Holiday Pics

I got on the blog tonight to share some of our holiday-time photos but realized that most of the pics that I wanted to share are on Erin's camera. Unfortunately she is in New York visiting her family and I'm pretty sure she has her camera with her. I found some other pictures that are worth sharing though. You'll just have to deal with the fact that they are a little bit random.



This is from Bozeman's Christmas Stroll; it's a big deal around here and I wanted to go to it more to see the spectacle than to really participate much. Main Street is closed down and insanity rules for a few hours. One of the jewelry stores downtown had college-aged girls dressed as Elves (or something) dancing and posing in the front display window. Kind of reminded me of the Calvin Kline weird dancing billboard deal in Time's Square.



Erin hard at work for school. She didn't know I was taking this but I love the way the picture turned out. I can't wait until she's done with school; though she'll probably just find something else to keep her busy whe we get to that point.

This last one I took at the top of the hill next to our house where I walk Kaya every morning. I typically walk her between 5:45 and 6:30 and it's completely dark, but this is on a Saturday not long after snow.



I can't wait to get Erin's camera. I'll give you a little teaser for photos to come: Christmas Turtlenecks.

HS Reunion

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine from High School (Taylor, I know many of you know him) organized a get-together of a group of guys that knew each other in high school. We went up to McCall (9 hours from Bozeman!)for a long-weekend (long describing the time driving, not the time relaxing).

I had a great time (aside from the driving) and really thought that the whole thing was interesting. I can't say that all of the guys that were there were my closest friends from high school, but a couple of them were (Trevor, Taylor, Bryce) and they were all guys that I considered friends. I've kept up with Trevor and Taylor the best, though thats not saying much, but I was really struck by how much they all seemed to be pretty much the same. I wonder how much of that was real and how much is the result of reverting to old social roles? While each person's chosen life path has definately taken them in a different direction than my own, their choice of life path seemed quite fitting. But maybe I'm just fitting my observations to my theory. Do I sound like a dorky scientist or what?

P.S. It's crazy how I start a blog out meaning to tell one story, and end up telling another.

Camera Recovery

Hi, everybody. I finally found a cord that I could use to download photos from my camera. Thought I would share one or two.


Erin, Kaya, and I went fishing on the Madison River over a month ago. I was really jonesing to go and managed to drag Erin away from her homework long enought to join me. After driving about 45 minutes we got out of the car and stepped into a frickin' tornado. For those of you who have gone fly-fishing, you know that this is about the time that you turn the car around and go watch a movie or something.

Well, I was pretty exited to go and wanted Erin to get a feel for what it's all about; so we suited up and waded into the river. The picture with Kaya is pretty deceiving; she was nothing close to well-behaved. I swear she knew where I was going to cast before I did. Time and again she would barrel into the river right to where I was headed. It was OK because the whole thing was an exercise in futility from the outset, but I might hesitate before taking her with me when I'm serious about catching fish.

The highlight was watching Kaya trying to get to the opposite shore in places where it got deep. She loves the water but hates swimming in it. She would get close enough to the shore to taste it, but would get swept back just before getting there. She would look back at us frantically and then struggle to the banks. It was really funny. I'm excited about the winter but not a huge fan of working during the few hours of daylight.


How’s that for 16 words, Mom?

LET'S GO ROCKIES, YOU CAN DO IT!

There. Including this sentence that makes fifteen words.

GO ROCKIES!

Been A While

I just noticed that I haven't really posted anything for a bit. Just wanted to say that I/we are healthy and happy. I'm loving that it's cooling down, we've had a scorching hot summer (for Bozeman). I'll try to write something more soon.

Cliff Lake, MT

Erin and I rented a canoe this past weekend to do a little "relaxed" camping. I thought the canoe would be a good way to get away from the crowds of car camping while having the comforts of decent food and gear that is too heavy to carry in a backpack. We actually fit all the gear, ourselves, and Kaya in the Canoe all at once; which was good because the campsite I was told to paddle to was a mile into a 20mph wind and I didn't want to do it twice. Kaya didn't love the boat ride too much. I don't know why, she didn't have to paddle.


After setting up camp we went down to the lake to set up the hammock so Erin could take a nap while I tried to fly-fish in a tropical storm. While I was looking for the two trees of ideal separation for hammocking, Erin was alert enough to notice that the boat was no longer where we left it.


I started running down the shoreline, knowing very well that the most likely stopping place of the canoe in the now 30mph wind was at least back at the car where we started, if not further down valley. As I was turning around to tell Erin that I would be back to camp in July some nice people yelled from down the shoreline that they had intercepted an unmanned, quickly moving canoe. I was greatful.

I did get a few minutes of sort-of calm to fish after the 75+mph winds.

Kaya ended up helping out around camp.


But it took a lot out of her (that and her staying up all night defending us from every grizzly bear and squirrel in a 10-mile radius).


All in all it was fun. Windy. But fun.

Extravaganza revisited

We went back up to the same job site near Big Sky today and saw three bears (no days). My coworker was able to get a bunch of pictures of a little bear cub that I think has been abandoned. It looked like it was doing OK; it was eating and looked healthy enough but I don't know how screwed up it is for bear cubs to grow up without parents. Maybe it will make it, though it will probably need counseling later in life. That's all for now. . .small blogs are less intimidating for me to create.

Wildlife Extravaganza

Wednesday was my first field day at my new job. We spent the day in the Big Sky area. It was fun and I definitely have a challenge ahead of me in learning a bunch of new skills. The highlight(s) of the day was seeing a TON of wildlife. It started with Big Horn Sheep, then Elk, two Black Bears, and a couple of days. The guys I went up with saw a moose when I wasn't with them, too. My co-worker was quick enough to get a photo of the second bear we saw on the side of the road, near a gated community development. It was pretty sweet.

The North Country, and SUNY Binghamton

Hi everyone. The last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful so I thought I would put up a couple of pictures from my trip with Erin to visit her family in "The North Country" of New York State. She grew up (and her folks still live close to) the St. Lawrence River that separates New York from Canada. It's rural, and very pretty. I realized this when I visited Western New York where Dad and family lived and am amazed that the rural areas are in the same state as New York City. Erin's dad built the log home where they live now out of the forest that they live on. It's a great place and I think it's so cool that it came from the property where it now sits.

We hung out there for a few days and then headed down to Binghamton where Erin's younger sister (Aliesha) just graduated from SUNY Binghamton in Human Development. It was fun, a lot of ceremonies and restaurants (not a bad thing with the restaurant part). You will be happy to hear that Erin and I have taught her family Nerts (as well as various Bozemanites). I've had a lot of fun with Erin's family. On the way to Binghamton her dad put on a Crash Test Dummies CD, they were both singing along to the "Hmmm mmmm mmmmm mmmmm" song. It cracked me up that they knew all the words (actually, they knew the whole CD) and did actions that go along with the lyrics like I do when I'm messing around. We had a pretty fun time. Here I'll put a picture of them all here (notice the USU sweatshirt Erin's sister is wearing?).

Sorry, I'm going to end this abruptly because I'm done writing but I'll try to give more details about the trip and/or my new job (or something else) later.

P.S. Erin wanted to make sure you all know that her dad is laughing, not just a weirdo.

Erin's free too!

Hi Moore's and associates across the land.

I've been reading up on everyone's lives and noticed a reference to me coming out of my hole, so I thought I should confirm that I am alive and well and out of my hole officially (as of Wednesday at 4pm). I realize that's not nearly as exciting as Joel finishing his thesis and getting a job, but this semester was especially stressful so I'm thrilled that it's over. I get to be worry-free for a whopping week and a half until my summer class starts! Ahhh....

There's not a whole lot more going on with me. I love having Joel back, of course, and I am so relieved that he got a good job. That's not an easy thing to do in this town and his particular field is very competetive here. So he must have knocked their socks off. As you probably know, we're off to NY on Tuesday for my sister's college graduation. I've never even been there before, so I'm excited to see her life and spend time with my family. I usually only make it home at Christmas each year, so it's a huge treat to see everyone twice this year! I can't wait. One of my aunts just started chemo treatments and my older grandpa has been struggling lately, so it will be especially good to be with them for a couple of days.

Summer has arrived in Bozeman so things are hoppin'. I always love this town, but summer is especially amazing here. Now I just need to find a beach that features couples in matching thongs! :) Thanks for the entertaining pictures, Kendi.

I hope you're all well and enjoying warm weather. Take care!
Love,
Erin

Job Offers

Things seem to be falling into place . . . finally. After the thesis approval my next big stress has been finding work in Bozeman. I've been combing through want ads for a while and last week interviewed with a couple of potential employers. One seemed like a great fit but couldn't promise that the work would be available beyond a three month project, and couldn't offer to take me on as a salaried employee. They offered me the position last week. I've been buying time with them while I wait to hear from another possibility that is more stable, and offers benefits, etc. I was offered the more permanent job this morning and I'm planning to take it. It will be a lot of work as I'll have to learn a number of new skills, but I'm excited about it because the company seems to be growing, and there is opportunity for advancement (non-existent in academia without a PhD). Anyway, thought I would share the good news.

I AM DONE

Well. . . pretty much. I found out this afternoon that all of my committee members have signed off on my thesis. I have some details (paperwork and such) to take care of but it should all be over by the beginning of next week. I can't even begin to explain what a huge weight feels like is being taken off of my shoulders. No more stressing about it before I go to sleep, no more calculating how many days I'll have to do any needed revisions, no more worrying about how much more tuition I'm going to have to shell out, no more of any of that.
My job is over soon and I'll be moving back to Bozeman at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to a little more carefree summer. Hopefully I'll get a good job, but that's a worry for another day.

Plummer Retires

This is kind of old news. But I wasn't around the news this weekend to hear about it and have thought a lot about the situation today. I first read about it in the Rocky Mountain News: "Lincicome: Plummer picked weak way out". Just like many in the Denver media sharkpit to spit on a guy on the way out. From what I've heard, Jake lives a low profile life. He drives a Honda Element not a Cadillac Escalade and doesn't generally spend much money. I think if I had the ability to quietly step away from something that maybe became not fun anymore and try other things I would be all over it. A big part of me wanted him to go to another team as a starter and show everyone that he's actually very good, but congrats to him for not being afraid of making what appears to be the right life decision for him. I'll miss watching "The Snake" make ridiculous bootleg throws and running over pass defenses who didn't respect his legs. He did Boise proud.

Some Thoughts

OK, I want to put a disclaimer out there before you start reading this. I'm in a thoughtful mood so I'm sorry if some of this stuff makes you want to gag.

Erin and I have been talking lately about how it seems that for some time, because of the strain that preparing my thesis has been, I/we seem to put satisfaction and peace as something we will achieve down the road. "I can't wait to get this damn thing done so I can start enjoying my life again." I've been thinking about a lot of hypothetical requirements for my satisfaction. A lot of it is money related.

Tonight instead of running out to rent a video or going someplace to eat (all good things); I cooked a good meal, sat in the bathtub and read (before you laugh, my legs have been really sore), and then brought some work into my living room, put on some jazz and leisurely got about my business (thesis). I was stuck as I sat there by how simple what I had done was, and how completely relaxed I felt doing it.

I started thinking about our convenience/entertainment devices that are so hard to live without and realized that, at least for me, they control me to a large degree. I impulsively check my email while I'm working, I instinctively scan amazon.com for "deals" of things that I somehow am convinced that I need. The way I looked at it tonight made me feel like I have voluntarily plugged myself into a commercial for a hundred things that seem like I must have them. I have a lot of these things now, and I know they don't really bring me that much satisfaction. For example, I was looking at an Xbox 360. I have a playstation that I maybe play once a month, and when I do play it I often feel like I just wasted some time that could have been spent doing something else. It's crazy. I bought a $200 phone because I was so impressed with all of its features, but it does the same thing for me that a $50 phone would have done. I could go on. Advertisers are smart, and they have a hook for every person's Achilles’ heel out there.

I guess I'm saying that these things are fine and good, but I want to be aware of the difference between these things serving me and me serving them (or the pocketbook of the people that sell them to me). Sorry if my little diatribe about consumerism has been annoying. My control and awareness of this stuff swings back and forth like a pendulum. I just felt like putting my thoughts down. I'm going to go watch the Nuggets/Jazz game now.
:)

P.S. I really enjoyed ready everyone's comments about the things that comfort them and make them feel like things are right in the world. I sounds like you all have a better handle on this than I do.

Back by Popular Demand

Hey everyone. I decided to give a little update since I haven't done this for a little while. I've been busy and then bored in the month and a half since I wrote last, but just didn't have much interest in blogging (for whatever reason). I've enjoyed reading about what you guys are doing, so I figured at least an update every now and then is pretty painless. Sorry if this is newsletterish.

Last weekend Erin flew in to Salt Lake and met up with me and a couple of her friends from college to visit and ski. It was the first time that I met them, and as with most of Erin's friends I felt like we had been friends for a long time after I just met them. I think that is more about them though. I laughed as we were leaving Glen and Kendi's (see Kendi's "Porker" photo) because it seemed like Glen and Kendi hit it off as quickly as I did. We met up with Glen later that night at the Market Street Grill but I think Kendi couldn't find anyone to take care of the kids (?). It was a short but great visit with them. I really do enjoy being around them and the kids, it makes me wish we were all closer because I love being around everyone in the family. Such is life, huh?

We skied at Alta, which was nice though bittersweet when it was dumped on the day after we skied there. The last time Erin skied she had a serious break in her leg. She was really nervous to get back on the slopes after (more than 5?) years but was really great. She has some obvious ability but it was easy to tell when uncertainty creeped in, it seriously changed her ability level. I think we all have things that we can do better than our minds allow us sometimes. Erin's friends took pictures that I'll try to post when/if I get them. The weather was perfect. All in all it was a great/busy weekend, I had a blast but would have liked to relax a bit more and see a little more of the Salt Lake Moore family.

I'm trying to find out from my boss here at USU when exactly the funding for my salary will run out, I think it will be soon, maybe a month (?). So I'm looking for jobs and will start spreading my resumes around. I'm focusing on a few places in the Rocky Mountain region, though Erin's school and work may mean that Bozeman is the most likely place that I'll land in the near future. I'm good with that, I really love a lot of things about Bozeman and am getting over the few negative connections in my mind.

I'll write more soon, I'm happy and healthy and looking forward to the longer day lengths that let me get outside a little more. Maybe I'll put finding a non-basement living situation on my list of things to do. Oh yeah, that reminds me. Things are progressing with my thesis. It hasn't been a big stressor for me and I'm hoping that I can chip away at what remains to be done without making it a big stressor. Lata!

USU legacy

While trying to install something on this work computer, I switch the windows "User" account to find this picture as the desktop background. I was a little proud and a little ashamed to realize that this picture has probably been gracing the screen of this computer since 2002. For those of you who are curious, that is the second layer of a wetsuit that I was forced to use (a little small) when my dry suit sprung a leak early in that summer, not an actual superhero's outfit. I'm dead sexy . . . ?

Great Clips

Does anyone ever get the overwhelming urge to chop your hair off? I do. Tonight after sitting down to start working on the impeding thesis deadline I was convinced that I had to cut my hair and I had to do it now.

Some haircutting techniques are tough to achieve on your own:
1) Straight lines
2) The Fade
3) Knowing when to stop
4) Anything behind your ear

I’m glad its winter, I’ll be wearing a beanie for a bit.

BSU!

Congratulations to Boise State on winning the best football game I have EVER seen. What a great way to wind up an amazing year for them and a fantastic (though occasionally barfy) holiday break for me. I walked to work today with a smile plastered on my face the whole time (which made my teeth cold). I love watching the big-guys eat crow and was reminded after a season full of dissapointments by the other Bronco's team why I love sports.