Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break is over :-( and I am back in the library (big surprise). I went to Billings to visit my grandparents on Wednesday and Thursday and drove back Friday morning to work Black Friday at JoAnn Fabrics. We had about 20 family members come in to town (sadly, no one from my immediate family) and my boyfriend came with us. My friend, Grant, also drive up from Denver to spend Thanksgiving with me! Grant and I were best friends in middle school and the beginning of high school and then he moved to Florida in 10th grade... I hadn't seen him in 6 years! It was so nice to catch up! We picked up right where we left off. The rest of break was mostly spent at work and showing Grant around Bozeman. After that tease of a break, I am ready for Winter break and for this semester to be over! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone ate until they couldn't move!!!

CATS WIN!

As you all probably know by now, the Bobcats beat the Grizzlies in a very close game of Football last weekend! Winning this game was a big deal for us Cat fans because (a) we beat the Griz which is awesome, and (b) we are now the champions of the Big Sky conference and we go to play offs on Saturday! I will do my best to keep everyone posted about the Cats, but with finals coming up and I start a new job today, I might not get around to watching the games.

Last weekend, the game was in Missoula. Bozeman was practically vacant that weekend because everybody hitched on over to the University of Montana. I was hibernating and watched the game from a friends house where it was nice and warm. It was so cold in Missoula that only the really hot blooded, hard core fans stayed through the whole game!

Cat/Griz is Coming Up!!!

As you all probably know, or should know, the CAT/Griz football game is coming up this weekend!! Since this year the game is in Missoula, I will not be going to the game sadly, but there is still plenty to do here to support the CATS!! All week we have been competing against the Griz in a food drive and a blood drive, I plan on participating in both. Most often, and sadly, the Griz usually beat the CATS in the game, but this year we have a really good chance of winning, and if we do we will be champions of the Big Sky conference! So everybody needs to be cheering for the CATS! It is our year!!!!

I learned a little background on the CAT/Griz game that I thought you might be interested in. The CAT/Griz rivalry is one of the oldest college rivalries in the country dating back before MSU was called MSU. Back in the day, the game was held in Butte Montana (in between Bozeman and Missoula) and it was called the Copper Bowl. GO BOBCATS!!!

The New Animal Bioscience Building!

Since I am an Advocat, we get to tour a lot of the buildings on campus and we get to learn about what other students are learning, researching and working with. Last week, we got to tour the new Animal Bioscience Building, which I think hasn't gotten as much hype as it should. The building is on the edge of campus so a lot of students aren't even aware that it is open yet... they are missing out! It is by far the coolest building that I have been in on campus! The whole thing is incredibly well thought out and organized. Everything is up-to-date and is designed to be able to stay that way. For example, the labs are usually these huge, stationary chunks of equipment that can't be easily updated. The new labs in the Animal Bioscience building are mobile. So if a new big piece of equipment needs to replace an old out-dated piece of equipment, or a new piece is just desired, they can just push one lab out of the way and put the new one in. Also, even the paint on the walls were specifically picked out to enhance focus and learning (the walls are light blue and the front wall is dark blue to draw focus to the front of the room).

My favorite part of this building is the study areas. They are serene and quiet and spacious, plus there are huge windows everywhere that face the Bridger Mountain Range! A lot of the materials used to make this building are local or recycled materials! The rubber floors (so you can't hear cowboy boots:-) are made from recycled tires and the stone tiles are rocks from the Gallatin Valley! I am definitely going to start studying in that building. It is gorgeous!

Recycled Fashion Show

When I first came to Bozeman, I figured that there wouldn't be as much to do as in the cities where I grew up... I was wrong for sure. In Bozeman there is always something to do. I am rarely ever bored. MSU hosts events and shows all the time, and last week, the big event that was hosted was the recycled fashion show. It is exactly what it sounds like... people make and model clothes that are made from recycled material. Oh boy, we have some creative and talented people at our school! I was so impressed with everyone's costumes! Everyone had fun and laughed a lot and the best part is that all the proceeds go to Engineers without boarders. A brief overview: Engineers without boarders is a group of students of campus that go to West Kenya and help purify water. They have dug several wells and created sanitary water for thousands of people. You don't have to be an engineer to be apart of Engineers without boarders... you just have to be enthusiastic about helping others.

The picture is the winning costume. It is the Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast made out of caution tape! I know you can't see it very well, but trust me it was awesome!

I forgot about Halloween!

So I completely forgot to tell you all about Halloween! Halloween was on a Sunday, so I went out on Saturday and went dancing at a costume party! I had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures, but I wish I would have because I saw some awesome costumes! I went as a butterfly: I made my antenna and outfit, and just bought the wings (which are now hanging on my ceiling). I saw Doc Holiday, a Rubic's cube, Strawberry shortcake, Minnie Mouse, Curious George, and the most legit looking Avatar I have ever seen! He looked like he was straight out of the movie! All in all, Halloween was awesome like always!

SNOW

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful! Warm weather, sunny, and perfect! I am glad to say that I got out on Saturday and hiked the M one last time before the snow came today. I know I have said this before, but the weather in Bozeman is completely indecisive. Yesterday was warm and sunny and today is cold and wet and has been snowing all day! One of the best parts about Bozeman is that when it snows, the outdoor activities don't dwindle and the people don't hibernate. People here love snow and no one lets the cold rain on their parade. This is nice for people like me, who actually don't really like snow or cold. But I stay here because it is too pretty to leave, the people here are too nice and too fun and this is the perfect place to to go school:-)

This year we had the best fall I have had in a long, long time. Tons of colors, nice weather, not much rain or wind... perfect. Time for a perfect winter:-)

Passage Falls

I love days off of school! Doesn't everybody?!?! Well, this week we had Tuesday off from school because it was election day. It was a beautiful day so I decided to go hiking. We went to the next valley over (Paradise Valley) and drove about 34 miles south of Livingston to the trailhead. Paradise Valley is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been. The mountains are huge, sky is wide open, and the fall colors were so vivid in the bright sunlight!!! Plus there are hardly any people in the valley so there are no big buildings or traffic lights... it is awesome. The hike was pretty easy and very well maintained. Oh my gosh, the falls were unbelievable! SO PRETTY! We had lunch at the bottom of the falls and then hiked up and around to the top of the falls were we explored around and climbed some trees:-) Every time I go on a hike around here I wonder why I don't live in a little tree house on top of a mountain because it is so quiet and so gorgeous and relaxing. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we didn't see many animals like I was hoping to (I wanted to see a goat or elk or something!) We did however, see two bald eagles and two huge golden eagles! I had never seen a live golden eagle before so that was cool! I couldn't get a picture of it though, because it was too fast! Moral of the story... hike. Hike all the time!

The three pictures are for you to see how gorgeous this day/hike was! The picture with the bridge was taken from the trail head... I liked the bridge and all the colors! The picture with me is at the falls... So gorgeous! and they are actually a lot taller than they look in the picture! and the last picture is one of the many spectacular views on the way to the falls!