Hunting season

It always seems to take me a few weeks to really get the hunting bug. This year even took me longer than it has in the past. But once it hits, it is hard to stop. Bozeman has some of the best hunting area's i have ever been in. There is steep rugged terrain, low fields and everything in between. Seems like whatever direction you drive, you'll be able to find somewhere to hunt. The tag restrictions are also a little less strict than they are in other parts of the state. In the bitterroot valley where i grew up, a general deer tag means that you can shoot either sex white tail and have to enter a drawing for a mule deer. A general elk tag means that you can only tag a brow-tined bull except for a short period in the middle of the season where you can take a cow elk with the same tag. Here in the Bozeman area however, a general deer tag (depending on the area) means either sex white tail or muley buck and a general elk tag means either a bull or cow elk. It may not sound like much, but this gives a lot more options as to what you are allowed to shoot. Unfortunately, yesterday was the last day of rifle season for deer and elk..... and i came out empty handed.

Mid Terms

It is always easy to know when mid-terms are because the library gets packed. On a day to day basis, it is pretty simple to find a table to sit at in the library whether it means sitting with friends or finding a table all to yourself. Mid-term weeks, its kinda like survival of the fittest. people normally end up waiting a considerable amount of time for a table/computer or there are 6 people packed around a table made for 4. It is normally a 2 week period of exams, this particular 2 week period was Nov. 9-Nov. 20. To be honest, it can be a lot of fun for a while because you see a lot of people that you dont get to run into very often, you commonly meet a lot of people around this time just because there's so many more people around. It also happened to land smack dab in the middle of hunting season, which means i had to prioritize my time a little more effectively.

What a wonderful weekend

Unfortunately i work most saturdays so i hadnt made it to a football game until this past weekend. it also happened to be halloween weekend which made it that much more fun. It seems like most peoples thursday and friday consist of rushing around trying to get a costume together instead of doing slightly more important things . . . like homework. Its a blast watching all the costumes come together. Some of them are absoulutely incredible; and some arent so incredible which is alright cause most people dont care how bad a costume is. My costume ended up taking longer than i had anticipated but turned out well. I was a map of the US and had markers for people to mark and sign where they're from.
The game was great, as always. Not only did we win! but it was halloween so lots of people were dressed up and it was sunny and nice for most of the game. Then the evening came, and with that came the trick-or-treaters. I had never handed out candy to trick-or-treaters before and now i cant wait till next year when i can do it again.

Thailand in the Summer of '09

One of my favorite things about Bozeman, besides the skiing of course, is summer. There is an endless list of things to do. Even though not all my friends dont stay here for the summer, I stay busy enough not to get bored.This summer however, was slightly different. I spent the beginning of it, along with most of the spring, trying to save as much money as possible for my trip to Southeast Asia. On June 26, I borded a plane headed straight to Bankok, Thailand. It was my first trip out of the country without a parent of some sort with me. Turns out that spending nearly a month in Cambodia and Thailand, was more of a life changing experience than i had ever imagined. I had thought about making a trip straight out of high school that never ended up happening. It turns out that college actually prepared me for a trip of such magnitude. The two years here at MSU taught me a lot about myself, about culture, independence, and mostly, what we really have in life that we just use as routine operations. Having a better understanding of these things proved to be one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. I never truely understood what taking something for granted for was until I saw everything that most of the world doesnt have that we use on a daily basis. This trip inspired me to make another trip in the upcoming summer.... driving the Pan-American highway all the way to South America. But until then, im going to enjoy Bozeman for all its worth.

A little about me

Considering this is my very first blog, i think its a good idea to talk a little about my history and what i like to do. I was born in the very small town of Powell-Butte, Oregon but moved to Hamilton, MT when i was about 2 years old. I spent the next 15 years of my life in the Bitterroot Valley and was pulled away for school. The surrounding area of Hamilton is very similar to that of Bozeman (which played a major role in my choice of schools). I grew up doing almost every imaginable outdoor activity (thats an exageration). The summers were filled with golf from 10a.m. until it was too dark to see the golf ball and if I wasnt golfing, i was biking, swimming, or rock climbing. The fall was all about hunting in my later years, spring was when golf started again, and then there was winter. By far a personal favorite time of the year. This gave me permission to hit the slopes and not see my parents for the next 6 hours.
These are the reasons i came to Montana State, although sometimes i find myself a little caught up in an over scheduled life. Now that its fall and golf is on its way out, i cant wait for opening day( this sunday) and the day bridger opens!