I have quite a bit of updating to do, so for now I am going to start with our 2010 hunting season!:)   This is Brian's Elk.  He was up hunting in the Lander area with his friend Toby.  He said that he was sitting on the 4 wheeler elk calling and this guy came right in to him.  He was happy to finally shoot his Elk! :) 

 This is my Deer.  This has quite the story behind it.  We had been out hunting all day... on our way down off the mountain Brian spotted a bachelor herd of deer!  I was asleep in the passenger seat when he woke me up and told me to get the gun ready.  I woke up and ended up shooting at this guy 3 times.  The 2nd time i shot at him a shrapnel of the bullet hit this guy in the back leg.  I missed the 3rd time.  We only had 3 bullets for the gun so we had to go back into town to get more bullets.  7 hrs later we finally got back up to where we saw the deer bed down.  Brian glassed the mountain for 45 minutes before he finally spotted this guys antlers!   we couldn't see this guy with a naked eye.  So we suited up and headed out after him.  We ended up getting up on the mountain side only 100-150 yards away and glassed for another 20 minutes before we could finally see him.  He was hidden real well underneath some tall sagebrush.  I could see most of his body and antlers, but his body looked like a rock and I wasn't sure what I was looking at.  I ended up shooting to scare him up and by the 3rd shot I killed him.  I have NEVER has buck fever that bad in my entire life! By FAR one of the best hunts ever!  Had my wonderful husband not been so talented and patient I would have never gotten this bugger. :)

On the back of miss Daisy, the horse, is Brian deer antlers. :)   He got a 2x3.  His 2x3 is actually bigger than my 4x4.   He left on a morning hunt, while I slept in, and ended up getting this guy on his own.  He then came back down off the mountain and got his buddy's horses and headed back up and packed this guy down. :)

I have to say that when it comes to hunting my husband is one of the most talented hunters there is!  He is AMAZING!  Not only is he so talented at this, it is his one of his dearest passions in life! :)  I am so glad to be a part of that!  He teaches me everything he knows about this sport and I think enjoys being able to teach someone his ways and techniques.  :)  He still however has not managed to teach me how  to navigate around in the mountains without getting lost.  I can NOT figure out how to find my way back to point A.  I am good at getting lost, and if it wasn't for Brian I probably wouldnt make it back. :) Well I would make it back, it might just take a few days! haha!:)

Other than hunting season not lots has been going on.  I did get a new job, at Wyoming Work Warehouse and have been working most every day.  It's nice to have responsibility again.  I dont like sitting at home being a housewife.  Not that that is a bad thing by any means, however that is absolutely not my cup of tea!

I am so so grateful for life right now.  Things really couldn't be much better! 

Such Amazing News

Hey to all!  it has been MONTHS since I have blogged.  As you probably know, I went to Alaska and have now returned home.  Not only was that an amazing experience, but I have returned home to a husband again!  Yep, Brian and I are officially back together!!   We have been for just over 1 month.  It's times like these when I am so thankful for the decisions we made earlier.  We decided to wait to get a divorce till I got home, and that turned out wonderful cuz we ended up not needing it.  We were officially seperated for just over 8 months.  Those 8 months were the best thing in the world for our relationship.  We are in a very good spot now and hopefully that will last forever!:)   I have SO much to catch you all up on!  I am gonna kinda re-vamp this blog, and get ya all of the recent updates.  Give me a while, but you will be updated, i promise. :)  

The wee hours of the morning!

One reason  I HATE graveyards is because in the very early hours of the morning, like around 2-5am I start thinking WAY too much.  I dont know what it is about this time frame but when I am alone and awake at this time my mind starts to wander and I start thinking about everything!  Hence one of those unplesant, mild, Anxiety attacks!  Frequent bursts of emotion often times accompanied with hot and cold flashes, spinning head, followed by choking back the sobs and tears.  What is wrong with me?   Thank goodness we get very few calls on graves cuz some of them I just dont think I could handle while experiencing this.   I am very thankful in a weird way that I am almost done with this job.  I cant wait to be able to work during the day and  have a night to actually sleep. :)  The human body can only handle so much of this all nighter stuff.  I feel very bad for people who work shift work their entire life.  I can compare, and I dont envy that at all! There have actually been studies posted about the effects of working shift work.  One that really sticks out in my mind is the shorter life span!  Hmmm... well thank goodness I am gonna be done with shift work soon.  Enough with my rambling.  Just blogging seems to calm me down.  Good, I might have to do this more often.   Bear with me people, life is kind of a roller coaster right now.

Kristie

bringing you up to date!:)

Hey again... I keep forgetting to post on this blog. I have been using my other blog to update things a little bit.  However I realized after reading over this one that I havent kept anyone up to date for months!  SO.... here is a little update.  I have been living with one of my dearest friends Angela.  She has been a rock for me in this twisted part of my life.  Not only has she provided a home for me, but she has been a lending ear for ALL of my worries and problems.   She seems to understand me better than any other person.  That could be because she has been through even tougher times that I have been.  She has supported all of my decisions and is genuinely excited for me at the same time.  I owe so much!  We are Soul Sisters to the core!  I am so Thankful to have her in my life!:)   
  Lots of my time has been spent with my dear friends!  Living life one day at a time, literally!  New friendships have blossomed and old ones have been renewed :)  
    Last month Brian's dad suffered a massive heart attack, thankfully he is still alive to tell the tale!  That man is such a trooper!  Sure had us scared though!  
   Also last month my dad got his Cornea Transplant and has renewed vision.  We are all so thankful for that, especially him!  The recovery is long but well worth it!

My beautiful little sister is getting HUGE as she is expecting a baby boy!  We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Kyle Thomas Cook! :) 

My Mom has been bumped up to full time at work, and she seems to enjoy it so much! :)  She has quite the talent when it comes to busy work, filing, and paperwork :)

Josh is going to school still (OBVIOUSLY, haha)  not so sure he loves it though.  He spends his time with dad shooting archery and I think their newest "thing" is GPS stuff :)

I have been out skiing with my cuz Spencer.  Then a couple weeks later my cousins Jonathon , Dustin (Sarah's husband), Spencer and I all took a fun trip to Salt Lake to get tattoos!  That was a fun experience :)

Brian got the chance to go to Las Vegas for the First time and actually just got back 2 nights ago.  He had a wonderful time, however I refuse to hear all of his stories.  (that is to prevent any sort of jealous remark from me.)  Yeah I am still a jealous person when it comes to that boy. 

Brian and I have decided to wait to go through with the divorce until I get home from Alaska.  By then we will have been seperated for close to 9 months and can make a SOLID decission on what we truely want.  We are still getting along wonderfully, with the occasional bickering which has not lasted longer than a few minutes.  We cant stand to be mad at eachother now and quickly resolve our issues.  WHY couldnt it have been this way when we lived together? Hmmm... one of the mysteries of life :)      

This is a small portion of what has been going on in my life, but at least it brings you up to date a little. :)
Please check out my other blog.  I have it connected to this page ont he Blogs I follow section.  if you cant find it the address is
http://kristiesalaskanadventure.blogspot.com/

Different Blog

So I have made a new blog that will be both public and dedicated only to my Alaska trip. For anyone who is interested here is the address: http://kristiesalaskanadventure.blogspot.com/


This is gonna be my way of letting everyone know what is going on. I wont have any communication up there as you already know so this will hopefully keep your curiosity satisfied at least a little bit :)


For anyone else who you know who might be interested definatly give them this address and they can follow too :)


I will still be blogging on this one periodically, so definatly keep checking it :)
Love you all, and enjoy!:)

ALASKA HERE I COME!!:)

Well as of yesterday Jan 27th I have a job in Alaska for the summer!:) I cant even begin to tell you how excited and nervous I am. I will be working as a Lodge Keeper, doing things like cleaning rooms, serving breakfast lunch and dinner, kitchen duties, housekeeping work and lots more. If you click on the title of this blog I have linked it to the website of the place where I will be. When you get to the website click on Lodges and then click on Brooks Lodge. That is the one that I will be working at. This lodge is the one with all of the BEARS! WOW, I never in a million years thought I would be working so close to those creatures that I once feared, and for the record, STILL fear! Not until I was looking at all of the pics did I discover that they have lots of wolves there too! (which I am equally if not more afraid of!) Your probably thinking "DUH Kristie, it's Alaska!" I have to admit that I had so many things running through my mind about this exciting new adventure that I totally didnt even think there would be Wolves there. (NERD, yes I know!) :) Anyway's, those wild, scary, majestic animals put aside, I am SO excited! Now that getting the initial job is over with I have started thinking about all the things I need to take with me. WARM clothes, PEPPER SPRAY, Laptop, and lots more stuff. Jim, the guy that I have been talking to did say that there is very little communication there, meaning my cell phone will not work, Internet is only hooked up to one computer there,(minus the 3 wireless internet locations which are there for the customers) and there is one payphone on location. Not only am I going to be hundreds of miles away from my family, in the middle of the wilderness, I will have very little communication with them. Sad, but this could be a very good experience for me. He did say that there is one small little community quite a ways away from the Lodge called King Salmon. I will be able to visit there a couple of times on my 1 day off a week, so that will be a good time to make contact with the family and maybe update my blog a few times :)
SO I have never been to Alaska, and am frankly at a loss for all of the stuff that I will need to bring. My question to all you readers.... what should I take, and what would you recommend bringing? This is going to be SO MUCH FUN! What and experience it will be!!! :) Wish me lots of luck, I will keep you updated on my preparations. :)

Oh and if that link doesnt work in my title then go to this web address:
www.katmailand.com

Starting A New Life! :)

Wow, there is one major thing that this divorce has made me realize! NOW my life is FULL of options! What am I going to do? There are a billion things that I have thought about doing. Moving.... but where? The Valley, across the country, staying here in Green River, and many other places have come to mind. BUT should I move? Hmmmm..... well yes I honestly think that is what I am going to do!:) I have applied for a couple of full time jobs in Lyman that will definatly require me to settle down and be grounded! However I have also applied for different jobs across the country, ALASKA!! YEAY! I have so far applied for 4 different jobs at Lodges & Resorts located way back in the Mtns. I cant tell you how excited I am and how much I HOPE that I get one of these jobs! They are seasonal jobs, so I would be working there from like May to September. What a way to get out and travel! Unless some major great opportunity presents itself I am thinking about working these kind of jobs all over the country for a few years :) All I need is enough to pay a few bills and I am sure these jobs would definatly get me by:)

Life has completely turned around for me and I am not really sure how I feel about it. It is one of the hardest/saddest things I have ever done, so why are all of these wonderful opportunities presenting themselves? It is SO confusing and heartbreaking!! Part of me wants to stay behind and just be around Brian, the other part of me wants to get the heck out of here for a few years! Until this summer I really cant go anywhere so I am going to continue to work at the Police Dept and try to save up a little bit of money to get me by if I ever need it or get into a bind. I am honestly kind of excited to see what life is going to bring! Cheers to Life!!

P.S. I have gotten Brian's advise on this and he is very excited :) He is also excited to start his new life :) Such an amazing friend that boy is!:)

Divorce.....Crappy Stuff!

Well once again, as most of you have heard so many times, I am an unintentional liar! I mentioned once before in a post (that I ended up deleting off of here) that Brian and I were getting a divorce. Despite both of our actions to keep this marriage together we have decided that a divorce will be the best thing for us. I can't explain the feelings I am having about this. Lets clarify things once again.... I dont want anyone to think one or the other of us are the bad person or the culprit behind all of this. Our problems are our own, and we are both equally at fault. Ever since the initial seperation WE have been in contact every single day and have since regained our friendship. This friendship is priceless to both of us and I consider Brian my BEST friend! I dont know why it is that some relationships dont work out, BUT I do know that Brian will always be my dearest friend! Infact that friendship is much better than the marriage. Again I cant explain why we are such amazing friends yet we cant make a marriage work. I guess it is one of those crazy mysteries of life.:) We will both be fine and are both excited to start our new lives. If any of you hear different reasons for this divorce or if the news reaches your ear in as some nasty, twisted little lie, please know that what I have explained above is the true reason for this.


We dont care what others think, as this is OUR life, and we deserve to be happy in whatever manner we choose! I am talking WHATEVER manner we choose, and if people are not happy with the choices we make now as individuals they can go chew on a log!! Personally, I am going to miss my in-laws SO SO SO much and hope that they will always keep a place for me in thier hearts, I will ALWAYS have one for them:) I know that Brian feels the exact same way about my parents!:)

I will be changing this blog to my personal blog.

Hope all is going well for the rest of you, and wishing you all the happiest new year! :)