365 days 43-63

43/365


We let Kitty hang out on Eagle Pass sometimes when both the eagles are off. For the most part he lays in the bushes right next to the netting where people can definitely reach him (and most definitely try, ugh). When I saw him perched atop the rock-work like a little Simba, I ran to get my camera. I couldn't climb over the fencing in time to get a photo without the mesh in the way, but I still like it!



44/365


VALENTINE'S DAY!! Despite the fact that many people refer to Valentine's Day quite negatively, especially if they happen to be single, I don't have an issue with it. I consider it a celebration of love - love for friends, lovers, family, pets, trees, art, etc. To celebrate my love of my raptor squad of chickens, I made them heart-shaped ice cubes.



45/365


One of those "oh shit it's late at night and I should take a photo" days. We've been alternating trivia between the irish bar with the hot bartender and the bar our friend brews beer at that often results in free beer (including the cerveza de la flor, a light beer brewed with hibiscus and chamomile, giving it a delightful pink tinge!). This is a photo of the latter.



46/365


We've been introducing the two baby macaws since they will ideally be sharing a play stand of sorts in the middle of the new exhibit. On their first meeting they KISSED AHHHHH (*heart eyes emoji*).



47/365


Manny Calavera doesn't like to play by himself; he gets pretty nervous when he's not in his cage but we're working on it.



48/365


A bunch of us went out and Dylan offered to drive me back home. On the way, I spotted a glowing purple building so I shrieked, "CAN WE TAKE A PICTURE IN FRONT OF IT??" Dylan obliged and I took approximately 4,000 photos of it. Because of low lighting and the fact that I had no tripod/was a little tipsy it's a bit blurry, but that's okay.



49/365


Glow lights are one of my great loves in life.



50/365


This MONSTER can be cute. SOMETIMES.



51/365


Red Lobster is a CLASSY ESTABLISHMENT. Would I rather go to Olive Garden? Yes. But was Olive Garden a 28 minute walk and I had no access to a car? Yes.



52/365


Kitty proudly wanted to show off the dinosaur that he drowned.



53/365


It was National Margarita Day!! We all went out to On the Border for $3 margaritas and proposed to each other with tortilla chips, nibbling holes through the center and sticking them on each other's ring fingers.



54/365


Kogi painted a masterpiece. I like to think silver is his signature color (because I make him paint with it every time).



55/365


Despite utter exhaustion, I drove up to San Antonio immediately after work to see Amelia, who was in town for a conference. We went to the Riverwalk and ate mexican food and key lime pie, drank margaritas, and admired beaded trinkets set up along the water. Then I drove home at midnight (it's a two hour drive). I passed out immediately upon arriving home.



56/365


Some friends had a hula-themed one year anniversary party and these were some of the decorations. There was also a Photo Booth with props that we utilized the hell out of, but none of them are very...artistic.



57/365


Golden hour (I love Laura's commissioned Dumbledore quote, but unfortunately the artist spelled his name wrong...).



58/365


I've never worked with Scarlet Macaws, so I'd never noticed how beautiful their coloration is. ESPECIALLY their adorable pastel butt feathers. That little sweep of powder blue with a hint of yellow on the tiny feathers lining the bottom of her tail - UGH SO ADORABLE!



59/365


Maeby took a bath (hence her darkened palette of colors and ragamuffin look) and likes to pluck her purple thing bald.



60/365


Alleyways like these create stories for themselves in my head, weaving tales about young florists, magical girls, or punk-loving outdoorsy types who hangout on their fire escapes at night to drink beer and listen to sirens; all of whom effortlessly live out dream lives in the city still rife with cutesy errors - all-nighters pulled to finish a portfolio for a photography final, spilling a latte over a cute bartender's phone number, or (in the case of the magical girls) saving the world and climbing back through the window for a good night's sleep after.



61/365


My dream is to live in an apartment filled with adorable planters overflowing with cacti and succulents - and also that I don't kill said cacti and succulents.



62/365


Genesis gave me a ride to my car the other day and I was enamored by the rooftop of her car - a grid of patches from each of her adventures. Every time she goes somewhere new she purchases a patch, sticks a small segment of velcro on the back, and attaches it to the ceiling of her jeep. It inspired me to start getting patches during my adventures, too #adventurevibes



63/365


A plethora of jello shots.


(trying to catch up!! Just got back from Miami and my PITBULL cruise with Megan!! OH IT WAS AMAZING!)

365 days 36-42

36/365


Please enjoy this dog with heavy eyeliner on a fancy chair in a kitchen (the only aesthetic)



37/365


UNICORN MACARONS! And one chicken



38/365


We've been taking the Harris Hawk boys on hawk walks again. Toby likes to sit on the fence and admire the ocean



39/365


I've been trying to run most evenings after work at a place near my house called Sunset Park. It's a trail winding through brackish marsh with the ocean just beyond the scrubby trees so I can see a myriad of birds as the sun sets, spawning fiery, liquid gold across the water



40/365


One of my coworkers made this hot pink heart cake in honor of Valentine's Day



41/365


I color every day at lunch as a small meditative measure against work stress. Of course when I saw there were UNICORNS in this book I couldn't refuse!



42/365


ANDIE GOT A BABY CAIQUE!! He/she is SO SO CUTE!! Nameless for now since the sex isn't known, but she has been calling it Kiwi. It is DARLING and such a little clown, I can't wait to go back and play with it!!!

365 days 29-35

29/365


Andie has this fake owl perched atop her lawn chair to scare sparrows away from the chickens' food. I really like that lawn chair.



30/365


One of our new baby macaws, Tulum! She is only about seven months and is definitely our most well behaved little one. She's adorable. (I also love that the last three photos all have a teal theme).





31/365


It was Little Sean's birthday! We had a party for him at the bowling alley that was semi-construction themed (his gf accidentally bought tank balloons so...military construction?). I am TERRIBLE at bowling, like I bowled beneath a 60 the entire time but WHATEVER it was still fun! Also we had a homemade cake and drank beer and cocktails and then ended the night with laser tag!



32/365


We often go to trivia every Wednesday night at a small Irish bar called Cassidy's. We doodled and drank beer and it's always a good time.



33/365


It was a really foggy morning and three of my team-mates all informed me of a tiny spider web that had minuscule droplets of water clinging to the silken strands. I was so happy that I took this photo when I did because only a couple minutes later someone decimated it.



34/365


It was Doug's 27th work anniversary (our senior carpenter) so he invited us out to The Marlin, a tiny hole-in-the-wall bar, for drinks. It was super fun to play pool and darts and get a little bit intoxicated with "the guys" and then we ate our weight at Whataburger. Greg gave us a ride in the back of his pickup truck and it was SO FUN - Laura and Sean helped me in and Greg peeled out, rocketing into the street and causing me to face-plant into Laura's lap. My body was contorted in broken angles but I was laughing as the wind whipped our hair back and Greg jettisoned at least 20 miles over the speed limit.



35/365


I participated in The Color Run!! Stacey, one of the aquarists, invited me along with her friend Danielle so we met up at an ungodly hour on a Saturday to get covered in colorful powder and dance to hip-hop music!! It was super fun but I did accidentally keep opening my mouth as I ran through the color stations, earning myself a mouthful of disgusting color dust.

365 days 15-28

15/365

A Series of Unfortunate Events came out on Netflix and I was PSYCHED! I binge-watched it all in one weekend. I absolutely love most of the casting, it's genuinely hilarious, and it both follows the books closely AND adds in new awesome material (some completely novel, some from related resources outside the official series). I drew the Baudelaires while watching eight hours worth of perfection - Violet using her homemade grappling hook to save Sunny, Klaus asleep in a chair after reading a book all night, and Sunny playing with the Incredibly Deadly Viper.



16/365

I made a tiny okapi for a good friend and decided to take some photos of it in its own tiny habitat before sending it off.



17/365

This was a terrible, horrible, no-good, VERY BAD day (or something along those lines). What helps soothe bad days? PIZZA! And the pizza monster agrees.





18/365

We went to an event where we got to drink beer and indulge in a macaroni and cheese bar in dolphin underwater viewing. At the end there was a small dolphin presentation - they're pretty cute I guess.



19/365

A rainy night downtown.



20/365

Our boss got us donuts for being awesome employees.



21/365

Taylor started woodworking with a desire to sell products on an online site like Easy. I helped him out by taking some photos - I really liked this one of his double candle votive.



22/365

I hung out with Sean and his new puppy, Porter, at the dog park and then at the bar he brews at where we drank free beer #lazysunday





23/365

This was the day of the Women's March and I was feeling INCREDIBLY emotional - I was so proud of my fellow women who were protesting around the country, fiercely admiring their sassy and powerful signage and desperately wishing I could be with them. I also felt anger and inner turmoil, absolute DISBELIEF that a women's march was even necessary. In order to quell some of the upset in my soul, I made this piece of art based off a photo of Princess Leia I saw with this same slogan. I think Carrie Fisher would have been so happy to know she played an integral part in the march and I'm so ecstatic to have this piece of art to honor her memory.



24/365

Sean and I worked a night event at the end of a tough week and decided to get some food and drinks afterward. This is our fake "THANKS" face.





25/365

Our family Christmas!! We opened our presents to one another (I got horror-based erotic fiction (lol) and an amazing rice heat pack covered in parrots from Laura and a homemade speaker amplifier for my phone from Taylor!), ate spaghetti, and watched a movie!



26/365

I've been running after work at sunset along a stretch near the ocean that flocks of birds inhabit, including this group of American Avocets. Unfortunately, this photo did cause me to sink a foot ankle deep in sludge (though I still ran, CHAMPION!!)



27/365

I went out to a new restaurant with Tilt in the hopes of obtaining some unicorn-themed desserts. Luckily I succeeded, as you can see by this sparkly, sprinkle-laden rainbow cake! It was delicious and nothing makes me happier than colorful, glittery things (especially if they're edible).



28/365

Taylor caught this invasive gecko species in our shed and decided to keep it on the kitchen counter for several days. We eventually set it free once it was clear that he wasn't really making an attempt to care for the lizard, but before that happened I decided to experiment some more with my macro lens attachments.

365 days 1-14

1/365

I wanted to do some light painting with sparklers and had this grand vision of what my first photo of the new year would be. Unfortunately, as we all know, sometimes plans don't go the way you want them to and my sparklers ended up not working. LUCKILY we had some flashlights in our junk drawer that worked out! It took a lot of trial and error to get to this point, where I finally wrote the numbers the correct way and far enough apart that they weren't overlapping.



2/365

We had a roomie paint night where Laura worked on this cool shark painting! She later glued gemstones around the border, which really made it POP!



3/365

The classic "I have a crazy busy schedule and was at work all day and now I have no energy to take a photo" scenario emerged early this year, so I quickly snapped this photo of our baby redwood tree that Lauren brought back from California in the sunset.



4/365

I felt ASHAMED by my half-assed photo the day before, so I purposefully headed out in search of something to take a photo of. I had to work late and go to rehearsal for the Boarshead Festival, so as I was driving back home along Ocean Dr. I saw this sign. It stays up all year round and always makes me smile. I decided to take a photo of it, especially since it was greatly needed on this particular day.



5/365

Gracie was cocking her head and being SO CUTE, but as soon as I got out my camera she resumed her mean muggin'.



6/365

It was so cold that there was ice on these ferns during the walk into work! The cold front combined with wind chill made the average temperature 28 degrees: water bowls froze over, pipes wouldn't work, and apparently at Rehab a lot of things just straight up broke because they had never dealt with anything below freezing.



7/365

My third annual year performing in the Boarshead Festival! This year was different because I taught Shannon how to perform in my stead so she could take over the second two shows. It was the best of both worlds because I still got to go and experience the weirdness of it all but then I got to LEAVE.



8/365

I went for a walk along Sunset Lake just as the sun was setting. Right before arriving back at my car I saw this silhouetted heron. I unfortunately didn't have my tripod with me so there is a bit of noise in the photo, but one of my goals is to work on my night photography so this just gets me one step closer.



9/365

Kogi hanging out with me in Soundbooth.



10/365

I'm now officially one of Morti's trainers so in celebration we took her for a little vulture walk!



11/365

A couple of weeks ago we discovered one of our sharks was pregnant, and on this day she had her babies! It was like 101 Sharkmatians because they were all popping out at random intervals throughout the day and people would joyfully rush into the lab exclaiming, "IT'S UP TO EIGHT!" There was even a straight up "Lucky" moment because someone noticed a pup stuck in the endometrial sac and carefully unwrapped him, but then he wouldn't swim! So they had to motivate him to start swimming and he did! I want so much for them to name the babies after the 101 Dalmatian puppies COME ON PEOPLE GIVE ME THIS ONE THING.



We also finished a bit early in order to see the flamingos, who are still so cute.





12/365

We stayed late for an animal care meeting, where we toured our new wing and saw that they got this AMAZING RAINBOW LIGHT. And I also saw the Mystery Machine parked in the parking lot, so. Good day.



13/365

The monster in all her glory.



14/365

We had our Wildflight Christmas party and I stole these awesome raptor earrings during our Yankee swap. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!


Some of my goals for my photography this year include practicing night photography more (especially right now when I work all day and there is barely any daylight left when I get home for nice natural light), taking more macro photos with my lens attachments, purchasing a new lens finally that isn't stolen from my porch (yeah. Still bitter), and going outside my comfort zone. I've already taken more photos these last couple weeks than I had at the beginning of last year so I'm happy :)