It's been over a year

I haven't updated this blog in quite some time. I've been busy to say the least.

We've been living in Montana for over a year now. After living here for over 12 months, Joe and I have come to realize that Montana isn't for us. It didn't come as a shocking revelation. We knew that moving here was going to be short-term, but at the same time, we weren't opposed to making it a permanent home.

Some folks move here and absolutely love it and never want to leave. I have met a few of these people. Good for them, but they shouldn't expect me to be excited about this state. Each place has it's ups and downs. Chicago definitely has it's share of problems but it's also a great place to live. Joe and I honestly miss living in the city, but we don't miss the high cost of living there or the congestion.

I like lists, so I made a good and bad list of living in Montana. This is totally my own opinion and from my own perspective. I don't expect everyone to agree with it.

Good:

Mountains and scenery. Wow. Southern and western Montana is beautiful to say the least. With Yellowstone only a couple hours away and Glacier NP a days drive away (from Bozeman), weekend camping trips are doable.

Slow paced life. After living in a city, it's nice not to have to rush around.

Montana State University. I actually like this school. I like the degree program, especially since it's one of a few in the nation (sustainable food systems is catching on slowly).

The snow. I like snow and we get plenty of it. Although, this winter we haven't had quite as much as years past. The middle states of the country seem to be getting hit much worse than we are. Hmmm....

Bad:

The seasons. I may like snow, but I love having 4 distinct seasons. Spring is non-existent here. It may show up for a couple of weeks but don't count out a snowstorm in May. After that, summer shows up and then when fall rolls around we might have fall-like weather for a couple of weeks but the snow starts falling in October.

Being far away from everywhere. Joe uses the VA system to treat his MS. He has to travel 2 1/2 hours to get to his neurologist and to get to the bigger VA hospital for actual medical tests. Even my cardiologist (and surgeon) are 2 hours away. Bozeman has a hospital and good doctors here but most people head to Billings for the major medical treatments.

The politics. So, it shouldn't be a secret that Joe and I are extremely liberal. Montana is a bit too conservative for us. I'll leave it at that.

Recycling. They don't recycle glass here and if they do, it isn't an easy thing to partake in. We found one glass collection site in Bozeman. The city recycles all plastics, paper, cardboard, and aluminum/tin. Glass? Ha. Good luck with that. Joe saw an ad on Craigs list from a woman who was willing to pay someone to come and take her glass bottles to Wyoming, where they recycle glass.

We've made a decision to stick it out here for another 2 years, which gives me plenty of time to finish up my degree in Sustainable Food Systems at Montana State University in Bozeman. After that, we will be moving back east, the exact location unknown. I want to attend grad school but don't know where.There's a great program at Iowa State that I'm interested in. We'll see if that works out.

All in all, it's been a positive experience so far. Joe and I are accustomed to facing challenges and new experiences.

We are looking forward to heading to Glacier National Park this summer and going back to Yellowstone at some point. The kids love camping and living here has made it easier to do.

St Labre

Joe works for St Labre Indian Mission. It's a Catholic school that was started 125 years ago by a group of nuns. Students at the school come from the neighboring Northern Cheyenne Indian tribe and the Crow Tribe. Over the weekend, they had a big feast and pow-wow to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the mission. 

The kids and I attended the pow-wow while Joe helped set up the fireworks (he's part of the volunteer firefighters). Some pics...

National Monuments

We live close to some really awesome places to visit. Since I haven't traveled this part of the country prior to moving here, we decided to take a 2 day road trip to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Devils Tower. Mount Rushmore is only 4 hours away and Crazy Horse is just 20-30 minutes from the Presidents. Even though it was raining/overcast on the day we went to South Dakota, it was still quite impressive to see these monuments. 

We stopped at Devils Tower on the way home from South Dakota. It's about 2 hours from Rapid City, SD and about 2 1/2 hours or so from our home in Montana. I must say that Devils Tower was the most impressive of the three places we saw. We also went on a weekend that was free (didn't have to pay the $10 parking fee). There a couple trails around the tower and we took the shortest, less strenuous one. Caitlynn was a bit annoyed by all the walking over the weekend. I think she rested more than Joe while walking on the trail. Miles is quite the trooper. He really is the Energizer Bunny. It takes a lot to make him tired. 

Quiet down!

Nature is really flippin' loud. 

After living in the city and dealing with those sounds, I now have to train myself to sleep with hearing pheasants and frogs. The city is noisy - vehicles, drunk college students in the alley (in Hyde Park, that is), and sirens. We also had to deal with a bright street light shining into our bedroom window every night. It felt like God was shining his flashlight down on us. I can see everything, Marcy. 

But now we sleep with the windows open at night and can hear all sorts of sounds. Pheasants. Frogs. Crickets. The frogs and crickets I can get used to. I can even get used to the numerous birds living around us, but it's the pheasants. Man alive are they loud! And it isn't a pleasant sound.

Here's a clip of what they sound like. Try listening to that every day and night. 

Green!

Finally! It's starting to look like spring around here. We had snow this week, about an inch, that lasted until the afternoon. The next day, it warmed up nicely into the 70s. 

The kids and I went on a drive in search of groceries. We drove to Sheridan, Wyoming. It's such a beautiful drive around curves and over hills. A few ranches dot the landscape but what I noticed was how green everything has become. There are signs of life here! 

I'm told that the green doesn't last long once July and August roll around and the rain pretty much stops for 2 months. For now, I'm enjoying the long drives to buy food. At least the scenery is nice too look at even if all I hear is two arguing children behind me. I just turn up the radio. What kids. I don't hear any kids. 

On another note, I'm writing for a website called The Examiner. I'm the Billings Cooking Examiner. If you get a chance, check out my articles. 

Hardin, MT

Looks like a town near us is making the news. They want the Gitmo prisoners.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090430/us_time/08599189437300

Well, that's one way to get some national attention.

Road Trip!!

We got out of our one-horse town for a night. Woo-hoo! Or shall I say, "Yee-haw!"

Couple of observations about Montana...

• Not everyone wears cowboy boots and hats, but enough people do to make you take notice.
  
• Big sky country -- no kidding! 
  
• Miles upon miles of fence line the roads here. Who put up all the fence?
  
• Dirty cars and pickup trucks are a badge of honor around here. If your car is shiny and clean, you must be a city-slicker. 
  
• Montana doesn't have an accent, per se. There is a bit of a "twang" to the speak, so I fit in nicely.
  

Last week, the kids and I took a quick road trip to Bozeman, the home of Montana State University. We drove through a snow storm to get there and it was cold. We totally missed out on the lovely scenery of the drive. There is a reason why I went to Bozeman, but I'm not telling anyone yet. You'll find out soon enough. 

I wanted to actually "see" Bozeman, so we decided to go back, this time with Joe. This time there weren't any snowstorms to cloud our view. My oh my, was it beautiful or what? I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

Bozeman sits in the mountainous part of the state (in the west) and is about 1 1/2 hours north of Yellowstone. It's a college town, that's for sure and reminds me of a larger version of Oxford, Ohio. We don't have pictures of the actual town, even though we did walk around. These pictures are of the drive along I-90 between Billings and Bozeman. 

View of the mountains that sit next to Bozeman.