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I have to admit, upon looking at all the other blogs I follow, I'm pleased to see that hardly anybody else has posted for months. At least I'm not the only one who's horrible at blogging. It's been nearly ten months since I wrote... and I could do some catching up... but I don't know that it would be worth it. Okay, fine, quick recap:
After hazing sea lions, I was moved to the habitat project in June. I spent most of July through September going out to La Grande, OR (Mon-Fri in La Grande and back to Portland on the weekends) to do habitat surveys under the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP). We spent our long workdays wading in streams, collecting rocks, surveying the stream channels, and trying to avoid hawthorns (I've got some scars to prove I didn't do a very good job of that) among many other things. Back at the field house we took care of equipment, did computer work, and cooked meals together. On Thursdays we'd often get together with friends from ODFW, who were also working with CHaMP, and have a few beers. I miss our summer barbecues.
My fall was spent mostly in Portland. A lot of my time at the office was spent drying, sorting, and weighing rocks that we collected from the streams we worked in. I also helped prepare a few things for the CHaMP workshop that happened at the beginning of December. My temporary position was extended through January, but in December I was placed in a permanent position with the habitat project. I'm now the crew leader (basically lead fish tech) and am very happy to have all my benefits getting lined up. I made a few trips to La Grande to visit people and spent Thanksgiving in Sequim with Jenny and her family.
For Christmas and New Year's I got to go home to Naknek, which was a very nice treat. I didn't end up doing a lot while I was there - the weather was a little bitter and I seemed to lack any motivation to get out whatsoever. It was really good to spend time with family though... and also the Wii. Our New Year's bonfire set a new record this year with 351 pallets, though I can't say that I helped much except to be the photographer. It was -27.6 F that morning and after my "I'm helping the guys build" beer started turning to slush, I decided it was time to go inside.
Now I'm back in Portland settling back into the winter season at work. I'm on the computer a lot and need breaks from staring at spreadsheets, so here I am. I went to my first Winterhawks hockey game for my birthday - very fun! I'm singing with Joyful Noise (the choir for one of the masses at my church) and have been since summer. My friend Chelsea and I have just completed our third week of CrossFit, so we're hoping to start seeing some results soon. Give us a month or two and we'll really be getting into shape. Right now I'm just sore most of the time.
Well now I'm thinking it was really good that I decided to do a recap of my year, because I really don't know what else I would have talked about. I haven't been doing much cooking, I haven't been on any recent photo safaris.... but I've been spending a lot of time keeping myself entertained on Pinterest. That site is awesome! Hopefully I'll be motivated to do more as spring comes on, but I'm not holding my breath.
