The Grizzlies

I think it only appropriate to split our Utah post into several separate entries, considering I have TONS of photos and am still not done going through them. So for now, I will share our afternoon at the West Yellowstone Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. Our visit fell in the middle of our trip, but left a HUGE (as in 1000 lb bear huge) impression. How often do you get to have such an intimate experience with a very large grizzly bear? I must admit I probably wasn't in the right mindset the day we visited. I should've been impressed with his natural beauty, but instead I kept watching his massive paws pushing away enormous logs as if they were twigs. You see, J.R. and I were hiking the Beartooth Mountains the next morning. Yep, beartooth! The name alone gave me second thoughts, and although I tried to take comfort in the fact that the ranger assured us that we would more than likely never encounter a bear of his size in this area of the country (this particular bear and his sister were rescued from the Alaskan wilderness), I couldn't shake a slight panic that had been building since months before when were planning the trip. I look back at the pictures now and think, wow, they are amazing! They don't look scary in the pictures at all. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would say they are smiling in a few:).

 

Gone Fishin...

While I was home in TN, I went on an early morning fishing trip with my dad, his friend Ken, and Ken's 3 year old grandson, Isaac. What a personality this little boy has with a very genuine and sweet nature that you don't always find at such a young age! The minute I sat my chair down on the rocky bank, Isaac came along with his chair, placing it so close to mine that the arm rest protruded into my seat:). Later on that day I decided to dip my bare feet in the river despite my dad's warnings about it being bitterly cold, and immediately yelled out in pain. Isaac, who hadn't left my side for most of the morning, pointed his finger at the offending water, scolding it with a, "bad water, bad water!" How cute is that? I think he will make some woman very happy someday:). Anyhow, on top of being one of the sweetest little boys I have met, he also happens to be extremely photogenic with beautiful light blond hair and big blue eyes! He and his granddad have such a special bond, and I tried to capture that with some images from the day. How lucky they are to have one another!

Beautiful morning on the Clinch River

(Don't forget to check out the previous post, if you haven't already. 

I am doing several back to back so I can get caught up. Next up, Utah pics!)

The Meredith Boys

So, I am a little behind on my posts. I meant to have one done before we left for a family visit in Utah, and became overwhelmed with other projects and last minute preparations. Now that the Utah trip is behind me, I want to share all of the images my camera has captured over the month of August, including two very cute little Meredith men. As mentioned in the previous post, these boys are the sons of my friend Jenny whom I have known since we were five and six years old.

Tommy (age 6 weeks) :)

 

Tommy's sleepy moments:)

Cyril (age 4 1/2) :)

We attempted to get one with both boys a few times, but Hercules (their Great Dane) had other plans:)

I need to go drop Jenny's pictures in the mail, but will be posting some more from this month today or tomorrow, so be watching--I mean it this time:)!

Last Week

I am currently set up on a long black parson's table in the Starbucks just down the road from our house. A case full of brownies, muffins and over-priced organic juice drinks call to me as I look over my laptop screen. As I make a concerted effort not to give in, I am also pretending that I have some massively important, urgent work that I am deeply engrossed in all for the benefit of the businessman sitting next to me who probably really is working and hasn't given my presence a second thought since I arrived. I'm weird like that. I like to pretend that I am one of those people who comes to a coffee shop to do more than play around on the internet, people watch, and well...blog. I am also one of those people who waits for someone to get on the treadmill beside her at the gym, and then silently challenges the unaware person to a race, and stays on the treadmill until he/she has given up. I am even the type of person who lies to Comcast so that they will "escalate" the importance of a service appointment and get our internet running again as soon as humanly possible. That's right, I am calling Starbucks home this afternoon because yesterday, while digging for gas lines, a service man hit our buried internet line and severed it. After a few phone calls, we gathered that Comcast had not buried the line deep enough to begin with. Three more phone calls later and I found myself telling the customer service agent that I worked from home, and that it was imperative that we received priority over any other service calls in our area. Can you really blame me though? It wasn't our fault that the guy who took two weeks to bury the line upon installation, could not differentiate between 6 and 12 inches.

I am enjoying the change of scenery, anyway. I love the smell of coffee, even though I don't drink it, and it's nice to be around people. I love long days with Max, but I definitely miss the daily interactions with people that I had while working. Speaking of Max, guess who was excited to see me after my week in Tennessee:)? I felt very loved as I opened the door last Tuesday evening and out ran Max, wagging his tail so violently that he almost fell over in all of the excitement.

My desire to fly to Tennessee originated with the birth of my oldest friend in the world's son in June, and materialized into an August plane ticket when I learned that my high school friend, Alex, was finally tying the knot. Oh, and of course I wanted to see the fam:). My Aunt Susan graciously arranged her quarterly trip to TN to coincide with mine, which meant amazing meals almost every night (score!).

I arrived on Tuesday and after a ride home from the airport in my dad's "little red car" (a Miata that he drives like he is Jeff Gordon), I became acquainted with the newest addition to the Nichols family, Gizmo.

 He isn't nearly as mean as he looks and sits like this on a regular basis:

 sun bathing while everyone is at work.

Jenny (a.k.a oldest friend in the world, mentioned above) visited that same day with her four and a half year old, Cyril, and one of the most beautiful six-week-old babies I have ever met, Tommy. There is something surreal about holding the baby of someone who has been your friend since a pinching incident on a daycare swing set twenty four years ago:). Jenny and her husband make the most gorgeous babies. I remember holding Cyril four years earlier and hoping my future children turned out even half as beautiful as he. Now she has two handsome and active boys, leaving her as she puts it "outnumbered" in a house where even the dog carries on the male trend.   

Babysitting at 9am in the morning, sans makeup and shower:)

I spent a while with Jenny and her boys, taking as many pictures as I could. I will share my favorites in my next post (as I am still editing), but here's a couple because I can't resist showing off an adorable mohawk and an energetic little boy's contagious smile:).

She definitely has her hands full, but if you know my friend, you know these boys couldn't be luckier having her as their mother. She makes it look so effortless...

After a semi-relaxing few days, I found myself sleep deprived prior to my friend Alex's big day. My best friend (and date to the wedding), Amber, who I may have mentioned recently moved to Pittsburgh, found a last minute flight scheduled to arrive in Knoxville around midnight the day of the wedding. However, as the airlines never seem to disappoint us with frequent cancellations, maintenance issues, and late flights, she didn't actually arrive until 2am. This would have been fine, as the wedding wasn't until 4pm that day, but I had promised my dad I would be up and ready to go fishing at 6am. Three hours of sleep later, I was sitting in the back seat of my dad's friend Ken's pickup truck, talking to a very energetic three and a half year old named Isaac (Ken's grandson). 

The four of us made our way to the farm that we have frequented with my dad many times on our visits home. A beautiful fog blanketed the clinch river as we pulled up to Ken and my dad's favorite fishing spot. 

As we ate our McDonald's sunrisers, I tried my hardest to avoid having to string one of the poor "night crawlers" onto a hook.

I love fishing, but have never enjoyed that aspect of it. Isaac made a point to sit his chair as close to mine as he could and seemed content with my company as he played with his Thomas the Train set....

  ....and in the river with their dog Maggie...

...and in the mud...:)

More of this cutie and his Grandpa in the next post as well

I was ready for a shower and a nap when we returned home, but in the interest of time only had the former. I made my dad snap a picture of me before the wedding so I could prove to J.R. that I had on the earrings he bought me last year (since apparently I never wear them;)). However, I was in such a rush that I didn't realize that you really couldn't see the earrings in the picture. I am posting it anyway because I received so many compliments on my dress at the wedding, which almost never happens to me, lol.

Turns out, a silk/polyester blend really isn't the best attire of choice for a southern, outdoor wedding in August. I apologize to all who attended my June outdoor wedding last year. I now feel your pain:). The wedding was beautiful, albeit miserably hot at times, and I really enjoyed myself. The bride was gorgeous and the groom impressed me with his break dance moves at the reception. I am now adding, "learn how to break dance--so I can impress people at future weddings" to my bucket list:).
Congrats Alex and Alia!

Well the businessman, along with everyone else who was in Starbucks when I came, left over an hour ago, so I guess I can give up my charade and head home for the day:). I hope everyone has a great weekend! I promise another post in the next few days, so for those of you who care, be watching!