There Can Only Be One Highlander!

Alright, so this isn't about Highlander (a show/movie (?) I've never seen). It's about the last week or so. First off, last Tuesday I got pulled over (August seems to be the month for that), and received my first traffic warning. Fun fact, there is a $55 fine (that I did not receive) for having the wrong address on your driver's license. Anyways, I got pulled over by a really nice officer, and was pretty happy about the experience.

Then last Saturday me, Scott and Dad (and Dad's co-worker Austin) hiked Mt. Timpanogos. It was glorious. At 11,700 and something feet, the views were amazing. I was totally psyched to see all the evidence of glaciers at work, and at the same time I was sad that I didn't know more about geology and glaciation. One of the best parts of the hike was sliding down the glacier on the backside of the mountain...on my backside (hahahaha). My bum was mighty cold afterward, but it was totally cool. And, now I've touched a glacier, I was moderately concerned that I wouldn't be able to touch one before global warming took them all away. All in all, we were on the mountain for 10 hours. But it was awesome.

Monday I had an unfortunate doctor's appointment. But then I came home and got to have lunch with Mom and Liz, and I got to have a dance party with Tyler and Aaliyah. (Look at that happy boy, does it get any happier than that?)

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty stressful, but by Thursday I gave up on getting hold of my major professor and just decided to go with the flow, as much as I could. I was even moderately social. Friday I went to the ENVS (my department at school) Last Friday social at the Owl. There was some food and good conversation. Then I spent the night watching "Psyche", which makes me laugh like I've rarely laughed before. Among my favorite Psyche lines are:

• Don't be a giant snapping turtle.
  
• Don't be a rapid porcupine.
• Real men take bubble baths.

And while I'm on the subject of good quotes, I saw "Pineapple Express" with Scott (my BFFF) a few weeks ago, and it was full of wonderful little bits of advice including

• Safety first. Then teamwork.

I'm certainly not good at doling out advice myself, but I have a Post-It note wall full of some of my favorite quotes I'd like to share, because I think they're wonderful.

• Do you want to be the big spoon or the little spoon? That's the question. --Dr. Cox
• A revolution without a dance isn't really a revolution. --V for Vendetta
• Let's treat people more like they're in our home than in our way. --Allstate
• Naming is not explaining. --I don't know who said it, but it's totally true
• You don't think yourself out of a problem with the same thought process that you thought yourself into it with. --a rural sociologist somewhere
• Do you know what people are? People are bastards. Bastard filled bastards with bastard frosting. --Dr. Cox
  
• It's the one's with the sorest throats that have done the most singing. --Bright Eyes
• Let them take risks, for godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches- that is the right and privilege of any free American. --Edward Abbey
• You're awful. I love you. --Ludo
• Everyone should have a secret evil plan. --Dennis Leary
• Love is a battlefield. --Pat Benetar
• Come to me, cuddle me, hold me. Together we'll break these chains of love. --Erasure
• You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. --Collette

Anyways, I have other stuff to talk about (mostly political- Lizzy, I loved the blog) (also, a much needed warning about mink), but I'll save that for later. Happy Labor Day!

Busy,,,But Happy

Just thought I'd post some good news before I get swept up in the whole school thing. This week my school world has been flipped upside down. Most of the issue has to do with listening to Louis. He's pretty on top of things, so he spends a lot of time accidentally (and purposely) pointing out all the things I'm not on top of. This summer my graduate program became very stressful to me, mostly because there's a lot of paperwork I have to turn in before I can do any real research. Moreover, I have to get three signatures before I can turn any of that paperwork in. To compound this frustration, my major professor needs to approve anything before I send it to my other committee members for approval. This is frustrating because my professor has recently dropped off the face of the earth. Really, it's not just me, no one can find her.
But there is good news. I've decided to move on without. I've signed up for an environmental history class that I'm pretty excited about. I hope when she finally returns to this planet Joanna will approve of it, but for now I'm keeping. I also sent my program of study off to my other committee members and they liked it and said it doesn't really matter much if it changes. Then I went ahead and asked all the questions I've been sending to Joanna to some other people in our department and they gave me good answers.

In short, most things are going well. I was on the verge of a breakdown last night. It got cold at work and I forgot a hoodie, my school schedule was up in the air, my Comcast billing got all screwed up (again), Discover wants to change my APR and they won't accept "NO" over the phone, and the final nail in the coffin was when I couldn't find a parking spot near my apartment when I came home last night at 12:30. So I decided to give up for the night and figure it out in the morning.

The biggest new news is that I have another source of income. I've been pretty stressed financially lately. The biggest frustration has been that I didn't want to find another job if I was just going to have to quit it to make my school work proceed. However, I got a better stipend this year, my zoo work schedule is going to work pretty well for me, and I got offered a position as a T.A. this semester! The T.A. job is looking pretty stressful, but I think it will be a good additional source of income.

So, everyone be happy for me, things are looking up this week (by the looks of Monday morning, things were going to suck)! I'll post something more interesting later, but I wanted to share my good news with someone.

Also, I touched all of Dr. Healy's scopes and stuff, and it was awesome. Now I want to go on regular doctor's office safari's and touch all of their stuff (I suppose just all of their steralized stuff).

The Wellsvilles: Mountains Best Hiked in Pants

So August hasn't been all that productive for me. Currently I'm waiting for my professor to acknowledge my existence and email me back (I really do like her, it's just frustrating how busy she always is). However, August has also been quite enjoyable. First, my Lizzy and my girlies came up to visit me, which was wonderful. We went to get ice cream and to the zoo. Plus we also got fast food. Awesome.
It was kind of difficult to fit the four of us sisters in the same picture, but we managed it getting ice cream (doesn't Courtney look cute, I never look that cute eating), and then found an easier way outside the Eccles Conference Center (I often check myself out in these mirrors, but I always look wind blown when I do because I keep moving to make it look like I'm not checking myself out. Anyways). I was really excited to show my family the zoo, because I like it so much. Everyone was quite entertained by the monkeys, even Tyler. I'm glad we have one photo of him enjoying animals, because it seems he's kind of scared of them in general (really Liz, you thought he would enjoy a house full of chickens. No one likes to be in a chicken coop).

Once I gave up on being productive I started a new go hiking whenever I feel like it tradition. First I hiked the Crimson Trail up Logan Canyon on a particularly blah Monday. It wasn't a really difficult hike, but it was a good opportunity to test out my new tripod (which is bendy and tons of fun), and the hike runs along the China Wall (a really cool looking bit of cliff that runs through a good portion of the canyon). I also ran into some vegetation that reminded me of being a hobbit, because the leaves were so big (I am such a dork, it never ever stops. I get around big plants and automatically think: Gee, this is like being in the Shire.)

This last week I finally made it to the Wellsvilles. They're the mountains between Logan and Brigham City. Every time I drive through the canyon I think that I should hike them, so I actually did accomplish something last week. The Wellsvilles are pretty steep mountains, and it was quite an ordeal getting to the top. However, the views from up there were absolutely phenomenal. I could see the entire Cache Valley and most of the northern end of the Salt Lake Valley. Plus, the Wellsvilles are important bird observation areas. I saw a Broad Tailed Hummingbird and a Sharp-Shinned Hawk without the aid of binoculars. Awesome. Before I left for my hike I had read in two different places that the trail began in lush vegetation. In my mind lush vegetation is soft and inviting. However, in the Wellsvilles, lush just means big and impeading. I spend 1 1/2 hours hiking through vegetation up to my shoulders full of plants that were itchy and painful. Today was the first day I was able to shave my legs because they were full of those tiny scratches that shaving totally exacerbates. I should have worn pants. However, it was absolutely worth it, and I got down before the wind storm that came through that night really got started.
This is what I anticipated when I heard about the lush vegetation (by the way, does anyone know if this vine is invasive, because it is pretty intense here).
This is what lush vegetation looks like in real life.
And here's tree I really likes. I just think that trees that can grow on the top of windy mountains are interesting. Plus they're always really old. Cool.

So, that's how I've spent my month. I'll have to tell y'all later about my mink exploits (just so you know, mink are evil, and I do not like them).

Bear Lake, Woot Woot!

The lack of blogging makes it look as though I've been busy. Really, I should have been busy, but the busy only happens intermittently. Anyways, Lizzy said to post pictures from our vacation a few weeks ago, and here they are. I had tons of fun chill-axin' with my family, it was definitely a good break from school stress. Plus, they're fun.