Nate's Photography

So I want to put in a plug for my brother. He is a really talented artist and also super good with a camera. He has a blog for his work. You all should check it out!

Montana Again

My roommate for all four years of college and my great friend, Adria Strainer is getting married. So, it was only appropriate for us to celebrate her last night as a single lady with a Bachelorette party for the books! It went down in Whitefish, MT (b-e-a-utiful) at The Lodge on the lake and then at the bars. The party was complete with "male part" shaped cakes, penis straws, endless shots, and close friends. I had lots of fun with the girls celebrating The Future Mrs. Parkhill's engagement.

The next day was my good friend Miles Ryan's 23rd Birthday. Beens how I was already in Montana, I helped him celebrate his special day. He flew in from San Diego to celebrate with his close Montana friends, including yours truly. It was a fun night. Happy Birthday Miles!

The trip back to Montana was odd, because I didn't have a place of my own to stay at. It was a visit to a town that I had lived in for four years. A very weird feeling. It also got me even more anxious to get moved/get a job, so I don't have to live with my parents anymore.

Recently

Nothing to exciting to report on life lately.

Spent two whole days cleaning the new boat. Had to get it "Miller Clean." 

Had a great day with my Dad on Sunday for Father's day. I have the best Dad ever! I find it important to remind him, that it was I who first made him a father. Haha, but really he's great!

Been continuing my job hunting and errand running this week. Starting to get really impatient waiting for a job to come through. I refused to move my stuff out of my suitcases into my drawers, because that would mean I am staying here (Blackfoot) long term, which I am not.

More to come... looking forward to a few more road trips in my near future and some interesting/crazy events.

This is an unrelated photo to this post (unless you count the part mentioned about me making my dad a father). I just found this and thought it was funny. What a hot young couple my parents were.

New Boat

They always say, travel while you’re young. I guess that’s what I’ve been doing. After returning home to good ol’ Blackfoot, my dad asked if I would join him and my brother, Nate, on a trip to California to buy a boat that they found on the internet (we should our previous boat to my aunt and uncle the week before). I agreed to some good bonding time with pops and bro. We left Thursday morning. I must say, one of the most boring drives is through Utah, after Salt Lake there isn’t much going on till southern Utah. I would be lying if I said I didn’t sleep almost the entire drive down.

We stopped and ate in Las Vegas. We went to Sin City’s “best seafood buffet” at The Rio. It really was delicious. I ate my money’s worth in crab legs (an all time favorite of mine). After stuffing ourselves silly, we cruised up and down the strip, checking out all the late night weirdos and bright lights. We decided to continue on our way, even though it was late. We had to meet Ruben, the boat seller, at 10 am in Canyon Lake, California at 10:00 am or else he was selling it to someone else. We drove into the night (and when I say we, I mean, Nate and Dad drove while I slept in the backseat).  We stopped at a gas station as slept for a few more hours before continuing to Canyon Lake, which after studying the map, it is right between San Diego and Los Angeles.

Once we got to the area where Ruben lives, we couldn’t follow is surprisingly confusing directions. We drove around the gated community for 45 minutes trying to find his house. He had to come meet us to direct us (clearly not our fault, but his bad directions). We fell in love with the boat at first sight. It’s a 1995 Ski Nautique white with purple and teal accents. Beautiful! We paid the man and got on the road home. Things were going pretty smooth (minus the horrendous traffic from L.A. to Vegas), until we got a flat tire on the boat trailer right in Vegas. We really showed some great teamwork and got the situation fixed ASAP. Then it was back to the I-15 and home. We are going to clean it up and take it out soon. The boat already has name that has stuck, “Naughty Rico”. Naughty because Nautique shortened apparently sounds like naughty. And Rico, because dad kept messing Ruben’s name up and called him Rico. Therefore, Naughty Rico was born. More to come on the newest member of the Miller family.

Goodbye Apartment

This Wednesday was the day I had to move out of my college apartment. I had moved into this apartment my sophomore year and stayed there till just now, totaling a whapping three years residence. The apartment was in the University’s family housing. As misleading as this is, I do not have a family. The apartment complex is losing money if they don’t feel all of their units, so they give them to families who are in college first, then fill the rest with students who are on a waiting list, which was the case for me and my roomies. The reason why I wanted to live there so badly was because I had a scholarship that covered University housing. Basically it boiled down to dorms or here to keep my scholarship. I was able to talk two of my girlfriends into living in this apartment with me. It worked out well for them because rent was by far the cheapest you can find in Missoula. I lived there with dorm roommate, Adria for all three years, good friend Melana for 1.5 years (she had to move out because her nursing program transferred her to Billings, MT) and then my friend Randi moved in.

Packing was the most unpleasant experience in my life. I was the last one to move out, which has its pro’s and con’s. Good thing is I have all the space I need to put boxes and organize things. Bad thing is anything that things in the house that the others didn’t want or was used communiually, were left for me to shift through (which is just more than I wanted to do).  I never realized how much shi… uh, crap I have. I guess the longer you live somewhere the more you accumulate. Took me two whole days of non-stop packing to get everything boxed up. The fact that I am a very organized packer probably added to the lengthy time. Labels on everything!

My dad and grandpa came up early Wednesday to help me load all my stuff. They had to bring a trailer to get all my stuff. We needed a pickup bed and a trailer for one person’s stuff (good work pack rat Erin). My big strong friend Brandon came over and helped my dad do some of the heavy lifting. I paid him with a beer, a pretty typical college kid payment. Once I was loaded, the family took off and I was left to clean the apartment with Adria. We busted through the cleaning pretty fast. When it was time to lock up and turn in the keys, I got a little emotional. Most of my college was spent living in that apartment. So many memories are within those walls. I will miss you 936 Rimini Court!

Seattle Trip 2

After my trip to the promise land, Blackfoot, ID, I returned to Missoula. But just for a few short days, then it was back to Seattle. This trip's purpose was to find/land a second job and find a place to live. My cousin Heidi let me crash on her couch again. Got in Wednesday night, and made a plan of attack. Thursday was job hunting day. Went pretty well, I made a few leads. Friday was apartment hunting day. Saw lots of "shit holes" as that is what my budget range can afford. Till I found this beautiful studio apartment right in the heart of Seattle, Pioneer Square. So fantastic. Great view, new carpet, fresh paint, kind of small (but oh well), and the best part AFFORDABLE! Now, before you all get as excited as I was, there was a catch. This building didn't offer any sort of parking accommodations. Shoot. To park my car on the streets meant that I would have to pay to meter every day (expensive) and to get use the parking garage near by would be an additional $200 a month. I need/want my car with me in Seattle, therefore making this apartment unaffordable. Sad. Overall the trip wasn't a total lose. I made some good contacts and a better understanding of "apartment hunting"

Life is coming down to the wire. Big decisions will be made in the next two days. Stay tuned for what way my exciting life will go.

Trip Back Home

My longer-than-expected trip home to Blackfoot, ID was very chill. I went to a delicious mexican dinner with old high school friends, Ansley and Stephanie. We discussed their husbands and children/soon-to-be. I got to spend some good quality time with me family. And now its back to school, oops, Missoula. Adios B-Town!

Reincarnation as a House Dog

If reincarnation is a real thing, I pray that I come back as a house dog. Being home and seeing the life that Addison, our family's scottish terrier, lives has me thinking I wanna be a lazy dog. We all love her soooo much. She is now 8 years old (human years, I don't ever really know how the whole 'dog years' thing works). She lays around, basking in the sun all day. Rough life Addie!