Volunteering at the zoo

I have realized that I haven't written yet about my zoo experience. Memorial day was the first day so there's isn't a ton to write about yet. What I can say though is that it's awesome!

Going to the zoo to see and learn about all the animals has always been a favorite thing of mine to do. This year though, now that I'm in school to be a veterinary technician, I decided that I would enjoy the zoo even more if I was volunteering. One area there that you can actually get hands on experience with the animals is at the farm. My first day there was Memorial day and I enjoyed it so much. There is quite the array of ages there too. Some volunteers are in their teens, like the ones I am with on Mondays are 15, 16, 19, then me 25, and then there is farmer Andy who is this sweet old man (90 years old to be exact) that shows up every day at the zoo summer winter fall and spring. That is one dedicated man!

My favorite part though is that I have complete freedom to take chickens out, go in the pig pen and pick up the pigglets...as long as they aren't squealing, milk goats, help with cow milking and so on. Now to me, I grew up in the suburbs so even though these are farm animals I LOVE THEM!!!!

I also have several opportunities all day long to chat with the zoo keepers, and help them with different tasks. I am sure that through out the summer I will be back here with many stories of my volunteering adventures!

Getting in shape!

Well I've decided that it's about time I get back into shape and fit into my bikini. Right now there is no way that could happen. Tony and I both have decided that we need more things to do together too that don't involve sitting on the couch watching t.v, so we decided on biking. Because of all the student loans I've taken out this year, and still having the house, I ended up with a very nice tax return, and treated myself to a new bike. It's a 2009 Cannondale F7. To many of you that means nothing and to tell you the truth it means nothing to me too, I just liked the color and it felt nice to ride so I bought it.


Here it is! My shiny new pretty blue baby!

Tony and I have been regularly going out for rides together and it's kicking my ass! I just keep telling myself that if I keep it up, it'll get easier. Tony used to be really into biking and even has the clip shoes. I am going to get some of those too once I'm more in shape.

So onward with the biking I go! Even though when I get home I'm exhausted, at least I feel good too!

Happy 50th Mom!!

So it's been a couple weekends but I have been so busy with school and work, I haven't had time to write. I know you'll forgive me!

Friday May 7th Mom turned 50!! Yes that's right I put it out there and now the world knows :)On The 8th there was a party for her and it was a bid success! A ton of people, both friends and family showed up to help us all celebrate. Mom had fun too I'm pretty sure.

Tony and I arrived at Mom's around 6:00pm and left around midnight. In between there though there were lots of shots that were done, and even more catching up so many people whom I hadn't seen in so so long. Katie and I got Mom and Tom to even do a family shot together. lol It was lots of good times.



I have been super busy and stressed out with school and work and never having a night off, so it was really nice that Tony and I were able to get out of the house and I really appreciate that Tony drove so that I could just relax and have some fun!!

Walk for Animals 2010

May 1st was the Animal Humane Society's annual Walk for Animals. This year was their biggest year yet! Over 10,000 people showed up and over 5,000 animals joined their owners on the 5 mile walk.



I walked with a group from school. We all get along really well and it was a lot of fun. This is our whole group. We had a great turn out!



Becca was my walking buddy. We stuck together. I only brought one of my dogs (Cloe) and she brought her dog Chewy. Over $1,000,000 was raised for the animals and doing this walk was very rewarding for me. I will for sure be doing it again next year.

Cloe and I were both exhausted from the exciting day and took a 4 hour nap together when we got home!

Thank you to all of you who donated!!

NANA IS 100!

On Sunday April 11th the whole family gathered together to celebrate my Great-Grandma's 100th Birthday!

The party was an open house at the Masonic Home. That's the nursing home where Nana lives. Lots of cousins that I haven't seen in about 20 years came and we all just hung out and caught up with each others lives.

Nana is a spunky little old lady and for the most part knows what's going on. It's nice to hear her crack jokes once in a while and laugh so hard she can't finish what she's trying to tell you.

It was nice to see that at 100 years old she still has lots of family and friends that are around and were able to come celebrate her birthday with her.


So here's to you Nana....you spunky only lady! I Love You! Happy Birthday!

Easter Weekend

Saturday April 3rd I had an orientation at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. I will be volunteering there every Friday from 8am till noon, starting in May. The place is a lot smaller than I was thinking it was going to be.
I got there at 10:00am, signed in and then with a group of other volunteers got a tour of the place. It's cool how they have it set up..the place looks like it's a mess but they have a good system down and everyone knows what they should be doing and what areas you are not allowed in.
I will be working in the mammal nursery syringe feeding baby squirrels and possibly bunnies. I plan on wearing clothes I don't care about because I'm thinking I'll be getting pooped and peed on a lot by these wild little creatures. Sorry that in future blogs there will be no pictures of these cute creatures. In order for them to stay wild and be able to be released back into the wild, there is no talking while around them, and no use of any kind of electronic device. They don't want the animals getting use to people they want them to be scared of them...which is understandable because when you release them back into the wild it would be nice for the animals to survive. Even though it's an hour drive up to Roseville I'm still super excited to be volunteering for them!

Sunday April 4th - Easter....It was a rather uneventful day. Got up and ready for the day, and drove up to Burnsville to have lunch with Dad, Rachel and Ryan at panera. I was home by 1 and just hung out with the dogs and played outside a bit before I had to head into work. Working wasn't so bad because I got paid double time!!! That will make up for the trip to NY and missing work then. I was home tonight by 8 and got to relax with Tony before he headed to bed. Now it's my turn to go to bed...I have to get up and start classes tomorrow!

I've mastered the New York subway system

On March 28th Rachel and I headed off to New York for a quick weekend getaway! I arrived at Dad and Rachel's house around 1:30 and Dad drove us to the airport at 3:00. We landed at the LaGuardia airport right around 10:30pm New York time. A lincoln town car picked us up and swept us away to the Millennium Hotel right in Time Square. From our room window we could see the ball that drops on New Years Eve. We stayed on the 32nd floor out of 52; room 3209! I would like to add in here that it rained the entire time. We were soaking wet and soggy the whole time but Rachel and I made the most of everything and still had a great time. I would so go back again!



Since we were so excited to be there we decided to walk around Time Square a bit...then we headed to bed around midnight.

March 29 we got up around 7:30 to get ready for the busy day we had ahead of us. It was starbucks for breakfast which was very tasty. After that we got picked up by a guy that Rachel knows there and the 3 of us took the subway to Soho to the Room and Board store that is there. Rachel had to meet with some people there. That took up most of the morning and then we went and toured some hotels that Rachel frequently books for clients, but has never personally seen. This was a first time for both of us being in New York and this is probably a good spot to slip in the fact that yes we did get lost, but only once while we were walking from one hotel to the next. We somehow ended up in China Town and walked about 10 blocks out of our way. It was fine though because it was easy to retrace our steps. There were 3 hotels that we checked out and the best one was the last one...It's called the Affinia and it's the official hotel that is used for everyone in the Westminster Dog Show! I thought that was very cool being a dog lover and all. :)





This hotel is GORGEOUS inside and right across the street is Madison Square Garden, which is where the dog show is held every year. We sat down for a while and chatted with Rachel's contact person that is located at this hotel. She told us about 9/11 and how one of the ballrooms of the Affinia Hotel were opened up to the public and people could come take refuge there and look for family members or others they knew. It gave me chills to hear her talk about how horrific it all was. Now the Affinia Hotel is quite a ways away from where the attack happened, but many of their guests who were in town for business were affected but it.

The Hampton hotel is another one we toured and from there you could see New Jersey across the bay, and also the Trump Hotel that is up and going to be opened sometime in April.

After all the hotels we walked to Macy's. They had a HUGE flower display going on and it was very pretty. We were at that point only 10 blocks from the hotel so we decided to walk back and go to dinner at Planet Hollywood.



Some more shopping then occurred around Time Square, we got a giant cookie which seriously was the size of my head, and then headed back to the hotel around 9:30 so that Rachel could do some work and I watched TV. By the end of the day we had become masters of using the subway to get around. I like it and think it's great!

March 30th we got very early, and walked to the Rockefeller building to check out the Today Show. It was raining out horribly and there were 30 mph winds so we just sat inside the coffee shop that's across from the show. We then took the subway down the the Statue of Liberty. I am so so glad we got to see this. I don't even care that it rained and that I was soaked from head to toe. At one point when Rachel and I walked outside to the front of the statue it was raining so hard and the wind was blowing so strongly that my umbrella bend the wrong way and broke. I also got hailed on at one point of our visit there. It was worth it though because I got some great pictures.



We then took the subway back up to Time Square to change into dry clothes, go out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then we got to see a play. It was Mary Poppins on Broadway and it was awesome!!!



March 31 we got picked up by a lincoln town car at 5:30am and headed back to the LaGuardia airport. Our flight took off at 8:15 and we were back in sunny warm 75 degree Minnesota by 10:30am.

It was an awesome trip and I had tons of fun. The only thing I would change is the weather but I can always go back someday :)