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!

BENEFITS!

It's sinking in...I have benefits. This means four things to me:

1. I'm growing up
2. I have a REAL job...scratch that, a CAREER
3. College is almost over
4. I have life insurance and someone could marry me, off me, and take that money.

Number four scares me.
That's all.

Ontario: 1 week down, 5 to go.

I can't explain this town...it smells like a mix of factory smog and potatoes...ugh. All I can say is I miss Enterprise. The mountains, the people I met, not smelling cigarette smoke in my apartment, the Eagle Caps, Hells Canyon, MOUNTAINS, trees, water!
But, this job is my dream come true. I'm out in the field all day, analyzing and classifying soils, creating map units and correlating ecological sites. It's like a giant, 600 acre puzzle every day (yeah, we map about 600+ acres per day). Wednesday I got to analyze soil in the snow and 35 mph winds by Ironside mountain! HELL YEAH!

One month in...two to go.

I have been in this amazing valley for a month now, and have discovered two important things:

1. Things get lonely when you don't know a soul around you.
2. Things are brand new and SO refreshing when you don't let loneliness get to you too much.

Refreshing enough I have gotten out and visited many taverns and met quite a few people. It has been interesting on one hand, and truly fun on the other. I've met some really weird people, but some awesome ones as well. One, a bartender of course, gave me the number of a tattoo artist over here (as well as his number...). So today I took advantage of the local artistry:

That was cold...

UPDATE time, since someone, I won't name names, is whining about a lack of blogging from me.

Last weekend I hiked some trail along Hurricane Creek. I thought I was headed to Echo lake, but ended up (I think) at Douglas Lake. I thought I would just go for an easy training hike, with my pack fully loaded and weighted a bit extra for conditioning. Easy hike ended up being an elevation gain of nearly 1,000 feet in four miles...all switch backs, but still mighty steep!
I got to a Lake and decided to call it good, my legs were aching, and I knew I still had to get back down without falling over the edge! The heat must have really gotten to my head, though, cause I thought the lake would be a good way to cool off...it was...it was FREEZING! I should have known, since it is a high mountain lake and all! But the little skinny dip was refreshing, albeit numbing!