So many good updates! The most exciting one is that I defended my thesis last Friday, and I am now a Master of Science! And there was much rejoicing. :) I do have a few small changes to make, but besides that, I am finished. After 3 1/2 years of working, I have gotten my degree. I feel good!
I also have a lovely little Christmas tree, plucked from the hills just outside of Hamilton, MT. As my roommate said, it makes our living room look like Christmas. Greg and I decorated it with ornaments from my childhood, as well as a few origami creations. It looks beautiful.
Thanksgiving was lovely--besides finding lovely little Christmas trees we went hiking to the beautiful Blodgett Canyon overlook, which was wild and mysterious in mist and snow, and we of course ate a perfectly decadent dinner, put together by 10 talented cooks. Mmm, good!
The other night, we had an artistic evening, making origami (it's a miracle we even succeeded in finishing any of the pieces, since the book we were using was not particularly useful in showing ALL the necessary steps) and fingerpainting exuberantly on large pieces of cardboard. It was good to have some creative release.
So, good things are happening. I'm looking for a steadyish job, though I'm managing to pick up a few random things here and there, and hey, I can always donate plasma! We're waiting for a good snowfall here, too--I and my friends are itching to get out on our skis! This weekend looks to be promising . . .
Christmas blessings to everyone!
I started off the day by appropriately garbing myself:
After walking around downtown for most of the day, getting lunch, drooling over amazing shoes in Hide & Sole, and poking around in pawn shops, Greg and I headed to Bernice's to meet Beth and Britta and plan for our election day festivities. We went to the store and armed ourselves with the necessities: baguette, wine, the makings of some kick-ass nachos, and such contraband as Jamison's and Bailey's . . .
Despite the cheering polls from the previous few weeks, we were all a little nervous at the possible outcome. It wasn't particularly likely that the country would vote for a Republican president after the happenings of the past eight years, but we didn't dare to feel over-confident.
Basil remained pretty chill, however.
Michelle was hoping for a landslide victory for Obama, and her confidence infected us.
Of course, we had to break into the whiskey. Note: Jamison's + Bailey's = about the darned best drink you've ever had. Wowza.
Though I also had to finish off my wine . . . double-fisting was the only way to go!
We sat in my living room, munching our massive plate of nachos and watching the map turn blue and red, waiting impatiently for voting booths to close across the country. But even early on, the numbers were heartening.
And then . . . and then . . . the words we'd been longing to hear:
BARACK OBAMA IS PRESIDENT-ELECT!!!
That's when the party REALLY started.
(Note that the whiskey bottle is EMPTY.)
Cheers, everyone, to the next four (or, insh'allah, EIGHT!) years!
I do so love this time of year. The weather is beautiful, blue skies and cool breezes and crisp morning air, and the trees turning brilliant golds and oranges and reds. All the colors seem so vivid, and they surround me, dazzling my vision. I'm sitting in my apartment right now with the windows closed and the doors open, and I can see golden, green and brown leaves shivering in the sunlight out the front door, and green leaves and blue sky out the back door, and a pleasantly cool breeze flowing through the house. Mmm.
Life is good, so good. I have time to eat good food, spend time with the people I love, visit beautiful places, write, dream, sleep, cuddle with my cat, drink tea, laugh, play games, walk beneath the stars, do yoga, dance . . . I am enjoying this time. I know that eventually I will have to, once again, find gainful employment, that this idyll cannot last indefinitely--but I'm certainly enjoying it while it does!
A few pictures from the past few weeks:
Views of the Mission mountains from the Blue Mountain trail:
An autumn trail at Blue Mountain:
Greg eating breakfast by the flowers we bought at the Hamilton farmer's market:
Um, right, we were just packing for a weekend . . . but really, we needed all of it!
A hike up to Glen Lakes to see the larches changing color (one of Greg's yearly rituals):
Gorgeous golden larches at their larchiest!
. . . just a tad twitterpated . . .
The Glen Lakes area burned two years ago:
Ponderosa pine root:
Sunset view of the Bitterroot Valley:
Beth and Britta are back in town! All of us are gloriously unemployed and enjoying ourselves immensely. Last week we spent a day laying out in the sun, reading and writing and relaxing:
Britta catching some rays:
ALL of us came out on the roof to sprawl in the sun:
Last weekend Greg, Beth, Britta and I went down to Hamilton and spent a few marvelously relaxing days at Greg's parents' house.
My wonderfully (and perpetually) goofy Greg:
Bethie and I, looking stunningly gorgeous, as always:
We spent Friday hiking up Blodgett Canyon:
. . . and it rained on us, twice. Fortunately Beth and Britta were well-equipped with their $1 rain ponchos. Beware the poncho monster!
Blodgett Creek:
A little garter snake we found by the trail (who knew they had such beautiful shades of red and orange?):
Fall colors bursting forth:
Indigo blue--a rare color to find in nature! A bead berry (I think!) hidden among the leaves:
My compadres smirking at two 'macho' hiker guys sporting bear bells. Hee! (Whoops, they heard us mocking them and silenced the bells while they walked past us. Hee! again.)
Oh, Montana, how I love thee! Oh, Montana in autumn, how beautiful thou art!
Mmm.
My new office:
Views from my new office:
Let's just say that I'm very much enjoying my life right now.
Other fun things:
Huckleberry picking day with Greg and Noël! We were quite successful.
Oh, yes, and I celebrated my 29th birthday (more pics on Facebook and on Picasa)!!! Greg took me flying . . . or should I say, I took HIM flying?
We flew over the alpine lakes and rugged mountains of the beautiful Bitterroots:
Here's one of the dresses Greg bought me in South Africa (I haven't received the other one yet!) - and it fits perfectly! I wore it out to my girls' night birthday celebration at Shadow's Keep.
On my first Monday of freedom I hiked to the top of Mt. Sentinel:
Last week Greg and I (and Molly! - yes, she would be the green Subaru in the picture) went down to Hamilton and hiked up Blodgett Canyon to pick rose hips.
Soon those rose hips will be turned into some yummy jam . . .
The creek was bone-chillingly cold, but Greg found it quite refreshing as he basked in the sunlight:
Then we spent three days up on Flathead Lake at the annual Bear Hug contra dance camp . . . and when we weren't dancing, we sat on the shore and drank in the dazzling sunlight:
The good weather continues here in beautiful Missoula, and I continue to spend my days in various parks and green spaces around town, reading, writing, and, yes, taking the occasional doze in the sun. I LOVE IT!
