Animal/ Zoo stuff

A “Birds of Prey” Day…

August 27, 2009 by Jess 5 Comments

Getting up at 4:45 AM 3 days a week is tough, but it was definitely worth it today! As I hurried to get my usual early morning activities done such as getting ready to school, taking the dogs out then feeding them and then letting them go back to bed (haha), I couldn’t wait to leave for school. I rushed out of the house just before 6 am with my shoelaces still untied and a protein shake in my hand. Today we actually get to touch an animal at the zoo!!! In fact we get to hold Owls on our arms!!

Every other early morning at the zoo, our group of 25 students pile into the classroom for role call, usually tired and trying to hide in our hoodies. Today there was excitement in the room! We all got to go down to the Mews where the Birds of Prey reside, and 2 of them were taken out for us. We have recently learned how to tie a Falconry Knot and we had to demonstrate this first, then we got to go line up to take turns holding each of the owls on one arm, then tynig the knot with the other hand. Nova was the Great Horned Owl and Sweet Pea was the Barn Owl. This experience was awesome and really reminds me of why I am here and what is yet to come : )

withsweetpea

withnova

The hardest part of this week has been the weather – its been SO incredibly hot here. It was over 90 degrees in the shade yesterday at the zoo.

We have just learned about Animal Attacks and what to do if we get attacked by various animals. Nothing has happened yet but it can happen and probably WILL happen. When we’re working with dangerous animals, anything can happen. Even a seemingly nice and calm animal can suddenly change.

The only thing so far that’s happened to me since I got here is I was bitten by a rat. It bled, it hurt for several days but in the grand scheme of things it’s incredibly minor as I’m sure much worse will happen….

Monday Giveaway!

June 15, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

How did Monday possibly get here so fast? I feel like my life is in fast forward mode continously! In exactly one month I will already be in my new house in Southern California. Crazy….

Today’s giveaway is a few different things: a package of Scenic Route Rub On Labels, Making Memories Rub On “Journey” sayings, some Scenic Route chipboard arrows and 7 different templates by HOTP (Pockets & Tags, Mini File Folders & Library Card Holders, Mini Enevelops, Slide Mount Mania, Easy Stitches, Folder Tabs, and Thinga-ma-jigs). (sorry for the crappy photo)

mondaygiveawy15

To be entered just leave a comment here by Thursday night at midnight and the winner will be announced on Friday.

My question for you today is: What was your most favorite vacation that you’ve ever been on?

I am working on a fun new tutorial – I should have it up on Wednesday : )

I have a new recipe for you! I was craving hummus today so I whipped up a batch using what I had on hand. It turned out really good!

Hummus

1 large can chick peas (590 ml)
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp plain yogurt
fresh garlic crushed
sea salt
onion powder
parmesan cheese (about 2 tsp)
(for the crushed garlic, onion powder and salt, add to taste)

I don’t like it too lemony so if you do like the more sour taste, add more lemon juice.

Mmmm, this turned out so yummy and perfectly the way I like it.

Crisp some tortillas in the oven and you have some quick and easy chips to go with it. Enjoy!

hummus

I just wanted to answer a couple questions that I’ve been asked recently regarding my move to the states and our pets. The dogs are just fine (thank you so much for asking : ) ) and Zoey’s test results came back showing she does not have cancer (thank goodness) and nothing else showed up either. They said she is an abnormal normal dog…. hmm… but basically she just has to have her blood and liver enzymes tested every year.

I suppose I have only been taking photos of the cats lately as they are the ones that are staying behind with Brent when I leave : ( The dogs are coming with me to California, and so is Fro, the guinea pig. I took a few new photos of the furries today.

calitrio

The SoCal Trio

zoeyjune15

snugglebuds

groupshot

A group shot – sorry it’s kinda blurry! and yes, it was a rather difficult photo to take! haha

(I just realized how well they all blend in with the couch….)

A Very Emotional Weekend….

April 28, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

Excitement, happiness, Joy, shock, nervousness, sadness… yep we’ve been experiencing them all here the past few days. I got some amazing news a few days ago, news that I’ve been hoping for and waiting for, for the last 8 months. I got accepted into a program called the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program. (EATM). It’s the only program of its kind (it’s been referred to as the Harvard of Animal Training), and they only take 52 students each year. I have only told my family and a few close friends that I applied for it as I didn’t want to say anything unless I knew it was for sure. And now I know. so….. I’m moving to California!!!!!! In 2 MONTHS!!! yikes! and……all by myself.

This has been a lifelong dream of mine – to work with exotic animals and train them. I kind of thought it would always just be a dream, but it’s actually a reality now.

This 2 year program is intense – both academically and hands on. The EATM program is located at Moorpark College in Southern California and they have their own teaching zoo right there. Graduates of the program go on to work at zoos, SeaWorld, sanctuaries, train animals for TV/ Movies, and basically anywhere where animals are. If you know me in real life, you will know how much I love animals and how big a part of my life they have always been.

Getting accepted to this program really is a dream come true for me. I honestly thought I’d have to apply for a couple years before I would get in.

Needless to say I am thrilled! I am just a little stressed and nervous now cause I have to move my entire life to another country in 2 months and I’m not even sure where to start at the moment. How do I just pick up and go, leaving everybody and everything I love behind?

To explain how this all came about, I put together a little mini book:

April Classes

March 6, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

My new classes for April are done! I actually got them done on time for once, lol. I really had a ton of fun making these ones and probably cause the paper is just so darn cute! They are both mini album classes (cause of course that’s really all I make anymore) at Precious Memories

“Happy” mini album in a tree shape

This one is a Summer themed one, in a popsicle shape (mmmm….I love popsicles!)

Precious Memories has a blog now! Check it out – they have a giveaway going on right now!

Some new stuff that’s been going on here, well not too much, but we did go on a hike a couple weekends ago in Mission to a place called Hoover Lake. Totally out in the middle of nowhere and we only passed 2 other people the 5 hours we were on the hike. It was an interesting day….

the trail started out like this:

and then quickly became like this: covered with snow!!!

Did I mention in a lot of places it was more than 2 feet deep??

The dogs did really well and walked a far distance on their own, then they got really tired and cold so we turned around at that point and we ended up carrying them both all the way back – which was 4 km!! I planned ahead and figured Angus would not want to walk too far so I brought a baby snuggli for him (I know, laugh all you want), but I’m glad I did! He fit inside it perfectly and I was able to hike back with him strapped to me. We had to put Zoey in one of the backpacks we brought, and she surprised us and sat in it without a fuss, she was cold too so I wrapped her in the extra fleece I brought. We must have looked pretty hilarious hiking back down with these dogs strapped to us, plus we were slipping and tripping in the snow all over the place. I’m so surprised neither of us fell cause we certainly came close to it many times. The dogs were so trusting of us!

We were all very thankful to get back to the car and to get the heater going!

Here’s a couple other photos from last week:

I walked into the room and found these 2 cuddling together, luckily there was a camera nearby!

Angus and Oscar are completely fascinated with the fish tank….

Had a blast in California!

January 29, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

Just a warning: this post is going to be full of photos!

I got back from California last night and was so exhausted that I pretty much went right to bed and fell asleep almost immeadiately! So today I’m trying to catch up on emails, unpack, and work on some upcoming classes. The dogs are still at my parents so I’m feeling rather lost being at home without them! I’m heading over to the island tomorrow though for the weekend so I’ll see them then! Can’t wait!

So now onto my trip! FABULOUS!!! I had such a great time!! CHA was amazing (but not as busy as it was the last time I was there). I ran into so many people that I knew so that was lots of fun. The release date for my book is February 12th but apparantly it’s already out there in some stores! A retailer told me she already has it displayed in her store and I got emails from a couple people who bought it on Amazon and they already got it. So cool!

I got to meet 3 of the contributing designers for my book too: Andrea Deer, Michelle van Etten and Julie Overby – all incredible and talented ladies!!

But of course being in Anaheim and being the Disney lover that I am, I couldn’t be right across the street from the happiest place on earth and not venture inside…. I was so lucky to have my good friend Adam drive up from Laguna Beach to accompany me to Disney, and he also took me to the San Diego Wild Animal Park! Fun times!! Thanks so much Adam, you’re the best!!

Everyone who took my class got a book! So cool to see so many of them all stacked up!

mmmm....love it here — mmmm….love it here

How lucky is this guy? In with the cheetahs!! How awesome that would be.

Isn't this lion adorable? He's only a year old! — Isn’t this lion adorable? He’s only a year old!

We’re down to just one…

January 2, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

Just one guinea pig that is. Our little pig Ernest died today. We knew it was coming. He was old and very frail but he kept his spunky attitude right up to the last minute.

Fro (who is a BIG pig) is our last remaining one. I think our guinea pig saga is coming to an end. Almost 2 years ago now, I got this *brilliant* idea to adopt a pair of older guinea pigs from a rescue org or shelter. We found some with the Small Animal Rescue Society of BC (SARS). When we went to look at some at the foster home they were at, we left with 4 guinea pigs, not 2 like we had intended. They even gave us another huge cage to take with us. (they really wanted us to take both pairs of male pigs). All the pigs were adults, their exact ages unknown as all had been given up or abandoned. (one was let loose in Stanley Park Downtown Vancouver, one was left behind in an apartment after the tenants moved out (!!), and the other two were just surrendered to the organization cause they weren’t wanted anymore. All 4 of them had sweet personalities and weren’t timid at all with us. However, they came with various health problems. One died within the first week of us having him, he came down with phemonia overnight. We rushed him to the vet and they tried to save him but he died a few hours later. That led to the adoption of Ernest, the 5th pig for us. He belonged to our local Humane Society and was being fostered by our small neighborhood pet store that we shop at. He was there for months and they kept trying to get us to adopt him, especially when they learned that we had all the other pigs at home. The humane society told us they just wanted a good home for him, preferably someone who knows guinea pigs, so he can live out the last few months of his life. They said he was quite old and didn’t have much time left. Well that was almost 2 years ago so Ernest did well!

Long story short, all the pigs had their share of health problems (except Ernest actually!), and they are all well known at our vets office. Fro is now an only piggie. I don’t think we will adopt any more pigs, but who knows!

It’s sad really how this group of sweet guinea pigs had such health problems. I had tons of guinea pigs when I was younger and they were all healthy! I don’t remember having extreme health problems with any of them.

Good bye Ernest, we’ll miss you. xoxo