Quick update. Smallville is on in 5 minutes! Christmas was good. It was also sad because I was away from my family, but that is one sacrifice you have to make when you get married. The Zoo has been good. I am feeding dolphins everyday and loving it. They all have thier unique personalities and it is fun to learn about them. I'll write more someday when I have more time.

Today was my first day at the Minnesota Zoo. I kinda got thrown into some stuff, but I was perfectly fine with that. It meant a lot of animal feeding on my first day. There is one dolphin, Ayla who wouldn't eat. When I was working with another trainer with her, she would station by me, so the trainer had me feed her some. Then she went weird again and wouldn't eat. Then they had me try later, trying to feed her from the front of the pool. At the last feeding they had me feed Semo, a 43 year old male (that's a really old dolphin) without anyone even looking over my shoulder. At first it just entailed feeding him fish and ice cubes and making eye contact because Semo really thrives from eye contact. During the second part they let me play catch with him also. So I would throw the football out and he would retreive it. It was cool. I also did sound for the show and loaded and unloaded about 20 SCUBA tanks. I still stink like fish!

Well, it is finished. I am a college graduate, a CMU alumnus. I don't think it has really hit me. Even walking in the ceremony...it went by so fast and then it was over. Yesterday we moved to Minnesota. I am SOOOOO grateful for my mom and Ryan's parents for helping us pack, move, and clean. It was a bigger project then we expected. Even driving to Minnesota, I kept saying, "On the way home..." Then I would remember it was a one way trip and there won't be a trip home. Currently Ryan is cleaning out his old bedroom and throwing stuff away, giving some to goodwill, and organizing other stuff. As you can tell, I am working hard sitting at the computer. Just a minute ago I had a cute kitty sitting with me here. I should probably get some stuff done now. It'll be another long and hard day moving and unpacking.

Today was an emotional day. I took my last exam and turned in my last paper. So, I am done with college. I am really excited to be done. But, I also had to say goodbye to all of my friends here which of course was sad. There were so many people that meant a lot to me, so it sucks saying goodbye. Many of us ate a La Senoritas tonight which was fun. I almost didn't want to say goodbye. I wanted to sneak out...it would have been easier that way. It was cute; when I cried saying goodbye, my mom cried too. She is so empathetic. We were driving away from La's and I was just thanking God how grateful I am to have such an amazing group of friends. I will miss them dearly. To any of you reading this...I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY TIME AT CMU UNFORGETTABLE.

P.S. If you want to check out where I will be the website is www.mnzoo.org. AND one of the dolphins is pregnant so maybe I can see another dolphin baby.

I am a blessed woman. I was just offered the internship at the Minnesota Zoo. It isn't paid and I have to commute about an hour, but I get to work with the most amazing animals again. Jenny from the block, I mean zoo, called me today and basically said, "We want to offer you the internship." It was the easiest job I ever got. No interview or anything. She was recently at Brookfield Zoo for a week acclimating a new dolphin so she knows how hectic it is there. She said MN Zoo wasn't nearly as hectic. There is a lot more time to hang around the pool and play with the dolphins. You won't see me complaining. I will be working 5 days a week for 8 hours a day. I am starting either Dec. 22 or the 28th. I will find out on Wednesday. Thank you all for your prayers. It's nice to know we finally have a concrete destination.

This is a time of "lasts". Yesterday was my last InterVarsity Bible study. Today is my last day of college classes. Tomorrow will be my last IV Open House, meaning it will be the last day I see a lot of people that mean a great deal to me. I guess this is what happens when you graduate.

This weekend Ryan and I went to Chicago with Allyn, her boyfriend Paul, Paul's sister Anna, and her husband Curtis. We looked at all the beautiful decorations and went into some stores, but nobody really bought much. We wanted to go ice skating at Mellinium Park, but the line to get skates was INSANE! It was a nice time, having my last horrah with Allyn before I leave.

Tomorrow I have my last mouth surgery before I can actually get my tooth back in. It's about time. Amy Brewster is driving me down at like 6:30 in the morning. It's like a 2 hour drive for a 15 min. surgery. Dumb. Then at Open House for IV I have to give my senior sendoff speech, where I instill my "wisdom" on others. Yeah right. What wisdom?

I did hear from Minnesota Zoo. That is for the internship, so it's the last one I want, but I will still be happy to take it if nothing else comes along. I have to talk to the woman again tomorrow so I'll keep you updated.

Well, I should probably go to class now. Last Psych. class ever! Woot woot!

I have officially been diagnosed with Senioritis. At least I only have a week and a half weeks of classes left. At least it didn't kick in weeks ago. I just don't want to do ANYTHING school related. I did finish one book and I am about 30 pages away from finishing Harry Potter 3 and I got some Christmas presents completed. So I'm not being a complete bum. Just a bum about my school work.

Let's see if I still remember what has been going on in my life...
1. Got my first A on a Dr. Gillingham exam. It took me 1 1/2 semesters, but hey, I finally got one.
2. For Thanksgiving, Ryan and I went up to the Traverse City area to visit Josh, Amy, and Amy's family. It was a relaxing time and it was really nice to see them.
3. The first snow fell on Wednesday. I guess 200 cars went in the ditch. My friend, James, was in a really bad car accident, but I haven't heard how he is doing. I know the girl he was driving got killed. Keep him and the girl's family in your prayers, even though I don't know the details.
4. Still no job.
5. Packing sucks. I feel like I've packed a zillion boxes, but the apartment doesn't look any more empty.
6. O.k. There is the movie "Andre" about a girl and a sea lion. However, in the whole movie they call it a seal. It irked me the WHOLE movie, but at the end it showed clips of the real Andre, who was in fact a Harbor Seal, not a Sea Lion. But, they should have put a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie saying "We are using a sea lion to film, but calling it a seal in the movie to show respect to the real Andre. But be aware that there is a difference." But, of course they didn't, leading everyone to call sea lions, seals. FYI: Sea lions can rotate their hind legs forward and walk on all fours and have external ear flaps. Seals can't rotate their hind legs forward so they move like an inch worm and they don't have external ear flaps. They have holes in thier head that look like ears. NOW...don't call a sea lion a seal infront of me. It's almost as bad as calling a dolphin a fish. (getting off my pulpit now)

I turn 23 today. I swear I was just celebrating my 13th birthday. Now I am five weeks away from graduating from college, looking for a "real job". Where has the time gone?

I heard from one job place, however, I'm kind of confused. Today my animal behavior class went to the Detroit Zoo. On the way home I was taking a nap, and the phone rang. It was Miami Seaquarium calling. Needless to say, I was sleepy so things were not making much sense. I have to call back together tomorrow to clarify some stuff. What I got from it is that they are interested, however I am not SCUBA certified yet and I have to go down there to pass a swim test. The part I am confused about is she said I had a month to do both, which is impossible. She also said something about re-submitting my resume at a later time once I was SCUBA certified, then go down there to take the swim test. But if I wait awhile, won't the position be filled? And what about an interview? It sounded like all I had to do was pass the test. Although it is a pretty hard test which means I have to do more training this last month than I am currently doing. So, basically I'm just confused right now, but also happy that someone actually got back to me, even if it wasn't as simple as them saying "you got the job". I probably confused you too. Sorry. I'll keep you posted.

Operation Job Hunt is still in process. I have applied to three openings so far: Brookfield, Baltimore Aquarium, and Miami Seaquarium. I am also sending resumes to some zoos that aren't currently hiring, such as Indianapolis, Detroit, Toledo. Yesterday I saw on the IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers Association) website that there is 3 openings for a marine mammal trainer at the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, MS. This is where I did my dolphin interaction in the summer of 2003, when I was taking my marine biology class. They are hiring any experience level, so I am going to send that in today. (Mississippi is the cheapest place to live with the nicest apartments. You can actually rent one for under $600. Apartment prices suck!) Oh yeah...the application for the internship (non-paid) at the Minnesota Zoo will also be sent out this week. Anyway, thank you for those who have been praying for me. Please continue to do so so I don't lose my mind not knowing where we are moving in a month. I need a renewed confidence in God DAILY in this matter. Adios.

Being sick sucks. I caught a cold from Ryan and I am currently miserable. I'm at work trying to get stuff done, but as soon as I get up work on periodicals or something, I get dizzy and feel somewhat sick to my stomach. And my body can't decide it it's hot or cold. Sickness is dumb.

For Open House yesterday we went to Laura's apartment. She has two new kitties (about 7 weeks old) named Jasper (or Zack Morris as some call him) and Lily. We watched X-men, and Lily snoozed on my lap for the first hour of the movie. It made my day. As soon as we move away, we are getting a kitty unless we move in with Ryan's parents. They already have two cats, so a kitty is not needed then.

Jesus is cool. I am enrolled in a religion class and currently we are learning about Hinduism. Hindus often bow down to an icon of a god or else touch the god's feet and then their head. In both of these cases, it is symbolizing that the Hindu's highest/cleanest part, their head, is still lower than the god's lowest/dirtiest part, their feet. Yesterday in Bible study we were studying the passage in John where Jesus washes the disciples feet. In Jesus' case, HE is the one who gets down and humbles himself and "bows down" to OUR dirties/lowest part. It's completely opposite of Hinduism. My God is cool!

Kerry concedes; Bush wins. Either way I was fine because I was pretty much undecided until the day of election. The more informed I got, the more confused I got. There were good things about both candidates and bad things about both. I just hate it when people say things like "That's fine that you voted for Bush. As long as you and all the other Bush voters know that the blood of the soldiers are wiped on the ballots." I don't understand people sometimes. I enjoy people who are clearly on one side, but don't try to sway me in a powerful way. They just answer my questions in an unbiased way, in a clear, calm fashion. (For example, my brother). However, there were way more people who tried to sway me in a negative way. That's not helping me to say in a forceful tone, "If you care about jobs, why in the world would you consider Bush." or "If you are a Christian, why wouldn't you vote for Bush?" It's not about that people! Yikes! O.K. I'm done.

This is me and Joan and Basilla, two Pacific Walruses at the Brookfield Zoo. How cute! 

Yes, I am still alive. Life is just getting a little crazy lately. What's been going on? Last weekend Ryan and I went down to Garden City to stay with Phil and Sandy for the weekend. On Friday we went to a Roper concert. This is Reese Roper's (from Five Iron Frenzy) new band. It was a small crowd, but that meant I could watch and listen from up close without getting pushed and kicked and stuff. I enjoyed it. They played a
FIF song, which was a little crazy and weird, but that's ok. I guess they got on one of the Billboard charts last week for new artist or something. I don't really understand how that record industry stuff goes.

I got to see Josh for a short 2 hours or so on Tuesday. He was downstate with a group of high school kids from Upward Bound doing various college tours. He was at CMU so we met for lunch at Wendy's and then I went on part of the tour with them before I had to go to class. I did skip my religion class before that and of course we had a quiz. I guess it's a good thing I'm taking it credit/no credit then!

Today I am going up to Cedar Campus again in the U.P. for an InterVarsity alumni retreat. No, I'm not an alumnus yet, but Ryan and I are going to baby-sit. I think we have 9 kids to take care of. Yikes! We'll be able to test out these parenting skills I guess. Except we will never have anywhere close to 9 kids!

School is going well. I am enjoying my classes, which is nice for my last semester. I am kinda getting that senior slump, but since I tend to be an over-achiever, I am not actually slacking off at all. I am getting good grades in all of my classes. Even one I'm getting over 100%. Kinda crazy!

I really wanted to attach a photo to my blog, just for some eye candy, but I can't figure out how to do it. I scanned the picture but I couldn't figure out how to attach it. I guess I'll just ask my friend Liz, because she has a picture attached.

The Edge retreat was this weekend. It was a great time! Chris, who was one of the two non-Christians that came with us, accepted Jesus on Saturday night. God is so faithful how He answered our prayers about him and how He answered Chris' questions and concerns. Yeah God! Also, two good friends, Megan and Jeff, got engaged! This also happened on Saturday so it was an overwhelming day. To add to the excitement, we were at this place called Narnia, which a bunch of big rocks and stuff. Ryan and I were on top of one and I asked him how to get down. He said, "grab this tree and swing yourself down." As he did this, the tree broke, and he went crashing down 7 feet and landed on his back. His arm hit a rock, causing him to think it may be broken. His thumb went numb and his elbow got sooo swollen. He then went in shock so we had to sit for awhile. Once he seemed better we had to hike 1.5 miles back out of the woods, and take him to the emergency room in St. Ignace. Luckily it wasn't broken but he has to keep it wrapped up in a sling for a week. Poor boy. Now I can call him gimpy because with one arm you can't do much. I have to put deodorant on for him. :) Oh, and I got to take a sauna on Saturday and jump in a freezing lake twice. Finns are so smart! I love saunas!

I miss my brother. We are going up to Cedar Campus today for a retreat with IV. I've never been there without Josh there. Ryan and I are staying in a cabin that Josh, Amy, Ryan and I usually stay in. No Josh to build fires. :( No Josh to see early in the morning reading a book and drinking a cup of coffee in the lodge. :( I miss him.

So, yesterday after Bible study some of us went over to Kaya, which is a coffee shop for those of you that don't know. I ordered a kiwi-strawberry italian soda. So, I'm sitting at the table enjoying my drink and engaging in conversation. As I take a drink from my soda, I feel something to through the hole of the lid into my mouth. I quickly reach into my mouth. What do I pull out?....a fly! I spit the remaining liquid on the table and on the floor. Krista and Trisha were very kind to get me a new one as I sat in awe at how gross it was. At least it makes a funny story to tell!

My first application for a "real job" in the "real world" was sent out yesterday. It is kind of unsettling not having a CLUE where Ryan and I will be in 3 short months, but I am putting my trust in God and His timing. I have been in this situation before and He was faithful and I have full confidence that He will be faithful again. The application was for Brookfield Zoo, since they have 2 positions opening in the department I interned. I'll keep you posted!

I am official...I joined International Marine Animal Trainers Association. I got my fun little membership card in the mail on Thursday. Highlight of my week. Maybe I should get out more.

It looks like brother and sister are doing the same thing for a little $$$. No, not prostitution, sickos. I started tutoring for zoology. The hours will be inconsistent from week to week. It just depends if the people that need tutoring need it for that specific week. I had my first job yesterday. I was afraid going into it that I wouldn't remember anything. (I had the class about 2 years ago). I think I was somewhat helpful and we are meeting again on Monday. I am still working at the library, but now I can try to get closer to 20 hours a week of work since I am the lone bread winner of the family.

Speaking of family, Ryan is enjoying student teaching. Currently he is teaching 5 physics and physical science classes. Each week he has STACKS of papers to grade. He's so hansome in his dress shirts and ties (many of them thanks to mom). I'm sure the girls pine for him each day.

My family makes me feel like I am in a soap opera. I am not going to go in much detail here...ask me if you really want to know. But say you were watching a commercial for a soap opera. This is what it would look like: my dad needs to go to my step-mom's to pick up his last stuff after the divorce. My step-mom doesn't want to be alone during this, so she calls my mom to sit with her while my dad comes to pick up his stuff. Strange. Bizarre. This is my life.

Happy Labor Day to all! Ryan's parents and family friends, the Prudens, are up this weekend. They arrived on Friday. On Saturday we went mini golfing (I beat my husband for the 3rd time in a row), had a barbecue at our apartment, went swimming at the hotel and got ice cream. Today we went swimming, had a picnic at Deerfield Park, and ate at Big Boy. It was quite a sight to see: after swimming Gayle started a hot tub in their room at the hotel. So me, Ryan, and Gayle were sitting in there in our swim suits. Then Gayle got out and Chad got in. Nothing like 3 people trying to squeeze in a hot tub made for 1 or 2 people. Then the boys made it too hot, so I had to get out.

Let me say, I hate politics. We were watching something today about the Democrat party. First the daughters and son of the candidates were answering questions at a college or something. Then we watched Edwards speak in Wisconsin. It's dirty and I don't like it. Give me a list of what the candidates stand for and I'll make my decision. I hate the speeches because they just talk bad about each other and then claim how it's bad to put people down. I don't get it. Black and white. That's all I want. (FYI: I still don't know who I'm going to vote for because I am not nearly as educated on the issues as I need to be...for issues I do already know about, the score is Bush 2, Kerry 1)

Well, yesterday was my last "first day of school". I could go on about how I remember that first day of kindergarten, but I don't. Yesterday I had my Animal Behavior class and then work. Today I had Psychology of Women and I still have World Religions and Marriage and Family Studies (or something like that). I already read a disturbing fact in my Psych of Women text. On-line they sell shirts that say "wife-beater" on them. If you can show proof that you were convicted of domestic violence, you get a discount. And they have them in kid's sizes that say "lil wife-beater". Sick.

Well, NSO (new student outreach) as official begun for InterVarsity. Today there was Towers Move-in. I will admit yesterday I REALLY didn't want to do it, mostly because I was frustrated that Natasha and I were the only ones doing it out of our whole chapter. I ended up meeting a cool chick from the Young Church, so all is good. And I got a free t-shirt out if it. :)

My surgery went excellent. Thanks for all of you who were praying. It totally helped. The day of the surgery I took pain meds (vicadin, baby) just because I figured I'd be in pain cause I just got a screw put up in my bone. That evening I was extremely sick to my stomach, but never threw up. That night I wasn't in pain, but took a pill just cause I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night hurting. I was very good about putting ice on my face that first day. I woke up the next morning and...NO pain and NO swelling. How cool is that! So basically I have about 15 extra pain pills that I don't even need. Oh, and the stupid thing about this all is I DIDN'T EVEN GET A TOOTH PUT IN. Apparently "implant" surgery is where they just put the screw in, and then I have to go to another surgeon to get the tooth in 3-5 months. How did I completely miss that? I want to give the surgeons the benefit of the doubt and say that I just missed that part, but come on! I don't think I'm that dumb! I just don't think they were too clear about the process. So, I get to be a hillbilly all semester. Fun! Apparently after my surgery I called my brother and had not much recollection of it. I thought it was a dream because I remember saying that my surgery went well and he said, "I didn't know you were getting surgery", but that's all I remember. Crazy what drugs do to you. Just say no. (But you can say yes if you are getting oral surgery and you don't want to remember a darn thing about it)

I just wrote a really long blog, and the stupid computer deleted it. So, sorry folks, you aren't going to hear what I had to write because I'm not retyping it. Here's the jist: had fun in the U.P., back in Mt. Pleasant now, going to Ann Arbor tomorrow for oral surgery on Monday. It was a lot more exciting the first time, promise.

Sorry it's been awhile. On Monday I had my last day at the zoo. All day long I was choking back tears, but I made it the whole day. The staff was pretty weak at getting me soaked my last day. I only got it at the end...a bucket of ice cold water, a hose, and an empty pool equals Sara getting wet. It was all in a matter of 5 minutes, so it's not like I changed and got dry inbetween getting wet. I did the sound booth on that day, where I did all the music and and other various tasks. I was a little nervous I'd screw it up, but I did fine.

I headed home on Tuesday. On the way home I was shifting into 5th gear and my stick popped out of place so I couldn't shift. I was able to pull over. I called Ryan crying because I didn't know what to do. I was able to get ahold of a towing company, they towed me and were able to fix it. It set me back 2 hours, but that just meant that Ryan and I pulled up to mom's about 2 minutes apart from each other. It was so great to see him. Mom yelled at us for making out in the front yard. :)

My time at home has been wonderful so far. It's been a lot of relaxing and hanging out. Yesterday me, Ryan, Josh, Amy and my grandpa went out to my dad's. It was an absolute beautiful day. We ate KFC and also grilled brats. We sat in the sun for hours and all have sunburn on our faces to prove it. We hit some golf balls, played bocce ball, and explored places that had many childhood memories.

Yesterday I got to be in my first dolphin presentation. Becky got to do one on her last day, and since yesterday was my last day with Alicia, I did mine yesterday. I got in a wetsuit and went on stage. When the male dolphins were doing their half of the show, I just stood there with Sara Becker and clapped and smiled. When the family group did their half of the show, I got to do a couple behaviors with Kaylee. During mimicry, which is where audience members are picked and go to the side of the pool with trainers to do some behaviors, I did that with Alicia too. Then the narrator mentioned how I was leaving, and it choked me up a bit. After the show I did a couple more behaviors with Kaylee. Then Alicia told me to go out and talk to the public. On my way over, she took me by surprise and pushed me in an empty pool. Then Sara pushed her in. ha ha ha. Then I went to talk to the public. It's amazing how much more attention you get when you are in a wetsuit. People will talk to me when in my intern uniform, but they seem to flock when you are in a wetsuit and they see you on stage. Celebrity status, I tell you.

So, it's crazy...I only have 2 days of work left. I am off today and tomorrow, and then work Sunday and Monday. I will head home to the U.P. on Tuesday early early morning. I am anxious to see my family and my husband, but I am sure going to miss the animals and Alicia.

I had a really cool day yesterday. Alicia, Becky, and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo. After the sea lion feed, they let us go out on deck. There was a 6 week old sea lion named Diego. He was crawling around our feet. That was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Then they brought the baby walrus in so we got to see him too. He too was adorable. We went to a dolphin show and then did a dolphin pet after that. (Becky and I wanted to meet new dolphins). Then we went to see the elephants. An old Brookfield employee works there so he showed us around. First we pet one, which was crazy. Then we went to the elephant show, and when we were about to leave the zookeepers said, "do you guys want to ride them back to the yard?" What?! I asked if they were serious. they were so I got on one and Becky got on another. The elephant laid down and I stepped on it's leg and pulled myself up. When it stood up I had to hold onto it's ears or else I would've fell off the back. It was the coolest thing ever. It was a bit scary, considering how huge they are and that elephants are the animal in zoos that cause the most injuries/deaths. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience.

Today I learned how to free dive. We were in a Pinniped pool with a depth of 8-10 feet. We had masks and flippers. You would just hold your breath and dive down. Greg, the head honcho, taught Becky and I how to do this. The whole goal of this was to 1. have fun 2. as you dive down, scoop up seal and sea lion poop. Becky scooped, I just practiced diving. I was forced to stop because my ears were hurting, so they wouldn't let me keep trying to unplug my ears. They didn't want me to damage myself.

I was also "pushed in" today. At the end of the day two people grabbed Becky's arms and legs to throw her in. She was kicking and screaming and putting up a fight. Two came to get me. They linked arms with me as I walked to the pool with them. I know, I'm no fun. Alicia said she at least wanted to get the pleasure out of pushing me in, so I stood at the edge of the pool like I didn't know what was happening, as she pushed me in.

Last weekend I went country line dancing. Alicia, Jen, Alicia's sister, and Becky went. I never did it before but it was a lot of fun. Some dances I didn't even attempt, but others I was able to pick up on. But once you get the full hang of it, the song ends. Stupid! I also learned to two-step. Fun times.

This weekend I'm taking a road trip with Alicia and Becky. We are going to the Indianapolis Zoo, where Alicia used to work. I am so thankful to have Alicia around. I would be REALLY lonely if it wasn't for her.

I will give you two scenarios and you can decide which is made up and which is real:

1. I leave for Bible study and arrive at Alicia and Jen's house early. Nobody is home, so I decide to sit in my car and play games on my cell phone. As I'm playing games, I look at my keys in the ignition and say to myself, "Self, you should probably take your keys out now, so you don't forget to take them out when someone arrives and you get out of the car." So I listen to myself and take the keys out and put them in my purse. Alicia arrives. Jen arrives. We go to Bible study in Jen's car. After Bible study I drive home.

2. I leave for Bible study and arrive at Alicia and Jen's house early. Nobody is home, so I decide to sit in my car and play games on my cell phone. As I'm playing games, I look at my keys in the ignition and say to myself, "Self, you should probably take your keys out now, so you don't forget to take them out when someone arrives and you get out of the car." Someone arrives home, I get out, go in the house, go to Bible study. We are driving back from Bible study and I realize my keys are not in my purse. We get to my car and they are sitting in the ignition. The police won't help so we call a locksmith and I end up paying $75 for a stupid mistake.

You decide.

I had an excellent weekend. My mom was here! She got down here on Friday afternoon. We went shopping (she bought my groceries!), took a walk, and hung around. On Saturday we took the train downtown and went to the Shedd Aquarium to see more dolphins. They also have Beluga whales, which mom has never seen before. (I do think our show is better though). Then we went out to eat. On Sunday she came to the zoo. She came to a show and then did a dolphin pet with Lucky. She absolutely loved it, which made me happy. Then she got to go behind the scenes at Pinniped (shhhhh....this is on the down low). She also got a tour at dolphin and was able to watch me feed Sterling all by my lonesome. I really like when people get to see me at work, doing what I love so much. She left this morning. :(

Today I had a fun day. First I got to start working with one of the dolphins, Kaylee. I just feed her a bit today, so we could establish the trainer-dolphin bond. Sounds corney, hey? The next day I work I'll hopefully start working some behaviors. I also got to hold our Harris Hawk today. I had to practice with a fake one, then it was time. It is really intimidating having a hawk 2 inches from your face, staring at you. How many people can say they've done that though?

Quick update: The doctors were able to retrieve Thomas the Tank from Kai's stomach this morning. It wasn't easy to watch. It must not have been easy having that come up his throat. Poor dolphin. I actually had a job this time. First I helped tube him 2 liters of water. Then I was in charge of breath rates. Woot woot! (Yeah, it's not really that exciting).

Now I am off to Weaton College for worship. I'm meeting Becky Swab there so it will be cool to see her again.

The dolphin boat tour was cool. We got to see quite a bit of dolphins. I was so excited and Ryan just laughed at me because I get to see them everyday, yet I'm so excited. After that Ryan and I got some lunch and then laid on the beach for awhile. We played in the waves and got knocked over a few times. That night we had ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery, which is only the BEST ice cream ever. I had cake batter ice cream with cookie dough in it. YUMMY! The next day we went put put golfing and ate at Olive Garden. I had a great weekend.

The other day at work a 6 inch train got thrown into the pool and one of the dolphins ate it. On Tuesday we took him to the hospital for his routine check-up and also tried to get the truck out. This was attempted by someone literally reaching thier hand down the dolphins throat. That was unsuccessful. Her arm wasn't long enough. We tomorrow we have the excitement of catching him again and trying to get the truck out with forceps. Fun times at Seven Seas.

I am in Virginia right now. I woke up at 3:30 am yesterday, showered, and headed to O'Hare. My flights were uneventful, which is good. Ryan picked me up at noon. I can't say how good it was to see him! He brought me around the lab to show off his "trophy". Last night we went to a mystery/comedy dinner theatre. It was really fun. We got served a four course meal. And I guessed the correct killer! Now we are about to head to Virginia beach. We are going on a dolphin/historical boat tour so hopefully I can see more dolphins! (Ryan was laughing at me because I'm so excited for this cruise to see dolphins although I see them everyday)

Happy 5th of July! Oh, wait. I'm a day off. My 4th was not too exciting. I worked, came home and ate, and went to bed. Yippee! Work was fun yesterday though. At about 5:30 we all left and got ice cream. We had to chow it down fast because we had a show to do at 6:00. Then after the show we had a pool party. One girl got thrown in because it was her 2nd to last day (today it was her last day and she got thrown in 4 times and they froze her underwear...I'm calling in sick my last day!). Anyway, then they tried throwing the other intern in, but decided to jump in. Then I jumped in and then everyone else did. We had about a 15 min. party. It was probably the most fun day I've had at work.

This past weekend I went to Cornerstone Music Festival. This was my 8th year going, although it was only for 2 days. My aunt Jan and uncle Joe and my two cousins, Andrew and Peter were there so I camped with them. It was so great to see them since they live in New York and aren't usually in the mid-west. Some friends from college are in a band, Anathello. They played on one of the stages and were GREAT. Not being biased, but I think they had the best show that I saw. My friend from Tech, Kevin, was also there. He's another one I don't see much so it was nice to catch up. I saw about 12 bands, some of which were MxPx, Over the Rhine, and P.O.D. During the Pillar concert they were doing a U2 cover, "bloody sunday". When he sang the word "Jesus", it started pouring. It was pretty cool. Stupid me forgot I had an umbrella in my backpack which was sitting at my feet. So I sat in the pouring rain with my sweatshirt hood up and got drenched. It stopped and THEN I realized I had the umbrella. (Sara is not so bright sometimes) Kevin and I then went to Over the Rhine. We both were falling asleep in our chairs, not because it was boring, but because her voice is soooo soothing. I bought one of their c.d's. We were both freezing and tired and called it a night. On Saturday I kind of lounged around, spent too much money on merchandise, watched crazy boys in speedo's create a giant slip and slide, got completely muddy, and saw some bands. That about sums it up.

Have you ever been in a stage in your life where you write or type words and you just don't know how to spell anything? Well, I've been in that stage for about a week, so I probably spelt a billion words wrong. I think I inhaled too much bleach at work while cleaning.

One more thing and then I'm done. The bleach comment reminded me of this. I was cleaning the other day at work. We dropped the pool level by about a foot and put bleach on the cut out areas of the pool and scrubbed it while standing on deck. I was working on a pool that the dolphins were in. Tapeko and Kaylee kept bringing me toys. They would set them on the cut out, then sit with their chins resting on the side, looking at me like "aren't you going to play with me?" It was the cutest thing, but unfortunetly, I'm not allowed to do that, so I had to keep scrubbing and ignore them. Heartbreaking.

If you want a more complete, shall I say, description of my past weekend, Joy wrote a short story on it. you can view that at alittlepieceofjoy.blogspot.com

This weekend Joylynn and her family were here for a visit. It was SO GREAT to see her! We took the train downtown on Saturday and went to the field museum. We were there for a couple hours and barely saw anything. Then the boys went to the taste of Chicago and the girls went shopping! Sunday they went to the zoo and saw me in action. They got to see me feeding Sterling, the seal I'm working with. I'm learning more behaviors as I go. I see training all the time, but when you actually do it, it is hard to think of everything you need to do. They also went to a dolphin show and saw me in action. Thanks for coming, Joy!

The angel's are currently having a party in heaven. Today I went to Bible study with my mentor, Alicia, and the head zookeeper in our department, Jen. After the study finished, Alicia was talking to the leader outside. Then they came in and he said that Alicia decided to accept Christ tonight! I started to cry. So she said "the prayer" and is now a Christian. I was so excited that I was able to be there when that happened. So, everyone please pray for her because she will probably go through some tough times in the near future. Yipee. It's 10:30, way past my bed time.

It's 5:30 in the morning. What is happening to me...getting up WAY too early, sorting through 100's of lbs. of fish, shoving vitamins down fishs' gills. When my fingers are all full of blood and I have fish scales down my arm, I always say, I wish my mom could see me like this. She wouldn't believe it. Anyway, sorry for the grossness. I got to feed my first seal yesterday, Sterling. I will be working with her the rest of the time. I only fed her and had her target on her little square. Today hopefully I will do some behaviors: wave, roll over, in the water, etc. I loved it! This whole experience is confirming this is what I want to do 100%. Gotta go to work now. It's the 6:15 shift, so I get to do what I mentioned above during FISH PREP!

I got to pet a dolphin's tongue yesterday! As strange as that sounds, I always wanted to do that. Yesterday Mark, on of the trainers, said, "do you want to tickle his tongue." I was all on that! I'm just glad the dolphin didn't chose to chomp down at the point. (it's known to happen)

I got to hang out with some old CMU alumni yesterday. Pat lives about 10 minutes from the zoo. And Becky Swabb flew in the previous day from China. I got a call from them and headed to Pat's house after work. We went out to eat and a create your own stir-fry place. Oh so good! And Pat got his meal for free since they lost his first bowl. We had our chopsticks crossed for that one! Then I found out that Becky will be at Weaton College in 2 weeks, and that is only 5 minutes away. I will have someone to hang out with!

I slept for 11 hours last night and it was wonderful. It's about time to get ready for the day. Or I can just stay in my p.j.'s and be lazy...

One more thing. Last week I got to get in a wet suit for the first time. they wanted me and the other intern to help clean the pool. We snorkled and swam around the top while scrubbing algae. We had a lot of fun. And of course we had to goof off a bit too. Then the next day we helped clean the main pool, so I got to wave to the kids in underwater viewing. the other intern and I are such nerds...before we got in the water we were pretending we were doing a show, so we waved to the imaginary audience, then dove in the pool. Just a side note: we aren't allowed to be cleaning a pool when dolphins are in it...they were in other pools when we were cleaning. Some people say "duh" to that comment, but lots of people ask me if I get to swim with them. NO. That's one way to quickly get the boot.

God answers prayers. Last week I talked to someone from Willow Creek Church because I wanted to get plugged into a bible study for the summer since I can't make it to church since I work on Sundays. I was pretty peeved because he said he didn't know if he could place me anywhere because I'll only be here for the summer. My thought was "who cares? Don't you want to help someone out?" Needless to say I wasn't happy. so that night I was praying about this. The next day at work, Alicia (my mentor) and I were sorting through 100 pounds of capelin and she said something about her Bible study. I mentioned I was trying to find one, and she invited me to hers. Yeah God! The lead keeper in our department also goes. I was so excited. Woot Woot!

This past weekend I was in Minnesota visiting Ryan and his family. Friday we went up to thier seasonal trailer. We went golfing, ate lunch, played games. Then we went back to the cities and ryan took me to my first drive-in movie. (drive-thru as I like to call them). We saw Harry Potter 3 and Mean Girls. Saturday we went to a wedding and then a friend of ours, Chad, was celebrating his 25th birthday until 2:30 am. Sunday I had to say goodbye to Ryan which SUCKED. I won't see him for 8 weeks so needless to say I cried. I had to straighten my self up because I didn't want to be bawling as I got gas.

Bad news...the calf died this morning. I just got a call from the lead keeper and she said that at 6 this morning she was staying at the surface and tail slapping. Then at 6:15 she died. It really sucks but this is common for dolphins (in wild and captivity) who haven't had many calfs. Kaylee's first one was successful although the grandma raised it and not her, and this calf was her second. This was also a good experience for Kaylee...she was being an excellent mother. They don't know what happened but they brought her to the neecropsy (sp?) lab to see if the doctors can figure it out. I'm just glad it didn't happen when there were zoo visitors present.

I had a baby girl! Well, not me, but a dolphin, Kaylee, at the zoo. She gave birth sometime between midnight and 2:30 am. So of course nobody was there to see it. Boo hoo! But I did get to see her A LOT today. We have to do observations 24 hours a day for 2 weeks. I was doing them for a couple hours today. Basically you have to keep track of the calf's nursing...how long, which side, etc...and also you have to watch something called slip streaming, which is when the calf swims next to the mother so the calf doesn't have to do much work. She's learning that slowly but surely. I was just so excited that I get to be a part of it!

For those of you who are reading this at school...I miss you guys. I have no friends here to hang out with. Yes yes...this is your cue to shed a tear for me. Actually I am enjoying going downstairs in my cave and just reading, watching tv, etc. But, I do miss you guys. And of course those not as school, I miss you to. So, plan a trip to Chicago and come and VISIT ME!!! :)

Ryan left today for Virginia. He'll be there for the summer for an internship. I had to say goodbye to him at the zoo so I didn't really have time to get sad. But on my way home, I was getting pretty sad. At least I'll see him in 2 weeks. Today he came by the zoo to do a dolphin pet. After one of the dolphin shows he got to stay behind, go on stage, and pet Tapeko, the 22 year old female. He got to pet her quite a bit. I got pictures for people to see. I was really happy that he got to experience something I'm so passionate about.

Yesterday we drove up to Willow Creek Church. This place is huge. It was the Saturday service and there were over 1000 people there . Plus there were more people because there is a service for 18-20-something year olds, but they place is so big we couldn't find that meeting place. The church had a bookstore, food court, and coffee shop. Insane! I really enjoyed the service, but it's too far of a drive every week.

Ryan is in Chicago visiting for the week. He got here on Monday. Tuesday I had the day off so we took the train downtown with my uncle. We first went to his office located in the IBM building. Then Ryan and I went to the art institute and navy pier. I'm not big into art, but it was free and cool to see some paintings from artists that are well known to even novices like me.

Today Ryan came to the zoo. He watched a dolphin show and was able to see me help with the Pinniped feeds. He got to see a walrus kiss me. She missed a couple times and instead blew fish scales on the side of my face. He also got to me pet a fur seal and put vasaline on a walrus. He got pictures of this stuff which should be cool.

Well, time to take a shower and get these fish scales off of me. Check ya later.

Chinook's transport went well. He's done it before, so he knew what was going on. Hopefully now he is happily swimming in the pool at the Minnesota Zoo. Hopefully we will be reuinited next winter.

I apologize if I repeat things in these blogs. I also have to keep a journal for the internship so I probably will fail to remember where and when I wrote certain things. Today is my second day off. I have tomorrow off also, but I have to go in at 3 am tomorrow/tonight because we are transporting a dolphin to the minnesota zoo. Bye bye, Chinook. This doesn't happen everyday so I'm just going in to observe. Yesterday I got kissed by a walrus. She's blind so she got my shoulder instead of my cheek. I also got to pet a fur seal...very silky feeling. The only not fun part so far is dealing with stupid people who come to the dolphin shows. there's about 1 everytime who isn't happy because we won't let them in without tickets or something, but that's the rules. I guess that's it for now. Ta-ta.

Here I am writing from the windy city, chicago. I arrived here on Sunday. I was able to attend my cousin, Mark's, orchestra concert. Yesterday I started my internship at the Brookfield Zoo and had a wonderful first day. I did a lot of observing during feeding times. During the Pinneped (seals, sea lions, walruses) feeds I got to pet a cute little harbor seal, apply vasaline to a walrus' flippers, and push on a walrus' belly. Those are HUGE animals! Then I got to pet two dolphins. Needless to say, I was loving it. The day flew by...you are constantly running from one thing to the next. The most memorable part was walking near the dolphin pool right when I got there, a dolphin was chilling there, rolled over, and looked right at me. Nothing can beat that. And I also got initiated by being thrown into an empty sea lion pool. The other intern was also thrown in an empty dolphin pool also so now I know to bring extra clothes. Now tonight I am going to my cousin, Rick's, last home baseball game. mark will be playing the national anthem on his clarinet. I just wish it was warmer today.

Yesterday there were a couple of us from IV sitting around. We were talking about funny things that Josh does. Then we all stopped and realized we were talking about him as if he were no longer with us, because we were talking in the past tense. It was pretty funny, but I guess you had to be there.

I leave for Chapter Focus Week in an hours. I'll be gone a week, so no updates anytime soon. Peace.

Well, finals are over. Yipee! My comparative exam was anything but easy. At least it's over!

I love spring. Today it was beautiful out. All the trees have bloomed and there are tulips all over campus. Beautiful. And they smell wonderful. Now I am at work for 4 hours. I guess this multi-colored, dizzying carpet is just as beautiful as those trees and flowers.

Finals stink! I actually am on the home stretch. I only have one left, but it's my hardest one...comparative vertebrate anatomy. And to make matters worse, it's cumulative. But I keep telling myself that this is the last day that I have to study this semester, so I might as well study hard.

It was funny... last night a bunch of us went to the Cabin to get pizza and celebrate internships, jobs, assistantships, awards, graduation, etc. We all had to leave by 10 pm because we all had to go home and study. Party poopers!

I need to get some dinner (while I watch American idol of course) and then hit the books some more.

Today is the Sunday before finals. Ryan and I went to church. This is the last time we will be there when Pastor Don is there. After church me, Ryan, Don, and Shelley went to Bennegin's. It stinks that they got moved to a different church. We will really miss them. We said we'd try to coordinate trips so we are visiting the family in the U.P. at the same time. Get ready mom...you'll be cooking a lot!

I also had my final Bible study party today. I have to admit I'm glad it's done. I had a great two years leading Bible study, but my time is up. I'm really glad I did it, although I really did not want to do it two years ago. But, you can't argue with God when He wants you to do something.

Well, I guess I should get studying some more. Physical science, here I come.

Testing, testing 1-2-3-4...Let's see if this actually works!