It seems strange that June is almost over. Where has the time gone? I guess we all ask ourselves from time to time. I have been wondering it since mid-semester though...especially since I have not written to certain people in some time (*sorry Aunt Mimi and Bob*). But while I have been enjoying my classes being over, this summer has not turned out to be quite what I expected. In fact...there have been so many ups and downs that I haven't been nearly as happy as I expected. I wasn't really aware of my intense unhappiness until I journeyed above the [View Full Entry]

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About 8 days ago, I did something I have not done since I've been here in Juneau -- I rode the Mount Roberts Tramway. To some, this is considered a horrible thing to do because it is supposively much better to hike up this gorgeous mountain. But given the fact that I am deathly afraid of bears and all of my time is consumed with working, I took the easy route and joined my roommie and her family on the Tram. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it doesn't go up as fast as it appears from the ground and [View Full Entry]

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Wow...so time is escaping me and it has been over a week since I have returned from Anchorage. Well let's just say that once you've lived in the Southeast (aka...Juneau, the capitol city of this wonderful land I call home) nothing else can compare. I didn't know how true that was until I went to Anchorage from May 13th through the 15th for the Alaska EPSCoR All-Hands Meeting. Alaska EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) is the awesome foundation (yes, I use the word awesome) that gave me some grant funding to study my little sculpin. And so, since I [View Full Entry]

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What better way to spend a few days off from work than packing up a cooler, rolling down the windows, and spending the day in the sun with your best friends? For a fish fanatic like myself, those couple of days were heaven. The first one started off with just Mel and I...two very tired girls...heading out the road on our day off. And as we sat upon the rocks, losing a LOT of lures as we kept getting snagged, we were visited by a small sea otter, a lot of birds, and one curious sea lion. We ended up catching [View Full Entry]

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Today is the last day of classes here at UAS in Juneau, Alaska. In a few hours, hundreds of dormant college students will flock to the courtyard for their free food as classes wrap up, stress week ends, and everyone braces themselves for the hectic weekend ahead as finals week approaches. It's crazy how fast this semester has gone by. It was just gone in a flash although perhaps it is because I have been kept so busy that it seems like it went by so fast. When you focus on one major test or project or really just one class [View Full Entry]

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Wow...it has been months and my poor travelblog has been left hanging. It's true that while I have not been doing a lot of traveling lately (except a short stint to Idaho to visit the family for Christmas vacation) I have been thinking about traveling more than anything. With graduate school applications, summer roadtrip plans, and the prospect of maybe attending Iceland or Norway this fall if I get accepted for an international student exchange, I can honestly say that travel has never left my brain. And just because my home offers so many beautiful picture opportunities, I am posting yet [View Full Entry]

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So this has been a very interesting fall semester here in Alaska. It's going to be December -- tomorrow. How did that happen?!? This fall semester with 17 credits (not including the 3 credit English class I'm still attempting to finish), two jobs, and all of the preparations for next semester have kept me insanely busy and kind of LAME. Yes, that is right -- I have succumbed to a rather lame existence. But maybe next semester will be better. Okay...no, no it won't because next semester is 18 credits (plus the 3 credit English class I probably won't have done), [View Full Entry]

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Wow, it has been so long since I have written. So I am back in Alaska -- yay! -- and have been for a little over a week. Things started out a little rocky as it was a little hard adjusting to a settle environment after living like a nomad all summer. But I think things are going to start improving. I didn't get to write about one experience I had in (or rather near) Idaho so I wanted to add the Montana State Dive Fest to my blog. Four simple words describe the Montana State Dive Fest: it...was...sooooooo...fun...Not only were [View Full Entry]

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Wow, so today is an exciting day for me and exactly one week since I've been back in Idaho. Life has not been boring though (as it sometimes can be when I'm here during the summer months with nothing to do). I ended the last day of my roadtrip by first going off to see the Craters of the Moon national monument. What makes this little spot near Arco, Idaho amazing is that there are huge lava fields (you can see it from space) that includes basaltic lava beds, tree molds, and caves only...there are no volcanoes! So where did it [View Full Entry]

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So I felt really lost last night without internet but it was a nice night as I wrote in my journal instead and enjoyed the stars in Utah. It's nighttime again and I'm now in Southern Idaho, but it was a fun day getting up here from the base of Utah. It started really early (and I mean early for this night person). I woke up once at 3:30am then again at 5:17am. I finally rolled out of my sleeping bag/comforter/sheet/Johnny fleece blanket assemblage around 6:00am when it was just barely light outside. I walked over to the bathroom to put [View Full Entry]

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