my parents had been "bonding" all day. After catching up and the parents spliting a big a bottle of wine which caused even more bonding. Since I drove the whole way I was exhausted and ready to go to bed, but we still had someone missing. We waited up until 11 and then Grant's friend, Chris, finally made it to my parents house. We finally went to bed after 36 hours of being awake. The next morning we awoke to find a heap of tasks that had to be done before the party. Then before we knew it, the party was in full swing. Seeing people I hadn't seen since my graduation party, reconnecting with friends and having so much of my family was amazing. Ten of my first cousins made it, and we counted that that 9 more couldn't make it, I love having a big family. After too much food, cake, and numerous times getting asked when we're going to have babies, the party was finally over. The rest of the trip went by too fast and we spent a majority of it catching up on sleep and hanging out with my wonderful friends and family.

Pure Disappointment

Since we've known each other, Grant has been trying to get me to watch Fargo, a movie about a husband who plans the kidnapping of his wife. It was a pretty good movie, but during the whole film I could hardly stop my self from laughing at the horrible accents the actors had. I'm from Michigan and traveled all over the state and neighboring states and I have never heard such ridiculous accents. Yes, people do have these accents, but not to the horrible extreme the movie portrays. Another horrible disappointment to me was the fact that they had a message at the beginning of the movie that's says its a true story, but while watching the extra features, the Coen brothers reveal that its not a true story and they made that up so people who get into the movie more....Lame.

New Addition

So in the last few weeks, Grant's trusted Montero Sport began to get "sick" as we called it. The engine was making weird noises and we knew it was about to die. After weeks of discussion, Grant and I decided we needed to trade in "Monte" and get something new. We decided we wanted to get a small truck. So today we found the truck we both loved! Its an '06 Chevy Colorado.

Baby Blues

So I'm a big sucker for really lame MTV shows. My newest addiction is 16 and Pregnant. They usually consist of a girl in high school who gets pregnant and it just shows the struggle with pregnancy and then the first few months of the babies life. Most of the couples keep their baby, with no money nor any knowledge about life or babies. Sitting at home tonight while Grant is at work, I watched one about a couple from Michigan. They both came from broken homes and his dad actually married her mom a couple of years after the kids starting dating...really weird. These kids did the most grown up thing, they decided to give their baby up for adoption. They came to the conclusion that they could not provide an adequate home. They made this decision against their parent's will. Their parents kept telling them to keep the baby, but the kids insisted they couldn't provide for the baby. They picked a couple who could provide a much better life. When they went in for a sonogram, the boy just kept reassuring his girlfriend that the baby is going to have a better life. A couple of days before the baby came, the boy wrote a letter to his daughter, that was the first time this show made me cry. The letter told how he would always love her, but she needed a better life. Once she went into labor the adoptive parents came to the hospital in anticipation of their new baby. When the baby came, the real parents just held each other around the neck, neither of them wanted to see the baby...the second time I cried. They eventually decided to hold their baby...the third tear session. When they handed their baby off to her new parents, they adoptive mother gave the birth mom a bracelet that said "always in my heart." (by this time I was fully crying) The adoptive mother got 3 of the bracelets made, one for each of them, including the baby, so they can always have a reminder of each other. If you happened to see this show one TV, if you're wanting a good tear jerker, defiantly watch this episode!

No Longer a Teenager!

Happy Birthday to my best friend, Kristen! She is the best friend anyone could ask for! I love her so much!

She's finally not a teenager any more! Plus its her golden birthday...20 years old on the the 20th!

Mom's Visit

Whoa! The last month has been crazy! On June 25th, my mom came to visit for almost 3 weeks! We had a blast while she was here. We celebrated Lovell Days by watching the parade, cookouts and the most amazing fire works I've ever seen! We drove her up into the mountains to see some of the beautiful scenery. We saw wild mustangs playing in the snow. It was amazing. We spent many days doing such fun things. The best time for all of us was going on the cattle drive with Grant's friend, JT. We had to go into the mountains with 4-wheelers and horses to move 600 cows and calves almost 3 miles to a new pasture. It was a day I'll never forget. We got to covered in mud and cow pies, most of which stained our clothes. My mom went and stayed with my Grandma in Cody for a few days over the 4th, she said she was intruding on Grant and I, but we were always happy to have her stay with us. We had a great fourth, we spent it with Grant's friend, JT's family, who is the nicest, most accepting family. They invite us to everything because we don't have any family out here and they have practically adopted us. After a few days without mom, we drove over to Cody, and the three of us visited Ole' Bob. We had planned on going on a trail ride, which Grant and I had done a few times. There was a lack of wranglers so we ended up taking a 2 hour trail ride. We got a 20 dollar tip, so we actually got paid to take a ride! The first night my mom got here, Grant had a softball game and then she made it to the next 2. It was nice to have her around. She's coming back out in September, who knows what kind of adventures we'll have then!

This is us after a LONG day of moving cows! My 2 favorite people in the world!

Bright Sun-Shiny Day

You have to love the wonderful South Carolina sunshine! I can't help but laugh every time I look at this picture. It brings back memories about how bright it was that day.

Thanks LaPo for taking such wonderful and candid pictures!

Big Boy

The picture below is from Sept. 2008 when Grant was...bigger



This picture is Grant in May 2009 the day before our wedding.
I can't believe the difference, he doesn't even look like the same person! People ask him how he lost all of the weight and he says he fell in love.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

For the last two weeks since we've been married I've been trying to think of a great blog to write about the wedding and the week following the big event. I've finally realized the reason I have such writers block is because the whole week went so fast and was a blur. Honestly, the only thing I remember about the ceremony was when the ring was a little tight and I had to push really hard to get it on Grant's finger. Oh yeah and the kids in the pool down the hill who were playing Marco-Polo loud enough for everyone on the side of the mountain to hear...I guess every wedding has some memory! Looking at the pictures of the reception I really don't remember any of it. I think I was just way too happy and excited for it all to sink it. The only real bridezilla moment I had, which wasn't bad at all, was because the groomsman's vests didn't match and Grant's shirt was white and everyone else's were ivory, the color of my dress. After a few deep breaths and swapping of vests everything went fine. I got complimented by a couple of the boys on how well I kept my cool. I think my mom had a lot more stress than me and she really showed it! The thing that stressed her out so much was that my hair wasn't even done at 11:30 for our noon wedding! By that time I was too exhausted from all the stress of the day before to even care, I just knew we were going to get married regardless of what time it was!



We spent the next week just relaxing at the beach but by Wednesday we were ready to be back at our home in Lovell! Grant was in a wedding the weekend after ours so we had to stay down at the beach. The wedding he was in probably cost 5 times the amount our did, but at the end of the day, they are just as married as we are!



We had a beautiful wedding and reception(s). I want to thank everyone who had helped in any way! My parents, grandma, Grant's parents and sister were the biggest helps by far we could never repay them for everything they did for us! A special thanks to Lauren for taking such wonderful pictures the day after the wedding! But there were countless amounts of people who made our big day perfect!














A happy marriage is a new beginning of life, a new starting point for happiness and usefulness.

- Dean Stanley

The Gangs of Lovell

Yesterday while driving in Lovell, Grant and I saw 4 boys riding their bikes off of a ramp behind Red Apple, the local grocery store. It made us think back to our childhoods and tell stories about crashing our bikes. As we drove on we saw another group of young boys riding their mountain bikes by the church. Grant made the comment about there being bike gangs made up of children in Lovell. He made up names for the different gang, the boys behind the grocery store was the punk bmx bike gang and the other boys were the mountain bike gang. We then starting noticing the abundance of kids that ride bikes in groups in this small little town! The little boy with training wheels that lives down the road is in training to be in a gang, but he needs to lose the helmet first. Sitting at dinner table, looking out of the window we noticed the girl that lives across the road, who is probably 8 years old, rides around with her stuffed animal and her little friends who all wear matching clothing, they are the pink ladies. Finally there is baseball boys. They are straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. This gang is made up of 3 members, they ride their bikes around in cut off jean shorts, little white t-shirts, their baseball caps, their baseball mitts dangling from their handle bars, and classic chuck high tops.

Lovell is the cutest, safest, and friendly town I have ever lived in. There are no parents to be seen with all of these kids on bikes, there is no worries about bad people, plus there is about 10 police cars patrolling the town all day.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

This saying has never been so true. I spent practically the whole month of April stressing hardcore about school, graduating, the wedding, my parents coming to visit and so much more. But now May has come and is blooming. I've got one more final which I'm not worried about, I'm graduating Northwest College with a degree in Natural Resource Biology, the wedding is in 2 weeks, my parents made it here safely and are having fun on their short vacation. Everything is falling into place. I'm so ready to be done with school and to be married. This summer is going to be such a blast with my new husband, my grandparents (who stay in Cody all summer) and my mom coming out for a couple of weeks!



"The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

*Update* It's all done...I'm graduated!

Say Yes To The Dress

Sitting in the living room, listening to Grant sleeping in the room, worrying if his fever will ever break, I'm watching the show "Say Yes To The Dress" where women go to this giant wedding dress store and fuss over price, style, and if they look good in the numerous dresses they try on. A woman came on who brought 3 male friends from college with her to pick out her dress, the show made it a big deal that she brought men. Her explaination was perfect, men aren't like girls about what looks good. Guys aren't afraid to tell you if something looks bad...they are just honest because they know you won't get mad at him.

I never really thought about it until I saw it on TV, that having a guy pick out your wedding dress with you was a big deal. My mom nor anyone in my bridal party could not help me pick my dress since they are all 1500 miles away. I actually had a really close guy friend come with me to pick out my dress. I had the same thought about it as the lady on the show...he was going to be dead honest; he was, I got the most beautiful wedding dress. I wasn't the first girl that he helped pick out a dress, he actually picked out his brother's fiance's (now wife) dress. I would suggest to anyone having a male help you pick out your wedding dress!

Only The Good Die Young

This should have been written on April 15th...

You, Aaron, and Morgan came to the hospital when I was born, Carol brought all of you because just like every weekday until I was 6, she would watch all four of us while our parents were at work. I'll never forget all the times we would spend all day swimming in the pool and then going and laying on the blacktop driveway to warm up. You and Aaron would tell me scary stories, that still to this day freak me out if I think about them. All the nights we spend "camping out" in your back yard, playing in the woods, sledding down the huge hill at Pinkley's, Awanas on Wednesday night at church, and so many other childhood memories that I could never forget. Even when we moved away, we still would see eachother often, even as we got older there was always a bond.You had a huge impact on my childhood and you and your brother Aaron were my first friends.

I'll never forget the day in 8th grade when I got off the bus to have my mom meet me in the front yard, which was rare. When she walked up and gave me a hug I could tell she had been crying and something was horribly wrong. When she said "there was an car accident and Bradley is dead." I couldn't beleive it I felt my stomach drop and my heart sank. I burried my head into my mom's chest and cried. I was almost in shock, two of my grandparents had died and I didn't feel this way because it was kind of expected, they were sickly. But this was a total surprise, a young man should not die. At your funeral, my dad was talking to your mom and I'll never forget what she said "it feels like a part of my heart is missing." Your funeral was so hard, the hardest part was when my dad started crying and put his arms around me and Morgan, as if to embrace us as he realized how precious life was.

Your time on this Earth was over on April 15, 2003. God wanted you to come back to him, you had fulfilled your duty. I know that you are protecting all of us and watching over us. I know when we get to Heaven, you'll be there.

R.I.P. Bradley Paul Stauffer.

On The Road Again

I never thought that I would ever find someone that was as spontaneous as I was. Well, I did and I'm marrying him.
Last Monday, April 6th, Grant found out that when he got off work on Thursday, April 9th, he didn't have to go back for a week. I had Friday through Tuesday off of school as well. Being the crazy couple we are, we decided to drive to Michigan to see my family for Easter. At 6pm on Thursday we took off in my car and headed across country for the 1500 mile drive...oh man. We made it to Rapid City, SD when we had to stop and sleep, we obviously are getting older and can't drive all night, even though I did it alone in January. Getting back on the road at 7 am Friday morning, only 40 miles away from Wall Drug...Grant just had to stop there, even though I warned him it wasn't worth the time...he agreed after we left. We drove ALL day and didn't get home until 1 am on Saturday morning. My mom was waiting up for us and was so excited when we pulled in.

We spent Saturday visiting with friends and family. Sunday was a beautiful sunny Easter, which was spent with my wonderful family. Monday we spent a day relaxing, getting rested for the long drive ahead of us. At 6am on Tuesday we packed the final things into my car and took off. I drove all day and by the time we crossed the Wyoming state line we were both exhausted and couldn't keep our eyes open. We decided to find a hotel and stay the night and drive the rest of the way in the morning. We got to Gillette...and every hotel with rooms under $100 were completely full. With no other options we continued to drive. Singing songs, telling stories, anything to try to stay awake. We made it to Buffalo at 12:30 a.m. and couldn't stand it any longer. Staying at some random hotel that had a queen bed and then a twin bed separated by a half wall and the smallest bath room I've ever seen. We left the "far-from-Hilton" hotel early Wednesday morning. We crossed the horribly snow covered mountain and got home at 10am. I had a quick shower and got ready, I had to be at school at noon.

People ask why we would drive all that way for just 3 days of being in Michigan? Our answer...so we wouldn't we bored. We're so spontaneous and perfect for each other.



This is the only picture with eachother we took the whole trip. This is at the Mississippi River.








"We were a lot of things...but we weren't crazy"

"Make New Friends, But Keep The Old"

Best friend...what does that really mean? I always thought it was someone who would do anything for you and you would do anything for them, you loved being around eachother, could tell secrets...and most of all no matter how far apart you are, you still remain friends. Since moving to Wyoming, my best friend, Kristen, and I are still best friends and talk all the time.

My senior year of high school I had a wonderful best friend and we always said we would remain friends forever. The following fall she left for college and that was about the last time anyone from home ever heard from her. She always would say that she wanted to get out of our small town and never look back, I always supported her because I wanted to do the same thing. I went to college and lived at home for a year and she moved only an hour away and went to college. She was the only one in our group of friends who left (right after high school). It seemed once she left, she was WAY too cool for any of her Mattawan friends. As the months went on the calls and texts became less and less. Even when she was home for the summer, we only hung out a handful of times. Since I've moved to Wyoming I've only talked to her maybe 5 times! I just figured she was busy with school and life. When all the wedding talk came about and Grant proposed, I called her in hopes of excitement. Nothing. She didn't seem happy at all, not that she was mad or upset, she just didn't seem to care. I called her later that month and asked if she'd be out of school in time to be able to make it down to the wedding, "I'll be out of school, but its a long drive and I don't think I want to go that far!" Keep in mind that 4 of my other friends and most of my family is making the drive to Tennessee. I was heartbroke, how could my best friend in high school say that she didn't want to drive 9 hours to my wedding, the most important day of my life?! I'm not the only one who is getting this treatment, all of our other friends say the same things, "she seems stuck up, she doesn't return my calls, she has her new college friends now"
Well you moved and hour away, and I moved 1500 miles away...and yet I still manage to stay in touch with my high school friends...its not that hard.

I'm truely blessed that I have kept my true friends and glad I'm marrying my true best friend.



"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget."

You and Me Going Running In The Dark

Ever since I can remember I have been scared of the dark. If I'm climbing stairs, I run up them really fast because I'm scared someone is behind me. I always have to have a light on if its dark outside. Its actually a blessing in disguise, having this chronic fear actually lead to me and Grant's relationship, but that's another story.
One night, when Grant was working 2nd shift, he got home at 11 like usual. We sat in the kitchen and talked for a while and then decided to go to bed. I started walking to the bedroom while Grant was still taking care of things in the kitchen. I knew what he was going to do and of course he did it. I knew he was going to turn off the kitchen light before I could make it to the bedroom. On top of that, he made a growling noise because he knows that really freaks me out. Upon me screaming, he realized he had made a mistake and starting running toward me to comfort me. Not knowing that he was running towards me, I starting running toward him...BOOM!!! My 120 pound body was no match to his 200 pounds. You know that flash you see when you hit your head on something...I saw my first flash when we hit each other. Needless to say I flew, literately flew through the air and proceeded to land on my right hip/butt cheek area. I didn't stop when I landed on the floor, I slid...on carpet. The whole time I was the 10 feet, I was thinking "oh no, oh no, I know there is a wall coming up soon!" Not only was it the wall, it was the door frame, which was when I saw my second impact flash, when the back of my head hit. Laying in the hallway in some what of shock of what just happen and crying from the pain, I heard Grant frantically saying my name and asking if I was alright...You have to remember there are still no lights on at this point. For some reason Grant crawled to my side, I'm not sure why he crawled! He reached up at turned the light on to find me curled up in a ball holding the back of my head. By the tone of his voice, I think he thought he had killed me when he repeatedly asked if I was okay. I couldn't talk...not because of my head injury, but because I was laughing/crying so hard. Once he saw I was laughing, he joined in. We sat on the floor and laughed until our stomachs hurt (or drooled in Grant's case). My head still felt like it was getting ripped apart because it was swelling so much so fast. After the bag of frozen okra Grant got to stop the swelling, we finally made it to bed.



"Pain is deeper than all thought; Laughter is higher than all pain" -Elbert Hubbard

I know my dad's name is John and so is yours...but you're not my dad!

My Thursdays consist of Intro to Literature at 9:25- 10:50, then Biological Research at 1-1:50 and then Ecology Lab at 2:25-4:15. I have the same teacher for the two later classes. I have him for another class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm around this guy a lot! Well he's the kind of teacher that really cares about certain students but has a very funny way of showing it. He is blatantly rude some times. Well today during the 35 minute break between the last two classes he told me that I have a lot of knowledge that I don't put to use and am very inconsistent in class. He proceed to inform me that I pay attention some days and not at all other days....honestly name one person who can pay attention to a 50 minute long lecture three times a week and not get distracted sometimes! Earlier in the year he informed me about a job position in Cody. I decided not to apply for it since I have 20 credit hours and I really need to graduate this Spring. He told me today that I wasted a wonderful opportunity by passing up this job and he felt insulted that I didn't apply. I proceeded to explain to him my situation and he came back with "Studies show that when people have jobs when they are in school, then tend to do better in school." Sorry old man, I just didn't want to have the stupid job! He asked why my test scores are sometimes really low and I said "honestly, its because I don't study enough, I get lazy and don't do all the readings." He said something under his breath and walked out of the room.

It's my life, if I don't want to take a job that's my decision, if I don't study for a test and do poorly on it, I'm the one that suffers the bad grade. I know he cares and wants me to go far in life but he doesn't have to call me dumb.

Okay enough venting for one day...please forgive me.


"Stupid is as stupid does"

If Heaven Ain't A Lot Like Dixie, Then I Don't Want To Go

After missing our plane out of Nashville to Charlotte, not sleeping since thursday night (and it was saturday night), taking a Greyhound bus to Knoxville, meeting Grant's long time friend and having him drive us 3 hours to South Carolina, we finally made it to Enoree...

We pulled into 210 Service Dr. at 8:55 a.m. on Sunday morning to find Big Daddy Mitch in his robe still laying in bed (Grant's mom was gone for the weekend down celebrating LaPo's Birthday). He wasn't expecting us home for another 12 hours because Grant had neglected to tell him we were taking the bus. After a quick hug and introduction, Grant and I changed out of our fried bologna smelling clothes and brushed our teeth. We made it to church 10 minutes late, just in time to catch the infamous Ma-Ma before she went back to the nursery. Lack of sleep and church do not mix, Grant and I both didn't dare to close our eyes, not even during prayer, because we would have fallen asleep. After the final prayer, it seemed like every person in the church came over to see Grant and to meet his future wife. Out of all of those people, I really only remember one, Tom, the man who seemed abnormally tall. After church, we laid down for a much needed nap. Awakening only to the sound of a lamp falling...with Grant's guilty arm still resting on the now empty nightstand. As soon as we woke, Ma-Ma was there to pick us up because she had made us sunday dinner. I honestly had not eaten that much good food in my life. Upon returning, A golf cart ride was in order, but the rain prevented Mitch from giving me the whole tour....my heart was broken. After my first experience at "Little Cricket" (which wasn't as cool as Grant described it), we went to meet PaPa and Grandma (Grant's dad's parents), Papa, who was watch the PBR like usual, was impressed by my knowledge of farming and animals. Grandma showed me all of her pictures of her family in the house...Oh the house, I love that house. My favorite part of visiting his grandparents was when Grant and PaPa were talking about the Civil War and Grandma (who is from New York) interrupted them and said "Yeah, but who won the war?" and looked over and winked at me...it was a total Yankee connection. After many comments about all the weight Grant has lost and questions about Michigan crops we said our good byes. Returning back to the house, there was another member of the family eagerly awaiting...to take as many pictures of me and Grant as she could. Aunt Candy is probably one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met, she is genuinely a sweetheart. Then about the time we were ready to crash and sleep, Grant's mom finally showed up. I was happy to finally meet my future mother-in-law

After the first day, the days after that all seemed to blend together... We drove to Tennessee to visit the wedding chapel, drove to Charleston, met more family (who are all amazing and very nice people), got to see the places Grant had planned to ask me to marry him (but he couldn't wait until then), rode around with Mitch and got the history of Enoree while Grant was getting his hair cut, hung out with the Stewart clan, eat food I didn't know existed, see Palmetto trees, explore the U.S.S. Yorktown, getting asked for $17 dollars at a rest stop by a creepy man, getting an all day golf cart tour of the farm, losing my cell phone and having Grant smooch it into the mud, shooting "The Boy", having Mitch obsess about how small and pretty my hands are, playing with the baby goats and babe the pig, lovin' on "Boo-Boo" and "Ching-Ching," eating at Grant's favorite Mexican resturant with more of his family, but most of all I got to spend time with and learn more about my future husband.

So all in all...
I had never been called a Yankee so many times in my whole life.
I don't know how to fill a plate at a buffet...southern people love to eat.
A way to Mitch's heart is to shoot a gun accurately.
I'll never be able to understand Mitch....he has too many thoughts running through his head at once.
Northern South Carolina's landscape isn't much different than Southern Michigan.
Grits come with every meal you order at any resturant.
I don't want to ever move away from Wyoming


"All Because Two People Fell In Love"

The Things I Love About Wyoming

-Boys think they have to dress like cowboys to be cool
-Girls think they have to either dress like California or...just like the boys
-When people have sweet systems in their cars...P.S. you live in Wyoming
-The MS-13 tag on the billboard in Cody
-Everyone chews tobacco...even if they don't like it, its just the thing to do
-Mormans are everywhere!
-When little trucks haul huge amounts of hay in the bed and can barley move
-You better drive a diesel or you're not cool
-No one has a barn for their hay...they just leave it bailed in the field, because it never rains
-Driving 500 miles is a day trip
-A girl's life story: Graduate high school, get married, have kids all by the age of 19
-Everyone thinks they are ranchers, but the number one employer is Walmart
-Two types of people: the ones who know everything about nature and animals, or the ones that know nothing...no in between
-The wind never stops blowing...somewhere in the state there are 70 MPH winds right now
-Even the really prissy girls are really really rough
-The nearest mall is an hour an a half away
-When a town's population is less that it's altitude
-It's still in style to wear your pants up to your belly button
-The men are all under 6 foot, and the woman are built like tanks

No but really... What I really do love about living here
-People are very genuine
-Rodeo is a way of life...which is new to me
-The mountains...waking up to such beauty everyday is a blessing
-The sun is usually always shining which is abnormal to me, especially in the winter
-The lack of people
-Wide open spaces to do whatever you please
-Living in a town that actually cares about it's residents
-The friends I've made would do anything for anyone
-Be able to not spend a dime and have so much fun
-Most of all- I met the man of my dreams here


"No matter how hard you try, Lauren, You'll always be able to tell you're not from Wyoming...You don't fill out your jeans like the girls out here do and you're way too pretty" -Dad