whoa!

my goodness.
it's been a while.

I just got off the phone with my dear friend melodie who informed me that it's been a month to the day since my last blog post! eek. melodie and I have been friends since my starbucks days and her high school homeschool math days, which happened to all take place at the same store at flintridge and academy down in colorado springs.

our conversation this evening started with a text about a jenny owens young concert. melodie and I once drove up to denver for a jenny owens young show at a small venue only to sneak in at the last minute with the assistance of melodie's art teacher from junior high who happened to be taking tickets at the door of the sold out show. jenny then proceeded to not play our favorite song. melodie got to see her again tonight, in seattle this time.

so here, miss melodie is what's been going on in the last month or so:

I packaged up some 50 cards to take over to Main Street Books here in Lander-town. I frequent their store for my espresso fix (typical beverage: americano with room, I add one raw sugar), it's less than a block away from my office, and slightly less expensive than the Folklore (which is a whole half a block further away...). But just for the record I do prefer Folklore for sitting, chatting, reading, and mate chai lattes.

main street agreed to buy a dozen cards, and see how they sell! I'm so excited to see if it's profitable. I think a little more attention at a display on my end could help, but I also wonder if their customers will like 'em? we'll see. I have a few other stores in town to hit, but wanted to start at main street, since I'm in there so often.

a few weeks ago I went in after work one evening to buy a book for my dad for father's day. and I walked out with half a german choclate cake that jerry from the cooking crow restaurant had just dropped by. jim was certain he'd get into trouble at home if he brought home another dessert after a pie the day before. bummer, guess it was up to me to bring it home to my roomies! it was so good. jerry makes the best baked goods. I just had a banana chocolate chip cookie there this week (catalog crushing time!) and it was pretty much amazing.

speaking of cake, my grandmother turned 92! very cool. definitely worth the 7 hour drive to help her celebrate :)

that evening, Benton and I drove her home. Oh, the oddity of throwing her walker in the back of his 4Runner...
And then, back in Lander there was BrewFest! a bunch of local/regional breweries show up, there's voting, drinking, lawn games, blankets in the park, etc. an all-around good day. it ended with me running to paige's house in the rain, throwing my jeans in the dryer before having dinner with jim and doris and two random visiting climber guys they met the day before in town.

I work at an outdoor school. And I confess, this was my first backpacking trip. Ever. I think my friends were surprised to hear this. Knowing I can hike. I know how to pack a pack and wear layers and put up a tent. I could even read a map if I had to! but carrying my gear on my back, hiking, and setting up camp is foreign to me. Or, was. Dan and Paige and Lola and I went to the Cirque of the Towers. It's this gorgeous glacier-carved area relatively close to where we live here in Wyoming. After half an hour on the highway, and about another hour on a dirt road, you're at the trailhead. From there, it's about 9 miles in, to this:Which is of course, stunning. Even more so in person. After 9 miles. The first day we hiked 7, and ended up camping above Big Sandy Lake because we couldn't find Jackass Pass. Yes, that's the name ;) It was all covered in snow, so we decided a day-trip into the Cirque made more sense, with a dog, and knowing much of our day would be finding the trail, post holing (read: sinking into snow up to your thighs) or scrambling over boulders.

Paige & Lola:
Paige, Dan, & me:

Also in the last month, this girl moved into (and out of) my house:

Pearson sublet Christi's room for a few weeks, and has since got me running a bit, more than I thought possible. She's a crazy runner girl. She did a half marathon two weeks after moving here from sea level. and almost beat her best time ever. crazy. and awesome.

This girl came to visit! Overdressed as always!
Cara hired me, so I'm indebted to her for introducing me to Lander and all such wonderfulness it holds, including the oldest paid rodeo in America! Right here, folks.

And for the 4th, there's always the parade. I like watching people more than the parade most of the time.
In Lander, we have a tradition on the 4th of July where laws against open containers and fireworks are thus banned between 10am and midnight. This results in seeming chaos, but people are actually pretty smart about it all. I'm impressed, Lander. way to be responsible. The evening sky looks like a war zone, and there was at least a few thousand dollars worth of fireworks at the party I went to. we climb a sketchy rope ladder up to a roof where you can see fireworks in all directions, as friends down below shoot of fireworks over your head and ashes fall on your face...

The following weekend was the International Climbers Festival! I designed the programs this year, which were nothing award-winning, but extremely appreciated by everyone involved. very rewarding in that sense. I was just glad to give people something that was legible and informative! I need to post a before/after story with photos of the previous years' programs.

my favorite ICF competition is the crate-stacking comp! harness, belay, climbing shoes on, and you have to stack milk crates on top of one another while standing on them. so fun to watch. a perfect lunch break at city park.

I think this guy got something like 22 or 23 crates high before falling off.

Alas. A brief introduction into the visual life of Lander, and the last month of my life. I don't post photos very often. But I like them. so i will try to bring you more, dear readers.


disclaimer: I'm going to try to work on being more honest here, more visual, and more frequent. please hold me accountable to do so, if you so wish.