I tore myself away from gazing at a sparkly creek to tell you this.

I've been eavesdropping on your conversations, so I know you have been upset by my lack of updates. Here are things I've been doing instead of blogging:

1. Cross-country skiing. Through mini-forests, across a lake, to Yellowstone hot springs where we relaxed like nobody's business!

2. Snowboarding. I'm getting better, and my muscles will stop shaking soon.

3. Seeing moose. Four of them! Two trotting down a hill to snuggle with me, one on the side of the road, and one muppling about in the river as we skied toward it!

4. Tricking you into thinking I'm still in Norway because I'm doing all these snow things, but no! I am in Wyoming!

5. Graduating. Teaching certificate! Woo! Masters degree! Woo! Real world! Hmm...

6. Celebrating St. Patrick's Day. I dropped some food coloring in my mouth and swished it around. It was a good look. Everyone wanted to date me.

7. Missing my Europeans. I like them. I tell the Americans about them.

Anyway, there will be more, next time with pictures (maybe)! Wait patiently until then, ya doofus.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My boyfriend is so adorable you are going to flop your head on the couch. He sent me a card with a basset hound on the cover - you know how I love stubby dogs - and this poem:

I was going to mail you a box on V-day,
But this puppy card was cuter,
This package was too heavy,
And the postage cost more than a computer.

If I mailed you the package to Norway,
It might make it to you in June,
But by that time you'd be with me,
And we can whistle a romantic tune.

I honestly bought you a can of beans,
Because I know you miss them a lot,
For now your dry beans will have to suffice,
If you soak them in a pot.

When you come visit with Steve and Renee,
You can keep them awake and perky,
Tell them funny stories and jokes,
And eat four pounds of jerky.

There is a plethora of wildlife in Jackson,
For you to ogle, spot, sight, and stare,
I'll find you a moose, an elk, and a goose,
And I promise you'll see a bear.

Beans! Bears! This is why we were recently voted Northern Hemisphere's Most Precious Couple.

He's driving. I'm blogging.

My boyfriend works here now.

(Do not be confused by the link. My boyfriend is not a sloth bear, not even a little.)