Little Happenings

I haven't posted in a couple weeks and so I just wanted to post a quick little update on the little happenings that have been going on because there isn't any big events to share.

July 15th

This day was the definite highlight of the month! My body has this natural habit of waking up around 5:30am each morning. This is about the same time the sun is rising. When I wake up I always sit up in bed and look out my window to see the sun rise. The sky is usually a bright light blue as the sun rises, but I was greeting with a gorgeous sunrise on July 15th!

This is the first time this year that I have seen such a colorful and beautiful sunrise! What an amazing way to begin the day with!

It was my friend's birthday that day and I planned a scavenger hunt for her to go on at a park in order to receive her gifts. When I pull pranks or do things where there is a reaction or action going on I LOVE to hide and watch. I wanted to watch my friend on her birthday scavenger hunt and so just to make sure she wouldn't recognize me I dressed in disguise. I borrowed clothes from a guy friend of mine and put on the image of a skater. My friend looked at me a couple of times during her scavenger hunt, but didn't recognize me at all. And even at the very end when I finally showed myself she didn't recognize me as I was walking up to her. It was an awesome success!

I wore my nike shoes along with this outfit or else she REALLY would have identified me in a heartbeat with my Chaco tan line on my feet!

I have been wanting to try my hand again at the enchiladas I made several months ago that I mangled. (Enchilada a la Mangled). I followed the directions and made sure that I didn't make the same mistakes as before. I did the prep work (meat mixture and sauce) the day before and then made the tortillas the day of so they were fresh. Everything turned out fantastic and they tasted divine!

Enchiladas a la Success!!

Last summer I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with some Rhubarb that a professor I worked with in the Health Science Department brought into work for grabs. It was the first time making this pie and being the healthy conscious person I am I made it with a whole wheat crust. It was a huge success! My roommates raved about how tasty it was. With Rhubarb being in season again I decided to make it this year. Again, it turned out very delicious! With a little Chocolate Fudge Brownie Soy Ice Cream, it was a perfect touch and finish after the enchilada dinner and to a FANTASTIC day!!!

Bike Ride

Today Jessica opted to go on a 20 mile bike ride instead of her 10 mile run for her training for a half marathon. She invited me to tag along for the ride. We geared up and hit the road. Jessica didn't really mind where we went and so I decided to do a little exploring and go on some rural Rexburg roads I had never been on. We headed out towards Beaver D's park, but turned south a few miles outside of Rexburg and wound our way through the farming roads.

Jessica isn't used to sitting on a bicycle for an extended period of time and after about 5 miles started to get a little saddle sore. Surprisingly, she took my sarcastic suggestion of sitting on her camelpak serious....

A highlight of the bike ride for me, besides the beauty of nature, was when we began our ride back into town. The road that we turned East on to go back to Rexburg took us right to HWY 20. Jessica was a bit behind but I had the perfect clear to cross the HWY to get onto the other side heading North towards Rexburg. When Jessica crossed and met up with me there was fear written across her face. She was scared to be riding along side of the HWY, but with trust in me and at a faster peddaling speed we continued on towards the first Rexburg exit.

On HWY 20, like most HWYs, there are "wake-up" strips on the shoulder. Instead of the continuous strip there are intermitted wake-up strips about every 15-20 feet. As we were riding along the HWY I started talking with Jessica and we discovered what these wake-up strips did to our voices. From then on we both began making all sorts of noises, sounds, and sang bits and pieces of songs. It was quite funny and entertaining!

Work

After some strategic organization I was able to land and work out working at two different jobs. I am working a tentative part-time schedule at both jobs currently, but will go full time with both jobs at the beginning of August.

I am still working at the Plant Nursery. It has gotten a lot better since the first day. I have worked a variety of jobs besides weeding and watering. The greatest highlight that I have had at work was when I worked in the Greenhouse one day. Often times butterflies fly into the Greenhouse, but can't find their way out. So whenever we find butterfly in the Greenhouse we rescue them. The butterfly that I caught happened to be a Pink Lady Butterfly - the same kind of butterfly that I raised in my Butterfly Garden. I caught the butterfly and then walked out of the greenhouse to release her. She stayed a while on my hand in which I was able to get a good look at what a beautiful butterfuly she was! Then she was off! And instead of just fluttering around she flew higher and higher into the sky. She really spread her beautiful butterfly wings and soared!

The other job that I got is at an assisted living home. The biggest realization that I had upon beginning training with this job is that it is different than a nursing home. The majority of the people in an assisted living home are capable of doing most of the normal daily activities, but just need a little assistance. And they haven't lost their minds for the most part. (I say that last statement with all the respect possible). Working with the elderly has been something that has intimidated me my whole life for some reason. But from the day I went in for my interview I have had nothing but great experiences interacting with the residence. I have enjoyed it and look forward to getting to know the residence on a more personal level.

When my real shift begins in August I will be working the weekend night shift - Fri/Sat/Sun from 7pm to 7am. This frees up my weeks to enable me to work full time at the Nursery until it ends mid/end of August. I will continue to work the weekend shift and have the week days to play as well as have time to take some online classes. Hopefully it'll all work out as planned and I'll be able to pay all my bills.