Weekend in montana

we made it to billings after a fun trip on snowy roads. Winter storm warning through tomorrow so more fun ahead. we are heading to fairmont hot springs for a weekend of relaxation and skiing. I am super excited to be heading north for the first time since thanksgiving.

Lucky for me gonzaga is playing so I have time to do some blogging. Especially after my slacker week of blogging. It has been an uneventful week in gilette. I have been running (3 miles on sunday and tuesday)

More posts to come...

Is it spring time yet?

so as i write, the weather is actually pretty nice for february, but i still can't help but long for warm weather and long days. the darkness absolutely kills me (though it is much worse for nick, leaving for work in the dark and returning from work in the dark). thank goodness we don't live in alaska :). my husband tells me i am suffering from some spring fever, which i can't help but to agree with. maybe it's because we didn't take our annual trip to a tropical oasis this year.

it has been a busy week at work...which is really a good thing, but i feel like i haven't been able to sit and breathe. yesterday i went to a round table discussion for the school district to discuss what are important skills in my industry. i sat at the agriculture, natural resources and environment table...for a person who works at a coal company, a little off base, but whatever. it was interesting and i was very impressed with the student moderators who were quite well spoken.

today i am going to the north antelope rochelle mine for a meeting. NARM is the largest surface coal mine in the world. it is quite an operation and very impressive to see.

my dogs are acting like holy terrors. remy likes to run back and forth at full speed from the living room to the bedroom...it gets kind of scary when he really gets going! and then they wrestle. i can handle the wrestling, but the noise that comes with it is ungodly. i can't stand it! so finally after some scolding, they are laying down looking forlorn. here's how they look when they're behaving!

Sweet sweet victory!

us with our second place pottery!

well, we competed in our race yesterday. there was a small turnout for the cold february run. i think there were 12 couples total. we got 3rd place overall and 2nd place in our division. nick ran an incredible race (21:50 for three miles) and i ran about 5 minutes faster than any previous race i've done (27:20). it was a very successful race and we look forward to going back and running again next year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

don't want you to think i forgot :)

the anticipation is building

our race is tomorrow! woo-hoo! i am getting ever so slightly nervous, but mostly excited. i have been trying to get directions from google maps to the parks and recreation in colstrip, mt. now, it is a pretty straight shot up from here on the highway, but google wants us to go clear around on the interstate and cut across the reservation. now this adds quite a few miles to our trip. so i thought i could outsmart google (first mistake) and add a destination (biddle, mt...about 90 miles north) to force the highway...but NO! they still insist we take the interstate and then backtrack clear back to biddle (such a silly name. i actually have a friend here in gillette from biddle named, strangely enough, lexie). enough about my struggle with technology for today.

also coming up is my dad's birthday! the entire family is getting together this weekend in missoula for what i'm sure will be lots of fun. i would have joined them, but alas, i wasn't invited. so, happy birthday dad! sorry i'm not there to celebrate with you. maybe next year.

it's working

well it appears all i had to do was start a blog...anne has updated more since i've started this than the past three months combined! good work!

wednesday - hump day

thank goodness the week is half over! it has been one of those weeks where work has been irritating, i'm not happy going to they gym, and i am restless at home. hopefully a fun weekend will change that.

this weekend is the winter western here in gillette...which basically equates to a weekend of rodeo. also, nick and i are competing in a couples race. it is a three mile (each) relay celebrating valentine's day. i am super excited, but also very nervous. luckily nick is quite a good runner, so his time will only help me...and since it's kind of my thing, nick won't mind me dragging him down :).

it has been a busy week for me, which is unusal. last night i had a mary kay party tomorrow a lia sophia party. tonight was supposed to be yoga, but sadly it was canceled which was really unfortunate as i could have used the relaxation!

SME fun

Update update: Lexie 1, Anne 0

Usually weekends we spend around Gillette are less than stellar, but this weekend was a pretty good one. We went to see "He's Just Not That into You" with some friends Friday night. It was a good movie, but one that made you think at the same time.

Since we are getting close to finishing the basement (Nick put up some of the ceiling, now if Home Depot would just get our flooring and paint, we'd really be getting somewhere) we went and did a little furniture shopping this weekend. We are looking for the perfect sectional...I'm sure we'll know it when we see it :). We found some okay sectionals, but nothing great. I guess we'll have to go to Rapid City or try our luck ordering without actually sitting/laying on it first.

This weekend we also had the social event of the winter...the SME (Society of Mining Engineers)dinner dance. It is always a great time, with good friends, good food and free booze. We had a great time as always! Everyone always mocks when they hear we're going to a engineers event, making sure we have our pocket protectors ready, and all that, but the engineers we know, know how to hage a good time! Though some of the dance moves show just how much of an engineer some of them really are :)

Nate, Dave and Nick