02.26.2011

The traveling was the rough part of this trip for sure.  We left Duck Key, just 100 miles from the airport in Miami at noon thinking we'd be really early to the airport and might even have some time to shop if we saw any stores of interest along the way.  Boy were we mistaken.  Due to traffic, it took us four hours to travel those 100 miles.  It was insane. 

We dropped the car off at Alamo (after the GPS had taken us to an old one, guess it's time to update the maps) at the airport at exactly 4:00 and rushed to get to the check in for Delta.  We decided to try curbside check in, and that's when we got the news.  Our flight from Miami to Minneapolis was delayed, which wouldn't have been a big deal except that we already only had 35 minutes to get to on to our connection to Billings.  The man told us we would have to check in inside in a special line to see how they were routing us. 

Keep smiling, it's all part of the adventure right? 

Well, after 45 minutes in our line, we decided that we would rather be stuck in Minneapolis than Miami and kept that flight.  Thank God there were four others (a total of eight of us) heading to Billings so even though we landed in Minneapolis after our flight to Billings should have left, they held the plane for us and we made it back to lovely Montana. 

Here we are exhausted and waiting for Jenna and Jefferson to pick us up.

02.25.2011

I read a few other blogs and one of them had a sunset picture similar to this.  The second I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it.  My original plan was to have my mom and I try on the same day, but with freezing temperatures here and never knowing what the clouds were going to be like, it was too difficult to organize.

I decided that Key West would be the perfect place for my sunset picture.  We sat with our feet dangling over the edge of Sunset Pier near Mallory Square in Key West and watched the sun set.  It was beautiful.

02.24.2011

I had a lot of pictures to choose from today.  Rachel and I swam with dolphins and Stevie took at least 100 pictures for us.  (I told him to keep clicking.)  We also sat around by the pool and took quite a few pictures.  Even with all of those choices, the ones from supper time were my favorite.  It's not often that Tyler and I get a picture together so this one was a no brainer choice.

02.23.2011

After traveling all through the night, we left the airport and headed south to the Everglades.  The whole time, I was hoping to see just one alligator.  If I saw just one, I was going to consider myself lucky.  Well, I misunderstood the Everglades.  We saw a hundred alligators and probably ten different species of birds and a soft-shelled turtle.  It was awesome!

02.22.2011

Nearing midnight and I hadn't taken a picture yet. Self-timer on the moving walkway in Salt Lake City.  We are still smiling.

02.21.2011

This was quite the day.  We left Fairview for Billings on Sunday, more than excited to be heading to Florida the next morning.  Well, Minneapolis had their 6th worst storm ever on Sunday and by the time we were going to bed on Sunday night, our connection flight to Minneapolis was canceled.  We got nowhere on the phone talking to people from Delta, so headed to the airport at 5:00 am Monday to figure out what to do. 

If we wanted to keep our connection to Minneapolis, we could fly out Wednesday evening.  That would mean one day in Florida, so we opted for the Tuesday evening flight to Salt Lake City, Utah, a five hour layover there, the red-eye flight to Atlanta, GA and an early Wednesday morning flight to Miami.  Through all of this, we maintained our smiles and left the airport for a couple free days in Billings.  It wasn't quite the same as being in Miami, but as we kept telling ourselves, "It's all part of the adventure."

02.20.2011

Tyler and I left for Billings as soon as church was over.  This picture was snapped right before church.  I wanted to make sure to have one picture of the kids on my CF card while I was gone so I could see how cute they are.

02.19.2011

Working on getting ready to leave for Florida!  I was nearly asleep when I realized that I hadn't taken a picture yet today.  Chaptstick it is.  :)

02.18.2011

Lydia loves Tyler.  She always has.  Anytime that I watched the kids for Shelly, I didn't have to worry about Lydia, she was wherever Tyler was.  Whenever we go over to Paulson's, Lydia is showing Tyler her toys and clothes and raising her hands in the air to be lifted up by him.  On this night, however, we found out how much Lydia really does love him.  While playing with the bigger kids in the other room, Lydia bumped her head or got hurt somehow.  She came crying into the room that Tyler, Josh, Shelly, and I were visiting.  She walked right passed all of us and straight to Tyler.  So cute.  

02.17.2011

"My best friend:  I have to keep her around, she knows too much."

Macy and Allison...aren't they so cute?  I actually had some nice pictures of them smiling together, but for the very last shot, I quit saying, "Say cheese!" and said, "Pick your nose!"  They did and both happened to look at each other.  I couldn't resist using this one for today's POTD.

02.16.2011

When I was in in late grade school or early junior high, my cousin Dawn (who is more like my auntie) took our Grandma Spitzer to Sweden for a trip.  I cannot begin to imagine the fun they had or what they were able to see.  My grandma was Swedish and part of what I remember about her was her pride for Sweden. 

These are a pair of Classic Ceder-Sko clogs that my Grandma brought back for me.  My brother got a blue pair.  I really wanted to wear the blue pair for my "something blue" on my wedding day, but they were too small. 

Does anyone know the name of the pattern on the clogs?  I believe it is a traditional drawing that has a name, but I don't even know how to begin trying to determine the name.

02.15.2011

When I grow old and have a shoebox of my most precious treasures, these two will be in the box.  One is the first flower that Tyler ever bought me.  It was a fire and ice rose bought in May 2002 for my graduation from MSUM.  The second is a note from Jeffrey for my 30th birthday.  He was just learning his letters so I imagine he must have had to work for a very long time and concentrate very hard on writing it which makes it even more special.

02.14.2011

Happy Valentine's Day!  I just got home from a weekend in Bismarck.  While there, I bought Tyler some shorts to wear in Florida next week for a present.  (Oddly enough, he doesn't own any shorts unless they are intended to be worn on the basketball court.)  So, Tyler tried his shorts on and then decided to show off how good he is going to look next week and put on his sunglasses and hat.  He asked me, "You think I'll fit in down there?"  I told him, "Nope, your belly is way to white to fit in."  :)  Within minutes, Jeffrey found his sunglasses, hat, and shorts and was following his daddy around the house mimicing his moves.  So cute.

02.13.2011

It's almost Valentine's Day!  Sending hugs and kisses your way.

02.12.2011

Today, we headed to Minot to watch Minot State University girls' basketball.  There were a lot of people from Minot there...it must have been a weekend to get away.  Here are Macy and Kambree again (you may remember my January 7th picture of them at a basketball game in Fairview).  They are always in front of the crowd dancing and cheering.  Both their Daddies hope this is just a part-time gig and that they grow up to be ballers. 

02.11.2011

I love rocks.  I always have and always will.  I used to ride in the loader of the "putt-putt" tractor in the spring of the year picking rocks with my Dad.  Often times, I'd raise my hand to stop.  This wasn't to pick a big rock that might harm the machinery, it was just so I could pick up a neat rock that I saw.  My Dad has a minor in geology and would often tell me about the rocks or tell me jokes about the rocks.  Dad definitely passed on his love of rocks to me...it was probably a way to make picking rocks not quite so monotonous. 

Now, people give me rocks for presents and they are my favorite.  Dale and Elaine bring me rocks home from their vacations:  I have a couple really neat ones from New Mexico.  A student bought me a geode necklace for Christmas one year after I commented that when I win the lottery I am going to go buy the four foot tall geode from Reptile Gardens.  And when Tyler comes home from elk hunting, he brings me rocks.  Those are the rocks that I decided to photograph tonight.  He picked these two up in Fort Peck, MT while out hunting.  Really, I love when people see a cool rock and think, "Wow, Brandy would love this." 

02.10.2011

Two weeks ago Tyler had Lasik eye surgery.  Yesterday, he had to have one of his eyes redone because his lens moved.  So...he wanted to sleep on the chair which meant that I let the kids sleep with me.  It was a nice treat for them, especially because I had parent-teacher conferences and didn't get home until bedtime.  I let them watch part of Alpha and Omega and then realized I hadn't taken a picture yet.  I ran to get my camera and Jeff decided that they should make silly faces rather than smile for me. 

02.09.2011

He is my most beloved friend and my bitterest rival, my confidant and my betrayer, my sustainer and my dependent, and scariest of all, my equal.  ~  Gregg Levoy

02.08.2011

There were more amazing sun dogs this morning, though it was still 18 degrees below zero so I didn't spend a lot of time trying to get "the perfect photo".  Jeffrey did tell me on the way in to town, "Mom!  I don't even like sun dogs because all you do is stop and take pictures of them!  Now I'm not going to have enough time to eat before I have to go to school!"  He was getting a little impatient with me.  :)

02.07.2011

When I have time, I enjoy reading other blogs about being creative.  One of those that I read is also doing a photo of the day project.  One post mentioned that objects around your house have a story to tell and are worth photographing so the story can be told. 

This is one of my favorite groupings in my house.  I love, love, love antiques.  My dream house would be an old farm house full of nooks and crannies to put neat antiques.  Antiques like this crock, potato smasher, and whiskey jug. 

The Corner Store crock was actually given to me by Tyler's Grandma Carol at my bridal shower.  It was given to Carol by her sister who bought it at an auction or antique store in Kalispell, MT.  It was, hands down, my favorite present of the day.  I remember going to The Corner Store when I was very little and looking at the big glass displays of nickel candy, gum, and toys.  I dreamed of having money to spend on the merchandise.  I remember one particular time, the owner gave me a piece of gum.  I felt so special.

The potato smasher was my Grandma Spitzer's, I believe.  I love the green handle and that my Grandma's hands used to touch it.  I got the whiskey jug from my dad and mom.  I'm not sure where it came from other than it being with a bunch of other crocks, many of which I now have, in the basement on the shelf for years.  I can't wait to go home this spring (particularly when the snow melts so that I can get into the garage) so that I can pick up a few more things from home.

02.06.2011

I wasn't as interested in the game this year as I would have liked to have been.  Too bad the Bears lost to the Packers.  I do not like the Steelers, though.  Honestly, I'd rather cheer for the Vikings than the Steelers.  I was more interested in getting to hang out with friends and eating some seriously delicious food.  Go NFC!

02.05.2011

This was almost the perfect day for sledding.  Actually, oddly enough, it was maybe a bit too warm.  (I know that's crazy to say based on our temperatures for most of the winter, but it mad the snow really hard to walk though and even to ride the snowmobiles back up the hill.)  At any rate, Tyler found the perfect hill.  It was a gravel pit all summer long.  There were no trees, no rocks, no fences to hit and hurt yourself on.  There was enough snow to fall into and not get hurt.  We had a blast!

This is Jeffrey and one of his best buddies, Grady.  I love the boys' smiles and the dog chasing them down the hill. 

02.04.2011

One of the reasons that I justified getting my new camera was because of all the time I spent in the gym.  I couldn't get quality photos in there.  I tried all different ISOs and speeds and white balances, and nothing worked to my satisfaction.  I figured that in the next few years I'd really want to take good photos in the gyms, because in a blink of an eye, these will be my own kids, not just my students.  So, I bought my new camera and I LOVE it.  I mean, look at this picture.  It's not yellow and I stopped the action!  It's clear and it's awesome.  Right now, I take pictures of my students and email them to their parents.  The kids love looking at their pictures and their parents love getting my emails.  I love the practice and satisfaction of taking a good photograph.

02.03.2011

Tyler has been searching all winter for a snowmobile.  Twice he thought he had one bought, only to have the seller back out.  People kept telling him that maybe God was trying to tell him not to get one this winter, maybe he was going to get hurt.  However, Tyler was not detoured.  He finally found an awesome snowmobile from a man in Baker, MT and picked it up in Sidney, MT on January 30th.  This was Jeff's first ride.  I think Jeff is now as excited as his Daddy.  They are like kids in a candy store with pockets full of money.  It's cute.  I'm not sure that I'll see either of them this weekend, especially since it is supposed to warm up to the 30's (above!!!). 

02.02.2011

You may be wondering, "What in the world?"  But if you pay close enough attention, you'll know.  Yesterday I mentioned that it was -25 degrees.  Today is still cold, but we've warmed up to -18 degrees.  So, where does the "top kitty" hang out in the cold weather?  In the heated water dish.  Did you notice we didn't take the sticker off the water dish and that it says heated on it?  Yup, this is her favorite spot in the winter time.  Good thing she is nice and fluffy too.

02.01.2011

 I stopped several times on the way to school this morning to photograph the sun dogs.  They were amazing!  I honestly have never seen anything like them before.  The rainbows were fantastic, huge and so close, on both sides of the sun.  Jeffrey kept asking me, "Are you stopping again?"  I only wish it wasn't -25 degrees so that I could have spent some time playing with shadows in front of the sun and getting the sun dogs in the picture too.  I had so many cool pictures today, it was hard to pick just one.  I chose this one because it really shows the size and how close they were. 

01.31.2011

One picture yesterday.  This was it, snapped on the way home from Williston from taking Jeffrey to the doctor.  This winter is getting to be long in more ways than one.