Vermont

As I previously mentioned, I spent a week and a half in Vermont in the not-so-recent past. The trip was a birthday present and sort of a surprise. It was way more than I deserved, but I won't complain! :) In an attempt not to bore you with the day-to-day happenings of the trip, I'll just list some of the awesome, relaxing, and/or memorable things that went down in The Green Mountain State. I will then include a collection of random somewhat artsy photos that I took while we were there. Jared took a few of them, too, but he posted several pictures that I've taken on his Flickr page, so I'm taking credit for them all here! Ha!

• We spent 3 days in the boat on the lake. So so so so beautiful!
• We sea kayaked a couple of times, once we kayaked to the end of the bay, ate lunch, then kayaked back. (About 6 miles we guessed)
• I slept soundly for the first time in months and months.
• I felt fantastic while I was there. Although it sounds crazy to say, I was as close to not being in any pain as I have been in at least 10 years!
• I played with Dublin, the gimpy lab mix, and Luca, the tiny cat with really unique markings. Dublin managed to coax me out of a lot of doggy massages!
• We saw Grace Potter in concert. The concert was in downtown Burlington on the water. She is fantastic, but I worry that the way she sings will destroy her voice long before her career would end based on her talent alone.
• I personally boiled 2 live lobsters! Their names were Un-Chipper 1 and Un-Chipper 2. They were not lively, but delicious.
• I ate tons and tons and tons of locally grown fruit and homemade granola sweetened with maple syrup-the real stuff! I now eat granola at least once a day!
• I looked through a pile of Jared and Ian's school papers and projects from when they were younger. They were/are amazingly intelligent! Jared is very embarrassed by those things. I laughed!
• We learned to play a new version of Scrabble called Speed Scrabble. It is far superior to the original game in my opinion, even though I'm terrible at it. It is incredibly fun to play with Jared's mom, and her eccentric traveling friend, Deborah, until 1 or 2 in the morning after great Syrian food and lots of wine!
• I was informed that billboards are illegal in the state of Vermont! This has yet to fully sink in.
• I bought a really sweet print that says "I love you, but naturally my pets come first." It is now framed and hanging in the living room. Oh yeah, and I actually met the artist who created it!
• I met up with my friend Ali, who I rafted with on the Rio Grande last summer.
• I borrowed Jared's dad's bike and rode along on a couple of Jared's morning runs. I'm in really bad shape and he's really insane! I was riding, not running, and it was exhausting!
• I spent a LOT of time laughing with Jared and his family and friends!

Near the place we stopped to eat and water ski.

It looks like I'm trying to kick Jared's butt here. I think I was tickling, but it makes me look hardcore either way!

Cruisin' in the boat.

These things put the boats in the water and take them out. They are pretty neat. I think so anyway.

Sailboat in the wind.

Looking at the water in Stowe. These photos are basically the same, but I just want you to see how green it is!!!

Ian water skiing.

Intro to Vermont

So, about a month and a half ago, I went to Vermont for 10 days! Yeah, I know that I'm a huge slacker if I'm just blogging about it now. Anywho, I had an absolutely amazing time, slept well for the first time in months, and was basically pain free the whole time! I'll explain more later, my bed is calling out to me right now. I'll just let you know that Lake Champlaigne is paradise as far as I'm concerned, grass is very friendly on bare feet, and granola made with maple syrup is beyond delicious!

Yes people, those are my toes. What a view, huh?

Mutts

New House and New Critters

Hyside, Kona, and Marigold getting ready for their daily dose of doggy naptime.

I'm happy to say that it's been just over a month since I moved out of my old house and into my new place, and things in the new house are going quite well! I now live with one of the veterinarians that I work with as well as her 2 golden retrievers, G-Wak and Marigold, and her cat, Chibi. Our place has a huge fenced backyard. That is definitely the only thing that keeps us from going insane with 4 dogs over 50 pounds at the house! Kona, Hyside, and Heather's younger dog, Marigold, get along really well and are pretty good buddies. For some reason though, G-Wak, who is 11, and Hyside seem to butt heads. I imagine that Hyside doesn't like that G-Wak won't play with them and is a bit of a curmudgeon from time to time and that G-Wak doesn't like Hyside's crazy energy or his emo attitude. With the exception of an abscess above Hyside's left eye a few weeks ago, no damage has been done.

While I continue to have high hopes that the dogs will all get along, my dogs and the cat are a different story. I guess that I should have gotten a cat when my mutts were pups. Perhaps if that had happened, they would not view cats as "prey." Needless to say, that did not happen, and now my herding/hound dogs really like to chase cats. At least all that the situation requires is a bit of separation. Luckily, Chibi recently took a job, which makes life much easier. He works part-time as a nighttime mouser! He gets all excited to go out into the garage now and immediately runs to the corners to start searching! He loves it and is so proud of himself when he catches one! And of course we love knowing that the mice are gone! Yay Chibi!

Chibi loves fishing! He's gonna figure out how to open the lid someday and that giant catfish is gonna be in big trouble!

Marigold getting all settled in the new place!

60 Years and Still in Love

Several noteworthy things have happened since my last real post back in June. This one is pretty cool, so I'm gonna start with it!

On June 19 of this year, my grandparents, Don and Delores McClure, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! All I can really say is that I am lucky to have witnessed their interactions throughout my lifetime. While I still have no idea what specifically it takes to make a marriage last six decades, I at least have a place to start!

Congratulations, Grandma and Grandpa, and thank you for showing us that 2 people really can stay together forever! We love you!

Delores and Don McClure, of Billings, celebrated their 60th anniversary with a family barbecue at their son and daughter-in-law’s home in Nye. Delores Sikora and Donald McClure were married June 19, 1949, in Absarokee. In 1962, they moved to Billings, where she was a police officer and he taught for the Lockwood School District. They are retired. The couple’s sons and daughter-in-law are Donna and Paul McClure, of Nye, and Kieth McClure, of Parker, Colo. They have four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.