Tis the season...

My favorite time of year has arrived - Christmas season! So far it has been busy with work and school but after this week I'll be finished with classes till January and work will only take away 16 hrs a week. My friends from college get home at some point this week and my friends that are here in school get out next Thursday. I can't wait to have cozy Christmasy nights with friends and family. Hot chocolate, a christmas movie perhaps, and being cozy inside while winter rages on outside. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Eloise cracks me up on a daily basis.

Kyle and I had one of those Christmasy nights last week, except no movie and we freezed a bit outside to take these pictures. We cooked dinner together, started doing a panda (!!!) puzzle, then set out with a big thermos of hot chocolate, parked somewhere we could enjoy the winter scenery, and drank the hot chocolate. We talked and then took these pictures. It was a really fun night.

And now, I'm off to study for finals...

Fall=Fun!

I've been slacking in the picture department lately, but for the most part life has consisted of work, school, and friends and family squeezed in between. However, I did manage to get a few pictures of some of the fall events that have become somewhat of a tradition for me.

I went to youth convention October 21st - 23rd. It was my 7th year going, but my 2nd year going as a chaperone. I went every year 7th - 12th grade, except my 8th grade year. It is always a lot of fun, but being a chaperone has made it more of a responsibility. It is still an awesome and fun weekend, the experience is just different when you are in charge of people. I had intentions of taking all kinds of pictures, but basically all I ended up taking were 50+ pictures of me and Jessica.

Here we are posing with our new Dino friend :)

We entertained ourselves on the trip there (about 5.5 hrs) by taking all kinds of pictures. She's 4 years younger than me, but one of my closest friends and I am so so blessed to have her in my life. <3

Another event that has become somewhat of a tradition in the fall is the fall play, put on by the high school. I've felt almost every year for the past 5+ years or so, and it is a lot of fun. It was this past week, Thursday-Saturday night. Kyle was in it and since it's his last year, I went every night. I didn't get sick of seeing the same thing three times, in fact I was bummed out when the end of the performance came Saturday. I feel like I'm graduating all over again, dealing with all of these nostalgic 'lasts' with Kyle.

His part was a French woodsmen, and after the performance Friday, we took this picture. :)

Homecoming fun!

This past week was homecoming week. Even though I don't go to the high school, I still got in on the fun. Friday night, after coronation and a parade, there was a homecoming football game. I went with one of my closest friends, Jessica, and participated in the whole 'wearing a guys football jersey' tradition. Girls will ask guys for their away game jerseys (reverse colors) so they can wear them at the game, while the guys play in the opposite jerseys. I wore Kyle's jersey(didn't even have to ask! :), and it was a lot of fun!

Here are Jess and I after the game. She is 4 years younger than me but way taller than me, hence her bending down in the picture :) It's so odd for me to be staying the same size while all my friends surpass me.

Kyle and I were supposed to take a picture before the game in our matching jerseys but didn't get the chance till after. The number 54 on the side of his jersey is in honor of a classmate of mine (when I attended the public school in Jr. High) who tragically passed away a week after his high school graduation last year. He played football and last fall they retired his jersey and printed the number on all of the home game jerseys.

:)

This picture makes me laugh :)

Jumping picture!

Me and Jess (she's Kyle's sister) attempting a jumping picture.

Kyle's nearly a foot taller than me and his jersey, when untucked, was like a nightgown on me. We got a kick out of it and had to take a picture.

And that was my weekend! Thanks to Kyle I've gotten in on some fun high school experiences I've otherwise missed out on, such as prom and this whole homecoming tradition. It's been really fun!

End of summer/Beginning of fall

Not too much to say, so I'll just give a little photo recap of the 6 or so weeks.

Nerdin' out with one of my best buds :)

Beautiful summer day, messing around with a friend's crazy sunglasses.

Jessica and I helping out at an outdoor event at our church.

Eloise and myself on my birthday.

A close friend got me this awesome, handmade (not by him, but who he bought it from) panda beanie.

I got so many panda things for my birthday, my panda shelf is just about on overload.

My 19 (!!) year old self in September.

A prairie dog bite & bridesmaid fun

Yes, this is my finger, and yes, a praire dog really did bite me. I'm too adventurous for my own good, apparently. I went to prairie dog town (a span of grass in the badlands where a bunch of prairie dogs live) and got overwhelmed by the 'cuteness' (aka viciousness, as I would later find out) of one particular prairie dog, and I scooped the little guy up. He wiggled and wiggled and eventually wiggled himself far enough to get a good grip on my finger and OUCH. Seering pain, screaming, and panic ensued. I spent a few hrs afterwards being overly dramatic about the fact I was surely about to get rabies and die. The thought wouldn't have crossed my mind, but everyone with me kept bringing it up. But here I am, over a month later, still alive and kickin' :)

(not sure why this text is underlined?!) I was in a wedding a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful sunset wedding located at a lake about 30 minutes from where I live. The ceremony was right by the water. I've always been a little skeptical of outdoor weddings, but this one was absolutely beautiful and so fun to be apart of!

I had to get my hair professionally done, and I loved it! I told the stylist it just needed to be up, with bangs back, and I ended up with this elegant, classic, and beautiful updo. It was so fun!

Here I am before heading out to the lake. Check out my ridiculous sunburn.

Here I am after the ceremony. You can see the beautiful lake in the background. I loved my bouquet; the colors were so pretty.

Wonderful summer :)

I can't believe it's already July! This summer has flown, but it's been really great so far. Here's a few pictures to show what's been going on in my world :)

My friend and I took advantage of a beautiful day and decided to do a little photo shoot. I've heard so many people talk down on North Dakota for being so flat. For one thing, it is NOT flat everywhere, go to the Badlands. For another thing, I happen to think the flat rolling prairies with nothing but blue skies and green grass is absolutely gorgeous. I've heard it said that North Dakota's beauty isn't the kind that smacks you in the face, being so obvious at first glance, instead it is the kind of beauty you have to search for. I definitely agree. As much as I adore mountains and forests, I love the peaceful beauty of North Dakota.

My two cute nieces, Abby and Madison. Before I know it, they'll be as tall as me... yikes!

My best friend Missy was home for most of May and June, so we were able to hang out a lot. She is going to school in Minneapolis so whenever she is home it's always nice to reconnect.

Bad quality of a picture, but here I am all dressed up for a wedding. I've been a little dress obsessed lately (out of character for me) and I found this cute one for 11 dollars; I love it!

My niece Ruby and myself lounging in the grass. I love this picture; it shows the peaceful, relaxing beauty of summer nights.

I found this nifty bike in the back yard so of course we had to take a picture on it.

Me and Kyle havin' some fun with photo booth :)

:)

Puppies!

Eloise had her puppies on April 27th. It was so cute to see her become all motherly, tending to their every whim. It was also funny to see when it was obvious she had just had too much. She'd run off and hide, trying to escape them if only for a moment. We had the puppies for eight weeks and then they each went to their new homes. It was hard to not want to keep at least one of them, but I think Eloise is busy enough for me. Here's a few pictures of the sweet puppies.

I figured it'd be easiest to give them temporary names for the 8 weeks I had them. This is Lucy, the only girl. She was so wild and playful, and so so cute! Her name is now Bella and I'm sure her new family is having fun with the sweet but wild girl :)

Here's Owen. He was the mellow one, but such a sweetie (can't you just tell from the picture?!) His new home is with a coworker of mines' parents. I've heard he is being showered with attention and love. They even kept his name, they just added on to it. He is now Prince Owen :)

Theodore was the wild and chubby boy. He was so playful. Any attention I'd give him would make him so happy he'd be all over the place, showing his excitement. His new owners seemed excited to get him and I've heard his new name is Zip. I'd say thats fitting for the little wild guy :)

Alaska trip

I've been home for a little over two weeks, but those two weeks have been wild, hence my pokey-ness in getting this post up. I was only in Alaska for 7 days, but it was a very jam packed week. I'm not going to go into too much detail cause these pictures will pretty much sum it all up.

The day after I got there, we hiked Flattop mountain, which I was told is the most hiked mountain in North America. It was a nice, sunny day, perfect for a hike. However, the sun was melting the snow, so it was a very slippery hike. I'm a bit clumsy by nature, so add slippery snow to that, and you can just imagine how this hike turned out for me.

Courtney and I stopped for lots of pictures. Alaska is so beautiful, you have to just stop what you're doing and enjoy it.

We didn't climb to the complete top, but we got really close. This picture was taken at our stopping point. With the slippery snow it would've been pretty dangerous to go all the way up. Also, I realized on this trip that working out a lot beforehand would've came in very handy. Courtney runs a lot and was here last summer so she was used to all this, me on the other hand, the rare day I'm not working is not going to be spent exercising, so you can imagine how much I was huffing and puffing throughout this week!

The day after our hike, we explored downtown Anchorage. I was busy shopping and didn't take many pictures, but it was a really neat town and fun to explore!

The next day we went down to Seward. It was a beautiful yet rainy drive. Once we got there we found a neat restaurant - Ray's Waterfront, that was right on the pier. I ordered this Seafood Linguine and it was AMAZING! I'm a seafood and pasta fanatic, and my taste buds couldn't get enough.

We walked along the pier and looked at all the boats. I'm barely visible in this picture, but I had to pose with all the neat boats :)

I thought this ship looked a little pirate-y :)

We tried to go see a glacier, but the road was closed. We settled for taking pictures in front of it instead. The glacier is in between the two mountains, or right next to my left side.

Courtney and myself, being avid Sarah Palin fans, couldn't resist a trip to her town, Wasilla. It was only a 40 minute drive or so. We had high hopes of spotting her somehow, but she is a busy lady after all! So instead, we went and found a place to eat, and my random self decided it would be a good idea to order sushi.... BAD IDEA! I am clueless about sushi and took a bite of plain wasabi (thinking it was fish) and it was absolutely disgusting. Pretty much ruined my taste for everything after. All apart of the experience, right?

I tried to not succumb to the coffee drinking ways of my parents, but it may have been inevitable. When I was younger it drove me crazy how much coffee they drank, and I personally thought it tasted horrible. Years down the road, and after spending days completely exhausted due to my sporadic sleeping problems, I decided coffee may be of great use to me. I've been drinking it for 6 or so months now, so I went to Alaska with the hope that I would find all kinds of neat little coffee shops to go in. My hopes were fulfilled, but beyond that, I was introduced to... the Sludge. The day we went to downtown Anchorage, I was in desperate search of a coffee place. We came across a place called Kaladi Brothers Coffee, and I decided it looked promising. On the menu I saw this drink, called a sludge. It was described as 'coffee poured over espresso' It sounded odd enough and strong enough, so I gave it a try. To make this already long story short(er), I drank that sludge, fell in 'love', and proceeded to get one the next four days. It was my goal of each day to track down a new coffee shop and order one. Here is my beloved sludge I got on the way home from Wasilla.

One night we went for a walk at sunset on a path by the beach. The beach in Alaska is really not a beach, not the typical sandy white beach, anyway. I'm not exactly sure why, but the coast is covered in mud, as you can kind of see in the next two pictures. I was told people have went into the mud and gotten stuck there when the tide came in... scary!

Courtney and I didn't venture too far in, just far enough to stand on this log and take another artsy picture.

My last full day there, we decided to pack full of hiking and seeing some more amazing scenery.

I was trying (or maybe it wasn't so fake...) to look scared while leaning over and taking a picture of the cliff I was next to. I didn't look down long, that's for sure!

Thunderbird Falls

Yet another artsy looking picture (you can't resist when you're surrounded by such beauty!) by Eklutna Lake.

And there you have my Alaskan Adventure! As you can tell, Alaska is gorgeous. The people are all so outdoorsy, but who wouldn't be if this was at your fingertips?! It was a relaxing but busy week. My flight home had me all night in Seattle with a 9 hr layover. That was... not so fun, but it was all worth it. I'm becoming quite the lone traveller! Where will I go next?! (yes, my mind is already scheming... are you surprised?)