like a gummy worm on a desert dashboard...

i used to think you only got excited to make new friends when you were like under the age of 10.

you know, you get home from school and your mom asks "how was school today? did you make any new friends?" 

well, i was wrong.

it's much more exciting to make friends in your 20s when marriage and babies are more common than new friendships.

for example, when i met "new friend kim" (as i affectionately call her) at my grad class this summer, i was pretty stoked. 

not only does she visit the elderly on the weekends, but she's a blogger!

(i would link her blog, but it's password protected. sad and sad.) 

and if that doesn't make someone a good person, i don't know what does. 

oh, and she watches the bachelorette. 

and she teaches middle school, so she just gets it.

obviously, we were meant to be friends. 

anywho, new friend kim decided mr. lesley and i just had to go to cheyenne frontier days to see the rodeo.

she's like a professional rodeo watcher, and i wanted to learn from the best. 

so i found myself a belt buckle, grabbed my cowboy boots, helped mr. lesley pick out a pearl button western shirt, and we were off! 

we arrived in cheyenne, parked, and hopped on the bus.

really fun days always start with school bus rides.

when we got off the bus, we were surrounded by...

cowboys, cowboy gear, and friendly reminders:) 

it's good to know they're looking out for their guests.

we made our way to the arena just in time for the show to start...

where we found a hawaiian cowboy...

...kicked our feet up and watched as people threw themselves on death's door for the sake of our entertainment.

bull riding is no joke. 

i probably gasped and winced 5, 857 times or more.

all that hard work watching made us hungry.

i still don't know why i chose a pita instead of cotton candy or a funnel cake for lunch.

i obviously wasn't thinking clearly.

then we toured the shops around the fair. 

i can't say i wasn't tempted to pick up this gem.

they had some amazing items for sale, let me assure you.

fortunately for us, we made it back to the stands right in time to see the amazing cowgirl acrobat and a picture of mr. lesley and i in about 40 years:) 

once we got our fill of bucking madness, we decided to take another stroll around the grounds to get in on 

1.) the prime people watching

2.) hilarious photo opps

(this is definitely my favorite photo of the day)

3.) once in a lifetime shopping

(can you say bedazzled and camo heaven?)

4.) and horsie viewing. 

but watch out...they bite! 

then it was time for the last (and, in my opinion, the best) two events of the afternoon...

barrel racing...

those ladies are incredible. 

they are just so fast. 

seriously fast.

(sidenote: mr. lesley thought barrel racing was literally people rolling barrels down the track. gotta love that city slicker.) 

...and lastly, the most ridiculous demonstration of mass chaos i've ever seen...

the wild horse race.

this was the only event where they brought out stretchers. 

intense.

new friend kim had raved about this event and made sure that we stayed through the whole rodeo so we could see it. 

here's how it works: 

groups of three guys get a wild horse, have to saddle it, and lastly choose one of them ride a entire lap without getting thrown off. 

and the horses were having none of it.

it was like nothing i've ever seen in my life. 

the crowds were the most animated they'd been during the whole rodeo, and the winning team managed to stay on the horse and earn $8,100. 

not too shabby.

after recovering from the craziness of the wild horse race, we said goodbye to the rodeo, satisfied and definitely entertained. 

on the way back to denver we made two important stops. 

first to floyd's so kim could see her cousin who lives in cheyenne, and 

second to johnson's corner, home of the world famous cinnamon rolls.

now we may have gotten cancer since the lady warmed it up in the plastic container and i don't think i would say it earned "world famous" status, but it was definitely a good little treatie on the long journey home.

thank you new friend kim for...

1. being my new friend

2. introducing me to rodeo culture

3. giving me a reason to dress like a pseudo cowgirl

and

4. providing me the opportunity to say "this isn't my first rodeo" and actually mean it.

you're pretty much the best.