Relaxing After a Stressful Weekend

I had a little bit of a stressful weekend on January 13-14, and I was glad when Tuesday, January 17 came around.  I decided that I was going to get out of town for the night, so I went to Belgrade and stayed the night at Jean's and Bruce's condo.  They got off work around 10:00 p.m., and he took her out to eat that night so I didn't see them before I went to bed.

The next day, Jean and I had brunch at IHOP.  For sure, it's one of our favorite places to eat.  I always enjoy spending time with her.  She was stressed out a bit too from our crazy weekend and other things, so it was nice to be able to relax a little.  We went to Gardiner that day after doing a little shopping.

Thursday, January 18, I barbecued t-bone steaks.  We had them with broccoli and baked potatoes.  Man, that was super good!  While we ate, we watched NCIS on DVD.  Amanda told us about that series awhile ago, and now we're completely hooked!

We definitely needed those days off to unwind!

January Trip to Helena

It's been about a month since I've written on my blog.  I'm sorry I've been bad.  I hadn't seen Adam for awhile, so on Tuesday, January 10, as soon as I got off work, I took a shower, packed a small bag, and made a beeline there.

I had heard that there was going to be a snowstorm in Montana, but because the weather has been really crazy, I didn't know if I would have do deal with it or not.  I figured that the best policy was to go as soon as possible so that I had less time that I had to drive at night if there was a snowstorm.  The roads that day were pretty decent until I got to Livingston.  Between Livingston and Bozeman there was a little snow, but nothing very serious.  From Bozeman to the State Highway 69 juncture, I couldn't have asked for better road conditions.  As I got closer to Boulder, the snowstorm started setting in.  On Interstate 15 between Boulder and Helena, I actually had to stop twice because I couldn't see anything on the road.  It's times like these that I'm glad that I have a four-wheel drive vehicle.  Apparently the snowstorm had hit Helena and was moving its way south.  There was definitely plenty of ice in Helena, but I got there safely.

I was really glad that I didn't take US Highway 287.  There's a spot right before Helena that gets super slick and it's almost impossible to get over it when the road ices over.

We had time to go see Mission: Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol that evening.  After the movie we got something to eat at Applebee's.  Once we got to his house again, we played a little bit of Wii.  We stayed up pretty late that night.  Now that I'm on this new shift at work, 1:00 am is literally the middle of my night!  It reminded me a little of when he and I played X-Box all night one evening a few years ago in Gardiner.

The next day, since Adam had to be at work, I went to the Cathedral of St. Helena.  It is truly a very beautiful building.  The stained glass windows depict scenes from Adam and Eve to today.  I've always liked stained glass.

Stained glass inside the Cathedral of St. Helena

Light from the stained glass windows reflect on the pillars in the Cathedral of St. Helena.

The towers of the Cathedral of St. Helena

Driving back home to Gardiner was a cinch.  The roads were decent enough by afternoon to easily get back.

Adam's one of my closest friends, and I'm glad that he now lives close enough that I can occasionally visit him.  His car's not doing too well right now, so he hasn't had the opportunity to see me since July.  Hopefully it will get fixed soon!