Thanksgiving.

I can't believe its November, let alone Thanksgiving. The temperature is so different than what I am used to. It should be the time of year where it is starting to snow, you've had your fill of raking leaves and cross your fingers that no more will fall when a breeze passes by. The time of year where you should be able to walk outside and feel that nip in the air. It should be the time of year where everything starts looking bare like it's just waiting for the pretty white snow to cover it. Yeah there is none of that here. Everything is green and pretty. Along with the weather being different my whole Thanksgiving day was different as well. Usually it is day full of my loud crazy family, lots of laughing and talking, so much yummy food and just a day where you don't have to worry about anything but being with the people you love! This year was the opposite of all of that. The world of animal care really doesn't give you very many days off, if any. The animals need to be taken care of every day, including holidays. So Thanksgiving was like every other day for me. A little more lonely than usual because it was a short day in the working sense so I was there by myself most of the time. But that was okay with me, I was still doing something I love and I was with the animals I love! I guess I did end up do something Thanksgivingy, I went Black Friday shopping at midnight! Ha what an adventure that was. I had never been before and I couldn't believe how long some of the lines were that people were waiting in! And everyone was crazy. They were grabbing things, pushing around people, and really just taking anything that they could find. What a big gimmick in my opinion.

Even though my Thanksgiving was different than usual I still enjoyed it. My Thanksgiving this year  also opened my eyes. I realized how awful it is to spend a holiday by yourself. The whole day I couldn't stop thinking about the widows I know and hope that they were with family. I couldn't help but think about all the people who are away from home and don't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving. It really did give me a new perspective. A thought and feel that I think I will carry with me my whole life. Something that I hope I can make a difference with.  

I'll guess I'll end with a happy note, I'M GOING TO FLORIDA! Yup you read that right. Amanda lived in Florida for a couple years and she is going back for a visit and invited me along! I'm so excited and I can hardly wait!

Anyways Happy Thanksgiving! And Merry Christmas!

Box of Sunshine

 Sometimes I forget that people care about me. Ha that sounds kind of sad but I didn't mean it to be. But I'm sure we all feel that. We forget that we have people that care about us and that would do anything for us. Well the past month has been one that's been chuck full of emotions for me. Every emotion know to man, I've experienced it in the last 30 days. I have gotten many reminders of just how much I am cared for here. Phone calls. Hugs. People offering to help out. Sweet texts that I'll keep forever. Letters. Emails. They were all greatly appreciated. It was nice to know that people care. Well today I got another reminder that was a complete surprise!
Life has been busy here at TGR. We have been open every single day. And open every day makes for long crazy days. That also means no church for me. I haven't been able to go to church for over a month now and it makes me sad. I love going to church and I have a great ward down here with some amazing people! I have a box of sunshine to prove just how wonderful they are :) A couple girls from my ward dropped this off to me today. It was wrapped in bright yellow wrapping paper and a note saying how much they miss me and to keep my head up. It was the best thing I could have gotten today.

Save the Monkey

Chloe, the baby baboon on my head, somehow managed to get her head stuck in a bunch of rope, which you can see in my hand with a pair of scissors, I had to go in and cut her out. I was so scared that she was going to die. She was handing from the rope by her neck and she was having a hard time breathing. It took a while to detangle her and to cute the rope off. I was nervous that she was just going to be mad when she got out, but just the opposite. She melted into my arms. I sat there holding her for a good 20 minutes and then she proceeded to groom me! Her way of saying thank you I guess.
The other monkeys on me is A baby Spider Monkey in my arms and a baby Howler Monkey wrapped around my neck.

Just another average day as keeper :)

MRI and Laser Tag

For the past couple weeks I've had a headache that just won't go away. I always get a little nervous when ever I have a headache, but this one made me especially antsy. After a lot of phone calls and talking with, what felt like everyone, it was decided that I needed to get an MRI. I am so blessed to be here surrounded by so many people who care about me. I had countless people offer to take me to get it done. So many that it was kinda hard to choose someone. But Amanda ended up taking me. I needed someone who could make me laugh and smile and she's pretty darn good at that. They were running about an hour late, which I expect every time I go to a hospital, so we drew some amazing pictures while we were waiting. The MRI, being there in a hospital, having a headache brought back so many memories that I had forgotten about.
I had the MRI done in down town Houston. After it was finished Amanda asked if I wanted to go to a birthday party with her. It was her nieces 8th birthday and since we were already down town she wanted to go drop in :) That was totally fine with me! At the party we played some hard core laser tag... and I lost. I lost to a couple of 8 year old kids. It was kind of depressing. But it ended up being a good day after all.
I should know results from my MRI by next week. Cross your fingers. I just hope that there is something that they can do to get rid of my headache. I'm sick of it hurting

Randomness from my phone

So i'm going to show you some of my favorite pictures and videos from my phone!

This is Sindu out tiger. I heard this noise on night and couldn't figure out what it was, I now know.  

My Kangaroo, Jewel, in the pumkin patch

Bottle feeding my Binturong

Ben my baby Binturong

This is a mole. 

Gwen and I were walking back after a long day in the patch and noticed this strange line in the dirt that was raised above everything else. She told me it was a mole. Well I hadn't ever seen a mole before and lucky for us we saw the growned moving. She started digging at one end and me at the other. We dug up this little mole and it was so cute! I can now say I've seen a mole.

 

Its been really rainy so we are finding cool
tracks all over in the mud.

 

I hit a Bogey

On Tuesday I finished work at two in the afternoon. That doesn't happen very often so I took advantage of the situation. Work has been crazy busy lately with pumpkin patch so really just needed to get away and have a fun time. So I told Amanda that she was going to go golfing with me :) She picked me up and off to the green we went.

Amanda is an amazing golf player. She was on a golf scholarship all through college. So needless to say I whipped her butt. Bahaha no more like I stopped keeping score after 8 hits. It was a wonderful couple hours full of laughs. Below is a picture of Amanda. I look that good when I hit the ball too, or not, but she was a great teacher. I decided that she needs to play with my family! Now that would be a BLAST :)

Thoughts for Sunday

lost and forgotten

I found a wonderful surprise today. About a year and a half ago I had a little kangaroo Joey, Shell,  who I absolutely loved. She lived upstairs with me and we had a special bond. She died last May. There were definitely some tears shed. We sent her to Texas A&M to get a necropsy done to see what she had died from, but while at A&M they made a clay disk with her paw prints. I knew that they had done it but I didn't see the prints until August last year. Gwen said that she was going to send it in the mail to me but life happens, she forgot and I forgot too. Well yesterday when cleaning upstairs I came across a strange little box. I opened it to find this little treasure in it! I'm happy to say that this is now one of my "keep forever items" and  is proudly sitting on display in my room.

Blog... What?

Well hello! Its been a while, so here is a quick update from the life of michelle in picture form.

amanda with a rat we found dead
good to know we have those running around

played some hardcore Bingo
and almost won

tiedye some shirts and shoes, in the dark,
with some goats and dogs helping

more rain. poor kangaroos

some of my camp kids. i loved them

ate some real southern food

my cute tamanduas

went to the midnight showing of Batman with our fancy socks

got a truckload of watermellons for our animals
that's about half of them

got another  joey

apothis my serval

eating yummy food at the cheesecake factory
and yes i did get cheesecake too

baby muntjack deer

baby binturong

NJ for 4 days with the fam.
i loved every minute of it

LtoR: Amanda Laura Amanda
yeah they're kinda my best friends

we lost a turtle. had a funeral for it

the poo's alive and moving. nope just maggots.

started training for my marathon
batman amanda decide she wanted to run with me
notice her kickin shoes

my baby binturong and joey meeting

pulled off the camel's winter hair

ate a lot of yummy watermelon
made a TON of animal diets

shared my popsicles with hot animals
this is Juan our prehensile tail porcupine

this is our cold front we've been expecting
and it feels sooo nice outside!

and just have been enjoying life :)

the next post will be longer. but know i'm good, life is good, hot but good, and that i love it here!

Twenty before Thirty

So here is my list! A list of 20 things I want to do before I'm 30. Some of them may seem a little crazy and unobtainable but I figure I have ten years and a girl's allowed to dream a little!

in no particular order:

1. Graduate from college

2. Go to a session of General Conference in SLC

3. Do a three night backpacking trip

4. Run two more marathons. That'll be three before thirty!

5. Kiss in the rain

6. Go bungee jumping (or something similar. ie slingshot rides, skycoasters)

7. Memorize a monologue

8. Visit all 50 states

9. Go whale watching/boating in the ocean

10. Attend a concert 

11. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge

12. Take a canoeing trip

13. Go hunting and prepare that animal to eat and then eat it

14. Go to a huge sporting event and get all decked out for it

15. Have a garden of my own, keep the flowers alive, and be complemented on it

16. Grow my own raspberries and make them into raspberry jam (yum) I'd really settle for any fruit

17. Travel to Africa

18. Finish a haunted corn maze

19. Successfully make homemade bread without looking at the recipe

20. Go white water rafting

I have been thinking about this list for a while and I had a really fun time coming up with all of these! It'll be interesting to see where I am in life ten years from now. Dang with all this goal setting going on its making me think of what I have done in my life twenty years in and I am pretty content with it thus far! One last thing... I just have to say that it's weird actually saying that I'm twenty. I've gotten so used to saying I'm almost twenty. It hasn't quite sunk in yet

"Its hurricane season"... wait what?

It's apparently hurricane season down here. Did I know that before June 12th... no. Do I know that now.... yes.

So it was a regular Tuesday night. Amanda and I were closing. Well it started to look like it was going to rain. So we were just going to wait it out in the kitchen and do inside jobs like making diets, washing dishes, sweeping, etc... We had just made it inside when I hear it start to rain! O my gosh I have never seen it rain so hard in my life. Don't mind the talking, but there is a video below of the beginning of the storm.

Well shortly after taking this video we realize that there was some animals that needed to be moved inside if it was going to be raining this hard. So Amanda and I go venturing off into the storm. Okay I couldn't believe how hard it was raining. It really felt like someone was pouring a bucket of water on me. I couldn't see more than 20 or so feet in front of me! And the wind... o my gosh it was incredible. There was a point where we were walking, carrying tortoises, into the wind when I really felt like I was going to get blown away! So by the time we got back to the kitchen (which was only 20 or so minutes later) we were obviously drenched from head to toe but before we made it inside we realized that we couldn't hear the sub pump working and our whole back patio was flooded!

 

I run inside to find that the power has gone out. Now this boggled me. We have a generator that is suppose to kick on when the electricity goes out but for some reason it hadn't. So I call Gwen, who of course wasn't home and was out driving in this mess. She tells us that we will have to go out to the generator box and manually turn it on. By this time the storm has gotten pretty bad. The sky was a erry color of green and there were chunks of hail coming down with the rain. I was kind of scared to go back out into it, but nonetheless Amanda and I were sent on a mission. We found the generator but we couldn't open it! After trying for a couple minutes with our slippery fingers I finally sent Amanda to get a crowbar from the barn. The only thing we could think about while we are trying to pry open the door was the scene in Jurassic Park when Ellie is turning all the power back while being ambushed by raptors. Eventually we did get the door open, the generator working and returned back to the kitchen only to find that everything was flooded! I have never had to deal with this much water in my life so I was soooo glad that Amanda was there with me. We eventually got most of the water out and the storm let up. We finished closing and I sent Amanda on her way. Gwen got back and assessed the damage from the flooding, she also taught me about floating fire ant mounds and the crawdads that come to life after it rains :)

 Around 9 o'clock I get a text from Amanda telling me that she finally made it home. She said that the roads were terrible. There were trees and powerlines down everywhere. I could believe it, our place was a bit of a mess too. Thankfully nothing was really damaged but there was going to be A LOT of cleaning up to do.

I was about to start the dishes from that night, Tuesday, when the generator shut off. This was not what I wanted to happen. Come to find out that our generator decided that it didn't want to work any more. So that meant no power at all. Boy did I know that I was in for an adventure. And an adventure it was.

It was dark (I love the picture below. I took it in our kitchen while I was doing diets Wednesday afternoon.).

It was stinky. No power no water. I didn't shower Tuesday or Wednesday, and it's not like I just sat around and fanned myself. I was sweaty and hot both of those days. I finally got to shower Thursday and a shower has NEVER felt so good in my life. I felt like I washed two layers of skin.

It was long. Days have never been longer in my life. You were working a mile a minute to get things done. So by noon you felt like it should be six because of everything you've gotten done.

It was wet. Everything was so soggy. I have never seen that much water in my life!
It was warm, the food that is. Of course our fridge runs on electricity. No electricity no fridge. This was our biggest problem. We eventually end up getting a big cooler and putting all our food in that. We were all very excited when we could open the fridge door and not have to worry about pulling everything out that we needed as fast as we could!

It was hot. Both nights the power was out I just laid in bed sweating. I hardly slept. Ya I was tired but it was WAY to hot to fall asleep. 

The power came back on Thursday morning and I have never been more excited to turn on a light than I was then. Boy the weather down here is so different, it is going to take some getting use to.

things that make me need a tissue

Cat hair: Especially in the mornings after a certain cat has been sleeping on my face all night.

Pepper: When you realize that lid isn't on, you tip it over to shake some on your fried egg and it all come out and flies up in your face.

Sweeping the Barn: Sweeping in general. Everything her is layered in an inch of dust five minutes after you clean it off.

Spiders: When you see the biggest spider alive running across the floor. After sicking you cat on it (who runs under the bed) and then stepping on it you need something to clean it up with.

Taking off make-up: After getting all dolled up for a date it's nice to take off the greasy stuff. (not saying I've done this lately)

Pollen: Something has been driving my nose crazy for the past couple days. It's making my nose runny and stuffy at the SAME time. Don't ask me how that is even possible but unfortunately it is.

Cutting Onions: I am now a pro at it though :)

Frosting: I ate the most amazing cup cake the other day! I thoroughly enjoyed it the only downer was that it had red and blue frosting on it and turned my teeth beautiful shades of red blue and purple. I attempted to wipe it off with a tissue before anyone saw me lookin like a fool.

Water in my ear: Ya some people like to spray me with a hose when I'm not looking. (apparently I just look hot to them). They like to spray it in my ear.

Wiping off screens: Tissues are great for wiping off computer screens after your kangaroo sneezes on it. They are also great for wiping off phone screens after it falls out of a pocket into mud when trying to jump a fence so a certain water buffalo won't run you over.

Letters and Emails from my Grandparents: These are by far my favorite reason for me to grab a tissue. I got an email and a letter from different sides of the country that were just for me! I miss all three of them so much! I love you guys :) :)

Oh tissues what would I do without you!

A cool breeze and knife class

I'll start with the knife class :) it was so much fun. It was a two and a half hour class and all of it was devoted to how  to use a knife properly. We learned to hold it and how to make cutting up things easier! I went with three other people and all of us enjoyed ourselves! It was a fun class but it was also really useful information. I am always cutting up produce for the animals diets and now that I know how to use a knife properly and the technique behind it I can cut things so much faster than before. And here were everything is go go go it's nice to not have to spend as much time cutting up food. Now to the breeze story (I'm running out of time)...
Last night I had to go out back to check on some things. I was kinda dreading it because I was clean and in the cool air conditioning. It has been hotter than hot sauce here. For the past four days it's been close to the hundreds and the humidity is crazy. Well I start walking out back with the mission to do it as fast as I can. While on my way I was thinking about how different it is here. How weird it is for it not to cool off at nights and I started to reminiscing about nights I've spent in the summer where I thought I was going to freeze my butt off when a cool breeze passed me by. It caught me off guard. At first I thought that my mind was playing games on me and I just imagined it. I stopped and waited for another one. Just when I had decided that I was going crazy another one hit me! I have never felt a cool breeze here. It was refreshing and ever so welcomed! It was a logan breeze here in spring :) Now that really did throw me back to Utah. So instead of going as quickly as I could to complete my tasks I took my time and enjoyed being outside!

First Contact

Three weeks ago our Black and White Ruffed Lemur had two babies! they are so stinkin cute

Sometimes one would be hanging on the Mommy, Mercedes, when she came out of the bucket and we would get all excited to see them outside! Well today I went in to feed and clean them and Mercedes had both of them out an they were walking around! It was so cute. We sat there and watched them for a while :)

There was one adventurous one that would go venturing on their own, not very far but sometimes far enough that Mercedes will go grab in and bring it back. Well one adventure it came over and saw me! It was so cute and unbelievably soft. I was just glad that mom was okay with me holding it.

Sorry I can't write more... life calls! But know that I am still happy and loving life :)

Life's on track

Okay let me clear some things up first. One: I came to Texas on my own free will. Two: I love it here. Three: Yes I still miss Logan, but I'm here so I'm going to enjoy it! Four: I feel like this is where I need to be right now in my life so the chance of my coming home next week is none. Five: Plane tickets are expensive and it is rather difficult to get days off in the animal world.
Sweet, now that's all good time for my real post!
Its good to be back. It's been crazy though. When I arrived last wednesday I was thrown right back into everything. I got full responsibility of  my five kangaroo joeys and Winky, the baby aardvark. I was also getting taught diets. Now last year I was an intern. Interns are never aloud to be at the zoo alone. They don't make the diets, although they can help put it together. So for the past week I feel like I've had an information over load! But it's been good. So far I have loved being a full time keeper. But the whole "I'm the one in charge" thing is going to get some taking use to.
I decided that life has a funny way of working things out. The other night I was just thinking about how I got here and all the things that "went wrong", according to my plan, that got me here.

Graduated high school

Went to college

I didn't have enough money to continue with college

Happened upon this internship

Came down and spent an amazing 5 months

Went home and searched for a job

Went back to another semester of school

Searched for a job

Searched for a job
Got my CNA

Searched for a job

Didn't get a job so no money for school, again

Came down for a visit

Got offered this job

Accepted and moved to Texas

Dang in almost all of those stages I didn't understand why it was happening. I was frustrated that life wasn't working out the way I planned. But I'm very thankful it didn't work out the way I thought it was going to. If you would have told me my senior year that in two years I was going to be living in Texas and working at a zoo I would have been up for the adventure but I never would have thought that you were being serious.
I love looking back at my life and seeing that things do happen for a reason. That my life does have a plan, a purpose and is going in the right direction!
Here is a pic of my kangaroo joeys. Boy are these five messy! But i love them to death. It'll be hard selling them... but for now they are mine!

Far back: Lemon Pie. Left to Right: Scar. Duchas Marie. Malificent. Rufio

my kangaroo joeys

it's been a grand ride

Dear Logan Utah,
I have to thank you for pretty much everything! Twenty some-odd years ago you kept my parents here with you and for that I will always be in your debt. I can't imagine growing up anywhere else. You have provided the perfect atmosphere for me! We've had some amazing memories together! You have awed me with your beautiful night skies, stunning Autumn colors and bright shimmery snow. I have grown up to love the mountains and the outdoors because of you. I will miss your changing seasons and the new start and excitement it gave me. I will miss the family kite flying wars and the picnics that would follow. I'll miss my little house. I'll miss the little house that contained 6 loud people. I'll miss my cramped bedroom of three girls and the always-full refrigerator. I'll miss the backyard; the trees, the garden, grass but most of all rope swing! This list could go on forever but I hope you see the point that I love you, I couldn't have chosen a better place to grow up.
Logan, you gave me the opportunity to learn and grow! I can still remember songs and poems memorized at Hillcrest Elementry School. I remember, with a cringe, the awkward stage of Middle School at Mount Logan and then the exciting change into Logan High School. There I learned what I liked and what I couldn't stand. It was there where I started to define and discover myself!
But most of all, Logan, you have placed in my lap some of my biggest blessings, my friends! For the past two years I could not have been more happy with my choice of friends. They have made the difference in my life :) I have enjoyed their company and looked forward to the next time to be with them. We always had a fun time together be it playing nerts, analyzing each other late at night, playing Tetris, watching a movie or making a music video in my garage. I am constantly reminded how lucky I am when I turn around and see so many friends around me and I wonder how in the world did I get so lucky. Now Logan, you are aware that I am leaving you. This happens to be a goodbye letter, and I decided I really don't like goodbyes. Last night I had to say goodbye to some of those amazing friends and it was awful. It was a short little goodbye but it didn't make it hurt any less. I cried. Freak, I CRIED! I don't cry. So Logan I'm asking you a favor... will you watch out for my friends? I want them to have an amazing life, they deserve it :( let them know I miss and love them!
So you have now discovered this is a goodbye letter. Ya, I'm upset to be leaving but I'm so excited! I got offered a full time job in Texas as a Zoo Keeper at the same place I did my internship last year! I left this morning, early this morning, for my new adventure and home in Texas. I know what question you are dieing to ask... How long will I be there for? And the answer is I'm not sure. I have come to the conclusion that making plans and keeping to your plans are two TOTALLY different things. But I will say that I feel right being here! I could see myself here for the next chunk of my life. I don't know if that is going to happen but I am going to stay for the next year, for sure. So that is the "plan" as of now, is to stay, but I'll go with the flow and see where life has to take me!
I'll miss you Logan, take care. Watch over my family. I'm going to miss them, a lot. Ya they tease me like none other but I love them! So be good to them. I know I'll be away from them for a while and I am going to be missing out on family memories (which I am bummed about) but I get to be with them for all eternity :) so it's all good!
Fare thee well. I shall miss thee.
Love,  a very distant, Michelle Althouse

Home and Golfing

I'm back, and glad to be. I've missed being here! After my flight being canceled, having to reroute and getting home six hours late, my long day ended with two of my close friend dropping by at 2 in the morning to see me! It was a great way to be welcomed home. Today I wanted to do something with my family. I said bowling but I got voted out... we went golfing instead and it wasn't mini golfing to my disappointment. The last time we went golfing as a family I lost, big time. I couldn't ever hit my ball and when I did I took a big chunk of grass with me and it went about 5 feet to the side. The good news was that today we just went to the "range" and hit balls, and I must say that I'm much better at that then playing an actual game. There is no score keeping and no one has to wait for me to catch up. It was a lot of fun!

On our way to play golf

 I'd like you to notice my two coats... I was freezing!

Dianne totally showed us up. She was great at it. Actually everyone was really good at golfing! I even had some amazing hits 

family picture

after family picture

Later that night we had Chinese, watched a movie, and I went to Logan High School's play. It was Pride and Prejudice and it was great! Laurie was Mary and she did a wonderful job. I love that girl.