Foxes and T-Shirts

So, I fed foxes today. Foxes are surprisingly similar to cats. They eat cat food (wet and dry) along with mice. Hmm...The weird pic of dead animals is the bag of mice for the foxes.

So, I literally had the shirt bought off my back. I walk into work yesterday and my friend says "My boyfriend just lost that same exact shirt". I made the mistake of asking how someone loses a shirt. I guess he "got a little crazy and a concert and took it off". Anyway, I guess he was super bummed out, and she asked if she could buy it from me. Considering it was a cheapo thrift store purchase for work, I said why not. I told her she didn't have to pay me, but she felt bad just taking my shirt. Therefore, I am getting a Greenwood shirt and she is getting my old junkie shirt to give to her boyfriend. :) Life is funny.

Random thoughts or questions:
I have only three days of work left. After seven days straight, I am a little mixed up on my days. Twice today I had conversations in which people had to remind me which day of the week I was in.

Why must the man at the feed store insist on carrying all three bags of seed when I am perfectly capable of carrying at the very least one? Then they wouldn't be falling out of his hand as we walk to the register...

I understand why I have always kept a clean room. My room is very messy with things all over my floor (I don't care, because I leave in three days anyway). I can't find anything! Seriously. I don't even know where my pjs are. Hmm...At least I found the fruit loops box.

Late Night Thoughts

So, I was in bed, attempting to sleep. Usually I fall asleep in a matter of minutes after the lights are out and I have found my stuffed dog, Joey. ;) For some reason though I wasn't able to sleep. Rather than laying in bed, wasting time just staring the blackness that is my ceiling and mulling over the unknown that is life, I decided to get up and see why I couldn't sleep. I had a feeling God was keeping me awake for some reason.

It is clear to me that as I go through this period of life, God is showing me how my mindset should be. Rather than it running around and planning and diverting and organizing and wondering, I should be focusing on Him. I should be pondering the things He wants me to ponder and meditating on all that He has done for me.

I ask what I am supposed to do in my life or what my purpose in life is and I learn that this question has multiple parts to it. First, I need to focus on doing the things God has asked all His people to do. Some things that come to mind are loving others, worshiping Him, having a thankful heart, not fighting for my rights, and not complaining. The second thing is to look at what He has asked me to do as His daughter. I won't go into great detail, but this is something I want to be learning about more. Last-not first-comes what He wants for me as an individual. Right now, that is to be working on my mindset. I don't know all the ins and outs of life: where I will go to school, where I may work someday, what relationships may come into my life, what relationships may walk out of my life, if I might adopt kids...The list goes on. But I make a conscious effort to take things one day at a time. I don't need to figure it out all at once. I want to enjoy the present moment and bring glory to Him in whatever state I am in. For that is the whole reason I was created, is it not?

And now I am going to turn off the lights and computer one more time in the hopes that I might fall asleep. Where did my stuffed animal go....

Flea Market

So, I escaped the baby bird room today to pull a four hour shift at the flea market/festival that Greenwood had a booth at. Maybe I should spend my life as a traveling flea market booth...person. I met so many people.
Person one: We talked about hedgehogs and how they are actually very friendly creatures. They can be littertrained and like to swim! I was informed that I could be put on a waiting list for a baby hedgehog which would cost $150.00. Expensive, yes, but I would actually throw around the idea of getting one if the thought is still in my head tomorrow...
Person two: She was a volunteer at the local library. I was informed that there is a huge used book sale. Books are five bucks for as much as you can carry. She told me to bring something I could carry books in. I considered my duffel bag... ;)
Person three: He was nice and amusing, but it ended slightly oddly. We talked about Dean Koontz and dressing up like Elvis in karaoke bars. Towards the end of the day, he ended up buying me a piece of carnival pizza. Nice and greasy... It ended with him giving me his e-mail address. This was slightly odd for two reasons. One: He was fifty. Two: He had just finished asking me about boyfriends and telling me I would have to jump in the proverbial boyfriend river soon. By the way, he is not married and "single". *sigh* Boys...Some of them never grow up I guess.

To end on an amusing note, I find this song to be hilarious. No, it has no actual value, but one can listen and smile.

Spaghetti-O's!!!

Picture One: Studying and Eating Illustrated

Picture Two: My Dresser (vase of feathers not mine) illustrating my dishes drying, empty cereal box, some books I'm reading...basically my slackness in keeping things organized (see below)


"In a little apartment, just trying to get by living on dreams and spaghetti-o's". I have suddenly come to the realization that I have reached that point in life. I'm twenty, renting a room out from some random person, working at a non-profit, studying for a test to get me into grad school/professional school, listening to music on my laptop, munching on fruit loops...
What the heck??!! Yesterday I was twelve, dreaming about when I would be old enough to eat all the ice cream I wanted and be in college with a little place and a cat. Life is creepy really.

I am allowing my bedroom to fall into disarray. Normally, I am a very neat and organized person. I think I am realizing that I only have seven days left in Longmont, and I am taking advantage of this hobo stage of life by letting all my clothes spill out of my backpack, leaving my bed unmade (gasp), letting dishes dry on a towel on my dresser, and throwing the books I'm reading on the floor.

Nice....

I learned how to gavage a dove today. Normally when we feed birds, we teach them how to gape as they would for their mother. Once the mouth is open, a syringe can be put down the throat and food injected. Doves, on the other hand, are not gaping birds. Therefore, we have to take a syringe and put a two or three inch long thin metal tube onto it. Then we put it down their throat, into their crop (the place a bird stores food before it reaches the stomach), and fill it up. I enjoyed learning this new skill.

Philippians 2:14-15-"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..."
So, God is talking to me about not complaining. First of all, what do I have to complain about? He has blessed me so immensely. Second, this verse hints at my not complaining being a way to be a light in the world. This is something I have given much thought to lately. My internship is one of the first workplaces I have had a lot of contact with people. This prompts me to consider how I can be a light to the world and how I am set apart. I think not complaining and being joyful in the midst of all things is a big part of this.

Um....yeah....

To anonymous commenter: I still don't know who you are. ;)

So, my internship is over on July 3rd. I plan to kick out the last days of work by working Tuesday (tomorrow) through Thursday the 3rd. It will be ten days straight, but I am excited about just finishing up the rest of it and not spreading it out through three more weeks. I can hardly believe how fast it has gone by...

My family is finally back and my house is back to its normal loud self. And I love it! I like not being able to sleep in, because all my short sibs are in the kitchen loudly making breakfast. I love cleaning up 7 plates, cups, forks, spoons, and bowls after meals rather than just 1 of each. Who wants that kind of boredom? I love my sister asking if we can make cookies together then writing me a note in her funny 6 year old writing so I won't forget. I even love sitting on the computer, hearing my two bros argue concerning mopping the kitchen floor, knowing I may have to go up and perform some mediating any minute. ;) He he...

Plans for the day:
1) Go grocery shopping to be ready for Longmont.
2) Study for my GRE. How does one actually study vocab? I never did in school, so I don't know how to "memorize words". Any ideas?
3) Work on my school apps.
4) Call about my job at the orchard.
5) Watch a movie with a friend.

Thoughts and Calzones

Calzones are currently in the oven. Mmmm...I've perfected the art of bread dough relatively well, and I am very proud of myself. Now that I can make dough, I should see if the skill would survive long enough to actually do a loaf of bread. Hmmm...That one is going on the list of things to do.

My family comes back sometime this afternoon. Until then, I need to go walk my dog. She has been starving for more attention. She gets a lot with seven people in the house. When 80% of that number leave, it is hard to give her the puppy love she needs. ;)

I've decided to enjoy each day more fully and make a concerted effort to quiet my mind. My mind is naturally overactive, and I realize that I need to make an effort to keep it in the place God wants it to be. I am coming to realize how often I actually am just mulling over problems, trying to figure things out, or worry about the future. How much of the now do I lose thinking about the future? Quite a bit. This hits home more as I come so close to getting done with my bachelor's. I spend so much of it thinking about the next step and how to get to my goals that I suddenly find myself almost done. It is a place in life I am going to miss. I realize that very soon I am going to have a lot of growing up to do very suddenly. I will likely be moving away from my family (possibly far away) and friends. I am only going to have God to cling to and rely on. I want to be enjoying every minute of the now that I have and not regret wasting it thinking about the future someday.

Point of clarification for the blog of the Polka Dotted Pickle: I never proofread my blog. I figure I do this just to have fun and get some thoughts out in words. Why ruin things by proofreading. Sorry for the many grammatical and spelling errors over the years and those to come. ;)

Occupations and School

Observation of the Day: I love jobs where I don't have to dress up. I want the freedom to get dirty. Job #1: Babysitting. Self explanatory how dirty this gets.
Job #2: Construction (specifically laying tile and hardwood). I have been covered in grout, underlayment dust, wood stain, sawdust, and all out grime for a majority of my working summers.
Job #3: Veterinary Technician-I could spare you the details of what I get covered in. Just imagine what goes in animals, what comes out, what is naturally inside. Yup, I've had it on me at some point I'm sure.
Job #4: Feeder of wild animals. Whether it is bird formula, raccoon formula, bird poo, or worm guts, I rarely come home with a clean shirt. Me and a fellow intern were joking about giving up on changing clothes upon coming to work since we get so dirty. A minute later a staff worker turned around and told us that we were disgusting. ;)
Job #5 (I will potentially be working here upon returning home after my internship this summer.) Organic farmer. Ha! I'm serious. I can only imagine how dirty I will get when pulling weeds and picking food. ;)

Still working on narrowing my schools down. It looks like I may be dishing out a handful of dinero...My plan at this point. (God could likely drastically change this in the next few months. I've basically given up on trying to make plans. God seems to like more excitement than that.)
-CSU-Fort Collins (I plan on applying to the veterinary program and a vertebrate anatomy and physiology master's program.)
-University of Kansas (Veterinary School. Everyone from Colorado applies here. ;))
-University of Colorado-Denver (Physician's Assistant program. This is my major "don't get into vet school" backup plan. I could start practicing 3 years after starting the program.)
-Western University (Veterinary school. Still unsure about this one...It's in California, so I would be near some family.)
-University of Washington (Public Health master's program. I can specifically focus on Africa with this program and maybe get a job at an NGO or non-profit eventually.)

Random Music

In my opinion an amazing rendition of Phil Wickham's "You're Beautiful". I spent a few hours recently trying to figure out how to play it. It didn't sound very good, but it was fun anyway. ;)

So, I finally scheduled my GRE. Here I come August 11th. Speaking of which, I should probably go study my vocabulary words... I'm missing part of the "misplaced modifiers" section because I left puppy in the family room alone with it. I also suffered the loss of a highlighter.

What's for dinner? Oooh, sloppy joes!

My friend's single conclusion about Mass: *In tone of disbelief* "I can't believe they all drank out of the same cup. No wonder the Black Plague spread so fast."

Who decided to put question marks and exclamation points outside the quotation marks and commas and periods inside? Make it simple, people!

Jealous! My family is in Cali this week. I just talked to my Dad who went surfing. My little sibs also did some boogie boarding. Argh! ;)

Stuff...

*Edit* I have given up trying to match up my captions with my pictures. I'm sure you all will figure it out. I hope you can tell a difference between my brother and the baby coyote. Hope that one isn't too hard. ;) *End edit*








Incubators where all the baby birds I feed stay.

Me being a dork in my hat. What do I care? It was on clearance at Wally World!!

My Tootie. Hair blowing in the wind. Aubry (little sis), Josiah and Micah (two brothers) went on a trip to Pueblo to exchange a hat and we had lots of fun with the camera.

Baby coyote I transported to Colorado Springs from Longmont
last weekend.


Josiah, my crazy bro. ;)

Where's My Family??!! :)

Okay, so it hasn't been that long that my family has been gone and I have had enough of an empty house. It was nice at first to listen to my music as loud as I wanted or make a calzone at midnight, but I think I'm over it. :) I miss my little sister asking me to read her bedtime stories and my little brothers going with me to take Maddie for walks. And I miss talking about life with my Mom. And where is my Dad to give me a hug? I know, I know, I'm a total dork. I'm 20 and I can't handle life without my fam. My argument is that I am so used to having seven people in my life pretty much 24/7 that I go into withdrawals when they are not around. Who can blame me? ;) I think I should clarify that I am functioning. Yes, I am still showering and brushing my teeth. I eat meals regularly. ;)

Anyway, on a more serious note, I am working on my school applications today. This subject has been swirling around in my brain a lot for the past two months or so. I have been planning on vet school since I was nine basically. However, I have come to terms with two things. First, I don't want to be in debt which is very likely with vet school. Second, I feel like I would really like to have a family of my own soon and I know that four years of vet school could likely put this off for a while. On the other hand, I don't want to throw the possibility of vet school out the window if I have a few years left before I am supposed to start a family. Therefore, I have decided to apply to three vet schools (Colorado, Kansas, and California [some of my extended family lives in California]), a PA program in Denver, a grad program in Fort Collins, and hopefully a grad program in Washington (where more of my extended family lives). My goal is to have these applications mostly done before school starts again on August 25th. On that note, I should stop blogging and go work on my applications. It is one thing to talk about it and another to actually do it.

Weird Coincidence

*Edit* As clarification, Winehouse is not my normal life council. God sometimes just brings up things to think about while in the everyday. The song was something I was thinking about and I was able to go to His word and my parents and mentors for advice on the area. *End Edit*

I recently discovered this song by Amy Winehouse. I liked it, because it asked a question that I had been thinking about: will you still love me tomorrow? Granted, nothing in life except for His love is a guarantee. However, it seems to me that people give too much of themselves too quickly. I agree that investing in people and relationships is going to be painful at times, but doesn't it make sense (in the case of a guy/girl relationship) to invest in the right person at the right time? There's something to waiting to find the right person to invest in and making it a more God glorifying thing. Am I crazy for thinking that God is capable of letting me know who I am supposed to invest in? I don't think so. Some people think it is impossible to know without trying it on for size first. In one sense I agree with that. However, I choose to be confident in the fact that He will lead. Maybe I'll be an old maid, but at least I will be confident in the fact that I listened to Him. Seriously... ;)

The lyrics even ended up in my sidebar. Weirdly enough, I noticed it again on a Boundless blog post today. I listened to the song again and realized how important it is to find a person who is leaning on God solidly for direction in every area of life. Fear of God, not fear of man...

Goals!!!!

Wow...Summer is nearly five weeks over. This means I have ten left. Ah! What happened? *mutters about the craziness of it all* So, with this short an amount of time left I have decided to set my goals for the rest of the summer. This way it doesn't just pass me by and I get to the weekend before school and realize I frittered it away.

GOALS!!!!!
-Go rafting (which I am hoping to accomplish the weekend after next.)
-Go to Washington (Got my plane ticket, so I'm good.)
-Go to the drive-in. (Believe it or not, I have never been to one and this has been on my list for about two years. This weekend it is going to happen. I just have to find someone to go with....My family and two best friends are out of town, so we'll see.)
-Study for and take my GRE (I am currently studying, and plan to take my GRE right before I go to Washington I suppose.)
-Read more books (I would say this is more of a life goal, but more attainable while school is out.)
-Get my apps to vet school/grad school/PA school mostly finished. (I don't want to work on them during school. I can't believe it is already time to do all of this.)
-Start practicing for soccer next semester. (I am playing on an intramural team and I am pretty stoked about it.)
-Get to Canada. (I am really hoping this may work out when I go to Washington. Ah! I've wanted to see the place forever.)
-Spend time with Jesus every day. (This is first on the list really. ;) )

Life In a Nutshell

So, as I go back into the previous months of my blog, I realize that my tendency has been to blog approximately once or twice a month. Yes, pathetic. I am not exactly sure what caused me to to quit. My suspicion is it started when my life consisted only of school and I tired of merely telling people what tests were coming up in my life. Then I fell so far behind, I couldn't say anything without having to give some sort of huge background which would then make my blog complicated. Then life changed drastically and became intense and serious for a while and I didn't have any desire to become a dark, depressed blogger. However, I have decided to continue blogging (I think) despite what is going on in life and just see what happens. I have basically lost all traffic on my blog except for my few faithful friends-brownies to you all-but for some reason I am not very phased by that. Myself posting random words into the vast expanses of the internet and having no one to read them for some reason is not a big deal to me. A lot of things aren't anymore I suppose.

So, to fill you all in on life in the last few months in extremely condensed sentences (hopefully):
-I just turned 20 and am still unsure what I think about it. Sure, I was a teenager at 18, but now I have no excuse to be immature. Darn! ;)
-I could graduate in one more semester. At the worst time I am unsure if I want to do this. My option at this point would be vet school and I am pondering the implications of what my financial status would be after four years of medical school.
-My other ideas as far as school goes is to stay one more semester (graduate spring of 2009) and go to physician's assistant school. This is three years of training and I could graduate with no college loans.
-I live with my parents again. I moved from my apartment in town to a room in Pueblo to be closer to school to my parent's basement. It was something God didn't want me to do at first, but after a few lonely months, I was able to come back. Woo hoo for studying in a kitchen with small people running around screaming! Yay for fewer frozen dinners (My Mom makes my life better in so many ways. :))!
-I have a two month long internship about three hours away from the town I live in. I am one month into it, so only four weeks left to go. I am at a wildlife rehabilitation center and can usually be found feeding baby birds.
- Once I get back, it looks like I will be working at an organic farm in town. Guess I will soon be a dark skinned, Teva wearing hippie. Woot! <----Speaking of "woot", I finally realize where this exasperating word comes from. The World of Warcraft. Argh! What a waste of time, and no I don't play. I refuse to give in.
- My family is amazing. Some hard, crazy times with a sibling who is really struggling with life. It's a learning experience of being real with someone and then leaving a person to God to pursue.
-My theme question lately. How does a person know that they are compatible with someone for the rest of their life? Sure, there will be irritations and things one has to work through, but when do you stop being logical about something and just decide you want to spend the rest of life with someone? Serious question, yes, but one that is on my mind lately nevertheless.
-I'm studying for my GRE currently. I plan on taking it at the beginning of August or end of July. I am nearly to the end of the math section. Woo hoo! I realize I still dislike word problems as much as I did in 8th grade, and I am still confused by functions. Some things just don't change I suppose.

That is all that comes to mind right now. I intend to continue blogging, so someone come after me if I don't. ;)

Rockclimbing!!!! I went on Memorial Day with some friends. This was the first time I had done any outdoor rockclimbing. I was used to indoor which I discovered was quite a bit easier. In indoor, it is easy to find handholds which are I then often use to pull my whole body up. In outdoor, one has to find good footholds and push up your whole body sometimes without anywhere to put your hands.
Most of what we did was top climbing which involves a top rope. If you can, the person belaying you just catches the rope and you dangle. My friend Sam tried some sport climbing which is much more intense. As you climb, you put your clips into bolts in the rock. So at points, you are climbing with your point of attachment a ways below you. In this case, if you fall, you fall a ways. Sam fell at one point and Audra flew up in the air a few feet before she caught him. ;) That was amusing once we saw that everyone was okay...