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Jackson Hole, WY

I now understand the beauty of the Tetons and Jackson Hole.  I had a great mini vacation with Teej (TJ) and got to learn more about him and get to know if family better.  I would love to live in Jackson... A little pricy but I think i can manage it :)... I even looked at job openings at the local hospital.  I would love to come back in the summer time and see it completely different.  I know the snow and cold is magical but -10 below is really only nice in short periods of time. I'm excited for what 2013 brings!

Tetons from a distance

Clouds were beautiful

Great Pic of us 2

Famous Jackson Hole Arches

Buffalo from the largest free-range buffalo herd

Elk Refugue with Snow King in Background

Top of Teton Village Ski Resort

Torch Light Parade on New Years

Imagine--New Commercial For WMC

I'm a celebrity in a commercial for the hospital :)

A-Z Things I Love

Inspired by Lisa O (Lisa's Blog) who fills things like this all the time I though I would try one.  So here ya go A-Z of all the favorite things I love.

A-Alcohol beverages—I love a good tasting beer or a nice fruity mix drink after a long day at work or a night out with friends.

B- Bunnies—I love seeing baby bunnies grow and helping caring for them.  It is sad to see when they don’t make it.  Didn’t realize how touchy newborn babies are.

C-Concerts—I love seeing a great band/performer live with a nice cold beer in hand. And of course, what Lisa said: Country all the way!

D-Dining out—Probably the reason why I need to loose 30 pounds but I love to eat at different restaurants.  I like to cook too but just need to do it more and someone to cook for.

E-Education—I love school, I know sounds weird.  It has been 2 yrs since I graduated from nursing school and I miss it!  I would love to go to grad school but I don’t to be in debt anymore then I already am.

F-Family/Friends—I couldn’t ask for more then great friends and a supportive family that I can always rely on.

 

G-Garden—I love planting vegetables and watching them grow and then enjoying the finished product I do have say that my garden at this time is pretty over grown with weeds. 

H-Hospital—I know this is a weird but it is the one place that I’m able to feel like a true nurse, challenge my mind and interact with friends and coworkers.

I-I Phone—It’s amazing how important one little handy device is so important with connecting you with your friends/family and the world.

J-Jeep—I love driving my jeep especially with the roof off, windows down, subwoofer blasting listening to great music.

K-Knitting—this goes about with Q but I do love to knit even though it has been awhile since I made anything.

L-License—My Registered Nurse license that is. J

M-Music—I love listening to music mostly country, top 20, alternative and pop/rock. Especially as loud as I can.  I’m going to be deaf by the time I’m 60 but ooh well.

N-Netflix—I watch Netflix all the time especially while lying in bed.

O-Oops—I’m blonde, enough said.

P-Pedicures—The one this that I truly do a lot that is girly and makes my feet feel wonderful.

Q-Quilting—My new found hobby that I did mostly last winter when it was cold and dreary outside.  I know it makes me sound about 70 yrs old but its fun to pick out different fabrics and see what goes together.

R-Rascal—My crazy anorexic geriatric 17 year old cat that I can’t imagine living with out.

 

S-Single—Being single again is bittersweet.  I am happy that I’m not in a relationship anymore that causes he hurt but wish I would meet that special person someday.

T-Television—I love vegging out and lying on the couch watching nothing-important thinking about being productive.  As I type this I’m laying here.

U-Underwood—As in Carrie, love her music!  As well as the other pop country singers like Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner, etc.

 

V-Vegetables—I love eating fresh vegetables and fruit it is delicious and healthy all in one.

W-Wyoming—As much as I would like to move back to Colorado Wyoming is actually a pretty good place.

X-XOXO—Hugs and kisses how everyone needs them.

Y-You—I know this is a long stretch but the few numbers of people that actually read my blog and are involved in my life.

Z-Zzzz—As in sleeping and cuddling all warm and comfy. 

Chris LeDoux Days

Yesterday I went to Chris LeDoux Days in Kaycee, WY it was probably the most fun I have had in a long time.  There was a rodeo, street dancing, plenty (plenty) of beer, friendly people, dancing, live music, great friends and a GREAT time!  I learned more about Chris and I actually met a prince of wyoming (his son Will), I might have made a fool of myself.  :P  It was a great to celebrate such a great person. 

Kim and I

The tribute ride for Chris

Beautiful Perchron Horses

Statue Honoring Chris

Chris LeDoux

I'm just going to sum up with....23 yr olds, beer, dancing and a tent. Yep....good only junior high fun. 

Loosing a Friend

Its been pretty much 2 years since I moved to Casper.  I can’t believe it, 2 years.  In the scheme of things that’s really not that long but I never did picture myself here in the first place.  As I write this I am balling my eyes out.  I seem so unhappy right now.  Last Sunday I finally broke off my relationship with Jay.  As much as it will hopefully be better in the long run I still lost my best friend, one of the only reason why the last 2 years we fun here in Casper.  I really wished things would have worked out between the two of us but it just didn’t seem right.  I will truly miss having that person who I could trust and that knew me so well. Jay is a kind, gentle, sweet guy but for some reason he really only seems to me as a friend not my boyfriend, husband, partner I wanted to be.  I desperately hoped there was more but couldn’t keep fooling myself; that’s why I held on for so long.  I have no hard feelings angriness or hatred towards Jay I just didn’t want us to keep living in a relationship I felt was not going anywhere.

 I know this is pretty deep and intimate but if you, Jay. do read this I’m so sorry and wish that someday we could be truly friends because that is what I so badly need here in Casper.  I also think about the last time I became single I was so wanting to be in a relationship again and knowing the loneliness that accompanies being single.  I think about how I am 28 yrs old and would like someday to have children.  I really cant imagine myself with any but who knows. I have always been a pretty independent person and tried not depending on others to help me but I do greatly appreciate the help.

Moving home sounds better each day, but I don’t know if that necessarily will solve my problems.  What I truly need is to be happy with myself, and I don’t believe living here in Casper or Fort Collins or anywhere else is going to help that.  So as I finish writing this I’m trying to think about what will make me happier and at this time I have no clue.

Clinical RN-3

So it has been almost 2 years since I graduated from nursing school…. WOW!  Is all I can say…I have accomplished so much is my short time as a nurse!  At WMC there is a laddering system that has different levels of nurses based on their experience and involvement with the organization.  After some research I realized I was already so involved in the organization and met the ladder requirements, all I had to do was fill out the paperwork.  Back in December I filled out the paperwork and pretty much spent a whole day gathering the information and submitted it before the deadline.  Then a week later I was approved as a RN-3 then another week later it was taken away because I hadn’t worked at the organization for 2 years.  So I was upset that I didn’t get the recognition and pay raise that was associated with the clinical RN-3.  Luckily, to my surprise my manager must have appealed it and they decided to go through a loop-hole and actually regrant me the title.

I can’t believe that I have been a nurse for such a short time and have had so many opportunities to be involved and make a different.  I always wonder if I would have had this same involvement and opportunity if I were to stay in the Denver area at a bigger hospital.  In the long run, I am glad I did move to a smaller, rural facility and was able to contribute to the well-being and help increase good quality care for patients.

Independence Rock

So more fun Wyoming places to visit.  Back in January I took a quick little trip to Independence Rock, which is another landmark along the Oregon Trail.  It is pretty interesting; the rock sticks out like a sore thumb and is covered in carved and painted names of many of the families that reached the rock during their journey.  It is neat to see some of the history of Wyoming.  I walked already the way around it too... It was a nice brisk walk on the cold and breezy January day.

History:

Independence Rock is a large granite rock, approximately 130 feet high, in southwestern Natrona County in Wyoming. During the middle of the 19th century, the rock was a prominent and well-known landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California emigrant trails. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961.

The rock derives its name from the fact that it lies directly along the route of the Emigrant Trail and that emigrant wagon parties bound for Oregon or California, which usually left the Missouri River in the early spring, attempted to reach the rock by July 4, in order to reach their destinations before the first mountain snowfalls.

Wyoming Highlights

So important tree on the Oregon Trail

Back in September Jay and I went for a mini Wyoming tour where we followed the Oregon Trail and went to a place where oil actually seeped out of the ground. 

See the trail....

First, Wyoming has so much involvement and history regarding the Oregon Trail and it is neat to learn more about it.  My only experience in the past with the Oregon Trail was the computer game that we played in grade school.   Which was an awesome game J.   

Next, for months I have learned more about oil and the oil industry and the process it takes to extract oil from the earth.  Also, it sees like everyone thinks the industry of the oil extraction is devastating to the planet.  DON’T GET ME WRONG, when there are large man made spills it is!!  But oil is a natural occurring substance; I couldn’t believe it actually came out of the ground naturally.  So Jay took me to a place just an hour or so west of Casper that proved me wrong.   I was surprised when we actually got there and the image in my head was different then what was reality.  I expected rivers of oil and (like lava) but instead just spots were it would slowly seep out of the ground.  

Colors of Casper Falls

August 2010

July 2011

January 2012

Becoming More of a Patriotic American

This last weekend Jay and I went to South Dakota. Yep, South Dakota. It was pretty great I feel closer to being a more patriotic American because of it. I have always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and the Devil’s Tower (still in Wyoming on the way to South Dakota). It was a pretty drive this fall and I got to see many of the wonders of the USA.

First we went to the Devil’s Tower in Northern Wyoming. It was pretty spectacular how this column tower just protrudes out of the ground. I guess it was a result of volcanic activity.

The History & Legends of the Devil’s Tower:

Devils Tower is a monolithic igneous intrusion or volcanic neck. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet above sea level. Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt.

There are many different native American legends about the tower but my favorite one is this:

“According to the Native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota Sioux, some girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. The bears, in an effort to climb the rock, left deep claw marks in the sides, which had become too steep to climb. (Those are the marks which appear today on the sides of Devils Tower.) When the girls reached the sky, they were turned into the star constellation the Pleiades.”

After Devils Tower we headed towards Deadwood, I have always heard so much about Deadwood and how great it is so we’d though it would be nice to stay there for the night. First we got a hotel and the Franklin Silverado which was right downtown. Let me just say it was really nice down stairs but after we got upstairs and we in our $120 a night crap of a room that had multiple alive and dead wasps flying around it we decided to go some place else. Yeah, wasps! So we ended up at the Iron Horse Inn that was just a couple blocks away we had to pay a little more but we didn’t have any wasps here! After we got settled, we went to dinner and then did some gambling. And I mean minimual I think I only spent $30 on gambling. I have too hard of time loosing my hard earned money so we ended up drinking and I got pretty tipsy and tired then we ended up going back to the room and passed out J.

The next morning we headed towards Mount Rushmore, which again was a pretty drive. I feel more of an American now that I have seen Mouth Rushmore. I was kind of surprise how small it was from a distance (except it is Hugh!) As one of Jay’s friends said it was pretty boring but it is something everyone needs to see.

History of Mount Rushmore:

Mount Rushmore features 60-foot (18 m) sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level.

“South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people into the Black Hills region of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. Robinson's initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles site and chose the larger Mount Rushmore. Borglum also decided the sculpture should have a more national focus, and chose the four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. After securing federal funding, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in October 1941.”

After our brief visit to Mount Rushmore, we headed to the Jewel Cave. Which I guess is the 2^nd longest cave in the world. Yep in South Dakota. I was very pretty in the cave but I must be more closterphobic then I think because I had this pressure on my chest and hard time breathing at times now there.

History of Jewel Cave:

Frank and Albert Michaud, two local prospectors, discovered the cave in 1900, when they felt cold air blowing out of a small hole in a canyon. It is unknown whether any previous inhabitants of the area were aware of the natural cave opening, which was not large enough for a person to enter.

After enlarging the cave entrance with dynamite, the Michauds found a cavern lined with calcite crystals, which led them to name it "Jewel Cave." The brothers tried to capitalize on the discovery, widening the opening, building walkways inside, and opening it to tourists. Although their venture was unsuccessful, news of the discovery eventually reached Washington. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Jewel Cave a National Monument on February 7, 1908.

After the wonders of Jewel Cave we were going to stay in the Black Hills area one more night but then decided to save some money and head home which was only a 4 hour drive back to Casper.

It was a great little mini vacation and got to learn more about American (and Indian) heritage then I knew before. I also got a Passport to the National Parks, where each place you visit you can get a ‘cancelation’ and stamp of each place. So now I’m excited to go other places in the US and fill up my passport.

Things I learned:

Black Hills South Dakota was actually pretty cool and a lot of history.

I am more of an American now J.

I love experiencing time with Jay outside of Casper.

I like going on these mini vacations, which surprising cost more money than they should.

Theodore Roosevelt must love this area of the USA since he made each of these places a memorial, monument or park.