Oh Christmas Tree!

Ahhhhhh- the joy of finding the perfect Christmas tree.

     This year Wes and I decided to pull a Christmas Vacation and go out and chop down our own tree. Living out here surrounded by national forest and reserves, finding an area to look for a tree was not a problem so about a week after Thanksgiving, Wes and I went and got our $10 tree permit and set out in search of our tree.

     Before we set out on our excursion, I went through a semi-check list with Wes just to make sure he thought things through. This is when the comparisons between Wes and Clark Griswold came to the forefront. So to help others who are considering chopping down their own tree, I've come up with some helpful advice to make your trip go more smoothly than ours.

1)Invest or rent snow shoes. You will be walking in snow for a minimum of 1 hour in search of a tree so it helps if snow is not filling your shoes. My snow boots almost reach my knees but the more we ventured into the forest, the deeper the snow got and it wasn't long before the snow was almost mid thigh on me. Wes doesn't own a pair of snow boots yet so his dumb ass was marching through it in a pair of Carhartts and steel toe work boots. He is quite a bit taller than me so it didn't affect him the same.

2) Maybe the most important- Bring a motorized saw. I asked Wes before we left if he brought a saw and he assured me yes (I definitely didn't want a true Christmas Vacation moment). This is probably where I went wrong. When we pulled up to the national park and began to unload I asked about the saw and Wes handed my a hatchet. Seriously? Was he expecting me to go all Paul Bunyan on this tree? No, of course not- the hatchet was part of our bear defense 'just in case'.

      2a)Bring bear spray- or a gun!

What you may ask was the method to disconnect the tree from the earth? When we finally decided on a tree Wes whipped out, from his pocket no less, a saw that was maybe six inches long. 

Sydney:'That's what we're supposed to use to cut this thing down?'

Wes:'It's got a crazy sharp blade."

A good rule of thumb is, if it can fit in your pocket, you probably need something better. So in about 20-30 minutes with snow filled shoes, soaking wet pants, and multiple switch hitting we finally cut through the trunk of our frozen solid tree.

     2b) If you are smart enough to bring a battery operated saw, make sure to bring multiple batteries since the cold tends to make batteries die faster.

3)Invest in a sled. Why you ask? If you think walking through three feet of fresh powder is hard- try dragging a 10+feet tree through it. If we had a sled, not only would we not get sap all over our gloves, but we could have put the tree on top of the sled and easily pulled in back the 1 1/2 miles back to the car. I know it was 1.3 miles because Wes' dad gave him a gps hiking tracker for his birthday and at least we were smart enough to use it as to not get lost from our car.

4)Go early. We took off at about 3:30 to go on this scavenger hunt and it was dark when we finally got the tree on the car. No matter how often you drive around and say 'That'd be the perfect Christmas tree', when you get out and actually look; you'll find something wrong with all of them. After a while you get tired and they all start to look the same so you settle.

5) Bring straps. Unless you have a very large truck bed, chances are you'll need something to tie the tree down to keep it from entering the highway on the way home. Luckily, we were smart enough to remember this rule before hand so no problems there. We even brought an old sheet to wrap the bottom of the tree to help prevent paint scratches and excessive sap off the roof of the car.

6)Bring a tape measure. I asked Wes if he thought he needed on before we left and he said, 'No, I can just stand next to it and raise my arm to get an idea'. Classic Clark. After two days in the garage to de-thaw, I decided to get it ready to bring in. Before I did, I thankfully thought to measure it. In the home we're renting out here, the living room has 9 foot ceilings.  When I measured the tree I quickly realized I needed to find 35 inches to take off (which I did so using a battery operated saw taking me no time; yes we had one the whole time) somewhere without ruining the look of the tree. So much for Wes' guesstimation skills. When you're surrounded by trees, all of them either look way too huge or super small. Charlie Brown would have had a hay day out there; I found plenty that looked like his tree.

     After all the effort, our tree turned out to be more of a Christmas bush than a Christmas tree. Thankfully it didn't come with a squirrel, catch fire (yet), or break any windows when we set it up, but we did have to move around our furniture to try to get it to fit and we ended up cutting an addition 6 inches off after we got it inside. It turned out to be three trees connected to one trunk. Now the corner of our living room looks like we brought the forest home. The tree is not symmetrical so it was constantly leaning, in order to fix it we tied it off to the wall. It still leans forward a bit, but I no longer wake up in the middle of the night thinking I just heard it crash.

     I hope these little tips will help some of you on your future venture out to the woods in hunt of your perfect Christmas Tree. I'm not sure if we'll do this again or not next year but at least we'll be more prepared for it if we do.

If it's gonna happen sometime...

     Then why not now?

Exploring Jackson: Doggy-Style

When Wes and I first started dating one of the things we enjoyed most was taking Duke to the rock beach in Auburn to let him go swimming. We would drink beer and entertain ourselves for hours watching him dive down to get a rock and bring it to us.


We would throw a rock and Duke would swim out to the exact spot it landed, dive down till all we saw was his tail wagging back and forth, and bring back a rock with so much confidence because he truly thought it was the exact same rock we threw. It didn't matter to him that the rock was twice the size or black (when we threw white), or covered in algea. He knew deep in his doggy heart that he was a retriever and he retrieved exactly what we threw.


Duke has a lot of memories in or around this creek. He was on his way to swim here when he jumped out of the back of the truck bed and got ran over at only 6 months old and he was also here when he caught a rock mid air and chipped his bottom canine at 1 1/2 years. Wes, still to this day says, "I bet he could catch a bigger rock, though, if he had his tooth." Duke has never been a very good bird dog (through lack of training) but he will always be a great rock  (stick, ball, food, water bottle, etc.) retriever. We don't need to spend money on dog toys because he's easily entertained with what nature has to offer.


A couple of Sundays ago we decided to take the dogs to the creek. When we got to the spot we initially intended on going it was crowded so we went to explore elsewhere and we found the perfect secluded spot to be able to take them off their leash and swim a bit in the cold Snake River runoff Flat Creek. It didn't take them long to hop on in.

With Duke leading the way, Kahlua and him swam on the natural treadmill created by the current of the creek. We had to call them out of the water a couple of times to get them out for rest since we were afraid of them cramping up and drowning in the cold water and neither one of us wanted to get in after them. It didn't take long for Duke to come and stand at our feet with a big smile and tail waggin', nudging the rocks our way indicating it was time for him to 'really play'.

Duke may be 11 years old now, but when it comes to swimming and fetching he's still on the ball like a pup. Kahlua had no chance of catching up. One thing has changed since those days in Auburn. He now likes to collect his prizes and put them in pile rather than bring them back to us. I guess he's tired of fetching the same rock over and over again. Wes and I find this so entertaining so we taped it for you. It's much better to see his pride in person but for now this will do.

After their long workout, being the nice parents we are, we unintentionally decided to also take them on a 6 mile hike around Snow King. At least on the hike they were able to be leash free. It was a pretty sight to see and our first time to venture out on the many hiking/mountain bike trails that Jackson has to offer.

This place is definitely in it's own world with not a whole lot of superficial, pretentious things to offer but everywhere you look, you see beauty. I'm not a super religious person, but it's hard for me to look around this area and not see God in all of it.


Needless to say, after the dogs big adventure swimming in the creek and hiking around Snow King they were very pooped. When we got home neither one even had enough energy to beg for their supper. For those of you that truly know Duke, you know that a huge deal; especially since he is king of the ultimate 'poor me, nobody every feeds me' stare down. This was the aftermath...

Aren't they beautiful here? Little do they know that this was just the first of their many outdoor excursions in Jackson. This place was made to be spent outside. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall- outside is where you'll find us all!

If it's gonna happen sometime...

    Then why not now?

Turn Left; Go Straight No more!

Until now the only real car race I've ever seen had been Nascar. Boy was I missing out.


Our first week living in Jackson, the Teton County Fair was in town. Wes can't ride any fair rides because he gets sick so we stayed away from it at first. But then I got a craving for funnel cake. So on the last night of the fair, Wes and I rode our bikes down to it.


When we got there we saw a long line waiting to get into the rodeo arena. On the sign outside was an advertisement for the figure 8 race. Neither one of us knew what that was, but we saw a bunch of dumpy cars lined up to go into the arena so we figured it was a type of demolition derby. We were definitely up for some good ole' western redneck fun.


A figure 8 race is so much better than a demolition derby. In a demolition derby, it's just a chaos of cars running into each other to see who's the last one standing. In a figure 8 race, there are rules and regulations, but because the race track is in the shape of an 8 (hence the name) you get the highlight of crashes. Think about it...the best part of Nascar is the possibility of a crash. 

Gentlemen (and ladies) start your engines-

First let's go over the rules:

1)The Car: any small, front wheel drive 4-cylinder with wheelbase 104" or smaller is accepted. No Turbo engines, pick-ups of 4X4's. Welding is allowed on the driver's door only; welding anywhere else is immediate disqualification. Cars must be stock- no "strippers'. All chrome, fiberglass, die cast metals and glass must be completely removed and vacuumed out of inside of doors, passenger compartment and trunk. Driver's door must remain securely fastened at all times. Car must contain original, factory made, functioning lap and shoulder belt. NOTE: Seat belt grab or slack-adjusting ratchet MUST be removed or secured/blocked to prevent over tensioning of belt upon rear impact. All airbags Must be disconnected or removed. Bumpers must be original. No push bumpers. Cars must have numbers place on each side of car (at least 10" high), on the top and the deck lid. All four tires must be the same size and be at factory recommended air pressure. No antifreeze or additives – water only. Driver’s window net is mandatory. No holes are to be cut in roof – factory sunroofs only. Driver’s door must be fluorescent orange or green and the rest of the car must be a different color.

2)The winner is determined by the first car to cross the finish line after a pre-determined number of laps. Therefore, cars must remain in a forward motion EXCEPT if a bottleneck occurs at a corner. Reverse will be allowed to clear the corner only. Deliberate contact while in reverse will result in a disqualification.

3) Drivers must remain alert to signals by the Field Judges. A black flag is sign of Disqualification. A red flag is an Emergency Stop sign and All drivers Must stop until signaled to continue. A green flag indicates it is okay to go. A yellow flag means to slow down and no position changes.

4) You can get disqualified for the following: Leaking gas, hung-up on a berm, reckless driving, leaving the Figure “8”, sitting dead on the course, fire, and intentionally leaving the Figure “8” pattern so as to intentionally hit another car.

5)If a car is pushed into the berm, the race will be stopped and the car will go to the rear of the pack and the race will be restarted. Cars will be aligned bumper to bumper. A car will be eliminated after being pushed into the berm three times.

6)Drivers will complete 15 laps in the first races; drivers will complete 20 laps in the Winner’s Heat. 

Basically, you get the cheapest factory made car you can find and take everything out of it except the front seat and seat belt, weld the drivers side door shut, put up a net and you're good to drive as fast as you can in the shape of a 8 and hope your car still moves to get you through to the finals. You don't have to win the pre-lims cause they take the top three in each heat to finals. If you win the finals you get a whopping $13,000. (I'd take it)

Now off to the races...

 The first heats were the best because the cars came out fresh and not smashed in. Wes and I kept trying to pick the cars that we thought would win. They had eight heats before they went into the pre-lims then they had the final. Out of all 15 races that were held, neither one of us chose the correct winner even once.

By the 9th and 10 heats, the cars were pretty beat up and it was not uncommon to see the other cars giving some a nice, helpful push around corners to make the race go faster.

 To help with the dust factor, a water truck comes out and wets the track every seven-or-so races which helps entertain the crowd with lots of spin outs.

 The key player in this whole event was the backhoe driver. If the car becomes so stuck that even your pit crew can't push you out or if your car dies, this man steps into action to help you out. He was a very busy man all night. Although, most of the time if the driver was patient enough, someone would eventually loose control and ram into the back of you which in time would knock you loose and get you back in the race. This happened more often than not. 


The most entertaining car was the one that would never die. There was one that, I kid you not, was at one point running on rims and still found a way around the track each lap. Just when you thought he was down and out and stuck in the dirt, someone would loose control and ram him to put him back in the game. He somehow made it into the second round of the finals only to have his drivers door get hit and then it wouldn't stay closed, which disqualified him on the spot. As he drove out of the arena, holding his door shut by his arm, he got a standing ovation and round of applause. He was the crowd favorite for sure.

I think the beaters were the crowd favorites because you were always surprised at what they could accomplish. The cars that looked the best seemed to be the most dissappointing. Especially this car. He came out revving his engine, peeling out, with a brand new paint job, sponsors pasted all over and even a cross bar centered on his hood indicating he meant business, but he only made it through three races before he was down and out. Then you have these guys who have a custom paint jobs made from spray paint, no sponsors and barely a functioning car that fought for every inch they could get. It was insane.

 But their time too must come to an end. In a town completely centered are the green way of living, they sure did make a lot of scrap metal in the blink of an eye. And so it went: Step-By-Step, One-By-One, they all fall down like toy soldiers.

 The highlight of the night was definitely when one of the cars finally caught fire. I've never seen so many drunk people stand up (in unison) so fast. The race patrol jumped on that fire like white on rice before I could even get a clear, good picture. Still, from the smoke and people you can see what happened. And as fast as the fire began, it was out and the race was back on. Don't worry, no one was hurt.

So next year when you're sitting around hungover after July 4th and wondering what else you can accomplish before summer ends, remember that every year at the end of July in Jackson, WY. the fair comes to town and with it brings the chaos, thrill, and Western Redneck drunkenness of figure 8 racing. For just $50, you could even enter to try your luck at surviving the mayhem.

Just think that could be you one day. You never know? After all-


If it's gonna happen sometime...
    Then why not now?


Oh and I never did get my funnel cake fix...something else to look forward to enjoying next year!

Goin' to Jackson

"I'm goin' to Jackson, I'm gonna mess around, Yeah I'm goin' to Jackson, Look out Jackson town."

I know this isn't the Jackson that Johnny and June were talking about, but we're out here anyway so Jackson better watch out.

We left our house in Tennesee at 7am on July 18th and didn't rest til 1am when we made it to Colby, KS (Mapquest: 14 Hr. 38 Min. 936.66 Miles). We did have a quick pit stop in St. Charles, Mo. to grab lunch with Brian and Terry Schreiber. After a 6-hour-nights sleep, we were at it again. This time stopping at our buddies  John and Jessica Mortons' place in Carbondale, Co. We made it by 8pm (Mapquest: 6 Hr. 21 Min. 401.11 Miles). After a great dinner, a false pregnancy scare from the stress of the haul, and 7 1/2-hour-nights sleep, we met John for breakfast and were on our way to Jackson. We arrived around 8pm on July 20th (Mapquest: 8 Hr. 41 Min. 477.55 miles).

Keep in mind that we only traveled at a average speed of 60 mph. Because my car (Volvo XC90) was towing Wes' car (Landrover Defender90).

Our New Home for the next 18 months:

Through the front door lies the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Then the hall way takes you to the guest bath on the right, my sewing/craft room on the left, and straight forward to the guest bed where all the people who love me will stay when they visit. (Pressure & guilt trip intentionally intended!)

Then in the far corner of the house is our Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom. Our home very much reminds me of our home in Nashville before we did any renovations on it. (Funny how we get our house to be perfect for us, then we move across the country.)


The backyard, like our Nashville home, is amazing. It's nice to finally have a fenced in yard for the pups to play in and you definitely can't beat the view of Snow King Mountain. We're ready for bon fires and grilling for sure. We just need to make sure to get it in before winter hits.

We have a view of the Tetons from our front yard and and view of Snow King from the back. Everything we need in town is within walking distance or a short bike ride. This town is amazing. The only downfall is that Wes is here to work and not play with me. That's where you come in. Start planning your visits now because there's lots to do; it's just not so much fun to do alone.


So what are you waiting for? You've got free room and board waiting for you here with us. No more excuses- Pay us a visit since as I'm sure you know by now...

If it's gonna happen sometime...

     Then why not now?