Grades

Got my grades, and surprise (no, really, I am surprised!):
Physiology: A-
Invert. Zoo.: A
Seminar: A
Conditioning: S
Dance: S

Booyah, I'm a satisfactory dancer :P
And thank God, I passed physiology with a good grade. Look out anatomy!

This made me happy (yay xkcd!)

Finals, booyah

So it seems I never have time to blog when I want to, and instead obsess over school... hmm, such is life. Anywho. It was an interesting finals/dead week. I wonder why God decides to let the major things happen at the times we're so stressed out. Perhaps to make us realize there are things more important than school?

I dunno.

Either way, in the past month I've become good friends with a 'friend' I've known for a good year and a half. Funny how that happens. Not funny, however, is the fact that we only have a semester left and then are going to opposite ends of the world for grad school... why? I wish I knew...

In other news: this is the first semester when I really don't know what grades I'm going to get. Despite the panic I display, I'm actually fairly calm about this. Maybe it's senioritius, maybe I'm distracted, maybe I'm chilling out... who knows. But 5 lab semester, here I come! Prepare to have your butt kicked by one determined little girl.

Perfect Sunday

It's foggy today
Shrouds of mist
Hovering over houses
A college town
So strangely still
Noises and voices muffled

Reading Isaiah, realizing
That God is really God
He is the only Rock
I know not any other
Praying in the quiet

Walks in the enchanted fog
Gnomes are watching
From great tree stumps
Weepuls riding quail
Twisted trees are still

Wet branches tickle the air
Wet leaves and mud
At the edge of the hill
Pullman is gone
The universe is whizzing by
Shrouded in the fog

I never thought the universe would be so loud

Yay!

I've been e-mailing a professor at University of Otago for quite awhile now, and hadn't heard back from him for over a month. I kinda forgot/gave up recently... ok, yesterday actually, and today God gave me a little tap on the shoulder and said "Hey, I've got plans for you, don't forget that so fast, you silly girl."

Well, not in so many words, but I did get an e-mail from the professor today that said, among other things, that I seem like a strong candidate, and he would be interested in supervising me. Also, by 2010 he will still be doing work on the kakapo and kea, and would not rule out work on the kiwi "if the right candidate and project came along."

Definitely need to keep praying about this one :)

Since no one reads this blog anyway....

So, chickens. I like chickens. And farm stores. And wool gloves. And the smell of hay. And woolly cows. And horses with big hairy feet. And horses with small hooves. Ok, horses in general. And Carhart hats. In other words: I should have been born on a farm. Oh, and emus!

Anyway, that said I went to a wonderful farm store in Lewiston today and have decided that unlike most people of my age and gender and status in life, I love feed stores a million times more than I like malls. I think I want to move to the country someday soon... and so Em begins to dream, and if you read this... props?

LORD WILLING, My Life:

Once I graduate with my bachelor's degree I want to work in research for at least a semester and a summer to see how I like it, and what kind I like. After this I would fly to New Zealand (Dunedin, University of Otago) where I would get my master's degree with a focus on the conservation of endangered island birds. Hopefully the kakapo, kea, or kiwi :) Depending on how much I like the country, how the US is doing, who I meet, job options, etc. I may stay in NZ or come back to the US.

Either way, I will spend my days traveling and doing research (hopefully with the IUCN or through another conservation union or university), writing and publishing papers, maybe writing some other books too, being the best witness I can be to fellow biologists, and probably not have very many pets during this time.

Once my wandering days are over (ha!) I hope to settle down either in a smallish community, or on the outskirts of a city and work at a university or zoo/wildlife park. I guess the good thing about conservation research is that as long as people care it will always be going on, so finding a job in it shouldn't be too difficult. And with research, you can do it forever (unlike heavy lifting :P)

I admit fully that I am a home-body so I will definitly settle down. But this home will be wonderful! Small house, one story with a loft... and a swing inside. But a big yard and barn where I can keep my scottish highlander, shire horse, innumerable chickens, ducks (add a pond to the list), cats, emu, and donkey. The sun conure will stay in the greenhouse/porch of my house. The cats will be indoor/outdoor because as much as I hate the hunting part, it's wrong to keep a cat cooped up all the time (but I love it when they sleep on you).

Yeah, and ya know, I wouldn't mind doing most of this with a wonderful, Christian, animal/biology loving, (tall), man. But that's something I have decided is a bit more difficult to think about than animals and research, things so straightforward, so unlikely to mess with your emotions. Not to say I'm cynical, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart. But I'm leaving this one up to God to suprise me with.

That said, I get the feeling my Lord is planning a lot of surprises for this type A control freak, and I'm looking forward to see what his mind, in its infinite wisdom and love, has in store for me.

I have no idea how I got here by starting with chickens, but hey :)

Struck by Thunder

It was a dark and stormy night... no, really, it was. Actually, it began as a hot and sunny day which was clouded over with dust and smoke from the harvesting of the Palouse fields. But then the clouds' positive and negative charges decided to argue, or maybe Zeus just got mad, or something like that and in came the massive billowing gray storm clouds. The lightning began soon after, which Janna, Liz, Phil, and I watched from the windows as it streaked and branched through the evening's dark gray skies. And then came my slightly eccentric idea to go up to Thompson lawn to get a better view.

After a bit of a detour through the XA house to pick up a few more crazy and willing participants for our expedition, Brian and Snook joined us. We were able to lay out on the thick green lawn for about 5 minutes of crackling lightning and thunderous thunder before the rain began. We sat there and got wet for all of a minute until it began to rain in earnest and Snook casually mentioned we could go into Carpenter. That did it, and thus began the pell mell beeline for dryness, with Brian snapping pictures the whole way.

We ended up on the 4th floor (after a damp elevator ride) and watched some more lightning. It all became a bit confusing after this and in conclusion we were joined by Mr. Phil Aasen hanging from a tree...

Because it was a slightly warm pouring rain a dance party soon ensued out in the lawn. Janna concluded that the hokie pokie induced the best lightning of the slightly purple sort, so of course we hokie pokied in the rain. I mean really? Why not? And to add to the 'why not' part, the sprinklers came on so we ran through them and got even wetter. I must say, dancing through sprinklers and throwing water from your hair at screaming friends in the pouring rain in the dark of night to the sound of thunder overhead. The semester couldn't have started off any better than that.