Empty. Well, almost.

I'm sitting on the floor because all of the furniture is out of my apartment. I still have to tackle my closet and bathroom, but other than that most things are outa here. And tomorrow I will say goodbye to my first solo apartment and to Raleigh as I head back to Richmond for the summer.

Big Sky Country

Growing up in the West I didn't appreciate it nearly enough. And now that I've been to Montana I heart the West even more.

First things first. My dear friend Amy from college is getting married in July. As the maid of honor I figured it would be a good idea to visit her and actually meet the lucky man before the big day. So that explains why I went to Missoula. It was great to see her and hang out, and as relationships like this usually go, it was just like old times and you wouldn't really guess we hadn't seen each other in almost two years.

I won't give you the play by play of my six days, just the highlights and some pictures.

I drank lots of delicious local beer. The Big Sky Brewing Company is in Missoula, so not only did we drink their beer in local restaurants, but we visited the brewery where they have free tasting. I also bought a Moose Drool pint glass.

We walked through three markets on Saturday morning, full of vegetables and crafts and flowers.

I looked around a lot just to enjoy the big sky and the surrounding mountains. One section of mountains reminded me of home.














Look at those mountains! Amazing.

Saturday night there was a surprise bridal shower, so I spent the day listening to Amy talk about what she wanted to do later that night- rent a movie? drink more beer? listen to music? She had no idea the "barbecue" we were scheduled to attend was really a party in her honor with chocolate fondue and a make-a-wedding-gown-out-of-toilet-paper activity.














There is a giant "M" on the side of the mountain next to the University of Montana, so we climbed up to that Sunday. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream when we got back down. (See the M?)


At the top!











Monday was my favorite. First we bought some buffalo jerky on the side of the road. Then we visited the National Bison Range and Wildlife Refuge, just like I had planned.













We drove slowly up a mountain and along a ridge and through a valley, constantly peering our eyes for exciting wildlife. We saw birds, and deer, and antelope, and squirrels, and even turtles. The best part, of course, was the bison. The herd was hanging out toward the end of the long loop, and they were super close and big and exciting.

















After the drive we stopped by a pond with loud birds and ate sandwiches at a picnic table. It had rained or drizzled the entire weekend I was there, but Monday we didn't get a drop of rain and it was relatively warm and I was so happy to be out in the sun in the mountains. Looking at real live buffalo.

Teaser

Keep your eyes on the tail.

I head off for Missoula tomorrow, so I'm using the ol' internet to quickly learn about the place and see what there is to do there. Other than hang out with Amy, of course. And you know what they have less than one hour away from Missoula? Can you guess?

The National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge! A whole range for bison! I'm already planning to talk Amy into taking me there. It sounds sweet.

Have you figured out by now that I like buffalo? (Bison is the correct term but nowadays they're pretty much interchangeable; and let's be honest, "buffalo" sounds awesomer. Yes, awesomer.) I have pictures of them hanging in my apartment and a buffalo-head magnet on my fridge. There's a little bison farm or something in Virginia off of highway 15 and when I told some friends I saw buffalo there they thought I was crazy and didn't know a buffalo from a fat horse. But I do. Also, there is this great little joint in Tacoma, Washington, that serves buffalo food- burgers, burritos, steaks, you name it. I miss that place.

Bison trivia: How do you know if a bison isn't feeling so amused and is about to charge? If its tale is sticking straight up. I'll look out for that.

Joke: What did the daddy buffalo say to his kid when he left for work? "Bison." Hahahaha.

The Change Train is coming through again...

I'm currently moping around my apartment attempting to organize things in preparation to move out. It's not very fun. I like my apartment. I don't want to take it apart. Right now I'm filling a large box with papers to take to the recycling center. I don't want to lug all these articles and things around that I read for classes, but I also worry I will wish I had them someday when I'm maybe back in school or remembering something pertinent to a project. You should have seen how nervous I was taking all my billions of colored tabs out of the thirty library books I returned after I finished my thesis. What if I work on this again? What if I've just lost a lot of information by tearing out the tabs? Honestly I probably won't look at any of this stuff again. But I like to be prepared.

So I'm going to get back to fretting over whether or not I should throw out the spiral notebook with notes I took from the classes I TA'd. Then maybe I'll move on to finally getting rid of a bunch of clothes I've moved around since college but never wear.

P.S. This cartoon accurately depicts every discussion I ever led in Harrelson Hall.

Do I see a fire? No, wrong again.

To celebrate the end of the semester Elizabeth and I headed west to Lake Lure for four nights. Our first night there we ate at a restaurant right by the lake and I pointed out some smoke to Elizabeth, thinking there was a fire. She looked where I pointed but then laughed. "That's not a fire, Andi. There's a reason these are called the Smokey Mountains." I felt sheepish.

Wednesday we visited the Biltmore in Asheville.

After touring the ginormous house we went to the farm and pet lambs and a calf and watched a blind chicken eat some egg yolk, which freaked me out. Then we visited the winery for a wine tasting. After leaving we headed toward Asheville and walked around a little before eating dinner and heading back to our condo at the lake.

Thursday it was cloudy and rainy all day, so we stayed in reading and napping. We were going to eat out but we realized we'd miss The Office, so we bought some groceries at the store and made dinner instead.

Friday we went to Chimney Rock Park and climbed a billion stairs and hiked all over the side of a mountain and saw some amazing views.

This was where Last of the Mohicans was filmed. Speaking of film sites, parts of Dirty Dancing were filmed at our resort. After leaving the park we headed back to the condo, where I took a nap. Then we went down to the lake and I wandered around while Elizabeth read. We ate dinner at another restaurant by the water but a cold front came through so I shivered through most of the meal since we were outside on the patio.

Today we checked out of the resort and went horseback riding. It was fun but not super exciting.

Once I went horseback riding in Red River, New Mexico, with my dad and brother, and our guide let us gallop and jump over rivers and do pretty much whatever we wanted, which was awesome. Now when I go on tours where the horses just follow each other and you don't have to do anything (they even park themselves back at the barn) I always feel disappointed. Anyway, after that we hopped in the car and drove back to Raleigh.

Now I have a few days to kill before I head off for another adventure in Missoula, Montana.

Graduation

Here I am, still wearing my cap, with Jenny and Elizabeth.


















And with Leslie and Alex.

Master Me

It's over. Yesterday I successfully defended my thesis. I enjoyed getting to sit there with three professors and talk about my work and where it could go, and it was rewarding to have them sign my title page and shake my hand. But as soon as I left and was walking across campus to my car the depression set it. I might have to get a PhD some day. Or at least make sure whatever archives/library job I eventually get actually lets me do history. I loved graduate school. Library school just won't be the same. Sigh.

On a brighter note, today was graduation and I had a great day. My cousin Leslie and her boyfriend Alex came down from Richmond to celebrate with me. We had a nice lunch, then headed to the history department's graduation ceremony. I might have pictures later. I almost cried with the undergraduate's speech, not because it was really great but, again, because I already miss history school. I am such a nerd.

After the ceremony and pictures we went for a drive- Alex wanted to see the Research Triangle and then we walked around UNC while drinking bubble tea. Eventually we drove back to Raleigh and gorged ourselves on delicious sushi. Now we're recovering and we might go out later tonight with some friends of mine.

So that's that. I'm a master now. Time flies.

My Wednesdays usually aren't this fun.

Sorry I've been away from the blogosphere for a while. I finished school, my mom has been visiting, and I've been hanging out in Richmond. But I'm back in Raleigh, at least until next week when I'm off to hang out at a lake in the mountains.

Now, back to my Wednesday.

I woke up to the smells of Grandma's cooking. Well, that might be a lie. I probably would have woken to the smells of Grandma's cooking eventually but I had my mother with me to tell me to get up. So I did, but slowly. We had a lovely brrrrrunch with a crazy egg dish and bagels and lox, then Grandpa and Mom and I headed out to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden for a stroll through the flowers and some cucumber soup. We returned home and I took a much too short nap, then my mom and I hit the road for Raleigh. We arrived in time for shwarma sandwiches at Neomonde and then raced downtown to see Avenue Q. If you A)know anything about the show or B)know my mother or especially C)know both, you can imagine that I was a little nervous going to see it with her and I gave her fair warning about what to expect. I'm not sure she heeded my warning, but I enjoyed the show and I think she had a good time, too. The actors were pretty impressive with their singing and acting and puppeteering all at once.

So that was my Wednesday. Hope yours was great as well!

Greatest night ever.

Tonight in celebration of finishing all of my papers and projects (except for grading exams tomorrow and defending my thesis next Friday) I went to hear my favorite guy ever play a concert in Chapel Hill. Who is my favorite? you ask.

Josh Ritter. I love him. I saw him play once in Seattle my senior year of college, and I have three of his albums. The last time I flew on a plane I tried to do work while listening to my iPod, but my iPod was playing a recording of a Josh Ritter concert I got off of All Songs Considered and it was so wonderful and distracting that I couldn't get any work done and instead just sat there in my seat with the silliest grin on my face because, as I said, Josh Ritter is my favorite.

So the fact that he was playing near me on the exact day I would finish school work was pretty excellent.

He had his band with him and they were great, too. You could tell they were all having a good time. It was also nice to be among a large crowd of people who also love Josh Ritter and know the words to his songs, because usually people have no clue who he is when I tell them he's my favorite.

So hooray for a really great Josh Ritter concert and an extra big hurray for the semester being over!