4th of July

I know it's a little out of order but I decided I wanted to write about the fourth since I just got my pics downloaded from it. Leon and I went bass fishing in a little run off lake near Boysen with the same group of people that went fishing with up by Jackson. I had never fished for bass before and was surprised at how wide their mouths were...I decided Aerosmith should have named himself after the bass instead. On the day of the fourth we went to the parade in Lander. It is such a fun parade because the firetrucks have a big water fight at the end and so everyone who wants to gets really wet. Sometimes when your in the middle of the choas there is so much water your blinded by it. It is really fun though because people of all ages (there was even this really really old man) are out there jumping around and acting like kids again.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

July 9th was my 20th birthday. Ever since I was little it seems that I've gotten to celebrate my birthday on multiple days. Have a party with my family, a party with friends ect. Well this year was no exception. On the day of my birthday my mom came to visit. We worked on girl's camp stuff and just got the chance to talk. It has been a long time since I've spent time with just her so it was a fun day. That evening Leon got me angel food cake and strawberries. He also gave me some beautiful pearl and diamond earrings. I just love them! The next day Leon had taken off work so he could spend the whole day with me. We went to the fair and rode rides until we were sick, which didn't take too long. We also looked at the animals and had a really good time playing these brain games that a booth had set up. That evening we watched a movie and my little brother came to spend the night. The next day my parents, Ramie and her kids came to town. We had a BBQ at my house and made homemade icecream. Then we went out to Edness State Park. It's a little pond that we swam and rafted in. There are lots of little fish that will come up and nibble on your toes. At first the kids were not sure about them but they got bravier as the afternoon went on. It was 3 full days of celebration and boy do I feel loved and lucky! I have such a great family and they always are so good to me!

A Bloody Ride

Today was "Flag Day" in Casper. Not sure how that holiday ever got to be, but it's a pretty big deal here. If you work for Natrona County you even get the day off. Anyways...I volunteered to take Leon's oldest nieces, Devin and Gadget, to the parade. As far as parades go it was a pretty good one. Over 2 hours long but the kids made out like bandits with the candy. After the parade I decided that we would ride out bikes to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We have 3 bikes but one of them is Leon's "trick" bike (he found it in the river and likes to ride wheelies and stand up on it and stuff). The only problem is is that it doesn't have any brakes. Leon's younger neice, Gadget, was stuck riding that one because she couldn't get on any of the others. She did really well up and down hills just putting her feet down. We were on our way home, all loaded down with groceries like melons, chips ect when we came upon a deadly corner. Gadget cut the corner due to her no breaks but that meants she also cut right into her sister and I. All three of us and our bikes ended up pileded on the ground, my head right into the metal peice that holds the chain. The gash wasn't really that big, but you know how head wounds bleed and this one was no exception. My face was covered in blood, the groceries were covered in blood and the pavement had a nice little puddle pooling. Poor Gadget went into histarics, screaming and crying about how she hates blood and to just leave her there because my face was scaring her. I tried and tried to convince her that I was okay and that I needed her to get up so that we could get home and cleaned up but she wasn't convinced. Luckily one of Leon's friends just happened to drive by and save the day by taking Gadget home while me and Devin got two of the bikes and the groceries home. Everyone turned out fine. Gadget put a whole pack of band aids on every little scratch and dirty spot, I butterflied my head shut and Devin walked away without a smudge. It always amazes me how brave you can be when you HAVE to be the responsible one.

A story for those with Germophobia

I'm not scared of germs, but I like to think of myself as a rather clean person. I keep my house scrubbed, wash my hands after using the restroom, usually squat when using a public restroom, ect. Well...today while working for Lita (an elderly women with a beautiful yard) I so graciously volunteered to clean up an old wood vine that had died. It was laced between chicken wire above a gazebo thing. The vine had grown thick and it proved to be quite the wrestling match (I won but came out of it with plenty of scratches.) After getting the vine all down I had a huge pile of stick to pick up. The dumpster was clear across the yard and down the alley. I didn't want to haul the sticks to it because it would leave behind a trail and make an even bigger mess so I decided to bring the dumpster to the sticks instead. Now this wasn't just a little dumpster. This was a BIG city dumpster. The ones they put in alleys for the neighbors to share. It didn't have wheels so I decided I would tip it over and roll it down the alley and into her yard. At this point I wasn't thinking about how much I would have to touch it, but just about the time it toppled over to its side I realized. Anyways...I ended up pushing and pulling the dumpster the whole way there because it didn't exactly "roll" like I invisioned. When I got there the sticks overflowed the dumpster (kind of like leaves over flowing a garbage bag) which meant they needed to be squished down. I tried a shovel but it didn't work. I finally decided my only choice was to crawl inside the dumpster to get them squished down. The whole time I just kept thinking in my head that my grandma lived through many dumpster diving trips in nastier dumpsters then this. After loading the sticks, I duck taped the lid shut and started my roll back in the rain (fyi..duck tape doesn't stick to wet plastic.) When I got the dumpster to it's "home" I still had to tip it back upright which once again involved a lot of touching. I felt pretty proud to have finished my task but I haven't yet decided if it was really the easier way out. The minute I got home I did get in the shower and scrub down good though.