Flowers and Alfalfa

A few shots of some pretty plants I found at the family picnic outside Sundance








I have no idea what this is, but it was beautiful! I was thrilled to find several of these flowers along a spring.

Deep Breathes

This is the last big hill before home. Nestled far away from most people's definition of hustle bustle it is a place people either love or hate. I love it. At the far left edge of the photo you might be able to see a couple buildings and that is my parent's house.
I've noticed that upon topping this hill (usually cruising right along) it's as if a breathe I've been holding whooshes out and I take another deep breathe and everything in me settles back into place. I rarely even notice I've been holding my breathe (figuratively, of course) until this point. It's both invigorating and relaxing to top this hill and be home.

Covering the miles

The past few weeks have been busy. I've had fun racking up the miles as I criss-crossed the state for a combination of work and personal appearances. Here are a few snapshots from a couple thousand miles worth of travels so far in July.

Many of my travels take place in the Roundup blazer, partially depicted here. I am incredibly happy to have the AC working again after sitting through a couple 90+ degree days in the all-black interior. I was also very happy to get off with only a warning when pulled over for speeding (I totally traded the cop a keychain for some of our paper's gloves)

I've been to Riverton, and all over the surrounding area for interviews and a hay tour. The largest hay exporters in the northwestern US came to Fremont County to meet producers and look at hay in hopes of establishing relationships. I got to tag along and it was cool, I learned a lot.

I've been to Gillette and back on a whirlwind drive to deliver some Horse Editions to a co-worker so she could get them to the National High School Finals Rodeo. After leaving Gillette I headed toward Kaycee to interview two very intelligent, interesting old men for the paper.

I went through Lysite and love this ranch sign.

A very busy week for Christy resulted in a last-minute change of plans, so I cruised over to Lingle for the SAREC (something something something, UW research center something something) tour. Saw some Growsafe feed bunks, some fat cattle, crops, wind and solar energy stuff and visited with several people. Must say it was one of the most interesting tours I've attended this year.

Like I said, I got to see some fat steers! Definitely a highlight.

Headed home to see the parents after they returned from Europe. First on my dad's list was checking out our yearlings that are on grass this summer. My dad was kind enough to snap a picture of me as we both sat around, guessing weights and commenting on different things we noticed.

Our annual family reunion was last weekend just outside of Sundance. This is the view from the ranches yard. Very very beautiful this time of year...but very very deep snow is common in the winter months.

Not that I am slowing down, there will be more travels to depict as I head to Frontier Days this weekend, Pathfinder days next weekend and MAYBE the Sturgis rally the weekend after that. A few photo assignments, weddings, state fair, other invites and work trips are sure to come up as well.

A summer wedding in Sheridan

Oh the joys of Monday. At this point phone numbers are beginning to blur before my eyes and the drone of my recorded interviews are putting me to sleep. I need one (make that one more) big glass of something caffeinated.
So I'm taking a quick breather to show you some of my favorite shots from Gene and April's wedding. The bride should have them in her hands any moment now and I was really thrilled to be their photographer.(Side note: Lesley, I will be putting your wedding photos on here at some point to show a beautiful winter wedding)
Back on track. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Married June 5, 2010 in Sheridan, Wyoming

Survey of Three

Megan over at Life of an Accidental Rhinestone Cowgirl tagged me on this little survey (I hope it was me, she said Heather and I checked her follower list and I'm the only one on it) I'm excited to do it and happy she picked me! I'm a sucker for anything that involves lists, surveys...so here goes.

3 Names I go by:
1. Heather
2. Heather Lea, usually pronounced as one long word
3. HH is how I'm referred to in writing by the family, my little sister is hh

3 Places I've been:
1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Hawaii

3 Favorite drinks:
1. Water
2. Whole milk
3. Crown and seven with a couple maraschino cherries

3 Job's I've had:
1. Buckets of Fun in junior college. A fun little gift shop and trade show booth I worked at during the school year, at Cheyenne Frontier Days for 3 years and in Vegas twice.
2. Clovis Livestock Auction in Clovis, NM. A sale barn I worked at for about year. I worked in the office and on the block during the sale. Loved the people there!
3. Photographer and Photography Editor of the University of Wyoming school newspaper, The Branding Iron.

3 TV shows I watch:
1. Castle
2. House Hunters
3. Dirty Jobs
The last two are currently on the at-the-parents'-house basis only since I only get about 4 channels

3 Places I would like to visit:
1. Australia
2. Europe
3. Alaska

3 Favorite retro TV shows:
1. Err....Does Two and a Half Men count?
2.
3.....I don't watch a lot of TV

3 Favorite Dishes:
1. Anything my grandma makes
2. My dad's grilled steak with a baked potato and salad
3. Ham and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving

3 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. My parents coming home from Europe
2. Finding out if I got the biggest photography job I've ever bid
3. Going to Heaven

3 People I'm tagging:

1. Laura at Belle of the Blog

2. Jodi at Passport in my Pocket

3. Christy at Pony Riding By

July 4-5, 2010

My brother and sister came to see me for the fourth and fifth of July. Usually our entire family goes on a weekend fishing trip to the Bighorns just before the the Fourth for a mini vacation. But this year my parents are gallivanting across Vienna, Austria and Germany. So Kyle, Holly and I gallivanted around Alcova and Casper.

First stop was Pathfinder reservoir. It's running over for the first time since the 1980s. I don't know all the specifics, but it was a lot of water and my brother loves seeing stuff like that so off we went. I will hopefully have a post dedicated to the photos I took on the two trips I've made to see it.

A very nice guy took a picture of the three of us so there is an actual photo of me from the day!

Usually off to the left of the photo are rocks you can walk on and there is nothing running under this "closed" walkway. We checked out the dam from all angles, literally. We drove to the other side, walked across the bridge visible in the first photo and hiked all over.


Then we had a picnic in my backyard for Holly. After traipsing all over the mountains she was worn out and promptly fell asleep on the couch following lunch. Kyle and I proceeded to rip all the problematic lilacs out of my front yard. Someone had planted them all across my little front step and they were one of my least favorite things about the house. Now they are gone and hopefully another post will show before, another during, and the pretty after flowers.


Some were a little tough and we pulled them instead of using the hydrobed. There were some staring neighbors, but this method was much easier than digging them out by hand or using a chainsaw.

Then we woke Holly up and took her swimming just up the street from my house. Kyle and I aren't much for swimming, but the pool was actually warm and we made it. Holly absolutely loves swimming and would have happily spent the entire afternoon, evening and night in the pool.

I didn't get a photo of the big, loopy slides. Kyle and Holly each went down one at the same time and I was at the bottom to catch Holly. She started out sitting up, facing forward and shot out the bottom on her stomach and backwards. I plucked her out of the 3-foot deep water and between bouts of laughter asked what happened.
As she wiped water from her face tartly replied "I drowned, Heather!"
I almost drowned her again I was laughing so hard.

Summer in Wyoming

During my flurry of traveling over the past several weeks (I've been everywhere from Riverton to Henry NE, Medicine Bow to South Dakota, and lots of stops in between) I made a pit stop at home to see the parents before they left for a three-week vacation in Europe. As always I had my camera in tow and managed to grab a few pictures.