Scary Snowmobiling Incident and longest blog of your life

Jesse and I had a really great vacation to utah recently. We drove the 15 hours to utah just talking about life and what not, listening to music, and stopping a lot to stretch. We were so happy that Nate Siebach our brother in-law had finally gotten home from Afghanistan. The first night we were there the whole Fisher family went out to dinner together and we talked and laughed and laughed and talked some more. I had the salad bar which is located smack dab in the center of the restaurant and I can attest to the fact that we were the loudest group in the place! It continued to be a good night, we played a fun new game where we all learned that we know nothing haha except maybe Jesse's dad Randy (Oh and Grandma, who wasn't even playing).

The next day Jesse and I got to go snowmobiling for the first time this year! It was also a big deal because it was our first time out on our awesome new Arctic Cat. We didn't go too long because the snow where we were wasn't the best and our bodies hadn't taken that kind of abuse in a while and couldn't take it for too long, at least not me. The next few days we did some shopping, just hanging out with friends, did dinner and games with my family, and just had an overall good time.

Alright, now the climax of the story, time to get to the real ooey gooey stuff!

We woke up and immediately headed out for a day of fun in the mountains. We decided that we wanted to try somewhere new, somewhere we could really explore and have fun with. We ended up in a beautiful area somewhere above Sundance. It was perfect! Great snow, there was lots of powder that we could zig zag through where we are up on one ski and basically half our bodies are in the snow (There is a term for it, but Jesse isn't here to tell me what it is right now). We got so deep in it at one point I fell off. One problem, I was holding on really tightly to Jesse so he fell off too! We were starting to get tired and a bit hungry so we thought we'd have one last hoorah and leave. We had to get over a hill to go play in a bowl, but we got stuck. Jesse got off by the front to wiggle the skis to get help us get out. As I said before there was lots of powder. When Jesse stepped off he sank down pretty far. He sat down and said, "oh man, I ripped my pants that we just bought!" I am thinking to myself dang those were expensive. Then he says in a tone that I can't decide if it is joking or not, " I think I might need stitches"

He ripped his pants open further and what I saw made my heart stop. When Jesse sank in the snow, his leg caught a piece of metal on his skis. There was a perfect slice through his skin right down to the bone! A recap; we are 5 plus miles away from our car, 15 plus miles away from a hospital, snowmobile is stuck, and the experienced driver is sliced open. Oh yeah and we left our backpack (with medical supplies) and some other junk over in the next field.

Time to panic, well at least I did. Jesse remained really calm. Asked me for my head warmer, which wasn't enough so I ripped off my coat and sweatshirt and gave him my shirt to wrap around his leg. Jesse drove us down the mountain so he could elevate his leg by resting it on the hood. Of course he wouldn't leave the

snowmobile up there! We had to take the time to load it up. Of course he wouldn't lay in the back and elevate his leg! He told me he was driving. He was even cracking jokes about whether we should stop and get lunch before we went to get medical attention! We did finally end up at the insta-care where we were the main event. All the nurses told us that it was the most exciting thing that they'd done/seen at work in a while.

The doctor was really nice and did a fine job of putting 4 stitches on the inside with the muscles and junk. Telling us that Jesse was lucky, because he barely missed a tendon and something else that is scary and important. Then the doctor finished up with 16 stitches on the outside and told us that Jesse would have a pretty nasty scar but otherwise be fine in about two weeks.

I was sure glad that he was ok, especially because that night we had a party to go to! Hahaha, But seriously. My family took us out to a place called Comedy Sportz. Which is a lot like Who's Line is it Anyways. All of us were laughing like crazy, it was so much fun. The day started great and ended great which is all that really matters, right?

The next day was our last, and we split ways. He got to hang out with a great friend, and I got to spend quality time with two of my sisters and niece. Then we headed back to North Dakota. Can't wait till next months Utah adventures!

WARNING!!!!! Only scroll down if you can take looking at icky pictures of blood and gore!

Dana's Daisies

Living away from family, friends, and civilization has given me time to develop interests I have, like being crafty. I have gotten my craft on pretty seriously lately! The main thing I have been making is fabric flowers for girls to wear in their hair. I definitely struggled at first, I have an entire pile of "not good enough" flowers.

Over time I have made a decent amount of flowers that I am proud of. I wanted to try and sell some so I went into the floral shop in a local town named Tioga that also is a small boutique and asked the owner if she would be interested in selling them. She was interested and she told me to bring in a display for her to put up. This was a daunting task for me. I wanted to look professional and not have it be obviously homemade so I took a lot of time and effort putting off the actual assembling of the display. I finally put together something am pleased with and attached all the flowers that had made the "cut".

I didn't want to just have the flowers in a basket because I wanted them to be easily seen, thus drawing people's eyes to them. They are now in the Tioga Floral shop and we will see if anyone else actually likes them! If anyone is interested in me making them some just comment and let me know! I can make lots of styles and colors, just regular clips, smaller ones on bobby pins, or do head bands.

Chinese Chicken

I love food. All kinds of food, but chinese food is easily my favorite. I crave it regularly, and would it regularly but we live in the middle of nowhere. The closest place to get chinese is over half an hour away, which makes this recipe perfect because I can have chinese food in the comfort of my own home. I learned how to make this chicken my freshman year of college and have been making ever since. Today I didn't have work, so I actually had time to make it. This batch turned out the best it ever has and I savored every bite. As I was eating it I thought about how everyone that I've made it for has loved it, which led me to think I should share the deliciousness with others, so here it is.

You will need Panda Express orange sauce (which you can find at almost any grocery store in the oriental food section), chicken, canola oil, egg, milk, flour, two bowls, a cutting board, and a skillet.

In one bowl mix

- 1 egg

- 3 tablespoons of milk

In another bowl mix

- 1 1/2 cups of flour (you may need more or less depending on how much chicken you use)

- seasoning (pepper, season salt, red pepper flakes, or whatever you want)

In skillet heat

-canola oil

Cut up/ dice desired amount of chicken (I normally do 2 or 3 breasts)

Soak chicken in egg/milk combo

Toss chicken in flour mixture

Fry the battered chicken in the oil until cooked and crispy then put into a glass casserole dish

Pour desired amount of orange sauce on chicken and cook at 375 degrees in oven till sauce boils

Serve on white rice

Last Six Months

So I totally suck at blogging and haven't done it for over six months! I decided that since more than likely no even reads it I can have some fun with it and kind of turn it into an online journal. Now I am going to condense six months into a reasonable couple of paragraphs.

Jesse and I have moved ourselves, fritz and our giant 5th wheel trailer out to Ray, North Dakota. The town's population I believe is less than a thousand, but for us this is a step up. Granger, Wyoming only had a population of150. I know because I looked it up on Wikipedia :) The nearest "big" city is Williston, ND which is about 35 minutes away. That is where we have to go for just about everything. They do have a Wal-mart which means that it is actually civilized haha! This wal-mart is pretty intense. Imagine wal-mart on black friday; the shelves empty, waiting in line for over half an hour, grabbing things out of the boxes that are still in the aisles not put away. This is Wal-mart for us every day!

Jesse still works for Rocky Mountain Trucking, as a right hand man. He does just about everything, but technically his job is to deliver sand to rigs that are fracing. I attempt to understand what they do but I get hopelessly lost and give up.

All you need to know is that Jesse drives a semi truck and then uses a high pressure blower to get the sand out of his trailer into theirs and then he goes and does it again.

I work at the gas station that is less than a minute away from our trailer. The Gas-N-All is pretty "fabulous" and when it says All it means all. We have gas, a restaurant, a movie rental business, etc. We used to have a tanning bed but weirdly enough it didn't get that much use. I worked as the morning cook for about a month before I couldn't stand waking up at 4:30 everyday and working 10 to 11 hour shifts anymore. I really didn't like cooking for 30 plus people on a grill that is only two feet across (that is really tiny just so you know). I work nights now,

so my job basically consists of making pizzas and selling beer. I know after hearing this you are super jealous of me, especially with all the super hotties that come in from the oil field and hit on me saying really classy things like "dang girl, you're beautiful! You want to come out drinking with us when you get off" or after I say, "I need you to sign this," they say, "I'll do anything for you!" Oh yeah love the weirdies!

We have gone back to utah a few times so far, and now that winter is here we will be down almost every month for snowmobiling. If you didn't already know that is Jesse's passion in life. We love getting to see family and wish we had more time when we are there to see all our friends, sadly we only have 5 or 6 days and 2 of them are spent in traveling. One of the main highlights of the last six months was our great vacation to West Yellowstone, that we took a few months ago, it was such a blast.

We saw all the geysers, went zipling, went to the wolf and grizzly bear experience, and just got to hang out with each other while seeing the beautiful natural wonders that Yellowstone has to offer. It was so much fun and I can't wait for our next trip, but this time I think we'll shell out the money for an actual hotel instead of a crummy cabin that didn't have a real mattress hahaha!

Being up here has definitely been a challenge. We don't always get to see each other since our schedules don't always match up, but we are out here to work hard and make money and that is exactly what we are doing.

It says it in the name...Why Wyoming!?

Jesse and I have been living in Wyoming for a couple of months and it has been interesting to say the very least. We live in a fifth wheel travel trailer, which is actually pretty decent even if it sounds crazy. Pictures show what I so ineptly describe, but it is basically a really nice really really small apartment. Living in college dorms prepared me well for this.

The beginning was extremely rough, we had no water or sewer for about a week because it was so cold that our pipes were frozen. During that week out here in the middle of nowhere Wyoming without certain basic necessities, I called my sister Michelle and told her all about it. Her response was, "Dana, do you know what you are doing?" I replied, "Complaining?" She told me in a dragged out response, "You...are...making...MEMORIES!" At the time I was gonna smack her, but now it makes me laugh hysterically. It will definitely make for a great story when one day our kids say that they have it hard.

Granger, Wyoming has been a serious culture shock for me. The town has one commercial store and that is the bar, which doesn't do me much good with the whole no drinking thing. There is a post office (which is a trailer), fire station, one room library, and Town Hall. The town is super classy, which is shown well by the many run down homes and the boarded up old Catholic church that ten or more people live in and park their fourteen cars in front of. Let's not forget the amazing roads throughout town that add a lot of character, it is like you are on Mr. Toads wild ride.

Until recently we didn't have internet or cable and still have nearly no phone service, all in all not much to do here. I started talking daily walks when the wind would allow it (the wind in wyoming is intense). I felt disbelief when on my walks I would get maybe a hundred yards away from a herd of antelope or have to turn around because I was afraid my dog would go chase after the flock of sheep being herded by a cowboy straight out of a cheesy western film.

I'd be lying if I said I have been loving every moment of this experience, but it has definitely been an experience. I already feel like I've grown as a person and matured by dealing with a situation that wouldn't be easy for anyone. I am making the most out of being here. So now I will reflect on the good in Granger. Jesse and I have spent so much time together since being out here. We hang out, watch movies, make delicious meals (since there is nowhere to eat out), we have gone 'digging' in his truck down by the river, we have gone on bike rides out in the prairie and played at the park. Also we spend a lot of time with Jesse's boss and his wife. They have been extremely good to us, and since his boss challenges us to wii games all the time, my wii skills have become something to admire. Before we moved to Wyoming I would have said I was extremely close with my husband and loved him very much. I did not think that I could get closer to him or love him more, but the time out here has proven that wrong. We have had to deal with a lot and we love each other so much more now, and I know now that we can do anything as long as we are together. I know that sounds oober cheesy, but I believe it's true.

P.S.

Whoopi!!! I didn't think things could get better, but now we have something new to look at from our back window. Can you guess what it is....give up? It is a port-a-potty! This place is just so classy.

Update

Since I have no idea if anyone actually reads this blog and I'm pretty lazy I haven't added anything new recently. Obviously awesome things are constantly happening in my life and I have amazing things to say that everyone should want to read about, sooooo eventually I'll really update my blog :) for now know that I'm still as awesome as ever. Oh and Jesse and I are moving to the middle of nowhere Granger, Wyoming in the very near future. This is the closest "establishment" to where I'll be living. Sad, huh?

Fritz Fisher

We have a new addition to the Fisher family already. I have been obsessed with the thought of having a puppy for a very long time, and I somehow convinced Jesse into getting one. We did a lot of looking around and finally found the perfect lil guy on a website called CAWS (community animal welfare society). We met him and instantly fell in love, he really is the cutest puppy I've ever seen. Fritz is part chihuahua and part ? You would not really guess chihuahua when you see him, but I think it means he'll stay small and I'm happy about that. Fritz is ridiculously scared of everything at first, but we force him to do a lot. We have him meet lots of people and dogs, and we took him swimming at Bear Lake (he's a natural) this last weekend. We held him right above the water and before he even touches it he starts swimming, it was so funny Fritz had all of us laughing for a while. He is like a baby because he likes to be craddled and he is an Attention Hor! Jesse is head over heels for Fritz, he loves him and is sad because Fritz loves me more and follows me everywhere. As with most puppies he has some incidents, but so far he's been a great puppy and we think will turn out to be a great dog.