Introductions

I'm assuming that most (if any) readers of this blog will be family members and friends who already know me. But you never know.

I'm Courtney. I live in Bozeman, Montana. I used to live in Cheney, Washington, and am also familiar with the Pullman/ Whitman County segment of Washington (state). I love to read, swim, bike, hike, eat cheese, drink wine and sometimes whiskey. I have an amazing group of friends who I can lean on when things get rough. I hope I dish the same back. My parents are still married, and live in Washington.

I have a sister who will start her second year at Washington State in the fall. She's awesome, and will likely be the topic of posts for her hilarious and Lucille Ball-like antics. Below is Gerdy and I back in the day at Priest Lake (1994 maybe?), and again in 2006 at our parent's dock on Lake Coeur d'Alene. I'm the one with brown hair (who can't believe I'm going to publish a photo of myself in a swimsuit on the first day).

That's right. I'm 5'5" with brown hair. Gretch is 6' with blond hair. Same parents. Genetics are a bitch.

I've been dating Dusty since New Years Eve 2007-2008. First kiss at midnight in front of the Keno machines at the Eagles, on East Main Street, Bozeman. Klassy. We've been living in sin for almost a year now. He's an excellent person; patient, kind, funny, upbeat, and generally acts like an 12 year old boy. I appreciate him more and more, and again, hope I dish it back as good as I get it.

I've gotten into gardening this spring. Dusty's condo has a north facing front porch and a south facing back porch. Do or die for plants. At left(hopefully) is my tomato plant. Dude, somethings wrong with this little buddy! Shouldn't it be standing tall, branched out like a big bush? Instead of looking... like that? but its got buds on it to bloom... so, maybe? I also have snap peas, peppers, strawberries, spinach, cilantro, onions and a money plant and poppies on the south porch. On the north porch I have sweet peas, impatiens and pansies. Its fun to come home and check on them at night.

My absolute place on earth (and the photo in the blog title) is Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where my parents have a lake place. It took mom and dad 13 years of driving around the lake in a boat and a vehicle to pull the trigger on buying one. Its amazing how things happen for a reason; of all the places they looked at, were out-bid on, etc., the Harrison house is beyond what their wildest dreams were. Its on a rails to trails bike path, in a little town with a grocery store (doughnuts! Liquor! One Shot Charlie's! Spokesman-Review newspapers!), 5.5 hours from Bozeman (all interstate but the last 30 miles), and we have our own dock. I love nothing more than reading on our dock while watching the sun go down.

Here in Bozeman I am "gainfully" employed in the field my graduate degree is in. At least enough to encourage me to moonlight at a Main Street gift shop in order to have any fun money. I may end up back in school going after a PhDuh. We'll see. The current gig has a great staff, good people to work for, good health insurance, and most importantly, flexible scheduling. The boss' attitude is "work 40 hours a week, I don't care when you work them." AWESOME!

And that's about all the introducing that I can do with the photos on my work computer.