Mistaken Identity

My mother-in-law always says that hair is a curse in their family, and if you know Peter you know what I'm talking about. For the first three years of our marriage, he was usually clean shaven and wore his hair very short. About the same time he had his "quarter-life crisis" he started growing it out and stopped shaving regularly. In fact, aside from the occasional trim, Peter has not shaved in about three years. His hair has received much the same treatment...except he has actually shaved his head. When both of my sisters were losing their hair to chemotherapy, he shaved his head in support. The second time around his hair was 14-16 inches long and he was able to donate it to Locks-of-Love.

Isn't he a handsome fellow?

When members of my family aren't afflicted with cancer, Peter's hair is normally long and he resembles a Geico caveman bobblehead. See this post if you missed that story. To his credit, he has very nice hair. Many women have admitted their envy over his thick curly locks. However, he normally comes under a lot of scrutiny. People who shake up and question social norms usually do. So I thought I'd share an interesting experience we had today at church. Now, church is one of those places where Peter is usually teased for his long hair style. Today on the other hand was a little different. Peter and I were attending the blessing of my niece this morning and after we had gone back to my parents' house for brunch my father told us of an amusing comment someone had made regarding Peter. The fellow who related the tale to my father had brought his grandson to church with him that day and as Peter got up and joined the other men in our family for the baby blessing, the little boy whispered to his grandpa, "I know I'm in the right place, Grandpa, because look! Jesus is here!"

So not only does my husband resemble a bobblehead, but apparently he looks a lot like Jesus, too, and for once, his hair has had a positive impression on someone. Although it was a case of mistaken identity, I hope that little boy's belief that he was in the right place sticks with him for the rest of his life because of the day he saw "Jesus" at church.

"Put Out the Light"

I had to do a final project instead of a final exam for my Shakespeare class this semester, so I decided to illustrate a scene from one of my favorite plays, "Othello." In the second scene of the final act Othello enters the bedroom where his wife lies sleeping, intent on killing her because he believes she had an affair with his lieutenant (of course it was all just a dastardly plot by Iago who believed that Othello had slept with his wife). I was haunted by a line that he says while watching Desdemona sleep. He compares her life to the candle he is holding and says, "Put out the light, and then put out the light." Not only does the candle represent how easily Desdemona's life can be snuffed out, but to me it also represents how when Othello does kill her and then finds out that he was duped and that his wife was innocent, he has destroyed the only light he had in his life. It's a heart wrenching scene if you've ever read/seen "Othello."

For my illustration, this is what I came up with.

It's not a perfect picture, but I think it turned out okay. It was done using Prismacolor colored pencils on black art paper. If you think that Othello looks a little like Peter, well, that's because I used him as my reference. Othello is a Moor and is typically portrayed as a black man, but as I was working on this picture he started looking more Arabic/Middle Eastern, so I rolled with it. Either way works.

This class was by far my favorite class this semester, if not ever. My professor was awesome, and she amplified my appreciation for Shakespeare exponentially. It's the only class I am sad is over.

By the way, I got an A in the class. :)

Fitness Update

Well, Peter and I have kind of fallen off the wagon. The end of the semester hit and we have been swamped with school work. I haven't been to the gym in weeks and I hate myself for it, but I really need to get good grades this semester. Peter is super stressed with the 20 credits he's been taking, but it'll all be over in a few weeks. Next semester Peter is only taking 13 credits (including a kayaking class we're taking together) so it will be like a vacation for him. I think if we actually got to the gym we would feel less stressed, but just thinking about going and not working on my projects or studying stresses me out even more. I've really just got to figure out a way to make exercise a priority. I do really well until my life gets hectic or stressful and then it becomes a low priority. In less than a week school will be out for the winter break and I'll be able to get to the gym again. Next semester I am also taking a class called Dynamic Fitness and I will basically be forced to go to the gym and workout three days a week. I'm really excited about it!

Aside from the fact that Peter and I have been bad and haven't been going to the gym, I have been successful in giving up caffeine. I haven't had a caffeinated beverage in over two months! It's been tough at times, especially when I'm tired from a late night of studying or working on projects, and every now and then I crave a Coke or Dr. Pepper, but I've been successful in resisting these cravings. It wasn't nearly as hard to give up caffeine as I thought it would be.

Although I am sure I will successfully pick up my fitness regimen after this semester, I am concerned about the future. I need to learn how to make it a priority no matter what. Life will always get in the way if I let it. I was watching "The Biggest Loser" last night and I realized that it was ridiculous that people who were in worse shape than me could run a full marathon. It made me ashamed that I could not do something like that myself. I get wheezy after just one mile. I really want to get to the point where I could run a full marathon myself. That is my new goal. It may take me several years to achieve, but I want to run a full marathon before my 30th birthday. That gives me four years to train. I could totally do it.

R.I.P. Lilly

I recently found out that the family dog was put to sleep. It was a bit of a surprise to me because everyone forgot to tell me about it, and I didn't find out until about a week later, but I don't really blame my family. They've been super busy and so have I. Communication just kind of fell through the cracks. Any ways, I thought I would post about our beloved dog, Lilly.


Lilly was not a perfect dog. In fact, she had quite a few negative traits. She was territorial, cranky, and lazy, but she loved her family and she protected them ferociously from everything from shadows and leaves in the backyard, to the occasional deer, raccoon or squirrel. She was also great to sit in your lap while you were reading or watching a movie. In a lot of ways, she was kind of like a cat.

Lilly was also a fantastic mother. She was a purebred Maltese and so we decided to breed her a few times. She had some adorable puff-ball puppies that were a joy to play with, but they soon left to other homes which was always hard. Lilly was protective of her little babies and took good care of them. Shortly after giving birth to her last litter several years ago, she developed an infection and had to be spayed. Immediately after she woke up from the anesthesia she climbed into the box with her puppies and continued to nurse them despite the pain she must have been in. That is true dedication.

Lilly was also a great companion and friend to my mother. All of the five children have moved in and out over the last decade which is always hard on parents when they realize they are quickly becoming empty-nesters, but Lilly was a constant companion for my mother. She would excitedly greet her when she came home and impatiently wait for her by the front door until she came home. She was indeed loyal.

Recently Lilly started developing cataracts and was going blind in addition to going deaf. She was also becoming incontinent and her intolerance to children was only growing worse with age, which was a great concern now that there are a couple of small grandchildren. Her quality of life was deteriorating and we were worried that she might bite one of the babies, so the decision was made to put her to sleep. She was indeed a flawed dog, but aren't we all flawed people? She had her negative traits but she also had traits that we loved. Despite Lilly's bad habits, I will miss her because she loved me and was always happy to see me whenever I came home. It was hard to come home for Thanksgiving this week and not have her excited bark greet me as I walked in the door. There was also no living vacuum to clean up any accidentally dropped bit of turkey. Indeed, it was very sad to realize she was gone, but I believe she has gone to a better place where she can run around and protect people from the big, bad invisible boogie men that only she could see to her heart's content.

R.I.P., Lilly. I will miss you.

Sugaring

Disclaimer: Today I am going to be blogging about something rather personal that maybe not all people will find appealing, and by all means don't read this post if you think it may make you feel uncomfortable. I will be talking about body hair removal.

I am constantly in search of new hair removal methods. I hate shaving because I have smooth, hair-free results for only one day, and it's very irritating on my skin so I can't shave every single day. I've tried nearly everything short of laser hair removal which I may invest in some day if the technology improves. It works best on people with dark hair because the laser is attracted to darker pigmentation. Being blonde, I'm kind of out of luck.

I've been waxing for some time now and have been only mildly impressed with the results. It takes a lot of work, and it really hurts. The results do last longer, which I like, but I always have an issue with ingrown hairs afterwards. It's probably because I do it on my own and I have not been formally trained on how to wax properly. I may have better luck with a professional, but I'm a poor college student. I don't have that kind of money to blow on waxing every month. Ingrown hairs are typically caused when you break the hair above or below the skin surface instead of completely removing it by the root. If you remove hair by the root, it grows back with a blunt edge rather than a jagged one that can get caught and start growing back into your skin. Ouchie. Shaving causes ingrown hairs, too, because it leaves the hair with a sharp edge. Have you ever looked at a blade of grass after the lawn has been mowed? Your hair looks like that.

One day while browsing the internet for better waxing techniques or prevention/treatment of ingrown hairs I stumbled upon something rather interesting. Apparently there is a procedure called sugaring that is less painful and just as effective as waxing. The best part is you can make the stuff at home using ingredients that everyone has in their kitchen. The other major benefits to this method are that it doesn't require cloth strips, you use it cold, it's water soluble, and you remove the product with the grain of the hair, not against. The latter technique makes it more likely that you will remove the entire hair at the root and not just break it off like typical waxing. Therefore...fewer ingrown hairs if any.

I decided that it was worth a shot and made up the concoction in my kitchen. The process is a lot like making caramel and it goes better if you actually have a candy thermometer. I accidentally ruined the first batch, but the second turned out alright. I allowed it to cool off for several hours and then gave it a whirl. I admit I was extremely shocked. I was skeptical that it would actually work, especially since I was removing it in the direction that hair grows instead of against it like typical waxing. I applied it and then ripped it off as directed. It still hurt a little but it was much less painful than waxing because it grabbed onto the hair but not my skin. Best of all, the hair was gone! I examined the used product and saw tons of little hairs sticking out and they all had the root intact! Quite frankly, it blew my mind how effective it was. I have only been able to test it so far on course hair from my underarms and bikini area, but I will soon be testing it on my legs where my hair is finer. The downside to this and all types of waxing is that your hair has to be at least 1/4 inch in length or it won't work well. I've got to give my leg hair some time to grow but I'm excited by the prospects.

If you are interested in doing your own sugaring here is how you make it: take 2 cups of regular granulated sugar and mix it with 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Heat it to boiling and then reduce heat to around 240 degrees or so. This is where a candy thermometer comes in handy because you want to cook it for about 25 minutes at a "firm ball" stage. When it's finished it should be a dark amber color. Let it cool for about 15 minutes in the pot and then poor it into a Tupperware container. Put it in the fridge to cool down completely. Once it's cool you can take out a chunk (put your back into it, it's not easy to get out) and then roll or squish it into a ball. You may want to use latex gloves because the moisture from your skin can make it sticky. After you form a ball flatten it against the area you wish to remove hair. Apply against the grain. Then lift up an edge of it enough that you can get a grip on it and then quickly remove in the direction of hair growth. You can reuse the same ball of product until it becomes too sticky to work with. Just roll it back up and reapply. After you're done you can just remove any excess product still stuck to your skin with a damp washcloth.

Hopefully some of you may find this as handy as I did. I'm still just amazed that this actually works, and I'll be playing around with it for a while. If I find any better tips I'll post them.

I'm On a Boat! No, wait...I'm On an Airplane!

This weekend was a momentous occasion for me. I finally got to fly in an airplane! I'm 26-years old and I've never been on a plane before until now! Peter and I were intending to drive out to Sacramento California this weekend for the blessing of his sister's baby on Sunday, but a very generous family member bought us plane tickets so we wouldn't have to drive. I admit, I was nervous to fly for the first time and I had butterflies in my stomach all throughout takeoff. Peter made fun of how hard I gripped his leg (I don't think it was really that hard, but one of his greatest joys in life is to tease me). The flight took about as long as it takes to drive to my parents' house in Bountiful from where I live in Logan, which is a lot better than the 10+ hours we were originally planning on. It still amazes me that we can safely launch people into the air several thousand feet above the ground at speeds around 700 mph. I was lucky enough to have a window seat, and I got to look out over the world and see cars and buildings on the ground growing smaller and smaller below me. After watching the campy safety video and hearing them repeat over and over again to turn off all electronic devices, I was reminded of a Penny Arcade comic from a few years ago...
I wonder why they really want all electronic devices to be turned off? Do they interfere with the controls or something?

We landed in the Sacramento airport without any incident because everyone must have had their Game Boys off. We didn't check any luggage so we were able to proceed directly to the rental car terminal and then for the hotel we were staying at. One really annoying thing about Sacramento is that there are a lot of one-way streets. We were not aware of this, and as we were looking for our hotel and a place to park, we made a wrong turn and started driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Peter made a quick U-turn as soon as he realized his error, but it was too late and the flashing blue and red lights of a squad car blazed up behind us. We promptly pulled over and waited for the officer to approach our vehicle. He was a pleasant fellow and didn't give us a hard time, especially since we were from out of town. He made sure Peter didn't have any warrants out for his arrest and then gave us directions to a place we could park our car. I found it amusing that Peter managed to get pulled over by the police within the first hour we were in California.

Although our time in Sacramento was short, we had a great time. It's not very often that all of Peter's siblings get together, and it was wonderful to meet our new niece for the first time. She's a real cutie!

And to all of my family who live out by Sacramento that I didn't get to see this weekend, I'm very sorry! I wish I could have seen you, but we really didn't have any time! We're going to try and come out there next spring, and hopefully see you then.

Workout Update:

It's time to report on my fitness goals! I've done really well these last few weeks to avoid soda. I've only slipped up once. I didn't work out every day I had it scheduled, but that was due to poor time management on my part. I need to be better about that because if I don't get up and go the gym then Peter won't. It's not just my health on the line, it's also Peters.

I will definitely try and be better about it this week.

Resolution

I am once again trying to get into better shape, and I'm dragging Peter along with me. We're both getting far too squishy. I get in a little bit of exercise every day just biking back and forth to school, but I need more than just 15 minutes here and there. I keep a detailed calendar on my computer so that I can keep track of my classes, assignments, appointments, and study time. I am also using it now to schedule in time to work out. I'm starting to become one of those people who has to schedule everything. In fact, the other day Peter got onto my calendar and entered in "Spend time with Peter" onto it. I laughed when I came home and found it. He argued that because it was now on my schedule I had to do it. I thought it was really cute. Any ways, I just thought I'd share my new workout schedule in case some of you may be inspired to do something similar.

Monday - Budokon. It's an intense mixture of yoga, eastern martial arts, and meditation. Really gets your blood pumping.

Tuesday - Cardio at the gym and weightlifting. I like to alternate the equipment I use from day to day. One day it's the treadmill, next it's the stairclimber, etc.

Wednesday - Tai Chi. Yeah, I know it's that thing old Asian women do in the park on Sunday afternoons, but it's really beautiful how it flows like a dance, and it's very relaxing. Just perfect for a mid-week workout.

Thursday - Cardio at the gym and weightlifting again.

Friday - Workout on the ball. It's a great total body workout. Not just your abs.

In addition to exercising regularly, I am also trying to eat a little better, too. I recently made the decision to stop drinking caffeine, and I decided to go one step further and make that stop drinking soda entirely. It's nothing but sugar and carbon dioxide. Two things your body does not need. I'm also going to eat more veggies and have fish once a week.

With school, and the craziness of normal life, I don't know how well I will be able to keep up with this, but it's important to keep trying and not give up. I've already noticed some benefits to eating better and working out. 1.) No caffeine crash. I'm not cured of feeling really tired, but it's requiring me to adopt a regular sleeping pattern. School has been throwing off my circadian rhythm and I need to correct it. 2.) I have better focus at school and when I'm studying. I have an attention problem, especially when I'm required to focus on something I don't care about. Regular exercise, for some reason, helps me to better engage my mind into my studies. 3.) I feel happier/better. Exercise releases endorphins, and eating well helps give your body sustained energy. 4.) Better body image. I've only recently begun a regular exercise routine so I have not yet seen any changes in my physical appearance, however I have noticed a correlation between mind and body. When I work out, I feel like I look better, even if all I've lost is half a pound.

Every other week I plan on reporting on my and Peter's progress. My hope is that we will maintain our motivation this way if we can look back and see the changes that have occurred overtime. Today is Thursday, so as soon as Peter gets home from school it's off to the gym! Woo!

October

I guess we weren't busy enough with midterms because we've managed to pack in a number of events and projects so far this month. To start with, Peter spent the first weekend in October at the Society of American Foresters convention in Orlando, FL. The main goal was to try and find a permanent job, but unfortunately he hasn't heard back on any of the interviews he did. I guess the market for forestry jobs is tighter than we thought. At least while he was down there he got to visit his uncle Michael and aunt Lisa and their three kids. He came home and told me that that was the best part of his whole trip to Florida. He may not have come back with a job, but he did come back with some fun stories. One worth sharing occurred when he happened to pass the Geico booth at the convention. Geico is one of the big companies that sponsors the SAF convention, and last year they gave the winners of the Quiz Bowl Geico toasters (because toasters are cool, right?). Utah State won last year so Peter came home with a lovely toaster that cooks the outline of the Geico gecko into your toast. Well, when Peter strolled past the Geico booth this year he heard some laughter directed towards him, so he decided to check it out. They explained why they were laughing and held up a bobblehead of a Geico caveman from their commercials. I have to admit...the resemblance is uncanny.They gave him one for free in exchange for a picture of him holding the bobblehead. I laughed my butt off when he produced the bobblehead and told me the story.

This Saturday Peter and I worked on another fund-raising project for the Forestry Club. We spent the entire day out at Deseret Land and Livestock doing stand exams. We basically looked at trees all day. We broke off into teams and I of course got paired up with Peter. We walked around the woods and recorded data of tree species, diameter, height, etc . The tough part of the project was that our plots were located on the north slope of a mountainside. I spent most of my energy trying to stay upright and not tumble down the mountain. There was also a good 4-6 inches of snow on the ground which made for even more treacherous footing. I'm not well known for my balance or coordination so you can understand how I might have stumbled a time or two...or dozen. It was pretty cold, too. If I wasn't moving, I was freezing. I did have fun learning more about what Peter does at work, although he normally doesn't have snow to contend with. I also enjoyed looking for animal tracks in the snow. I found deer, elk, and moose as well as snowshoe hare, and some canid track that looked too big to be a fox or coyote. Unless some hunter's dog got lost it could have been a wolf. We were relatively close to the Wyoming border and there have been reports of wolf packs crossing the border recently. I'm no expert on animal tracks so I can't say for sure, but the thought is kind of exciting.

So to recap, Peter got to go to Florida and I learned about stand exams...and that I'm married to a caveman, which is something I've suspected for years. :)

Goodbye Summer

Our awesome bonfire!

The autumnal equinox is tomorrow, so what do you do to celebrate the last weekend of summer? Why, go camping of course!

The Forestry Club at Utah State had a fund-raising project lined up with the USU Outdoor Recreation Center this weekend. We had to backpack into the Blind Hollow Yurt on Friday and help split and move firewood to be used for the winter. It was about a 3 1/2 mile hike in, which is not a challenging hike by any means, but I was breaking in my new internal-frame backpack so I was pretty pooped by the time we got to the yurt. The hike was beautiful, though! The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn and we hiked along some beautiful ridges that looked out upon the Mount Naomi Wilderness. I am so lucky to always be near a national forest no matter what time of the year.

We got to the yurt around 5:00 p.m. and spent the daylight hours working on our project. The rest of the evening was spent eating and just kicking it in the yurt with the other members of the forestry club. It was a blast! The next day Peter and I had to leave early so that we would have time to hike out and then drive to Bear River in the Uintas where we were meeting our two friends, Nick and Kelly, to do even more hiking and backpacking.

I have noticed a trend in the hikes that I go on with Kelly. They usually end up with us getting caught in some big rainstorm. This time, however, we came prepared with rain gear. We took the East Fork of the Bear River trail that leads up to Allsop Lake in the High Uinta Wilderness. It's a nice level trail, and not very technical. We were hoping to get to Allsop, but the weather prevented us from attempting a higher elevation. I was also pretty pooped from already having hiked that day. So, about four miles into the hike we broke camp and set ourselves up for the night. As we moved about putting up tents and gathering firewood we could hear elk bugling to each other in the distance. I love to hear elk. They make such an eerie, otherworldy sound.

Because it had been raining off and on that day, it somewhat inhibited our efforts to make a fire, but not for long. By the time night fell we had a raging bonfire going, despite the rain. A group of people on horseback passed our camp who looked pretty drenched, and we offered to share our fire with them, but they were in a hurry to get off the mountain and declined our offer. If I had been them, though, I totally would have stopped. Our fire was awesome.

After eating dinner and "chewing the fat" for a few hours, we called it a night and climbed into our sleeping bags. I was exhausted so it didn't take me long to drift off to Dream Land, but I hadn't been asleep long when I was awakened by a rumbling crash and the sound of rain pelting the roof of my tent. I laid awake for a while counting the time between flashes of light and the loud cracks of thunder that followed them. I was a little nervous being out in a thunderstorm since we had never tested our tent's waterproof capabilites before, but it held up like a champ. It rained hard all night long but we stayed warm and dry. Thankfully the rain stopped right as soon as we got up and broke camp, and it remained clear throughout the rest of our hike out.

I didn't get to see much wildlife on this hike which is something I always hope to see when I'm out in the woods, but we did see a lot of deer and moose tracks, a few squirrels, and I even spotted a bald eagle. It was interesting to see the effects of the fire that had desimated that area seven years ago. The bones of old dead pine stood all around, but they were surrounded by hundreds of little baby aspen no more than a yard or two tall. In a few years it will be a huge aspen grove, and you will hardly be able to tell that a fire had destroyed that area not too long ago. I love how Mother Nature works like that. Today I'm feeling pretty stiff and sore from all of the hiking, but it was a lot of fun and it was great to see Nick and Kelly again. I'm glad they have remained our friends even after work ended this summer.

So I wish you all a very happy autumn! Now, get out there and enjoy those fall colors! They won't last long!

Back in the Saddle Again

Let's see here...what's been goin' on recently. Hmm...well, Peter and I officially moved back to Logan on the 17th. I say officially because there was a lot of back and forth for a while. It's nice to be home. I love the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and I miss living and working there, but...Logan is where I keep all my stuff, you know? That very same day my sister, Sarah, gave birth to her baby girl, Ella. She's a beautiful, healthy, blonde baby and I'm so happy she's come into our family!

Me holding little Ella.
They made me wear a mask because of the Piggy Flu.

That's niece #2 for me. Number 3 is awaiting her grand entrance in the next few weeks. I'm so excited!

Then on the 19th we packed our bags and headed to California! Our ultimate goal was Anaheim, but we took a little detour and went to the Stanislaus National Forest and Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We camped overnight in Stanislaus with intentions to get up early and drive for 30 minutes or so to get to Calaveras...

My fabulous, new backpacking tent!

However, we had a little road block....

Stupid trucker...

Stupid, weak tow truck.

A trucker tried to go up a twisty, narrow mountain road in the middle of the night only to discover that his semi was too big for the road. He failed to notice the "Vehicles longer than 25' not advised" signs along the way. So he got stuck and tried to back down the road, but only managed to get himself even more stuck. We were stalled in traffic for nearly four hours because the first tow truck they called couldn't pull him out so they had to call in an even bigger one, but it had to come from South Tahoe. It was really inconvenient, but we got to meet some interesting people while we were waiting for the road to open up.

The picture is a little funny because
I put it together using 3 different photos.
If you look closely you can see Peter
standing at the base of the Sequoia.

After we finally got to Calaveras, I got to see my first Sequoiadendron giganteum, or Giant Sequoia. It was amazing. Pictures don't do those trees justice. They're huge! It was very awe inspiring to stand at the base of one and just gaze up and up and up.

After our little excursion to the woods, we headed to Anaheim for BlizzCon. Yes. I am just that nerdy. For all of you non-gamers out there, BlizzCon is the annual convention Blizzard Entertainment has for their products Starcraft, Diablo, and World of Warcraft. Peter, myself, and my little brother, Jacob, were all lucky enough to score tickets. So we spent a few fun-filled days hanging out at the convention, getting sneak peeks at upcoming releases and expansions of WoW, and best of all hanging out with some of the members of our guild on WoW. I don't think I would actually make the trip just for the convention. It's really the people that we go to see. Peter and I have been in the same guild or at least in a guild with the same people for about 4 years or so. They've become cherished friends and we really enjoyed spending time with them outside of the game. I realize a lot of people may think this is weird or geeky, but I don't care. I have met some truly awesome people through the game that I never would have gotten to know otherwise.

From left to right: Kevin, Jaime, Jack, Jacob, and Peter.

Our guild leaders Gary, and Kim,
as well as Kevin our fabulous French Canadian!

All the members who came to represent our guild,
enjoying the last night of the convention.

After the convention we blitzed back home on Sunday so that we could be home in time for our first classes of fall semester that started on Monday. Not only is Peter starting the final year of his undergraduate work, but I went back to school as well. I haven't been in college since 2002 and it's weird to be back in school again. It's also very exciting! Most of my classes are boring like my biology course, but for fun this semester I am taking an intro to Shakespeare course that I think is going to be a blast! I'm totally going to own this semester.

The downside to being back in school is that this may be the only year I am at USU. After Peter graduates he's going to be looking for a permanent position with the Forest Service, and we have no clue where in the world that will take us. Hopefully I will be able to finish my degree at another university, but it's just frustrating to not be able to make any kind of longterm plan. I guess this is what I get for putting off school for so long.

So wish me and Peter luck! It's going to be a really busy year, and it's going to take a lot of work, but I think it's going to be filled with a lot of exciting things as well. Like Peter finally getting his bachelors and hopefully getting a permanent job! Which means I may finally get the puppy I have been waiting 6 years for! Yay!

The Narrows

So, I was supposed to do the Narrows in Zion National Park the first weekend in August...but I didn't get to go. Apparently my body decided it would be an awesome time to relapse. I developed a sore throat and my pink eye came back. I was very unhappy to say the least.

I was supposed to meet my husband and two of our friends, Nick and Kelly, down in St. George Friday July 31st (they had to go down early to secure an overnight camping permit), but before I got very far I noticed my left eye was looking really red and it was oozing greenish fluid. Yeah...it's pretty gross. Unfortunately it began to fog up my contact and I couldn't see well enough to drive, so I had to turn around and go home. I can't even begin to describe how angry and frustrated I was. I had to cancel my Yellowstone trip and now my Narrows trip because of one ailment or another. I was not happy, in fact I pretty much hit my breaking point. I was tired of being sick, and tired of being held back because of it.

So I spent that weekend sulking instead of doing the Narrows. Not exactly what I had originally planned, but maybe next year I'll have another chance to go. At least Peter, Nick, and Kelly had a good time.

The first day of their trip they got their camping permit and then hiked Angel's Landing. Kelly was a champ and hiked all the way to the top even though she's deathly afraid of heights.

Angel's Landing

Nick, Kelly, and Peter

Kelly hiking to the top

Peter and Kelly

Nick, King of the Mountain

The next two days were spent going down the Narrows. I wish I could tell you more about what it was like, but I didn't get to experience it first hand. Peter tells me it was pretty awesome though...and I'm still just a little bitter about it.

Don't they look like they had a great time? I really wish I could have been there. Especially now that the summer is over and I won't get to see Nick or Kelly very often anymore. They're a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to know them over the summer.

Now I need to go do something else for a while to take my mind off of the Narrows before my bitterness starts to fester...like start unpacking all my stuff back into my apartment in Logan. Joy.

Amethyst Lake

Being confined to my house because of Swine Flu for a whole week was not fun. By the time my quarantine was up I had such bad cabin fever that I just wanted out. I didn’t care where I went; I just wanted to be out of there. So when Peter and his coworker Kelly decided to hike to Amethyst Lake on July 26th, I decided to tag along. I thought it would be a good way to gage how well I was and how much energy I had regained after being so sick. So, merrily I joined Kelly and Peter for what I thought would be no more than a four hour hike. Well, I misjudged the distance and most especially, my capabilities.

The hike started out pleasant enough. It was fairly level and we passed many beautiful meadows and streams. About a third of the way into the hike we came upon a very pretty waterfall in Ostler Fork.

The pretty little waterfall.

Peter and me.

The day was sunny and warm and I was elated to be out and doing something active after having spent most of a week in bed. Shortly after the little waterfall the trail got a little more technical. It went from level to practically straight up. After a couple miles of this I was pretty pooped, but I wasn’t ready to give in and call defeat just yet.

Well, things only went downhill (figuratively speaking) from there. We got caught in a small rainstorm and had to seek shelter under some pine trees. Kelly was about ready to call it quits at this point, but I thought we must be close to the lake and so we should press on. Later, I wanted to eat my words. A little damp from the storm, we soldiered on.

“The lake is just over this next ridge. I swear!”

A couple of miles later, including more elevation gain, we made it to the lake. We were tired and sore at this point, but we did it!

Kelly and Peter are both so happy to have made it!

Amethyst Lake with part of the ridge line going up to Ostler Peak.

Peter and me at Amethyst Lake.

Pretty little stream feeding the lake.

These wildflowers were all over the meadow.

Our joy was short lived, however, when we noticed the ominous looking clouds that were rolling in. The thing about the Uintas, which we should have known better about, is how quickly the weather can change. In the morning it can be beautiful and sunny without a cloud in the sky, but by mid-afternoon it can be dark and stormy, and the temperature can drop significantly. We decided it would be best if we didn’t stay very long at the lake. Just long enough to take some pictures, and maybe we could make it out of there before those clouds opened up. It had taken us four hours to hike to the lake, but hopefully it would take us half that time to get down since it was all downhill.

Peter and Kelly heading back down the trail.

Our impending doom.

We didn’t get too far before it started to rain. And boy did it rain. It was pointless to try and huddle under a tree, besides it was dangerous. We had lightning going off overhead, and at times it seemed terrifyingly close. So we kept moving. Then the rain turned into hail, and not just slushy hail, but big pelting hail that stung whenever it hit you. It was awful, and none of us had come prepared to deal with wet weather. Soaked to the bone and shivering we plod along. We didn’t dare stop for fear of hypothermia setting in.

Aside from being drenched and cold, my legs were bothering me. They had started to ache by the time we got to the lake, but now they felt like dead weights. I had underestimated how weak I still was. It took all of my focus and energy just to put one foot in front of the other. The entire time I kept thinking, you have no one to blame but yourself for this. Kelly was completely miserable, too. She was freezing and suffering a little from altitude sickness. All she wanted to do was keep going at a very fast pace to try and get warm, but it was all I could do to just shuffle along the trail, and I quickly fell behind. Peter looked panicked. He was torn between protecting two women who were in dire straits: one being his work superior and the other being his wife. I obviously won out, and he stayed by my side, helping me to get over rocks and mud puddles, but I know he felt badly for Kelly, and so did I. We were all miserable.

Finally, the sun came back out and lifted our spirits, making the last two miles of the hike much more pleasant. We started to dry off and warm up. I was still completely worn out, though. It took everything I had just to keep moving. By the time we got back to the car I was about ready to collapse, but I made it! We were all still alive, and we had made it out before the sun had gone down! In celebration we drove into town to get some dinner and we gorged ourselves on fatty, fried food. We figured our bodies could handle it after having burnt up so many calories on the hike. After sitting down and taking a good look at our map we figured the hike had been a little over 12 miles, round trip, with an elevation gain of 2,000 feet. Certainly more than what I should have tried to do. Sure, it was stupid of me, but I felt a great sense of accomplishment that not even Swine Flu could stop me for too long. I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I lived with only a few stiff muscles to remind me of my foolishness.

The Piggy Flu

Last week, Peter and I spent a few days in the lovely little town of Midway, UT at the Homestead Resort along with Peter’s family on his father’s side. All of his immediate family was there, except for his eldest brother who had to work, as well as his cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. We all had a wonderful time and a lot of fond memories were created. I enjoyed every minute of it up until the day I woke up with an infected eye. From past experience I figured it to be conjunctivitis, or pink eye, as it is more commonly called. I had to throw out my contacts and I didn’t have my glasses with me so I had to spend the rest of the reunion practically blind. It was frustrating, but I wasn’t going to let it spoil my fun. The next day however, was worse. The infection had spread to my other eye, and I was running a fever. I had spent the entire previous night tossing and turning and moaning in pain because my entire body hurt. I didn’t get a wink of sleep, and I don’t think Peter got much more than I did. I remember that night as being one of the longest nights of my life. At this point I figured I had finally come down with the flu that my husband had had about a week ago. So, while I lay wallowing in misery on the bed, Peter packed up all of our belongings and we made a hasty retreat from the reunion. I felt bad because Peter hadn’t seen some of his extended family in several years, and I was dragging him away, but that day was practically the end of the family reunion anyway.
Once we got home I crawled back into bed and spent the rest of the day there. I had called into work the day before and had my shift on Saturday covered because I didn’t want to gross people out with my infected eyes (plus it’s really contagious). Sunday and Monday are my normal days off, so I figured I had a couple of days to get plenty of rest so I could be better enough to go back to work on Tuesday. Well, Sunday I woke up and I still felt like I had been beaten within an inch of my life. Plus I had a new symptom: a very, very sore throat. My throat felt like it was on fire and every time I swallowed it felt like I was swallowing shards of broken glass. When I discovered blisters on the back of my throat I suspected I didn’t have the flu but Strep. By midday Sunday I was completely miserable. I was in a lot of pain and I was still running a fever. I was burning up and yet I felt like the temperature in my house was 30 degrees. Plus I had completely lost my voice at this point, too. I wanted to curl up into a ball and die. So, in tears because of the pain I told (or whispered rather, since I couldn’t speak very well) Peter I wanted to see a doctor. This posed a couple of problems, however. First of all, we don’t have insurance. Second, the nearest town was Evanston, WY and they don’t have an Instacare or some other kind of clinic, only a hospital and emergency room. We also don’t hold a lot of faith with the doctors in Evanston, either. So Peter packed me into the Jeep and drove me two hours to Logan and the Instacare there. I spent most of the car ride curled up in the fetal position shivering even though we had no air conditioning in the car. That was a horribly long car ride. Those two hours seemed to stretch on forever.
Finally we made it to Logan and the doctor’s office. We signed in and I donned one of those lovely masks that made me think of photos I’d seen of Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace) visiting a foreign country…or maybe he was just having a bad nose day. Any ways, I finally got in to see a doctor and he took one look at me, asked me a few questions and then fled the room. Peter turned to me and said, “You scared him off!” He came back a few seconds later wearing his own mask. He went through a series of questions, looked at my eyes, ears, throat, etc. The usual doctor poking and prodding. Then he took a culture from my throat and my nose. A few minutes later he came back with the lab results: I had Strep just like I suspected, but I also had Swine Flu and my conjunctivitis was viral and not bacterial. Most likely a side effect of the Swine Flu. So he sent me on my merry way with a prescription of Tamiflu, an antibiotic for the Strep, and a narcotic-based cough syrup to help me sleep at night, as well as instructions to quarantine myself for about one week. The worst part of all is not that I was sick but the fact that before I had any idea I was ill I had been with Peter’s entire family. The time you are most contagious is the day before you start developing symptoms. I had no idea that while I was having a grand ol’ time and hugging every single member of Peter’s extended family I was subjecting them all to a big dose of Swine Flu. Worst of all I exposed several of his cousins who are under the age of 5 to it, as well as his pregnant sister, and his grandparents. It still makes me cringe just thinking about it. Worst possible time ever to have Swine Flu. I had no idea, though. I had no reason to even suspect Swine Flu. Peter had been sick the week before and it had wiped him out for a few days, but he was practically over it by the time the reunion came along. We figured he had caught the flu from his coworker who had had it a week before him. She had actually gone to see a doctor about it too, but they told her it wasn’t the Swine Flu, just the normal flu. Well, the doctor in Evanston didn’t even bother to do a culture and just gave her a prescription for high-strength Ibuprofen for the body aches. So once Peter and I found out what was ailing me, we made a few phone calls to spread the news and warn family that they had been exposed to “the piggy flu” as Peter and I like to call it.
So, a week later I’m now finally feeling a little more like my normal self. For a while there, I wanted to die, though. I have never felt more miserable in my life. I think it hit me so hard because my body was battling two very different infections. At least I survived it, though. I’m so happy to be back at work and interacting with people again. I love Peter and I appreciate everything he did for me while I was sick, but he was gone at work every day and I had nothing to entertain myself with while he was gone but books, and although I love to read it gets old after a few days. It was incredibly boring. We also had to reschedule our trip to Yellowstone because I was sick. I swear I’m never going to get to Yellowstone. Every time I’ve tried, something has come up. We’re going to shoot again in September for our Anniversary, but I won’t hold my breath.
I’m just glad that I was exposed to Swine Flu now instead of in the fall or winter during the normal flu season. It’s frustrating to deal with, and I felt awful having people cover for me at work. I feel like I’ve been a burden, but at least with this job I have sick leave so I don’t just have to eat it if I’m sick. Plus if I had gotten sick in the fall I would have missed work and school and it would have been a lot worse. So I’m counting my blessings that if I had to get sick, at least I got sick at a time when I could afford the trip to the doctor, and the time off.
But seriously…Swine Flu sucks.

It Just Keeps On Coming...

I just can't seem to escape dealing with crazy situations at the ranger station. Peter says I'm a magnet for them.

Two Saturdays ago I had just gotten home from a long day at the "office" when there was knock at my door. I figured it was one of the other seasonal employees popping by to say hi or give us a message, but instead there was a young man who I did not recognize. He introduced himself and told me he had been fishing at Butterfly Lake when he found an older man in the parking area who seemed to be suffering from dementia. The older man, who I hadn't noticed until this point, walked around from behind my Jeep and said, "I don't know where I am or how I got here." His voice kind of trembled as he said this. He was obviously upset, and with good reason. I would be, too. So I asked him if he knew who he was and where he lived. He remembered the former but not the latter. After explaining the situation to Peter (who joined me later at the ranger station due to the fact that he was taking a shower when the men showed up at my house), I took them both down to the ranger station to see what we could figure out. I listened again to what the younger gentleman told me and got his name and contact information, then I started again to try and get some kind of information from the older man. He honestly could not remember a thing about how he had gotten there or why. Luckily he had his cell phone with him. You don't get service up in the forest, but he had contact information in there. So after speaking with the man who I will refer to as "Bob", we called his ex-wife. She informed me that his brother had picked him up and taken him fishing that day. So our next question was, where was the brother? The ex-wife gave us the make/model/color of the vehicle the brother was driving and I then called our local law enforcement officer (LEO). I've had to call him a few times already this summer and his exact reaction on the phone when I introduced myself was, "*sigh* What is it now?" I laughed because I knew he was mostly joking...mostly. I explained the situation and he told me he would be there in about 45 minutes. So Peter and I (the younger man had left at this point) spent the next hour babysitting this man who was obviously not all there mentally. He had some pretty crazy stories though. He could remember his past pretty well, it was just the present that was full of holes. He told us about how he used to work in TV and radio and used to be incredibly successful (until of course his brain turned into Swiss cheese). He was apparently big into the drug scene back in the 60s (which explains a lot). He did everything from acid and pot to peyote. He also used to hang out a lot in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco back in its hippie hay-day. He told us lots of colorful stories about the women he had dated in his life, too.

Occasionally, throughout the evening he would stop mid-sentence and say, "Where am I? How did I get here? Am I in trouble? Am I in the mountains?!" We would have to explain again what the situation was, and that he wasn't in trouble and that we were trying to get him help. At one point he put his head in his hands and started to cry. It was really hard to watch and rather heartbreaking. I hope I never lose my mental faculties like that. There was a rather amusing point in the evening when he asked me and Peter if we were "going together". I told him we were married and he promptly shook Peter's hand and congratulated him on having such a pretty wife. That made my night. Although 20 minutes later he asked the same question and congratulated Peter again.

Finally our police officer arrived and started asking "Bob" all kinds of questions. He started checking a briefcase that "Bob" had brought with him looking for any prescription drugs that he might need to take. Instead he found a couple of ounces of marijuana. Peter and I had actually discovered it earlier, and would have informed the LEO about it if he hadn't found it. "Bob" was distraught over being caught with weed, but I highly doubt they would press any charges against a man who probably couldn't even remember buying the drug. Finally "Bob" was taken away back to his home in Salt Lake. It was 9:30 p.m. at this point and Peter and I were exhausted, but for the next few days we couldn't stop laughing about the whole thing.

In other news, I had an injured Great Horned Owl in the basement of the ranger station for a day. Some campers found it and brought it in. It had somehow broken its wing, so we had to look after it for a while until our wildlife officers could come pick it up. It was really cool to see such a beautiful creature up close. I felt bad for the poor thing, though. I'm sure it was in pain. Unfortunately its wing was so badly broken and it had lost a lot of blood, so when the wildlife officers showed up they had to euthanize it. It was depressing, but part of life. At least it's no longer in pain. My coworker was pretty shook up about it, though. She loves animals probably more than I do, and is actually planning on going into zoology or wildlife biology.

My family and Peter's family came up for the 4th of July and we had a really good time hiking and fishing. I didn't get to go because I had to work, but I got to join up with them later for a barbecue and volleyball. It was nice to spend some time with my family and I hope they all had a good time.

I'm sad that's it's July, though. It means my summer is half over. It's going by so fast! I love my job and where I live. I'll be really sad when we move back to Logan, but at least I have school to look forward to. I'm finally getting back after a 6 year hiatus. Woo hoo! It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm looking forward to it.

Well, that's all for now from my neck of the woods *snigger*, and remember kiddies...don't do drugs...or you'll end up like "Bob".

Never a Dull Moment

Holy crap this month has been crazy! Brace yourselves for a long one, folks.

A lot has been going on. I turned 26 on the 8th of June. I am now closer to 30 than 20. It’s kind of depressing. I spent my birthday with my family which is always the best way to spend it, in my opinion. Peter and I drove down to Bountiful and went to Hogle Zoo with my parents, my brother Danny, my sister Michelle and her one-year old, Riley. I haven’t been to the zoo in years so I really enjoyed myself. Riley seemed to be enjoying the zoo a lot, too…at least up until she had a bad experience with an elephant. There’s a new exhibition for the elephants at the zoo, and out in front is a big elephant statue. It makes snoring sounds like it’s asleep until someone moves in front of its trunk. Then it starts emanating a noise that sounds like a trumpet, but in a rhythm to resemble sneezing, after which it sprays water out at the person who happens to be standing in front of it. Well, we didn’t know that it did that, and my father put poor Riley’s face right up in front of the trunk so she could touch it and hear the noise, and well…I’m sure you can guess what happened. I’m not sure who felt worse: Riley or her poor grandpa. My dad felt horrible because it made her cry. The whole situation was kind of funny, though.

After the zoo I met up with my in-laws who took me and Peter out to dinner. We went to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square. It’s one of my favorites and I was having a craving for Mezythra. I always have a lot of fun with my husband’s family, especially his brothers. They’re a riot.

My mother turned the big 50 on the 10th, and unfortunately I had to miss it. I had to spend her birthday sitting in seasonal orientation meetings all day. That was not so much fun. Orientation is a lot of bureaucratic drivel with emphasis on safety and appropriate/inappropriate behaviors while working for the Forest Service, and everyone has to attend. Not only was it boring, but it was really cold. It has been raining just about every single day up here, and because of that it has been exceptionally colder than usual. Orientation was held at the fairgrounds but the little building we were in had no heat. Bernard, one of the permanent staff and a really nice guy who looks like Grizzly Adams, must have noticed me shivering because he gave me the liner to his hunting poncho to keep me warm. It actually helped quite a bit, because like I said, it was COLD. I did have several people giggling at me because I was the only person there bundled up in a camouflage poncho, but at least I was a lot more comfortable.

The one nice thing about orientation is that you get to mingle with lots of people who you would normally not interact with. Not from a personal choice, at least on my part, but because it’s a big forest and everyone has different jobs to do. All I have to say is that there are a lot of characters working for the F.S. That’s one reason I love my job. I get to meet some really interesting people.

Thursday night after the last day of orientation we had a little mini-potluck at my house. We had a few of the seasonal guys over who live in the bunk houses and we ate all kinds of tasty food including road kill.

Yeah…I’m not kidding.

One of the guys on the rec (recreation) crew brought some stew that he had made, and it was absolutely delicious. I was happily through half of my bowl when he announced that the meat in the stew was venison from a fawn they had accidentally hit with one of their trucks. I of course had just put a big spoonful of stew in my mouth when he said this and it took some effort to swallow it down without gagging. I finished my bowl of stew so as not to offend him, but I didn’t go back for seconds. He got a big kick out of feeding us road kill, I think. Like I said…we have a lot of characters on the forest…and that stew really was the tastiest stew I have ever had…even if it was a little redneck.

In other news, Peter now has his red card (and his $400 smoke jumper boots finally arrived too, happy birthday, Peter) so he can help fight forest fires if we ever have one on our district. The way the weather is going, though, it seems unlikely. We have a lot of dead pine trees due to the mountain pine beetle epidemic, but everything has been so wet that the threat is low. The only thing I can see happening is if later in the summer it gets really hot and all the lush green plants, which are growing now because of all the rain, dry up. That could be a problem.

Speaking of the ranger station…I’ve had quite a bit of excitement recently. First of all we had two bear sightings that I had to call the district ranger about, and then last Sunday there was an unfortunate incident that I had to call the police about. I won’t go into specifics here, but the phone call I made had to do with accusations of child abuse. Not a fun phone call. I got an hour and a half of overtime because of it, too. I couldn’t close the ranger station at the normal time because I had several officers using it as their base of operation where they took statements and such. Then later that day, after I was finally able to close up and work on some paperwork to turn in my money for the week, I heard a knock at the backdoor which was really odd. The only people who use the backdoor are employees and they all have keys. So I cautiously unlocked and opened the door to see a woman about my age holding a fawn in her arms.

My instant thought was, “Oh dear (no pun intended) here we go…”

And what did she have to say?

“Hi! I found this baby deer by my cabin!”

*sigh* Instant headache.

I had this very same thing happen last summer when a Boy Scout leader brought in a fawn he had found out in the woods. I told this woman the same thing I told him. Deer often leave their fawns lying in grass or vegetation while they forage for food. Go put it back where you found it.

I don’t think the woman realized that she had signed the poor little baby’s death warrant. Hopefully the mother deer will find her baby and will still accept it even though it has human scent all over it. I doubt it though. The woman had good intentions, but unfortunately her ignorance probably killed that deer.

This Saturday was just as crazy. I had several opportunities to use my first aid skills. The first incident was a young man who came into the ranger station and the first thing he said was, “Is there someone here who could drive me to the hospital?” That’s usually not a good way to start a sentence. I asked him what was wrong, and then noticed his hand that was wrapped up in a shirt. He then told me he had cut his hand pretty badly when he fell on his machete. Luckily for him he hurt himself on the same day we were having the annual Over the Top bike race that starts in Kamas and ends in Evanston, and there were a couple of ambulances already up here. He had driven himself to the ranger station but was in no condition to drive himself further because he was feeling pretty shaky and woozy. So I drove him up to the ambulance that was sitting conveniently two miles up the highway. Later that afternoon things got even crazier. The weather turned pretty ugly during the bike race, and I got a radio call telling me they were sending several hypothermic cyclists my way. You’d think that the 20th of June would be a nice sunny day, but no…it was raining and sleeting with temperatures in the 40s. It was cold. So I had several wet, shivering cyclists in my ranger station trying to warm up. I scavenged towels and blankets from my cabin for them to use and gave them all warm beverages to drink until they were picked up and taken into town by shuttles, Forest Service employees, or police officers. What a great way to celebrate the first day of summer, eh? I'm pretty tired of all this rain we've been having. We've had only one day this month that was sunny and warm. Most days its been in the 50s and 60s and raining/hailing/snowing. It's been insane!

Aside from all the craziness and weather I'm still enjoying myself. There's certainly no end to excitment around here, that's for sure!

Hurray! It's June!

I don't have any pictures this week because my camera is being stupid and keeps telling me my battery is low when I put brand new, fresh batteries in it. I guess I need to invest in a new camera this summer. I really wish it was working because we've had these crazy thunderstorms every day for the past week or so and the effect of misty clouds in the mountains, and wet green leaves made me want to take pictures of all the beauty I am surrounded with this summer. I am so lucky to be where I am.

I've been working at the ranger station for about two weeks now. It's been awfully slow. It's still a little chilly up here and the highway is closed because of snow. I can't tell you how many people I've had come into the ranger station and ask me whether or not the highway was truly closed. I bit my tongue and withheld my snarky comment, "No...the dozens of signs you passed coming up to the ranger station saying "Highway closed!" were there just to mess with you. We lied. Go right ahead and drive yourself into a snow bank!" I'm not a mean person, or at least I don't like to think I am, so I would politely tell them that it was indeed closed further ahead because we are at a higher elevation (the Bear River Ranger Station sits at 8,444 feet above see level, and the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway reaches somewhere around 10,000) and there is still snow on the highway further up. They'd then get annoyed like I purposefully put the snow there just to spite them and mutter, "I drove all the way from Salt Lake for nothin'!" Well, that's your fault for not planning ahead. Not mine. I have no control over the weather, nor do I have control over UDOT and when they plan to plow the highway.

My supervisor told me a story about a man who had called her and told her about a beaver that was building a dam in the Stillwater Fork up by Christmas Meadows. He then asked her if we just let the beavers build their dams wherever they want to.

No. the beavers must first sign a petition to receive a permit and then submit their blueprints for their plan.

Of course the beavers can build their dams wherever they want! As long as they're not flooding any buildings or campgrounds they can do whatever they want! They're beavers!

People sometimes don't think before they open their mouths.

This last week I've been busy training the new girl who will be staffing the ranger station along with me. She's 19 years old and I unfortunately don't have much in common with her. She's easily bored and fills up the empty time with lots of chatter about whatever comes into her head. I find myself saying things like, "Uh huh...yeah...alright...huh" a lot. She's a nice enough girl, though, but I miss Sharon who I worked with last summer.

Peter has been busy with all kinds of odd jobs. I call him their Random Task Man because they send him off to do random things all the time. Last week he was looking for Northern Goshawk nests. These birds look like this:

They're mean birds and they will let you know if you get anywhere near their nest because they'll either attack you or shriek at you. They're an indicator species though and so it's important to know if they're in your forest. Peter found three in one week and showed me one that was actually occupied. The female had eggs she was incubating so she was trying to go unnoticed but she had her red eyes focused on us the entire time we were there.

So Peter hasn't actually done anything "timber" related yet this year. This week he's in Huntsville, UT going to fire school this week. He left me to fend for myself in the woods. It's kind of lonely up here without him.

We've had a lot of couples move up this week. One young married couple is occupying the cabin next to ours and we've made friends with them. We've had barbecues a few times and last Sunday we got together with them and another retired couple, who are volunteering for the Forest Service, and played games. It was a lot of fun. One nice thing about this couple is that they're from Logan, too. So hopefully we'll keep in touch even after the summer is over.

That's pretty much all that's going on right now. We're still alive and doing well, and so far this summer looks like it's going to be a blast!