homesick-ish....

So today I kind of miss Utah....I miss the restaurants, the shopping, and all the Mormon stores but most of all my fabulous friends and family ( I just shed a tear....seriously). So I thought to cheer myself up, I'd fill you in on the things I LOVE about Montana... and perhaps convince someone to come visit us....So here are my top ten reasons I love Montana....

10. You can start fire WHEREVER you dang well please... SERIOUSLY... there is at least one fire a day on my street...You don't have to drive up the canyon for a bonfire, you just invite your friends to your yard... FUN.

9. HU-HOT.... It's a fun Mongolian BBQ place that Rich is obsessed with. It's really fun and a must see for all visitors... Speaking of restaurants...there are TONS, however there a VERY few chain restaurants...which makes eating out REALLY fun and unique.

8.PARKING....people here park WHEREVER they want. You know when you are just getting dropped off in front of the store and the person pulls up against the curb and you hop out quickly so you don't hold people up? THAT is a parking space here. Also, while in Montana, feel free to take up 2 or 3 spaces if you are parking in the actual lot, because you can barely see the parking lines anyways. You would THINK that is annoying, but nothing is ever crowded, so every parking spot is rock star parking....

7. The people... ARE SO NICE. EVERYONE is nice and they go out of your way to help you..... until you tell them your husband is the assistant city manager/finance director....then you better take a seat and get out your pen and paper to take notes :) I've started carrying around Rich's card now as to try and avoid these convo's by handing them his card and telling them to just give him a call...he LOVES that :) haha. Not.

6. My big ol backyard... It's HUGE....I strip Macy down to her diaper and galoshes, cover her in sunblock and let her go to town back there.... she digs holes, pulls up weeds, colors with chalk, looks for bugs and says BUGGY, and brings me EVERY pine cone she finds....

5. We keep BUSY BUSY BUSY in the church...in the 6 weeks we've been here, we've both spoken in church, been through the discussions with a investigator family ( who is getting baptized THIS Sat! YAY!) I got a calling as compassionate service leader which keeps me beyond busy, we've had the missionaries over for dinner 3 times, I was a guest speaker at the young women's etiquette night ( crazy, I know), Rich is teaching elders quorum this week while I sub for the 6 year old primary class, Rich is working with the missionaries to try and teach a woman who speaks only Chinese, and we are helping to spring clean the building this sat.....whew.... but we LOVE IT, and LOVE the opportunity to serve so much!

4. It ALWAYS feels like we are camping...You know that feeling you get when you get up in the morning after sleeping in a tent and the air is so fresh, and birds sound beautiful and it's all dewy everywhere...that is EVERY day here! COME VISIT!

3. The parks.... This is where to can get an ear-full of other mom's trash talking... I don't know any of them so I just listen and giggle...last week, two mom's were talking about how RIDICULOUS is is to have more than 2 kids. One of the women said " can you IMAGINE introducing your family saying ' this is my husband and then THREE kids! You mind as well start your own school!'....needless to say , I was THOROUGHLY entertained. But apart from the trash talking, the parks up here are beautiful, and super kid friendly... There is a toddler park that I think Macy wishes she could live in.

2. Allegiant Air.... 92 dollars round trip to Vegas.... booya.

1. NO SALES TAX!!! If something says 5 dollars on the price tag... it's REALLY 5 dollars....awesome....