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!