missing mr. boston

We had to say goodbye to Boston Marley, my best animal friend.  I've been devastated, moody, and hard to get along with...sorry hubby.  So I've decided to make a list of all those things I miss/loved about Boston instead of rambling on about how miserably sad I have been.

1.  His many nicknames: Bos, Boston-baby, Baby Love, Beantown, Beans, Marley, Beanster, Beandip, Beannie-weenie, Scaredycat...

2. His love of anything inedible: i.e. my DVR remote, make-up, shoes, kleenex, bugs.

3.  His ability to cuddle with me (or my ability to train him to cuddle with me)

4.  Squirrels and bunnies were always a little too fast for Bos but he was determined

he was obsessed with the squirrel just out of his reach

 5. His kisses.

6.  His cheeto-smelling paws.  Seriously, I think I miss those the most. 

7.  Never having to house train him!

8.  Keeping me company and not so scared when I watched The Mentalist alone.

9.  His adorable face and how he sometimes looked like a puppy and sometimes looked like an old dog. 

10.  Waiting at the window for me when I was driving home from work and then his oh-so-dangerous wagging tail which caused his entire body to wag when I finally got in the door. 
 
11.  His unconditional love with peanut butter.

12.  Bean's great temperament on our road trips to Charleston and South Dakota.

13.  And, lastly, I just miss him.  My little, beanie-weenie.  

first two weeks in SoDak

So it begins...finally in the same time zone as the hubby. 

South Dakota has fared well.  The 25 hour drive up here will be documented soon enough.     

Already have war wounds to prove that Mickelson Trail was graced by my presence.  After biking for .20 miles, I began to complain.  So you may ask, "What did your hubby do???"  Continued to bike ahead of me.  5 miles to be exact.  The way "down" was much nicer with Ty.  I'm proud to say I biked 8 miles (4 of which were downhill).  I'm pretty sure Tyler biked 14 or more.  On the trail I came across cows, horses, deer, snakes, etc. but thankfully NO mountain lions.  

Break Time while the hubby treks to Crazy Horse. 

Bear Country was hilarious.  I freaked out when Tyler insisted on rolling down the windows when passing bears, large bears; however, he did get some great pictures and a few head turns with his duck call.  The cubs were hysterical.  Literally, I had to be dragged away after watching a female cub pummel her fellow male cubs.  This place is genius.  It is a little disconcerting to know that we are the ones in cages and the animals are the ones roaming freely.  The reindeer were amazing.  I guess they come to South Dakota when not on duty at the North Pole.   

The Bison are disgusting.  Yet they somehow appear serene in Custer State Park.  The signs leading up to the herd always freak me out.  Who wants to be 3 feet away from an enormous animal considered agile?  Not this little lady.  There were some crazy folk who were out of their vehicles taking pictures.  I would refrain from giving in to the urge to pet one of these monsters, but, it's totally your call. 

Waiting for the movers to get here has been another challenge but we are handling a twin air mattress to the best of our ability.  Wine helps or painting with Boston...

25 hours and counting

Married with no husband in sight was a bit too much to take in, but I successfully made it through the month of May.  The annual Doucet beach trip, packing my life up in BR, and saying goodbye to my kiddos helped the month go by rather quickly. 

Thinking we would beat the movers to SoDak by a few days, my mom and I left good ole' Louisiana (swamps and all) for the wilderness.  Boston kept us great company and had his first hotel stay.  Mind you, he was delightful and loved Bison beef jerky. 

Traveling through several states was great and a little tiring.  We were supposed to make the trip in 3 days...we did it in two.  We're that cool. 

Wall Drug.  Wall Drug.  Wall Drug. 
If you drive in from the east headed to Rapid, you'll see signs for Wall Drug.  Drive-you-insane kind of signs.  Here are a few examples:

The problem...no where on these signs does it give you any kind of info about where you can find this interesting and magical place.  We found it.  The Disneyland of gas stations is located in Wall, SD and fabulous. 

Mount Rushmore was of course a stop of ours.  It was a gorgeous day and no...the pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few...

Interviews and job offers came next on my birthday.  Luckily the job offers came so I could celebrate the big birthday with Tyler and my mom without having to think of jobs.  By the way, my school's name is South Park.  No kidding.  B-day dinner at The Corn Exchange was amazing.  I cannot wait to go back.  Delightful and local ingredients made it a perfect celebratory dinner.  Only wished my twinkie would have been with us.  Hard not having twin birthdays in the same location anymore. 

Movers had some issues.  The movers are still having some issues.  We have yet to see any movers or any of our "stuff" since I packed it all.  Looks like I'm going to have to continue to wear Tyler's clothes until mine come in.  Boutiques and shopping aren't what I'm accustomed to.  Our mall is excited to have a Sears, JCPenny, and Gap.  Wahoo!  Online shopping here I come. 

LSU didn't make it to Omaha.  We are a little fortunate that no one follows college baseball in Rapid City to the extreme of our southern states which it made it easier to forget those brutal games. 

 Here's home so far.  Just waiting to find some cliffs to do some cliff diving (Tyler's idea) and the movers so we can make home feel like home. 

Tyler scouting out the cliff for some diving.

Our kitchen table.