Back in the AP!

Asbury Park Reunion!

Before making my way back to the Forever West to spend my January break in the Tetons, I had to make a visit to my second home, Asbury Park! Plus, my flight back to Jackson was starting off in Newark, NJ, so being in Asbury was a lot closer than Delaware. This was a convenient and perfect way to spend my last few days on the East Coast. On Sunday morning, my dad dropped me off at the Wilmington train station and I made my way into Philadelphia! There, I was greeted by two of my absolute favorite people: JJ and Kelsey! Ahhhhhhh! It was soooooo great being reunited with these two! After being picked up, we headed back to Asbury Park to let the shenanigans begin. Of course, there is no proper way to welcome yourself back to this wonderful beach town than to get Bloody Mary's, Mimosas, and Omelets at Johnny Mac's (on a Sunday morning)! So yea, we started off the day drinking at J-Mac's! So fun and so delicious! After J-Mac's, I headed over to Kelsey's family home where I got to see her mom, Diana, her sister, Lo, and the cairn, Zoe for a little visit.

Pickle Roll Sushi at Langosta

After watching the Giants vs. Eagles game at JJ's, Kelsey and I headed to Langosta Lounge for dinner! I love that place! And can you guess what I had for dinner?!?! Just guess...SUSHI! I have gone way too long without my most favorite food of all time. It was absolutely delicious! I had a Pickle Roll: I think it was shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, aioli, and all that is delicious. I've missed Asbury food! Ahhhhh! We ended up meeting Ian, Christopher, his girlfriend - Kat, and Kelsey's roommate, Krista. We had an absolute blast! Just catching up, being obnoxious, and laughing non-stop during dinner. I am pretty sure the people in the next booth behind us hated us being there, but too bad! We definitely own that place! haha.

I want to be reunited with my ocean!

Another great thing about being in Asbury is being sooo darn close to the beach. Surprisingly, we did not get to the beach as soon as I got there, but I could slightly see the waves in the distance and in the dark, no less! I had to press myself against the window like a little kid looking into a toy store to see it! Don't judge me, I was excited! It's been two years!

The next day, Kelsey and JJ had to work (the joys of being a student and not being employed at the moment), so I was able to explore Asbury Park on my own. That meant, a walk to the beach, sitting on the beach, touching the water (did not swim because it was pretty cold), and just absorbing the awesomeness of the Atlantic. I literally spent majority of my day just walking up and down the beach!

Morning Walk Next to the Atlantic

Reminiscing About Tweedy! I Miss Him!

Mogo Tacos!!!!! (Pork on Left, Chicken on Right)

Asbury Park Convention Hall

Exploring the Beach & Finding The Ocean's Gifts: Skate Egg Cases

Besides reuniting myself with the Atlantic, I was able to get some coffee at America's Cup (my favorite NJ coffee shop), visit the Convention Center, ate Mogo Tacos with Kelsey for lunch, and the boardwalk! That evening, we went out to Stella Marina for dinner (JJ, Kelsey, and I). Surprisingly, I had never gone to that restaurant before (Nate and I would stick to Brickwall and a bunch of other restaurants in the area), but Stella was pretty good. I got a mushroom fire-oven small pizza with Fontina cheese, arugula, mushrooms, and truffle oil! So good! The past two days were absolutely wonderful! Being back in Asbury was just awesome! There is something that is so relaxing, calming, and refreshing about being by that ocean and that place. It definitely can cure any home-sick-ness and make ya happy!

Thanks For the Wonderful Asbury Reunion, JJ and Kelsey! It was the best!
Now come to the Tetons!
Yes, Kelsey, in Nature!

Next Stop: the Tetons to be reunited with the Nelson crew and Marc for New Years! Get ready!
TheChristyBel

Naughty or Nice?

Sunfish

Have you been naughty or nice this year?!? TheChristyBel could tell! Just kidding. This year, for holiday gifts, I made a bunch of ceramic mugs for family and friends! Here are a few that I have given away already. There are a few more that still need to be given to some recipients. I'll post more when all them have been distributed! I am so grateful to have taken the ceramics class. Not only to expand my artistic capabilities, but I was able to make all of my gifts for the holidays. Saved me time and money since I was already in the studio for most of my fall semester life! I was able to also incorporate my 2-D drawings onto the mugs too through the Xerox image transfer method. So everyone got 3-D and 2-D art from me. They came out pretty well! Don't you think?!

Western Northern Flicker

Pronghorn

Western Meadowlark

Snow Shoe Hare

Dragonfly

Downy Woodpecker

Chickadee

Black Bear

Great Horned Owl

Rock Climber

Longwood Gardens Christmas

Christmas Trees in the Main Observatory Room

A Peacock Masquerade Themed Tree!

Since I have been home, it has been non-stop making rounds to visiting some of my favorite people and places. But, I was able to get a visit that I did not expect: a visit from Whitney! She was willing to travel all the way down from Connecticut just so we could hang out. I have not seen this girl since we both stopped marching and dancing with Alter Ego in April of 2012.

After almost two and a half years of being separated, we were finally able to be reunited! Whitney arrived in Delaware around 11:00pm EST and we literally talked and caught up until 3am! It was awesome! We can literally pick up right where we left off, even after 2-years - from reminiscing about dance and guard to art to eduction and teaching to everything in between.

It was such a treat getting back together with Whit! The next day, I took her to Longwood Gardens. She has a degree and love for plants/botany, so I thought that it would be a great idea for her to visit Longwood, especially in the winter time with all the Christmas decor up! She absolutely loved it!

It was great to walk around the Longwood Grounds, catch up, see the beautiful decorations, and also nerd out over plants! It was so awesome! I definitely learned a lot from Whitney about the plants that Longwood used in many of their gardens, decorations, and in their exotic botany research. She will definitely make a wonderful teacher!

Even though less than 24-hours with Whitney was such a wonderful treat to come back to the East Coast to, it was definitely not enough. But, I'll be seeing her again soon when we head to New Mexico for Aud's wedding next fall. So we will soon be reunited again! Thanks for a wonderful visit, Whit! Xo

Enjoy the rest of the photos from our adventures at Longwood!

TheChristyBel

Cardinals Cover the Pierre House Tree!

Cardinals in Flight

Thomas the Tank Engine!

Being a Penguin in the Desert Room?! What?

Oh My Gosh....How Freaking Precious?!?!
Totally Making These Ornaments One Day!

Birds of Paradise in the Rainforest!

Two of Our Three Panty Party AE Girls!
Audrey, We Wish You Were Here!

Flying to the First State

With the help of my friend, Vikki, I was able to be driven to the Laramie Airport (by far the smallest one I have ever been to...I take that back, not the smallest, but one of the smallest airports I have been to) to make my journey back to the East Coast. Delaware, I can almost see you. I'll see you in a few hours!

Laramie's plane to Denver was a 30+ person plane. Super tiny...I was the last seat in the back of the plane. Haha. You could feel practically every gust. Also, I was afraid to even move. I totally thought that if I did, I'd rock the plane. Haha.

So far, it looks like my flights are on time and the weather is clear for traveling! Soon, I will be amongst family, friends, and the DNS Dream Team!

As soon as I get off the plane, I have been invited to go to a surprise holiday party hosted at Gordon and Fran Fisher's! Keep it quiet! No one knows I'm attending! What a surprise! :)

TheChristyBel

The Prop Plane I Flew to Denver In!

Stay Beautiful, Philly!

My Thanksgiving Break was too short, literally, too short. I was only able to indulge in a fraction of its beauty for about 36-hours. But it was worth it. Being able to spend time with my family, my home, my wonderful little state, and of course, my bed, was incredibly worth the short time I was able to get a taste of home. As I sit here in the airport waiting for my flight back to Denver, I was able to gaze at a wonderful sunrise. Philly, you are incredibly beautiful. Sure, the Tetons and the Wyoming landscape brings wonderful sunrises, but there will always be something more about Philly's sunrise that just makes me so incredibly happy! I cannot wait to see you again, Philly, in 19-days! Stay beautiful!

TheChristyBel

A Philly Sunrise Waiting for My Flight Back to the Forever West!

Delays, Delays, Delays

Oh, you know...just stuck in Denver right now, waiting for my flight to stop being delayed.

Philly, we're so close to seeing each other.

Don't lose hope!

There's no place like east coast home!

TheChristyBel

Feeling 22, For the 4th Time! Happy Birthday, theChristyBel!

So, theChristyBel turned 22 for the 4th time...boy does time fly by!  For the first time, spending my birthday so far away from home was different.  Usually, I am spending my birthday at Home Grown (I miss their Gourmet Grilled Cheese!) with some of my bests and eating mom's red velvet cupcakes.  Even though I was celebrating 26 so far away from home, the birthday still brought some feelings of being home.

One sad part about celebrating a birthday was getting a head cold.  Waking up that morning with a lost voice and a somewhat stuffy nose was not fun at all.  However, going to class with some wonderful friends who brought you WHISKEY-ICING CINNAMON ROLLS and an awesome birthday card totally made being sick much better.

That night, I also had a wonderful surprise fly in all the way from the east coast.  So, literally 'home' came to me!  One of my friends, Luke, from back east came to visit me for the whole week!  So nice seeing a familiar face from home spend a birthday with you in a new place definitely made things so much better!

The next morning, I took Luke on a little hike around Phelps Lake.  It's a great starting hike for 'sea-level' to get acquainted with the higher altitude...maybe! It was a great morning for a hike too!  Not too cold or hot.  Since the season had just started turning, the fall weather felt awesome for a morning-mid afternoon hike.

Mid-Moment Go-Pro Photo Snap Shot..
Obvi We Weren't Ready...
Photo Credit to Luke Lindeman

At Phelps Lake Overlook

Luke and I did the full loop around the lake, ending up at the jumping rock for lunch where we were told that we could see a pair of moose over at the beach from the rock.  So cool, Luke's first moose!  We ended up watching the bull and cow wading in the lake water just hanging out.  So awesome!

Enjoying the moose over yonder!

Such a Beautiful Day for a Mid-Morning Hike!
Photo Credit to Luke Lindeman

Sitting on Phelps Rock Watching the Moose!
Photo Credit to Luke Lindeman

After trying to admire the moose from far away, we continued to finish the hike and stop by the beach to get a closer look.

Moose Wading in Phelps Lake

First Moose...and On Day One!

Sunday, it was cloudy and kind of cold so we decided to go to Granite Hot Springs with one of my fellow grads, Mandy and her boyfriend, Phil.  Granite Hot Springs is south of Jackson and you must take a 10-mile gravel, uneven road to get to the springs.  Very scenic, but I am pretty sure Little Blue hated us for driving her on that!

Before you hit the hot springs, we passed Granite Falls.  This was a really cool little series of waterfalls.

Granite Falls

Morning, Ice Cold Shower, Anyone?

Mandy and the Falls

Happy Camper!

The Birthday Weekend was pretty nice and relaxed with getting outside, hiking, and trying out the Hot Springs.  

So while I was in class, Luke took Little Blue to adventure in the park.  Something we both did not even think about was the weather.  Sure we talked about it getting colder and to dress warm, but what was brought in by the middle of Luke's stay was not even though about. 

Getting snow during the birthday week was definitely out of the ordinary...and a first for me!  Wednesday, we woke up to not only snow on the Teton peaks but in the valley too!  Not too mention, we were supposed to be conducting a Stream Team study that day. So being in the snow definitely added a cold challenge!

September 25 - First Snow of the Season...in the Valley!

Beautiful View of the Snowy White Teton Peaks!

The birthday weekend and week was pretty awesome and Luke's visit was such a great gift!  I hope he enjoyed his visit out to the Grand Tetons!  Seeing him experience his first moose and snow out west was really fun to watch!  So glad he got to come visit!  A visit from back home was something I needed!

Next blog - 'Observing Teton 5th Before I Start Teaching!' It's getting more and more real, people!

Xoxo,

theChristyBel

Luke and I at Granite Hot Springs