It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. The May weather was perfect, with a slight refreshing breeze. Excitement was in the air as we all prepared for the 23 hour drive to Colorado. This was going to be the trip of a life time for our family. This much awaited trip had everyone on the edge of their seats.…
Here I am today singing songs about the south-land;because I miss 'ole' 'bamy once again. Years ago I left my home state of Alabama,where the skies are so blue and I moved to the not so great state of Montana. Many people questioned me on why I moved to Montana, and my response back is because in that moment I felt like I needed a change, but in the end I think I made the wrong choice to move away from Alabama. But soon I will be back to sweet home Alabama,oh,Lord, I'm coming home to you. Back in early March of 1974,I was working at a local convenience store.…
With the windows down, the crisp, cool summer air permeated throughout my body, acquiring every hair to stand at attention. Buffalo surrounded and granged lazily through the corn fields that shot high to the sky, as if every row was assembled soldiers getting ready to march. South Dakota is known for open fields with a consumed, laid back lifestyle with not much ever going on. Going into the trip knowing this, I was not in the least bit excited. It was when I absorbed the laid back atmosphere and appreciated every single bit of their way of life.…
As teenagers growing up in Powder Springs, Georgia during the 1980’s, it was somewhat challenging at times to find safe and entertaining ways to occupy our time. Even though we did not have free reign to do as we chose, I would not categorize my parents as extremely strict. Relying on our parents, as if they were our personal taxi service, my sister and I struggled to find activities relatively close to home. After discovering we really enjoyed skating, we spent countless Friday and Saturday nights at the Sparkles Skating Rink in Paulding County. The indoor facility was a safe environment for teenagers, which provided my parents with a certain level of comfort to allow us to gather with friends.…
Throughout the course of my short seventeen years, I have grown and learned many things. I grew up in a small rural town called Elk Creek. There are no strangers in Elk Creek; people sleep with their doors unlocked and their windows open. Everyone who has grown up in a small town can agree that friendship and community become a second nature trait. Although I have copious amounts of love and respect for where I grew up; I believe that I do not belong there.…
Imagine rushing around, excited and overjoyed at every turn. Looking up and seeing smiles and laughs from your family as they watch on. Squealing around every curve with the rush of excitement that you feel within. The warmth of a summer day in the Rocky Mountains, the slight breeze blowing in your face, the feeling of pure bliss, knowing that this moment in time is one you want to remember, a true staple of your loving relationship with your family. Imagine the look of excitement on the face of your loved ones as you bask in the moment.…
Rathdrum, Idaho Where you are from does not define who you are, but it does shape you into the person you are today. So if you were to ask me where I was from I would gladly tell you I am from Rathdrum, Idaho. A small town where only a few truly know what is like to live here and only a few know how amazing this small city truly is. Rathdrum has been the only place I have ever really known; growing up and being raised here I never have had the appreciation for where I lived.…
The search went on hour after hour thru every street looking for a way radio or a living creature other than a homeless…
Lake of the Ozarks, MO This year, me and my family went to the amazing Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. We went for six days and even though it doesn't seem like that long, we got a lot of things in. We got to swim, go boating, go out to eat, and go shopping. This will have been the sixth time we have gone with my aunt and uncle and one year, our grandparents even came with us! Lake of the Ozarks is my favorite place to go.…
One of the first things I remember about going on that trip is looking down at my feet and thinking that I would die if I fell. I was nine and very light-headed at the time. It was the winter of 2009 and one of the first times I had ever gone to Colorado. The drive there took about 6 hours from our house so you can imagine my excitement at finally getting out of the car as an inpatient nine-year-old. We were renting a small two story log cabin with a hot tub on the second- floor balcony from a family that had a winter home somewhere in Florida.…
I consider my hometown to be Grand Forks, North Dakota. I was born at the former United Hospital in Grand Forks in 1994, and have lived here for my entire life—with the exception of about a year spent in Walhalla, North Dakota, due to the flood of 1997. The schools that I attended while growing up are all within fifteen minutes of driving from my current house. My parents live just 6.2 miles away from me. Although Grand Forks is my city of birth, it wasn’t until I started college that I really considered it my hometown.…
In January of last year I went on a trip to Colorado on a "college visit" with a friend and my father to University of Colorado Boulder. We left Wednesday night, skipping school both Thursday and Friday. We did go to the college and took a tour of the campus on Thursday which I greatly enjoyed, it is beautiful out there and at elevation there is very little humidity. The true intention of the trip, as important as the college visit was, was to go to Breckenridge Resort and spend the weekend snowboarding. A couple of my dad's friends were also going and we were going to share their timeshare.…
Ever since I was a little girl I have fantasized about living in South Dakota. I don’t know necessarily what appealed to me about living there, but it was always my dream. Maybe it was the idea of green grass swaying in the wind, or buffaloes freely roaming around. Being a small town girl, I’ve always been looking for a change. When my family took a vacation to South Dakota, that was what it took to confirm my dream.…
In a valley surrounded by mountains lies a small town known as Idaho Falls, where I lived in the same house for the majority of my life. The area is dominantly LDS contributing to the extremely conservative views accepted by the majority of the population. Growing up in a sheltered community I really had no first-hand experience of the realities of the rest of the world major crimes were rarely heard of, I don’t recall ever having witnessed any sort of racism or segregation. By the time I was sixteen I was well traveled, my family went on yearly trips to different countries, thus I considered myself cultured in the ways of the world. I was naïve in believing that the rest of the country would have the same fundamental beliefs that I had grown…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Our boots pound the rocky Colorado trail in the middle of a cold, starry night above the massive tree line with a spectacular view of the lights of Leadville, as we hiked our first 14,000 foot mountain of the summer. Clomp!…