I'm still here!

Well, hello again! It's been some time since last post...December 2015...yep. Stuff has happened! After graduating, I started full-time in the lab. I learned how to set up the Lindgren funnels, vane traps, and yellow bee buckets, finished IDing the Odonates in June, mounted/pinned an insect here and there (ok, maybe a few thousand of 'em), IDed beetles for a panthera graduate student, and met over a dozen entomologists. Most notably, I got to go to Saint Kitts and Nevis where I learned to set malaise traps, FITs, Berlese material, as well as train rangers in all of the collection techniques. Oh! And the canopy fogger :) Which I never actually saw in action, but we dry tested it. Dos D'ane Pond, Nevis Peak, and swimming in the Caribbean were exciting times. Summer of 2017 I am doing the MT field work all by myself! So far, I put 1,100 miles on a rental truck, and 600 on a rental Jeep. Fun times.

So that sums up my entomology to-date, but I have had some adventures elsewhere, also! September 2016 I got to fly to Denver to meet my penpal. We have been writing to each other since early high school, so roughly 9 years. This was the first time I've flown since I was 5 years old, which doesn't count. I really like flying! In March 2017, I got to got to DC with the MSU Wind Symphony, which I was still playing with at that time (they needed experienced clarinetists for this trip). I got to play in the Kennedy Center for the Sousa Band Festival. What a place. We toured most if not all of the monuments, and a few hours worth at the Smithsonian. My boss, Dr. Mike Ivie, set me up with Smithsonian curator Floyd Shockley and I got a tour of the restricted access entomology floors!!! Whoa.

In May 2016 I bought a car! Went from my parent's 1992 green Honda Accord EX to my own 2005 gold Honda Accord LX. Quite the update, and quite the bargain! Only $4,800 and 97K miles. Cleanest car in existance; I went to vacuum under the floor mats and there was NOTHING there! :O Since fall of 2015 I've been teaching a clarinet student; as of summer 2017 she is about to enter 7th grade. She and her younger brother (trumpet) are really enjoying playing music. :) Two weeks ago I finished teaching a friend to drive, and he took his written and driving tests and passed both!! I've never felt like such a mom, even with all the childcare I've done hahaha. Here's the view on Sacajawea Peak:

Current interests/activities: swimming, traveling, fishing, weightlifting,
rollerblading, hiking, insects, new music (Spotify), Instagram (Bitterroot2121), Tim Hawkins "Poddy Break" podcast, Wally Show Podcast, everything Rhett and Link/Good Mythical Morning, and the usual conglomeration of all my other likes and hobbies haha.

Ttfn.