The moment we've (I'VE) been waiting for

Kevin done learned me how to fly fish. My Montana resident fishing license was about a third of the cost of Kevin's. He he. We went to a park in Anaconda that has a stream running through it so Kevypoo could give me some casting lessons. Then he set me loose on the stream.

This is me probably trying to find where my fly is in the stream. Kevin is the photographer, and is probably currently turned on by the fact that his girlfriend is fly fishing.
After Kevin accidentally caught two fish while trying to show me how to cast in a few different places, I gave it another shot. And boy oh boy, did I catch a WHOPPER!
No, it's not the camera angle. It really is that small.
Skipping forward to Sunday... I went to church with my man then we came home and made his famous lasagna. Here he is making the tomato sauce and breaking off pieces of fresh basil to put into the mixture. YUM.

This is how I like to say thank you for the meals he makes me.
Next came our Sunday afternoon stroll. The weather has been absolutely perfect here. Kevin gave me my very own copy of a bird guide for Western North America. I brought it with me on our walk and we saw some yellow-headed blackbirds, red-winged blackbirds, California gulls, mallard ducks, and some others. I have a lot to learn about birding. He looks at a bird and knows the species and gender right away, along with random facts about its behavior or migratory patterns. I look at a bird and say, "I saw some yellow and some black on it." That's all I got.

During our nature walk in Butte, we came to a gazebo just off the trail that was shaded by a bunch of trees and had a little stream running past. Kevin was standing behind me with his arms around my waist when his left arm disappeared. Ok, it didn't just spontaneously vanish. But that would have made for a pretty awesome story. He was hiding it behind his back because he had gotten a special something out of his pocket.

He took a step back and I turned around to face him. Touching sentiments were expressed. He got down on one knee... and tied his shoe. Then we kept walking. THE END.

Ok, I lied. He asked me to be his wife. It came as a complete and utter shock to me. I had no idea he was even thinking about marriage (not). I said YES. We rejoiced. Then we started getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and had to high-tail it out of there.

So Kevin has been torturing me for the past ten days or so since he got the ring ("his precious") and telling me about all of the people on the east coast who were getting to see my ring before he came out west to propose. Well now I carry the burden of the precious, a burden I bear with gladness.

It gives me special powers like being able to disappear when it's pitch black outside, or picking Kevin's nose.
I absolutely love it and can't stop staring at it. Even now as I'm typing this post, it glistens in my peripheral vision. Now I can finally publicly reveal the pictures I took of my ring when we chose it in Cedar City about two months ago. Stay tuned for more reports of bliss.

Independence Day (WEEK) in Butte

I have to share with those of you who were not fortunate enough to be in Butte this past week (that would be all of you, I'm sure) the phenomenon that is the 4th of July in this wonderful, strange city. The fireworks began going off every night starting July 2nd. My coworker called it "the tooth (2th) of July." I think that's a holiday Kevin would like. He has a thing for teeth. Even last night (the 6th) we still heard several rounds of fireworks being lit off around the neighborhood. It really is Independence Week here in Butte. They celebrate big time.

I meandered over to the parade on the 4th. It was scheduled to start at 10 AM and I walked from my house, probably about three miles away. As I neared the street where the parade was taking place, a police man stopped me and said I had to wait until Barack Obama passed through the area before I could proceed. I sneakily made my way across the train tracks and got prime seating for the parade. Yes, folks, of all the cities in the wonderful U.S. of A., Barack Obama chose to spend his fourth with the Butants, and hold a picnic to celebrate his daughter's birthday with us as well. But really, how can you blame him? I mean, look at the impecable style that comes so naturally to the residents of Butte: The beadazzled hat (above) caught my attention from about 5 blocks away. The people-watching was at its finest here. Apparently, people feel that it is acceptable to dress like a clown, even when you're NOT participating in the parade. Case in point, the gentlemen in the matching patriotic pants (below).
This little girl was absolutely adorable in her red, white, and blue dress, waving her little flag. I actually stole her and took her home with me. Don't tell anyone.
This baby was my favorite. I took about twelve pictures of her. I call this look "Ghetto Ballerina".
As I was about to leave the parade (thinking that Obama had already come and gone), guess who came strolling around the corner... and on foot, nonetheless! That's right, B.O. himself! What crappy initials to have, huh? He was walking along the sidelines right in front of where I was standing.

Here is the presidential candidate holding the ghetto ballerina baby. Her mom took a picture of her too. I wish they had left the bandana on her head, but what can you do?
Look how mad his security guards are. They're totally staring these people down. They may have the best "I'm gonna kill you with my right pinky if you try anything" faces I've seen in a while. I wonder if that's a prerequisite for the job.
After I got plenty of pictures, I made my way down to the sidelines and got a handshake from the possible-future-president. I felt a little guilty that other people had waited outside in the sun for hours to get to see Obama, and then I came to the parade for about 30 mins and got to shake his hand. But I'm over it now.
The rest of my fourth of July was spent talking on the phone to Kevin, who was driving across the country to come see me. I'm pretty sure that the minutes were each an hour long. The day went by SO SLOWLY. He finally rolled in at 11 P.M. as the fireworks were ablaze all over town. There was also a raging thunderstorm happening that night. It was awesome because both the lightning and the fireworks were keeping the sky quite brilliantly lit. Such a romantic setting for our reunion. I won't bore you with the details of what we did after that :)