Sunday, June 21, 2009

Dinosaurland

Hello All. I'm still doing the botanical gig every week in Vernal and then coming home on the weekends. Vernal is an interesting place. It's a small town with one main road, but the population of residents is probably matched by the number of tourists in town and people coming in for work-especially those working for the oil and gas industrial complex. There are many hotels and motels in town and they can all charge high rates, because the demand is high. We are staying a fairly nice motel for which we pay $130.00 a night before taxes! Vernal is known as Dinorsaurland because of all the dinosaur bones and fossil fuels that are found in the area and you will not fail to notice this fact while you're in town because of all the dinosaurs everywhere. One of my favorites is the one found above. This brontosaurus lights up and moves its arms up and down beckoning people to stay and swim at the local motel. There is also a huge pink dinosaur on one side of town welcoming people and there is another huge dinosaur sculpture in the middle of town that has changing accessories depending on the time of year. During high school graduation it was wearing a large graduation cap and holding a diploma. Now that it is fishing season it is holding a fishing rod with a fish on the end and wearing a fishing hat. It's unreal. Take a look below.Things are going well with the plants too. We have been surveying areas looking for our penstemon plants. We've been going down a lot of dirt roads, getting soaked by many rain storms, running from lightening and seeing some awesome views. Here I am at the top of a mountain ridge (don't laugh at my field clothes).

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Wandering in the Desert

I've been out working in the field twice this month and it's great. Take a look at some of the places and things I'm seeing. The Uinta Basin is more beautiful than I ever imagined. I love the desert.
One of our research sites

This is the Penstemon plant we are studying, looks like it's sticking it tongue out us, doesn't it?


"Willa crick" (Willow creek)


An evening primrose and our Jeep Rubicon that gets us down all the dirt roads we follow


Me in the field, glamorous, no?

Thursday, April 30, 2009

A Job, A Job

Ha ha, and just when you thought you'd seen the last of me-I'm back! So anyway, I found a job or should I say I got a job, I found jobs that didn't want me, but finally someone did! My days of searching are over, well at least for a little while. It just for the summer, but I think it will be amazing. I will be working for the Botanical gardens near me in their conservation department as a Field Botanist. Doesn't being a field anything sound great? So I will be travel around the state surveying plant populations, collecting seed, revegetating areas and whatever else a field botanist does. I'm not sure yet because I don't start for a week, but huzzah! I will keep you updated and you'll surely get lots of pictures.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Sharing the Wealth

If you noticed that my background changed lately it's all due a great source for cute blog layouts. Check out my friend Cristi's FREE blog layots. She's awesome! http://cristiscreations.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Jobs Schmobs

Ok so two things for today. First, the job search isn't going too hot. I know leave it to me to pick the best time to look for a job, but it's too late to go back. I was talking to a guy last night that is also looking for a job nowadays and he described the process as "soul crushing." I would have to agree, that is precisely the way it feels. If anyone would give me the chance I promise I am a very hard, smart worker, really! So if anyone knows of any good or even not so good jobs out there, let me know.
Actually I'll work for a lot less than this, I'm a bargain!

Second, on a lighter note, I found this funny blog http://www.sexypeople-blog.com/ . Don't worry it's nothing dirty, just very funny portraits of people from the 1960's to 1990's, like this:
Haha, these kids crack me up.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Haunting myself

Hah! I just got a message from my past self from one year ago. So amusing. If you go to the site, www.futureme.org, you can write an email to yourself to be delivered at some point in the future. I had kind of forgotten that I had done this, so it was a fun suprise to get my email to me. Try it.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Books on my mind

So at the moment I'm looking for a fulltime job and since I can't spend all my time job hunting (or I'd go crazy), I'm also looking for some good reads. I want to read something enjoyable, it can be poignant, just not depressing and it has to end well. Currently I'm reading John Adams by David McCullough, which I'm thoroughly enjoying but I want a few more books in my queue. Does anyone out there have any suggestions? (Oh and any leads on jobs will be accepted as well :)).