All the New Things from the Past 731 Days

I skipped my annual review blog last year because I was grumpy.  I’m still grumpy (holidays are hard), but it’s important to periodically celebrate what’s been accomplished and assess what needs to change.  It feels like everything has changed over the last two years and it was hard to catalog the most important.  I would prefer to write a triumphant statement about the last 365 days (or 731 days, in this case), but life isn't like that and I have a blog so I have room to cover the exciting new things and the bummers (starting with the bummers because it was too much to end on). 

Bummers – Despite all the pretty pictures I post, sometimes things are terrible (but I will not post pictures of my crying face, it’s my worst face and I prefer to keep it to myself).  I can't look back without acknowledging these things happened.

The cutest dog that was also a jerk.  I rewarded myself for finishing my comps by adopting a shelter pup.  I named him Shackleton after my favorite explorer and registered for the first available obedience class.  My love wasn’t enough to overcome the poor socialization Shack experienced in his early life and I had to surrender him to the shelter after two weeks of biting and a traumatizing attack.  The experience was literally scarring.   

So cute. Such a turd. It's still painful to look through the pictures from our two weeks together. 

Academia is not for me .  Grad school negatively affected my mental and physical health.  As every year in grad school ended, my reviews were clouded by feelings of failure and general slacker-ness.   Doing research and having a job was cool, but it would be insincere to look back at the last two years and not acknowledge how much I felt like a failure.

The things that got me through dissertation writing: skiing at Beaver, the Outdoor Office, and occasional field work. 

Back pain.  I passed two very tiny kidney stones.  They both hurt and the fact that they came out so small added a lot of insult to the injury of a rock moving through my body.  Simultaneously I started having severe lower back pain that kept me from running (difficult to do when lying in the fetal position).  Things have improved since I started weight lifting (which was unexpected), so that’s a nice way to end the year.

Back pain views aren't all bad (L to R): passed my first kidney stone right before a Colorado trail half marathon, spent the summer in legs-up-the-wall pose, and passed my second kidney stone near Tombstone Butte. 

The world is on fire.  Natural disasters, political awfulness, and so many refugees.  It’s hard not to scream into the void because I can’t fix any of it.

New Places – I like change, especially changing scenery.

The San Rafael Swell .  We first visited the Swell for climbing in May of 2016 and every time I go back I think, “Why didn’t we come here sooner?”  Climbing, fossils, floating, hiking… you can do everything there and you don’t have to see any people.  You should go there, but maybe not while I’m visiting.

The San Rafael Reef (or the Sandstone Alps), the San Rafael Knob, and the San Rafael River near Mexican Mountain. 

France .  Our May 2017 trip to France was a big deal (a reward for finishing my dissertation and our first international trip together).  I don’t know French, but I want to eat all the cheeses and see all the things, so France was a good place to start world exploration.  During our 10-day trip we toured museums in Paris, explored the beaches of Normandy, and wandered the battlefields of Somme.  It was wonderful and overwhelming.  We ate fresh pastries and bread every day, but only sampled a fraction of the cheeses, so we’ll have to go back to sample the rest of them.

The Eiffel Tower (of course), the Normandy American Cemetery, and the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

Wasatch Mountains .  It was tough leaving the Bear River Range for Salt Lake City, but the Wasatch are bigger and steeper (though more crowded).  I still have the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and seven canyons to choose from for a whole variety of adventures.  I’m learning a lot more about geology, as there is limestone, quartzite, conglomerate, and granite.

Hiking, climbing and biking in my new backyard.

The West Desert .  On the other end of the population spectrum are the mountains of the West Desert.  And talk about geologic variety.  I had to download this geologic map of Utah just to figure out what we’ve been playing on.  The West Desert is the driest part of Utah and all that exposed earth is stunning.

Ibex, Stansbury Island, and the Silver Island Mountains

Climbing Other New Places – We took the time to explore new climbing options in the Uintas, the Wind Rivers, the Jungle on the Aquarius Plateau, and the Valley of the Gods.  We saw some amazing things, climbed good and bad rock, and dodged thunderstorms.

East Ridge of Wolf's Head in the Wind River Range, Lady in the Bathtub in Valley of the Gods, and three silly birds atop Kestrel Tower in the Jungle on the Aquarius Plateua

Working in Humid Places – Being a wetland scientist has given me the opportunity to attend conferences (and run a little) in very warm and humid places.  Often the people were delightful, the food was good, and the running was a bit difficult.  

Visiting a longhorn in Corpus Christi, Texas; scoping out Civil War era mustaches in Vicksburg, Mississippi; actually running on the beach in San Juan Puerto Rico.

New Activities – I heard someone say that they collect hobbies and that felt true to my experience.
Floating.  I am not a swimmer so it was scary saying ‘yes’ to a ladies trip down the Ruby-Horse Thief section of the Colorado in July 2016.  It was great and I learned enough to lead my own trip down the Little Grand Canyon section of the San Rafael River in June 2017.  It’s amazing to float for days through stunning canyons (with no cell service or convenient points of escape) and end up miles away from our starting point due only to gravity.

The ladies of the Ovary Up trip on the Colorado, enjoying the warm San Rafael River, and my awesome friends at the bottom of the Little Grand Canyon.  

Hunting.  On the other end of the water travel spectrum, this year I also spent time sitting in a marsh waiting for birds to fly past.  Especially cool – I actually got something – a widgeon – and it was delicious.  Thanks to Chad showing me what the heck I’m supposed to do. 

Sunrise in the marsh isn't bad. It was exciting to be back in the marsh after only seeing it flying out of SLC International.  

Rock hounding.  Another abrupt shift: hunting fossils, petroglyphs, and rocks that can’t move but do hide.  Finding cool rocks is darn exciting.

Such exciting old minerals: hematite used to paint the Buckhorn Wash panel, fossilized sponges, Bonneville Salt Flats are made from the minerals left over from Lake Bonneville

Taking pictures of plants .  In addition to the plant pictures posted as the Plant of the Day, this year many more were officially published in Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake .  Since then Brent said that he was OK with me taking so many pictures and got me a macro lens so the habit has been validated and I’ll be taking it to the next level.

Salt sandspurry (Spergularia maritima), Pickleweed (Salicornia rubra), Juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum)

Mountain biking .  Much of my 2016 grumpiness was due to failing at my resolution to become a bad ass mountain biker.  I’m closer to badassery after riding some exceptionally cool trails and learning a lot about bike maintenance. Not without incident, of course: I lost a thumbnail working on the brakes and went over the handlebars a few times.

I've got such good people. Riding the Wasatch Crest, the Whole Enchilada, and the White Rim.  Sarah deserves an award for organizing river trips and mountain biking trips!

New circumstances – everything is different

New job .  I started my job as the wetland person with the Utah Division of Water Quality in October 2016.  Officially, I’m the wetland coordinator, but I don’t know exactly what I’m coordinating.  It’s wild (or secure, I guess) to have a job as a scientist that also provides good benefits and isn’t temporary.  It’s a bummer to start my retirement savings at 33, but so very exciting to have a retirement plan.

I'm mostly an office monkey now, but sometimes I get out to drive the airboat, filter murky chlorophyll samples, and poke at algae mats.  

Mostly done with USU.  I named and defended my doctoral dissertation, Sheila, in May.  It was many different things, which I will delve into some other time.  The important thing is that I got to graduate and my people showed up for me in a big way.  Thank you so much to everyone who befriended, fed, and supported me in ways big and small through the last five years.  You made grad school suck less.

Marsh people (the Marsh Llama and Marsh Ninja) graduating together.  

Moved to SLC.  Leaving Logan was hard but commuting from Logan to Salt Lake was harder.  I spent my first year here in a tiny place in the Avenues, a neighborhood I loved.  Now I love being in Millcreek where I have a room for my bikes (that isn’t my living room or bedroom).  I miss being close to My Person, but love the recreation opportunities down this way.

Such unexpected opportunities living so close to downtown.  

I’m sure grateful for the people who have helped me through the bummers and facilitated all the exciting new things I’ve tried in the last two years.  Having good people is good .  I’ve gotten two new niblings, run some excellent trails, had some gorgeous rides, and enjoyed so much good company. There’s been a lot of change and that’s really great.