Saturday, June 29, 2014

wow.  So this is what it is like to live in a clean and very organized house.  MY very clean and organized home.  Wonderful.  Love it!  Just sitting on the couch, looking at my clean carpet, all the books and papers organized in the bookcase, bins with pens, notecards, highlighters, etc.  wow.  Wish y'all could see it.  Those who have ever seen my apartment or old office, this is probably hard to believe, but believe it!

The furniture is back....

Cleaning carpets is definitely a day+ job....  By the time you move everything out, actually clean, let it dry, and put the furniture back.  But here it is  :)

Cleaning...

Today was really warm, so I decided to steam clean the downstairs carpet.  Treated the spots first, then steam-cleaned the rug.  Got all the bunny items cleaned up and stored away.  Did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom.  Scrubbed walls, replaced water filters, cleaned the steam cleaners, cleaned the tracks for the window and sliding glass doors, etc.  It is nice to have a day to do something like this.  (With my old job it was really difficult to get time to clean like this.)  Long day, but the hard work keeps my mind off sadder things.  This has been a really long year, and these last two months have been one shoe after another dropping. It is amazing that I think things can't get worse and then something else happens, and another thing happens, and yet one more thing happens.  I have ceased thinking that this is as bad as things can be, because it could be so so so much worse.  But God has been teaching me a lot and I have changed and grown so much in these last two months.  Whereas I used to have a meltdown with so many problems, it was only a few minutes of tears as I prayed about it and then started taking positive and constructive action to find a solution.  And these many problems have been teaching me to be thankful for what is truly important in life:  my faith, a God that never abandons me, that my health isn't as bad as it could be, I have a roof over my head (at least for the moment), food to eat.  I know this is where God wants me to be for the time being and I trust that He will take care of me.  It's not easy, to be sure, but God is faithful.

Here is the floor.  It is actually cleaner now than when I moved in!  Those two little stains in the center were here when I moved in and they won't come out, but I got many other stains out.  Now for it to dry, and then tomorrow morning I can put the couch and end tables and such back.  :)

Now it is time to sit down and grade papers.  This is my back porch, and I put a little candle in the stone basin and use a fork to toast marshmallows and make s'mores and enjoy the sunset and the trains going by.  I can get away with a fork instead of a stick since candles don't put out much heat, unlike a fire!

How vehicles run on train tracks!

It is interesting to see 'regular' vehicles running on the train tracks!  I took a picture that shows the rigging under the vehicle that allows it to do this.  I am curious to know if it is permanently installed on the vehicle or if it is something that is temporary, and if so how the vehicle gets into the rigging and onto the tracks!

Crane on the Train

I finally got a better picture of the crane that sits on top of the box cars and can pick up the train ties and put them next to the tracks  :)

Summer Hail

Good thing I had planned to stay home today. It is hailing! Lots and lots! Seriously coming down outside.
These pictures is just a few minutes into the hailstorm...

I played disc golf until it was too dark to see, which up here is about 945pm. Got home and cleaned the mud off my shoes, did the dishes, and washed off my disc (frisbee). Yes, that is my frisbee in the dish drainer! It was just covered in mud...

Friday June 21, 2013

Some things are troubling me and I needed to clear my head and talk with God, so I am out for a round of disc golf. I am not the greatest with a disc (aka frisbee), but I do enjoy throwing one around and playing disc golf. I miss Ultimate Frisbee.
Not the most exciting course at this park, but the view is nice, I have the park to myself, and I am outdoors. So I am thankful.

Thrifty alternative to air conditioning...

My front window gets serious morning sun, which heats up the apartment quite a bit.  Since I can't afford an air conditioner, I came up with this much more cost-effective solution!  A car window shade ($8) that reflects much of the sun coming in the window.  This is the first morning since I put it up, and there is definitely a nice improvement in the temperature in the living room!  :)
Fortunately is does cool down a little in the evenings, not like Sonoma County where it can get downright chilly, but there is a breeze.  So in the evening I open the front window and the back slider and get a breeze going to cool it off inside.  Which the bunnies definitely appreciate!

What's free today?

The tires disappeared yesterday.  Only took 4 days.  Then this morning something new was sitting on the corner.  Also free.  It cracks me up to see what new item will appear for free and how long it will sit there!

319 more days until school ends next year, at which point, God-willing, I will be graduating.  It is very beautiful here, and I am learning much about myself and my faith, but it has been incredibly hard not having friends here or people to study with at school.  There are two ladies at church I get an opportunity to talk with briefly every couple of weeks, so that helps.  My time here has been one of great personal growth, and as usual with growth, it is not a pleasant process, so also of much pain and sadness.  But praying God brings me through my time here having taught me much and refined me in the process.

Yellowstone - Trip 3

Trip 3 to Yellowstone

See the above post for pictures of my third trip to Yellowstone...

I have learned a few things about living here...

(1)  Freeze your water before you go on a trip.  It gets so hot here that the frozen water bottles can first serve as 'ice' in the cooler and then as they melt I can drink nice cold water.

(2)  Bring clothes for every season imaginable.  Just because it is hot and sunny in the morning, this does not tell you how the weather will be an hour from now.  It could be thunderstorms by afternoon.

(3)  Watch out for slowed/stopped vehicles in Yellowstone.  Sometimes it is a 'wild goose chase'.  Sometimes it is dangerous, like a growling mama bear (not getting out of the car for that!), and sometimes it is something awesome, like a Bald Eagle.  You never know which!

Need Tires?

I awoke this morning to find this outside my door....  FREE TIRES!

I watched several people come by and look at them, and then talk about what an oddball size of tire they were.... so tiny....  Many people up here have BIG trucks they drive.  And if the vehicle isn't big, they put a lift kit on it.  Yesterday I saw an old old Subaru station wagon that had a lift kit!  It was hilarious!  And apparently road rules are quite relaxed here.  I have seen people driving those mini motorcycles that look like they are made for a kindergartner on major roads, as well as all kinds of 4-wheel vehicles and golf carts.  My staff at my old job often tried to convince me they could take a golf cart out on 'real' roads, but I told them it was against the law.  Apparently up here it is not against the law -OR- no one enforces that law!

When I first got up this morning, it was actually foggy outside, with moisture in the air.  It so very much reminded me of home.  But like home, it burned off my mid-morning.

Yellowstone Trip 2

I went to Yellowstone yesterday.  This time I went in through the North Entrance (instead of the West Entrance).  The North Entrance was definitely more 'touristy' with the lodge and restaurants, and a nearby town.  I did some short walks and some of the scenic drives, since I haven't been feeling the greatest.  But it sure was nice to be out in nature!

I took the west side of the north loop and made it about halfway around the loop.  There is a LOT to explore at Yellowstone!  I stopped at 5 different visitor centers / museums and that was quite interesting.  The Park Ranger museum was probably my favorite, learning about the history of the park rangers, women in the park service, the President and foreign dignitaries visiting Yellowstone and other parks, the different uniforms they have worn, etc.  I am reading a book right now called 'Hey Ranger' about funny stories about working in the National Park System.  It is hilarious and very much reminds me of working at my old job!  I found out a lot of parks hire summer help, and that is something I might really be interested in doing in the future, especially if I am teaching and my summers would be more or less available to do that.  At the Canyon Village center, I found out about the Campfire talks they have. Every night at 9:30 pm for 45 minutes.  There were some really interesting talks.  I am thinking about picking one that is really neat and going.  It would be quite a trip back home (probably wouldn't get back until 1 am), but if the talk is good, it would be worth it.  Plus hanging around the campfire would be quite fun!

Scroll down to the next blog post and you can view a slideshow of some of the pictures from this trip!

Yellowstone - Trip 2 Slideshow

Click on the picture, and once the page loads, click slideshow which is near the upper left corner to see pictures of trip 2 to Yellowstone!

June 7, 2013

Howdy!  I will try to get some pictures posted tomorrow.  Sorry!  I have been dealing with some health issues for the past few weeks and that has been rather time consuming.

I have been working on getting my lesson plans going for teaching stats later this summer.  Actually, I start teaching in a few weeks.  Yikes!  Where did the time go.  I am doing the lessons in prezi, which is sort of like powerpoint.  Thought I would give that a try.

I am also working on completing my Online Instructor Certificate through MSU this summer.  I took a class Thursday morning on using an LMS - Learning Management System.  Which is fancy speak for an online system that students log into and their professors post notes, grades, class news, they can even take quizzes online, submit papers they have written for a class, etc.  Many colleges and universities have a system like this.  Anyway... This was one of the best trainings I have attended, hands down.  The instructors were skilled at dealing with people afraid of computers, as well as those who were programmers and had much computer skill.  This was a class on the 'basics' and is required for the Online Instructor Certificate.  Even though I have some experience using the system, I still picked up some good tricks and tips.  I am looking forward to taking more classes from these people as I found this class to be quite excellent!  AND, they hired a new gal to work on the system, and she is a former math professor, so I talked to her for awhile about teaching math and she has some great ideas!  It was fun to talk to someone who loves to teach math as much as I do!

Other than that.....  The rabbits are good!  Silly as ever!  They jump on my pillow in the middle of the night hoping that I will feed them cheerios or chocolate.  I keep trying to tell them cheerios and chocolate aren't for rabbits, but they disagree.  Also that they are not supposed to be nocturnal animals, but I think they know I will cave and give them something if they wake me up in the middle of the night!

Ok.  Time for me to go to bed.  I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

They've been working on the railroad...