ROAR!

Let's keep this short and sweet.

Baseball playoffs start today.

Go Tigers.

Jackson Bar Crawl

After we landed in Jackson Hole, we picked up our car rental for the week.

Car Rental Lady: Since you signed up for this online with a discount for what is available, it looks like we have a van for you. Will that be okay or would you like to upgrade to a car at an additional cost?

Us: HECK NO!

Yes, we had a van for our trip and it was amazing.

After we parked our sweet ride, we proceeded to see the town.



And by "town" I mean "beer."

Snake River Brewing provided a myriad of delicious beer. The best beer we had on our trip, actually. Then we went to the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a beer, where they have saddles instead of seats at the bar.



Skirts and saddles don't really mix.



Then we walked by Jackson Square, which contains four entrance ways made of antelope antlers.



And we subsequently noted there was a free concert featuring a Grateful Dead cover band. Since we enjoy jam bands and watching hippies dance, we bought some beer and relaxed for a bit.



Then we ventured to a Thai restaurant and brewery. This was the first brewery I've ever been to that doubled as a Thai restaurant - the beer was okay and the food was delicious. Since we decided we wanted to get up early the next morning to get our hiking permit and take some sunrise photos, we called it a night after dinner.

Although we originally planned on entering the trail on Sunday, we had decided to try to start the hike on Saturday. Because it only takes 16 hours to acclimate to the altitude change.

You may understand that this was stupid of us, but after drinking our way through Jackson Hole, we obviously weren't thinking very clearly.

Getting Preppy

Before we set off to the Grand Tetons, we had to tackle the worst part of hiking.

The prep.

The packing.

The boring stuff.

Andy attempted to find room in our packs for all our junk and subsequently made a mess of our spare bedroom.



Oh, and to answer your question, yes, I am available for home decorating. Orange curtains, green comforter, mirror on the floor, and classy beer on the nightstand is all the rage in home decor these days.

I made sure he brought the two most important items, a.k.a., what I slept clutching like a teddy bear during our trip.



Meanwhile, I tended to the food packing.



That's the food we carried on our backs and ate for 8 days. Lots of oatmeal, granola bars, trail mix and Mountain House dinners.

Unfortunately, when the packing was said and done, we didn't have room for these two:





You can see that Gordie at least pretended to help us pack by being in the same room.

Toby did allow me to test out our new gorillapod in that picture. As you can see, his eyes say he's somewhat concerned about the camera but his body is too lazy to move or do anything about it.

We finished our packing, hopped on the airplane the next morning and arrived in Jackson Hole eager to explore the town and the mountains. As you'll see, we may have been a little too eager actually, and forgot that we flew to an area 8,000 feet higher than the one we live in.

Belgian Beer Fest

After being surprised and then searching for freeedom, we buckled down for Boston's main event.

Belgian Beer Fest



Now, let me start by saying, that Belgian beers are my favorite type of beer.

It would not be an exageration to say that I love them and I want to marry them.

And then let me finish by saying, this Beer Fest was all you can drink.

No tokens.

Just a glass.

And a million Belgian beers ready to be sampled responsibly poured down my gullet as fast as I could.

And I was surrounded by some of my favorite people.





In short, I think this was as close as I've ever been to Heaven on Earth.

I enjoyed the beer and the company for the full 3 hours of the event. It was the perfect endcap to an amazing weekend and I certainly won't be forgetting my 30th birthday any time soon.

Well, maybe a few of the memories after drinking all of that beer were kind of forgotten or fuzzy.

But aside from that, it was a weekend to be remembered.

Searching for Freedom

While in Boston with my super awesome husband and BFFs, we went on a search for freedom.

I dubbed the following our theme song for the day:





I didn't know which video was better so do yourself a favor and watch both. One showcases the Hoff sporting a sweet duster and the other features dancing ladies in mom jeans. A win either way.

Basically we just acted like sheep and followed a red line all around Boston visiting the historical sites. It's actually a nice way to give yourself a guided self tour of the city. It's also a nice way to make your friends be awkward by having them reenact the scenes of each landmark.

Location of Paul Revere's Ride:



Some people rioted here:



This is where the Declaration of Independence was first read:



And some guy died in a battle here:



That monument was the end of the Freedom Trail, but it's not the end of our adventures. The centerpeice of the trip, featuring (what else) beer, shall be discussed next.

The Surprise of a Lifetime.

This past weekend I was delivered the biggest surprise of my life for my 30th birthday.

No, I won't be appearing on "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant." Let's get that out of the way first. Although I think the surprise I felt was equal to that of one of the girls on that show.

The mystery began on Tuesday evening. I don't normally work on Fridays, but needed to due to the Labor Day holiday earlier in the week. In chatting with Andy about my schedule, he informed me that I needed to be done working by noon on Friday. And that was all he had to say about that.

Since I enjoy being surprised, I didn't pry. I just fixed my schedule and when Friday came along, I stopped working at noon.

Andy arrived home from working his half day, and told me to pack for a weekend of moderate temperatures. I did as told, and also packed the car for our road trip - filled water bottles, brought snacks, etc. Little did I know, it was going to be a short car ride.

As we began our drive, I noted where we weren't going based on the fact that he wasn't heading toward the eastbound highway. I then noted he wasn't going on the westbound highway. Or any highway at all.

"Are we going to the airport?" I asked, flabbergasted.

Andy just smiled.

We arrived at the airport and he gave me my first ticket. We had a layover in Detroit. When we deplaned in Detroit, I scanned the computer screen that showed us all the connecting possibilities, still completely in the dark as to where I was headed.

He informed me we had an hour wait, and we did some walking to kill time. He would stop at certain gates, as though it was ours and stand there smiling before moving on to another gate, continuing to play games with my brain.

When I scanned the options, I had noted Washington DC and Charlotte as possibilities. I was hopeful these would be correct, because some of my best friends live there and I had been missing my friends lately.

However, Andy finally revealed our mystery location just before boarding.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

I was excited because we had discussed wanting to go there and knew it would be a fun city to explore. When we arrived and headed to the hotel room, Andy revealed he had splurged for a suite. He also noted that he hadn't really had any time to research what to do or where to go.

It was at this point, I felt a little let down. I was happy he had done such a sweet surprise and that we were going to have a nice time away. But I had gotten my hopes up that I'd be seeing my friends after looking at the connecting flights. So I was also a little sad that I wouldn't be seeing my friends, and that he had spent extra money on a suite which didn't seem necessary, and that he had done no planning beyond buying the ticket and getting the room. My disappointment was beginning to show a bit, and Andy left the room to go grab a drink.

Although you may see what's coming next in the story, I didn't see it coming at all.

When he returned from "grabbing a drink." He had no drink in hand.

He was, however, followed by three of my best friends wearing Happy Birthday hats.

It was then that my face exploded in tears of happiness and shock as I hugged my friends and tried to comprehend what was happening.

My husband had surprised me with a trip to Boston. My friends had surprised me by flying from their respective homes to celebrate with me. I felt such happiness and gratitude for having such an amazing husband and such wonderful friends.



And yes, there is video of the surprise moment. My friend took the video so I don't have it yet, and I can't guarantee that I'll post evidence of my insane blubbering.

After I finished bawling and became fully convinced that I wasn't dreaming, we had an incredible time in Boston.

Details on the weekend festivities to come.

Good For What Ales Ya

For some reason, Andy's bottom lip has become very swollen and chapped.

I think it has something to do with the dry weather out West. I used chapstick like it was my job.

There's a cut in the lip that's exacerbating the problem a bit. As we sat on the couch he complained about his situation.

Me: You should make sure you brush your teeth good tonight and use mouthwash so no bacteria gets in there. It'll help it heal faster and keep it from getting worse.

Andy: (drinking a beer) I'm putting alcohol on it. We're good.

I stare at him incredulously.

Andy: What? Same thing. Right?

Beer. It's good for what ales ya.

Adventures in Hiking

The bears stayed away, I followed rules and didn't wade in waterfalls and I didn't climb any precarious overlooks.

This means I survived The Sparse Facial Hair Tour of 2011.

I'm busy attempting to unpack, organize and edit the 1,000 photos I took, and putting in some QT with these guys:



So, until I can get to everything and do some proper daily recaps of our adventures, I'll leave you with this photo sneak peak.