things have been super super busy for me over the past few weeks.
i'm finally over my sinus infection (it took over 3 weeks). we had some rain, which means i had some field work for work, which was fun, just exhausting. nice that i didn't have to drive all the way to the office, not nice that i had to collect samples in the rain, but i at least got to wear my knee boots. my field locations for this project are only about a half hour from my house, rather than the hour that my office is. things are picking up for the season work-wise, other field work (in-kayak surveys of the canal), events, etc. work is just crazy.
in life, we headed up to the river for a weekend of swiftwater rescue a couple of weeks ago. the river was high, but we went out on patrol with a park ranger in a power boat (which i got to drive, which was CRAAAAZY). luckily, we didn't have to rescue anyone, even though it looked a little hairy at times. we stayed at a super sketchy cabin (which was free, i guess why it was sketchy). i consider myself a girl that can rough it. if it hadn't been pouring, i would have rather pitched a tent than stay in the cabin. made me miss the counselor cabins from my summer camp days...
andy just sent me an article that someone drowned this past weekend in our river that we've joined the patrol for (in a section that we would patrol). He wasn't wearing a life jacket. pretty scary to think about it. 95% of the people that have drowned in that section of the river in the past 31 years were not wearing a life jacket. The others? not wearing their life jackets correctly.
anyway, i volunteered for andy at work yesterday, and we've been out fishing a couple times. other than that i feel like i've been in a blogging slump... my life doesn't seem nearly interesting enough to even write about, especially since i feel like my days off are taken over by laundry and cleaning the house.
hopefully i'll have something interesting for you, and some pictures! soon!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
5 years ago: the story of us.
5 years ago today, i met the love of my life. i've decided to share with you the story of how we met:
i was studying abroad in the spring of 2006. i had tried desperately to get an job lined up for the summer prior to departing for ecuador, and even arranged for an interview at the place that sparked my interest in the outdoors. the short version: lack of communication on their part and other things falling through and then it was the end of April and i had no job for my return to the US in mid-May.
my mom and i began a frantic internet search for job opportunities. i emailed several places, most of which didn't respond, one of which offered me a job for summer '07 (which i ended out taking), and one who responded right away. the one who responded right away is where i ended up.
andy's side of things: andy was required to complete two internships as part of his bachelor's degree in environmental ed. his cousin had worked at this environmental ed center years ago and recommended it. andy didn't have any other ideas lined up, so he went with this option.
training started while i was still abroad, so i was late coming in. most everyone else arrived on saturday or sunday with training starting on monday. i was just returning to the US after 4.5 months on sunday, so i shipped out on wednesday morning.
i joined the group (andy and the other 2 interns) who was learning how to teach "canoeing" classes. i had extensive experience with teaching canoeing and andy had extensive boating classes during his associate's degree program, so when our boss began asking us questions, andy and i were the only two answering the questions. (i thought he was 16 when i first saw him. he was actually 21).
it must have been fate. it's possible we could have never met, or our paths could have crossed (the original job i interviewed for that year would have put me within the same park boundaries as the env. ed center, and i could have gone through team building training with andy).
i'm so happy that things worked out for us, even though i fought the idea of us being a couple. i had just come out of a rough break-up (from a long-distance relationship), and i knew that andy and i would be long distance once the summer finished. but for some reason, i just couldn't let him go. and 5 years later, here we are :)
here are some photos to take you down the memory lane of us.
(if you read my previous blog, many of these are the same, but they just represent us so well!)
(something i just noticed, the progression of andy's hair!)
2006
2007
i was studying abroad in the spring of 2006. i had tried desperately to get an job lined up for the summer prior to departing for ecuador, and even arranged for an interview at the place that sparked my interest in the outdoors. the short version: lack of communication on their part and other things falling through and then it was the end of April and i had no job for my return to the US in mid-May.
my mom and i began a frantic internet search for job opportunities. i emailed several places, most of which didn't respond, one of which offered me a job for summer '07 (which i ended out taking), and one who responded right away. the one who responded right away is where i ended up.
andy's side of things: andy was required to complete two internships as part of his bachelor's degree in environmental ed. his cousin had worked at this environmental ed center years ago and recommended it. andy didn't have any other ideas lined up, so he went with this option.
training started while i was still abroad, so i was late coming in. most everyone else arrived on saturday or sunday with training starting on monday. i was just returning to the US after 4.5 months on sunday, so i shipped out on wednesday morning.
i joined the group (andy and the other 2 interns) who was learning how to teach "canoeing" classes. i had extensive experience with teaching canoeing and andy had extensive boating classes during his associate's degree program, so when our boss began asking us questions, andy and i were the only two answering the questions. (i thought he was 16 when i first saw him. he was actually 21).
it must have been fate. it's possible we could have never met, or our paths could have crossed (the original job i interviewed for that year would have put me within the same park boundaries as the env. ed center, and i could have gone through team building training with andy).
i'm so happy that things worked out for us, even though i fought the idea of us being a couple. i had just come out of a rough break-up (from a long-distance relationship), and i knew that andy and i would be long distance once the summer finished. but for some reason, i just couldn't let him go. and 5 years later, here we are :)
here are some photos to take you down the memory lane of us.
(if you read my previous blog, many of these are the same, but they just represent us so well!)
(something i just noticed, the progression of andy's hair!)
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| July 2006 - my 21st birthday. i think this is our first picture together... |
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| July 2006 - our first picture as an official couple |
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| October 2006 - Boston Harbor, Boston, MA |
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| December 2006 - New Years Eve, PA |
2007
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| January 2007 - me learning how to use a .22, PA |
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| December 2007 - New Years Eve, PA |
2008
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| April 2008 - Fallingwater, Mill Run, PA |
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| May 2008 - my graduation, Boston, MA |
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| June 2008 - Siesta Key, FL |
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| July 2008 - Mt. Tammany, NJ |
2009
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| July 2009 - my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner, NJ |
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| October 2009 - Halloween, Siesta Key, FL |
2010
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| July 2010 - Allegheny National Forest, PA |
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| August 2010 - Dingmans Ferry, PA |
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| September 2010 - Watkins Glen, NY |
2011
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| January 2011 - The Alamo, San Antonio, TX |
Saturday, May 14, 2011
5 years ago: coming home.
This day, five years ago, I returned home from my semester abroad in Ecuador. Although I had the best time of my life, I was ready to return home after 4.5 months.
I have many many memories and a list of things I did to rival any bucket list. Here's a small snippet:
- visited the Galapagos Islands
- lived in the Amazon Rainforest for 1 month
- went horseback riding in the Andes
- jumped off a 40 foot tall waterfall (i have no photo of me, but here's one of some random person at the same place)
- saw a Cock-of-the-Rock lek (group mating ritual of some brightly colored birds)
- saw 8 species of monkeys (among more wildlife than anyone could imagine)
- rode a bicycle on the Panamerican Highway
- soaked in natural hot springs baths
- stood on two active volcanoes
- swam with sea lions, sea turtles, rays, and sharks
- saw Lonesome George
- got the worst sunburn of my life
- saw many sunrises and sunsets
- saw many sunrises and sunsets
- caught bats, raised baby turtles, studied fiddler crabs, measured and counted hermit crabs, among several other research projects (e.g., schoolwork)
- traveled via plane, train (on the roof), bus, and boat
- rode in the bed of many a truck
- lived with a host family, where my host mother did not speak any English
- oh yeah, and that earned me 18 college credits.
here are some photos to continue the trip down memory lane.
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| getting ready to leave. i brought all that stuff. |
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| my host sister and I |
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| my first full day in Ecuador. at the Equator. |
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| BU Tropical Ecology Program 2006 |
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| at 13,500 feet elevation |
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| me at 14,700 feet on Cotopaxi Volcano (one of the highest active volcanoes in the world) |
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| this is class. |
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| awkward foot wash station. |
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| me & a land iguana in the Galapagos |
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| i have a bat in my hand. |
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| on the Rio Tiputini (this is the only way to get to and from our research station) |
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| canopy walkway up 100ft in the air |
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| riding on top of a train to El Nariz del Diablo |
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| at nearly 12,000 feet at Podocarpus National Park (I'm smiling because this is before I thought we were lost and were not going to survive) |
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| at the best known Inca ruins in Ecuador, Ingapirca |
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| this is our professor. |
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| my parents even came to visit! this is the REAL Equator. |
i had been happy to be home, and at that point, i was just glad i was able to come home. it still was a great semester, but my return to the US and the end of the trip still is bittersweet.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
welcome to the 21st century.
i know i'm a little behind on getting with the times. (well, i was on facebook when it was only about a month old and was only open to about 7 colleges... but that's about all i got.)
i'm still using a voice & text only phone (flips open, no full keyboard, etc)... and my 90+ year old grandpa was using skype years before i was.
but i'm making my way into the 21st century. i'm always on the lookout nowadays for good deals. so i joined both groupon and living social. and i purchased my first groupon today.
well, i actually didn't purchase it, because they gave me $10 to spend on my first groupon. i bought TWO $10 (paid $5) groupons for ICE CREAM at a local shop (that i haven't tried yet, but they have some DELICIOUS peanut butter ice cream creations, so i'm sure i'll be fine). so i have $20 worth of ice cream to eat, that i paid NOTHING for. how awesome is that?
i mean, they've got a lot of cool things on there, but although i would love to go on a hot air balloon ride, i don't really want to spend that money right now. but ice cream is something i can take care of.
have you purchased any groupon/living social/etc deals before? what deal did you get?
i'm still using a voice & text only phone (flips open, no full keyboard, etc)... and my 90+ year old grandpa was using skype years before i was.
but i'm making my way into the 21st century. i'm always on the lookout nowadays for good deals. so i joined both groupon and living social. and i purchased my first groupon today.
well, i actually didn't purchase it, because they gave me $10 to spend on my first groupon. i bought TWO $10 (paid $5) groupons for ICE CREAM at a local shop (that i haven't tried yet, but they have some DELICIOUS peanut butter ice cream creations, so i'm sure i'll be fine). so i have $20 worth of ice cream to eat, that i paid NOTHING for. how awesome is that?
i mean, they've got a lot of cool things on there, but although i would love to go on a hot air balloon ride, i don't really want to spend that money right now. but ice cream is something i can take care of.
have you purchased any groupon/living social/etc deals before? what deal did you get?
Monday, May 2, 2011
how i spent my weekend.
so, i'm still not over my sickness (which may have turned into allergies?!--this cannot happen, or my life will be over), but that didn't stop me from spending the weekend in the great outdoors.
andy and i were attending a swiftwater rescue training for a volunteer group we plan to be involved with this summer. i'm talking, we're in kayaks, saving people that fell out of their boats and other situations (that could be anything your amazing imaginations can think of). there's a lot more to it than that, land-based rescue, in-water (swimming) rescue, etc. i'm new at this, but andy knows a lot (he's had prior training).
i'm learning, and i'm thinking about all the times i spent on the river and knew none of this. i didn't know there was a right and wrong way to get a boat off a rock if it's on it a certain way. i'm somewhat hesitant to consider myself a rescuer because i'm so new at this.
anyway, it's still pretty chilly hear (although it was nice out), the water was about 48 degrees. the nights were cold (we were in a tent), so i'm glad that i have a 0 degree sleeping bag (i don't think it would keep me warm in 0 degrees unless i had some different layers on within the bag).
it was nice to spend time outdoors, even though i didn't get into my kayak at all. soon enough, soon enough. and then you'll have pictures! :)
andy and i were attending a swiftwater rescue training for a volunteer group we plan to be involved with this summer. i'm talking, we're in kayaks, saving people that fell out of their boats and other situations (that could be anything your amazing imaginations can think of). there's a lot more to it than that, land-based rescue, in-water (swimming) rescue, etc. i'm new at this, but andy knows a lot (he's had prior training).
i'm learning, and i'm thinking about all the times i spent on the river and knew none of this. i didn't know there was a right and wrong way to get a boat off a rock if it's on it a certain way. i'm somewhat hesitant to consider myself a rescuer because i'm so new at this.
anyway, it's still pretty chilly hear (although it was nice out), the water was about 48 degrees. the nights were cold (we were in a tent), so i'm glad that i have a 0 degree sleeping bag (i don't think it would keep me warm in 0 degrees unless i had some different layers on within the bag).
it was nice to spend time outdoors, even though i didn't get into my kayak at all. soon enough, soon enough. and then you'll have pictures! :)
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