I'm always telling people that they should do new things, have new experiences, do things that challenge their comfort levels. But when it comes to ME actually doing something new, I freak out.
I cannot express to you how much I love Wawona. I love the people I work with, the kids I get to hang out with, the pool I manage, the park I work in, how much it challenges and makes me grow spiritually. It is all so perfect. But my parents don't think I should go back, they are telling me what I tell everyone else: that I should do new things, have new experiences, do things that challenge my comfort levels. I appreciate their advice so I decided to go out on a limb and apply for something else, "Just to keep my options open", so I applied to work at Yellowstone National Park. I applied in September and had completely forgotten about it until today when my mom asked me to get the mail and I found a huge college acceptance letter sized envelope with my name on it from Yellowstone. They had given me a job, working in the kitchen, at the Roosevelt Lodge. I told my mom and she started jumping up and down, insanely excited about me working in Yellowstone this summer as they are visiting Yellowstone this summer and "It's perfect!!"
I haven't smiled once since receiving the letter. I want to do it soooooo badly. But can I give up this summer at Wawona? Pray for me. Give me your advice, I need it.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Advice.
Still here.. just trying to climb out of this hole filled with schoolwork I should have studied more all semester long. My advice to you? Don't wait until the end of the semester to crack open your books.
BUT I WANT YOUR ADVICE!!!
If you were going to take a year off of school what, what would you do with this year? Would you spending it doing just one thing or would you divide up your time doing tons of things that you have always wanted to do?? What have you always wanted to do???!
BUT I WANT YOUR ADVICE!!!
If you were going to take a year off of school what, what would you do with this year? Would you spending it doing just one thing or would you divide up your time doing tons of things that you have always wanted to do?? What have you always wanted to do???!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Ignorance Was Bliss
It truly was, but knowing what I know now, I am disturbed. I have thought this a lot lately but especially when I watch documentaries like Food Inc. or King Corn, I realize how ignorant I am and choose to be when it comes to an industry I one day want to make a career out of.
The problem I have is I want to be in the agriculture field because I love animals, but for the most part animals in the agriculture industry are to be processed for meat. I also don't have a problem with that, I have raised livestock since I was nine years old, and I loved these pets, but I always knew that the end goal would be for them to be food for someone. These pets always had the best life anyone could ever give them.. they got fed the right amount, they had a big, clean, space to live in, and they got bathed on a regular basis. I loved these animals, which is what I think every animal deserves.
But I am not delusional. I know that not every livestock animal needs the pristine care that I gave my animals. The animals I raised were raised for show, it was important that their coats were silky, and shaved and combed in the right way. The animals that we raise to eat don't need these things, but they also do NOT deserve to be treated in a way that some large meat producers treat their animals.
As consumers, we demand cheap food in mass quantities, but in reality producing this food is anything but cheap. We want chickens with as much meat packed onto small bones as possible so that when we are weighing the chicken we get as much meat for our dollar as possible. But what does this mean for the chicken? This means that the chick has to grow from a little, tiny chick to a full grown bird at three in a half pounds in as little as four weeks. This results in chickens that are so fat that their bones can't support them and they can barley walk because their bones have not had time to develop quick enough to keep up with the weight they have to carry. Birds will eat all day long if food is in front of them and this is what producers let them do, they eat all day long instead of feeding them in proper limited amounts, turning them into the obese birds that we demand. Birds with huge thighs and breasts.
But it wouldn't matter if they were physically able to walk, because they are not given any room to walk anyway. Chickens are usually mass produced in broiler houses, with limited room so that it is less likely that their meat is bruised. This makes me so angry, and I could go on and on about the mistreatment of these birds, but I'm sure that you can get what I am trying to tell you by looking at these next pictures. Keep in mind that this is NORMAL for raising the meat that you see in stores, but it can be even worse as most chickens raised for huge companies like Tyson will never see sunlight.
It was so easy for me to go to the store and pick out the cheapest chicken breast at grocery store, but now it is so hard knowing how much the chicken had to pay for its meat to be so cheap. Don't be ignorant. Know where your meat is coming from and how it was treated.
The problem I have is I want to be in the agriculture field because I love animals, but for the most part animals in the agriculture industry are to be processed for meat. I also don't have a problem with that, I have raised livestock since I was nine years old, and I loved these pets, but I always knew that the end goal would be for them to be food for someone. These pets always had the best life anyone could ever give them.. they got fed the right amount, they had a big, clean, space to live in, and they got bathed on a regular basis. I loved these animals, which is what I think every animal deserves.
But I am not delusional. I know that not every livestock animal needs the pristine care that I gave my animals. The animals I raised were raised for show, it was important that their coats were silky, and shaved and combed in the right way. The animals that we raise to eat don't need these things, but they also do NOT deserve to be treated in a way that some large meat producers treat their animals.
As consumers, we demand cheap food in mass quantities, but in reality producing this food is anything but cheap. We want chickens with as much meat packed onto small bones as possible so that when we are weighing the chicken we get as much meat for our dollar as possible. But what does this mean for the chicken? This means that the chick has to grow from a little, tiny chick to a full grown bird at three in a half pounds in as little as four weeks. This results in chickens that are so fat that their bones can't support them and they can barley walk because their bones have not had time to develop quick enough to keep up with the weight they have to carry. Birds will eat all day long if food is in front of them and this is what producers let them do, they eat all day long instead of feeding them in proper limited amounts, turning them into the obese birds that we demand. Birds with huge thighs and breasts.
But it wouldn't matter if they were physically able to walk, because they are not given any room to walk anyway. Chickens are usually mass produced in broiler houses, with limited room so that it is less likely that their meat is bruised. This makes me so angry, and I could go on and on about the mistreatment of these birds, but I'm sure that you can get what I am trying to tell you by looking at these next pictures. Keep in mind that this is NORMAL for raising the meat that you see in stores, but it can be even worse as most chickens raised for huge companies like Tyson will never see sunlight.
THE GOOD THING IS, THIS ISN'T THE LIFE THAT ALL CHICKENS HAVE.
I am so happy that I work on St. John's Family Farm. We raise broiler chickens, turkeys, pigs, and layer chickens, and I am proud to say that all of them have very happy lives. They all are given time to grow at normal rates with TONS of clean living area. They are not abused in any way.
It was so easy for me to go to the store and pick out the cheapest chicken breast at grocery store, but now it is so hard knowing how much the chicken had to pay for its meat to be so cheap. Don't be ignorant. Know where your meat is coming from and how it was treated.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Medium Brown
I dyed my hair brown.
No big deal, right? Wrong, very wrong. It is a huge deal to me. I loved my red hair a lot, and most others liked it too (especially my mom.. she doesn't know yet... I'm going to let her find out when she sees me at Thanksgiving)
My whole life people have used my red hair to describe me... "Which Ali? Oh the red head? Oh yeah I know who you're talking about now". Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I have a problem with being called a red head, or even a "ginger", but I am just so sick and tired of people only making an effort to know people on a surface level.
I'm a hypocrite, I know that I do it too. "Which guy is he?" The black guy, the blond guy, the fat guy, the skinny guy, the (insert physical attribute) guy. It is one thing if you haven't gotten the chance to get to know a person well yet, but I'm willing to bet that some of my "friends" don't know me well enough to describe me without using physical attributes, which is sad.
So maybe in the end this is a challenge to myself, not only to get to know the people I surround myself with better, but also to be a person that my friends can describe with positive words...
I'm asking you to look deeper. What do you see?
No big deal, right? Wrong, very wrong. It is a huge deal to me. I loved my red hair a lot, and most others liked it too (especially my mom.. she doesn't know yet... I'm going to let her find out when she sees me at Thanksgiving)
My whole life people have used my red hair to describe me... "Which Ali? Oh the red head? Oh yeah I know who you're talking about now". Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I have a problem with being called a red head, or even a "ginger", but I am just so sick and tired of people only making an effort to know people on a surface level.
I'm a hypocrite, I know that I do it too. "Which guy is he?" The black guy, the blond guy, the fat guy, the skinny guy, the (insert physical attribute) guy. It is one thing if you haven't gotten the chance to get to know a person well yet, but I'm willing to bet that some of my "friends" don't know me well enough to describe me without using physical attributes, which is sad.
So maybe in the end this is a challenge to myself, not only to get to know the people I surround myself with better, but also to be a person that my friends can describe with positive words...
I'm asking you to look deeper. What do you see?
The Almighty Pow- Pow on a quest to be fired.
Ahem. Hello? Is this thing on?
Oh good, I'm glad you're listening. I have never been much of a writer, but everyone is doing this blog thing now, so I must follow along with the masses. Plus, I like the thought that you might be out there reading what I have to say, what I think, and the crazy things that make their way into my life...
I was fully blessed. I had the best winter job that anyone could ever dream of, I got paid to snowboard.
Mind you, I had to teach people how to snowboard while I snowboarded but it was still awesome, every day I got new students, different levels, and new challenges. More about that later, but for now, an after work story...
Growing up in central California near the coast we had a cabin near Bear Valley and we would go up there a few time over the winter to snowboard and ski as a family but I had never experienced true powder, I had never ridden the pow bro! While I worked at Dodge Ridge there was maybe four days I can count over six weeks that I didn't spend at least an hour of the day on the mountain riding so I got to experience every different kind of snow and weather you can imagine... purely awesome.
Anyways.. one day during the middle of a giant storm no one wanted lessons, in fact, there was probably at most ten non employees on the mountain that day. We spent the day riding some really mushy powder and hanging out in the locker room. It's nearing the end of the day, my boots are up drying and I'm ready to head home. My boss Zac and I are talking in the locker room about the latest issue of "Transworld Snowboarding" when Guliette my roommate comes in from the storm asking to borrow my digital camera. I handed it over and as she walked back into the storm curiosity overwhelmed me and I rushed after her, not realizing that Zac followed me. Outside Andrew, Ryan, and Guliette had built a GIANT jump out of the stairs and were about to jump it when a voice behind me yells "If you want to get fired, you can just give me your passes now".
It was Zac, and he was mad. But he was also impressed. He handed them shovels and told them to get to work tearing it down if they still wanted to work at Dodge Ridge... all the while they blamed me for bringing the big boss man outside and ruining their fun.
Because of all the fresh powder most employees decided to take the Dodge Ridge bus to work that morning but the four of us had carpooled up in Andrew's jeep and literally had to dig it out when it was time to leave. We snickered at all the employees waiting for the bus, they would have to wait a while until everyone was ready to go. Fools.
Halfway down Dodge Ridge Road Ryan had an epiphany, there was so much snow on the road we could totally snowboard all the way down to at least Pinecrest before getting on the highway. We had two snowboards with us but all of us left our boots in the locker room. Ryan and I decided it strap the boards to our feet anyway and hold onto the jeep to get a rolling start down the road. I had Andrew's board which was too big for me and goofy but I strapped my feet in and held on tight to the jeep's door as Andrew started forward... only for my feet to just fly out of the bindings. I readjusted and was ready to go and we started again... only for Ryan to fall out of the bindings about ten feet down the road. This was proving harder than we thought but we wanted to try one last time.
We had just started down the road again when I hear a noise from behind me, I turn slightly and see the big employee bus with all of our bosses on it headed straight for us honking for us to get out of the way. I literally fell over trying to get out of my bindings and jumped in the car while Ryan jumped into powder on the side of the road while the bus passed.. I was sure that my boss had seen me as well as his boss and I would be fired the next day. I knew it. I could feel it coming. I prepared myself for it. I even cried that night I was so scared.
And no one at work ever said anything about the people snowboarding down Dodge Ridge Road.
Oh good, I'm glad you're listening. I have never been much of a writer, but everyone is doing this blog thing now, so I must follow along with the masses. Plus, I like the thought that you might be out there reading what I have to say, what I think, and the crazy things that make their way into my life...
I was fully blessed. I had the best winter job that anyone could ever dream of, I got paid to snowboard.
Mind you, I had to teach people how to snowboard while I snowboarded but it was still awesome, every day I got new students, different levels, and new challenges. More about that later, but for now, an after work story...
Growing up in central California near the coast we had a cabin near Bear Valley and we would go up there a few time over the winter to snowboard and ski as a family but I had never experienced true powder, I had never ridden the pow bro! While I worked at Dodge Ridge there was maybe four days I can count over six weeks that I didn't spend at least an hour of the day on the mountain riding so I got to experience every different kind of snow and weather you can imagine... purely awesome.
Anyways.. one day during the middle of a giant storm no one wanted lessons, in fact, there was probably at most ten non employees on the mountain that day. We spent the day riding some really mushy powder and hanging out in the locker room. It's nearing the end of the day, my boots are up drying and I'm ready to head home. My boss Zac and I are talking in the locker room about the latest issue of "Transworld Snowboarding" when Guliette my roommate comes in from the storm asking to borrow my digital camera. I handed it over and as she walked back into the storm curiosity overwhelmed me and I rushed after her, not realizing that Zac followed me. Outside Andrew, Ryan, and Guliette had built a GIANT jump out of the stairs and were about to jump it when a voice behind me yells "If you want to get fired, you can just give me your passes now".
It was Zac, and he was mad. But he was also impressed. He handed them shovels and told them to get to work tearing it down if they still wanted to work at Dodge Ridge... all the while they blamed me for bringing the big boss man outside and ruining their fun.
Because of all the fresh powder most employees decided to take the Dodge Ridge bus to work that morning but the four of us had carpooled up in Andrew's jeep and literally had to dig it out when it was time to leave. We snickered at all the employees waiting for the bus, they would have to wait a while until everyone was ready to go. Fools.
Halfway down Dodge Ridge Road Ryan had an epiphany, there was so much snow on the road we could totally snowboard all the way down to at least Pinecrest before getting on the highway. We had two snowboards with us but all of us left our boots in the locker room. Ryan and I decided it strap the boards to our feet anyway and hold onto the jeep to get a rolling start down the road. I had Andrew's board which was too big for me and goofy but I strapped my feet in and held on tight to the jeep's door as Andrew started forward... only for my feet to just fly out of the bindings. I readjusted and was ready to go and we started again... only for Ryan to fall out of the bindings about ten feet down the road. This was proving harder than we thought but we wanted to try one last time.
We had just started down the road again when I hear a noise from behind me, I turn slightly and see the big employee bus with all of our bosses on it headed straight for us honking for us to get out of the way. I literally fell over trying to get out of my bindings and jumped in the car while Ryan jumped into powder on the side of the road while the bus passed.. I was sure that my boss had seen me as well as his boss and I would be fired the next day. I knew it. I could feel it coming. I prepared myself for it. I even cried that night I was so scared.
And no one at work ever said anything about the people snowboarding down Dodge Ridge Road.
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