Back to Life, Back to Reality

I can make a million excuses as to why I have been unable to get on my computer and recap my daily activities. Kent and I have been super busy this summer and I have honestly been overwhelmed with work. My job does not normally have deadlines but I have a major deadline coming up in 3 weeks and my anxiety is out of control. My life does not have a lot of balance right now. I am going to spend this upcoming week actually trying to find that balance I so desire. Right now though I feel so busy and pre-occupied that it feels like I will never have a grip on things. I know that is not the case though and I have to trust that there are waves of frustration in life and I need to truly work on my flexibility (and I'm not talking my ability to do the splits!)

So for the past few months I have found myself dealing with many things, adventures and emotions. Kent and I were super successful with our home and did all of our major yardwork and landscaping in late May so that we were not bogged down with home projects. Last year our entire summer was devoted to our wedding and our home and I was bound and determined that we did not repeat this. Our home is looking great and we were also finally successful with our refi. Having this new interest rate and terms has honestly lifted the most incredible weight off of our shoulders financially. We are going to be able to make a dent into our debt monthly and it has made us more determined to figure out what exactly we want. Right now I would love to get out of debt and start a game plan on moving in the late spring of next year. We are going to start doing our research and work with a mortgage broker so that we can have a true goal to work towards. We always say we are going to start saving money, but then something always comes up. Kent and I are shoppers and do-er's. We are constantly on the go and that takes some serious money. I like to blame Kent, but truthfully, I am just as bad. Just last night I bought 4 pairs of shoes (1 pair I am going to take back..too tight) and a $160.00 pair of sunglasses. Holy crap...I so don't need those glasses. I was having an ugly day though and right now I feel like my body looks awful and my clothes are tight, so at least I can have some fabulous shades. I'd need to gain a whole crap load of weight in order for those puppies to not fit.

In the middle of June Kent found himself joining me on a 1200 mile round trip to Montana. My friend Emily was having a wedding reception and I really wanted to take Kent. This was going to be the first wedding of my friends back home that I was going to actually have a date. This might sound pathetic, but I don't care, it is the truth of how I have felt for so many years. I was always the single one who had to find something to keep myself busy with when a slow song came on or towards the end of the night when people started becoming a little closer. Kent wanted to fly to MT, but the flight prices were difficult so we took our first road trip. We left Seattle at around 8am and the trip was not bad at all. We stopped off in Ritzville at Zips and had a pretty nasty meal in a dirty place. I haven't been there in years, but my family and I would always stop there when we went to Seattle. We arrived in Missoula at around 5pm. The little hotel was great and we took a small nap. Emily made a recommendation for a wine bar for us to go to and it was great. We had this delicious fondue and the waiter wanted to know if we wanted to add Bison to this. Seriously, I love Montana. I have so many fond memories. How I really wish I could relive just one week of my childhood (Lucy you would so be in it!) Since I have started to keep this blog (I need to be more proactive at it though) I told Kent I needed to have some action shots to support my words. He's not much into flashing camera lights in low lit bars, so here is the best I could get.



After the bar we met up with Emily and a slew of people. It was fun to see her older sister Amy and meet her husband. I have only met Emily's husband KK a few times, but they looked happy and both of their families were thrilled. Now that I have a good understanding of love I really appreciate seeing the coming together of a couple and how amazing it is. Kent did get his first dose of true MT living that night...we left the bars and found ourselves at a casino. It was just a little baby casino that was connected to our hotel. I was not ready for bed so we walked in and I saw that Keno machine right before me. I hated Keno when I was a kid because I never won. I could never get all of my numbers I chose, not even when I only picked 3. I slid down in front of that machine and put a $20 bill in it. I hit max bet, picked 6 numbers and pressed play. Hello...no I did not get 5 out of 6 and win $142.00. I had been drinking so of course I was super vocal and started cheering. I asked the guy next to me how much my credits had equaled and he just mutters...a lot. It wasn't until I hit that cash out button and saw the receipt that I found out what I won. So with my new winnings in hand and a free budlight (sick) I put another $20 in my same machine, picked 6 new numbers, hit max bet and play. Now I am not shitting you when I say I did the same thing...I won another $142.00. I started screaming, I did it again, I did it again. Nobody shared my enthusiasm, except for Kent and the attendant who knew she was going to get another tip out of me. My mom use to gamble a lot, like way too much when we lived in Helena, but now I can see why. You win a few times and you think lady luck is on your side. We stuck around a little longer, just long enough for Kent to lose (he he he).

The next morning we got up and went to the Missoula farmers market. It was so great. I love Missoula. I could see myself living in Missoula. It is a cool/hip college town that happens to be around some really beautiful places. Kent and I hung around for awhile and looked at the booths and the downtown. Something out of the corner of my eye made my hair stand up on my arms...Staggering Ox. I saw that baby staring at me and beckoning me to come in. I wanted to go to the Helena one that I grew up on, but I didn't think we would have time. I looked at Kent and told him that I didn't care if he wasn't hungry, I was so getting my sandwich and bread guts with ranch. Kent looked at me when I ordered and literally said, "I'm not hungry, I'll just have a bite of yours." Damn it, what was I thinking! When we finally got around to eating it (we took it to go) Kent would literally take a bite and like 3 inches of my sandwich would go missing. At one point he says to me, "this is really good." I should have slapped him across the face, but I am married now and apparently what is mine is now his. Next time though...NO sharing!


Look at him sitting here in the restaurant, not even looking excited as we are about to have the best ranch dressing on the planet!

Emily's reception was a ton of fun. It was at a country club that was not foo foo, but just pretty enough. It was a very casual event and it was basically like a big old party with friends you haven't seen in years. I almost needed my high school year book with me as KK is 2 years younger and there were definitely faces I recognized, but no clue on their names. Here are so random photos.






The next day Kent and I left for Helena as we were going to spend one night with my two crazy Aunt's, Donna and Ann. I feel bad that I didn't take any photos, next time. I drove Kent around Helena and it had a weird feeling. Like, things seemed a little run down to me. I saw my old house and the yard was gross and they stained it a weird green. This place may look a little rough in some places but the people are awesome and my memories will always be high and fabulous. Kent also had the pleasure of dining at Taco Treat. He said it was OK, but you wouldn't know by how much he ate. Again, I didn't want to look like a pig so we shared some things. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Kent knows I love him though and it is probably good that we shared, I could have put on 5 pounds in 4 days.

We only had a 4 day trip so we needed to leave early the next morning. The drive home is always yucky. I was bloated and sick from all of the crap I ate (on the way home I literally inhaled 5,000 calories out of boredom). Kent and I had a heated debate for hours on his fraternity and the idea of us starting a business together. I was being very business like (nastyish) and it upset my man. I didn't mean too, but I was being tough and not very flexible. Again..that flexibility thing that needs to be worked on. We are all good now though and my brain keeps thinking of good ideas for us to collaborate on!

MT is/was awesome and I look forward to my next trip there.