Summer

This has been a super busy and fun summer... too busy and fun to blog much, but I will try to be better. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few highlights (and lowlights) of my summer thus far... and considering there are only a couple weeks left of this beautiful summer... I'm going to relish these memories and store them snuggly away, so when we hit -20 this winter, I will have something to give me warm fuzzies on the inside, even if I can't feel my nose.

Early this summer, my family went to the Skime Ranch to help Thor vaccinate (brand, castrate, etc) about 200 head of cattle. (Previous picture posts are from that weekend.) It was quite fun! I gave cows shots, which made me nervous as hell, but fun... but when we got to the baby calves, I had to call it quits and leave. The branding of those poor babies nearly made me sick. I used to be able to handle that kind of stuff, but as I get older I become more and more of a pansy.

In June, my sweet, amazing cousin Lisa got married to a fantastic man. They had a beautiful wedding and wonderful reception and dance. They are so in love, my heart swells to think that her dream has come true... I feel so lucky to have been a part of her special day. Congrats Lisa and Brett! Your love renews my faith in relationships and marriage.

I spent the 4th of July with my roomates and their family at Lake Sallie. We fished, tubed, drank, and had a great time. At one point, we headed into DL to pick up some pizza's from Zorbaz and while we were waiting, we all had a couple drinks. I had two of the best Hawaiian Long Island Teas EVER, but I was shot after that. Two Long Islands in 45 minutes for this girl is 2 Long Island Teas too much! We had a great time though, checking out the hotties and freaks.

Towards the end of July, despite a long spell of sickness, I went to the North Dakota State Fair with Alysa to see the Sugarland concert. Alysa loves Sugarland - and while I love a few of their songs... meh. So we drove that long-ass drive for what turned out to be an amazing concert! They put on a fabulous show and we had such a blast. Us and our sidekick, Keith. (I think his name was Keith.) Haha! Afterwards we hit up a few of the beer gardens, and let me tell you... Minot knows how to party. Also, I had no idea Minot was as large as it is. It's kind of a messed up little town - but it was very pretty and very fun!

A couple weeks ago, my buddy Lisa was home for a couple week stay with her family in Minnesota. We got together and had a great visit. Then one weekend I went to stay with her at her family's home... where I had my first experience with kayaking. It didn't go so well. Lisa demonstrated how to carefully get into the kayak and paddle. I went to get into my kayak and completely flipped it. I dropped into the water up to my chest (I was wearing jeans, white shirt and flip flops). My feet got stuck in the mud as the kayak filled with water. I was able to recover 1 flip flop but not the other. I climbed onto the bank, my jeans so soaked they were sagging off my butt, and pulled a kayak full of water back onto the bank while Lisa laughed until tears were pouring. She helped me empty the kayak, and climb in without tipping, she climbed into hers, and we were off. She continued to laugh, and I nervously paddled and jerked my way along in the water. Later that day, we met up with an old classmate and went Jeeping through trails in the woods... Such a blast!

This past weekend, Alysa and Alison and I went back to Lake Sallie. We spent Friday night on the pontoon close to the WeFest site and listened to the Sugarland concert. They must have put another amazing show because the crowd was wild. It was fun to hear them live again, even though we couldn't see them. But, as we were on the lake, storm clouds came through and it turned pitch black out before we knew it, and it started to rain. It was an adventure trying to find our house, and then attempt to dock the pontoon in the pouring rain and no lights. We were soaked to the skin, but we had a good time.

Saturday, we went to WeFest for the day. We caught the Dirks Bentley and Winona Judd concerts - both very good. But that wasn't all the excitement! We met up with friends at different campgrounds, drank an awful lot, laughed like crazy, saw some horrifying sights and some amazing eye candy, got fake tatoos, and scarfed one Uff-da taco while waiting for our ride home. So, FINALLY I got to experience WeFest. My first time ever, I'm sad to say. I definitely have to go next year... I can't miss out on that fun anymore.

Sunday, we went fishing and tubing. On the way to dock the boat, I was still on the tube. To make a long story short, I underestimated my abilities and crash-dived onto the dock: on my back. You may wonder how in the hell something like that could have happened, but don't worry - you are not alone. I'm wondering the same thing. All I really know is that I have an elbow with no skin, and a buttcheek that is completely black and blue and throbbing.

There's been so much more... but there's so little time and so much to say, that I'll leave it at that. It's been a summer to remember... definitely better than last summer. And I'm sad to say that it is already August 11, and in about one month my sun burn will be peeled away to leave my sickly white skin, and I'll be busting out the sweaters and quilts. But I can only hope this fall and winter will be half as fun!