Showing posts with label My Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Life. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Back From The Wild

I can't believe it's been over a year since I was last on my own blog. That's embarrassing! I have been very busy though and not one minute of that time away from here was wasted. Time to turn over a new leaf on here and get back to what I used to love to do, that being this blog. :)

Since my last post, I have traveled to China again for 4 days, been back to Ireland for 10 days, spent 6 months in South Africa, and about to start another round of classes in college at the end of this month. Oh joy......

My time in South Africa was spent at a wildlife refuge and I plan on returning there one day as I learned a great deal about what my future is going to be. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian and that dream is almost complete. I'm working part time as a veterinarian assistant and along with my classes and my time at the wildlife refuge, which I got credit for, by this time next year, I will be free of the learning phase and venturing out on my own. I look forward to that very much.

My freedom will only last so long, as my ultimate goal is to be a wildlife surgeon. I want to be able to travel the globe and help wildlife animals that are in need of help, no matter what it is. Far fetched? Maybe, but I was always told to follow my dreams and that is what I'm doing. The animals need me and I need them. :)

More soon......Happy trails everyone! :)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Bunny heaters and other stuff

Gosh, it's been 3 months since I was last here? How time flies...I had no idea it had been that long. I have been extremely busy with my new career choices, plus my rabbits keep me as busy as anything along the way.

Last week it got real cold here in Florida. 28 degrees is frigid to me so you know it was down right miserable for my rabbits. I knew it was going to be getting cold so two days before it got here, I checked the heaters in the Bunny Barn to make sure they were working. Would you believe they would not even come on. I went into panic mode as they were brand new. I called the company that installed them and they sent a repairman out to see what the problem was. Turns out, the breakers were off in the electric panel. Duh! I felt like a total idiot. While the repairman was here, he checked out the units to make sure they were working and they were. He didn't even charge me for checking them and believe it or not, he paid me. Yep, he left a donation for the rabbits and I tell you now, I was speechless and happy at the same time. I usually get charged for everything that needs to be worked on. Thank you Mr. repairman. People like him are rare to encounter. I'm glad I checked them in advance now or I might have had a lot of frozen bunnies, which means dead ones. If that had happened, I think I would have hung myself. It taught me to make sure things work beforehand though, and anyone reading this should do the same when in a similar situation.

At my last count, I had 285 rabbits. That's 32 less than last month which means someone is getting early Christmas presents. I hate when they have to leave, but I'm also happy at the same time as they are getting healthy and happy rabbits either for themselves or as gifts. They make great gifts for someone that is used to being busy and want a great pet. I don't recommend them as a gift to lazy "don't want to do anything people" though, as the rabbits need a lot of care and love.

Happy Trails

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Wildlife Fun

How is college life, you might be wondering? I have no idea as I have not started yet. I was suppose to start at the end of last month but I let that slip by on purpose. Dumb decision? Maybe, maybe not.

I was offered an internship with the Wildlife Dept., working with wild animals. I really did think it over a lot and sat down with my family and friends as they poured out concern over this new adventure I was offered. It's one of those decisions that can either make you or break you, as one family member put it. Believe me, it wasn't an easy decision at all, and I can always go to college next year and I will have much more knowledge as well for the veterinarian course. This to me was an opportunity to not let slip away. I love animals, wild or not, and I think I've made the right decision.

I did accept the program and I'm having a blast with it so far. What can be better than spending a couple days out in the wild with wild Florida panthers? Not many people can say they have done that. I think the ones in charge of this program are rather shocked, as most girls I know would never walk up to a snake and pick it up. lol I knew what it was before I picked it up, then I showed it to everyone with a big smile. lol They call me "snake charmer" now. lol If it were a diamond back or something, I would have never even gone near it. I wonder what they would be calling me then? haha

Does this internship give out homework? Yes they do, but not like you might think. All I do is read a lot mostly and they ask you questions while out with the group in nature. I'm loving it so far and it only keeps me away from my loved ones a couple days a week. I do have a link to my bunny cams while I'm away, so don't get any bright ideas about trying to take them....lol

Happy trails! :)

The Bunny Thief

I know it's been two months since my last post but I have been super busy this summer.

After Megan and I got back from our fabulous trip to Ireland, in which we stayed an extra week, my to do list grew from 20 things to over 80 things to do before college started. To make things short, I never got any of those things done that I wanted to do being a certain person wanted to make my life interesting.

I will back up a bit. While I was away for 5 weeks, 15 of my rabbits up and went missing. Not all at one time either. No one even realized it until I arrived back home and I counted them. I was frantic for the first time in my life being I had never had a miscount like I had. I counted them 10 times and came up with the same number each time. I checked the receipts of the adopted ones and still the count was off. I began looking around the bunny barn to see if there was a hole of some kind where they might be getting out, Nope. No holes, no nothing. I was puzzled!


Friday, July 23, 2010

On to Belfast and other stuff

I'm sorry I have not updated here in awhile but we have been having some internet problems of late. I posted something here last week with my phone but I see it's not here. Nothing is here that I sent through my phone and that stinks because I didn't save it on my phone. I thought I saved it here though so I don't know.

Tomorrow we are headed to Belfast to meet Megan's grandpa who has lived there since birth. We are not making this trip by ourselves like most of the trips through the many cities here have been so far. Megan's aunt and uncle are driving us up and we will be there until Monday, then we head back here to Dublin for the rest of the week before we head home next Friday. Honestly, I don't want to go home. I love it here! (don't tell my bunnies this though) hehe

I'll write more later tonight when I have more time to write.

Thanks for all the comments while I have been away. They make me smile to read them. :)

Happy trails!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

In Dingle - Ireland

We are in Dingle, Ireland this week and have been here since Monday. We have a place right on Dingle Bay and it's awesome looking over into the water each day, even though it's been cloudy, windy and cool most of the time. I think the high was maybe 58 today. That's cold to me but it's been worth the trip.

I could live here in an instant. It is so beautiful and relaxing here that I know I, or we, could live here and be very happy. Everywhere we go it's a bright green, meaning it's very wet here. The grass and trees look so healthy and happy. I love it so far. The locals have been just as pleasant and nice too. I feel like I'm in heaven at times.


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Hi from Ireland

We made it! Woohoo!

Ugh....this 5 hour time difference in Ireland is not something I can get used to. It's currently a little after 1am and my body clock says it's a little after 8pm the day before. Who goes to bed that early? I have tried and all I end up doing is tossing and turning, then I just get up and read or watch the telly. After a month of this I might finally adjust but then when we get home, I will be 5 hours ahead!

We arrived on time Friday night and we have been having a great time so far. It's beautiful here but it's on the cool side for this Florida native. It's been nice during the day but it cools down to the 50's at night. 50's in the summer? I'm used to the lows being 82 degrees at night in my hometown. I knew it was going to be cooler here so I did pack some things for that.

So far we have just stayed around Megan's grandma's house and drove some through Dublin. Tomorrow we are planning on driving around more and seeing more of the city and its surroundings and find some time to do some shopping too.

That's about it so far. I have to try and get some sleep so I will be worth a poop tomorrow. I yawned just now so that's a start. lol

Happy trails!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Ireland Bound & Oiled Turtles

Ireland

Tomorrow morning we leave for Ireland for a month!! Woohoo!!  It's about time too. We have been wanting to go for the last 6 months and the time to go is about here. It's about 10 hours flying time total with a 1 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta. I'm sure we will sleep most of the trip being the only thing out the windows will be water, which is what I usually do on long trips. As excited as I am right now about going, I doubt I will sleep much tonight, on the plane, or even when we get there until like 2 days later. lol

I will be updating my blog while in Ireland.

Turtles in Gulf of Mexico

Megan and I, along with our friends Nick and Brad, did some volunteer work with the U.S. Wildlife Department in Mississippi since last week. I called them to see what we could do for them through my grant for my bunnies, being I'm sponsored thru the Florida Wildlife Dept. and they gave me a list of needs, info on obtaining access, etc., and when we got there, I cried. Oh my gosh! I had never seen so many turtles covered in oil like what we saw in front of our eyes. They were so helpless. The workers put us to work, first showing us how to clean them, handle them, etc., and we spent 5 days cleaning countless turtles. I still have oil in my skin (I had gloves on too) from the many turtles I cleaned and got to know real well. Each turtle that came my way, I named myself as each one were like little friends thanking me for taking the time to help them out. I enjoyed every last minute of what I did for them.

Being this trip to Ireland has been planned for the last 6 months and everything has been paid for in advance, that is the only reason we are going. If not for that, I would stay where we were in Mississippi cleaning and cleaning until every last turtle was spotless, then move on to the many birds and other mammals in the area that need our help too. I do plan on returning after our trip, but it will have to be a short stay being my own bunnies need me too.

The oil problem in the water is not going away with a blink of an eye, so maybe you can help out to if you have some free time. Call your local wildlife depts and fisheries, and help out our little friends of the world.

Happy trails!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

No news is good news...

No news is good news...right? I hope so as I don't have anything to blog about really. It's been a busy week around here as usual with 2 part time jobs going and taking care of the bunnies. Life sure did get busier after graduating. Geesh...

Megan and I leave for Ireland next Friday. I think we started packing last week. lol I am so ready to go too. I'm so eager to go that my heart pounds wildly just thinking about it. Am I overeager? I think so. I get this way when going to places I've never been before or doing something I really want to do. I guess everyone is like this or maybe it's just me. I don't know. I do know I'm very excited about the trip.

The rain barrels are doing good that we installed last month. Being it pours down rain here everyday for about thirty minutes each and every day lately, they are filling up fast and working like they are supposed to do. I sure wish we had installed these a couple years ago.

That's about it from me. I'm writing this on my break at work. lol

Happy trails!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Going to Ireland

I thought I would give you some information on my upcoming 30 day trip to Ireland with my best friend Megan. Megan was born in Ireland and moved here to the US when she was 10. She is 18 now too. We have been best friends for the last two years and her dream has been to go back home and visit her grandparents, so we came up with this idea of going to Ireland back in December of last year as a sort of getaway before college.

It's been a long 6 months of planning, getting money together, and getting all the reservations placed, but we are finally ready and all plans are set in stone. We were thinking of cancelling this trip when the ash clouds started making traveling by plane impossible, but all seems okay right now.

We leave for Dublin in two more weeks! Woohoo! Megan's grandma lives in Dublin and we are going to stay with her for the first week of our trip. We have a car reserved and waiting on us so we can go where we want. After the first week, we leave by car to Dingle, which is in the southwest corner of the island. We have a townhouse reserved in Dingle which is located overlooking the water on Dingle Bay. The place is supposed to be one of the best places to stay in Dingle as it's like a three room condo with all the goodies, two stories, fireplace, full kitchen, and so on. We got a great price on the place and it's been paid in full by our families.

After Dingle, we leave to just drive around the next week exploring the island and seeing the many castles and other places we want to see. We plan on spending a lot of time shopping too! We love to shop!

Once we get back to Dublin again, we will be staying with Megan's grandma again for a few nights, then we are headed to Belfast in northern Ireland to visit Megan's grandpa. We are going with Megan's aunt and uncle to Belfast and stay at her grandpa's for a couple days, touring the many places we want to see in that part of Ireland.

I plan on updating my blog while we are on our trip, but I can't guarantee an everyday blog. We will make an effort to make that happen though. My laptop will be making the trip so I do plan on updating when I can and able to.

Happy trails!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

I'm Free!

Hi everyone! (I'm waving)

Well, I graduated from high school last week (woohoo) and we had our graduation exercises last Friday (May 28th). WooHoo! I passed all my exams with none less than a 92 grade, so now I'm free. I was so happy that I think I cried for a couple days. I will miss all my classmates as most of us have spent our entire school years together ever since first grade. That is the one thing I loved about going to a private school, was the close friendships and the small classes too. Most are headed off in opposite directions going to colleges all over the US and some overseas. I'm staying local to go to school for a couple years, then will be heading off to a bigger college. My best friend Megan is staying local too, so that is great news. We will be going to the same college this fall, just different classes.  

What have I been doing since I last posted here 3 weeks ago? Plenty! After the graduation party last week, a bunch of my friends and I went on a small getaway for a couple days. We went down to Naples, Florida to relax, lay on the beach alot, and party a little too. We came back last Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, so we could all spend time with our families, then I flew up to see my grandma on Tuesday morning for a short trip and came back today. She doesn't have a computer and I didn't take my laptop or I would have written something here by now.

My friend Megan and I leave for Ireland in 3 weeks for our 1 month summer getaway and that is something we have been looking forward too since January of this year. We were thinking of cancelling it because of all the ash clouds and it's still not a sure thing right now. I watch the news everyday to see what that volcano is doing so we can go see the world. If we can't go, well, we have planned another place just in case, but we really want to go to Ireland. Not much else can take its place.

Other than that, it's back to full time duty with the bunnies. I have missed being around them and I have planned all of next week to do some reorganizing, painting, and some other things to make life better for them all. I'm still working the part time job at night, which I start back at this Monday night.

That's about it from me right now as I'm more busier now than before I graduated. That's life, right?

Happy trails!

Monday, May 17, 2010

One down, five to go

Wow, what an exam that was this morning. My brain feels like it has been robbed of all of its memory. More like a brain-freeze! How do I think I did? Deep down, I think I passed with flying colors to be as truthful as I can be. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought it might be and that's good, because Physics is one of my hardest classes. It's not a required subject, I selected it at the beginning of the school year as just something I might want to know more of, as I had 2 choices to fill in my 6 subject school day. Tomorrow is another tough day with two exams, advanced calculus and english 12. Having both on the same day will most likely numb my brain for the entire day afterwards, I'm quite sure of that.

It is nice being out of school this early, but that only means to hit the books and study some more. I may get to it after lunch..no..more like after dinner. I need a break anyways. A smoothie break! Yeah!! Anyone want one? lol

Happy trails everone!

Exam Week

Hello everyone!

The past week has been a rough one for me and it's only going to get rougher this coming week, as it's exam week. I have 6 exams to take this week, 1 today (Monday), 2 on Tuesday, 1 on Wednesday, and 2 on Thursday. There is no school on Friday or next Monday. Yea! I will be drained by then anyway. This is the one thing I like about private school, they give you many days off before you find out your grades, which will be next Tuesday. That is the day that is circled on my calendar. Graduate or not day, is what I call it. I plan on graduating! No summer school for me! Graduation exercises are next Friday, another important day circled on my calendar. Freedom!!

I need to go feed the bunnies and get some chores done before my first exam class at 8am. Physics is my first exam, so wish me luck!

Happy trails!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Barbie Doll Collector

The more you read my blog, the more you will learn about me. :)

As my many friends will tell you, I am a huge barbie doll fan and collector for my age. I have two of the very first barbie dolls that my mom had back in 1959 when they were created. One is still in the original box. Every year she would collect the new series and store them away. When I turned 8 my mom gave me the whole collection and I was in heaven until she told me I couldn't play with them. What a drag that was.

Now that I am older, I can see her point as they are worth a lot in the original box and mine has never been opened. The original is worth over $4,000 and up to $10,000 from what a person from Mattel has told me in a letter. Mattel makes the dolls.

To date I have a little over 2,100 different dolls. Yes, I am serious. Last year was the special 50th Anniversary and I got all 28 dolls in that series for my birthday. I was blown away as I had never gotten that many at one time before. I also have 14 barbie houses and dream houses, 8 barbie cars and too many sets of clothes for each doll. I have 2 Ken dolls too. Hey, she had to have a date you know? lol Each doll in encased in an individual airtight container and I have a hutch that holds them all.

Barbie's real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts and was created by Ruth Handler, who died in 2002. (RIP!)


This is a remake of the original in 1959 that was released last year for the 50th Anniversary.


This one is the 50th Anniversary doll. It sold last year for $60 brand new and already it has rocketed up to over $300 in just one year. Amazing!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Thoughts and Thanks

Thoughts and thanks from lilBunny: < thats me. lol

It looks as though Blogger finally got my messages and fixed my sticking blog. My blog page would stick in a holding pattern for about ten seconds when the page was first opened and it stayed that way for weeks. It was driving me insane, so I wrote to Blogger three times about it. I have not been here that much in the last week, but I don't have the sticking pages anymore which means they must have finally fixed it. Thanks Blogger!

Since I opened this blog in late March, I have had 432 visits. I don't know if that's good or bad, I just want to say thanks to everyone that does visit here on a daily basis. I have had 56 comments in that time, all good, and thanks for those too. I love comments!

I'm down to days now, not weeks, before I graduate from high school. WooHoo! Counting today, I have 19 more school days to go. I don't count weekends and never have. Final exams are approaching fast and I have been hitting the books a lot in the past week. I'm looking forward to them, even though they drain my brain entirely. I used to hate taking tests and exams, but this year I have felt so much different about them and looked forward to most of them. I'm not a brainy person, just a person who loves to learn as much as I can. Before high school I used to get like c's and d's all the time. This year has been mostly b's and a couple a's too.

In June, I'm planning on going to Ireland with my best friend Megan. We have been planning it since January and so far, everything is going according to plans as far as reservations, funding, places to stay, car rental, flights, etc. Megan was born in Ireland and has lived here in the states since she was 5. Her and I have been best freinds for the past 2 years. She still has family in Ireland, so we will be staying with them most of the time, and will be getting away on own our own for 10 days to explore the island and just hang out really. The entire trip will be for 30 days! I can't wait until we board the plane to go!

That's about it from me right now. I plan on being here more this week, even with my jam packed schedule for the next month. I hardly have enough room to breathe. lol

Happy trails everyone!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Part Timer

I have taken a part time job as I need some xtra dough. How I was able to squeeze it into my already tight schedule was not easy to do, but I made it happen. The one thing is that it has taken me away from coming here and updating my blog like I was doing. I used to have a couple hours of freedom at night before bed to come here and visit other blogs, but that has been downright impossible the last week. I barely have enough time to eat in between the Bunny Barn and now my new part time job. With school thrown in, all my chores, homework, etc., I'm tired by the time I get home for bed, only to get up 5 hours later. I won't be working weekends, as I can't. That was part of the agreement. What am I doing? I'm the newest cashier at one of our local markets. It's not a bad job and I like it, and that is what counts anyway. I will be doing it for the next two months, then I'm off to Ireland for a month with a friend, then by the time we get back it will be about time for college to start three weeks later. I'm looking forward to that. :)

Happy trails!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Busy Week

Where do I start? My gosh this has been the busiest week of the year so far.

I had to get a report done for school and turned in by today which took me 3 weeks to research and complete, so that took up most of my nights. The report is 32 pages long and it's about different kinds of propulsion systems. You read that right. I knew nothing of them before I did the report as we were assigned different subjects by our teacher, which meant taking notes from each place we found the information, designers, technicians, company names, you name it I had to write it down, then when I had that complete I had to type it all. By the time I finished with the notes and typing everything, I had 42 pages of information. I do feel smarter now though. lol

In between the report and my chores, we had the wildlife people here today for the wild bunnies and the fire dept was here this week too for inspection of the Bunny Barn's fire system, which passed by the way. Yea! The Health dept was here yesterday for some kind of inspection which passed as well. Busy, busy!

The wild rabbits that I got last week have been taken south to be released. I hated to see them leave, but I knew they would have to leave sooner or later anyway. They healed up fast too as both were hopping around this morning with ease. I was planning on taking them back myself, but the wildlife dept said they were responsible for releasing them in the same area they were taken from, being they were the ones who found them. I still could have done it as I've done it in the past before. It did save me a gas trip though.

Not much else going on really. I was suppose to go out tonight but I postponed it until tomorrow night as I had some unfinished chores that needed to be done. I know I'm hard on myself but the chore list in mine, one that I made, so I do them no matter what plans they might interfere with, even if that event is a date. He understands. He always has. That's what I love about him, he understands! lol Love you Nick! Thanks!

Happy trails everyone!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Weatherman Blues

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!

I guess the weather people just had a brain freeze or something as now they say we wont get any rain for maybe another week or more. Yesterday they said we would definately get some rain in all parts of the county and we got nothing. Then they said it would rain today and still nothing. Now they say no rain until next week. Now watch, it will rain now that they say it wouldn't. lol Oh well, we got a pond nearby that I can "borrow" some water from. I do this every year anyway. hehe

I went ahead and moved the rain barrels back to where they were last night, that way I didn't have to do it this morning before school. I only moved four by the front door as they kind of block the way in and out. All the others can stay in place until it rains so I don't have to keep moving them back and forth. It's not as wet around here like it is during the summer months, so they will most likely stay in place until the fall. Once the barrels by the front door get near full, then I load them on the hand-truck and cart them to the "holding pond" that we keep all the rain water at. It usually gets near full by around mid July. Usually by August we don't need anymore and it just rains and rains until it overflows, then it drains down to the pond where I "borrowed" that water from earlier. lol It all works itself out in the end, even if the weathermen have the blues and brain freezes. lol

Happy trails!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Injured Wild Rabbits Update

The two rabbits I went to get yesterday are doing good. The vet checked them out last night and we found out they don't have broken legs. That's good news! They both have severely bruised legs and are resting comfortably in their own little area of the Bunny Barn. They can't have any contact with humans, except to feed them and even that they are being fed rubbish from the wild. The one thing to remember about wild rabbits is to not feed them regular domestic food pellets or grains, or they will get accustomed to it and want it all the time. That is something that can't happen or they could possibly starve themselves to death looking for that same food. We keep a supply of wild nuts and other goodies for the wild rabbits to feed on here.

Other than that, it's been a quiet day around here. We had a couple people stop by and look at a couple bunnies they might want next weekend, and that's about it all day. I kept busy breaking sticks for the rabbits to gnaw on, picked up four bales of fresh hay, restocked the feed, and other normal things I do each weekend. I was going to go out tonight but changed my mind not long ago as I'm pooped. Two of my friends decided to come my way instead, so we are going to watch a movie and just relax! I need it too.

Happy trails! 

Friday, April 9, 2010

Rabbits vs. School

Hello everyone! I have had a busy day today.

Last night I received a phone call from a wildlife officer down in Everglades City who needed me. Wow, I felt special too. I have never had an officer from the wildlife dept. call from that far away before. He wanted to know if I could come down and pick up two wild rabbits that needed help. Usually they take care of this themselves and don't have outside help, but this was a special case as he put it. He said he contacted his office and they gave him my phone number as the closest place that could care for the rabbits. Again, I felt honored. It was a 3 hour drive down there though and I had school today too. I asked if I could come down on Saturday, but he said they needed help now! Turns out both rabbits have broken legs and that made up my mind to call the school and tell them I'm not coming in today.

I jumped in my truck this morning and drove down and picked them up. I called the vet that handles our rabbits on the way back to the Bunny Barn and he is due here soon. For being wild rabbits, they sure are tame to me. I have had each one in my arms and neither has tried to get away. It's almost like they know I'm here to help them. Both were injured in a trap of some kind that the officer found after getting a phone call from someone who had found them. Once the vet sees them and tells me what to do to care for them, they will stay here until they are healed. It will be up to the wildlife dept. on what happens with them next. Usually they are released back into the wild, as most don't live long in captivity. I will have to limit the time they are around humans as I don't won't them getting to used to me being around.

It would seem I'm the only rabbit wildlife rehabilitator between here and Everglades City. I find that hard to believe. I don't mind traveling to pick up any rabbits, but there has to be someone else in the area, or I would hope there is. I need to do some calling around and see who else is licensed to work with wild rabbits. My dad is, but he is here with me, so that's no help. I could have sworn there was another place down there somewhere. Anyway, they are safe for now and now I have chores to do. Oh fun!

Happy trails!