What's New? #1

Ok, so I promised Julie I would post an update, but I don't think I have the mental or physical energy to post about everything all at once. So, please bear with me. I will do my best to update the rest over the next few days...

I have many things to update about: epic road trip vacation, new job, my grandpa's passing, moving, and a new school year.

So, I'll start with the road trip and post about the rest as I am able. It's been a while, so I can't give EVERY detail like I probably could have right after. But here's what I can tell you:

It was a GREAT trip. My mom, my sister, and I went to 12 states in 10 days. If that doesn't sound epic enough, we did plenty while traveling through, too! We went to a family wedding, National Parks, Monuments, an Oregon Trail landmark, visited with family friends, saw TV show icon statues, and drove through beautiful scenery we'd never seen before.

Here's a list of the states we drove through: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

Highlights from the trip include seeing family at Emily's wedding, seeing Old Faithful erupt, driving through beautiful Wyoming, visiting Mt. Rushmore, catching a quick glimpse of Chimney Rock, eating in Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, exploring Navy Pier in Chicago, checking out the Bronze Fonz in Milwaukee, snacking on DELICIOUS cheese curds from a creamery outside Eau Claire, taking a picture with the Mary Tyler Moore statue in Minneapolis, briefly wandering around in the Mall of America, and having a momentary thought about how beautiful North Dakota is (followed quickly by a thought that winter there must be TERRIBLY cold and miserable).

I am only going to upload a few pictures from the hundreds I posted on facebook, as it would take forever to put them all in my blog post, and I don't have that kind of energy now.

My sister and I at Jesse and Emily's wedding-Deer Lodge, Montana.

Mom and I at Jesse and Emily's wedding-Deer Lodge, Montana.

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park. I hope it uploaded correctly!

Mom, Tracy, and I in front of Mt. Rushmore.

Sisterface and I enjoying a goofy moment.

Chimney Rock, a landmark on the Oregon Trail - Bayard, Nebraska.

Czech Village-Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A beautiful stained glass window. It was part of a stained glass museum on Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois.

A close-up of the edge of the stained glass window above. I thought it was cool, since it was musical!

The Bronze Fonz, on the Milwaukee Riverwalk in Wisconsin.

The Mary Tyler Moore statue in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The restaurant we ate at in the Mall of America. This is where I got my job offer!

I thought this was amusing! Somewhere along the highway in North Dakota.

A really cool car museum in Deer Lodge, Montana (on our return trip).

So amusing! Outside the Prison and Auto museums in Deer Lodge, Montana.

A cool landform along the highway. It was either in Southeastern Washington or Northeastern Oregon.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I know I really enjoyed the trip. I was most impressed with how well we all got along during the trip. We only had a few snappy moments in the mornings before we'd had our coffee...haha!

I promise, more updates to come!