It's Not a Chipmunk

It certainly looks like one though, doesn't it?

 (click to enlarge)

No, this cute little critter is a golden-mantled ground squirrel.  How can I tell the difference?  Well, for one, it's much bigger than a chipmunk, and the coloring is a little different.  Identifying wildlife is one of my favorite things to do, and I'm lucky enough to live in places where I can see a lot of wildlife.

I spotted this little guy tonight while he was romping around in my backyard.  There is a huge window above my kitchen sink that overlooks the backyard, and I was doing the dishes this evening when I saw him.  Recently the weather here has been absolutely divine with temperatures in the upper 70s.  Apparently this guy decided it was nice enough to come out and sample the tasty spring vegetation.

I haven't seen much wildlife yet this season.  Just a few hawks, some deer, a coyote, a yellow-bellied marmot, and a fox, but I have been told that Crested Butte has a huge bear problem.  In fact, there is a story that one actually got into the house I'm living in once.  Everyone here has bear-proof garbage cans.  I'd really like to see a bear, but only if I'm inside my house...and it's not.

Home...for Now

It has been pure chaos around here for the last few weeks.  Peter finally graduated on May 8th and it was one of the happiest days of my life!  I felt like I accomplished something even though it was really Peter who did.  We went to the College of Natural Resources commencement instead of the HUGE university one which I'm much happier about.  It was smaller, shorter, and more intimate, I think.  Peter got to walk with his nifty Xi Sigma Pi sash which is the national forestry honors society.  Having that little baby actually bumps his pay grade up significantly with the Forest Service, so I'm glad he was able to earn it.  He was also the only person to graduate with a degree in forestry this spring, too.  I had a hard time holding back the tears as I watched Peter accept his diploma...well, the fake one any ways.  He'll get the real deal sometime in June.  I tried to get a photo of him accepting his diploma from the dean, but my hands were shaking and the lighting was dark and I didn't get a good photo.  I'm hoping someone else in my family did.

Peter and me in front of Old Main.

Once an Aggie...always an Aggie.

That day was great, but in the midst of it all we were in the process of packing up our little apartment in Logan.  The following day, Mother's Day, we had to get everything packed into the moving truck.  We had some awesome helpers like Peter's little brother, Adam, who helped us the entire day.  My visiting teachers were also troopers who took time out of their day to come help me, as well as my little sister, Michelle and her husband Randy.  Their help has not gone unappreciated and we honestly could not have gotten it all done in one day without them!  We left Logan, for good it seems, that evening, and I'm glad I had to drive the Jeep alone because I think I cried the entire time.  It was hard to say goodbye.  I have fond memories and experiences in Logan, and I have made good friends who I will miss terribly.  We spent the night at my in-laws and, despite my exhaustion, I didn't get much sleep.  I developed an acute case of the flu, or some other equally miserable bug, and I spent the entire night worshiping the porcelain throne and shaking with fever.  I was miserable, but Peter was so tired he slept through it all.  I'm glad he at least got some sleep.  5:00 a.m. came awfully early the next day, and we had to get up to make the drive to Colorado.  I was feeling better, or at least I was no longer puking, but I was so weary that I could barely stand.  I couldn't duck out of driving responsibilities, though,  because Peter had to drive the truck while I followed in the Jeep.  I seriously contemplated staying behind, and that probably would have been the wise thing to do, but I was stubborn and wanted to get it over and done with, so I hiked up my skirts and got to it.  It was a rough day, but we managed to keep each other awake with the help of hand-held radios.

Finally, we made it to Gunnison, Colorado.  We got a quick tour of the ranger station from Peter's supervisor, and then he took us up to the house in the town of Crested Butte where we will be staying until we can find a more permanent place...or until the end of June, whichever comes first.  He was kind enough to even help us unload everything from the moving truck!  That night Peter and I were so tired that we both sat in silence as we forced ourselves to eat some dinner.  We were too tired to talk and almost too tired to eat.  Our first priority that day was getting the bed set up, which was a good plan because we both just passed out around 9:00 p.m.  I slept like the dead, I was so tired.  The next day, Peter had to be up at 5:30 to report to his new job.  He came home that evening and we crashed again around 9:00.  That's pretty much been our schedule ever since.  We didn't have internet for about a week, but thankfully we have it up and running now.  It's helping to keep me sane considering I don't have a job...and my prospects don't look good.  The ranger station where Peter reports to has an open information receptionist position that I applied for.  I hoped that my experience working as an information receptionist and collection officer for the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest would give me an advantage, but yesterday I received some disheartening news that several veterans also applied for the job, and unless they're grossly under-qualified, they get preferential hiring treatment.  It sucks, and I'm annoyed, but there's nothing I can do about it.  That's just the way the system works.  It makes me want to go out and join the Peace Corps just so I can have vet status, though.

Any ways, Crested Butte is an interesting little place.  It's a ski town high up in the mountains.  Our house sits at just under 9,000 feet above sea level.  I didn't really notice the altitude difference much (Logan is a little over 4,500), but I did when I tried to go jogging on the one sunny day we've had the whole time we've been here!  It has snowed just about every single day.  The only other thing I can notice is that food cooks faster up here, and I get these insane nose bleeds out of the blue.  It's been a bit of an adjustment, but not too bad I suppose.

All in all, I would say I enjoy living in the Crested Butte/Gunnison area.  I've been told it gets seriously cold here in the winter, though.  In fact, according to Wikipedia, which we know to be the source of all truth on the internet, it is the coldest spot in the lower 48 states.  That makes me pretty nervous.  I hope I can survive.  I also hope I can find a decent job somewhere in this little town.  I'm nervous about that, too, because Peter's job only runs for six months of the year.  I need to be able to eat the other six months as well, so I've got to find something, I guess.  Any ways...here are some pictures that I took for your ocular enjoyment.  I miss and love you all!

My little house...for now.

The view of Mt. Crested Butte from my house.

Elk Avenue, kind of the downtown area of C.B.

Another view of Mt. Crested Butte.

Mt. Crested Butte again...

...and the view of C.B. from the highway.

Baby Animal Days

This post is long overdue, but I've found myself profoundly busy recently. Ever since I moved to Logan I have wanted to go to the annual Baby Animal Days festival held at the American West Heritage Center. For one reason or another I have not been able to attend until this spring. This year I was also lucky enough to have two nieces to take. My sisters, my mother, and Peter also came along. We had a good time, and the weather actually cooperated. I think it was actually warmer then than it has been recently. I'm mostly glad that I was finally able to go before I move away to Colorado. I'm really going to miss my family, and these memories will always be priceless to me.

My mom, Michelle, Ella, and Riley

Ponies!

These kids had just been born the night before.

More baby goats!

Riley petting a goat.

Sarah and Ella.

Michelle and Riley petting a calf.

Riley trying to pick up a piglet.

I love lambs. I think they're precious.

Riley must take after me a litte because

she LOVES horses.

Randy trying to get Riley to wear her bear mask.

Beautiful vaulting horses with the beautiful

mountains of Cache Valley as a backdrop.

Probably the biggest attraction of all at Baby Animal Days was the baby bear. It really was too cute for words so I took a video of it.

Rocky Mountain High

Peter has been looking for a job ever since he started his senior year of college in August 2009.  He spent numerous hours attending conventions and meetings to hopefully get his name and resume out there.  By March we were both feeling very frustrated and dejected because he hadn't found a job yet.  My concerns were steadily growing as I looked at the student loan debt and wondered what we were going to do about it if he didn't have a job when we needed to start making payments on them.

One day out of the blue, Peter received a phonecall from the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest.  They had seen his resume at the Society of American Foresters convention in September and wanted to know if he would be interested in applying for the Lead Forestry Technician position that they had available.  Peter was, of course, interested in the job, and after nearly a month of holding our breath and wondering whether or not he got the position, we finally got word on Thursday.  He got the job, and we've been celebrating ever since!

As most of you have noticed, there has been a poll on my blog for the last few weeks.  Only one person guessed correctly that we would be moving to Colorado, and that was my coworker Jennifer!  I'm so glad her guess was correct, and that we won't be going to the Poor House instead!

Although this job is a career position that comes with benefits, it is what they call a 13/13 which means he is guaranteed work for 13 of the 26 pay periods in a year.  That's only half, but they will most likely keep him working as long as they can.  It all depends on the snow.  It's a step in the right direction, though.  He's required to stay at this position for two years and then he can apply non-competatively to other positions.  The biggest trick to the Forest Service is getting your foot in the door.  Peter has finally accomplished that and hopefully after he has worked for two years we can find a more permanent year-round job.

Now the real work begins.  We have only three more weeks of classes and finals before Peter graduates on May 8th, and then he is supposed to report to his job on May 11th.  Graduation weekend is going to be crazy busy, and all of my free time between now and then is going to be consumed with packing.  Thankfully we don't have to worry about finding a place to live immediately because they have Forest Service housing that we can stay in until we get settled.  We're both very excited about our upcoming adventure, and if any of you ever want to come to Colorado, you'll have a place to stay!

Spring Break

I've been meaning to post the pictures from my spring break trip to Tucson, AZ, but all of my professors decided to have exams this week so I've been a little preoccupied.  Peter and I had a great time in Tucson visiting our friends, Jack and Jaime.  The weather was wonderful.  It was 85 degrees most of the days we were there, and I'm really missing it now since we've had one of our wonderful Utah spring snow storms and the temperature has plummeted to the 30s.  I know some people got to go to exotic locations like Hawaii or Cancun for spring break, but our trip to Tucson was still fun and relaxing.

Our first day in Tucson we had brunch at a little cafe in Tohono Chul Park.  Afterwards we walked around the garden which displayed pretty much every species of cactus in Arizona.

Jack and Jaime

This little guy decided to join us for brunch

This guy also came to visit, but I didn't get

a very good picture of him.  It's called a

Pyrrhuloxia which are a member of the

cardinal family.

The next day we decided to go for a hike on Mt. Lemon which is part of a mountain range just north of Tucson.  From there we got a great view of the city of Tucson and surrounding valley from Windy Point.  It was indeed windy.

Jack and Peter at Windy Point

We drove a little further up the mountain and actually found snow!  Jack and Jaime had a lot of fun playing in it, but Peter and I were less than impressed.  We came to Tucson to get away from the snow, so we drove back down a ways to go for a hike out of the snow.

Jack and Jaime enjoying the snow

My handsome hiker!

Our last day in Tucson we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  I thought that this was going to be some kind of stuffy indoor museum full of stuffed animals and artifacts, but to my surprise it was an outdoor museum full of live animals that are native to Arizona.  Jack, Jaime, and Peter had a good time making fun of me when I said, "You mean they're alive?!"  Apparently this museum is one of the biggest attractions in Arizona.  Second only to the Grand Canyon, of course.  One of the exhibits they had at the museum was a bird show where they had several native species of birds of prey fly around just over our heads.  It was pretty cool.

A Chihuahuan and Common Raven

Ferruginous Hawk

I had a hard time getting more pictures of the birds because they were too busy flying around.  After the show we toodled around the museum and looked at the rest of the animals.  Here are some of my favorites:

This is a Javelina which is a pig-like critter

Coyote

Gila Monster, which are venomous if you didn't know

Screech Owl

Squirrel!!!  He wasn't really part of the museum,

but he thought he should be

Sleeping grey fox

The southern end of a north bound Ocelot

One of my favorite animals in the world...otters!

Bighorn Sheep

Mexican Wolf

A cardinal

Prairie Dog...he's so fat he has a bum roll

I had been saying the entire time we were in Tucson

that I wanted to see a Roadrunner.  I finally saw one,

but it was running around so much I had a hard time

getting a picture of the silly thing!

My favorite exhibit at the museum was the humminbird enclosure.  They're such fascinating, and beautiful little things.  One of my favorite stories about hummingbirds is the one where Peter was out working in the woods one day, and a hummingbird mistook his bright orange hardhat for a flower.  It buzzed around his head and tapped his helmet with its beak making a loud, "TINK, TINK" noise.

This nest actually has a little baby in it if you can see it.

I had a really hard time getting my camera to focus on

this little guy, but you can still make out the beautiful

vibrant colors of its feathers.

That evening Jack and Jaime threw a barbeque for us with some of the other people we know in Tucson.  We had a great time, but the next day we had to pack up and head back to cold, snowy Utah.  It was kind of depressing to leave them and the warm weather, but it's always good to be home.

Pika! Pika!

I had to create a visual art project for a class I'm taking this semester, and it took me a while to come up with something. Finally, I sat down and said to myself, "Laura, what are your favorite things to draw?" Well, I came up with two subjects: people and wildlife. I haven't done any wildlife projects recently so I decided to go in that direction. After a few more minutes I settled on one of my favorite animals...the Pika (pronounced pee-kah). It's an adorable little animal that belongs to the same order as rabbits. They're about the size of a guinea pig and they live in rocky, mountainous terrain. During the summer months they gather plants and grasses and leave them in little "haystacks" near their rocky den to dry. They then live off of their food storage during the winter. They're rather rare to see, but I was fortunate enough to see one a few years ago when I was on a hike in the Uintas with Peter and my father-in-law. We were scrambling over some scree when Peter got too close to a Pika's den. The little critter came out and started chirping at him. It was really funny and amazing to see. They're eccentric little animals and I love them, but sadly they, like the polar bear, are threatened by climate change and the encroachment of humans, making them even more rare. Because of this, U.S. Fish and Wildlife is actually trying to get protected status for them under the Endangered Species Act.


It didn't take me long to complete my project, just a couple of hours, and it was done using oil pastels which is a medium I have never used before. It didn't allow me to get a lot of detail, but I loved the creamy texture. It's certainly a medium I will play around with more in the future.

Beep, Beep!

Earlier this week Peter and I received our federal tax return, so we decided to use part of it to pay off what we owed on our Jeep.  We really only had a couple of payments left, but it's nice to have it completely paid off. Now we are a couple of hundred dollars richer every month, which is money that we can use to spend on wholesome, nutritious food which eats up a big chunk of our budget every month.  Before we could get by on $50 a week, but now we spend $100 or more.  It sucks, but that's the price of real food and not chemicals and processed garbage...any ways, I digress.

My Jeep may not be fancy or new, but she's a tough ol' gal whose gotten us around over the years.  She's required some special love and attention at times (we've probably replaced every single component of the cooling system over the last few years), but she's been pretty reliable.  What boggles my mind the most is that Peter and I have been together long enough to buy and pay off two cars already.  The poor Camaro threw a rod in the engine after we'd only had it for three years, and it sat in my very patient in-laws driveway for years while we still made payments on it.  We paid that one off about two years ago, and we just had the Jeep left, but now that one's paid for, too!  It's crazy how time flies!

The day we bought our Jeep, April 2005