Home (aka Montucky, Bozeangeles, MAN-tana, Livingstone, etc etc)

Whew, I cannot believe how quickly this summer is going by! I feel like just yesterday I was whining and complaining about being bored, and all of a sudden I blinked and July was over. This has been, by far, the busiest month we've had in the 2 years we've lived here. Between the ongoing recovery process, Bakersfield for the 4th, having family in town, San Fran for a weekend trip, my Portland trip to visit one of my best friends, and then Montana for a week, this month has been packed full of excitement!

I can never seem to take enough pictures of Paradise Valley when we are visiting Montana. I have hundreds of pictures of this place I love so much. Here is my favorite from this trip:



Here are some pics of our floating adventure on the Yellowstone. The river was really brown and blown-out. And believe me, the water was smokin'. But luckily, the weather held out for us and we had a great float!



We spent a few days at Pine Creek camping and enjoying the mild weather. (Pine Creek is the campground right up the road from our wedding site, FYI). This place holds lots of memories for me, and it always makes me feel nostaligic to spend time here. I truly had a blessed childhood to be able to grow up in such a beautiful place.

We took a walk down to the church camp and attempted to recreate some of our wedding photos.


Recognize this road???

As much as I detest sitting in the car for 15 hours on the drive to and from Montana, I love having this time to talk about anything and everything with the best conversational partner a girl could ask for. :) On our long drive back, we discussed (among other things) the feeling of being out-of-staters for the first time since we moved away. Although I miss my family terribly, this is the first time I was truly happy to return to California and all the things the future has in store for us. Although Montana is "home", I can't shake the feeling that home has become more about where my husband is than where I grew up. This is where we have built a life as husband and wife. Someday, we hope to continue that life in Montana. But for now, home is California.