So, it's been a while since I posted anything...although I do have some photos that will be going up shortly of my trip to Yellowstone thus far. First, I kind of wanted to update everyone on everything that has been going on in my life lately. Things have been hectic to say the least--lots of ups and downs, but I'm holding my own, and that's certainly something I'm proud of.

For starters, I'm in Montana. Yellowstone, actually. Or a town called West Yellowstone that is RIGHT outside of..you guessed it...the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park. My friend Sam was the one who convinced me to take a semester off and come out here and see everything. Of course, that's not all I'm doing. I'm working my ass off as well while I'm here. Are you ready for it?

I'm a maid. Yep, a maid. Every day, from 8am to 3pm, I am a maid (or housekeeper...whatever) at the Club House, an inn here in West. No cute little maid outfit, though. We wear green scrubs with the Club House logo on them. I like this job so far. The people are nice, but of the housekeeping staff, I am probably the only person whose first language was English, and the only one who doesn't speak Spanish. It's made things a touch harder, but I'm dealing pretty well with it, and I hope to learn a bit more Spanish while I'm out here. Used to know it when I was younger, so maybe this will jog my memory.

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. No. Not at all. Why? Because West is a tourist town..everyone needs people to work all the time. So me and my friend Thom stopped and got some ice cream at the DQ the other day, and I was telling him about the different treats, and the lady there offered me a job. So here's my breakdown for the week, basically:

Everyday, I do housekeeping at the Club House from about 8am until about 3pm. Easy enough, right? Well, I also agreed to work about 20 hours a week for Kim at the DQ here. So four of my seven days out of the week look like this:

7am - Wake up, dress, walk the six blocks from my apartment to work

730am - Laundry at Club House

8ish-am - Start rounds

3pm - must be finished with checkout rooms for check-in to begin

3pm-4pm - break. Food. Rest.

430-10pm: Work at DQ.

Then I walk the nine blocks home from there (it's six blocks from my apartment to the Club House, and three from the Club House to the DQ) and repeat the process again the next day.

Why am I doing it? Because I'm getting paid. The Club House gave me and Thom housing to work for them. We are staying in a furnished $700 a month apartment in West for about 125 a person a month. Big whoop, right? It's even taken in small incriments out of our paycheck, so we don't have to worry about budgeting it. Club House started me off at $8.50. I'll be working about a 40ish or so hour week for them, and another 20 at the DQ for $7 an hour to start...but I'm already trained, so the manager says that might change.

So yeah. Money. Yay, money! But we'll get to the purpose of the money in a minute. I need to finish this whole life update thing I was talking about. So, on with the story!

I'm out here at Yellowstone, I've seen tons of amazing stuff, and I will be here working my ass off and going into the park every chance I get until around the 1st of October. Then me and my friends are headed to Arizona to visit Sam's grandpa (who apparently resembles Willie Nelson...O_o), and then, now this part is awesome...

I turn 21 in October. And what better way to spend your 21st than in Vegas? Yep. My friend is taking me to Vegas, and she's dragging me to see Zumanity, and making me dress up for it. I assume there will be a shopping trip in the future specifically for the Zumanity show...and if you haven't heard of it, look it up. Right now. Go on. You know you want to. Anyway, that's what I'll be doing then.

And THEN, I should be home around November. And that is when the apartment search will begin. My nana is not going to make it. Those of you who have been following along with that, she is now in a drug-induced coma, and will probably not be able to wake up. This was very recent. I only just found out about this a couple days ago, but my mom is adamant that I stay here and not come home. It's very upsetting, but I've had my mental breakdown about it for now...although Im sure when she finally does actually die there will be another. I got a message from her on my cell phone about a day before she was hospitalized, telling me to come get Yasha (my cat) when I got home. She thought that Yasha hadn't been getting the proper attention from her lately, and didn't want to leave Yash alone with my Papaw.

So, when I get back in November, I'll be getting an apartment in Muncie. Why? Because I am not leaving my cat in that house with my grandfather. He wouldn't be mean to her...there's more behind it. Stuff I don't want to get into here. But I promised nana I would come get her and spoil her (even more) rotten, and that's what I'll do. A friend of mine is going to help me apartment browse and stuff since my dad is being an ass. He actually wanted me to come stay with him and find "other arrangements for my damn cat." So I told him to bite my left ass cheek. I have no patience for his crap anymore. Not now.

But anyway..that's...about it for now. I've had really shoddy internet up until recently, and this connection is a little slower than I'm used to. Makes certain stuff kind of hard to do, but I'm dealing. Can't get onto SL or do too much that requires a fast connection, but this works.

I'll be posting pictures of my trip soon! Sorry for the long ramblings...