Our Montana Memories

We've made severeal "pilgrimmages" to our wonderful property in Montana. Our first time wass when we bought the property in 2000 or 1999. I was really young and had no idea what the trip was about. It was just mom, dad, neal and me back then.


Earlier in 2001, my dad took Neal and I to the property and then to the family shindig. We had a HUGE hive of bees there. Not any type of bee, but yellowjackets. I HATE those things with a passion. Here is a link to those agressive bees' info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket
Anyways, in the morning, the bees would harass us when we ate breakfast. So, the next time we ate , we crossed the road to the area near the hill. It was about a 1/4 from the foundations. A bee or two would arrive, and we would shoo them away, but they'd alert the others and a swarm would chase us until we gave up our bowls of cereal and ran off. So, Neal and I grabbed our choice weapon (a broom- what is it with me and wildlife and weapons with long handles-- raccoons, possums, bees) and charged screaming and wailing while feroicously hitting the bees. In our hit-and-run attacks I did not get stung but Neal was covered in bee stings. I remember Neal balling his eyes out when a couple of bees decided to nab him in the flesh of his neck. I was six and Neal was four. I always have been the one to get away unscarred while Neal was blamed for everything. Neal, being the younger and dumber, never learned from my mistakes.

In 2001, my dad took some time off of vacation to get the foundation poured in and get everything set up. He was there alone during the 9/11 attack and heard about it while stopping by in town to by some supplies and heard about. He then tuned into the radio to get more details. He wasn't sure if it was just a freak terrorist event or if it signaled a war against the US, so he called us when we lived in Kent to see how we were faring. He finally calmed down and continued work there again. He was there until October and snow had begun to fall. In west. MT, they have hot HOT summers and then the transition into winter is extreme. Oh yeah, and when he came back, the bee colony was nearly entirely wiped out. Only about 5 buzzers were seen that winter. 2 kids managed to do what some pest control companies still fail to do.

Our Change of Plans

We had a sudden change of plans. Instead of spending our Spring Break on my parent's property in Western Montana, my mom, Neal, Eliza, Annelise and I drove 5 hours down I-5 and ended up at my Grandma Marcia's house in Salem.

Neal, Dad and I were supposed to spend a little over a week at the Timberframe in Montana. So far we only have the foundations up, but my dad wanted to plant some of our Huckleberry bushes and some apple trees over there so we can be self-sufficient if all heck breaks loose thanks to our current economic state and Obama's cronies.

Currently, though, the ground is frozen and they have about 2 feet of snow. Now, I've camped for 3 weeks straight, in violent 60 mph windstorms and 116 degree weather while lifting heavy building materials. That happened last summer and I had FUN and toughed it out. But cold is another thing. Basically, we'd have to sleep in the canopy of our dad's truck, or build a fire and do it eskimo style while planting a garden and building part of our house. I'm tough, but not THAT tough.

So now I'm typing this entry from my g-ma's laptop.

Here are some pics of the property in montana:
http://woodyoubelieveit.blogspot.com/search/label/MONTANA

Dreams And Ambitions for thi summerHigh School

My dreams--

Go off the 40 ft cliff this year @ sun lakes

have an awesome time chasing turkeys on our property in Montana (Maybe Dad'll let me use the shotgun this year to nab em)

Have an awesome time at Yellowstone and family reunions

Get all the right classes with all the right people, wink wink. <3 ;

I'm expressing my dreams- which are about to be shattered thanks to my knee (whose ACL HAS shattered into a million pieces.)

Make my Varsity soccer team as a Freshman-- (which will be postponed to sophomore thanks to my immobility of my knee for a year)

I want to get a 4.0 in High School.

Play softball or track, and if I do softball (I've never played before) but I want to be a good JV player or Varsity. I have a hunch I'd excel at softball.

My Knee

I found out my knee injury was my ACL ligament detaching at both ends and is now a shriveled mess of fiber in the center of my knee.

Sick, huh?

So the doc recommends therapy for a few months, then surgery, then recovery and more therapy for 9 months!!! That's about a year of no sports. No soccer for the High School team. No track this year!!! My next sport would have to be track or softball (depending on which one I pick) for our High School team.
I will be on crutches for 2 months after surgery!!! I can't play any contact sports. (That includes dodgeball.) I thankfully can do crunches and push-ups, but no running. I can't even run laps to stay in shape. I'm really mad and I need to vent here because if I don't, I'm gonna get really angry and throw something at the wall. After surgery, though, it's NO running, no walking without crutches, for 2 months!!!

I hope I don't turn into a wrinkly old lady with knee problems who has her grandkids fetch her the newspaper for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"""""""""""""""MMMMMMMMMMMMMM GGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!