I've been so busy of late that I've pretty much forgotten that my blog exists, I'm sorry. I got word about the classes that I'm getting credit for from my year in Germany and it looks like everything is working out about the way I expected. I got credit for 2 Psychology courses, 2 German courses, 1 Political Science course, and 1 Gender Roles Course. That leaves me with only 2 more courses to complete for my International Studies Major, along with my senior project. Speaking of senior projects, I have outline a new project proposal for it - covering conservation in the two countries - but my advisor said it was too general still. So now I get to do research and get the topic more focused in order for it to be finally approved. I feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall with this project, and I will just be relieved when I can get it done. Thankfully there's plenty of time, as it's not due until the fall of 07. But still, it's going to be a lot of work.

As for my other project I need to get my bum in gear. I have set a deadline for myself of having the rough draft in to my other advisor (too many advisors to count) by the end of the first week of November. That'll give us about a month to talk about it and for him to critique it so I can have the final completed by the end of the semester. I have a 2 - 3 weeks from now to get the statistical analysis done and 2-3 weeks of time after that to get it written. That may sound like a lot of time, but it's going to be a lot of work and so I need to get busy on it.

I'm also still working 30 hours a week, going to class 14 hours a week (6 of those hours are labs), and studying to take 4 tests coming up (1 mini exam Thursday, 1 exam Friday, 1 exam next Tuesday, and 1 exam next Wednesday). I have the zoo this weekend too... I took a test last Wednesday and although I technically got one wrong the teacher missed it and so I got 100 points out of 100 points. I'm very happy about that. But don't worry, I pointed out to him that I should have gotten the one wrong ( I just spelled something wrong) and he said that since he missed it during grading I still get the points. Plus, in Botany we have mini exams every week and on the first two I got 27/25 and 28/25... in other words I've been working my rear end off so far this year for my grades and it's been paying off. Hopefully it'll continue to do that in the future..

anyways, I gotta get off to bed so I can get up in the morning and have yet another busy day. :)
don't worry if this blog confuses you with all the stuff I have going on.. it confuses me too sometimes. It keeps me busy though, which is a good thing.

I'm Tired of Titles

hey guys. It's been a few days since I last updated and I thought I'd fill you all in on what's happening in my life. Tuesday I went back to the zoo for the morning and then had my lab class there (my mammology class), so I got to spend a while there again, and I officially love it there. Surprise surprsie! :)

Monday and today I got trained in on the phones at work, which was overwhelming but now is better. This evening I spent my first several hours on phones and doing work orders alone, and it went well - so I'm proud.

I also had my first mammology test today and I did well. I studied hard for it, and I'm pretty sure I only got 1 wrong, even though we haven't gotten our results back yet. I got it wrong for a spelling mistake too, so it's not like I didn't even know it - I just forgot a letter.

And that's all there is to report. I've got a million things to do and not enough time in the day to do it in, so I'm going to now go do it. Or at least some of it. Have a good night everyone, and I'll update again when I can.

Exhausted

I had my first weekend of my internship these past two days. The experience was totally awesome. I got to be close to the tigers, spider monkeys and gibbons, and even got my hair pulled by one... and just in general got to be around animals all day long. It was a lot of hard work, and it was quite chilly outside. During the day sometime I was wondering if this is really what I want to do with my life. I mean, I was chilled (I was outside), dirty, tired and my feet were wet. I pushed the thought away and reminded myself that it wasn't so bad. It was at the end of the day, when we fed the tigers and I got to watch them up close and we were getting ready to leave that it struck me - this is without a doubt what I want to do with my life. Why? Because although it's hard work and I may get tired, cold, wet, dirty, my hair pulled, and everything, it was such a great feeling leaving the zoo yesterday knowing I had done a good day of hard work and in doing so had brought enjoyment to people visiting and had ensured another day of clean living for the animals.

Now of course, I'm just exhausted. I have to leave in less than half an hour. Morning came way too soon and my muscles are sore from this weekend. I swear I'm going to go to sleep at like 8 pm tonight.

Overwhelmed

Driving home from the grocery store today and I started crying. Why? Because I realized all the blessings God has been sending my way, and how (overall) great my life is going...

I got into the University in Germany and all the planning worked out perfectly so that I could go for a year. While there I got to live with my now fiance, and really learn that our relationship works when we're together and also learn that he is definitely the person I want to marry. I was able to get a small job, and volunteer at the bird park. I was able to show my dad and step-mom the country and see some other places too while I was there. Then Fabian asked me to marry him, making it definite that he wants to spend his life with me too (yay!). Now, I'm back here and I miss him a bunch, but I was able to find a job that paid $2.00 more than absolutely necessary for me to support myself. I now have an internship which will allow me to gain lots of experience, and to top it all off, the zoo is planning on paying me starting around November or so. So, not only will I work a normal job, but also have a second income as well! And to top it all off, I get to do the internship with one of my friends up here!

I hope everything else continues to go this way... I guess we'll find out.

Now I'll I need is Fabian here to share all this with me... *sigh* but our days will come.

YAY!

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got called about half an hour ago by the zoo, and they apologized for not calling sooner and wanted to let me know that they are pleased to offer me the internship! She said if I need to think about it, that she understands, just to let them know as soon as possible and I pretty much cut her off and told her that I didn't need to think about it, I've been waiting on pins and needles all week and I accepted. Then she told me that as soon as I complete the required unpaid hours, that they will most likely pay me money as a part time keeper - even if it's not a lot of money. Then she told me that my friend Sam got the other internship and that they chose the 2 of us out of 7 people!

I get to work at a zoo!

*does a big happy dance around her apartment, grinning*

Um... can someone help me?

Though I spoke way too much english while abroad, I still find myself not always remembering what certain english phrases or words mean. The week before last I had to ask what concentric meant and now, I don't really know what this sentence means for my homework:

"Callicott suggests that Muir may have secretly pondered if species have inherent value."

I know who Callicott is, and who Muir is and what inherent value is, but does secretly pondered mean that he may have not been 100% convinced that species have inherent value? I'm confused...

And another thing I do a lot - is not know how certain english words are spelled or capatilized. In German you capatalize nouns, while the letter "I" is not captilized. So a sentence would look like this:

"Should i go to the Market?"

instead of:

"Should I go to the market?"

Hence the reason, why I don't have any idea what words in English should be capatalized or not. I mean, should "English" be capatalized?

Anyways.. back to homework I go. Maybe someday I'll figure it all out.

I've Survived

It's official, I survived my first day working at Pepsi Bottling Company. I actually work for a division within Pepsi Bottling Company called PepsiConnect. But in the end they're all the same. At least from my entry level position point of view. I work in the phone services department. That means that if you have dispensers from Pepsi and you have problems with it you call a service number. That person on the other end of the service number? That's me. Not only do we take calls, but we also enter in work order information into the computer too. Which is what I learned how to do yesterday. On Sunday or Monday I get to start learning phones.

It's not so bad there though. There's lots of benefits including free merchandise, paid time off for every month of perfect attendance, free shirts for every quarter of free attendance, bonuses each month if you've done a certain amount phone calls and work orders, AND I get paid weekly, which I like. So, it's pretty exciting and the people seem nice overall. I even either get my own desk or will share a desk with one other person. Which is cool as well.

For the next several weeks my schedules is working 7 hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and working everyother weekend for 9 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Which works for me. It's actually quite nice, because it means that on Thursdays all I have is a lab in the afternoon and IV in the evening. And I'll also have Tuesday evenings free as well. So, although I'll be busy I'll still have my down time. The weekends I don't work and Tuesday mornings are the times I'll go to the zoo an hour away if I get the internship.... but...

No word yet on the zoo. I'm waiting (im)patiently to find out, still praying that I'll accept whatever God's will is. Hopefully I'll get word on Monday.

Make the Voice Go Away

Upon going through all of my junk from pre-Germany days, I came across a pamphlet I received with my general biology text book (back from freshman year, gasp!) entitled, "Essential Study Skills for Science Students." Though I remember breifly skimming it and thinking that I should probably read it, I never did. At least not until the other day.

After skimming it again earlier this week and reading a few sections, I decided that I spend far too much time reading chapter after chapter in all of my text books. Unfortunately reading comes with a biology major, but according to this pamphlet (and lots of other sources) there is such a thing as speed reading, which is just as efficient as reading. So I decided to give it a try. Little did I know how much work it is.

In order to speed read, a person needs to stop reading everything with a little voice in their head. What voice you say? Well, think about it as you read this - is there a little voice which reads these words to you? Yes? Well, no worries - most of us are like that! Me too! The first trick is to stop hearing the little voice. Make it shut up because you don't need it to read. Surprised? Me too! The pamphlet tells you to just keep reminding yourself not to talk to yourself mentally while reading in order to kick the habit but they don't tell you how hard it is! Seriously, about every other line I have to tell myself to shut up. I'm even reading mentally as I type this. It's like attack of the mental voice!

So, what else is there to it? Focusing on a group of letters at a time instead of just one at a time. That's tough too. But I really would love to be able to read faster and still comprehend stuff just as good. I already read fast enough, but when I have chapter after chapter to read, faster is always better.

Now I sit reading this for my classes and attempting to make myself practice my new forming skills. They don't tell you how hard it is. It takes just as much brain power as the reading does. I'll let you all know how it goes.

What a Day

Today was a not so good day, due to a bunch of little things that made me sort of cranky. I do go in for orientation at my job tomorrow though, so that was a highlight. As was talking to my fiance. It's so much fun being able to call him my fiance. :)

Now I have to be productive. And I really don't want to but...

Tomorrow will be a better day.

I'm so frustrated

Frustrating things:

1. I completed all the requirements for a German minor while in Germany and am now only waiting to officially get all the credits transferred. Today I went to the office of registration and records to officially declare it as a minor, only to find out that they don't offer the minor any more. It's so dumb.

2. I got a job, got a drug test that was required before I could start, whose results should have been given to the company that hired me yesterday at the latest, and I still haven't heard when I can start. Hi, my name is Mindy and I need to start working so I can pay my bills. So... can you please call me, person in Human Resources... or answer your phone when I call you?

3. This isn't frustrating but I'm anxious to find out if I got the internship or not too. Sigh.

Oh my gosh!

Update:

I am back from my interview, which went very well. My friend Sam is also a Zoology major and is looking to go into the same field as I am, Keeper work, so we both went and had an interview together actually. We talked with both the director and the curator and both seemed to be pretty impressed with our previous experience, passion for the field, and personalities. They have two more interviews tomorrow or Thursday and we should be hearing something by Friday or Monday at the latest. The zoo itself looks pretty good and is AZA accredited, which is a huge bonus. It takes an hour to get there on the freeway or an hour and a half on the back road, and my commitment would be a couple of weekends a month and at least 1/2 a day during the week most likely, which I should be able to work out. Anyways, pray for me that it will work out, if that's God's will. I'll let you all know more as I know more.

I have an interview for an internship at Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, North Dakota today at 2:00 pm! I'm so excited! I'll let you all know how it goes!

Steve Irwin

The great australian Steve Irwin of "The Croc Hunter" fame died this weekend after being stung through the heart by a stingray while doing some diving for a documentary he was filming. Though made fun of by many, Steve Irwin was a very smart and intelligent man. His shows, documentaries, and zoo have been successful since the early nineties and he will be a man severely missed by many.

Like others who choose to work with wild animals for a living, Steve Irwin met his fate through a wild animal. Though often portrayed as a cute and cuddly job on TV, working with animals is anything but. There is a lot of hard work involved, the pay isn't always very good, and you are always working in danger of wild animals - because no matter how tame they are, those animals are always wild. People get bit, scratched and some times killed by the animals they are trying to help or document.

So why do we do it? If it's so dangerous, why do so many people want to get into that field? I can't speak for anyone else, but if I can better the life of just one animal or contribute to the field of animal conservation just a little, then all of the studying, hard work, and danger* I've been in just being around these animals will have been more than worth it.

Steve Irwin was a brilliant man who I respected greatly in his life. May he rest in peace.

(* This is a dangerous field, however the men and women who choose to work it are not in constant danger. It's just more of the chance of an animal feeling threatened and attacking you, which sometimes happens. This is a dangerous job - but I don't want anyone freaking out and thinking that I'm just going to go and get myself killed in a zoo someday. The amount of deaths of keepers and wildlife managers from animals isn't large, but it is a danger and reality that everyone lives with who wants to work in these fields. A reality that we all accept.)

Improvements

Over the last several days some very small but very significant changes have been made to my apartment. Here's a listing of them:

1. Sheets were turned into makeshift slipcovers for my chair and couch. They're not perfect but it makes my living room look a lot better!

2. A coaxial cable was bought and plugged in, which means I still get the same 4 channels as before (sadly, no WB) but now they come in much better and I don't have anntenna ears sitting on top of my TV looking dumb anymore.

3. Sink Scents were bought. These are drain plugs for your kitchen sink, which smell good. No more using really old ones which I was afraid might kill me.

4. My DVD player on my computer was fixed. Now I can watch Gilmore Girls in German! Which I have been doing, and it's been wonderful. My old German teacher is going to give me some more movies and I can't wait to watch them.

Small but big improvements. I'm happy.

I'm all yours

Pop on over to Just a Girl to read my good bye post. I've decided to close that site, and though it will remain on the web for some time, I will no longer be adding new posts to it. Stay tuned here for all the new happenings in my life!

Oh, and did I tell you? I got a job!