Cheers from the Last Frontier (that's Alaska, guys)

Forgive me for being super lame and not updating this sucker for a while. I've been in between here and there and my life hasn't seemed too interesting, lately. In any case, I made it back to Alaska! Its so surreal, being home. A part of me doesn't recognize or connect with it anymore, after experiencing so much away from home in the past few years. Maybe it will just take time for me to get readjusted to life on the island. Maybe I'm ready to move on. Who knows. I'm here now, and this is whats been going on...

I've been good about working out/running (I'm getting faster!). I have a serious addiction to Dole 100% Orange Peach Mango Juice. I spend most of my time in an office, and the rest at the gym/sauna/pool or with Mr. Conner Shay Zueger. I somehow adopted a bunny for the summer (it's a long story). I'm housesitting and its sweet. I'm already planning my end of summer pit stops en route to NY. I've only spent twenty of my own dollars since I've been here (which is all I had, anyways).  My summer goal is to learn how to parallel park. My other summer goal is to run the Summer Bay Classic. My other other summer goal is to learn how to play the guitar.

I'm missing Li Li. I'm missing B. I'm missing TWeiss. I'm missing my other B. I'm missing my Cougar. But most of all, I'm missing the sun. Don't get me wrong, there is no lack of brightness here. In fact, I find myself irritated at night when I can't sleep because even our heavy wooden shades can't keep the light out of my room. I suppose Alaska is wonderful in that way, though. Softball games that start at 9pm. Evening barbecues that last until 1am. Trips out on the boat even when you've had to work until 9 at night. I should be thankful, for that.

Speaking of boats, here are some shots from our outing on Memorial Day. The sun was shining and the water was calm so we decided to take advantage of our day off and take a cruise around the harbor. So, we did what Alaskans do best. We loaded up our packaged snacks/drinks, life vests, and fishing bait, threw on our over-sized warm clothing, pulled on our rubber boots, and off we went.

Me doing nothing while the boys did all the work

Mom trying to put on... rain gear? lol

We look like we are dressed for the middle of winter.

Okay, maybe we were a little overdressed. But it was still pretty cold. As my buds in NYC got to brag about 94 degree weather, Unalaska, AK was barely pushing 50. Haha

About as far as I was willing to hold my camera outside of the boat lol

A crab boat in the distance and the (yes) snow capped mountains

MB attempting to catch something

Mom fishing

Oh, and I also completely ignored the flight attendant's order to disable electronic devices, and snapped a shot of the plane starting to land in Dutch Harbor for those of you who have never had the "pleasure" of flying in rural Alaska.

Its not the most fabulous view, but its a glimpse of what it looks like... way out here.

So, I just realized that this post might sound kind of down, but I think it's just because I'm super sore, super tired, and I have to be to work early tomorrow. Don't let my negative Nancy syndrome throw you off. So far, I've had a pretty good summer. Not an awesome one, but a good one. I'm looking forward to beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, and island adventures with friends and family. Expect lots of pictures!

Thinking of you all, (especially YOU TWeiss, B. Auger, B. Larsen, and my Russian mail order bride)

xoxo

I already miss this.

Today was my last day in Montana. On our way to the airport, B and I stopped at the Rims to check out the Billings skyline and kill some time before my flight left. I decided to snap a few photos, in a last-ditch attempt to finally get a good shot of the two of us. And what do you know? We actually got some.

Anyways, I tried to get a few shots of Rocky from the rims, but they didn't turn out to be that exciting...

But I promise the view was fantastic, and the company was even better. I'm already missing B, sunny weather, and carefree days with really cool kids at Rocky Mountain College. And, I'm thinking that it's mandatory that I return for another visit in August.

I really miss this girl.

I love these photos.. and I thought I would put them up before they got too old. They are a few of the randoms from B's camera that neither of us took the time to do anything with.. and a pretty accurate snapshot of spring semester 2010.

We escaped to a (free!) photobooth at the Hofstra Musicfest and weren't satisfied with the pics that printed out, so we decided to take our own:

We tried, but mostly we were just awkward. I miss this girl too much.

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to next year with these ladies:

My time in Montana with these guys:

and my summer in Alaska, which hopefully still looks like this:

Thinking of you all,

xoxo

Yeehaw y'all

This post is definitely not from New York City. In fact, it would be tough to find somewhere that was more polar opposite to New York City than Montana. For the past five days, I've been hanging out in Montana with my bumble bee (the other B) where she goes to school in Billings, Montana. So far, we've taken advantage of the sun and the friendly people, and I've gotten a true taste of what Montana living is really like!

In the short time that I've been here, I've participated (sort of) in a traditional cow branding, learned how to ride a horse, driven in the vast Montana country, kayaked for the first time, gotten a taste of the ranch and farm life, explored downtown Billings, visited the Moss Mansion, met some really cool people, and most importantly spent some much needed time with B. Plus, I've still got 5 days left!

Hiding out inside the baby cow's house

John Deere, enough said.

Riding a horse for the first time

B making it look easy

Attempting to 'post'

Jeff showing off his roping skills

My first day in Montana, B picked me up from the airport and we drove straight to the French Ranch about four hours north of Billings. There, I got to meet the French family (who are absolutely wonderful!) and attend a traditional cow branding in Malta, Montana.

These poor little guys had no idea what was in store for them!

It was such a unique opportunity for me to get to watch a traditional branding in action. Family members, friends, and fellow ranchers in the community came together to help the French family brand, vaccinate, and castrate about 450 of their cattle. In traditional style, cowboys (the man on the horse below) lasso or 'rope' the calves by their feet and drag them to the wrestlers (the two girls--who are both in high school!) who 'wrestle' down the cattle and hold them down to be vaccinated, branded, and castrated.

Wrestling down the cattle

Two of the boys holding down the calf

B and Craig

The finished product with the French brand

If it seems like a long process, that's because it is! These hard working guys and girls of all ages worked from 6am to around 5 to get just 450 of the cows done. Much of the castration and branding processes are highly mechanized in America, so I was lucky to get to see this very traditional method. Where did I fit in to all of this? I was too umm... scared? to brand or castrate the cows, so I was on daycare duty and I manned the food table!

Later on in the week we took a quick trip to a friend's farm to ride some horses and see some newborn calves. It was a pretty windy day but we got to do a little horseback riding and see what farm life was like closer to the city of Billings, in Laurel, Montana.

Lily the baby cow

Eric and Lily

I will NEVER complain about taking pills, again. This is the actual pill that farmers have to shove down a cow's throat if they need medication!

B and I tried really hard to get some good shots of the two of us... but it didn't really work out on such a windy day. Ha

I've had a blast spending time with Brittany, I only wish I had more time to play around! Experiencing a new culture and learning about Montana has been fun, too. I have really enjoyed seeing a lifestyle that is completely different from Alaska and the east. My first trip to the 'west' beyond the coast has been awesome. Here's to another week of cow-tipping, 'shootin', horseback riding, cute cowboys, and exploring. Yeehaw!

Thinking of you all.

he winked at me. i swear he did.

I figured I should put this up, before it gets too old to be considered cool anymore. Here's the link to the Huckabee/Mario Lopez interview on Fox News that we went to in the city on Friday.

B and I were super stoked to find out that our faces made it on show. Score! Plus, Huckabee totally winked at me. I remember leaning over to B during the taping and telling her he winked at me. She didn't seem to believe me. Or be impressed. Haha

Plus, we got some pretty good eye contact with Mr. Lopez. As Reagan (not the President, my bombshell friend) said, we were the only "young and beautifuls" in the crowd of cranky conservative grandmas so it was easy to pick us out of the crowd.

I asked my College Democrat friends not to disown me because I made an appearance on Fox News. We'll see how that goes.

Elbow Pads and Lady Gaga

Yesterday was my last Sunday in New York for a while. I'm really going to miss it. I used to really look forward to going home during the breaks, but now I'm really starting to like this place. I love my room. I love my car. I love my adventures. I love my homies. I love New York City.

I went on my (now) regular jog and workout around campus this afternoon. Somehow, I managed to face plant on Oak street without scratching up my face, but my poor elbow wasn't spared. I'm not sure what it is about my right elbow, but it has taken a definite beating this semester. A couple of weeks ago I slipped on some water in the student center (that's the story, I'm sticking to it) and shattered my elbow. It had two massive golf balls growing from it. Seriously. Anyways, yesterday was strike two against my elbow so I'm going to take a page from the bad ass ladies of "Whip It" and start wearing elbow pads.

Not really. But that would be fun, right?

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of my dearest Li Li, the Russian Mail Order Bride that I ordered this semester. At midnight, B and I surprised her with a Cinnamon-Bun and Cream Cheese frosted "cake" complete with 21 candles. Yep, she's the big 2-1. Now she can legally get hammered with the rest of America. Too bad for her, she is studying abroad in Russia for the next year, where they have been hammering back Vodka since they were 12. She's got some catching up to do.

Here's what's left of her delicious impromptu Cinna-cake

I made a LOT of progress on packing this weekend, too. It's weird to see my entire life condensed into my enough bags, boxes, and totes to fit into my Mercury Cougar Coupe. All that's left to pack up are a few clothes from my closet, my refrigerator, and my bedding. For the past two weeks I've been complaining about how badly I wanted to leave, how I was ready to take off. But seeing everything empty and ready to go makes me want to stay put. :(

On a completely unrelated side note, WTF Lady Gaga?!?:

Sorry if this post is lame, I should be studying for my final, or writing a paper about now. Ugh. More exciting stuff to come.. when my life gets more exciting than Microsoft Word and textbooks.

Thinking of you all.

Picasa will make you love your life. And your camera.

Picasa 3 has got me in a nostalgic mood again. I keep scanning through my thousands of photos that are organized very nicely thanks to Picasa and I can't help but think about how much I used to enjoy taking pictures. Pictures of places. Pictures of people. Pictures of anything, really.

Here are just a few of my favorite photos that I have snapped throughout time:

The canals of Venice, Italy 2007

The U.S. Capitol, March 2010

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower, 2007

Germany, 2007

Manhattan Bridge, February 2010

Germany (or Austria?), 2007

Princeton, February 2010

Somewhere on my Eurotrip, 2007

Rhinefalls, Germany 2007

Washington, DC 2008 (obvi I didn't snap this one--I just love it so much I wanted to sneak it in here)

The cornfields of Iowa or Nebraska, August 2009

Germany, Austria or France?, 2007

A very stormy day at the Palace of Versailles, France

The day I took pictures of nothing but grass. (There was a day I took pictures of nothing but raindrops, too.)

My first Christmas home, 2008

Although the photo itself is not that great, the person in it is the most important man in my world, and I feel like it captures our relationship perfectly, aka I adore him and he's too cool for words

Somewhere between Nevada and New York, Summer 2009

I remember taking this and being bummed that we were driving away from the sun. We had just left the heat of the Nevada desert and were heading into the night cold of the Utah desert. I like this photo because it reminds me of the many miles I put on my car during that cross country road trip and the majesty that came with exploring unknown places.

The Brooklyn Bridge, Valentines 2009

Europe, 2007

Washington DC Metro, 2008

(By the way, if you don't know what Picasa is, you should find out! It's awesome.)

Thinking of you all.

xoxo