Very Relieved

The cold weather came back and has slowed things down substantially for the town of McCall. I dont have a lot of news for you because,honestly, cool weather makes me want to stay in. I have, on the other hand, found a new coffee shop that I am enjoying substantially more than the other one I was spending time in. This one is called Mountain Java. Mountain Java also has wireless internet, and instead of spending time in a cold, diner style coffee shop where the girls working are less than friendly and make talking to their friends a priority over making the drinks they are paid to make(I might be venting), I can now browse the web in a charming coffee shop with pretty black hutches, checker board tile, warm yellow and red walls, and a perfectly wonderfull pattio with flowers, plants and arbors! I am so relieved and much more relaxed as I browse and catch up on my computer!

A Productive Day

Today the temperature got up to 78 degrees! Thats exciting since the first time I came here there was snow everywhere! The snow is melting fast! I did some exploring and on my moms recomendation I sought out the quilt shop. There are three! The first one, Huckleberry Patches, hosts an evening called Sew and Sew's every other Thursday and I will have to check that out! The woman at the yarn shop, Keep Me In Stitches said that she would work with me one on one to teach me whatever I want to learn, knitting or crochet. I found a health food store that has more glutten free goods than I think Ive seen in one place (shout out to Aunt Maggie) and I stopped in at the library to see if they had any fun reading programs going on this summer. My roomate Shannon and I also scouted out the coffe shop with free wi-fi which is how you are viewing all of my updates. I've been typing them in my laptop but since we dont have wireless in the apartments I had to wait until now to post them all! Ill try and keep you all updated as often as possible!

Change in Plans

Some of you may have heard that it looks like I might be staying it Idaho for the summer! On a whim I applied to a resort I had found through a search for “summer jobs Idaho.” It turns out it was the same place Luke is working. So the two of us will be spending the summer in McCall, Idaho and working at Whitetail Club and Resort. It’s a nice set-up and the resort owns condos/apartments that they use sort of like dorms for the college students working here for the summer. Luke lives in an apartment with his school roommate Cody and another golf guy from Michigan whose name is James. I live with a girl from University of Idaho named Shannon and another girl is coming in the beginning of June. I’ve been told that McCall is around 6,500 ft elevation which explains why it’s a little chilly and there’s still snow on the ground. I thought this was a summer job!

Gone Visiting

Right after school got out Luke and I went down to Payette, where he grew up, to see some of his friends and family. Here he is playing basketball with his cousins.




This is Chenowa (Luke’s friend Jerrell’s fiancé) showing off our cool pattern we made with the poker chips. I didn’t do so well actually playing, but I had fun!

I Might Miss My Room in McConnell Hall

These are some of the things I enjoyed about my room and being a resident assistant.
I really liked my door…I put dots around the letters and frames making them look like they were stitched!
I needed a door stop to keep my door open during my RA hours, but of course it had to be cute. Jenny, Chris and I went to Michael’s kind of wandering around for something fun. I knew it couldn’t be breakable. I finally found a plastic jar and rounded glass to put in it. The flowers were just icing on the cake.


I really liked one of the door decs my co-resident assistant Torrey made for me. The fish bowl made me so happy.

Lastly I’m going to miss decorating my bulletin boards. The last one I did was for closing the hall and a goodbye note to my residents.

Making it Through Finals...

I sometimes bite my fingernails when I get stressed out so to try and save myself some pain I started eating sunflower seeds. I went through three bags (Ranch, BBQ and Nacho) and filled up two water bottles.

Grocery Bag Bag…Finally Finished!

I saved all my grocery bags from this year to make a stronger re-useable bag I can take to the store. It’s really strong and I’m even more proud of recycling. I finished it right in time to use it to pack my stuff in the car!

Another Great New Discovery

Whisperings:Solo Piano Radio Its been especially nice before finals week. The lack of lyrics makes it good for focusing! I came across it through iTune radio, under the classical section.

It might be Spring...

The weather is finally getting nice (low 60's) and we haven't seen any snow for maybe a week now! This is exciting news!

The Trees are getting little leave buds and you can see the pink blossoms

on trees in the background.

The bulb flowers(Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths etc.) are also starting to bloom everywhere! The random snow confused them for a while but now they look very pretty.

Last weekend we (Jessica and Jenny) went to Coeur d'Alene to see family before finals and taking off. I got schooled in Wii and Spanish(or at least the accent part). Katie, my youngest cousin read me a story about Skippyjon Jones complete with the accident and hand clapping. I even got to sit in her lap!

Emma and Aunt Grace duked it out cow racing, Clark braved the house of the snack King and Queen(Aunt Grace and Uncle Doug) while participating in 30 Hour Famine, and Jenny got her hair colored and styled by Katie. What a busy weekend. We were sad that we didn't get to see everyone but recognize that life is busy in a big family!

Two weekends ago the Residence Hall Association (RHA) University of Idaho chapter held their Golden Joe Award Ceremony. (Golden Joe because our mascot is Joe Vandal cute huh?) So Jenny and our friend Chris were the Golden Joe's hosts, and my friend Kelsi was in charge of the whole shebang. Me? I was just there for moral support.

Mom & Dad- I finally found out where that pretty auditorium is that we were wondering about!

Our fabulous hosts! Arent Jenny's shoes hot!

How they really felt about hosting.

Jenny, Kelsi, Me

After Luke was done with work, and we were all done at the ceremony, we decided we couldn't just go back and change, we were all dolled up! So Luke took us to Applebee's where we got half off appetizers and Jen and I got Ice Cream Sunday Shooters as you can see...we were excited!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day. Happy Earth Day Everybody!

Entertaining thought: My Environmental Science Lab Final is today, on Earth Day. How fitting.

A Little Catastrophe

Yes that is my car. Yes i got her in trouble. I am not posting this to embarrass myself, but merely to entertain you.

I had just stopped in at a flower shop to see if they had appropriate flowers for a group of us to give our boss for her birthday. They didnt and I was going to go to the other flower shop to get what we wanted. I got in my car and was going to back out but realised that if I just pulled through it would take me right to a parking lot exit. All the other cars had pulled forward just enough so that the noses of their cars covered all the other "curbs." I had no clue that there was one in front of my car. So...I let out the clutch, gave my car some gas, and pulled right over that curb. The noise it made was something awfull.

Just as I was getting out of my car to see what happened, a nice man pulled in next to me. I asked him if he thought I could try backing up and getting back over the curb. Now from the moment he saw my blonde hair and the daisy rims he looked at me like I was nuts but then when he went to look at the front of the car and saw that I had CA liscense plates he just shook his head and kind of laughed. (For those of you who dont know, CA drivers dont ever get a break in WA, OR, and ID.)He said he didnt see what the harm would be in just trying to back up, and then went about his business in the shopping center. I got in and attempted to back up as the man was coming back outHe said to me "By the sound of it, Im guessing it didnt work. " He was right.

I started to call AAA and realizing I had a meeting in 12 minutes decided I didnt have time to wait for the tow truck and started walking back to school. I then asked Luke and his friends if they thought they could just give it a lift back over the curb. They figured they could, but when they got there they realized two things. 1.) They didnt want to pull off the front bumber that moved when they pushed it. and 2.) They didnt want to risk messing up the oil pan(whatever that is.) So they said I better call AAA.

Sooo I called AAA and was informed that it would be about 11PM before the towing company could get there to rescue me. I hung out in my room and then when I got the call that the company was on their way, Luke took me over. Much to my suprise it was the same nice lady and her friend who came to jumpstart my car when it wouldnt start a couple months ago. She remembered me and then rescued my car. She also made me feel better by informing me that she had rescued a guys car from the spot next to mine about two weeks ago. Whew. Im not the only one.

Here is the nice lady jacking up my car. Then she put blocks of wood under my front tires and behind the curb where my tires would go. She had me get in and back my car up and viola! We were free.

PS. I have never had to call AAA until this year. And Ive called them twice.

Tea?

Last weekend we had an amazing burst of good weather. Every one came out of the buildings to play outside! I never new so many people lived on campus! We also had a tea party. Well sort of...I had it all set up and then a got a nauseating headache and had to leave, so they had it without me. Heres what the table looked like though. Yay! (The new Fiestaware teapot isnt on the table yet, the water was still boiling.)

We had three different kinds of scones and cucumber creamcheese tea sandwiches!

Field Trip!

Last Tuesday our environmental science class went on a field trip to Wawawai Park and Lower Granite Dam, both in WA. First we went to the park, did some "experiments" and then hiked he informational trail. (Informational meaning there were lots of boards with random facts about the area before and after the dams were installed along the river.

Our lab group on the trail. Pardon my distressed expression. It was bright. :)

This is Myca, I met her on the trip. Not only is she a kindred spirit (an Anne fan) but she kept me from being Kelsi and Cody's third wheel.

Kelsi and Cody.
One of the information boards declared that these were sunflowers.

Whether or not thats what they are, theyre cheery!

The snake river!

Last we went to Lower Granite Dam where we learned a bit about hydropower

and the Salmon Passage.

IScream...

...for ice cream. Last week the RA staff for the area Im in went on an adventure to 31 Flavors before our meeting. Yum!

Monze and Skyla went for waffle cones.

I couldnt decide whether the desire for hot fudge was more overwhelming than the desire for bubblegum ice cream. So I got both. I got a kids scoop of bubblegum, and a kids scoop of vanilla with hot fudge and a cherry on top!

Dylan was pretty thrilled with his concoction.

Andy, Torrey and Jake were...very interested in their ice cream?

Anne on Podcast!

For those of you interested in audio books, and or Anne of Green Gables, I found it as a free podcast. There is a new reader for each chapter. I havent found them to be quite as good as the reader for the Audible Audio version I purchased before I found the podcast (which I am willing to let anyone borrow when I get home) but if you like Anne and multi tasking its a good way to go! If you have questions or dificulties obtaining these free audio book podcasts, just call!