giving thanks

It was just Thanksgiving, a time to give thanks for what you have, to spend time with loved ones, and to eat as much turkey as humanly possible. While I try to express gratitude for a number of things on the daily, here is my list of (some of the) things I am GRATEFUL FOR.




Coffee!! Especially when enjoyed in a cafe bustling with just the right amount of calming background noise while editing photos or writing in a journal.




Cameras!! In any shape or form - my phone camera, DSLR, and polaroid are all important for capturing different moments of my life and I love them all.




Weird and beautiful things and places.






Friends you would do anything for (and who would do anything for you). Specifically friends you can be crazy with.




This bird. He fills my life with such joy.




Signature cocktails, cute typography, and aesthetically pleasing flower arrangements.




Sparklers.




My amazing support system filled with my biggest fans (doyouseewhatididthere).




My cozy apartment decorated with my eclectic collection of dinosaurs, bird-themed items, tie-dye, and lots of photos.


Life is good.

The beginnings of fall are upon us!

...or at least they should be. Here in Corpus, it's actually fairly similar to summer AKA still an above 100 degree heat index every day and muggy as hell. The only difference is that it has been raining quite a bit, which while pleasant is not so fun when you are unsuspectingly cleaning outside and suddenly the heavens split open and all the water that ever existed drenches you for half an hour straight. Then, when you finally get inside away from the thunder and lightning, it clears up and the day is absolutely beautiful. But not beautiful enough to actually dry any of your clothes. Also the mosquitoes come out in droves after rainstorms. BUT nothing is as terrible as the Minnesota north woods in the middle of summer, so at least I don't have to worry about losing 50% of my blood on a daily basis.

Enough banter, time to discuss important things such as this "weekly" blog feature that I have definitely been keeping up with...


10 Things I'm Loving



(source)

1) New training goals

Our department is undergoing some new, really exciting changes! We are now all on different training teams for different animals; primary trainers for some and secondary trainers on others. I'm the lead trainer for Kogi, my favorite baby Military Macaw, and Cleo, the semi-angry Swainson's Hawk. I'm excited by the potential both of these animals have, as well as learning how to work and train the other animals that I have the pleasure of teaming up with. Basically, I'm excited to go to work now and play with animals all day; it's truly a wonderful experience to love what you do for a living.


2) Finding pieces of nature in the city



(from my IG)

It's incredibly important for my being, my soul, to find the wild wherever I am and allow myself to be one with it. I used to wander the mountains at midnight (to my mother's chagrin), take afternoon walks through my Minnesota woods to watch dappled sunlight and juvenile wood frogs cross my path, and now I miss it. I miss it desperately. I used to be a ten minute drive from rural mountain paths, I used to live deep within the woods next to a lake inhabited with loons and osprey, and now I live in a city desolate of wilderness. There is the ocean, and for that I am grateful, but this ocean is filled with people and, tragically, their garbage. People do not respect or care for the environment very much here, which saddens me, so I try to help when I can. I need wild places sans people, places to be with the birds and then insects and the water and my thoughts. Luckily, I've been able to find some portions of wilderness to give my heart hope (as Laura and I joked). We went to Hazel Bazemore park, a large section of woods and water half an hour north of Corpus, to release some Barn Owls (as seen in the previous post) and were astounded that such a large natural reserve can exist somewhere like Corpus Christi. I look forward to picnics, bike rides, and book reading dates at Hazel Bazemore.


3) Homemade french fries



(source)

I make some pretty damn good french fries, if I do say so myself. I slice up some golden russet potatoes from my birthland of Idaho, slather them with olive oil, shake generous portions of garlic salt and chili powder on top, and pop them in the oven for 20 minutes. Delish.


4) Halloween items making their way into stores



(source)

Of course, any mention of Halloween makes me absolutely GLOW with joy! I went grocery shopping yesterday and saw the store setting up for Halloween. I perused aisles of sparkly pumpkins and bloodied skulls and sighed with contentment. I love Halloween.


5) Costume shopping



(source)

My friend is having a Murder Mystery party for her birthday and I am stoked. So stoked that Murder Mystery is capitalized. The theme is old west poker tournament, and I'm a saloon girl (yessss all my dreams are coming true). At first dressing up was just a suggestion, but now it seems as if those who don't choose to dress up will be in the minority, so I am definitely ordering a costume. I think I know what base I'll work with, I just need to see how much it is and get to working on it! My name is Sally Starr :D


6) Mental Health Days



(source)

Sometimes, you wake up not feeling 100% and you decide you need to sleep until noon and then sit around in pajamas while you watch Grey's Anatomy. This happens to basically be me every weekend, but this weekend two days were not enough. Since everyone else had a labor day weekend, I made my own and watched a lot of reality television, talked with my BFFL, and skyped with my Oma. It was emotionally challenging but still a good physical break.


7) Skyping



(source)

Skype is a wonderful invention, even though my father says 75% of the time you're on Skype is spent trying to figure out why so and so's camera turned off, or why there's suddenly no sound. However, without it I wouldn't be able to see my parents as much considering they live in Spain now and I unfortunately can't call up my mom whenever I want :( The good news is SKYPE exists and I can call her with some careful pre-planning on our parts and talk to her for hours about the animals I play with, the feathers I collect, the things that made us smile, and Onion articles.


8) Fall colors



(source)

I absolutely adore Autumn (it is my namesake), and with that everything that comes with it (even the eventual winter, for a time). This includes the magnificent colors that burst like wildfire in the mountains of my home in the west, or the woods of my home in the north. Here in the south, where muggy heat reigns, there will be no fall colors. So I will have to gaze at past photos and sigh while I dip my toes in the atlantic ocean.


9) IBC root beer



(source)

They were an impulse buy at the grocery store, but one I never regret. Bottled root beer is always a treat.


10) Copperhead Road



One of the things I know how to do that makes me truly feel like I live in Texas is a good country line dance. We frequent a country dance bar called Whiskey River, which proudly displayed taxidermied raccoons in little canoes and a fog machine. Every night at midnight, they play the song Copperhead Road, and the entire club piles onto the dance floor to dance in tandem to this song. It's so fun. I never get sick of it, and stomping in boots on the dance floor in time with one hundred other people is a thrill.

I spent the day compiling my costume for the murder mystery party, procuring an awesome Star Wars shirt, eating too much bad food for me, going on Sarah Dessen-esque adventures with Laura to the gas station for slushies, watching Grey's Anatomy, and, of course, blogging. A very good, relaxing day! Now to either late night clean my bathroom or watch My Cat from Hell...hmmmm...

Nighty night

10 Things I Love

I love to write. Writing is a cathartic and natural process for me, which is why I started a blog in the first place. Unfortunately, I have not exactly been blogging, as of late. I really want to get back into the groove of it, and not only to write, but to also post my photographs. I have not taken many photographs with my DSLR in the past few months; another habit that I have grown out of. The good news is that I'm not blogging because there is an overabundance of things that I'm doing in my life, vs. not having anything to talk about. There's just so much to experience in South Texas, some good and some pretty trashy. But maybe that's just Texas.

Anyways, here's ten things that I'm loving in life right now!

1)



Orange is the New Black

BAHAHAHA this show is absolute GOLD. From every facet of my life I heard people discussing season 2 with such fervor that I decided I had to give it a chance. I love it. It's complicated, powerful, funny, and sad. Everything you could want from a TV show.

2)



Polaroid Cameras

I impulse bought an Instax mini polaroid camera the day I got a 98% on my physics test. My parents, who I lived with at the time, told me it was impulsive and silly and that film was expensive, etc. etc. WHATEVER, I DO WHAT I WANT. I love using it, though to be fair I hadn't used it in a while UNTIL I decided I was going to do a summer project with it. I am taking a polaroid every single day of the summer (June 1-August 31, in my mind) and posting it in my journal so I can remember the memories I have of my crazy life here. Beach bonfires, country dancing, free shots, pool days, Game of Thrones parties, bar crawls, and everything else life has to offer.

3)



Peach vodka and iced tea

Jess taught me this fantastic combination! Seriously, try it. It tastes even better when you combine the alcohol with a lemonade/iced-tea mixture. For best results, pour over ice in a tumblr and take to the pool or beach. You'll thank yourself for it.

4)





Little baby totems of some animals that I work with! Danielle's shop is a treasure trove of adorableness.

5)



Game of Thrones Sunday Fundays

I have been LOVING this season of Game of Thrones (though everyone trying to teach Khaleesi "lessons" like "it's okay, you're learning but through pain and death, yeah okay...). Every sunday, me, Elise, and Laura all get together for Sunday Funday and watch Game of Thrones, eat food, and generally wreak havoc. This past Sunday, we all gathered at our friend Kevin's house for macaroni and cheese pie, smashed red potatoes, and cinnamon braised peached with vanilla ice-cream. Also the finale was fucking INSANEEEEE!!! Happy Father's Day, indeed, Tywin Lannister MWAHAHAHAHA

6)



Piano Bars

(I use the word "bar" FAR TOO OFTEN in this paragraph because I didn't proof-read this before I posted it and I thought I had a concussion today so BEAR WITH IT YOU GUYS)

When I first started going to bars, I was truly uncomfortable. For some reason, I constantly felt like I was on display and that people were judging me for not knowing what to order at the bar. One of the only places I felt comfortable was a dueling piano bar we happened upon during my 21st birthday bar crawl. We sat down, a cocktail waitress took our drink orders (no standing awkwardly at a crowded bar), and cheered and sang to songs played by the two men competing against one another onstage. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that bars are literally just another play to hang out, just with a full bar alcohol nearby and sometimes pool and darts. Now I'm as bar pro (if I do say so myself), and shove myself into the fray surrounding the bar, obnoxiously waving my card and demanding shots of tequila (just kidding, that only happened once). I still LOVE dueling piano bars though. Even though this particular instance was not "dueling pianos", but just a piano singalong, it was still super fun, and it had the same set-up as dueling piano bars. You write your request on a napkin complete with a "donation" (aka tip) and the highest donations win a song on the piano. We went to Brewster's Ice House, a cool bar with a giant open patio right on the train tracks. Unfortunately, I forgot my ID so I was outfitted with a minor's wristlet, complete with neon orange smiley-faces. I had to hide it conspicuously beneath the table every time I drank one of the beers someone else had to purchase for me (I have great friends). It was a great time complete with 80s rock ballads, purchasing the piano player a shot so he would play our song, and screaming, "YOU BITCH, YOU SLUT, YOU WHORE" (a piano bar favorite).

7)



A teeny tiny laptop for my birds!

Natal sent me (aka Manny and Maeby) a tiny apple laptop so my birds can browse tumblr with me! Bonding activities! She understands my love of birds pretending to do people things, so this gift is on par with my weird hobbies.

8)



The Last Halloween

I have recently got into reading web comics that have an actual storyline, vs. Toothpaste for Dinner. My stipulations are that a) they have to be interesting to me (obvi), b) they only started a little while ago so I have time to catch up before I get real-time updates, or c) they can be long, but they also must be over so I can just read the whole thing like a book (things that have been going on forever and are still CONTINUING TO BE A THING really intimidate me, for instance DOCTOR WHO, how does anybody even know what's going on anymore??). The moral of this story is that The Last Halloween is fantastic and I LOVE IT. Especially since it has the whole spooky/cute thing going on, which I'm really into. Which is why I adore bats. Check it out and also Abby Howard's other stuff, because she is dupes funny! DO IT.

9)



Beach bonfires

I just want to have beach bonfires ALL THE DAYS. I can't get enough of them. My favorite thus far involved crisp white-wine sangria, playing in the bioluminescence at midnight, and then attempting to get mozzarella sticks at 4 AM. That part didn't work very well...

10)



Memories of cool mountain nights, drinking out of aluminum, blue-speckled cups filled with powdered apple cider complete with a slight metallic tang, crowding around a small, crackling campfire popping with sparks. Basically just having a place to escape the heat in general, as everywhere here is swathed in a 103 degree heat index. I miss the mountains :( Though beach camping is an experience I still look forward to.

I really want to try posting photos again, as well as taking photos. I haven't touched my DSLR in months (part of the reason is my favorite lens broke, waaah), so I need to get started with it again! Photography is one of my passions and I need to remember that!

I'm having a sick day today because I hit my head really hard THREE TIMES in one of our exhibits yesterday during morning husbandry and I feel like I might have a concussion :/ So hopefully I feel better soon!

(all the photos not from my instagram are from weheartit.com)

10 things I love

Oh mannnn I am sucking at this whole once a week consistent blog post thing. I have been so busy with work and trying to experience the things South Texas has to offer and not wanting to miss out on anything, but it's also exhausting. So exhausting that I finally broke down and got sick. I slept like, 14 hours last night though so hopefully that helps me out.

1)



source

Carnivals at night/sunset

We're going to a CARNIVAL TONIGHT!!! And I love carnivals at night so so much because of all the beautiful glowy, rainbow lights! So beautifulll! This one in particular is right on the beach, which is even better ♥


2)



source

Reading nerdy books about training

I have been reading through what some people call the "animal trainer's bible" and it's awesome. I spend nights off when I'm not doing anything else watching TV in the background while I flip through the book and take notes. NERD ALERT.

3)



source

Bob's Burgers

This show is so amazing. I was only sort of into the first season, though there were some truly laugh out loud moments, but since the second season I have been consistently loving it. Especially since every character is basically AMAZING!

4)



Possibilities for volunteering with rehab

I used to do rehab occasionally (mostly for raptors), and I miss it! This is a photo of me when I was at REGI and I tube-fed a GHOW. I'm also a novice rehabilitator in the state of MN! So I'm going to apply to volunteer at the ARK, a rehab facility that takes care of birds and sea turtles! I'm excited for the prospect.

5)



source

The Bird Cage

I just watched this movie last night and it was AMAZINGGGG!! I loved it so much. Robin Williams is perfection, I absolutely adore Nathan Lane, and their "maid" Agador was THE BEST. Soooo yeah, I really liked it.

6)



My new car! And help getting that new car.

My Opa flew in from Utah to help me find a new car because the process was EXHAUSTING. We looked at so many different cars and it was so hot and humid and by the end I was so incredibly brain-dead I had to make a choice and I went with a blue Rio Kia! I love her (I think she's a girl car), I'm just sad that she's not a standard :( But I've gotten used to the automatic. Plus, she's BLUE.

7)



source

Fiesta eggs or Cascarones

Cascarones are a hispanic tradition; they're colored eggs with paper mache glued on the end to keep in beautiful sparkly confetti. You smash them on other people's heads and it gives them good luck! This past week was Fiesta week in San Antonio, a festival celebrated in conjunction with Easter (it's kind of like Mardi Gras), and these guys were everywhere. We got some for animal enrichment, too, which was AWESOME to see the boys crush them in their talons.

8)



source

San Antonio River Walk

The River Walk is so beautiful! I loved it a lot. It was cool by the river, we ate mexican food and drank margaritas, watched boats going by, and then we went on a boat tour!

9)



source

Mutton Busting

The cutest sport EVER! I almost used a photo from a website talking about how it was child and animal abuse, but the sheep really just trot around the arena and the child tumbles off. Children tumble of trees all the time and they're FINEEEE. Anyways, we watched it during the rodeo we went to for Buccaneer Days, a festival held in Corpus Christi each year!


10)



Servals in boxes

The other day we gave our serval a box for enrichment and as I left at the end of the day, I saw him sitting in it. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! Proof that any sized cat loves a good box.

I have once again spent most of the day on my bed in my jim jams. Time to go grocery shopping and get some stuff done before I go to the carnival!

10 Things I Love

It is once again no longer Monday, plus I forgot to do it last week, BUT I want to keep up this tradition (as well as continue to write in this blog despite still acclimating to my new life).

1)



Beach bonfires

I had SO MUCH FUN the other night at our beach bonfire! You're allowed to drive up onto the beach, park, and make a bonfire LEGALLY (opposite of the many illegal bonfires made on California beaches in my time). We gossiped around the fire, drank sangria and vodka, frolicked in the water, and accidentally stepped in some tar balls that still haven't come off my feet.

2)





Bioluminescence

As we frolicked in the water around midnight, I noticed bright specks of glowing blue and screeched, "BIOLUMINESCENCE!!!" I splashed them onto my legs so I could see them better, tossing them into the air like tiny crystalline bursts of fireworks. I ran through the waves, practically swimming in them (due to possible high amounts of alcohol in my blood), and giggling madly as I weaved in and out of my friends, sprinting through the water. I loved it. And I'm excited for many summer nights involving the same thing.

3)



Game nights

We had a Settlers of Catan game night! During our beach bonfire, we all drunkenly reminisced about playing Settlers of Catan and agreed to get together and play it the next night, however I soon realized that I have never actually played the game. I just assumed I had played it because my family is obsessed with it and they always play it. It is complicated as shit. I set up settlements along green valleys and woodlands and basically hoarded sheep the entire game. Whenever people tried to steal my resource cards, there was approximately a 67% chance that they would get a sheep (or a shoop, as I explained my whole theory regarding sheep vs. shoops at the beginning of the game). But it was still super fun and we ate dinosaur chicken nuggets for dinner and I lost spectacularly, but I had a lot of sheep.

4)



Exploring natural history museums

On my day off last week, Jess and I decided we were going to head downtown and do something touristy. We ended up at a cafe at the art museum for some lunch and mimosas, and then realized we didn't want to look at art and instead walked over to the natural history museum. It was...interesting. It was more of a human history plus a tiny bit of natural history museum, and there was A LOT of history to talk about. There was a cool shipwreck exhibit about the ships from Spain that went down off the coast a little south of here, exhibits about the western cultures, about old school regal peeps of Corpus, etc. It got a little overwhelming. The natural history portion was hilarious because you could tell everything was labelled and exhibits created in the '70s and nothing has been updated since then. The rock exhibit reminded me of my favorite Shell Shop. The Sandhill Crane pictured above was possibly one of my favorite parts of the museum; his name was Bonaparte and he lost his legs in a coyote trap. Luckily, someone found him and a scientist researched how to create bionic legs for the crane. She DID it! Those weird plastic things are his ROBOT LEGS. Eventually, Bonaparte died of a heart attack. Magnificent. After the museum, Jess and I got salads and soup and drank peach vodka/iced tea while watching American Idol and it was glorious.

5)



Awesome cover bands

There's a really cool bar downtown called The Executive Surf Club. I went there for trivia a couple of weeks ago, and last week I headed out on a Tuesday night (my Saturday) to watch a live band play. It was AWESOME! They played 80s and 90s rock covers, and A LOT of The Police. Our friend was super into it plus quite drunk because it was $2 pint night, so he danced around us and sang to the songs, which was hilarious.

6)



Training our River Otter

I've been able to start doing some training with our River Otter so I can start doing sessions when other people are busy, plus I really want to learn because OMG RIVER OTTER!! His name is Merlin and he is so cuuute!!! We worked on "station", "hammock", "stump", and "come here", which are all simple outdoor commands. I love it.

7)



Birdwatching

I LOVE birdwatching. Like I've mentioned before, it's basically like my crack. I get super excited about the prospect of seeing a new species of bird, or identifying something difficult such as a vireo or warbler. I went birding on my "weekend" last week at the Suter Wildlife Reserve and unfortunately didn't really see any new species except for some waterfowl that I've seen maybe once before, which was still pretty cool. I saw Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets, and Caspian Terns for the first time in the wild which was awesome! Plus it was just a really nice, beautiful walk. I am looking forward to spring migration craziness and seeing different types of warblers! One of our volunteers who is an avid birder told me about a couple of places in Port Aransas that are good for birdwatching so I hope to make it out there soon!

8)



Taking dogs for a walk

I'm petsitting right now for a coworker and am taking her dog on walks every day (well except today, whoops). There is an adorable park nearby her where kids play kickball and baseball in semi-official diamonds alit with giant stadium lights as the sun sets, later each and every day. There is a field filled with cacti and then a hiking path lining a river. It is an amazing walk and reminds me of spring as the sun sets behind us.

9)



Congratulatory brownies

Elise, the new vet tech Laura, and I all had a potluck at Elise's house the other day where Elise provided food, I provided drinks/alcohol, and Laura brought over brownies decorated with "Congratz", birds, and fish in honor of our new "grown up" jobs. They were awesome and basically I love sugar.

10)



Firefly

I love this show. We watched it while playing Settlers of Catan and I would get visibly distracted from the game to watch this show despite seeing it a thousand times. It's just SO GOOD. If you've never seen it before, watch it. It's on Netflix.

This past week was awesome, complete with ice hockey, sangria, angry high-beam battles, hot tubbing, new york style pizza, mini cocker spaniels, playing in the ocean, cat cuddles, receiving new/old shoes in the mail plus an amazing handmade card from my BFFL, and hanging out with my new franz, and even though it's my sunday it has still been a great, chill day. Time to attempt catching up in my written journal before bed. Fare thee well!