Un-belize-able

Hello all,

I have no idea how many of you know, but I just spent the last 11ish days in Belize. And for those of you who were like me a couple a months ago and don't really know where that is, it's on the gulf side of Central America.

And let me tell you just how amazing it was being there. But before I go on gushing about things that will make several people jealous, I just want to talk about the things that used to be normal, now seeming weird since I got back in the states last night. (Everything else will be talked about later when I upload my pictures.)

Weird things in the order (approximately) of how I encountered them.

1. Shoes.... Spent most of Belize on a private island barefoot. Shoes are weird.
2. Flushing toilet paper.... Most drain systems are too old and can't handle it so they throw it in garbage cans.
3. Phones.... It's really odd being able to talk to people that aren't in the same room as you.
4. Feeling dry... We were either snorkeling, getting dumped on or sweating. Literally almost never dry.
5. Wearing dry clothes.... see above.
6. Waking up at noon.... After only kinda sleeping while travelling and getting home after 1:30 am and not going to bed until after 2 sometime, I can't exactly call it sleeping in, but I've also been getting up at about 6.
7. Being alone..... I travelled with a group of 28. I was never alone for longer than like half an hour.
8. Warm showers/water pressure... Didn't have it. Wasn't super necessary on the island. Necessary here.
9. Feeling wet in comparison to your surroundings.... Getting out of the shower and being the only wet thing in the vicinity was weird. Everything was wet in belize. You didn't even really need to towel off really.
10. Cold...... I'm losing feeling in my fingertips writing this.
11. Pants.... Like shoes I haven't worn pants since the day we arrived in Belize. Shorts all the way. I'm still wearing shorts. My body doesn't agree with my fashion choice.
12. Mirrors.... Can't believe I almost forgot that one. I looked in a mirror twice in belize. I have now had a pretty consistent run in with them. I prefer belize on this one.
13. Not hearing really bad puns..... (hence the title)

All right I think that wraps it up so far. I will try my hardest to get another update and pictures very very soon.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
Shelby

Like Life Isn't Hard Enough As A College Student...

...Sometimes administration likes to make it worse. Now I'm sure some of you are incredibly confused. Didn't I start this blog talking about how I graduated. This blog isn't going to be about me. Not today. Today it's going to be an incredibly passionate rant on something that I find incredibly intolerable and absolutely infuriating. And before you tune me out, please give me a chance. These stories need to be heard and things need to change.

Before I begin I'd like to say that I loved my time (for the most part) at SPU and if I could go back in time I would still go to SPU. My teachers were amazing and I have made some of the best friends I could have ever asked for.

So this story begins with a sad tale of an administration preaching the phrase "grace-filled community." And sadly falling far short of that. Many of you probably don't know that I had some serious troubles getting through college, I suffered stress-induced chest pains that would get so bad I couldn't physically move, stress-induced panic attacks that would almost make me faint or puke, and a depression that led me to think of suicide. So I went to my counseling center where the counselor I met with didn't seem to be all that engaged with my problems. So I stopped going, and I dealt with my problems on my own and with the support and immense help from one of my professors who I can not thank enough.

Others weren't so lucky. SPU like all good institutions are terrified of liabilities. And the other stories that I have heard, make me glad that I stopped going to the counseling center and were part of the reason I stopped. Because regardless of how hard things got, SPU was where I needed to be. And these stories made me scared of being cast away from the haven I found there.

These stories aren't mine to tell, but after I get permission from those that they belong to I'll add links in the comments. What I didn't know this past year though, was that wasn't just an SPU thing. This is something that happens at other institutions too. And what happens is worse.

Please read this article too!!
https://medium.com/this-happened-to-me/d3212c0a28c2

And then if you could, sign this petition?
http://www.change.org/petitions/rhode-island-school-of-design-take-care-of-your-students-before-your-reputation-put-an-end-to-student-harassment?share_id=dbUeDbjjLD&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition

With the amount of stress that is involved in college and the amount of pain and suffering poor students go through that suffer through diseases like depression it astounds me that colleges that claim to have your back would and could get away with doing such despicable things. We pay these instutions an arm and a leg and then they treat us like this. This is so outrageous to me. This NEEDS to STOP.

Thanks for being patient with me but this is something I feel very passionate about.

Shelby

Teasers And Finales

Okay soooooo.......

I did warn you that I'm bad at updating stuff. But I am suuuuuuper sorry I practically haven't talked about like over half of the season.

And I will. However, this blog won't be that long. I am going to give you a teaser list of what's to come.

1) Karen came to visit!!!!
2) My near death experience.
3) All the hikes I have yet to talk about and how awesome they are!
4) Massive co-worker drama.
5) Bears, bears, bears.
6) Canada
7) DINOSAUR MUSEUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so now that teaser list is written, can I just say how crazy it is that's already half way through september?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I'm at this weird place where I feel like I've been here and known these people for years, but at the same time it also feels like I got here like two weeks ago.

I have today off and then tomorrow is a half day and we kick out all the guests at like noon-ish to start the closing procedure. Then it's just 4 full days of crazy closing and Claire and I will be on our way back to Washington. It's so crazy. It is just hitting me now that this summer is over. I am not mentally prepared for summer to be over yet. It's bizzarre.

Anyway I just figured I'd do a quick little update to let you all know that I haven't fallen off of a cliff or gotten eaten by a bear.

I will do a legitimate update soon (hopefully), with pictures and everything.

Thanks for being patient!!

TTFN (ta ta for now)

(Insert Catchy Title Here)

Salut!

So just as a head's up this one's going to be relatively short because I believe I'm getting sick and I only got like 4 hours of sleep the past two nights so I'm a little tired.

So things that I've done. Oh so Claire, Kylor and I went down to the beach twice now. (The water is freezing. But it does feel great on really warm days).

Ummmmmmmm....... I've gone to a couple campfires. Those were a lot of fun.

Claire, Luke and I went hiking. It was really fun. And gorgeous. And incredibly difficult because like the smart people we are we decided to do highline backwards. Which means we were ascending the entire time unlike all of the people who passed us going the opposite direction. But it was gorgeous.

Twinsies

Luke's trying to get Giardia.

We're all super attractive.

The view.

So I've lost steam. I think I'm going to go take a nap and drink some orange juice. My next post will better.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
Shelby

Leap of Faith (In A Sense)

Hi y'all.

So we didn't end up going to Avalanche Lake yesterday. We gathered everyone up to late. So we ended up going on a short hike nearby to St. Mary's Falls and Virginia Falls.

St. Mary's

Virginia

It was Claire, Luke, Kylor and I that all went.

Luke and I

Kylor and Claire

We ended up seeing my 4th bear. I was in front (watching my feet because I'm a clutz and I don't want to trip) and all of a sudden Kylor grabs my backpack and says "Stop! There's a bear." And at first we thought he was just kidding but when we all looked about 40 feet from us was this:

It was super overcast when we started so we all were dressed for potentially getting wet. What I didn't plan for was getting soaked. Especially since it wasn't rain that soaked us. (These are all at St. Mary's)

Claire jumping.

Me taking the plunge

This is like Kylor's 5th jump

We finally got Luke to hop in.

Kylor jumped from the other side.

Some random guy decided to one up Kylor and jump from a higher place. 

We lucked out though because after we got back, we decided we wanted pie and then on our way back from that it started downpouring. Unfortunately Kylor had to go to work, so Claire, Luke and I watched silence of the Lambs and then sat on the porch and watched the storm.

Overall it was a pretty fantastic day off. Sadly my next day off is Sunday. But it's all good.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

Shelby

Sleep Deprivation and Real Civilization

Hola!

So I'm finally getting a real day off today! I am super excited. I was supposed to have yesterday off but we had the largest amount of check-outs so far this season so our boss had everyone working today. 7th day in a row of work.... Oh yeah.

Anyway a few of us are going to Avalanche lake to go hiking today. I hear that it's super beautiful. I will definitely post pictures from it. Speaking of pictures and hikes, last week at some point (I no longer know what day it is) we went over to Many Glacier and it was gorgeous!!!

This is their lake.

Such a beautiful view.

A waterfall we hiked off trail to get to.

Claire and Lucas being more adventurous than me.

My little friend Evelyn who landed on my hand and didn't leave for like 15 minutes.

We went on a boat tour of the lake right next to Rising Sun. It was really fun listening to someone start talking about the precambrian era and all of this geology and describing lichen. I giggled a lot during this guys talk.

The view from the boat.

The other side of the lake.

Oh my gosh. Saw my third bear. And it was a little nerve-wracking. Mostly because Claire and I were walking up from the boat dock and we were like "Why are all of these cars stopped?" It was because there was a bear walking across this field in between the lake and the campground. Walking directly where we needed to go ourselves. Luckily these really nice people staying at Rising Sun, who were stopped to take pictures, asked us if we needed a ride and then drove us back home.

Here it is. Not a grizzly so not as scary, but still.

Fourth of July was interesting. A bunch of guys got some fireworks and we went to one of their property's near by and let them off. There were a lot drunk people and fire and explosives, it was a little terrifying. But from a safe distance it was a lot of fun. 

Oh and then we went to Kalispell the other day. Which is what we all consider real civilization here. We went to Walmart and I got shorts for work to combat the heat. And then we went and got pizza. Pizza is like the most craved food here because there aren't very many pizza places. It was a lot of fun and I finally got to go on the to the sun highway. The view from that is absolutely gorgeous. On our way back the sun was setting and it was just jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring.

These pictures just don't do it justice.

Anyway we're going soon so I think I'll wrap this up here.

TTFN (ta ta for now)

Shelby

PS Please feel free to leave comments or ask questions if you get the urge. It'd be nice sometimes to have some sort of response to what I'm writing.

These Pictures Are Glacial but the Weather Sure Isn't.

Hey everyone.

Finally got my internet on my laptop working. So I figured I'd write a quick update and post a few pictures.

I am so gosh darn exhausted right now. But it's all worth it. I actually really enjoy the work I'm doing. Making beds is actually quite cathartic. And I do really enjoy the people I work with. However... It has been incredibly hot these past couple of days. And while low 80's doesn't seem that hot to some of you who are reading this, let me tell you when you're wearing a navy, collared shirt and khaki pants, while lugging around a cart that has 50 lb bags of linens and bags of garbage and recycling up and down hills in the blaring sun for 6 hours... low 80's is stifling.

Tomorrow is my first day off from housekeeping. It's unfortunately (for rest) our first ACMNP service. I am really excited for it but I'm just so tired that I am looking forward to monday for my first real day off. So I get to write our message for tomorrow and because we are in Glacier and I'm a science and hebrew nerd, I'm kind of sort of stealing Dr. Long's lecture on abad (tend) and samar (keep). Which is in Gen 2:15. I'm really grateful that he's given this lecture multiple times, partially because it's just an awesome lecture, but right now mostly because it is saving my hide for tomorrow (Thanks Dr. Long =D).

Anyway I think that's all the news since my last post. So on to the pictures!!!!

My first view of the mountains =)

Two Medicine Lake

Lupins on a hike around St. Mary Lake (near where we live).

There are so many beautiful wild flowers here!

The first bear I saw =) (not a great photo but you know).

Wes and I at Two Medicine.

Wes being a drunken monkey!

First thing I see when I go to put away my clothes.

I liked their response. 

View from the parking lot where I live.

I will definitely post more pictures later but I figured you guys should see some of the beautiful-ness from here! This place lends itself so nicely to photography.

Well I should go do productive stuff now... sigh.

TTFN (ta ta for now).
Shelby

Views Beyond Description and Farmer's Tans

Hey peeps,

So this is a little later than I  originally planned on posting this but I also assumed that I would've figured out the internet on my laptop by now as well. Still haven't figured that out so there won't be pictures   in this blog which is too bad because let me tell you...

It is BEAUTIFUL out here. My best friend and his Dad (basically my other family)  drove me out here last friday. We got into Montana and it was all of a sudden this gorgeous view of these beautiful, enormous, snow-covered mountains. It was breathtaking. I really wish I could post pictures.

I've eaten so much delicious food since friday at these awesome little family owned diners. I have had the best pie at The Park Cafe in St. Mary's.

I live in a three person room in an all girl's dorm. It's one of three dorms. My roommates are pretty cool. I really like the older one. She's really gone out of her way to make me feel at home.

I'm working as a Houseperson which is different than a Housekeeper. So my responsibilities include cleaning all of the public and employee bathrooms, helping strip and make beds, stocking the housekeeping closets and doing inventory. Most of my co-workers are awesome. There's one in particular that is giving me a little hell because he likes to slack off. But c'est la vie.

This job involves a lot of walking because we have cabins and motels and they are all pretty spaced out and it's pretty hilly. On top of that pulling around a rolling cart full of 50 lb bags of linens is really heavy come to find out. Suffice it to say, I am sore and exhausted.

So far I have gone on one hike. It was around the lake that I live by. We passed a waterfall and I found Gallium sp. which I introduced to the people who I was hiking with.

Okay well I've been on the common room computer for a while and dinner is being made so I will have to go. Hopefully next time I write it will be on my laptop so I can add pictures because you guys need to see how gorgeous it is over here.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
Shelby

PS I spend a lot of time outside at work walking around and because of that I'm getting a farmer's tan. (Figured I should probably explain my title...)

I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling 22.

So I turned 22 on friday. And it weirds me out greatly. It's the first birthday I've had in a long while where it wasn't an exciting birthday itself but I'm not waiting for an exciting birthday. Like when you turn 15, it's not overly exciting itself, but "in just one more year I turn 16 and I can get my license." Now it's 22 isn't super exciting and "Oh gosh, I'm like a legitimate adult now."

It was a good birthday. Had a lot of well wishes. Got to hang out with my grandma who I don't get to see nearly enough because she lives in Reno now. Had a lovely dinner with my family and went out with some friends that night.

Later in the weekend I went and saw Man of Steel with my grandma and siblings. It was a really good movie. We went and saw my aunt and my uncle and my cousins. It's always fun seeing them. I also go to play with a baby. He's 8 or 9 months old. I love babies. I'm that girl that if there's a baby anywhere in the vicinity all of my attention is instantly honed on the little bundle of adorable. So if anyone ever needs a babysitter and I'm in the area and free, please hit me up. I love kids.

On the same note, I had a graduation barbecue/party thing last week as well where I got to hold my cousin's 19 day old son.

The party was a lot of fun. I had a lot of family stop by. As crazy as everything gets, I do really love my family.

My mom and grandma and the siblings all went back down to Reno yesterday. It's always a bittersweet event when we have to go our separate ways. I love my family, but like all good little siblings, mine drive me crazy after a certain point in time. Even if they are cute. Cute can only carry you so far.

Now It's just last minute errands and kind of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, as the saying goes. I have to be in glacier at 9am on Saturday so time is getting shorter and I still have a lot of friends that I haven't seen yet, and a lot of stuff that needs to get done.

Speaking of which I think that's where I will wrap this post up.

TTFN, ta ta for now!

Shelby

PS The title is a song from Taylor Swift, who even though I strongly dislike, my friends (you know who you are) really enjoy torturing me with. And she just so happens to have a song about turning/being 22. So that's been fun.

The Real World Has Now Commenced, and so Have I.

Hello everyone!

Since my last post I have now completed my last undergrad finals week. I've made it out alive and with the highest grade in one of my classes.

Packing and moving out as usual happened last minute regardless of how often I tell myself I will do it earlier. Also packing and moving sucks.

I went out with some of my professors and Jordon on Thursday evening, which I expected to be weirder than it was. For one it wasn't weird at all, and in retrospect I think it's because the only difference in our interactions was the presence of alcohol. So as far as I'm aware everyone had a great time. However Jordon and I still have no idea how to address them anymore, we've decided to stick with Dr. ____ until otherwise told not to.

Friday was Ivy (Hedera helix) Cutting where me and my group of friends were the only ones who cheered or laughed at certain points of time in the speaker's speech. And when we finally received our ivy we decided, as young adults about to receive their bachelor's degree, the most mature thing to do would be to make mustaches out of it. As you can see we're definitely ready to be real adults (except totally NOT).

My overall crowning achievement this entire weekend has to have been not hurting myself before the commencement ceremony, so I was able to walk unaided, and then not trip during it.

Graduations: 2
Clumsiness: 0

Commencement itself was such a blur. There was so much going on so quickly. Our speaker was amazing. And the ceremony didn't seem as long as it could've been, probably because it was my first and only and I knew a lot of students. However towards the end I was starting to wonder if the College of Arts and Science were ever going to end. We might be legion.

I'm still a little sad that I didn't double major in Bio and Theology so I could have Gryffindor colored tassels. But alas I am quite proud of the degree I did get.

I also really just want to thank Derek Wood, Eric Long and Dave Nienhuis for helping me figure out my life and listening to all of my woes and just putting up with me. I wouldn't have been able to get through college without you all!!!

Thanks to all of my other professors for putting up with me as well!

I want to thank all of my friends, for being my friends, and being there for me when I needed it. Especially during my draughts of sleep deprivation where I go certifiably insane (shout out to team pederpes because they witnessed quite a lot of this.)

I also want to thank my mom and grandma for being there for me as well!! And thanks to the rest of my family for all the support and love you guys have given me.

And now that all of the sappy stuff is out of the way, I think this is it for today's post =)

Shelby

(Still working on that catchphrase)

Hello real world, apparently it's time we've met.

Many people have asked me to keep in contact and let them know what's going on in my life after I graduate. So this is how I plan on accomplishing this goal of informing everyone what's going on in my life.

For those unaware graduation is in, technically speaking because it's after midnight, 5 days. This is both nerve-wrackingly exciting and terrifying all at once. I'm going to be graduating with a BA in Biology, which at some point I plan on using to mold young minds with. (Science for the win!)

Before I go much further I should probably apologize in advance:
1) I ramble. A lot. But if you can stick through it I tend to come to decent points.
2) Sorry for any and all grammatical errors (and my overuse of the transition of "so"). I will try very hard to proof-read, but as I'm sure quite a few of my professors can attest too, that doesn't always work well.
3) At any point in time that I go too far in depth into something incredibly dorky or science-y.
4) I make up words. A lot of words.
5) I also enjoy making lists.
6) Anything else that might seem disagreeable.

So you have been warned and we shall continue with today's ramble.

More information... Right so a question I've been receiving to a major extent:

Shelby, What are you doing with your life after graduation?

This is a terrifying question. But I have some pseudo-answers now that I didn't have a couple months ago:

1) I will be working at Glacier National Park this summer at Rising Sun. I'm working as a house-keeper for glacier. I am also working with A Christian Ministries in the National Parks (ACMNP - not quite as catchy as S.H.I.E.L.D.). This means I will be helping plan and lead worship services on sundays. This starts in June and goes until September.

2) I will be going to Belize in December on a study-abroad trip as a post-bach. I am incredibly excited to have this opportunity. It will be a great learning experience and I get to hang out on sandy beaches with some of my favorite professors. How could I pass up this amazing opportunity.

3) Now here's where it gets a wee bit difficult, as of returning from glacier to leaving for Belize and starting January, I have NO idea what I'm doing. None at all. I don't know where I'm living, or what I'm doing with my life.......

BUT

4) At some point in the next year to twoish years I will be attending grad-school (don't know where) to get my masters in teaching and my teaching certificate so I can tell high schoolers all about the wonders of science. And why they should at least enjoy learning about it, if not absolutely love it.

I will try to update this regularly. That being said, I've been trying to keep a diary since fourth grade and that was never regularly written in. So if there are random long lengths of time, atypical from the other gaps between posts, I also apologize in advance for that.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this post and to everyone who will continue to follow me on my journey of becoming this mystical creature known as "a-real-adult".

Shelby

PS I feel like I should have some sort of sign-off catchphrase... I'll work on that.