More from Missouri

Here are a few pictures from the competition in Madison, Wisconsin. The first day Mark had to make 2 front shoes from two 9 inch peices of steel. He had to draw them out to 12 inches and then shape the shoe, and then punch in the nail holes, and then draw clip on the toe. The second night it's the same process except he had to make 2 hind shoes. Just like people have a left foot and a right foot, horses hoofs are different between left and right as well as front and hind. The first night he had a stranger as a striker and the second night he had Chris as his striker.
Here is the first night.


Here is the second night.


As well as the competition they had a giant horse fair. Like the Round Up Center at the Stampede but all horse stuff. Sorry mom, no vegetable guy. They also had stables with show horses in it. Here is a picture of me with Jake, the world's tallest horse.


Here is Oza. We weren't sure about her name some days, but it has stuck and that is her name. What solidified it I think is this past weekend. We went to Truman Days here in Lamar, wasn't anything too spectacular (sorry no pictures), and there was the cutest little girl who was about eye level with the dog. She saw Oza and started petting her and asked, "What's his-uh-her-uh-hm-hm-e-a-his-a-o name?" I said Oza and then the girl went, "Oza! Good puppy! Hi Oza!" The name instantly became cute and is stuck. If a little girl can pronounce it right and instantly loved the name then we are sold on it too. haha. This is a picture of her sleeping after a long afternoon in the park. She also just lies down like this sometimes just to let you know that she is always open for a belly rub.


I was making some lunch and then walked into the other room to find these two. She is very cuddly!


She loves it when Mark comes home!

Here is a picture of when Mark and I drove down to Branson. We were only there for a little bit and went to a ribs place for dinner. Not as good as Grandad's, but good for the occasion. Branson really got hit by the tornado. About half of the shows are all cancelled till they can repair their buildings. It was pretty crazy to drive through and see some of the wreckage.

Here is the shoe that Mark made for his application for the Calgary Stampede to work as floor crew. I didn't realize how much of a beard Mark had till I looked at the picture. We are hoping that he gets picked to go. He would be around the best in the world and Chris will be there and there will be farriers in the area there either watching or competing. So all around it would be a great opportunity for Mark.

Our first state was Montana. We didn't think to take a picture of the state sign just because we've been through it so many times we weren't even thinking. So we'll just have to get a picture of it on the way back.

The next state was Wyoming!Very very cool. Then we drove to Buffalo, Wyoming for the first night.

Then the second day of travel we drove across to South Dakota! Before we got out of Wyoming we took a detour to go see Devil's Tower! Very very cool.
We then continued to take the scenic route down to Rapid City where Mount Rushmore is.

That was very very cool. You walk towards it and you just get a sacred feeling. If you haven't gone..definitely suggest you do. We were there for quite a while. And even bought a book! Mark was looking for a biography on one of the president's but there was just too many so we decided to get Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I read to Mark on the drive. So far..very good!

Also in Rapid City we saw these giant wooden sculptures! We just had to take pictures of those too!

We also stopped off at this CRAZY store called Wall Drug. You see signs for it everywhere! We even saw it just after crossing the border into the States. They have signs to go to Wall Drug all over the world! And people go! It is the craziest store. It's ginormous! There are at least 6 entrances. They have everything there...even a dinosaur in their backyard. We didn't get to look at it though becuase we arrived 5 minutes till closing time. But there were signs for it! There is also a church inside as well as any specialty type of store you can think of.

Then we stopped for the night at Mitchell, South Dakota. The third day we drove down to Nebraska to Niobrara.

There is a Newell Knight memorial there. He is actually Mark's ancestor! So we drove down to see his grave site. He died on the trek so his grave site is right next to the river.

The river is actually called the "Morman River". I don't think Nebraska really cares about the spelling, the people in Niobrara get it the idea. Haha, "I'd like some more man please?". Mark and I were making jokes....they weren't very good. Then we drove to Sioux City and entered Iowa!! Man, Iowa is a boring drive! Unfortunately the Iowa state sign is on the highway and there isn't a place to stop to take a picture. Luckily though I got it! :)

Then all the way to Lamar, Missouri!

We stopped off at Liberty, MO to go to the Liberty Jail Visitor's center. It is amazing! Just everything about it and the trial that it was on the men. It is a very personal story told at the visitor's center. They have reconstructed the jail, with as many original materials as they could, and built the visitor's center around it to protect it.

We stayed at the Super 8 in Lamar that night. It is a fancy Super 8! It's won a million awards and the breakfast! They have everything for breakfast for you! It was awesome! Especially after a long trip. Then the next day met our landlord and got set up. And went to the most AMAZING mexican restaurant ever! It's called El Charro's. Mark and I want to be friend's with the owner. Mark even talked with him in spanish. haha. We've gone twice already and decided that we are probably going to go this weekend. haha so 3 out of 4 weekends we would of gone! Those are the pictures of our trip! Thanks to all the maps and books Nana and Grandad gave us we made it here safely. Thanks again!

Next our apartment! See how happy we are to finally be here? We definitely look like we have been travelling.
This is a picture of our back entrance. We are the top left apartment.

We went and got a table and two chairs for the kitchen. It's in the big space in the kitchen that I mentioned in the video. Also, up until two nights ago we have been sleeping on our air mattress. It was going good, but after a while it takes it's toll. The Relief Society president lent us one of her extra beds and two chairs for the living room. Very nice of her, we are very grateful. Also the closet in the living room is my closet...it's a walk-in! :)

Mark has the closet in the bedroom. We've been having lots of fun here. It's been very warm, although the past couple days have been very very rainy. I made this mexican soup from the Yucatan from the recipe book that Nana and Grandad gave me and was a HUGE HIT!! I'll type up the recipe and give it to you guys because it is soooo good! Mark aside from school has; tried to shoot anvils up in the air with black powder(I was there as well...cheering), shot guns (me too!), tagged cow's ears, dewormed cows and gave them their shots, and played guitar with this one guy in the class. In class he has burned his hands and arms A LOT from the embers in the forge, has rasped his hands and fingers quite a bit as well, has gotten kicked by a horse (I was there for that...not very fun), and has missed getting kicked by a horse probably one million times by now. The horses that they work on aren't very well behaved. Most of them are getting work done for the first time ever! Cheap price...cheap horses! haha he is learning quickly the ins and outs of being a farrier!

Giveaways!

So I love Shabby Apple! I am a follower of them on Facebook even. I first fell in love with their dresses when my older sister Becca showed me their website and ever since I have been hooked. This past Christmas my grandparents gave me money to spend on an outfit. I instantly knew that I was going to use this towards a Shabby Apple dress. Now, I just have the difficulty of picking one. What's even better than Shabby Apple? Shabby Apple Giveaways of course! The Inquisitive Mom is a wonderful blog, where she has some crazy awesome giveaways and just happens to share the same love for Shabby Apple. She now has a giveaway for one of their new, and one of my favorite, dresses! Yay!! Thanks to The Inquisitive Mom for having fun opportunities for others!!!

Fact...Dwight Schrute exists!

Mark had an interview this morning for a potential job. At a potato factory. He came home and told me about it and it sound like Mark had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed by Dwight Shrute. Now this man didn't look like Mr. D.K. Schrute but sounds like he may have stolen his personality. Here is what the interview went like.

His appointment was for 10:15 and when he arrived waited for quite a while, while the receptionist just kept on assuring him it was just going to be another 2 minutes. My theory is that it was a test. The potential boss finally walked in and the interview commenced. It was Mark, The Boss a.k.a. Dwight, and his silent east indian number two.

The Boss: So you're Mark Currie eh?
Mark: That's me.
The Boss: Can you please divide for me 144 by 4 in your head.
Mark: Um.....

Long pause for the calculations...

Mark: 36.
The Boss: Correct. Now, would you please give me 5 functions of a pencil?
Mark: Other than writing?....
The Boss shrugs: Whatever it be.
Mark: Okay. Writing, drawing....getting things out of small cracks that you can't reach with your finger....pointing. And communicating with hand signals.
The Boss: Very good. Now I see on your resume that you speak spanish. Can you please tell me why you like to work construction in spanish?
Mark: Uh...Okay.

Foreign language pause

The Boss: Very good. Do you have any questions for me?
Mark: Uh...ya. What exactly would my duties be? And what would my pay be?
Silent East Indian Number Two finally speaks: Well basically....you would be working under a union for 12 dollars an hour. Perhaps after six months you could get a raise to 13. Maybe after a year 15.
Mark: Okay. What are the hours?
The Boss: 4pm to midnight. Or midnight to 8am.
Mark: Okay.
The Boss: We will call you by the end of the day. If you don't get a call you can continue your search for another job.

And the interview is over. When I heard the story I was surprised that he wasn't taken to a beet farm to wrestle cousin Mos. Or that one of the questions wasn't something like, "How would you defend yourself against a ninja and a grizzly bear using only a paper clip."

If you do not understand the reference from The Boss to Dwight...you just have to watch 5 minutes of the office to understand. Hopefully this video does the trick. And yes, this interview is completely a true story and one that I could not stop laughing at.

More Sweet and Sours

So to keep on the somewhat tradition of "sweet and sours", and to take a much needed break from studying, this post is venting on and on about me with a cute title.

Sweets: well no. Let's start with the sours and end with a happy note.

Sours: my brain is dead. need a break from wedding planning talk. get a break...oh wait! i have to study. i have two exams today that i hope to do somewhat decently on. got the flu and still recovering ugh. and when i stop and think about all the things that i need to get done and all the things i need to add to the list i suddenly realize each time that there will be no time to take a break without wasting time for something else on the list and that for the next couple weeks there will be no break at all.

Sweets: I have a wonderful guy that is taking care of me, especially during and after the flu and makes me happy every day. (sorry to get to sappy and all mushy-gushy. if you are single or don't feel like being that joyful due to your sour at the moment...feel free to puke and read this post with disgust and disdain and laugh at the twitter-pattedness in this post and the people mentioned. Another sweet is that all this brain killing work does have an end and there will be a wonderful time where i can have a down time. Another sweet is that i wrote all of that without any thought towards grammer and proper capitalization and what not. it's the little things. ;)

Attn Reader: Keep this information to yourself

So yesterday I had the great and very privileged opportunity to go with Mark to his uncle's farm. I got to ride in the combine, go for a nice quading ride, ate some yummy sandwiches, and as Mark and I were in one combine and his brother Ryan in the other. Mark tells me to sit on his lap and he let me drive! Then a few seconds later he slid over and I was driving by myself. Of course Mark was telling me what to do and yadda yadda yadda. Well as the day went on, and as the harvested barley was increasing in size, it came down to it that the full semi's of barley had to be taken back to the old yard to be emptied. But there was a problem, both Mark and Ryan needed to empty the trucks. That meant one thing had to be done....I had to combine all by myself. Ryan asked me if I was okay doing it. I asked Mark if I was okay doing it. Mark gave the okay, I gave the okay, Ryan gave the okay and that's it! I am now a farmer! I picked up the swathed fields and emptied it into the truck all by myself! I cranked up the radio and had an absolute blast. Finally I got the radio that I should go back to the old yard and turn off the combine to have some dinner. After dinner we went back out and combined more. It was a lot of fun!! I got to learn something completley new by a really great teacher!! Now this has to be kept a secret from Mark's aunt and uncle because this is not very good information to let out. But I am blogging about it because there are only TWO people that read my blog, my two oldest sisters! Hello sisters! So here you go Megan, another blog post, and for both of you a good story. Enjoy!

LIfe Lately

Life lately has been boring and eventful at the same time! And as cliche as this sounds, my life has definitely been up and down. Good and bad. Sweets and sours. I'll just list a few of each.

I have had a lot of opportunities to go camping this summer. Was able to go to B.C. at Koocanusa Lake and despite the shady weather had a lot of fun! It was one of those experiences that you remember for a while because of the relationships you build with people. My second camping excursion was Girl's Camp. This time I was a leader and wow is it ever a difference! I love being a leader! It was really cool to see how the girls interacted with each other and to laugh with them. You notice soooo much more as a leader than just a participant. For example how much the girls actually look up to you! It is intimidating and really flattering. Hopefully I was a good enough example at camp for the girls. I know they were a big example to me and they all taught me so much. I was really impressed with how strong thier testimonies are, what trials they have already faced at such a young age, their unity-not one cat fight the whole camp, how much they are willing and happy to serve, how much they look out for eachother, creativity, and of course their energy! haha. There are a lot more attributes they have that I look up to...but I don't want to make the list too long. Bottom line is that I grew to love all the girls immensly in such a short amount of time and am very impressed by their strength, values, and light. The most recent camping trip is to Rumrunner Days. Or Thunder in the Valley. Whichever you want to call it, it was AWESOME! There were quite a few sours on this trip but altogether it was really fun. It was a whole group of friends that went and we tented it on the side of the road in the hills. We finally found the perfect spot and set up camp. This included pulling out the cooler with all the food and goodies! My friend Ashley, Brad, and I went grocery shopping before we left and packed a cooler full of food. We were only packing food for the first night, breakfast, and then snacks. We figured we would eat in town the rest of our meals. Unfortunatly Ashley and I overshopped. Fortunatly we did not eat in town and ate at our campsites for all of our meals. Unfortunatly all of our meals were hot dogs and someone put the hot dog buns in the cooler so they were just a soggy mess at the end of our second day. We went to the fair and rode The Zipper twice! Watched the parade, looked at all the sweet cars in the Show N' Shine, and I bought a soft bald eagle blanket. Yes I think this camping trip was a definite success. And to top off the trip we all watched an amazing firework show, which filled up the whole sky and echoed off the mountains surrounding us. There are always abundant amount of sweets when it comes to camping. The sour is that I miss a lof of work.

Other sweets is that people come vacationing to you instead! Yes Megan, Jared, and Logan I am talking about you. I loved having you guys up here even though it was only for a short period of time. We still had fun playing games, laughing, and listening to G.G. stories. More sweets is that come in August I get to go back down to Utah to visit my sister and her family, but also one of my very best friends for her wedding! It's already crazy that so many people are catching on to this engagement fever and happen to all be around my age, but it's a whole new level of crazy when you are close to the person who now has a ring on her finger. So crazy! So exciting! So....swour! Get it? Sweet and sour! hahaha.

Recent major sours is that I am frustrated with myself lately. Because I feel like I have been very picky lately or very easily irritated. Well enough is enough! That's right bitter-sounding-Danielle I'm coming for ya. Watch it. I think I just need to let my thinking go with the times a bit more. Let me clarify. Let's say I am getting really frustrated with someone and they are being difficult for a few days in a row. The problem is that after this phase, you realize that you still think they are difficult when they aren't. You're thinking has to go with the times.

Other major sours are that I'm getting sick yet again. And I have to get a root canal. Double whammy! Well...both can be healed and there is the sweet.

There are many sours, but there are even more sweets. I think I need to start up again what my roommate and I once did and that is listing your tender mercy of the day. That way I can focus on the sweets more than the sours.