Obi in a pile of clean laundry. Notice his cute little front paws. 

They love laundry time. 

The sink is one of Obi's favorite places to go. 

This is Obi and Triton. They are getting so big! 

It was a gorgeous day today. It was around 64 degrees. When Ryan got home from work we took a walk and discovered a lake behind our apartments with a nice little walking path around it. I love the spring!

This is really cool...just read:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht! the frist and lsat
ltteer be in the rghit plae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll
raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not
raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Josh-Thanks for starting the rumors. Yes, you'd like the movie.
Joy-I went to the movie with a semi-Joy-like person and she squealed a few times. It's not too bad though. You may have to cover your eyes once or twice.

Happy Birthday, Rachel. It's my sister-in-law's birthday today. Her baby belly is getting very big. I guess that happens when you are due in a month. It's funny because I had to pull her aside today to ask her a girly question, and the first thing she says to me is "Are you pregnant?" NO. Then Gayle walks in the room and we said we were talking and pregnancy came to Gayle's mind too. NO. Ryan and I got to see "V for Vendetta" at the IMAX for free tonight. Very good movie. You should go and see it. Joy, you'll have to cover your eyes over some parts.

Here we go again...Our adult dolphin, Rio, died yesterday. We have no idea how it happened. She was perfectly fine on Sunday. On Monday she didn't eat anything, which is strange for Rio. We were doing overnight watches last night so we could keep our eye on her. At around 9:00 pm she started having trouble breathing. When I got there and in the water with Rio and the other trainers, she had taken her last breath and her heart stopped. I was able to go to the necropsy (animal autopsy), but they couldn't find anything. Everything looked completely normal. It's very frustrating. I can't believe we have to go through this again. Why? Why? Why? I'm still in shock.

Last Friday I got to go to a banquet at Ryan's school, recognizing the students. It was great to see his school and get to meet his students that I hear so much about. The students that I did get to meet were very polite and just all around interesting guys. It was a proud moment for me when I heard a few parents tell Ryan that he was their child's favorite teacher.

On Saturday Ryan and I went to a David Crowder/Third Day concert at the Target Center. It was a big venue and our seats were very high up, but it was still a good time and a place where I encountered God. That's what's important at a Christian concert, right?

I received an e-mail from someone from church asking me if I wanted to go to a Natalie Grant concert with her. First off, the woman from church I didn't know and also I'd never heard of Natalie Grant. But I figured, why not. I wanted to get to know more people at church, so this was a great opportunity. I did get to meet Johanna, the woman I went with, the week before the concert. She was very easy to talk to and I knew we would have a good time together. The concert was yesterday and we had a good time. She had tickets front row center. Too bad I couldn't sing along with one song when I'm so close!

Well, that's about all for know.

I will update you on some of the stuff that has occurred in the past month since I wrote last:

1. I got to see my sister-in-law Amy last Sunday. She had a layover in Minneapolis, so Ryan and I went to pick her up from the airport. We went to the Mall of America and had dinner and then went to IKEA. It was nice to see her, although it was too short. It was funny because when we were having dinner, a little girl and her dad came up to out booth and said to me, "Are you the one that works with the dolphins at the zoo. We saw you in a show last week. My daughter wanted to say hi." It was very cute but very embarrassing at the same time. Ryan was happy because he's been waiting for me to get recognized outside of the zoo.

2. Ryan and I are going on a cruise! We are gone April 10-15th and are very excited. We will leave from Miami and go to Key West and Cozumel. It'll be much needed sunshine and vacation.

3. All the dolphins are now combined at the zoo. We had the separated since May because of Harley. The boys are too rough on little ones. We had to wait to get Rio on some birth control and have that kick in. So we combined them yesterday. I went in because I was interested in the whole social dynamics. Semo was pretty rough with Rio...a lot of jumping and chasing. Chinook on the other hand was very calm and would just swim behind her. It'll be a new experience for me now, doing shows with all 5 animals.

4. The Harley situation is getting easier. There are still random times that I will cry, but it's not too often. One occurred when we got a card from a little girl. She drew a picture of Harley in heaven, with a halo and wings on, and he was saying "I'm o.k." It broke out hearts.

5. I'm sure there has been a lot more in the past month, but I'm tired of writing. I'll try and do a better job at updating this.

Very sad news...our baby dolphin, Harley, died on Saturday. I am just going to post a news clip about it below from WCCO. I was there, so if you want to hear a personal account, just call and ask. It's been strange since you have a routine at work that involves Harley. Then this happens. I found myself wanting to get his fish ready, get the palm pilot downstairs so I can record if he nurses, etc. Those are the moments that are terribly sad. I am doing ok. I guess that's all I can ask for right now.

This is a pretty accurate news story:

WCCO) Apple Valley, Minn. Harley, a baby dolphin at the Minnesota Zoo, died Saturday in what zoo officials are calling a freak accident.

Harley was training to "channel," or swim between pools, with his mother when he apparently struck his head on the side of a pool, zoo officials said.

The baby dolphin jumped completely out of the water, and trainers immediately put him back.

Zoo officials said Harley swam a few strokes with his mother, Rio, before they realized he was badly injured.

Divers brought Harley to the surface when he did not breathe and said there was nothing they could have done to save him.

Harley died around 2:45 p.m. from complications associated with severe head trauma and a fractured skull, zoo officials said.

Rio called for Harley a few times after the accident, but officials said she was doing better Saturday night.

Harley was 5-1/2 feet long and 120 pounds at the time of his death. He was born last June 21 and was Rio's fourth calf.

Minnesota Zoo Director of Biological Programs Kevin Willis said the zoo's staff had been looking forward seeing Harley make his public debut and was having a hard time dealing with the accident.

"This is a sad day here," Willis said. "This is hard. This is a baby that was really healthy and really doing well."

Zoo officials said it was unclear why Harley swam into the side of the pool.

The Minnesota Zoo will be open Sunday, but all dolphin shows have been canceled. Zoo officials said they were unsure how much trauma Harley's death was causing for the other dolphins.

The zoo is not planning on replacing Harley. The dolphin was scheduled to go to another zoo after he matured, in about 10 or 11 years.

Zoo officials said this was the first dolphin death of its kind at the Minnesota Zoo.

In the past seven years, two other Minnesota Zoo dolphins have died. In 2000, a dolphin died of a mysterious illness and in 1999, another dolphin died of old age.

Rio and four other dolphins -- Ayla, Spree, Chinook and Semo

Happy New Year, everyone! 2006...where does the time go. My New Year's Eve and Day was spent working at the zoo. During the evening of new year's eve we went to a friend of the family's house where we played cards, watched a movie and ate a lot of food. At about 12:03 I headed back home to go to bed since I had to work in the morning. After work on Jan 1 Ryan and I headed to my mom's house in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I had Mon-Fri. off so it was a nice stay. On Monday we had Christmas with mom, Josh, Amy, and their stinker dog, Gracie, who decided to run away for a few hours that day. On Wednesday we had Christmas out at my dad's. Ryan and I also got massages...WONDERFUL! I was able to visit with a few others as well...my friend, Courtney, my grandpa, my step-mom, and my old babysitter, Janis. It's always nice to see people when you head home, but then again, it never feels much like a vacation when you have to run around all over. We brought our kitties on the trip which was fun. They were awesome in the car for 7 hours and seemed to have a lot of fun at mom's house. Now we are back in the Twin Cities, and some of my clothes smell like mom's house and it makes me miss her. (I miss you, mom)

Two nights ago we got home from church and Obi had thrown up, was sneezing a lot, sneezing out this brown substance, was making a scary wheezing/dry heaving noise, drooling a lot. I was freaking out so we brought him to the emergency vet at midnight. They couldn't really figure out what was wrong. They figured he ate something and was having a reaction to that. The next day I brought both cats to the regular vet because they were supposed to be declawed. Because of Obi's episode, they postponed the declawing and just did bloodwork on both, which needs to be done before the declawing, and checked over Obi. When I picked them up after work, they were playing around and then Triton threw up! I think he just ate too much too fast because they were off feed since the night before because of the surgery. It was my fault for giving him too much food. Seconds after he went right back to playing and flying around the house. Obi still made that strange wheezing/dry heaving sound twice last night, but today I haven't heard it at all. Hopefully my babies will be ok.

Christmas was hectic, but good. On Christmas eve we went to Ryan's parents for pot roast. We were able to open one present. Then on Christmas I had to work...dolphins still need to eat. Three of us worked 6am-2:45 pm and got everything done. We basically did the least amount of work and played with the dolphins a lot. Then Ryan and I headed to his parents house were we had a big turkey dinner with the whole family. After that we did presents, which is always a hectic experience at the Monson household. Besides that party we had three others: friends of the family, Ron's side and Gayle's side. On Sunday we are heading home to see my family. I am SOOOO excited. Our kitties are making the long journey with us. It should be fun.

The holidays have also been rough this year too. Of course Ryan's grandmother passed away. I found out my grandpa had a heart attack on Christmas. Last I heard he is stable, but that was 2 days ago. To top things off Ryan's parent's cat, Charcoal, has cancer. So what, some of you may say, however, he is my favorite cat (besides my own of course). It's cancer in the mouth so we don't know yet what the course of action will have to be.

Ryan's grandmother's funeral went well. It was simple and honoring to her. There wasn't a casket, so that always makes things easier. Ryan's sister sang and Ryan read the Bible passages picked. It was nice to spend a few days with his family whom we rarely see. On Friday morning the sun was shining so we went in the pool and hot tub and played a lot of foose ball. Then went swimming some more. I think we were out there for a good 2 hours. Even got a little sun burn on my face. We also went to a Mormon temple that had a ridiculous amount of lights around the property. I can't even explain it, but it was amazing. I never thought I'd see palm trees with Christmas lights. Rachel, Greg, and I flew back on Friday. Rachel and I had lifetime-long games of War going on. At least is was something to pass the time. Oh, she had an ultrasound last week so I got to see the picture of her little baby. And on the flight home I got to feel it kick! I never got to feel a baby kick before because anyone I know that has been pregnant, I'm either not around when they baby is old enough to kick or I'm not close enough to them to ask if I can put my hand on their belly. That might be a tad awkward.

Ryan's grandmother passed away on Monday night. On Sun. we went to Ryan's parents for dinner and found out that she was given 12-48 hours to live. She has had cancer for 10 years. Around Thanksgiving she got pretty sick and got an infection. Due to the cancer she couldn't fight the infection. We are flying to Arizona tonight for the funeral tomorrow. I'm coming home on Friday with Rachel and Greg, and Ryan is staying until Sunday with his parents. Please pray for a safe flight (MN just got slammed with snow) and for the family.

It's been awhile since I wrote. I realized I didn't even have anything about our Thanksgiving. I had the day off so Ryan and I headed to DeGraff, MN where Ryan's grandpa lives. We got there on Wednesday night. This parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and the three other kitties that belong to the same litter as Triton and Obi. On Thanksgiving I just basically sat around with the kitties, watched the parade, read a bit. Then we ate. Good food of course. Gayle and I went on a mission to find a paper with the ads in it. After driving to two neighboring towns, and searching for two hours, we arrived back home, unsuccessful. Ryan and I had to head back home that night because I had to work the next morning.

Last week we decorated for Christmas. We had the first fire in our fireplace. Very cozy.

Our baby, Triton. Photo taken by Chad. 

Our baby, Obi Won. Photo taken by Chad. 

Compliments to our kitty photographer, our friend, Chad Pruden.  

This is me with my two new kitties. As you can see we have to cover the couch with blankets so thier little claws don't ruin it.  

This is Triton. 

This is Obadiah Wan, or Obi Wan for short. 

Semo and I doing the "peek". These pictures were from my second waterwork I did during a show.  

Semo and I doing the waltz. 

Semo and I doing a dorsal tow. 

Me and Semo. 

We got our kitties on Friday. They acclimated well to the new home. Well, the first day we just kept them in the bathroom. When they got here they ate right away, then curled up on our laps, then played later in the evening. The following day we introduced them to the bedroom, so now when we are home they have access to the bedroom, bathroom, and connecting closet. They enjoy the extra space. They chase each other a lot and wrestle a lot also. But occasionally they'll come and check on mom and dad, by climbing up our chest and rubbing their noses on our faces. Our black one we named Triton. Our orange and white cat we named Obadiah Won, or Obi Won for short. Ryan always wanted to name our future child Obadiah, but I wouldn't let that fly. So I compromised and allowed him to name the cat that instead. We will get some pictures up here as soon as I get some loaded from the digital camera.

Today I did my first waterwork during a show. It was a lot of fun and went really well. I am doing it tomorrow when the guy, Ryan, comes to the zoo to take pictures, so hopefully he'll get some good ones so I can post those also.

I got two kitties today for my birthday! Ryan's aunt and uncle foster kitties for the humane society. We actually played with these cats a few weeks ago when they were about 2 weeks old. Then we went there today and I was told I got to pick out two to keep! What a hard choice. We chose one black one and one that is orange and white. They don't have names yet and we will probably get them in the next week or so.

Why does the first snow of the year have to come on my birthday? It's not fun to wake up and look outside to see the ground white for the first time.

We went to the MxPx/Relient K concert yesterday. MxPx was great as always. It seems as if Relient K has lost some of their stage presence. It was still a good concert, but what happened to their fun antics? Like having a giant buffalo on the stage.

At Brookfield Zoo, Tapeko had a baby girl! This is a picture of Tapeko and her new baby. 

I am pretty much done with my waterwork training. I have about 3 more things to be cleared on, but I have enough behaviors now to be cleared for shows. I just have to meet with another trainer to plan out a waterwork routine for shows. Very exciting.

I have two days off of work. What am I to do with myself?

This past Friday, a band from Mt. Pleasant, Anathallo, came to Minneapolis to play. It was great to see people from CMU again. There are 3 members that Ryan and I know pretty well, so it was fun to catch up. Then this Friday we are going to the Relient K/MxPx concert. Then on Monday we are going to the David Crowder Band concert. Lots of fun stuff coming up...not to mention my BIRTHDAY!

I did my first training for waterwork. I got to get in with Semo and Chinook and work on basic points and stationing. Then I did some vocals, layouts, and the waltz with Semo. That's where he comes out of the water vertically and I hold onto his pecs as we spin around. I really like the layouts with Chinook, because it's just a dolphin laying in your arms in the water. Very cool. I think tomorrow I will get in and learn some more stuff. :)

Gorgeous fall day today. On my lunch break I took a walk at the zoo by myself. It was one of those days where the sun was shining, but the air was brisk. The leaves around the zoo were beautiful. Since it was a Thursday, there weren't many people so the trail was very quiet. I can't explain it, but it was one of my favorite times at the zoo.

In the past two weeks or so Harley has progressed nicely. He is always looking for a trainer when we go to feed his mom. And when you play with him during the session, he is letting us touch his head and is letting us rub down his side a lot more. He is still quite the biter, but we are trying to get him to target on our hands without nibbling on us.

I found out I get to be trained in on waterwork this week. Waterwork is what I got to do at the end of my internship, where I got in the water to do behaviors with the dolphins. Once I get trained, I'll do it for shows and stuff. I'm so excited!

I got another raise at Vanity. This is the second one in a month. I must be doing something right.

Fun day today. Ryan got to come to the zoo and pet some dolphins for the first time. Well, for the first time at this zoo. First he played "vet" with Ayla and one of the trainers. Then he got to go with me and Spree, do some behaviors with her, rub downs, and feed her. Then we fed the boys. I had Chinook so Ryan got to feed him, do behaviors, and rub downs, too. Ryan enjoyed it and so did I.

So, two minutes ago I was talking to Ryan on the phone. He was a block away from home saying there was a cop behind him. Well apparently he got pulled over right outside of our apts. He just called me now and he got pulled over for when he turned left, he didn't pull in the first lane. Instead he pulled into the far right lane. He didn't get a ticket, luckily. Crazy driver!

I may have said this before, but one of my favorite times at the zoo is in the morning when I'm opening up the stadium. The dolphins follow me around, trying to get my attention, and watch everything that I'm doing. It's hard to explain, but I love those moments.

I started to do dolphin encounters at the zoo. They are programs we have on weekends where people pay money and get to spend 20 minutes with the dolphins. Ten minutes is in ankle deep water where you get to learn about dolphin anatomy, feed them, touch them, do behaviors. The other ten minutes you get your picture with them doing what is called a pectoral fin shake. Then you touch, feed, and do behaviors. I am now one of the picture-person trainers. I did two this weekend and they both went really well. Before I was always the timer and just watched, so it's nice being able to actually do them now.

Before when I got my whistle, I could use it with the females in the back pools and with stationary behaviors with the boys during the shows. But when I would send my dolphin out on behaviors the other trainers would bridge for me. It's just common practice, so I can get the gist of it and stuff. Well, I can now bridge all my behaviors. Moving on up...

Work, work, work. That is what my life feels like right now. And when I do have free time, I'm too tired to do anything. The problem is Vanity is short-staffed so I am getting more hours than I want. This week I worked 30 hours at Vanity, plus 40 hours at the zoo. 30+40= too much work. I know I am at least employed at the zoo until Christmas time. I have Thanksgiving off but have to work Christmas. I will be able to get some time off around Christmas to go home. I actually had a day off about a week ago. Ryan and I had a great time. We had breakfast at Baker's Square, then went to the Mall of America, then went out to dinner. Vanity actually called to see if I could work that day, but for once I said no. Some good news...Ryan got a job! He will be teaching a physical science, and 4 math classes. It is a private school with kids with disabilities that couldn't assimilate into public school. Class sizes vary from one student to three, so it's very individualized attention. He gets benefits and everything. He started yesterday and it's going good so far.

A friend from the zoo came over tonight to see the apartment and to watch "My So-Called Life" episodes on DVD. We watched an episode then some how started talking about church. She asked if I had one here and I said there was one that Ryan and I liked but haven't really gone much due to work schedules and lack of motivation. I was telling her about the service and she seemed really interested because it's a contemporary service and later at night on Sun. so work no longer interferes with it. (Our schedules have all changed so nobody works later then 4:30 now). We were talking about how we should go together. Then she asked me where do I think people go when they die. I quickly said a prayer, "God, I know I haven't talked to you in awhile, but I need you to give me the right words." I have faith that he did. So we talked about death, heaven, angels, ghosts, how to do a Bible study, etc. It was a conversation that I needed to have. First, to hopefully kick start me back into the mind set of God's. Also, to let a co-worker know where I am coming from and what I believe, since I haven't been an A+ witness for the past 9 months at the zoo. Thank you, God, for allowing this conversation to occur. More will come, I'm sure. We are going to see Sara Groves tomorrow and Heather, another co-worker who let me know about the concert invited this friend also, so hopefully she can go.

I finally got to touch Harley today. He has been really interested in our hands when we put them in the water. So today I got to play with him and when you put your hands in, he targets his rostrum on your hand and then tries to nibble on your fingers. It's very cute. Speaking of biting dolphins, Chinook tried to bite me today when we were playing. That's the first time he's nipped at me, so I was pretty surprised. One of his teeth got my thumb, but it didn't break the skin.

I was supposed to start part-time at the zoo starting on Saturday, but the supervisor was able to keep me on as full-time until the end of October. I've very excited about that.

So, here's a fun story. Ryan and I went to the Twin's game on Monday. We were noticing that our car was getting really hard to put into gear. (it's a stick shift). Any time we would be stopped at a light, the car would almost stall when it was in first gear. Well, we made it fine on the free way, then pulled onto the highway that takes us to our house. Of course we had a red light. The car wouldn't go into any gear, so Ryan had to get out and push it down the street where I steered it into the Target parking lot. This car has a lot of miles on it and a lot wrong with it, so since this happened, we decided we aren't spending any more money on fixing it. So, we'll spend our money on a NEW CAR instead. We've actually been looking before the car broke down, so it came at a good time. We got a good deal on a Hyundai Tucson, which is a smaller SUV. I'm super excited about it. We get to go and pick it up tomorrow. I'll be styling.

This is our new car. Well, not the actual car, but a picture of the same one, color and everything. It's a Hyundai Tucson and we get to pick it up tomorrow.  

Joy, this one's for you. A co-worker at the zoo has a friend that is friends with Sara Groves. Anyway, they were at the zoo the other day together, but they had the kids with them so they didn't stop to say hi to Heather. But, one day when they do, Heather knows she has to come and get me so I can meet Sara. Ryan and I are actually going to her cd release party on Oct. 2 here in MN. Yipee!

I am sick with a cold now. It's no fun. Everything from the chest up hurts, is plugged, etc.

O.K. Update time...
1. Ryan and I are all moved into our new apartment. We were able to save up money the past few months so we got a bedroom set (bed, 2 dressers, 2 night stands) and a couch. I feel like a grown up. Soon I will be sending out a mass e-mail with our new address. We are really enjoying living there even though there are many things that need to be put away still. It's hard when we are both working so much.
2. Last weekend I was able to get 2 days off of work and head home to Hancock. A friend from highschool, Becky, got married. It was so nice to see people I haven't seen for a long time. And of course we had to stop by and visit the different parents also. I also got to see my brother and sister-in-law and their little doggie, Gracie. Such a cutie. I wanted to steal her, but I didn't think Josh and Amy would like that.
3. I'm still working full time at the zoo. Still temporary, so we'll see. But I'm still loving every minute. It's so interesting watching Harley (the new baby's name) learn new things, like how to slap his tail on the surface, and blow bubbles, and that when he breaches, bubbles form underwater for him to play with. He's darn cute and I love watching him learn more stuff about his environment.
4. There is probably more, so I may have to add more later. Peace.

I started to write stuff and then decided I'm not in the mood. I'll catch up some other time when I'm not so darn tired.

Ryan and I are officially moving out. We were apartment scouting and found an apartment that we couldn't pass up. It was a great deal. It is a 2 story apartment, fireplace, patio, lots of storage, sauna, racquet ball, tennis, indoor pool, outdoor pool, exercise room, and washer and dryer in our apartment! It's in a great location. It's in Burnsville which is near the zoo. There is tons of shopping and food nearby. There is a mall a block away with Vanity in there, so I may transfer at some point. We get the keys on Sat. so Ryan is going to go in while I'm at work and paint. We are going to add some color to the boring white walls. It's just time that we get out on our own again. It's been great living with his parents, but it was originally going to be 3 months, which turned into 6, which turned into 9. We are only 40 min. from them, which will be nice.

I'm going to be an auntie! Rachel, Ryan's sister, is pregnant. More reason why we want to stick in the Twin Cities.

-This week my dad came to visit. It was a quick trip, but it was still really nice. On Thursday he came to the zoo and got to see me do two dolphin shows and get a behind the scenes tour. I always love when people I love can visit and experience a little bit of what I love so much.
-Ryan and I had our four year anniversary on Thursday. We had a barbeque with the family to celebrate our anniversary along with Rachel and Matthew’s. Ryan and I are celebrating on Wednesday…he won’t tell me where we are going.
-I had to work until 1:30 am this morning, so I’m pretty beat. Our Vanity store moved locations, so we spent from 6pm-1:30 am moving the whole store. One wall of merchandise needed to be finished and then the registered moved down, but the head people were going back at 7 this morning to do that before our 10:00 opening.

Baby boy playing at the water's surface.  

Rio and Baby. How cute! 

Action shot...Chinook's long back tail walk from the side.  

Action shot...This is Chinook's breach.  

Tuesday was very refreshing for me. Whole day off...what to do? Well, I only slept until 8:30, which wasn't really sleeping in, but I had plenty of sleep for the night. Then I watched some Dawson's Creek, laid in the sun a bit, watched more t.v., took a nap with the kitty, stamped a lot, then went out on the boat with Ryan and his dad. My chin has the battle scars to prove it. Ryan and I were tubing and I punched my chin three times when we went over some waves. And, wow, did my muscles hurt the next two days.

I also got to SCUBA dive with the calf two times now. Last week Robyn and I went in together. It was the first time two divers were in the pool together since the calf was born. Then I went in again yesterday with Heather. Rio brought the calf near a few times. I can't even tell you how cool it is to look up and see a month old dolphin staring at you underwater. I am very blessed.

P.S. A co-worker I often times didn't get along with has quit. It makes my life easier.

The baby dolphin is still doing great. We are actually having a naming contest for him. I don’t think relatives of zoo employees can participate, but friends can! So go to www.mnzoo.org to submit a name. Just PLEASE no Flipper, Fins, etc. Trust me, those names will not get picked. (I think staff gets to pick the final name.) He has started to play now. He will blow bubbles out of his blowhole, spin around, and bite at them. It is very cute to watch. We think he has also discovered his reflection because he will swim straight up and bite at the surface of the water. There are some gross things too. Let’s just say mom is teaching him how to reproduce. Ewwwww. If you want to know details, just ask.

I have started to narrate the dolphin shows. The first one was very scary, but I got through it. I’ve talked 7 shows now. Public speaking is one of my fears and I’ll have to say that it is now conquered.

We had a mini-vacation last week. I had to work at Vanity Tuesday morning and Wednesday night, so in between we went up to the camper with Ryan’s family. We played three rounds of golf, went shopping at the flea market, had a barbeque, went swimming, and make smores. Fun times. And this Tuesday will me my first day off in a month and a half. I plan on doing nothing productive. I’ll stamp, read, lay out in the sun, etc.

I'm here to clarify the entry from two times ago. People keep wondering about it, and that's ok. Basically I'm in a spiritual slump. Nothing in particular has got me here, I'm just here. Nothing bad has happened; my life is wonderful right now. It's just for some reason it's so hard for me to talk to God right now and I haven't even picked up my Bible for weeks. Especially when I'm at work I thank God for my job and thank Him that I get to do what I love every day. But that's about the extent of it. It's like I don't have the energy to say anything else to Him. I'll be riding to work in the morning listening to Christian music and hear songs, and think, "That's exactly what I'm going through" or "Yes, I know, God, that you are still here and you love me." But that's extent. After work I do nothing to right the situation and feel like I don't have the energy to. I know I'm not strong enough to do this on my own, but when I ask for God's strength, I don't wait around for it. I hope this makes sense to some of you, at least. This is why I need your prayers.

Quick update. The calf is still doing wonderfully. He is getting to be quite the adventerous one. He tries to leave mom all the time, so poor Rio has to go chasing him around the pool all day. He'll even try to hide behind the other dolphins in the pool to get away from her. He has lost his "baby skin", meaning he has sloughed off his dark skin and now is normal dolphin color. He has some beautiful white markings on his side. He is also making eye contact with us in the windows more often. He even let a trainer touch him the other day. She was giving rubdowns to Rio, and the calf swam on that side so she give him a rubdown too. Apparently he got really excited and kept coming back for more, but then Rio didn't want it so she kept going between the deck and her calf.

I am stuck behind a wall. I'm on one side, God on the other. I've tried to go around it, over it, under it, but can't seem to get to Him. Then I found a door. I knocked on the door, but I didn't stick around long enough to hear an answer. Please pray.

"Sprout" from above. He won't be named for a few months, so for now he's Sprout. But can you really see an adult male being called that? Yeah, we couldn't either.  

Rio and the calf. Mom's tend to do this a lot to their calfs. It's called body propulsion. One idea is it helps the calf learn how to nurse, but then again, you will also see males doing this to other males, so that hypothesis doesn't always hold true.  

Rio and her new baby boy. 

This is me and Chinook. 

This is me and Semo. Notice the whistle. It makes me feel like a real trainer.  

After all those highlights from my past week, I forgot the most important. I got my whistle at the zoo! Ok, some may think, "what is the big deal?" To me it's a big deal, therefore it should be a big deal to you too! So you can send your congratulation cards, flowers and gifts directly to Ryan's parent's house. :)

I'll give some highlights of the past week or so...
1. Josh got a full time teaching job for next semester! Go, Josh! He'll be teaching at an alternative school up in Calumet, MI.
2. This will be the first Cornerstone Music Festival I'll miss in what would've been 9 years in a row going. Sad week. To me, it is the best place on earth.
3. Baby dolphin (Sprout is what we've been calling him...he won't be named for many months so we need to call him something) is doing GREAT. He is getting pretty adventurous. He tries to swim away from mom to see how far she'll let him go. He also bit Spree's tail already, but it was probably well deserved.
4. Last week at the zoo four different kids asked for my autograph. Strange, but cool at the same time. I remember when I was at Cornerstone last year and people asked some members of Anathello (a band who I know some of the members) for their autographs. I remember the look on their faces...mine probably looked the same.
5. I am officially cleared on all of Chinook's behaviors. Today I got cleared on the four "big" show behaviors: Long back tail walk, long back from the side, bow, and breech. Do those terms mean anything to you? I guess you'll have to come and visit to find out.
6. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but oh well.

This morning at around 7:10 Rio gave birth to a beautiful baby boy dolphin. I got the call around 5 am that she was going into labor. When I got to the zoo at 5:30 (which it takes 35 minutes to get there normally, however I was speeding…sorry officer…there is a baby dolphin being born…can I go?) they were not sure yet if the rostrum (meaning it’s breach) or if the flukes/tail (the way it should be) was coming out first. You could just see her genitals open and something coming out, but you couldn’t tell what end. When the flukes popped out we all screamed/cried/thanked God. Labor was fairly short. I was above the water and we didn’t really have any indication that it was coming. An intern and I were leaning over the pool because Rio was passing and we wanted to sex the baby so we could win a free steak dinner from the supervisor. Then all of a sudden, Jenny yells, “It’s here!” Someone plowed me over in the mass chaos. I pick myself off the ground and ran to my station. There were probably 15 people stationed around the pool to make sure the baby didn’t hit the sides. Rio did a good job herding it. It took its first breath, we all cheered.

The day didn’t end without any close calls though…It was around 2:00 and Rio was about to pass the placenta. We were all standing guard so we could catch it in a net before it sunk. I saw in the monitors that she passed it, so we were trying to find it. Meanwhile I look up and the calf is on the deck, with Rio putting her head on the side, trying to get her baby back in the water. A poor zoo volunteer who didn’t know what to do was over there so an intern and I run over to push it back in the water. He got back in safely, but it was one of the scariest experiences ever. And to see Rio trying to get her baby back was heart breaking. Obviously some of us were upset, but also glad it was safe again and ok. Then I hear a co-worker commenting on how some people are too emotional. Sorry I’m not heartless. O.k. That’s off my chest. Another thing that was hard about it is the public could see it and probably scared the crap out of them too.

On a pass by the underwater viewing Robyn and Lynn were able to see the baby’s genital slit with no mammary slits present, telling us it’s a boy. He also nursed a couple times throughout the day. I had to leave at 3:00 to get to my other job, but he was doing well when I left. Oh, and I got to touch the dolphin placenta. How many people can say that? Oh, and did I mention that he is the CUTEST THING EVER!

Crazy day at work today. The 2:00 show was cancelled because we had to evacuate everyone due to a severe thunderstorm. We were going to do it at 2:45 instead since the storm passed. During the middle of that show we lost power, so we had to evacuate people again because the dolphins can't do behaviors in the dark. Then at about 3:30 there was a huge water leak in a room near the pools that contains huge tanks to fill the pools. It was washing this mulch stuff into the pool so we were doing everything we could in order to stop the inflow of crap in the pool. So, the 4:00 show was cancelled because we were busy trying to clean up everything. And...Rio didn't eat anything. We think the birth will occur later tonight or tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

I'm still alive. Again, no baby dolphin yet. Ryan and I are currently going through the process of deciding to move or not to move. We went apt. shopping today and are now deciding. We have limited it to one place but now it's the decision to move or not. GRRRR.

Still no baby dolphin. Yes, the staff is really frustrated. Just have that darn thing already, Rio. I am completely trained on all of Semo’s behaviors now. His breach (huge impressive jump where he lands on his back) was finally taught to me today. I got to do it twice. It’s a crowd favorite.

Memorial Day is great. All though everyone else in the country had the day off, I worked. The zoo was packed. During lunch I got to enjoy the sun, and then when I got home, I got in my bathing suit and laid (so Josh, I probably also put the form of this word wrong, but you’ll have to get over it. Just face the fact that I will never understand some grammar rules) out for a while. Ryan grilled us steaks so we sat outside and had those and salad and baked beans. Yummy yummy. Then the neighbor girl (16 years old) and her dad came over and we played two games of PIG (which I won) and two games of around the world (I won one, Ryan the other). Now we are waiting for the family to get home from Star Wars so we can get going on a poker game.

whom thinks me bro is an nerdy teacher of english? OOHHHH! Me do!

Still no baby dolphin. The ultrasound showed the baby is still breech. Sometimes Rio is completely normal, other times she is a very snotty. Who knows when that calf will come. Today I was answering questions after a show I did and a little girl came up to me and said, "you are really pretty." How cute! And a couple weeks ago at Ryan's school one of his students said to me, "you are really pretty." To have a high school student say that to your face was strange. And then one of his students told him in class, "your wife is pretty. If you tell her will she let me pet a dolphin?" Nice try. Anyway, it was a much needed confidence booster.

The zoo is still going good. I am almost all done learning Semo's behaviors. I've also been learning Spree's behaviors. Yesterday I was getting trained on Chinook, who I was surprised to learn. They told me my first day I wouldn't learn behaviors on him. Oh well. I'm not complaining! I have learned how to do observations, which is fun since we couldn't do them as interns. We had a pregnancy scare last weekend. Rio was acting like she was going to have the calf anytime. She was showing all the signs of early labor. So we all got calls to give us the head's up, then she started acting completely normal again. We know the calf was breech, so we were thinking when Rio was acting strange, the baby was flipping around. They are doing an ultrasound today, so I guess we'll find out. Now I am full time at the zoo since we are on the 24 hour observation schedule.

Josh, as to that comment from that guy...I have no clue.

Ryan and I have been trying to attend some of the events at the high school that he is subbing at. Last week we went to a play called "the lady pirates of captain bree" or something like that. Very enjoyable. Tonight we went to a talent show with singing, dancing, poetry, etc. There was a lot of booty shaking. I don't think that stuff would have flew in my high school. And teachers saying "damn" and that they got lucky on their prom night. It's like a completely different world then how I grew up. Besides the initial shock, it was very entertaining.

Tomorrow Ryan, Matthew, and I head to a Twin's game. I have become quite the baseball fan, which for those that know me, that should be a shocker since I usually hate sports. Once I get my pink Twins t-shirt, I will be all set!

If you are reading this and do not have my new cell phone number, either e-mail me or reply to this post so I can e-mail it to me. I may be blonde, but I'm not dumb enough to post it on here. What do you call eternity? 4 blondes at a 4 way stop. Tee hee hee.

This past weekend I got to go to the Brookfield Zoo to the IMATA conference. It was good to see the trainers and animals again. And I learned some stuff at the conference. It was a quick trip, but it was good.

I started working at the zoo on Monday. I was getting trained on all of Semo’s behaviors…cues, what the criteria are, etc. I got to dive with the three females to clean the pool. It was a crazy experience. You can’t make eye contact with them and can’t interact in any way. When I was cleaning around the edges, they left me alone, but once I started swimming across the bottom, Spree was showing a lot of interest in me. I was once bumped by someone’s rostrum, but I don’t know who the culprit was. Rio also had a hissy fit during the dive, but Lynne, the other diver, was watching to make sure I was safe. Later that day this metal speaker cover rusted and fell off in the pool so Lynne and I had to dive again to put a new one back on. This was about 5:00 pm, and the lights are almost out in the stadium and it’s getting darker outside. We had to put these nuts and bolts on this ring. Since it was hard to see, Lynne used the Jedi force and closed her eyes to help her feel her way to putting the nuts in. It was pretty silly. On Tuesday I went over more behaviors and also went over observation stuff for when the calf is born. I also got to sit in on a staff meeting for once. I also got to do a show. Diane stayed by me and bridged my behaviors (blew the whistle when Semo did the correct behavior). I think it went really well. The girls are in the back pools so it is just the Semo and Chinook show.

Today at Vanity was my first day opening by myself. No problems. Tomorrow I close by myself for the first time. Fun stuff.

I ended up getting job offers from both Bath and Body and from Vanity. I chose Vanity because of more steady hours and it is a guaranteed job past June. Plus at Vanity I am part-time management, so that is always fun. I am considered a team lead, which is the position I had when I worked at Vanity before. I will be in charge of openning and closing, as well as the normal duties. I went into work on Saturday to do paperwork and today is my first 8 hour day. I also will work 8 hours tomorrow and Wednesday. On Thursday I am heading down to Chicago for an IMATA (international marine animal trainer association) conference at Brookfield Zoo, where I did my first internship. I will be staying at my mentor's house. I am really excited to see everyone again. The girl, Becky, who interned with me will also be there so it'll be fun to be with her. At least there will be two new trainers there. I get back from that on Saturday. I have training at the zoo on Monday and Tuesday. I will be working there one day a week until the calf is born, then I'll work 40 hours/week there. I am really excited to see what I get to do. Robyn said I will be doing shows, which now we have 4 shows a day. Fun fun! Gotta get ready for work.

Recently I have been applying to part-time jobs so I will have work before and after my zoo job. I would also work while working at the zoo. Last week I had an interview with Bath and Body Works. Tomorrow I have an interview with Vanity. Wednesday I have an interview with Maurices. Is this God's way of telling me I should work retail for the rest of my life and skip the animal thing? I sure hope not!

I have picked up a new hobby...card making. It started when I went to a stamping party. (Which Rachel and I are actually hosting tomorrow.) I don't have any stamps yet, but I have this shape punch thingy and I have made 11 cards already with just that. I must say, they look pretty darn good.

I got a job! One that actually pays! I was hired today at the Minnesota Zoo as an "emergency employee". It'll be this summer when I start. Probably the second or third week of May. I will work for only 45 days (not consecutive) and then my time is up. My supervisor says it will be 40 hours a week. Rio is expecting her calf mid-June or before so they want me starting before then to get into the swing of things. I'll probably only work 1 or 2 days a week before the calf is born, so I don't use up too many days. I'm excited!

I am currently visiting my family in the U.P. Since I'm currently unemployed, I figured I'd go home to visit for a week. I came up on Tuesday. Tuesday night Josh, Amy, Courtney, and I went to InterVarsity at MTU. We then went out to coffee with one of the staff workers, who I actually knew from 5 years ago. After that Court and I talked till about 1 am. Yesterday mom and I finished painting the computer room. We sponge painted it and it looks really nice. We also went out and bought some curtains. Then I took a trip down memory lane by going through my box of old school stuff..awards, newspaper clippings, papers, etc. Last night Courtney and I went to Nutini's to see Josh's (my ex-boyfriend) band play. It was kinda strange seeing Josh since I hadn't seen him for about 4 years, but nice at the same time. He is still his goofy self. Court and I were there until about 2 and I got to bed around 3:00. Late nights for me! Today I am heading to my dad's house for the day. I'm really glad he was in town this week.

I've had a busy, yet exciting couple of days...

Thursday…Saw Sin City with Rachel and Matthew. It was very interesting and I actually enjoyed it. Normally I wouldn’t like such a violent movie, but since it was the first of it’s kind, it was interesting to me. And the blood didn’t really look like blood. Since it was in black and white, most of the blood looked like bird poop.

Friday…We were planning to go to the Twin’s game, but it was sold out. So instead, Ryan, myself, and Sarah (Chad’s girlfriend) went to Chad’s where we grilled burgers and brats. We just watched the game on tv, wishing we were there.

Saturday…Woke up and did a lot of painting. Then me, Ryan, Rachel, Matthew, Chad, and Sarah went to a Twin’s game. They lost to the White Sox, but it was very enjoyable. After the game we went to Applebee’s to get some appetizers. So much food! Then we went to Rachel and Matthew’s to play with the puppies and watch Matthew play some video game on the old Nintendo.

Sunday...Woke up and helped Gayle with more painting. We finished the downstairs’ bathroom and started on the upstairs’ one. Took a break and ate grilled steak for lunch. Yummy. Then we went to the driving range. I was actually hitting pretty good. Then we went to Menard’s to get more tape to tape off the bathroom. Then it was off to Cold Stone Creamery for some delectable ice cream. (cake batter flavor with cookie dough) While there I got a message that I did not get the Brookfield job. That was my guess, but it still sucks. Then Ryan and I headed to Chad’s. We had dinner and then we headed off to church. We went to a contemporary service called the “upper room”. Ryan and I really liked it. It’s just so far away to drive each week.

I am no longer missing a tooth. After an almost 2 year process (not to mention the numerous surgeries since 6th grade), I have a tooth. It looks amazing and you can't even tell that is is fake. When you see me next, I even bet you money you can't tell which one is the fake one. I was supposed to get it done on Tuesday, but I got there and got all numbed up, and apparently the screw they got from the lab was stripped so I had the joy of going back again today. I was not happy on Tuesday, but today I'm super happy with the results.

Tonight we are going to see "Sin City". It should be interesting.