Weight Loss Story

I always feel strange telling my "weight loss story" because my weight has always been up and down... and I didn't keep very good track of it.

In middle school, I was overweight. I was the chubby girl that hated running. I felt very awkward about myself and I found attention by being the funny, crazy girl. 

These are really embarrassing. 

Then, I went to high school. I really wanted to play sports but I never tried out. I felt too fat and too slow. I have no idea if I was classified as "overweight" in high school but I felt overweight. Looking back at pictures, I wasn't that big of a girl:

I've always hated my legs. I think they are fat and chunky. 

I found ways to avoid showing off my legs in the summer - wear hospital pants or a skirt. 

Then.... I went to college. And I gained a lot of weight - I think my highest weight was in the Spring of 2008 (2 years of being college). I ate crappy - really crappy. Then I went to Yellowstone National Park to work for a summer and that kick started my weight loss. 

Now, the last three years have been up and down. I was never as big as I was in 2008 but I did gain weight and started to feel like the chubby girl again. 

Then... I went to Yellowstone National Park again! And it (once again), kick started more weight loss. Once I got back, I continued to loose weight and we get to today. . . 

Here is the grand "before and after" picture:

The picture the left is the biggest picture of me I could find. The picture on the right is the most recent picture of me. It was snapped on my boyfriends phone while I tried on clothes (for fun) at Banana Republic. 

I have lost 70 pounds and went down 6 dress sizes. 

It's strange because I have never been this size. I am not use to it. 

.

.

.

Since I'm going along the theme of being honest - I'll be honest. . . 

Currently (as in right now as I'm typing in my bed), I hate being skinny. Well, that's kind of lie - I love it and hate it. I love it because I feel awesome. I can walk into a store and try on almost anything and it probably will look good. I don't need to worry about love handles, tires, or muffin tops.

I hate it because nothing in my closet fits. And if you've been following my blog then you know that I am on a strict "no spending" budget. 

On Christmas Eve, I am suppose to go out to dinner with my boyfriend's family. I am very stressed out about this. I was told to wear something nice but not formal. This is the worse situation for me. Even before (when all my clothes fit), I would stress out about this. But now, I literally don't have anything to wear. I thought maybe, I had some black pants I could wear so I tried them on. This is what it looks like:

This is how most my clothes look. All my tops can be pinch in the back about 3 - 4 inches.

I feel like such a brat right now. I'm complaining because I'm "too skinny" and that I "don't have enough clothes." I'm ashamed to admit that because I should be thankful that I'm in a healthy BMI range (finally) and that I have any clothes (even if they are too big). 

But regardless of my efforts to be thankful, I'm still stressed about what to wear on Saturday. . . 

Sorry for getting so off track and dampening the mood of my weight loss story. This is just how I'm feeling currently (on a grey rainy day). Taking a step back, I feel happy and proud of myself - it's taken a lot of work to loose weight. I shouldn't worry about buying clothes that fit because I can do that in the future. Now is the time that I should focus on maintaining my weight and making sure I don't gain it back.

And if you are curious how I lost it - eating less, drinking lots of water, and exercising. 

My New Motto

Study Break #2 

Study Break....

{i love curly brackets}

And guess what profession is guaranteed to use them? 

No, not a web designer

 --> A high school math teacher!

{back to studying}

The Importance of Friendships

Friends are important. Duh.

As self-evident as that is, I think this is a lesson that I need to learn over and over. When I feel trapped and busy and stressed out, the last thing I do is see friends. I tell myself: I don't have the time, seeing them will stress me out even more, and my brain is too overloaded to be a good listener. I want to get away from people and spend time alone relaxing because everything is about me when I'm stressed out.

I have been in this cycle more than once and almost every time I come out of it, I realize that friends never hinder my mental health. When I think seeing them will stress me out, it actually causes me to relax and feel good for a moment. It's strange really - logically it doesn't make sense. Adding one more moment to my already full brain should put me into overload and die. But I don't die, I feel relieved.

My logically conclusion?
Seeing friends forces me to not focus on me for a moment - it's a relief.

So, during this stressful exam season - I need to make time to spend with friends. Even if it's only an hour. I know that laughing and talking and catching up and discussing and eating and playing "go fish" will be more beneficial than spending time alone relaxing.

Here is a photo tribute to friends:

I love you all very much. Thank you for putting up with my highs and lows.

Sorry for the messy, I don't know how to organize the photos. Also, click if you want to see one bigger :)

New Clothes

I've lost a bit of weight recently. . . maybe a bit more than a bit.

It's really frustrating.  I know- I'm a "skinny bitch." I'm complaining about loosing weight when millions of millions (and probably you) have trouble and a terrible time with it. My advice - go to Yellowstone and get poor.  But really, I'm done loosing weight until I can buy new clothes. I've actually been trying to put some weight back on. I go back and forth on the scale, plus or minus 5 pounds. 

On Black Friday, I went to Kohl's. I earned myself a shiny $15 in Kohl's cash. I was PUMPED to spend $15 on myself. ABSOLUTELY PUMPED. I spent 1 hour and 45 minutes in the store looking and debating on what to spend my precious $15 on. I went to the dressing 5 times. I probably tried on more than 20 tops and 10 pairs of jeans. It was really exciting!

And it wasn't just the money. It was that I have this awesome little skinny mini body and everything looks good on me (okay, I'm being prideful). I look good and I didn't really realize how new clothes could affect my persona and attitude towards myself. 

Two things happened: 

#1) I got very prideful. I thought I was better than everybody in the whole world. Why? Because I looked good and hot and sexy. And I was aloud to say that because at one point I did not look good or hot or sexy. 

#2) I started finding my value in outward appearance. My thoughts drifted towards, "I would feel so much better if I had a whole new wardrobe" . . . "if only I could afford one nice pair of jeans and three nice tops". . . "look at everybody else, they get to wear Banana Republic and Target and clothes that aren't faded or too big." Yes, I actually did have a thought of jealousy when my friend told me she bought new clothes at Target. . . "If only I could afford Target clothes..."

One thing learned:

LOOKS DONT MATTER. 
Even as I write that, I want to fight it. I want to say - "No, but they doooo! My boss says so, my professor says so, my friends so, my December issue of Real Simple says so..." But yeah know who doesn't say so!? (You know where I'm going with this one...) God.

Yeah, he doesn't care. He thinks that beauty is fleeting - that means, beauty is going to fade quickly. I won't be skinny and pretty forever - ESPECIALLY WHEN I'M DEAD. And those peoples clothes won't be always so bright and colorful - especially when moths eat them. I need to focus on things that matter - like ETERNITY and virtues and blah blah blah good stuff good stuff.

But I still really want new clothes. If you have any clothes that you need to get rid of  (I know you do!!), give them to me (size small/medium or size 6 for pants)!

Here's what I spent my $15 Kohl's cash on:

Yep. A pair of new jeans (FOR ONLY $10.80) and a Justin Bieber shirt that I found in the little girls section. I thought it was a really good idea at the time...

But I am REALLY happy that I have a pair of jeans that fit me. I have legs again! and a waist!
The only problem is that they are extremely uncomfortable. Probably why they were $10. . . 




EDIT 6 minutes later..
I'm an oxymoron - AKA Hypocrite.
I'll have to write a post about my feeling about this post - How do I stay confident and true to myself yet not be consumed with the outside image?

Honesty, Darkness, and Finding Peace

I use to be a hardcore honest person. That's weird to put "hardcore" and "honest" together but that's how I felt. I believed in being super honest - above just basic telling the truth... almost telling more than the truth - revealing the thoughts and feelings that make a person blush or feel ashamed. Hence the title of this blog - "Let's be honest here...."

So, I'm going start trying to reveal more - show my raw thoughts.

Here's the story-

The last few weeks have been hell for me mentally. I'm not going to focus on causes of this mental craziness because I don't completely know what happened. Maybe it was a spiritual battle that I couldn't see, maybe it was too much stress from school, maybe it was because of a manipulative friend - I don't know. I'm going to focus on how I felt and what is happening now.

It felt awful. It felt more than awful. I couldn't even put words to it at the time. I just kept waiting for it to go away. I felt shaky, unable to sleep or cry, very negative, depressed. I didn't see the point of anything - I didn't see the point of life. I didn't do my readings or homework causing a lot of anxiety at school. I would try to do my homework and it would sit in front of me FOR HOURS while I didn't do it. I kept looking for an answer; a quote, poem, metaphorical story, something, anything to snap me out of this dream like trance. I missed class in the morning because I honestly couldn't get of bed (my alarm would go off and I would hit it for 3 hours while asleep). I kept trying to focus on the positive, be thankful, rely on God's strength instead of my own - I kept trying and trying and trying and failed and failed and failed. I found myself trying to control the situation myself - knowing that I couldn't  - I gave up on a lot of things. I gave up on cleaning, cooking, exercising.

EDIT
Okay, I originally wrote the above paragraphs on November 21. Now it is December 6th. I don't remember where I was going with it. . . but I'll give it new life and a new direction.

Going back and reading that paragraph about how awful that time in my life was, brought tears to my eyes. It was so painful. I'm guessing it was some form of depression. Those couple of weeks are a huge blur to me. I don't remember much (I tend to block bad memories until I think they never happened -  very unhealthy, I know). I didn't journal during this time but I did start drawing again.
Side note: I use to be really artsy fartsy and draw and doodle and be creative all over the place. 


So, I have little sketches of this time. I glanced through them and there was one that really seemed to summarize the way I felt. I drew a picture of me falling and screaming "When I am going to hit rock bottom!?" and at the very bottom of the page in tiny letters I wrote, "I want to hit rock bottom so badly" (or something like that). I literally wanted to hit rock bottom. I remember lying in bed and thinking - it can't worse than this. And the next day it would. And this went on for weeks...

OKAY. ENOUGH DEPRESSING BLAH BLAH JARGON.

As you might have been able to tell, I am no longer in that mental state anymore. I don't know when things switch - I don't think it happened over night. But things are different now. Life is peaceful - it isn't great but peaceful. I'm learning two things:

#1) I will only grow and improve in baby steps. One of my life focuses in life is to be a great woman of God. I have this image in my head of this lady that is humble, doesn't wear make-up, loves children with boils and flesh wounds, etc. I want to be that lady! I have always been striving to be this woman on a daily basis until recently. I have learned that it takes very little steps/actions to become a woman of God. I have started with the littlest tinniest things. For example, last night I picked up my own sucker stick after it fell out of my pocket in the parking lot. I am really ashamed to admit that at first I took a couple of steps passed the sucker stick and pretended it didn't happen. But then, I stopped for a moment and realized that God would want me to pick up that sucker stick. So I did. Now, you all know that I am horrible person whose first thought is to litter on the ground.

Other small deeds: Listening instead of talking, smiling when greeting someone, hanging up clothes on the sales rack at clothes (ya know the ones, that end up falling off because of the pushing and pulling and tangles), giving small gifts, saying compliments, stopping completely at a stop sign -- very small things.

I believe that it's these small baby steps that will lead me to becoming a woman of God.

#2) Devotional time is not the only way to peace. If you were at my baptism, you would have heard me talk about "inner peace". I was going through a hard time (boyfriend dumped me) and then just a few days later I was scheduled to be baptized. I was sitting on a mountain trying to sort out all my feelings of hurt and despair. I was praying and reading my Bible and suddenly I had peace. It was like a lighting bolt of peace. I can't even describe how peaceful I was. I think I said at my baptism, "Somebody could have slapped in the face and I wouldn't have cared because my insides were so peaceful." Since this crazy profound (only real God) moment of my life, I always thought I should find peace by sitting on a mountain praying and journaling and reading my Bible and blah blah blah. . . Well guess what? It worked once in 2008 and it didn't work in 2010.

There is almost something selfish about running away to have quiet peaceful time. I understand the importance of it but I think it is grossly overestimated. I use to think that I had to have so many things in order to find peace and tranquility with God (AKA quiet devotional time).

 Here was my check list:

• Bible
• Journal
• A good pen (RSVPs are my favorite)
• Devotional Book
• Stillness
• Must be alone 
• Must have a considerable amount of time

I also had preferences:

1. Nature - away from the city and urban chaos
2. It should be in the morning or night time
3. I should do it very secretly (I struggle with this - Matthew 6:6)
4. I want to be very comfortable - in bed, on my arm chair, leaning against a tree, etc.

That is a lot of requirements! Needing time and aloneness were the two biggest problems. But recently, I've come to realize - I don't need anything of those things to spend time with God. I feel like God is really opening my eyes to the fact that I don't need to even "spend time" with Him - He is with me always. I definitely don't have the whole "constant presence" feeling yet but I have found that it's really easy to pray whenever- in class, walking, driving, talking, listening (might lead to bad listening skills but sometimes I actually pray that I can listen better), writing papers, facebooking, eating cheeze-its, texting... whenever I want to. There's a huge comfort in really realizing that.

Also, the Bible is online. The whole thing. No need to carry around a leather bound, red letter, flimsy paper Bible. You just need the internet. I feel like one of the lies of the devil is that time with God needs to be sacred and holy. For me, I use to think that a get more out of the Bible if I read it from my special red celtic Bible that has so many fond memories attached to it. It's special. But I think God would appreciate reading the Bible off the internet all the same. There's nothing mystical about reading the Bible online but there's nothing mystical about reading it off of paper either. Words are words, it's God that gives them power (as well as opening your heart to them).

Okay, I am officially babbling on. . .

Point of the story - small steps and God always.

AND

I am doing much MUCH much better. Things seem to fall into place when my life is centered on God. It really is quite peaceful. I just give all my fears and worries to Him. They're His problems now. Heh.

I don't need this location to feel peace :)

I'm still broke. . .

Update! Update! Update!

Since my last post, I've almost completely stop spending money. However, I didn't live off of $5 a week like I said I was going to. FAILURE. meh, whatever.

Here's what I did spend - $36.45 on groceries and $18 cash on who knows what (okay, it was probably spent on Taco Bell and McDonalds. OKAY, it was spent on Taco Bell and McDonalds). 

I think that's still pretty darn good! I am shocked at how much money I have saved. Last month, my credit card bill was $973.* Yes, there were some higher expenses in there (plane ticket to Boston, car battery) but other than that . . . WHERE DID THAT MONEY GO? Well, thankfully I can look at the statement on-line and tell you. It went to Hungry Howie's Pizza, Taco Bell, Heffron Farms, Douglas J (hair cut), Hopcat, iTunes, The Book Loft, The Best Breakfast Restaurant (yes, that's the name), Northstar Cafe, Minute Man Pizza, Calvin College Bookstore, and Meijer. 

*By the way, I pay off my credit card bill every month. I have never allowed it to accrue interest. I use it solely for the points. 

That's where. Now, that I've stopped spending money. My credit card statement is $225.12 - what a change. Now, I have extra money! WEEEE!!! I'm going to put it into my savings account and pretend it doesn't exist. That's a really good feeling. 

Lesson learned - it is way more satisfying to save then to spend. I feel in control. 

Lesson #2 - eating Ramen, toast, and PB & J everyday will make you loose weight uncontrollably fast. 

I'm a broke college student!

Oh, surprise surprise. I'm a broke college student... But these past few weeks have been especially hard. I'm living paycheck to paycheck like most of America and I don't like it. But I am going to change!

 And here's how:

#1) I'm not going to spend money. You may be thinking "but Annie, you HAVE to spend money!" Who says so? Here are the things I normally spend money on (that aren't bills) - gas, eating out with friends, food, taco bell, library late fees, school supplies, amazon stuff and miscellaneous clearance  items that I find at the end isles. I'm done spending money on these things. I quit.

#2) Okay, I'll still buy gas. I have to.


#3) Also, I have to eat so I'm only going to spend $5 a week on food. You may be thinking "that's impossible!" Yes maybe but I can try. Here's what you don't know: My panty is full of food! Okay, that's an exaggeration but I do have quite a bit of food on my shelves. So, I'll live off that food. Currently I have beans, rice, pasta, frozen chicken, frozen vegetables, and most of everything that a person is suppose to have "on hand" (oils, baking supplies, spices, etc.).

So, maybe you think I'm crazy. I don't care. I'm poor. I'm reading Dave Ramsey and he thinks I should have $1,000 saved for emergencies. Do you want to know how much I have in my savings account right now for "emergencies"? I have $32.86 - I just checked. This is why I ran into problems in October when my car battery died and I had to pay $115 for a new one. So, I'm going to be putting every cent into this fund.

Currently, I have three sources of income - tutoring, cleaning, and nannying. They are all under the table and all pay very well. But what goes along with this, is that they are all very unstable. For example: In October, I had 5 tutoring sessions canceled - each with a good excuse. That's $100 out of my monthly budget!! That's a lot of money to me! So to fix this problem, I'm making a "cancellation policy" (basically if you cancel too much I still expect to be paid). Maybe it's mean but I don't care. I need to know how much money I will have at the end of the week. Also, this is even more evidence that I need to save $1,000 for emergencies.

I also have little ways of making money - selling text books on Amazon. I made $87.39 selling textbooks (minus about $11 for shipping). That's a lot of dough. I'm also going to try sell some clothes at a consignment store. It's sad to say goodbye to my really nice clothes but I would rather have finically stability than nice clothes. Also, I'm making a little bit of extra money by being a "Research Assistant" for my friend's thesis paper. Yay!

I'm thinking about selling my plasma.... I've done it before and hated it but it's such easy money.

Okay, that's enough about my boring money problems. . .

I'm going to blog about this and tell you how it goes. I'm going to be 100% honest and accurate. Not spending money on food is going to the hardest part so expect to hear about that.

The Fears...


#1) I'll feel gross from eating processed food all the time. I eat a good amount of fresh food and I know the effects of eating Ramen everyday (tired and cranky). But hopefully, this won't happen BECAUSE thankfully most things in my pantry are considered healthy - beans, whole grain pasta, brown rice. But if I do end up eating Ramen everyday - oh well, tough luck.

#2) I'll give into my brainwashed material instincts that I have to buy something. I literally already have everything I need. I have a warm bed, a car, clothes for every occasion, and food. I shouldn't have to buy anything. I'm worried that I'll fall into the mindset of "well, I've been so good lately and it's a really good deal and I deserve this".  Lies, lies, and more lies - I haven't been good lately (that's why I'm in this situation), it's not a good deal (if I don't need it), and I don't deserve it (I deserve peace of mind).

#3) Peer Pressure: GAG, I hate peer pressure. Here is a letter:

Dear Friends,

Let's do something fun that doesn't involve spending money. If you want to do something that involves spending money then expect to pay for me. Otherwise, I can't go. If you want to go to a restaurant and not pay for me - I'll go but I will get water and stare at you jealously. I still love you. Please love me by supporting me and not pressuring me to spend money.


Okay, that's enough for now. I have $5 in my back pocket and I'll keep you updated on what I choose to spend it on.

Somebody buy me this. 

It's not you, it's me.

Dear devote reader (if you still exist), 

I'm sorry I stopped posting so suddenly. I should've said something... but I didn't want to hurt you. So I ran and hid instead of facing the truth- I just didn't love blogging anymore. But I've realized my mistakes and you really are a good time. I still love you. Please forgive me and continue to read my blog? I won't promise it won't ever happen again. ;)

Sincerely, 

Annie Nelson

The Real Story

I got busy in Yellowstone and I didn't feel like blogging in my spare time. I chose to sleep, hike, fish, read, and learn trigonometry instead. . . (YAWN) ...Pretending to have a love affair is way more exciting. 

Past Experience That I Should Have Share a While Ago (P.E.T.I.S.H.A.W.A)*

Tehe. I like that - PETISHAWA. I'm going to use that. 

Coming Soon.....

My 3 day trip to the Grand Tetons. I went camping, hiking, swimming, and ate pizza! 

*This will probably turn into a series. This way I still blog about my awesome adventures AND you get to hear about my awesome adventures. I also think it will be fun for me to reminisce. 

Look what I bought!

My very own fishing pole!!! 

It's a Shakespeare (which is suppose to be pretty good brand of spin rods) and it's girly. I love it. I went fishing with it the day I bought it and caught one little fish (the other 2 boys I went with caught nothing). The company named it "LadyFish" but I call it "Trout Slayer". It has accents of pink. 

Fishing in Yellowstone

I have a new found passion in life: fishing. I love everything about it! In the past week, I've gone fishing 3 times and caught a total of 8 fish. Here are the stories:

Fishing Tale #1:

Darrin, Mike, and I went to Lake Yellowstone - the largest lake in the park (17 miles long). We went to an area that we called "the peninsula". It's basically a sand bank that runs through the lake. On one side there is the huge wavy part of the lake and on the other side is the smaller calmer part of the lake. We fished on the calm part. 

I caught 2 fish - both Cutthroat Trout (about 6 - 8 inches)!  Darrin and Mike caught none (boooo ya!). I don't have a picture of the fish (but I will) because it was taken on Mike's camera.

This is Darrin:

About Darrin: He is from California and loves to fish. I feel the need to tell you about him because he's been on all three fishing trips and is teaching me how to fish. Also, I use all his fishing equipment. 

Fishing Tale #2:

Darrin, Lucija, and I went back to Lake Yellowstone. We didn't go back to the peninsula because Darrin didn't catch anything there. This time, we went to a place called "Gull Point". It's also a sand bar like the peninsula but I liked this area a lot more because the view is amazing. 

This is quite possible the best picture of me ever: 

Cool picture of Darrin fishing:

The tale of the big fish:

Darrin said that pretty much anywhere would be a good place to cast except the murky water. So, I wondered around and casted in different spots with no luck. Then I got a strange idea to cast right next to the murky water. So, I started casting and aimed for a little pool of blue water that was almost completely engulfed by murky brown water. I don't really know much about fishing but I really like to aim for those types of areas - blue calm water surrounded by rough or murky water. And sure enough, I caught a big one! I was quite surprised and I had to scream for Darrin who was about 100 yards away. He came running and snapped some photos: 

It was another Cutthroat Trout (about 18 - 20 inches). I was pretty excited - this is definitely the biggest fish I have ever caught in my life. 

*Note: In the park, you can't keep Cutthroat Trout because they are a native species. 

*Note #2: If you catch a Lake Trout, you HAVE to kill it - it's illegal to throw it back alive (because it's an invasive species). 

We fished for a few more hours but sadly didn't catch anything (despite my awesome jedi mind tricks). 

As we were leaving, I got a picture with Lucija. She didn't fish - instead, she laid out in the sun and enjoyed the beautiful day. She's a cool gal. 

*Sorry for all the midriff.

Fishing Tale #3:

Darrin is the only friend that I know that has Saturdays off. I was yearning to go on a long hike but he wanted to go fishing. He suggested that we hike out to Grebe Lake and fish. Grebe Lake trail is about an 8 mile hike (3 miles to the lake and then another 1 mile going around) and it has awesome fishing - it was a win-win solution. 

The hike was mostly flat and consisted of a lot of dead trees (until we got to the lake, then it was swampy and muddy):

Darrin has fished here before so he knows where the fish hang out. We went to an area where a stream was entering the lake. Darrin said fish like to hang out in those spots because the stream brings in food. 

So, I started casting and once again, I caught something! O yeah, I should've mentioned earlier that Grebe Lake is known for Arctic Grayling. This is a very rare species of fish. They are known for their huge fin on the top of their bodies. They also don't get very big. 

And obviously (since I just told you all about them), I caught an Arctic Grayling: 

Grebe Lake is a pretty cool spot to fish. I caught 5 fish (3 Arctic Graylings and 2 Rainbow Trout) and Darrin caught 4 (booo yaaa!). Here's a picture of where we fished for the day - you can see where the current from the stream is:

Hmm, I wrote a lot more than usual... What can I say? I love to fish! Even if I don't catch anything, I still have a great time. A lot of people around here are jealous of me because I've been so successful. I'm not sure if it's beginner's luck or talent but there is something that just feels right when I'm fishing - the world seems to be at peace and I like it.

P.S. Nicholas and Bob are going to be here in 6 days! I am so excited!

P.S.S. Dear Strangers, Nicholas is my boyfriend and Bob is one of my best friends.

Beartooth Mountains

Once again, Jessica and I had the same day off. We had plans to go hiking but then realized we liked to sleep in more. After I ate some tacos, I knocked on Jessica's door and we discussed what to do with our sunny day. We thought about going to Jackson Hole and driving through the Tetons (which I have yet to see this year) but then decided we should drive through the Beartooth Mountain Range instead. 

The Beartooth Mountains are a gorgeous mountain range that start after Cooke City on Hwy 212 - some famous journalist one time said "it is the most scenic drive in America" - and I think he might be right. 

As we were driving, we couldn't avoid the Bison jam in Lamar Valley. I didn't mind because Jessica got some good pictures of my favorite animal: 

We drove all the way through the Beartooths and stopped at the "Scenic Overlook...

.... only to find out that the trail was closed because of snow. Boooo!!!!

Well... Jessica and I, we're from Yellowstone National Park - so we climbed on some rocks and broke the law so we could get a better view (I was actually really scared because it's a huge drop off on one side). 

After that whole adventure, we read the map and it appeared that we weren't that far away from Red Lodge. So, being city deprived we figured 'why not?'

We walked around and ate Chinese food.

It was a real good time. AND THEN, the most amazing thing happened! I saw the real life Mario: 

I didn't get a picture of his face because I was too nervous but I swear he had a mustache and was all tan and Mario like. 

We then ventured back through the Beartooths and I snapped some good photos: 

O yeah, the snow in some parts was crazy high! Check this out:

And here is my favorite picture of the day: