What are you thankful for?

I am thankful for the opportunity to share time with others. I also like to share stories with my photos as we all know by now. My photos are not in a particular chronological order tonight. Running out of time on the computer at the library, so I'm going with it. I am thankful for my content to go with the flow. :-)

 

 

Thankful for visits with family who live miles and some states away. Thankful for the hours and days.

 

Thankful for Nebraska, where my dad and uncles enjoy spending time outdoors for recreation. 

Thankful for boots that keep my toes warm in the chilly air.

 

Thankful for dads that let us girls get down and dirty at times.

Thankful for the opportunity to take family photos at the park.

Thankful for a partner at work who is ambitious and fun.

Thankful for my kid spirit at heart.

Thankful for the ever changing sky on a beautiful evening run.

Thankful for Christmastime being here, where we all rejoice and light up our hearts. These Christmas scenes are from my grandparents' home. Thankful for spending a night on their living room floor.

 

Thankful for my apartment and every ornament I placed on my own little tree.



Thankful for time with these great kids who spend days with their families at the park.

Thankful for art and letting my creative side show from coloring books to crafts.

Thankful for home cooked meals made with love and care.

Thankful for board games to play with my cousins while enjoying laughs.

I spent a couple of wonderful days with many members of my family. I am thankful for so many things, particularly some people in my life. Where would we be today without all those whom we have crossed paths with along our journeys.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope you all have a great start to December. Yes, it's December already. Have a fantastic week!

Hunger for Photos



Another good week working at Ponca State Park in the books, and I found myself itching with a hunger for some outdoor photos come Saturday evening. I even woke up early Saturday morning to get my workout in before work, so I could play with my new camera after I clocked out on Saturday afternoon. Utilize the last couple of hours of sunlight before the day drew to a close.

 

 

Snapped a few during the day, including this one showing a bit of the crispness of the pond. It froze over for a few days and thawed back out as temperatures rose again. I know I shall have some other frozen scenes to come this winter.

 

At one point in the afternoon, I couldn't help but snap a quick photo of the sky. the clouds looked so interesting. Little did I know it would simply get better.

 

One thing I love about photographing the sky is how quickly the composition changes within 60 seconds. Within the next four photographs, you will also notice I was standing in the same area, but from a different angle each time. Another thing I love to play with when it comes to photography.

A jet stream in the sky, a sunset near the horizon, and an off-center tilt near the Towers of Time:

A beautiful sky of clouds seen looking toward the East made a calming background from this angle:

The sunburst properly placed amid the silhouette with clouds that formed a beautiful yellow "C" in the sky:

That same beautiful "C" with a larger shot including more blues and grays:

Before my shift had ended on Saturday, I spent some time helping the boss put up some strings of winter lights. He did all the crawling up on the ladder, while we relayed supplies from the ground and made sure they looked nice.

Some nice LED icicle lights:

Add a nice touch to the Resource and Education Center. Man does this new camera do a bang up job with night photography.

A few more with the colors of sunset in the distance. This first shot picked up some lighting from the Education Center keeping more red tones in the foreground of the shrubs:

With a slight different composition of the photograph, I was left with a straight black silhouette with less tones of red and orange in the background. More dominant blue and black.

 

I must say by the time I headed back to my apartment that night, my hunger for photography had been satiated. Finger licking good outdoor photography. :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. Enjoy your time together.

Just Another Day at the Office

It was just another day at the office when we set up the back corner of the exhibit hall for upcoming Family Photos during Christmas in the Woods.

 

It was just another day when I was getting ready to head to the office as I peeked out my living room window to see if I had frost on my windshield to find I had frost in my apartment window! An eensy little crack of one of the panes of the window being open was all it took, but it made for a nice photo if I do say so myself.

Just another day at the office as I prepared for my upcoming weekend activities. I have decided to work on a program dealing with nature photography and conservation. One of the projects I chose to include was making a little scrapbook with lunch paper sacks as the base. Brought a bunch of scrap paper I hadn't used at home in years, and voila...

Almost forgot how much I enjoy layering paper and scrapbooking.

Added a few photos of my own for one of my examples.

 Just another day after coming home from a workout at the gym after a day at the office when I decided to make an omelet for supper. This was one of the nicest looking ones I had ever created, not to mention the one made a day after that (no photo). I have almost mastered the art of omelet making! Key: patience.

It was just another day at the office as the snow began to fall on Saturday.

Just another day at the office as I wore thermals under my pants, pulled on my boots, zipped up my jacket, and headed outside to fill the bird feeders.

Just another morning before a later start for a day at the office, when I whipped up some pumpkin waffles, topped one with pecans, a little whip cream, and some sliced banana.

Just another day at the office enjoying this view on a windy and chilly day after the blanket of snow had fallen.

Just another day at the office witnessing some beautiful colors of sunset below the clouds to add a little warmth to the chilly evening.

Just another day at the office heading in and out of the Education Center as the snow fell to tag deer.

Yes, I did say tag deer. It was just another day at the office as I have spent a few days working our deer check station as it is open firearm season right now. Had to hop in the back of some pickups, slice a few ears, record some data, and snap a few photos. Some of my favorites were seeing these kids who had had their first success on a hunting trip.

Just another day at the office as I learned how to age a deer by checking out its jaw and teeth.

Just another day at the office as I read through the rest of this book about nature centers that I had been perusing through some from time to time. It was really interesting to read about stories of how other education centers had started up in various parts of the country and the different programs they offer. Great book, and resourceful!

Just another day at the office as I finished the nature center book to move on to studying up a bit on wildlife viewing to pass some of the time doing something productive when we did not have hunters walking through our door. Once again, a good and useful read for me. I even took notes!

Just another day at the office can mean something different every day for me, which is something I really enjoy. Sure some normal tasks, but as many up here will tell you, you just may never know what you may end up being signed up to do on any given day. I love a bit of the unknown, learning as you go, and variety my current job offers. I have already learned so much, and I have only been here one month. Wow.

Hope you all have a great week!

 

Cleaning, Organizing, and Decorating

It's nice being in a team-oriented atmosphere. We all have our departments, but when duty calls we help each other out. For example, after a conference was held on site the past few days, nine of the mini lodges needed to be cleaned and reset for guests coming this weekend. I have helped with housekeeping on a few other occasions, and thus far I have been put on retowel and remake bed duties. Lots of steps, lots of climbing up and down stairs, and once you have the system down it's pretty smooth sailing. We generally work in pairs, and it's crazy how fast time flies. Before I know it, we've been working between cabins for three hours.

A few of our gar (freshwater fish species) finally kicked the bucket this week. They weren't looking so good and had stopped eating. We worked on cleaning their tank out Friday, so we can move some new residents in to the space. I managed to overflow the shop vac while sucking out the water, made  a bit of a mess. Ooops. Nevertheless, we got her cleaned up and had some giggles along the way. Not to mention we got a bit of a lifting workout in as this tank is quite the heavy beast after cleaning it all out. Two bodies needed for that job, for sure.



Under the list of our job duties as naturalists, we are responsible for keeping the bird feeders full. Many visitors enjoy spending a little time at the back of the Resource and Education Center building to watch the many birds that make stops back here.

This also means we have the pleausre of hauling these 50 lb. bags of seed. We keep a stash inside, but periodically fill cans outdoors for easier access when refilling the feeders. Today, the boss brought a batch of bags from the store. Time to bring out those muscles again, as we threw these up over our shoulders from the back of the truck and hauled them in. Felt a bit like a farm girl today.

We had a pretty busy day at the Park on Saturday. The most people I have seen come through the exhibits and activities in one day since I have been working here. From families staying in cabins for the weekend to young couples camping out to parents spending the day at the Park with their children. This made for quite a fast day. Our craft projects went over well.

I made this little pinecone owl to hang up now and eventually for Christmas. He has an autumn hint to him, though.

We also set up a nice little display with some of the stuffed owls, skulls, etc. that we have on hand to add a little extra educational component to the program.

We also made these fall wreaths from strips of fabric. I have now placed mine on my apartment door in the hallway.

I had a 3-day weekend, as I will be working this Sunday to help work our deer check station on opening rifle weekend. I decided to head to the hometown to spend my few days off. Amid enjoying my time there, Mom and I tackled a few organizing projects that have been on the to do list for quite a while. We always find ourselves walking down parts of memory lane while we sort through things, and at the end of each day we felt pretty accomplished. We had some yummy home cooked meals, and I was fortunate enough to bring some leftovers back with me like Mom’s Wisconsin soup.

While home, I did a little searching for various ideas on my computer. Looked through crafts, Holiday decorating, and workouts. I thought it would be good to throw in a few more planned routines into my afternoons at the gym. Tried out this treadmill workout today, which helped push me to use some incline and run through intervals.

Was sweating up a storm. I ran through 3 circuits of it today before doing some dumb bell work. It is always fun trying new elements in all facets of life.

Finally, I brought a few more décor items with me to my apartment, and I am finally ready to post some photos of my apartment. I am sure my décor may change from time to time while I live here, but it feels like a home to me. Mind you, many of my pieces of furniture are hand-me down items, and I shall say thank you once again to all those who helped out.  Pay it forward, as they say. I did this one day at a thrift store. The lady in front of me was about ready to run out to her vehicle to scrounge up some change to make one more dollar, but I offered to pay it for her. That was kind of fun.

My little office / spare room complete with a little book case and desk.  Love it when we can help each other out. Thank you, Bruce!

My bedroom complete with a dresser. Thanks, Granny B!

My little dining area complete with a table. Thank you, Granny B!

My living room complete with a few little sofas and a rocker. Thank you, Aunt Kristin!

I am trying something a bit different with these above my sofa. I am liking them.

A photo frame, which was an old gift from friends filled with some of my favorite photographs. Thanks, Karena and Abby! The rocker you see added one extra nice seat to the space. Thanks, Mary!

My living space even has a shelving unit for a TV (for the little I watch it) and various items that tell you all about me. Thanks, Karen!

This little bargain table I had bought myself in college holds a fabric with a map of American Samoa I received as a gift from some of my good friends there. Fa'afetai tele lava, Lilian! You may also notice a photo with my friends from the National Park of American Samoa. Thanks, Ranger friends!

It's always nice to have a few things on the wall, some pops of color, and a fun and functional layout to start making a place feel like home.

Hope you all have a great week, and stay warm as winter temperatures are knocking on our doors.