Happy Birthday to Me!

Just like the title says, today is my birthday!! And it was a great one. I spent all morning relaxing in my pjs and got some long overdue scrapbooking done. I didn't get dressed until almost 5pm. Definately a lazy birthday! :P I would still be in my pjs if it wasn't for going out to dinner with my family. I recieved a coupon for a free dessert at Buffalo Wild Wings, so we went there for some 50 cent legs. And of course to watch the Wild game on the big screen. Yay Wild!! It was a great dinner, and an even greater dessert! I picked the rich and creamy chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream. They don't like about the rich and creamy part. It was so yummy though!! I also got a couple gifts tonight, cuz I'm just that loved. My parents got me a couple duckies: a fire fighter and a doctor, veterinarian of course like me. So that puts me at a grand total of 417 duckies. I'm getting closer! My sister also got me a really pretty butterfly ring with purple pearly wings. It fits my pinky finger perfectly and looks so pretty! The way the light hits it, each wing looks like a slightly different shade of purple. Time to go relax some more...

Wildlife Science Center

Today was an awesome field trip for my ecology class! Well, with the exception of driving. It was sooo foggy today!! Visibility sucked. I could see no more than 1/4th of a mile in front of my car. But I made it safely, obviously, and it was worth the crazy drive. I went to the Wildlife Science Center last semester for my Wildlife Handling class. During that class, there was hands-on experience with live, wild wolves. It was a life changing experience and one of the best days of my life.

Today, I was so excited to return to the center. I knew there wouldn't be hands-on experience, but just seeing the wolves are enough for me. The red wolf that I captured last semester was still at the center, and hopefully she will be giving birth to a little of puppies this spring. Besides the red wolves, there are also grey wolves and Mexican grey wolves at the center. Most of them are being currently being bred to have litters in the spring to help raise numbers of all the threatened species. There were also black bears in hibernation, so we weren't able to see them today. However, the coyotes and red and grey foxes were up and moving. The coyotes are also in breeding season, so the female was pretty noisy today. The last few animals at the center that we saw today were lynx and a porcupine. Last time I was at the center, neither of these animals were there. So it was exciting to see them today, especially because I have never seen a live porcupine before. At other zoos, they are always hiding. Because it was so nice out today, I guess he thought it'd be cool to see us too.

Europe Trip - Part 2

I have heard back now bout all the flight and hotel stuff. I will be flying out around 1pm and won't land in Germany until 7:20am (the next day). It comes out to be about 10 hours on the plane with my transfer. It'll be the longest plane ride I've ever been on, seeing how the only other time I've been on a plane was a couple hour flight to California. As long as my best friend is next to me, it should be an awesome plane ride. On the way home, I will be transfering in Amsterdam, which should be awesome! I'm excited to visit another foriegn area, even if it is just the airport. Hopefully I can find some pretty cool souvineers from the airport shops!

Through-out the entire trip, I will be staying in 5 different hotels: 3 in Germany, 1 in Italy, and 1 in Switzerland. It looks like they are all pretty close to the attractions I want to check out that aren't on the itinerary, so walking will be an option as long as weather permits. One of the attractions is the Munich Zoo. It's only 2 km from one of the hotels! It is the world's first "geo-zoo" and has about 460 different species, totaling about 5000 animals! There's 15 different trails/areas around the zoo and one of them is America. It'll be interesting to see what animals they have from America. The only ones I could determine from the tiny pictures were bison, wolves, and deer/antelope. There is also an elephant building where they put on elephant shows. I really hope there is enough free time to check it out! Leave it to me to be a nerd and wanna visit a zoo when I go over seas :P

After researching all the hotels, I have determined all of them to be pretty nice hotels. The rooms all come with a shower/bath, air conditioning, and a TV with free cable. Most of them also have heat and a hair dryer in the bathroom. Each hotel also has a free continential breakfast. One of the hotels in Munich has an organic food area included with the breakfast. Hooray for fresh fruit! Can't say I've ever had a German banana before. In addition to the previous, each hotel has an internet station, so I will be able to update my blog through-out the trip. It will be as if you are all traveling with me! I will do my best to post pictures at the same time, but might not be able to until I get home. So be sure to check back when I'm home to see all the awesome pictures. Only 20 days away!

Europe Trip

I am 23 days from leaving the country!! And I am sooooo EXCITED!!!! I got my finalized itinerary for the trip. Within a couple days I will have all my flight information too. It's gonna be so awesome! I am gonna be traveling all over Germany, Italy and Switzerland for 10 days. I will be going to sweet castles, palaces, the BMW headquarters, Dachau, St. Mark's Square, the Swiss Alps, and the Black Forest. If I'm lucky, I will even get to see the Glockenspiel figurines do their thing. I also plan on visiting Hofbrahaus and riding a Gondola. If my hotels have internet cafes near by, I will be updating my blog on the trip so you all can be kept up to date. It is gonna be an awesome trip! And it's only 23 days away!!! :D

T/C Reptiles and Pet Expo

This past weekend was pretty eventful. Friday was spent working, just like any other Friday. All the fun stuff happened yesterday on Saturday. It started out with a roadtrip to the Twin Cities Reptile Pet Shop for school. At first, it looked just like a normal pet store. After wandering towards the back of the building, I came across the fun stuff: the exotic animals. There were flying squirrels, tortoises, abunch of fish (freshwater and sea water), turtles, water monitors, geckos, newts, lizards, boas, pythons, anacondas, tarantulas, chamelions, mice, and hampters. It was crazy seeing that many animals in a pet store, all of which were adoptible accept a couple snappers. I think one of the water monitors wanted to come home with me. It kept scratching in the corner as if trying to get out. It was also licking the glass so it's tongue would fit through a little crack. A couple snakes were doing the same thing. It was quite entertaining to watch, especially with my mom scrunching her face at almost every animal.

After wandering around for a bit, it was time to head to the convention center for the Pet Expo. There were seminars, shows, and over 150 booths of free stuff. I watching "Dancing with the Dogs" for a little bit. Some of the outfits were pretty sparkly. The Disc Dogs were also putting on a show. For those of you who haven't seen them, they chase stuffed animals and foam toys in a pool by flying off a deck into the air and diving in the pool to catch the "prey." It was pretty cool to watch. As far as the vendors go, I entered a few drawings and got TONS of free stuff. The dogs loved me when I came home! I had a couple bags filled with free treats, free dog food samples, and toys for them along with brochures and magazines for me. It was awesome. I can't wait to go again next year! Yay for free stuff! :)

Poplar Hill - Day 2

Happy Valentine's Day all you bloggers! My V-day wasn't spent like a normal one. While most of you were out with sweethearts on dates or cuddling on the couch at home, I was playing with some goats at the Poplar Hill Goat Farm for school. Today, my class was working on trimming hooves and drawing blood. The hooves haven't been trimmed since the goats were born. They are only a few months old, but they are so thick and long. In addition, they are covered in goat poop. It was a challenge trimming, but it was kinda fun. A lot more fun than trimming your own toe nails, that's for sure! After the dirty work, we performed a TPR on our goat. For those of you not familiar with medical terms, we checked the temperature, pulse, and respirations. I was on temperature duty, so I got to stick a thermometer up the goats butt. Like most animals, he wasn't too fond of it and didn't want to stand still. My restrainer held on while he ran in circles with a thermometer up his butt. It was quite entertaining. Just before it slid out, the thermometer beeped. It was in there just long enough to get me an accurate temperature, and I didn't even have to hold it in. I may not have had a yummy dinner this Valentine's day, but I didnt have a great afternoon show! Hope the rest of you had a just as enjoyable holiday!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Even though it's still a couple weeks away, I received my first birthday present! It was pretty exciting. I thought it would be just a regular night at my aunt & uncle's house: eating pork chops for dinner, having dessert, and then wandering downstairs to finish homework. Boy, was I wrong! My aunt and cousin went grocery shoppin for chicken, baked potatoes, ane green beans in my honor. They also came home with cherry and peach pie from Baker Square. YUM! I thought dinner was enough. Just about everyone knows that I am obsessed when it comes to chicken and green beans :P

Shortly after pie and ice cream, my cousin went upstairs and came down with a big bag of stuff. She brought it too me, saying, "Happy birthday!" No one wanted to sing, but I know they were thinking it. I opened the card first, which was a music card. It played, "Conga Line." I instantly began dancing in my chair to the music. I then ventured into the big plastic mystery. I first pulled out a white hand towel with a duckie under a stream of water in the shower. Next was a big bath towel with two duckies having a party in the bath tub. A waste basket came out with matching pictures to the towels all over the sides. A rubber duckie cookie cutter was sitting inside the trashcan, so I can make cookies now too! The last item in the bag was a big rubber duckie bath rug. It was awesome! So now, not only do I have abunch of duckies and kleenix box holder to go in my future bathroom, I now have actually bathroom items! Now if only I had a bathroom to put them in...

Wildlife Rehab Center

Yesterday was a pretty exciting field trip for my ecology class. We went to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which is where I am hoping to intern at later this summer. We went on a tour of the facility and got to observe some of the current animals being cared for. There were a few mallards, a couple Canadian geese, some trumpeter swans, several brown bats, a few painter turtles, a snapping turtle, and some mangy squirrels. It felt so good knowing that there are people out there who want the wild animals to be cared for and fixed, rather than leaving them in the wild to die. Every year, hundreds of turtles get their shells cracked, but people just don't care because "it's just a turtle." All animals are apart of this world. And more people need to start realized that we came in and ruined THEIR home, not the other way around.

Minnesota Swarm

Tonight was AWESOME! I went to my first la crosse game, the Minnesota Swarm. And it was with some of the coolest people around. Upon entering and getting my ticket scanned, a lady asks, "Are you 18 or under?" Not thinking, I respond, "Yes" and got a free MN Swarm bandana! Of course the other people in my group wanted one, so they all followed in my footsteps even though none of us were actually under 18. By the end of the game, they were giving them away to just about anyone, so it was okay.

The game was so much fun to watch! I am used to hockey fights, so I expected to see one or two, just like in a MN Wild game. However, there was a fight almost every 5 minutes. It was insane! I never realized how much they fought in la crosse. I knew it was an abusive sport, but holy crap! One guy seemed to have a mild concussion, and the other team's goalie was walked off the field to be subbed. Another player was smacked in the ribcage with a la crosse stick. It was pretty intense. Although, I never got sick of yelling, "Take... A... Seat!"

The game ended up going into overtime. At the end of 4th quarter, we tied it up 13-13. We would have won without overtime if it wasn't for a shooting puck bouncing off the back wall into the back of our goalie and into the net for a cheap goal for the other team. So, the game went into a sudden death overtime. The fans were on their feat cheering, "Chips & Guac" in hopes of the Swarm winning. Chipolte was sponsoring the game. If the Swarm won, all game-goers would recieve free chips and guac today and tomorrow and any restaurant in the area. 44 seconds into sudden death, we score! MN Swarm win the game giving them a straight win season! Everyone attending the game wins free chips & guac! After the game, we all went to Eagle Street for some food. I love my hawaiian joey sandwhich :)

Praire Lake Llama Farm

Yesterday's large animal lab was spent at the Prairie Lake Llama Farm. It was so much fun spending the afternoon with the llamas, with the exception of being in an ice cold barn. After learning all the information about the llamas, we were able to practiced restraint and inspect their hooves for trimming. You would think their feet are like any other hooved animal; however, the feet were squishy like the pads on the bottom of dog's feet. The llamas were also due for their month shot of ivermectin to control meningeal worm. Each student was able to inject one llama. Each llama seemed to have it's own personality. It was interesting observing how each one reacted to the injection. I was the last person to go, so I injected the only male llama in the farm. The llama was also an intact male, and there were female llamas ready to mate. Surprisingly, he cooperated very nicely. The farmer didn't even stand there to help me hold him because he was so well-behaved. The picture above shows the llama I injected; he's the black and white one staring at the camera. It was a fun lab, but everyone had frozen toes by the end of it. If only barns could be heated!

Como Zoo

Today was an awesome field trip for my Ecology class. We went to Como Zoo. First we toured the new Tropical Encounters exhibit. It was awesome looking at all the fish, anaconda, and crazy ants. The tarantula was pretty sweet, especially when it scared a classmate. She screamed even though the little furry spider was trapped in a bucket. The banana trees were just as sweet. It made me soooo hungry for the bestest fruit ever! And they were so green and looked so tasty. I had to eat one when I got home :P Also, for those of you who haven't seen the new exhibit yet, there is a sloth that hangs out at the end of the trail. He was sleeping in a tree when we went through.

The next building we went in was the Primate building, which was filled with (yup you guessed it) primates. The spider monkeys were pretty active like usual. A baby orangutang was just recently born and out on display with his mommy. He was soo cute and tiny! Gorillas were in the last area of the building, 3 of them were in the cage. And they were all sleeping! One started to wake up as we were leaving; he was perfectly posed as if taking a senior picture. It was cute.

Next on the list was the Aquatics exhibit, one of my favorites. Zoo employees were having a training session with the sea lions, so we were able to watch a show in process. The sea lions waved to us and did a few other tricks. Also in the building were several kinds of fish, both fresh and sea water. The tufted puffins were trying to fight the current of the hose, but of course the water current won. The black-footed penguins, or jackass penguins, were also entertaining as they waddled around the rocks. Just outside the building were the polar bears doing their usual routine: one swimming back and forth in the "pool" and the other pacing back and forth at the bottom. It's so sad seeing their old exhibit. It needs to be bigger for the two bears and have more toys for them to play with.

The last two buildings we toured were the African Hoofed exhibit and the Large Cats exhibit. There were a couple different types of zebras, giraffes, and antelope in one building. Lions, tigers, and cougers were in the other one. It just happens to be mating season for the lions, so they decided to put on a little show for my class. Afterwards, the female attacked the glass as if angry that we were watching. We can't help it if it's not something we see every day haha After the show, we wandered outside to the Wolf Woods, my favorite place at Como Zoo. Today, the wolves were relaxing in the snow. I can't wait to work with them some day...

Superbowl 42

Another Superbowl is over, 42nd this year. I was cheering for the Patriots, but New York took them down. It's been awhile since there was a superbowl party at the pub. Not too many people, but of course it was all the cool people that came! It was a party with a heck of a lot of food. The usual little smokies were my favorite. I tried a new thing this year: football jello. I created a football field with green jello and whipped topping for lines. I also made red and blue football helmets and footballs to represent the two teams. It turned out looking pretty darn awesome! It tasted really good too hehe Then of course the usual pool, foos ball, and cards. The dogs even joined in on the fun too. Bacon is doing a lot better since his episode last week, so he even came down to relax in his chair. It was a great party, and a fun way to end the weekend.

Mardi Gras

Today was the Mardi Gras celebration at my church. It's an annual tradition for the family to go, even though it's never too exciting and we're not there very long. There is just about any food you can think of to eat: tacos, chili, ice cream, egg rolls, pizza, and smoothies. There is also a selection of games: cake walk, face painting, duck pond, fish pond, lollipop tree, and balloon darts. My dad and I always do the cake walk. This year, he was the unlucky one. My mom won first, choosing some football shaped brownies. They were perfect with today also being Superbowl. I won the next game, picking some double chocolate chip cookie sandwiches that were eyed by both my dad and I. They were delicious! After a few rounds of the cake walk and drinking a pineapple smoothie, Mardi Gras was over. Until "Fat Tuesday" anyways when we eat ourselves silly.