blog update

I haven't been able to post here recently because we reached the limit on picture storage. It is always an option to pay for more storage but, as much as I like blogging and keeping our family and friends up to date, I am not excited about the idea of having to pay a bunch of money to keep it going.

We had a couple different options but have decided moving to another blog would be the simplest and cheapest option. It's not the cleanest transition but we will try this out.

The new site will be moremikelandlisa.blogspot.com

You can either update your computer bookmarks or just come here to click on the link!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where have we been?!

We don't have internet. That's the reason there hasn't been much blogging because we still do not have internet at home. We also don't get tv at home. I say get tv because we have two television sets but we do not get any channels at home so they are hardly ever on. This hasn't been such a big deal for us recently because during volleyball season we are incredibly busy and aren't at home all that much. Also, not having tv and internet at home causes us to be out and about a lot at nights hanging out with friends which is nice.

When we are not at home I am usually at the office doing scouting, recruiting, or travel planning or out with friends. When we aren't home Mikel is usually out fishing or out with friends. We also spend a lot of time at other sporting events at school, recently watching our men's and women's basketball teams as their seasons have started.

I have had hints dropped from all around about the status of the blog and I am working on it. I will get back on track and maybe even get internet at home again soon!

Until then, Mikel and I are both enjoying our Thanksgivings. He is fishing with cousins and I am in California seeing family!

Big Hole fishing

This past weekend while I was recovering from a LONG bus trip (4 hours on the bus on Friday and 13 hours on Saturday), Mikel went fishing with a couple friends. They were on the Big Hole River in Melrose, about 30 miles outside of Dillon.

They caught a lot of fish and Mikel caught a huge German Brown Trout (apparently the cool kids just call them Browns). It was the biggest Brown Mikel has caught on his fly rod yet.

The cell phone pictures are a little dark but it works!

parents visit

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to get a visit from my parents here in Dillon. You learn to appreciate having guests so much more when you move far away because it is a challenge for people to come see you (especially when you live in Montana and it's impossible to find a decent sized airport anywhere around)!

On top of the visitors, we came away 2-0 on the weekend and handed Rocky Mountain College their first lost to Western in at least 7 years (I can't find records before that)! It was a good weekend for sure.

Below are some of my dad's pictures from a drive we took to Kelly Lake, a spot where Mikel has fished before but I had never been.

big sky country

the lake is really low but still beautiful 

my new computer background

me and my mother

living the dream in Montana 

We love having visitors and exploring Montana with them! 

Montana's Biggest Weekend

It's been awhile since Labor Day weekend but it is Montana's Biggest Weekend here in Dillon. Over Labor Day there is a big fair, rodeo, and country concert at the fair grounds down the street from our house.

Last year the team was in Walla Walla, WA for Labor Day but this year we were able to schedule home games during the week and have the weekend off so the girls could experience the festivities and raise a little money for volleyball while they were here.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

bad weather at the fair

I am definitely not tough enough to ride these...

HUGE animals

view of the fair from the rodeo

the crowd at the rodeo

It was a good weekend and I'm glad to report that the girls were all well-behaved so we may be able to be home for another Labor Day in Dillon. 

catching up

It has definitely been a long time since I have updated this thing (trust me, Mikel has let me know about it as has my mom).

Two different things are probably to blame: 1. the volleyball season has started and that is just an incredibly busy time of year and 2. our neighbors cancelled their wireless internet so our "borrowed" connection at home is no longer available. I typically update the blog on my laptop at home so that is currently not an option. We really do need to get some sort of TV and internet at home but we are gone and busy so much that it's hard to set up a time to get it installed and it's hard to pay for stuff that we are never at home to use.

In other news, we are about half way through the games on our schedule this season. We are only about a month in but the preseason is so crammed with matches that we have already played 14 matches. We are 5-9 and playing much better competition overall than last season so I'm happy with the progress the team has made.

Mikel has been busy because he is teaching this block and has been hired this semester as a full-time instructor. We are hoping that it can transition into a permanent full-time position because he loves the teaching and the students seem to love him. He is teaching Methods of Teaching Individual and Dual Sports this block, Leisure Studies next block, and then Personal and Community Health after that. It's a tough schedule but somebody's got to do it!

Mikel has been fishing (as much as possible) and working at the golf course (a little bit) but other than that it's been pretty much ALL VOLLEYBALL ALL THE TIME.

I promise I'll get back to updating more consistently... At least I'll try... And maybe I'll get internet at my house, that would help!

bulldogs in the big city

As practice is quickly approaching I wanted to make sure I told all of our Riverside people that our team would be in Riverside soon, playing at a tournament at La Sierra University.

Our team will be playing at La Sierra on August 15th and 16th and is really excited about their first trip on a plane (and their first trip to California).

Below is our playing schedule:

August 15th
11:30am UMW vs. La Sierra University
4:30pm   UMW vs. San Diego Christian College

August 16th
12:30pm UMW vs. CSU San Marcos
3:00pm   UMW vs. Hope International University

It's going to be tough competition but it will be great to take the girls on a special trip!

And HERE is our complete schedule for anyone who is interested.

Digger/Dawg tournament

While I was at home, Mikel got the chance to play in the Digger/Dawg Golf Tournament. It's a competition between Montana Tech (their mascot is the Orediggers) and the University of Montana Western (Bulldogs).

Montana Tech are our biggest rivals and it's a joint fundraiser for the two athletic departments. The tournament was played at the golf course at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in Anaconda. 

the longest hole Mikel had ever played

looking down the really long hole

the trophy for the tournament

the pools at the resort

We didn't win this year but Mikel had a lot of fun and was glad to get to play in a tournament instead of work!

fun in the sun

This past weekend, before Mikel had to go to work at the Member-Guest tournament at work, we went out to Sleepy Hollow (the par 3 golf course in Dillon).

We met our friends Ben and Melissa there and the three of them played while I drove the cart. I have never played before and being left-handed makes it challenging to just borrow clubs from someone and try it out. The left-handedness, combined with my competitiveness and resulting temper maybe just make it best for me to drive the cart and document the memories although I do have plans to try sometime soon.

It was a beautiful day to play ten holes. The course is technically a nine-hole course but they just recently added another to make ten!

Melissa, Mikel, and Ben on the green

Ben and Mikel

my view from the cart

A good course with good friends and good weather. I can't complain about my Saturday!

only in Dillon

I stopped in the middle of the street on my way back to my office (conveniently there was nobody coming) to take a picture of the beautiful sky.

Just one of the things I love about Dillon:

just another day in Big Sky Country

Jenny's wedding

Jenny's wedding (the real reason for my trip to California) was beautiful. It was perfectly Jenny down to every detail. Unfortunately, you'll have to trust me on this because I didn't manage to take a single picture. I was in the midst of wedding madness and didn't think to pull out a camera but the one thing I did take pictures of was the room we stayed in.

The wedding was in Idyllwild which is a little community in the San Jacinto Mountains outside of Riverside. The Creekstone Inn was the site of both the wedding and the reception and is also where the entire wedding party stayed.

All of the rooms are decorated in different themes and ours was Summer Camp. It had both a queen bed and a twin and had tons of detail in the decorations.

Here are some pictures of our room:

the queen bed with canoe nightstands

the twin bed 

on the nightstand by the twin bed

The whole place was really cute and a great place for the wedding!

CA trip

I am just settling back in to Dillon after a long visit in Riverside. It was great to be home and visit family and friends. The main reason for the trip was because Jenny got married. Jenny was the maid of honor in my wedding and I got to return the honor this time. She lives in Washington so we don't get to spend a lot of time together but it was wonderful to be there for her and her special day!

Because I was already going to be home, I extended the trip and got to spend some more time with my family and baby Blair.

Blair with her favorite aunt on the Bushman side

When I wasn't in Idyllwild for the wedding, I spent a lot of time in San Clemente at the beach. It was REALLY hot in Riverside which made for some really nice weather at the beach.

just beautiful

peace and quiet on the beach trail

watching surfers from the beach

it was a busy week at the beach

it doesn't get much better

It was a great trip to relax, visit with family and friends, be there as my best friend married an awesome guy, and soak up a little sun for what was pretty much the end of my summer.

From here, I have a couple more volleyball camps to work and then my team reports and starts practice August 1st!

only in Dillon

When I was growing up in California, there are some things about my life now that I could have never imagined. Moving to Pocatello was moving to a small town but I had NO IDEA what I was getting into. I went to Pocatello with the intention of going to ISU for 4 years and then moving back to California. What California girl thinks anything different?!

Obviously this didn't work out and everything that did was for the best. I love my life how it is now even though I never could have imagined it!

In this same thread, there are a lot of things that I couldn't have imagined:

• Living in a town with one stoplight
• Living in a town where, if you say "THE three way stop", everyone knows what you are talking about
• Working at a college that is about a quarter of the size of my high school
• Living next to the town mortician and his "shop" and that not being weird at all
• Seeing people wearing boots with spurs while eating a Dairy Queen
• Being at a dinner on campus and introducing myself to someone and having her say "oh, I know who you are, and I am quite familiar with your team".... I'm just hoping that was a good thing
• Living somewhere where your tan lines went away when it wasn't summertime 
• Living somewhere where a wave doesn't mean the person knows you- EVERYONE waves
• Living somewhere were anything above 90* weather is unheard of (this one isn't so bad actually)

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of for now. I am loving Dillon and think it was the perfect move for us at the time. Only in Dillon.

camp camp camp

This summer started out nice and slow. School ended on May 2nd and I got some time to relax, a chance to go home to Riverside to see my new niece and best friend who is getting married, Mikel and I got some time to hang out and I was able to go into the office whenever I wanted to.

With June has come a lot more volleyball. First, I went and worked a volleyball camp at St. Labre Indian School in Eastern Montana. I have never been six hours east in Montana and I had no idea there were places where I could get a call on my phone but not voicemails, text messages, or internet. Well, the internet thing didn't surprise me but the voicemails definitely did. It turns out the camp was definitely worth it and better than I thought it was going to be so the first camp of the year was a success!

After St. Labre, I came straight home and my whole team from Montana Western was here for the weekend. We had three days of practice, weight lifting sessions, team conditioning, and team meals. They were tired by the time it was over but it was a great opportunity to see how they work together and what our team will look like in the fall. I am so excited for our new players and how hard the returners are working. I think we'll be much better than last year and I can't wait to get started!

After my team was in town for the weekend, I headed to Idaho Falls to work another camp. This was another three days and I spent time both in Pocatello and in Idaho Falls. After camp was over I got myself a massage in Idaho Falls before the drive home. This was best idea ever!

Now, I have a week of work in the office before I head home next week for Jenny's wedding.

This has been all about me but it seems like Mikel has been the busy one. He is working almost every day at the golf course and golfing any other chance he gets. He usually goes early to work so he can golf before his shift for the day and sometimes goes with friends on his days off. Mikel also plays in the men's league at the par-3 golf course in town and got second this week!

Old Works

On Friday, Mikel got the chance to play Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda, MT with some friends. Anaconda is a little over an hour north of Dillon and it used to be a booming town because of the copper smelter that you can see in the back of this first picture. 

Anaconda does not mine copper anymore and so the town has kind died down because of it but they do have one of the only publicly owned courses in the US designed by Jack Nicklaus. The other unique thing about the course is that the sand bunkers is slag from the the copper mines and is all black.

view of the course with the old smelter in the back

you can see the foundations of old buildings in the back

Ben in the sand

Mikel had a great time and played really well. That's about all I know about golf but he had a great time and was really happy when he got home! Win-win!

victory

This past weekend Mikel was able to compete in a golf tournament for the first time instead of always having to work. Of course, he did have to go in early and work before it started but he had fun playing nonetheless. 

It was a fundraiser for the United Way and Mikel's team won the net best ball and got second in the overall tournament! Good times were had by all and Mikel got to come home early because there were thunderstorms in the afternoon!

golfing

Yesterday afternoon Mikel didn't have to work and I was done for the day so I went out to the golf course to drive the cart while Mikel played. Why bother with the silly clubs when you can just drive around in the cart and play with the flags??

big clouds over the golf course

my favorite golfer

Mikel has been working a lot at the golf course and playing a lot of golf before work and on his days off. He hasn't been fishing much at all since he started work but when he can play 36 holes of golf for free, who's complaining?

four years

I can't believe it has been four years since we got married. Yesterday was our four year anniversary and I couldn't be happier with where we are in our lives. I have been living outside of California for about nine years now and eight and a half of those have been spent with Mikel-- I mean, once you find someone who can put up with me you can't let them go! We've been on a lot of adventures in our four years of marriage and I am looking forward to many more!

Some pictures from the special day:

the ceremony

aren't we cute

Yesterday wasn't a very exciting day because I went to work during the day and then Mikel worked all night at the golf course but we were able to go to dinner tonight and rent a movie to enjoy. Wild times in Dillon!

happy Memorial Day

I am so over winter and snow! 

I just had an awesome visit to Southern California where I got to soak up some sun, visit with family, and meet Blair (my new niece). The biggest weather complaint I had there was regarding the sunburn I got which is really my own fault (I'm out of practice actually putting on sunscreen because it hasn't been necessary for a LONG time). 

And then I come home to THIS:

Well, I didn't actually come home to it; I did drive through sleet on the way home but this was saved for the holiday weekend. SNOW?!

I know, I know, I live in Montana but that little Californian living inside of me hasn't died and she does NOT appreciate snow especially during the unofficial start to summer.

Because of the cold weather, snow, and wind we spent the most of the weekend inside watching movies, reading, and relaxing. I unpacked and Mikel worked (when it wasn't raining or snowing).

Ugh, snow, snow, go away (and take rain and cold with you)!

lots of love

We have long known that we have been blessed with pretty amazing parents but Mikel's parents have been very generous recently.

Just the other day, I got a package in the mail that had this cute change purse in it. It is black and grey and has a second compartment inside as well. Very cute.

Mikel's parents also were incredibly generous in giving us one of their cars for Christmas this year. It has helped us out immensely having two cars especially with Mikel teaching and working out at the golf course while I'm running around doing volleyball stuff. 

 This car has definitely allowed Mikel to do a lot more fishing this year since he doesn't have to be around to pick me up or drop me off from school and that is definitely a win!