Pros and Cons {Payette Version}

Pros of living in Payette, Idaho:

• I am a "ho"
• A five minute walk gets me to the greenway--a gorgeous walking path by the confluence of the Payette and Snake Rivers
• Only need to cross the bridge to get back to Oregon
• An ice cream truck runs right by my house on Fridays!
• Constant entertainment such as watching a guy get pulled over at 11 am for going the wrong way down the road on a riding mower with a 40 oz of pbr taped in his hand
• Only an hour from Boise, the Owyhee Dam, McCall, the Payette National Forest, and the Boise National Forest
• You feel good about yourself by just having all your teefers and not wearing spandex or having a mullet
• All new appliances in my awesome little house

Cons of living in Payette, Idaho:

• I'm a "ho"
  
• Spandex
• Mullets
• Sales Tax
• Sitting in your car at the gas station for about five minutes before remembering you have to pump your own gas
• You feel like a loser without a gun rack and/or antlers on your truck (or coyote tails and rattler buttons tied to your antennae)
• Being so far away from the people I love the most
  

An Important Post

As I was sitting in my cubicle doing on-line training modules today at work, watching the rain come down, wishing I could be on a field review, I had a realization:
I am alive

That may not be astonishing to you, I know, and it shouldn't be. But almost four years ago I attempted suicide. Yeah, I'm putting that out on the world-wide-web for anyone who comes across it to read. But I think that it needs to be out there: suicide. It is made so taboo that people feel ashamed of what they have survived. But no more. Everyone should be able to talk about it, normalize it a little so that it can be openly spoken of, and so that help can be found expediently for those who are suffering so deeply.

To my family and friends who follow my blog: Thank you and I love you, each and every one of you!

Guess who isn't a college student?

ME!


I just got out of my last final....EVER! Well, unless I decide to go back to grad school in a few years, but we will have to wait and see about that. It feels absolutely surreal to be done already. But I am ready for this next step....work? BRING IT ON!

The River of No Return....

There is a national forest nearby where I'll be! The Payette National Forest. And a designated Wilderness Area: The River of No Return Wilderness. Sounds fun. And it boasts the second biggest canyon I will ever have been in, smaller than Hell's Canyon, but deeper than the Grand Canyon--The Salmon River Canyon.

And I need to find this:

I-da-HO

Well, after nearly tearing my hair out trying to find somewhere, ANYWHERE to live within driving distance of work, I have found a place to live near Ontario. Payette!
This will be the eighth zip code I have lived in, and it doesn't start with a "9", which I find somewhat disturbing. It seems like a nice place to live, this Payette place. Small, which is nice, and next to the Payette and Snake Rivers. And I'll be close to Leslie Gulch and Succor Creek. An hour from Boise when i need some "big" city action. Halfway between Salt Lake City and Portland (that seems really weird to me).

In other news, 19 days until I take my last final! Then a few days of spring break with my friends before moving away and starting this thing called real life. Hopefully in a few years I'll know if I'll be staying in Ontario, or if I'll be moving again, so i can then start looking for property to grow food, raise dairy goats, alpaca and a few horses....maybe some laying hens, too. But for now: One. Step. At. A. Time.

Who be Hatein'?

Most people who know me know what kinds of things I like, but I do have some random dislikes:

Heart shaped anything, unless it is anatomically correct
Guys wearing their pants so low that they have to walk like they've been shot just to keep them on.
Patchouli
When pant are an inch or so too short, and show too much ankle when you sit down
Mismatched underwear and bra
People who stop in the middle of a store aisle, especially with a cart
Rain gear that "swishes" loudly
Roses
Misuse or lack of use of the blinker
Nervous passengers
Backseat drivers
Small cars with big mufflers (can you say compensation?), unless they are legit muscle cars
People wearing Uggs, especially with shorts or miniskirts or with sweatpants tucked in them
Overly protective guys
People who talk shit
Wannabe trucks that can't pull or haul anything

Back to O-town I will go.

Literally the day after I moved out of my hell-hole of an apartment in Ontario I got an email. "Okay, great, an email..." you are thinking. But this email will define my life for the next two years. I got a permanent position with NRCS in none-other than......ONTARIO!

Dang it! But I shouldn't complain, it is a great job, in my field, with benefits! I really am quite lucky. And I won't be living above a lottery/pool/bar place. I won't even call this place a bar, bars are classier than this sh*t hole was. So, for the first time in years I will know where I will be for two whole years! Stability!