Hip, hip, hooray!

My birthday weekend was a phenomenal success!

Birthday wildflowers from Jack!

Jack took me out to dinner at Brick and Fire bistro in Eureka - very good food, AMAZING truffles, but very small portions. I left full, but Jack was definitely having the munchies by the time we got home. The man showered me with presents (he promises that this won't happen again and that it's just because it's our first birthday together) - I've got lots of tights to wear for our Iceland trip now! Not to mention a sweet banjo ukulele! On St. Patty's day we made delicious Irish food - corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes! - then we packed our things and drove out to Sinkyone Wilderness in the Lost Coast on Tuesday. This was our campsite:

Needless to say we were feeling very spoiled for the next couple days. The weather was lovely during the day, but the wind picked up quite a bit after sunset on both evenings, making the campfire not-so cozy, and making the tent a little TOO cozy. (I woke up and had to practically tunnel my way out because it had come un-staked and virtually flattened on top of us! Hopefully I've learned my lesson about staking my tent securely.)

Follow my finger, and you'll see a bunch of little dots at the base of the tree line in the distance - a herd of elk!

I also got to go to the bead store in Arcata and spend a couple hours picking out materials to make my shell necklaces and earrings, which I'm thinking I will try to sell on Etsy if I get around to it. We'll see. I'll be sure to post them on here if I ever do! And another thing that happened while we were in town: Jack and I got on a cell phone plan together. So if you haven't gotten my new cell number yet, please send me a message and I will email it to you or give you a call or something. Or you can just call my old number and it gives my new number in the voicemail. I still own my old number, and probably won't deactivate it for awhile, just to make sure if anyone calls me they get forwarded to my new number.

All of these photos, by the way (with the exception of the flowers) were taken on my new camera! That was my little birthday present to myself, and I would say it does a pretty darn good job of photographing.

But a fantasmargonical birthday weekend doesn't necessarily elicit a hip, hip, hooray, so I'm sure you're wondering what that is about. Let me tell you: I got a job offer from Sequoia National Park! Two, actually, but I had to turn one down and choose between them, obviously. Assuming nothing goes wrong, I should be working as a Park Ranger Interpreter at Lodgepole Visitor Center (and a couple other places) in Sequoia National Park, a mere 2 hours drive from my Love, and right in the bustling heart of the park. It's a pretty good spot to have on my resume, for sure, and it will likely open a lot of doors for the future. Jack and I are celebrating right now - so you might as well join in too!

Until next time!