Category: work

Going wild

October 19, 2011
The new Bottomland Hardwood Trail.

It’s been four days since I attended the dedication of the new Bottomland Hardwood Trail at the White River National Wildlife Refuge in St. Charles, and I am still smiling each time I think of it.

The trail is pretty awesome and I enjoyed attending the first guided hike on the trail, which includes a 1,384-foot boardwalk and an interpretive walk through the woods to overlook the White River. My mom went with me and it was great getting to spend the day with her.

She tagged along as I took pictures and talked for my story on the refuge’s dedication and a second dedication of the new St. Charles Fire Station. We ended up eating at Mary J’s Country Cafe in Ethel before heading back to the refuge.

Below are some pictures of the new trail. Continue reading “Going wild”

Tuesday blues.

September 20, 2011

It’s one of those days.

I’m cranky, not feeling good and just downright lazy feeling.

The only thing that saved my morning are two small little things:

1 I stumbled across what I should have said to the nosy woman that basically asked me if I, as a single woman, was lonely and jealous of my married friends and if I even had friends. (I think she meant well—we have always gotten along well. It was just inappropriate for the nonprofit seminar setting that we were in.)

While I answered nicely enough, I should have added this phrase to the mix.

Single as a dollar and I’m not looking for change. Continue reading “Tuesday blues.”

St. Peter’s

September 19, 2011
St. Peter's Catholic Church has just received a new sign that is adorned with a 152-year-old bell. The church has had the bell since late 1970.

This weekend I was able to attend mass at my church back home, St. Peter’s Catholic Church. I enjoy attending church there and comparing how the church has changed (and not changed) since I attended regular mass there as a youth. Continue reading “St. Peter’s”

Sideline view

September 17, 2011

I love the crisp Saturday mornings spent taking pictures at area youth sporting events. It’s a great way to spend the morning because, first of all, it always guarantees you cute action pictures.

In Stuttgart, this means taking soccer and football pictures. I found myself on the sidelines of the local football field during the final moments of the seventh-grade football game. The boys were focused and the local team kept charging toward the end zone in a last-minute frenzy to tie the game. While they eventually completed a touchdown, it wasn’t still wasn’t enough to win a game.

Learning history through art

September 13, 2011

Anne Frank. Gerda Weissmann Klein. Sabina Szwarc.

These names are among those recorded at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. They were among the approximately six million Jews in Europe that were subjected to persecution and murder by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. According to the museum, nearly two out of every three European Jews were killed by 1945 as Nazi Germany attempted to create a more pure race which included targeting some 200,000 gypsies and at least 200,000 mentally or physically disabled patients.

It’s easy to focus solely overseas when faced with these horrible facts surrounding World War II. It’s a shameful part of history that needs to be remembered so that it’s never repeated again. However to do this, Americans must also remember that Europe was not alone in having concentration camps on its land. Continue reading “Learning history through art”

The smallest around

August 23, 2011
A hummingbird perches in a tree at Cook’s Lake in Casscoe.

You can’t help but like hummingbirds.

Slight, gorgeous and swift, they just bring a smile to your face. They have also gotten me interested in taking more pictures of birds in the wild. On Saturday, I visited Potlatch Conservation Education Center at Cook’s Lake in Casscoe for a hummingbird banding program. The center’s front yard was literally filled with the little birds flying from feeder to feeder and flower to flower. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Kittens galore

July 12, 2011

It’s been a great week for photo opportunities. While at my interview on cat neglect, I got to meet about 10 kittens who were full of energy and cute as a button. Today, I passed a field of sunflowers on my way to and from quorum court in Dewitt. It doesn’t get any better than that. 😀

Monday blues

July 11, 2011

Mondays are always the toughest days of the week. You are just coming off two days of relaxation and sleeping in. So, who wants the added pressure of things going wrong?

Well, it’s my turn to have an extra annoying Monday morning. Before 8 a.m., I’ve already experienced computer problems that lead to work delays and a Little Rock meeting that I thought began an hour before it really did.

I guess to make it a little better I was able to grab lunch at a nice little diner near my meeting.

Hear me roar!

June 11, 2011

I officially became a new member of the Stuttgart Lions Club on May 11 with Dave Straus as my sponsor. It was pretty exciting and I have enjoyed my month in it so far. I’m looking forward to participating with the club.

Like this:

Home Sweet Home

May 17, 2009

I am finally back home in Wynne, Ark., after four months in DC completing an internship. I checked out of my Rockville, MD, apartment at 9:30 a.m. yesterday, and had just enough time yesterday to buy a pink ‘Washington, DC’ hoodie at Union Station as we passed through DC to get to BWI Airport.

Out of five suitcases, four suitcases were mine and they were heavy and a pain to get to the airport. Luckily, none of the suitcases were overweight. Well-one weighed in at 56 pounds, so the check-in attendant asked me if I wanted to just take out 5 pounds in items so I could avoid the $90 overweight fee. I took out both a blanket and my winter coat and still weighed in at 51 pounds. The attendant kindly said she would overlook the extra pound and let me go on without paying the extra fee. Thank goodness!

Security was another issue for mom and I. Mom’s carry-on was searched because she had an item that looked like a “fishbowl.” Turns out, it was a plastic green flower that was in a little bowl of fake water that mom gave me during her last visit.

I stupidly said as she pulled it out, “oh, it’s fake!” The security guard was sarcastic answering me, however, she still had to call her superviser over to check that it was okay to allow to pass. It was fake water for crying out loud! The superviser gave her approval so we were soon back on our way!

Cindy was on a separate flight than mom, Elizabeth and I so she made it to Little Rock 30 minutes after the rest of us landed. It was fine with me, however, since it gave us enough time to put our luggage in the car and talk to my dad-who met us at the airport.

Dad and I watched Cindy’s plane land on the real time flight tracker and it was pretty cool to track Cindy’s progress on the digital map and guess which plane-hers or a Houston plane-was landing first based on their altitude. While standing there, man waiting for the Houston plane said the plane, scheduled to land at 5 p.m. that day, had been delayed due to a malfunction in the landing gear-it would not go up once they started to leave the runway! The plane had to turn around and passengers had to board another plane. However, to further complicate the flight-they had to wait for weather to clear. I’m glad I was not on that flight!

Once Cindy’s plane landed, we were quickly on our way and only stopped once to grab some food. We arrived home around 11:30 p.m. and I had a pleasant surprise once there!

I am the new and proud owner of a Toyota Corolla S car!!! I am so excited. I was too out of it to do more than look at the car and accuse everyone of lying to me (jokingly of course).

This morning, however, was a different story! I drove it to church and everywhere. I love it!