Wishin' and Hopin'

Last night, we went on such a fun little date. We decided that we hadn't done anything really spontaneous for a while. So we loaded up Mckinley and Scooby,(who still smells a hint "skunk-like") and drove up the mountain. David has been working at a ranch up by Navajo Lake and he wanted to show me his "dream land."
On the way up we stopped at Cedar Breaks at the lookout. David had never been before and it's one of those things that everyone should see at least once. I didn't take any pictures while we were there. Pictures wouldn't do it justice. You are going to have to come and see it for yourself.
Then we jumped back in the car and rode up to Navajo Lake. Navajo Lake is ideal. It feels so private and if David and I could, we would buy property nearby because it really is Dreamland. We talk all the time about "someday" when we will have a little summer retreat there. We ate sandwiches next to the water and skipped some rocks. If anyone has any good Rainbow Trout recipes, let us know and we can cook some up!
Then we went to the ranch....All I could say the whole drive in was WOW! Gorgeous meadows, cows, rivers, natural springs,(which we drank out of, by the way!) sheep, green everywhere, an apple orchard, it was absolute heaven! The man who owns the ranch owns hundreds,
possibly thousands of acres of paradise. I just couldn't even imagine what that would be like.
David finished what he needed to and Mckinley and I followed around two Doeggies.(Baby sheep who have been abandoned by their mothers, so they are basically family pets.) It was so beautiful there, we didn't want to leave.
We had such a fun time wishing for someday. I think those kind of dates are some of the best ever. I can't wait for our next "someday date."Scooby wasn't quite sure what the camera was all about.
My beautiful daughter...

Mckinley making friends with the doeggies.

This was a natural spring coming off of the rocks! We stopped and took a nice cold drink, and got all wet.

Tornados, Chiggers and Jail time

Yeah! I am very happy to say that I made it home! We went and we conquered,(I passed my test!) and I have never been so happy to be home. Overall we had a really good time in Missouri. I met some really motivated and occupationally inspiring people, and I attempted to learn way more than my brain could really handle in two weeks.

However....while we were there, it was tornado season.(Actually I don't really know if there is a "tornado season" but there were tornados all over the place.) Greg and Ray, (two other medics I went to the training with.) thought it was so hilarious when I knocked on their door in the middle of the night to run for cover. We were never actually in a tornado, but we were just in the warning zones several times, and that experience was education enough for me. I don't need to be vacuumed up to know that getting up close and personal with a tornado isn't such a sweet deal.

Next item on the agenda: Chiggers.

These are little mites that burrow into your skin like ticks. Gross right? After being in Missouri for a few days, Ray and Greg had these bites that they could not stop itching. They tried hot water, Rubbing Alcohol, itch cream, nothing helped. So we asked some of the locals what they do for what we thought were mosquito bites. "Those aren't mosquito bites friends, you have chiggers." So Greg and Ray had to go to the store and get this cream called "Chiggerex" but as they were talking about it, I thought they kept saying "chiggerettes" and so it was their funny joke that they went to Missouri completely clean and came back addicted to "Chiggarettes." The wierd thing was that I never got any bites, so I guess I should feel very lucky that chiggers don't like the taste of me.

Then of course we had jail time. I know, you thought I was better than that, right? Well, how often am I in the great state of Missouri? I have never been to any church history sites and so we went to old Liberty Jail. It was only about twenty minutes away from us and so we went and took the tour. It was really neat, and there is an amazing spirit there. I had Greg take a picture of me there so when he gives it to me, I'll post it.

Missouri or Misery?

Hi! I am in Missouri! For two weeks! Although it has been a long time since I have been anywhere interesting, Missouri is not my idea of the ideal place to visit. I am here for a class in critical care Paramedics. (Do you know what life flight is? That's what the class covers.) It is a lot of class time in a really short period of time. I haven't done anything but study since we got here. From what I hear, it is the most difficult class flight paramedics have to take. It's very intensive but fun so far.

But.....I hate being away from my baby and my husband!!!! I am the biggest princess when it comes to leaving my babies. I hope it goes by fast.

My flights have gone good. I haven't been too freaked out yet and we are staying at a nice hotel where I have my own room and the county is paying for everything including food and tuition. I really love my job.

We are thinking about going to a Royals game sometime this week if we can get our studying in. I am not a huge baseball fan but after staring at a book for hours on end, it's not going to take much to entertain me. Sorry for the long post. (I'm a little lonely.)

I also forgot to bring my camera, So I will have to see what I can do to get some pictures posted.

Rock Climbing!

Yesterday we went rock climbing with some friends from my fire class! It was really the most fun we have had for a while. We have been pretty busy with work and yard work and more work, so this was a very fun release for us. We went to a climb called Devils Dong, (I didn't make up the name.) which is only about 15 minutes from our house. It was such a blast. Everyone,(me being the exception) was pretty experienced in rock climbing, so it was extra cool to get some tips especially from the other two ladies who were there. (Men always make it look sooo easy.)

We took Mckinley with us also....and she is a fearless rock climber now! She loved it. JJ had a kids harness that he brought for his son Jesse, and we let Mckinley try it. We thought she would be scared but check out these pictures.



So this is an up close picture of Mckinley rock climbing. Pretty cool right?



Now THIS is where she was! She was up there laughing, and yelling "whee!" and I was at the bottom having a heart attack.

In this picture she was swinging, she really thought it was a ride. And here she is practicing her correct stance. We kept telling her to "sit down," she did pretty good!
David really made everything look so easy. He was up the mountain (ok, DONG) in like five minutes.

Here are pictures of Brandon and Amanda. I thought this was such an awesome picture of Amanda. She is really reaching. Brandon is also an outstanding climber. He was already at the top by the time I got the camera out. (Sorry Brandon.)


Here is a picture of Jesse, who was the youngest person there who knew what he was doing. JJ and Valeena were so cool because they didn't try to coax him or bribe him to do anything. They just let him try things out at his own pace. He was a pretty good little spider man.


JJ was swinging Elijah in the harness. Elijah is a one year old studd.


JJ was probably the most experienced out of all of us. He brought the equipment and also did the lead climb. See, no rope above him. Yikes!And last but not least, this is Valeena. She is an amazing rock climber.(She doesn't think so but she is.) She is actually afraid of heights but you would never know it until she is coming down. JJ warned us that she is a screamer, and he let her slide a little bit to prove it. (He got in trouble when she was down.) It was the day before JJ and Valeena's anniversary which was the reason for the trip. It was so much fun. I can't wait to go again!