First week of real work

Time for another long update. I had my first week of real work this week, I worked Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday….it was a long week. But thankfully I’ve had this weekend off and I only work Monday next week, then I start up again on Friday and the cycle keeps going.

The week was really interesting, Saturday and Sunday are 12 hour shifts and weekdays are 8 hours. Saturday I was assigned to Team 5 which are girls, the other days I was assigned to boys dorms. I can’t really tell which I like better since I’ve only worked with the girls once but I really enjoy working with the boys. They’re pretty laid back and they forgive easier than the girls, they’re still master manipulators but all the kids at the Ranch are. I learned how to move sprinkler lines which was kinda cool, since as of two weeks ago I didn’t know what a sprinkler line was or that there are like 3 different kinds…I prefer the kinds with wheels.



Stuff with the horses is going well. On Monday and Tuesday I attended a voluntary training with a woman who teaches the Carolyn Reznick method of horse training. Its pretty cool and it was awesome to see the difference in the horses after only a few minutes. I’m not allowed to ride with my saddle until I finish the saddle packet and ride for four days and then do a riding test. I finally finished the packet so now I just have to do the riding part which is the easy part in my book. I’ll head down to the barn on Tuesday as long as I don’t have to do more training.

This weekend I got my new bike which I’m wicked excited about. Of course it came in pieces and I had to reassemble it. That took forever, the instruction booklet was a generalized one, basically the pictures said your bike might look like this but it also might be one of another hundred different kinds, good luck. Here’s a picture of the mess that I made in the process of putting the bike together, and of course the bike itself.















And now for the most exciting news, I got a bunny….thats right I finally did it, I fulfilled my dream and bought a rabbit. He’s a mini lionhead. I found him on craigslist.com in Provo. He was living with a couple who’s landlord said they could have him and then decided they couldn’t, they let me have him, the cage, water bottle, house, extra litter, and food for $35. He’s also already neutered and has his shots and of course he’s adorable. The name they had given him was Moses…crazy mormons, but I think I’ll keep it cause it fits him, I gave him the middle name of Rupert cause I needed to give him my own special touch. Here’s a picture of him in his cage…I let him out for a couple of hours today. He ran around and kept leaping in the air and clicking his heels, apparently that means he’s happy so that’s good.





I guess that’s everything, I have another week of training next week which is odd since I’ve already worked a week but whatever. I’m planning on spending next week riding my bike and playing with my bunny. I need to find something to block off half of my room so Moses doesn’t get into all of my stuff and leave me little presents. And of course I can’t go to the store tomorrow cause its Sunday and everyone is in church. Oh well, I’ll just have to keep an eye on him until I can get something to keep him confined.


So until next time I have a break long enough to type another novel…e-mail is the best way to get ahold of me, its lya.gardner@gmail.com.

Training Week and Moving to Utah

On Friday I left wicked early from home with my car packed full and went to Friendly Pines to visit. The horse staff were doing vaccinations and de-worming so I helped out as much as I could. I felt kind of bad barging in on their staff bonding so I mostly just played with the horses and helped round them up. There were new bunnies in Pet Farm so I went over there and played for a while too. It was really nice to see everyone again but a little awkward cause everyone there was getting to know each other and there were a bunch of new people that I didn't know. Will was a sweetheart, we did a running hug when we saw each other which was funny. Emily and I got to hang out quite a bit, I kind of followed her around cause she was one of the few people I knew. We went out to breakfast with Em the next morning and had awesome omelette's and talked about everything under the sun. The night before that me, Lilly, Em, Brannon, and a whole bunch of other people all went out to dinner at Garcia's and had a really good time even though poor Brannon's food took ages to come when he didn't want to be there anyways. It was fantastic to see Lilly again, it feels so weird that she's back at camp and I'm not, I miss her and Lindsey terribly.

On Saturday I left camp after having breakfast with Em and spent the night in St. George. Then the next morning I headed up to Loa and moved in to my new apartment. The place is actually pretty nice, plenty of room for me. TV doesn't work but its ok cause I bought a bunch of DVD's and Law and Order SVU season 6 so I've been entertained. The kitchen doesn't have an oven but it does have a stove top, fridge, and microwave. I'll try and post pictures when I can but my new camera card wont load on the old USB connector I have and I wont have my new computer for a little while.

Monday was the first day of staff training at the Aspen Ranch, basically a lot of sitting and filling out paperwork. Tuesday was more exciting, we got to go down to the barn and play with the horses. They had us pick out any horse that appealed to us and of course I pick the spazoid with some serious issues, he was adorable thought, named Pokey. At the end of the session they told us to compare the horses we chose to ourselves and that 90% of the time the horses personalities match the person who chose them....so apparently I'm a spaz with issues....haha, got that right. Then we went on the ropes course and I belayed someone up their Jacob's Ladder which was fun. Today we recerted our CPR and First Aid and then participated in some staff meetings which were mostly ice breakers and obstacle courses. It was fun but I got to see all of the staff and well...lets just say its going to be an interesting time. I'd say 3/4 are married and mormon or one and the other. This is probably good for me, I can just take a step back for a while and not date and not drink alot and just spend time with me, which sounds a little creepy but its good.

Tomorrow and Friday we do PCS training which is the non-violent methods of deescalating situations and restraining people if necessary. Then next week its shadowing residential staff and the week after we start real work. We'll see what happens then. Feel free to write stuff so I can live vicariously through you all.

I got the job!

I've officially been offered the job in Utah and I took it. They want me to be there on the 2nd of June to start training. That means I'll be leaving on Friday morning to spend the day up at Friendly Pines, then I'll leave Saturday morning and probably spend the night in St. George, and I'll be in Loa, Utah on Sunday morning.

Its crazy to think I have a real job, like longer than just for the summer or a few months during the school year. I'm not 100% positive what I'll be doing, I mean I know I'll be keeping an eye on the kids, hopefully getting to interact with them and help them, and also hopefully spending a lot of time with the horses. We'll see...but the good thing is that everyone there seemed incredibly nice. When I visited for my interview I was just sitting around waiting for Chad to show up and everyone who walked by introduced themselves to me, asked me if I was applying for a job, etc etc. Everyone was just so friendly, so I'm really looking forward to working there because it seems that people want me there.

I'm wicked excited to visit camp, it will be weird to be there and not be working. But I'm still really looking forward to seeing Emily and Lilly and meeting all the new horse staff girls and seeing how they work. I'm a little jealous of the new vaulting head, but of course she'll never be as good as me so thats ok. :) For the moment I'm just waiting for my car to get back from the shop, then I'll clean it inside and out, repack everything, and head out on Friday. eep! This should be interesting.

Warren, Ohio...oh yeah and Graduation

So I've officially graduated. The ceremony itself was nice, kinda long, especially since I was sitting next to the two most obnoxious girls in the entire world. They left halfway through to get water and a sandwich because they were so hungover and wanted to "boot", which I learned means vomit. The speeches were surprisingly good, Cory Booker was fantastic, Cronholm was Cronholm, and the masters guy that talked about porches was....funny but a bit long winded. I wasn't really paying attention during the actual graduation part, I was mostly freaking out internally, trying to keep my too big cap on, and remembering which hand to shake with and which to take the diploma with.

After graduation was tiring and overwhelming, so many pictures, goodbyes, and answers to the much hated question...so what now? Then my entire family, both sets of grandparents, uncle and cousin neil, jacque, mom, dad, and ariel, and I went out to dinner. That was mildly stressful because my grandfather on my moms side has parkinsons and isnt doing very well with it so we're all worried about him and trying to avoid talking about it.

This morning we all left the hotel, I said goodbye to Kellie and her mom and then Jacque and I started out long drive back to AZ. We're spending tonight in Ohio and then its off to the Great Lakes, and west to be in Utah by the 23rd.

I still have basically no plans for the future, except to sleep alot, visit Friendly Pines and Emily, and get my car a tune up. The rest will be decided...eventually.

Reasons

I chose to start this blog so that I will always remember what it felt like to be lost, confused, terrified, and above all ridiculously excited about life. These jumping off points only come a few times in our lives and I want to remember them. I've had so many adventures, seen so many places but I never keep journals so I don't remember them. With this blog I plan on recording my next adventures, posting pictures, reactions to the world around me, and plans for the future.

I hope you enjoy.

7 Days till Graduation

Its now 7 days till graduation. I have no plan...well thats not exactly true, I have lots and lots of plans, none definite.

Possibilities
- I'm taking the GRE's on Tuesday...so I could apply to graduate schools
- I have a job interview at Aspen Ranch in Utah where I will be a residential counselor for at risk youth...and there's horses.
- I've applied for a teach abroad internship in Russia.
- I've been researching working on a ranch in Australia...outbackpackers.com has a pretty good program for not a ton of money.
- My PeaceCorps application is at the interview stage.

What's amusing is that none of these plans actually use my degree...except that I took some Russian politics classes. So basically what I'm saying is I'm completely lost, which apparently is normal but still scary. I guess all I can do now is go with the flow. If I get offered the job in Utah I could take it for a year and save up so I could travel more in Australia. If I don't get the job, or I visit and decide I hate it, then I can go to Russia and get ESL experience for the PeaceCorps. Or just say screw it all and hop the first plane to Australia.