Week 8- Will there ever be an end to these exams?!

Monday 13th October-

Today was the day of the dreaded Vertebrate Design lab exam. I spent most of the day in the library studying beforehand. I think the exam went ok, although I know a few I definitely got wrong. I spent the rest of the evening studying for my Mammalogy lab exam the next day. That was until I heard Shannen start up a Disney movie, so of course I studied while we watched 101 Dalmatians.

Autumn is so pretty here

Tuesday 14th October-

I turned off my alarms in my sleep somehow and only woke up 20minutes before my exam started! I still managed to get the bus to college and make it there in time, although I was completely scattered. This exam was on the bats, shrews, rabbits, hares and ungulates of Montana. There were a lot of questions on the bats and shrews, which are the hardest. We were used to being able to handle their skulls but for the exam they were in containers stuffed with cotton wool, which made identifying them very hard. Everyone after the exam thought it had gone very bad. That afternoon we had our third and final field trip for our Habitat Conservation class. We traveled south in the university minivans to the MPG Ranch in the Bitterroot Valley. This "ranch" is owned by a rich businessman who is trying to restore the land to a more natural state. They have a big problem with non-native grasses, which they try to remove. At one of the places we stopped to talk about a restoration project I found some big bones, which I'm guessing are elk bones.

Bitterroot Valley

MPG Ranch

Elk bones

Wednesday 15th October-

We got our Vertebrate Design lecture exam back today- I got on grand so I was happy out. Let's hope that the practical exam went as well! I watched squirrels for a while for my Mammalogy journal. That night Dave and Elliot came over to watch a movie with me and Shannen. We picked a thriller/horror called The Caller. It was a bit of a mind bend movie where a lady from the 60's (The caller) kept ringing a women from today. When she ignored her, the caller would change something about her past that would have an immediate effect on her. I liked it because I like the whole time travel thing, like in Looper (love that movie!). Dave was terrified the crater, he can't handle scary movies.

Thursday 16th October-

Did my usual morning shift in Foodzoo and headed to my Habitat Conservation class. We have and exam next week so our TA, Charlie taught the class. He gave us a study guide which I feel will be very helpful. That evening there was a Harry Potter movie marathon on tv, so of course I had to watch it. We watched the Prisoner of Azkaban  and right after that The Oder of the Phoenix. They skipped The Goblet of Fire, which was annoying because that's one of my favourites.

Friday 17th October-

Today I was working on the grill in Foodzoo and because there is a music/band camp thing happening on campus there were 1000 highschoolers coming for lunch. And what do highschoolers want for lunch? Burgers of course! :P I was kept fairly busy but luckily the kitchen also made burgers to help. Quite a fun day in work! :) . When I got home I continued working on my coyotes 10 page term paper, which is due Tuesday. I got quite a bit done and then Shannen and myself went to Big Dipper to meet Kate and James for ice cream and chats.

Saturday 18th October-

I continued with my coyote paper while I also made vodka gummy bears and worms and chocolate cakes for Elliot's 21st birthday. Of course himself and Dave had to call over when the cakes were in the oven. "Ah....surprise?!" We gave Elliot his birthday presents; a crate of beer and two inflatable dinosaurs. An essential party kit for any geologist! :P We headed over after 5 to start the party. We played plenty drinking games and thought some of the Americans how Irish Kings goes. Surprise, surprise Elliot got a total of three kings, even a fifth king! When the internationals got there we all sang happy birthday and had cake.

Me and Kate

Sunday 17th October-

We had a housemate breakfast at Paul's Pancake Parlor (some alliteration :P), which apparently has the best pancakes in town. I got the potato pancakes (I know, typical Irish loving potatoes!) which were delicious. They were so filling i could only eat two and got the others as takeaway. It's really common here to take home what you can't eat for later. You rarely see that at home. We went to the World Market, a shop which has Irish tea and sweets! I pretty much finished off my coyotes paper and then my and Shannen watched Side Effects, a movie about experimental drugs with a twist.

Barry's Tea! :D

Been pretty busy with college so haven't had much time to do fun stuff lately. Next weekend though seven of us are taking a camper van down to Yellowstone. So looking forward to it! Thanks for reading- Fiona