Spring Break at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

I had a wonderful spring break down in New Mexico at Ghost Ranch, an education and retreat center an hour northwest of Santa Fe. It is full of hiking trails, ranch lands for 400 head of cattle, and 30 acres for produce that is donated to those in need in surrounding communities. It is also home to several archeological sites and an anthropology museum. Georgia O'Keeffe lived there for a time and painted many of the landscapes, and movies like City Slickers and parts of Lonesome Dove were shot on the ranch, too. Throughout the year, Ghost Ranch also offers a variety of art classes, seminars about sustainable agricultural practices, and farmers' markets.

I left with the CPC (Collegiate Presbyterian Church) college ministry group on Saturday, March 12th, in the afternoon. We drove all night and arrived at Ghost Ranch the next morning. Since it is difficult to sleep well in a packed 15-passenger van, we mostly spent the day resting and becoming familiar with the ranch. We stayed in adobe bunkhouses and ate our meals at the cafeteria- really good food, by the way, and lots of vegetables!

For the rest of the week, we worked on projects around Ghost Ranch for the morning and part of the afternoon. I helped with fence maintenance, irrigation canal digging, trench digging for underground electrical wires, and house priming and painting. After we were done working each day, we usually went for a hike up to Chimney Rock or Kitchen Mesa. The hike to the top of Kitchen Mesa was amazing, and some parts of the "path" definitely required free (no rope) rock climbing. Someone died a few years ago, but he was hiking alone and after dark.

After dinner, we had a few hours of free time (I spent them working on watercolor paintings due after spring break) followed by a casual worship service/discussion. Then it was shower time and off to bed. We were usually so worn out from the day that we were in bed by 10:00 pm.

The weather was very sunny and cold in the mornings and evenings but warm in the afternoon. I would start off the day with a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, and two sweatshirts, but by 2:00, I was down to a t-shirt and shorts.

On Wednesday, we did drive to Santa Fe to look at the shops and cathedral before going out to eat. Unfortunately, I started to feel sick upon arrival and spent the majority of the afternoon lying down on a park bench. I am not sure what passersby were thinking. At that point I didn't care. After a couple hours, I felt completely fine and was able to join the rest of the group.

We headed back to Iowa on Friday, stopping at the giant sand dunes in Colorado. I felt like I was walking in a Salvador Dali painting. The dunes were huge and seemed so out of place. It took me about 45 minutes just to reach the peak, and let me tell you, hiking uphill in sand is definitely hard work. We drove through the night and arrived back in Ames at 7:00 am on Saturday, the 19th, tired but incredibly thankful we were able to go on the trip. I spent yesterday and today with my Mom since my dad took a trip to Virgina and prepared for the next 7 weeks of the semester.

Happy Spring!

Mayo Field Trip

Correction on my last blog: it was the 8th week of classes. Tomorrow, the 7th of March, will start the 9th week.

This past Friday, I traveled with the BPMI club up to Rochester, MN, to visit Mayo Clinic and Minneapolis, MN, to the Belle Museum. I left my place at 5:00 am, and after our professor arrived about 10 minutes past the scheduled leaving time, we hit the road in a 15 passenger van and a car. At Mayo Clinic, we met with the medical illustration staff, toured some of the facilities, and had an artwork show-and-tell amongst the illustrators and us. It was interesting and I definitely understand the importance of medical illustration, but I don't want to be a medical illustrator or animator.

Another couple hours of driving and getting lost (those in charge printed off Google directions but did not bring a map of Minnesota so we ran into some problems when we missed the exit), we arrived at the Belle Museum, a natural history museum with lots of dioramas which I really enjoyed. Some of them were a little outdated, but the excitement I felt when looking at the moose standing mid-step in a muddy bank vs. the the "meh" attitude at Mayo shows that a job as a museum exhibit fabricator would be a much better fit for me. I love how dioramas create these little worlds with an overall visual impact, and then once you get closer, you start to notice all of the tiny details- the grasshopper at the base of the prairie grass, the colors of the leaves painted on the background.

Any way, after that, we went to a restaurant near there for dinner before arriving back in Iowa around 11:00. It was a long day with over 8 hours of driving. I guess it was good practice for my spring break trip down to New Mexico. Our college church group leaves early Saturday afternoon, and we will drive until the next morning so we do not have to stay overnight somewhere.

A Break from Beans

Beans are great. They're cheap; they're protein-rich; you can put them in just about anything, and you don't have to worry about them spoiling in their Tupperware container during a chordate anatomy lecture. However, this past weekend I reached my limit. I decided I needed a little pizazz, something out of the ordinary. So last night at the grocery store, I discovered salmon fillets were on sale, and as I sat eating my dinner of grilled salmon, broccoli, and bread (a $2 meal that would have cost at least $10 at a restaurant), I was able to reflect about this semester.

We have already entered week 7 of the 16-week semester, and spring break is less than two weeks away. Classes and school work have become comfortable, settling into the ruts of routine. Although this is nice and less stressful, I was feeling a little bit like my weeks were imitating my diet of beans, beans, and more beans- good, but a little monotonous.

Luckily, the past few days helped add a little "salmon" to my week. On Friday, I hosted a long-overdue dinner party for some BPMI friends. Saturday night, I attended a Honors broomball event, and for my GIRLS Power mentee weekly meeting, we went bowling. Originally we were going to volunteer to make dresses from old pillowcases that would be sent to orphanages in Africa, but I wrote down the wrong date. Woops. This past Monday, I also attended an ISU fencing club practice with my friend Robert, and realized fencing is much more difficult and tiring than it looks! I haven't decided if I want to join yet, but I doubt my slight lull in homework, projects, and studying is going to last much longer so I do not want to make any commitments yet.

So, basically my advice to you if you are feeling like a hamster in a hamster wheel or sick of beans, go explore an unfamiliar section of the grocery store. Or try fencing. Just make sure to wear a breast plate, ladies.