Giddy-up

Been in Billings for a little over a month and went to my first country bar Saturday night.  ‘When in Rome’…head to the Wild West Saloon.  It starts out like you would expect, dancing a little two step with your cowboy hats – oversized belt buckles optional.  However, what you don’t expect is the transformation that happens throughout the night.  Birthday parties, bachelorette parties, and a bar with poles above it and now you have scenes reminiscent of Coyote Ugly.  Amazing.

You have your club scene with all of the sweaty grinding to hip hop, boys in their Aeropostale tee’s, and girls in their hooker heels.  However you also get the country scene with your plaid shirts, cowboy boots, and slow dancing to Garth Brooks.  When was the last time you were asked to slow dance at a bar?

Highlights include birthday girl giving a blow job shot in between the legs of one of the bouncers, bachelorette with her blow up doll showing her boobs while dancing on the bar, and slow dancing to a little “I swear” with a cute boy.  (Yes, they played John Michael Montgomery’s version of “I swear”).  All around amazing night.

So now, who wants to come visit?

Clayton and I climb a mountain!

Okay not the whole mountain, lets be honest I’m new at this major hiking thing.  So when Clayton says, ‘hey this weekend we are going on a hike’, I agree.  He says we are going to hike a plateau near the Hellroaring Lakes.  I’m thinking, ‘Plateau, how bad can this be?’, I’m in.  We start our day by driving an hour and a half, finished with the bumpiest 5.8 miles known to man to get to the trailhead.  There is literally a caution telling you only high clearance and 4WD vehicles should “attempt” this drive up.  Are you kidding me?  Somehow being on the boulder field road, bouncing around, and being on the edge of a cliff driving up made me giggle.  Here is part of the road and the terrain if you miss your turn:

So we make it to the trailhead.  Where we proceed to hike the plateau.  This is nice.  We start heading up to a pseudo peak.  Note how far behind Clayton I actually am:

Then we peak, sort of:

At this point I’m thinking, “sweet, I didn’t do too bad”.  Then Clayton decides we should go down into the basin to one of the Hellroaring Lakes so he can fly fish.  Hmm…okay.  So we start the trek down.  Whoa, legs.  After debating on whether or not I would be able to make it out, we decide to do it.  Here we are nearing the lake:

Now, note the massive hill in the background behind the lake, that is similar to what I had to climb down and back up.  Ugh.  However, it was a fun day and the pain in my legs went away after only about 2 days.  All inall I have to admit, I might try this craziness again.  What is wrong with me?

Funk Schmunk

Lately I have been in what some might call a funk.  Others would call it being a big unmotivated ball of twine (which I still haven’t seen the world’s largest…yet.)  I have been having the “woe is me” talk a lot with myself lately.  A friend gave me the sage advice that I shouldn’t keep everything in.  So without getting too debbie downer I do have to admit a lot’s been going on in my little head, and a lot of those thoughts have involved my father.  In simplest terms: I miss him.  Here is a video from our last Christmas together and I have to admit it used to make me terribly sad, but now I smile. 

Quick background: Jess has a cat.  Jess hates clownish things.  So what do my parents get the kitty for Christmas?  Watch and find out.  Know my dad is the one talking in the background, but we are all cracking up.

Now the question is…what could possibly bring me out of this slump?  A friend, of course.  I walk to the mailbox today and find a letter from my friend Megan.  Thinking it is a “save the date” for her upcoming nuptials I tear it open, right there in the driveway.  But it isn’t.  It is a request to be a bridesmaid in her wedding.  I realize this is something simple to most, but nothing could have made me happier.  I probably looked like an idiot to the neighbors laughing and crying right in the front yard.  Awesome.  It’s amazing, even without trying, I always seem to have friends and family there for me when I need them.  I thank all of you for letting me rant…things are going up from here!

1 year, 2 insurance companies, and 3 threats of “going to collections” later…

So as many of you know my last couple of years have been exciting ones, with the whole losing the gall bladder and getting my car stolen situations.  What some may not know is that I am still dealing with both of these issues.  Let’s start with the car.  The detective on my case still refuses to admit my car was stolen and believes I had something to do with it.  F&*!ing Idiot.  The city of Denver would like me to pay for their light pole.  Absolutely not.  “Well if you don’t pay, your bill will go to collections”.  This is where my insurance company stands behind me, as they should since they don’t want to pay either.  They say no, we say the car is stolen.  Sweet.  Two unreturned calls to the City of Denver, and no nasty grams from collections this is going into the “deal with later” category.

Now for the surgery.  My bills were all taken care of, save one.  This bill has been the bane of my existence.  For the first 6 months it is “pending insurance”.  I figure someday this will actually get taken care of since it was an emergency situation.  Nope.  While in Wales I get a letter saying that my bill is going in to collections if not paid.  What?  So I call up the nice lady at the doctors office and ask what’s up.  She tells me that I need to appeal this with my insurance company and sends me all necesarry paperwork to do so…and they will hold off collections.  That’s nice.  (sidenote – I have talked to Aetna about 4 times and gotten nowhere, one talk with the doctors office and I have a direction.) 

My insurance company sends me back a later saying denied due to “too late to appeal”.  Wrong answer.  I call my Aunt Peg the medical insurance genius and she says send a second appeal and explain the “pending insurance” fiasco.  I do.  Second appeal sent.  I hear nothing, except that my bill is going to be sent into collections again.  Finally call up Aetna, again, and tell them my sitch.  Byron, the first somewhat intelligent person I have talked to at customer service lets me know he is going to look into this, because it does look like this was an emergency situation.  Thank you Byron.  He gets back on and lets me know that Aetna is going to process this and should pay for it.  Yay, and they have called my doctors office and let them know so once again I have squirmed out of collection’s clutches.

Now neither of these problems are 100% solved.  Until that bill is paid and I have actually spoken to the City of Denver I will only be half excited.  When it finally is all taken care of, drinks are on me!

Big Times in Big Sky

New Car, New license, New job.

Seriously gotta lot going on.  Always interesting starting over somewhere new.  I now feel I have the DMV down to a science.  It also helps that Montana’s process was super duper easy.

So I bought a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.  It had some small cosmetics on the front that needed to be looked at and no muffler.  The muffler sitch has now been taken care of, Clayton (the wonderful brother he is) has fixed it, tuned it, and made sure everything is in running order all for under $500.  So essentially I have a new vehicle for a whopping $1500.  That’s right.  The new beast looks something like this:

Any ideas for a name??

As for the becoming a Billings resident.  Well let’s just say I registered my new vehicle, got a new bank, and got a brand new doozy of a driver’s license.  You think I would learn from the last one.  Nope.

The closed mouth smile. Neat.  Clayton finds it amazing that I can smile and my lips go straight across.  I am going to have the most interesting drivers license collage someday.

And now for the new job.  I am currently a barrista at Barnes and Noble trying to decide if I want to get a marketing job, or go to grad school.  Anyone want to chime in on this decision?  However, being a barrista has been fun for me.  I now have a basic understanding of all coffee drinks…and hate to admit it but am becoming a wee bit of a coffee snob. (Just a little).  For instance we had a lady come in the other day who ordered a tall Latte with lots of foam and a tall wet cappuccino.  Now I don’t mean to be an ass but those are identical drinks, and she was making sure I marked them properly. Ha.  So suffice it to say the job is entertaining me.

Now for a little humor, someone brought this gem of a movie up again the other day.  Had to leave you with this goodness.

Travis gets mawwied!

Travis and the bride to be, Ashley.

Showing off the bling with Clayton.

So the big guy got married.  For months I had been saying this but it never really hit until I was in Kansas City, two days away from the nuptials.  We meet up on Thursday nightat one of Travis’s old haunts: Tanners.  I had Cordon Bleu Balls.  Oh yeah I did.  I got to meet my cousin Kai (Glen and Bri’s little one) and see my brother who I hadn’t seen for 6 months.

Friday was consumed with last minute items.  Tuxes, quick trip to mall for accessories, and catching up with the California relatives.  We had a rehearsal picnic dinner at Ashley’s mom place, followed up with a trip to the hotel bar.  Ryan will become the waiter of the weekend and my two nights of debauchery.  Let’s just say there was much fun to be had.

The ceremony was a success and Jess and I rocked it as program hander outers and guest book signers.  Also got to catch up with some of Travis’s old college buddies.  It’s fun to be known as one of the infamous “Carson sisters”, makes us sound way cooler than we are.  Too bad I had the world’s biggest crush on all of them and they are now either married or with a serious girl.  Aw shucks.  However with an open bar and the bartender making these Pink lemonadey vodka specialty drinks, any night goes well.

And since Travis has married Ashley he gets to be involved with some Jewish customs and traditions.  Yes he stomped the glass, plus he got to do this.

All in all it was a great weekend where I got to spend some good time with family!  It was great to see the big brother so happy.

Back in the U S of A!

Well I’m back…  Before I tell you about life as of now, let’s get a quick recap since I’ve been back stateside.

Part 1: Washington, D.C. to see Megan.

Getting off the plane and getting thru customs was a treat, but all worth it when I saw Megan’s sign: “Welcome back to the United States, Cassie”.  Awesome.  Had a good couple whirlwind days with Megan and Dan (Megan’s fiancé) which involved mimosas, the Hangover, and some definitely good eats.  It’s good to be back.

Part 2: Denver to see family, including little Andrew.

Cousin Kai and Andrew!

Spent a month getting a glimpse of what having a kid really means, chilling with my sister and Gus, getting a few hours at Barnes and Noble and hanging out with my old co-workers.  Good times had by all.  Only sad spot was not getting to spend 4th of July with Travis.  I guess we had to skip this year.  However, I did get to head to the Rockies game with the Rob and see some fun fireworks.

Part 3: Home in Iowa

Why is it I always become the classiest when home?  First weekend back Abby, Laura and Vicki come back to G-town to see me.  That plus my friend Shelby, Hindu, Andrea and RAGBRAI made for an interesting couple of nights.  We saw my mother off to work both days (she leaves for work at 4:30 AM).  Who wouldn’t want a classy daughter like me?

Ever wonder what the morning after nights of debauchery look like?  Here ya go:

All that goodness, plus a repeat weekend performance with Vicki involving Perdue’s cabin party, Andy’s band ‘Drunken Sailor’, and a night out with other old school peeps.  Out of the two weeks I was home, I saw mom off to work 5 mornings.  I think she is going to miss that.

And to leave you with something funny.  However, I must preface this with I know this movie is terrible, but it still made me laugh.  I shouldn’t be admitting to it, but watch the opening clip and you decide. 

And if you feel ultra frisky check out the gag reel on youtube.  Classic.

Boredom at its best

What do I do when I have nothing to do?  I jam out to music (quite loud) and as of late, facebook stalk.  What does this really do for me?  It helps me learn a bit more about myself.

1) If I was a classic movie star I would be Katharine Hepburn.  And I quote:

You are independent, intelligent, and extremely successful. Men are drawn to you because of your intensity and quickness of tongue. You take control of your future and will never let anyone define you. You really know who you are, and you will be remembered as one the most distinctive women of your time.

Let’s repeat that last part one more time, “you will be remembered as one of the most distinctive women of your time.”  Oh yeah, I’ll take that.

2) If I was a Goonies character I would be Mikey.  How sweet is that?  They said I was a natural leader and probably ashmatic.  Ha.  Plus, one of the questions is:

What object would you NEVER leave the house without?
My chocolate bars
My dry wit and sarcasm
My hairbrush
My Superman teeshirt
My weights
My inhaler
My gadgets
My cheekiness

Why does every single answer on this make me laugh?  I can just imagine leaving the house and saying, ‘damn, I forgot my gadgets and cheekiness at home, better go back.’

3) As for music I revisited some gems I hadn’t listened to in awhile:

Band of Horses – The Funeral

and

The Coral – Dreaming of You

4) “Embarrassing to admit” thoughts.  Alright so I first heard some of my favorite songs and bands, including Band of Horses and many of my favorite National tunes from teeny bopper shows on the WB.  Now I know they are cheesy, but if you are looking for good new music, they are amazing to check out.  They’re on top of things, especially Indie-wise.  Well played WB, well played.

5) Questions from friends.  I was asked today if I was just getting to know someone (I may like) what 5 questions would I want to find out, without specifically asking.  These were what came to mind first:

• How are they with their family?
• Do they have a lot of long term friends?
• How easily are they entertained?  or how easily can they have fun?
• Do they have a lot of drama in their life?
• What are their music and movie preferences?

Made me curious…what would you like to know??  Let me know…

More visitors…

Alright so I’m quite delayed on this, but I had more visitors!  Yay.  Andrea and Erin, ghost of the 514 house past, came to visit me! 

They spent the first few days in Ireland tearing up the countryside and then headed across the Irish Sea to see me and my humble abode.  We started our journey by drinking lots o’ wine and staying up late catching up.  The next day was rough, but we managed to have breakfast, walk into the village, and take the dogs on a walk.  We finished the night out by drinking for 12 hours and staying up till 4.  Yeah, we are cool like that.

The next day was an exciting day into Aberystwyth for some festival entertainment and light shopping.

The following day we went and saw Red Kite’s feeding.  (Those are birds…I didn’t get it at first).  This is followed by a little playground time.

The final day they were here we were ultra productive, with a trip to the Hafod for some walking and cave crawling to Devil’s Bridge for some waterfalls…and more hiking.

Senior pictures anyone?  We’re even matching…

I must say that I haven’t really been able to hang out with these girls for a while and it couldn’t have been a better time.  We had a lot of laughs, a lot of drinks, and a lot of fun.  It’s always good to be around people that you get and get you.  Profound, right?

Me and my bitches

….errr me and my boys, I mean.  So I finally had visitors to my personal little oasis, my brother Clayton and Mal.  I picked up my brother Thursday night after his two plane trips, tube ride, and two train rides…gee he must like me.  We head home and all the while catching up like we haven’t seen each other in years.  Friday was spent lounging and going into the small village of Pont-rhyd-y-groes for some provisions.

Walking home from 'the shop'.

Later on that evening we pick up Mal in town.  Now our party is complete, bring on the drinks.  We have our beers and some whiskey I had bought in Scotland, just for an occasion as this.  This of course leads to midnight duck spring rolls and fish sticks.  Who knew those are lava hot coming directly out of the oven?  So waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed is not an option.  However, Saturday turns out to be a big day.  We start by having a nice big breakfast, move on to taking the dogs on a long walk around the country paths.  After that the boys decide it is time to climb down to the waterfall next to the house.

Me & Mal at the waterfall...I make this look good.

You would think it ends with a lounge, but oh no we continue on.  The neighbor Sherrill takes us to the Hafod estate where we go on this long walk through the woods, wind up at a cave that has a waterfall at the end.  There aren’t words for how amazing this little gem is.

Go into the rabbit hole...

...and find the waterfall at the end.

So after all this we still have energy to go swimming.  So Sherrill makes a great picnic and we head to the river.  Only the water is about 45 degrees.  Burr.  However we have a great time basking in the sun and seeing how long we can stay in the cold water.

After all this a hot shower, dinner and hanging out was all we could do.  Sunday we wake up and decide to take the steam train in town through the Valley of Rheidol to Devil’s Bridge.  Sounds cool, right?  It was.

Waterfalls Galore!

After getting back to Aberystwyth we have some fish and chips and walk around.

Me & Clayton by the Irish Sea

We now head back home where we are pretty much worthless and have to get up the next day at 4:30 am so the boys can catch their train.  Did I mention they must think I’m awesome?  Yeah…