Preschool Grads

My Godkids Jake and Avery are a BIG highlight in my life.

We share a love of whoopee cushions and the ridiculous!

Some of the best “I love you’s” have come from them.  And I feel blessed.

I renamed Avery while she was still in the womb.  Often I nickname people and really- I have no idea why… So Avery became Puce.  That word is funny to me.  I share a warped sense of humor with Puce’s mom Holly.  Holly and I are long standing bff’s since junior high days. Holly is named Krusty. I am named Dirt.  And Avery got stuck with the awful and goofy name Puce. (Krusty for Krusty the Klown because she wore this “amazing” one piece striped outfit to high school one day and I said it was a clown suit. She called me a dirtbag and well- you can figure it out from there.)

Now you have the background.  Saddling Puce with a goofy name and touching her mom’s belly while she was in there has given me a cross to bear.  Every time Avery Puce does something wildly doofus-y, I get a text with a picture explaining how it is my fault. Often it says “look what your kid did today..”

Sometimes there is a toy stuck up a nostril, a tortilla turned into a mask via teeth,  a protruding tongue with lunch all over her face, fancy outfits and legs pulled up over the head.  A few of her life goals are to: ride a skateboard, own a motorcycle and be the girl who sits on the ball at the gym.  I’ve watched her do the most energetic things on the playground.  All the while we are standing by totally sure she is going to bust her skull wide open but she never does.  She tells me the sweetest things.  She tells me the most hilarious things while being deadly serious.  She has the most sincere heart I’ve ever encountered.

Puce graduated preschool this past weekend. It was one of the more hysterical and cute nights of my life!

Imagine a stage full of 4 year olds, decked out in western duds, squirming, hiding, showing off and generally wiggling all over the place. They sang, they demonstrated sign language and crooned out a country song about a first love. A few cowboys exited stage left to race to the bathroom while clutching their cowboy parts.  Avery was very proud to get her diploma.  When approached with the microphone, she was not ready to tell the world what she wanted to be when she grows up. Most likely because it changes weekly (as it should).  She remedied that later by marching back up to the stage and proclaiming she wants to be a swimming teacher. There were a few tears shed over being given the wrong diploma.  Very upsetting business but rectified after the ceremony.

Puce and I are going on a date soon for lunch and park time to celebrate her accomplishment. I’m looking forward to it!

Below is a mixed gallery of the girl in various stages of herself and the graduation. Enjoy!!!

Last thought- my favorite chosen profession of the night was: earthworm.

today i was inspired by…. my honorary little bro

Younger brothers are excellent to pick on- slap upside the head and tease mercilessly.  Although my bloodline did give me two fantastic younger boy cousins- it did not give me a brother to torture.  The universe eventually  took care of that in the form of John Bonner.

I affectionately think of John and his wife Carolee as my kid brother and sister.  It’s just a feeling that sort of overtook me from the moment I met them.

Most definitely I have had enjoyed giving John crap about everything from his spelling to his meat head ways.  I have also enjoyed chasing tornadoes with him when the rest of the neighborhood was hiding in a basement,  contemplating sharing a llama he found on Craigslist and sort of throwing rocks at each other’s houses.  He is the best kind of little brother.

Why am I inspired by him?  I met him at a time when his life was in tremendous flux. His world was changing and spinning rapidly and he was working hard to establish a strong base.  Over the last year I’ve witnessed his passion and dedication to great health. These past six months found him committed to sculpting his body daily and sticking with a diet mostly comprised of bland fish.  I doubt I could ever do it and I am serious about being strong and healthy. The results are stunning.  His commitment level has completely inspired me and I want to apply it to every area of my life.

Here is John’s bio for his competition- in his own words. I feel like it is a wonderful summation:

“My name is John Bonner.  After leaving behind a lifestyle of drinking and partying, I’ve embraced a life in health. I used my new found free time at the local gym and began cooking healthy meals for my family and myself.  I love this lifestyle. It’s contagious and I’ve watched my family and friends catch ‘the fever’ as well.  As I’ve grown into this role, my 13 year old son has been my number one supporter.  He encourages me everyday and enthusiastically works out and eats well with me, all by his own choice.  I’m proud to be his father.  I’ve also received help and encouragement from others at the gym.  My friends, Pat and Andy, recently began hinting that I should do a show with them.  I was flattered but unsure.  After a bit of research, I committed myself to entering the Physique Class.  During my journey to a healthy lifestyle, I have learned a lot and had a great time preparing for my first show.”

John took 6th out of 19 men on Saturday.  That is one helluva start and first go round!!  I’m totally impressed!

 

today i was inspired by… Aaron Nathan’s Art (check it at the Art Walk tomorrow!)

Inspired by pop art and comic book super heros, Aaron Nathan creates pieces that are moody and bright.

What he is producing now is a very unique genre and medium.

For two years, he has had to put aside painting as his lovely little daughter made her way into the world and the baby and toddler stages take up A LOT of time, energy and space.  Aaron discovered iWallFlower (iWallFlower™ – the Best Free App for the Apple iPod touch and iPhone – an Emotional Networking Drawing App..) and began doodling on his iPod touch.  Quickly he became so good with the app- that the folks at iWallFlower approached him to do some beta testing with their product.  He produced hundreds of images for them.

Upgrading to a bigger screen in an iPad- he continued creating his doodle art.  Part of what is unusual about this medium is that there is no physical source- there is actually no original!!  Getting the color right in the printing process is not a big issue as the digital work is going to vary across every kind of computer.

After struggling with how he could bring these into the physical world, he landed on printing the digital creations on aluminum- basically art signs!!  You happen to trip with a glass of wine and splatter it- no problem. Just wipe it down. (Your wall paint may not be as easy…)

These are a limited run- one of a kind and awesome!  He presents this great mix of dark and happy together.  I very much enjoy it!  Smaller prints run from $25- $40. The largest being $200.

He says it takes about 10 minutes to whip out these digital images.  Crazy!!  I love that he found a way to continue as an artist during a period that has hardly allowed for this sort of thing. The show represents an interesting two years in the life of Aaron.  Often he is asked if a lot of his stuff is self portrait. He likes to remark that isn’t all of his art a self portrait?  Well said sir. Of course what we produce is an extension of ourselves. Nice insight.

Tomorrow night is the Art Walk downtown and you don’t want to miss it.  It’s Friday May 4th- 5pm to 9pm. This link has a great map and info: Artwalk in Downtown Billings Montana.

Aaron Nathan  can be found at 504 North 20th- directly south of North Park.  504 North 20th Billings MT – Google Maps.

Look for the car wash and you will find an artist enclave of sorts behind it. The pottery studio connected to his space has been the gathering spot for years for Art Walk after parties.

If you don’t make it to the Art Walk but are interested in Aaron’s work- please email him at: Aaothan@gmail.com

 

today i was inspired by… The Fieldhouse Cafe

My interest in The Fieldhouse Cafe (The Fieldhouse.) began last fall when I stumbled upon the Swift Building Lofts (Billings Extended Stay | Swift Building Lofts.) while taking pictures.  Attached and next door to the lofts was what looked like a restaurant going in. I snooped  around and found that one was in the works.  Stopping by the skate park last week, I glanced across the road and noticed that indeed it had come to fruition!

Directly north of the skate park on Minnesota Avenue and directly south of 1st Avenue North and the Crown Plaza (for those of you who don’t know where the skate park is…)  is the most happy, delectable and beautiful cafe.  I had some holy crap moments as I shared food with my friend Pat today.  We landed there as bloggers reviewing the food and atmosphere. My best reaction to the whole experience is that Billings is truly fortunate to have acquired this cafe and the people behind it.

Pat Olp is doing a full write up tomorrow on Billings 365 (Billings365.com.) with my pics so I will leave him to the task.

I  will leave you with a few of my perceived highlights and my snaps!:

• the owners are two gorgeous and awesome people that I thoroughly enjoyed talking with and they love what they are doing
• there is commitment and passion to source food locally and use organic as much as possible
• the food is straightforward and done so exceptionally well
• gluten free, vegan and dairy free options available
• they have free wifi and encourage the public to come hang out and work and enjoy their fare
• they have Oogave’s watermelon cream soda sweetened with agave nectar (yay!)
• they have beer (yay!)
• the decor is flavored with some early American accents-  it is picture perfect and relaxing all at once
• they have a juice menu!
• they have truffle fries!!

Now hurry up and go!

today i was inspired by… bodyrock.tv

Ohhhh wow!!  Initial impression: this is all about sex- not working out.

Second impression: the workouts are totally legit, the girl is awesome and motivated and completely hilarious!!!

The philosophy of Body Rock TV:  your living room is a gym, 12 minutes, no excuses

BODYROCK.tv | Fitness Advice, Workout Videos, Health & Fitness | Bodyrock.tv.

There are a myriad of workouts.  There are stretches, food tips and a few products.

Her name is Zuzana and she’s got me super inspired to do her short, butt kicking vids.

Linking up to my Billings 365 posts!

A few weeks back, I had the fun opportunity to join the writers of Billings 365.

 

This is an events calendar style blog for the community of Billings MT.  Jessica, owner and head writer, is a fantastic lady and she has gathered some wonderful people  to be part of her brainchild.

 

I am excited to be added to the roster!!  I am enjoying putting the spotlight on local talented people I know and the things I love to do or new things I am trying out in the area.

Here are my first 6 posts!

Red Lodge: The 24 hour unwind, rewind or get some wine… : Billings365.com.

iclimb: part 1 : Billings365.com.

a step above bartending and mixology: Walkers : Billings365.com.

Friday Night Gaelic Cheer! : Billings365.com.

Earth Month: Simple Ways to Participate : Billings365.com.

DJ Benefit: restoring your soul one sound wave at a time… : Billings365.com.

 

climbing debut!

Little Piney Creek and Story Wyoming is the setting for my first ever climbing experience.

I did not have the pleasure of practicing in a climbing gym first. What I did have was almost an entire year of listening to my buddy talk about climbing, reading his magazines and watching him read climbing books. (Not sure that last part did anything for me but it happened..)

New experiences and adventure stoke me out. I was excited to accompany 3 experienced climbers to Wyoming one wonderful Saturday in March. Nick has climbed for 12 years, Kate, who often is his climbing partner has for 2 and Simon has for 2 well. (Simon is the buddy who has hammered climbing into my brain..) I prefaced the trip with- I’m coming to mostly take pictures. I bet they all inwardly grinned at that comment.

We use a climbing book that our lead climber Nick is mentioned in and his friend wrote: Rock Climbs of the Eastern Big Horns by Trevor Bowman. The directions given to get to the site made us laugh until we realized that “look for a green sign that says ‘Youth Camp’ and turn left there” is actually a very apt description.

Winding through the tiny hamlet of Story- which definitely looks like a storybook kind of place- we find the trailhead and park.

The trail has some ice and snow and there is skepticism that things will be dry enough to even attempt. But, we round a corner to a perfectly sun splashed spot of routes- mere feet from Little Piney Creek. What a gorgeous place to learn how to climb.

Gear is laid out, put on and Nick is up the first climb.  It’s about a 5.4 and before I know it, I am also climbing up it. Simon belays me and everyone gives me instruction. I get to the top but not to the bolt. Kate says I made it to the top!  I even cleaned the route.  I was surprised that I did not get scared.  At one point though my legs began to shake and I got concerned that I would not be able to do what I needed  to get up and down. I thought maybe I should come down. In unison I hear 3 voices say- are you sure?  I’m like- I’m not sure of anything you clowns I’ve never done this before!!  Ha! But yes, I kept going after I got that line from the chorus…

Turns out I really like climbing and it’s exhilarating to conquer a patch of a rock face out in the middle of nature.

I also like rappelling down. It has a powerfully freeing feeling to it. Actually, Simon started my climbing experience by rappelling first- read about it here: iclimb: part 1 : Billings365.com.

I was encouraged to attempt the lower parts of the 5.9 and 5.10 routes. I scrambled up the easier sections and then my brain froze when I came to flat, vertical rock. Nothing made sense to me. I would try and then stop. So I came down. I asked Nick a lot of questions and my mind started to understand so up I went again. I got higher this time.

Here is some of the info he taught me:

• Don’t be afraid to try something. Even if you are 95% sure you will fall, the rope is going to catch you. You may just make the move and you will stretch and improve your abilities by trying difficult and new things. I also found it was training my brain to look for new things.
• Your sticky climbing shoes will hang on to just about anything including very tiny bumps in the surface. It’s wild!
• Hold your body close to the wall while climbing.
• Push your arms out straight from the rock while contemplating your next move. It will allow you to see better.
• Trust your equipment and your climbing partner. They will work and they will hold you. I do want to add that you MUST double check your equipment and partner before you being to climb.  You also must be wise in choosing smart and safe partners. THEN you can trust everything!

I plan to get a month long pass to the local climbing gym SteepWorld (Welcome to SteepWorld.) and really get after technique and training my muscles and mind how to respond when out climbing on rock.

I believe this sport is going to teach me a lot about myself and life in general. I’m excited!!