days: 19, 20, and 21

sorry about missing so many days! yikesabee!

DAY 19 (Friday, January 22):

we went lake surveying on 25 lakes (split into 3 groups)! i was with prof. umbanhowar and a visiting professor's group and we measured the ice depth, snow depth and lake depth (power auger, not hand auger...yesssss!). purpose: until the end of the world, itasca is going to monitor the effects of climate change on the area by keeping track of the lake measurements! cool, eh?! it was really exciting, too--on the way back, we found a (dead) barred owl on the side of the road...perfectly intact!! the professors threw it into the trunk of the car/right on top of my backpack (yup, momma, we'll be washin' it when i get home, haha!)! it's SO beautiful! i got video footage of the whole thing--pick-up and everything. AND pictures of the owl itself. then, that night, we ate homemade chili (courtesy of yours truly and bush's chili beans) and i did laundry and chilled with my research and computer while everybody else had "fun." i love relaxing nights :)

DAY 20:

set my alarm for 9:30...rolled out of bed around 11 :) then i went over to lab and did some more research/writing of the massive research paper (made tons of progress! yay!). NOTE: let me know if you would like me to email you a copy of the research paper after i'm done--i'd be more than happy to :) anyway, then last night we made stir-fry for dinner. the vegetarian stir-fry had onions in it...i still feel like i smell like onions. ohmygoodness. it's a smell that never goes away! i also discovered i have a talent: i don't cry when i cut onions! then we watched the movie "chocolat" and the guys played the game "settlers of catan." <--they are obsessed with that game. they left around 10 pm, we finished our movie around 11 pm. THEN the mischief started: we decided to construct a beaver lodge outside of the guy's cabin! we collected all of the sticks and waited til they went to sleep/all the cabin lights were off (NOTE: they didn't go to sleep until around 1 am (we saw them playing ANOTHER game of "settlers" through their window)...so, we went back to the cabin in the meantime/after collecting our building materials). we built the lodge by creating a massive base layer of snow, and then piling (discarded in a pile on the side of the road) large sapling trees in a teepee structure! and then we piled more snow on top so that it looked like a semi-active lodge. then we made a cache, took pictures, and ran away!! i fell asleep by 2:30 am. there's something so wonderful about (seemingly) being the only one(s) awake that early in the morning. it's so quiet, and just...magically peaceful. i love it. :)

DAY 21:

that's TODAY! set my alarm for 9:30...rolled out of bed around 11:20! ate an omelet and banana (yup, i ate a banana...*sigh*), showered, and got to lab by noon and worked on researching/writing my paper until 4:30! SO MUCH PROGRESS! i love writing papers that i like the topic of. it's like philosophy papers--i love writing them!! great conversation papers...not so much, but i can deal with writing them if i convince myself that the book/topic i'm writing about is the "greatest thing ever!"...it sometimes works. tonight is "fend for ourselves" dinner because 3 of the guys and 3 of the girls are traveling in a 5-seater Rav-4 to Bemidji to watch the vikings game (safe, huh?). i'm going to FINALLY upload my REALLY COOL photos and video from the past week and work some more on the research paper and maybs watch a movie :) tomorrow we're supposed to be at lab between 10 and 11 am--professor wants to see where we're at on our papers (we're pretty far--rough draft is due on tuesday; i/we'll be good). anywho! can't wait to come home! and, thank you mr. and mrs. easterling for the letter! OH! and thanks mandi, chuck, george, and charlie for the letter and picture (SO ADORABLE!! i can't wait to see the babies on march 28!!) :) love to all!

ALSO! I added 4 new photos--here's the link again: http://picasaweb.google.com/brennan.chloe/BloggerPictures#5430503947536893106