Kind of Bizarre

this past week has been kind of bizarre to me.

a couple months ago, one of the teachers i am working with at the high school asked me to do something for him.

he said if i find any hawks on the side of the road, to pick them up and bring them in.

he is the ceramics teacher, and the students were going to start a mask project where they could embellish with feathers if desired.

so this is totally something that i would do,

pick up roadkill. hahha.

i literally looked every day to and from school.

i really wanted to find one!

plus it made the hour drive go by quicker.

weeks passed...

then a few months passed...

and nothing.

BUT...

this past sunday, i saw a dead bird off of the freeway on the way to church!

michio wanted to get it, cuz it was near the median (too dangerous for me apparently)

it was an owl !!!

it was soo beautiful !!!

one of my students willingly holding the owl

this is the teacher i work with

he's just ripping off the wings

it was weird to hear bones crunching...

i couldn't help but cringe a little

but look how pretty!

so yeah... who the heck finds an owl out of all birds ?!?!

and the weirdest thing about finding an owl on the way to church,

was that we found ANOTHER OWL ON THE WAY HOME !!!!

unfortunately i dont have pictures of the other owl because it wasn't nearly as pretty as this owl.

its face was all flat and body was smashed a little . ..

but, i did pick the second owl up off the ground.

so michio and i each had the experience up picking up an owl!

so bizarre... who finds an owl !?!

and who finds two owls in one day ?!?!

so sunday we found the owls, and i brought them to school on monday.

monday afternoon, michio and i went fishing.

this is the first time i have had a fishing pole of my very own, 

and i got to use it for the first time!

it is black and hot pink =]

pretty sweet huh

 

we went to a place called bear river about 7 minutes from the house

spring was in full bloom!

the grass was so long and lush and beautiful!

i had a 6ft pole with 6 lb test line..

and this was the only thing i caught

michio had a 5ft trout pole with a 4lb test line...

and he caught a 10 lb catfish!

(i was super jealous, and still am)

fishing has been so much fun!

we found a little hole where we'd get bites every time we'd cast out the line.

unfortunately, we found this hole about 30 minutes before we had to leave.

fishing has really been a stress reliever for michio and i from work and school,

and we can't wait for friends and family to come fish with us!

seriously you guys, tell us when you want to come!!!

last bizarre thing of the week,

i found this tuesday on the way to school...

i finally got my hawk!

it was HUGE !!!

luckily i had a big shoe box in my car

 

my teacher went to hold i up so i could get a good picture of it,

but when he lifted it up, liquid started pouring out of its mouth,

so this was the best picture i could get =]

and yeah, thats the hawk foot

is it weird that i wanted to keep it ??

both feet are currently sitting in a bag in my living room =]

the talons are stuck into a ball of clay,

and the whole thing is in a bag of salt.

the salt helps to dry out the foot in the desired shape =D

am i a sicko?

cuz i think they are totally awesome.

but i have no idea what to do with them...

any suggestions??

so today is saturday, and michio has been gone for work since tuesday.

i am literally making cheesecake for dinner.

i don't think thats bizarre.

Extreme Update

so it's been a super long time since i've posted

i have been so busy with school, that i just wanted to relax during the break between semesters,

and now that i am back in school again i have been whipped right back into the busyness.

so for a super short recap of the last 4 months...

michio and i are both a year older.

our birthdays are like 11 days apart.

i turned 24 and he turned 34.

no big parties for us to celebrate.

michio started his new job for Cal Trans (California Transportation) where he on the striping crew.

(not to be confused with stripping crew)

they are the guys that are in the street painting the lines and arrows on the asphalt. 

he is also part of a crew that has to go out of town when it snows in the tahoe area.

so for the past couple months he has been gone for weeks at a time.

he works the night shift, from 8pm-8am,

checking peoples tires as they go through the snow.

although it sucks to be away from him for several days in a row,

he does get a lot of over time,

and also gets $50 a day for food (which he saves cuz he brings his own food).

I have still been enjoying my credential program at sac state to become an art teacher.

we have been spending most of our extra time hanging out with family.

michio has been really supportive of his nephews.

2 weeks ago they finished off their rugby season, and the very next week they started baseball.

michio has been working even harder with the boys for baseball.

he goes over to their house pretty much everyday.

and it just so happens that michio's brother in law had some netting from an old golf course,

so they built their very own batting cage in their backyard!!!

who does that ?!!?!?

not gonna lie. .. i make michio pitch me a bucket every time we go over, i can't resist!!!!

in more recent news...

michio just took a test this past saturday for another state job

it is in the Department of Water Resources.

he said that he'll spend the rest of his life trying to get this job... 

and you won't be surprised once you hear the reasons why:

-they get to go fishing for work

(isn't that enough right there to tell you why he wants to work there?)

-they catch fish and tag them 

-sometimes they work at boat launches

-some of the crew even gets to work at fish hatcheries

-they are outside the majority of the time

-they work a lot with their hands

michio is totally not the office kind of guy

he would love to go to work everyday if he got the job.

not to mention, they start out making almost $2,000 more a month then he makes right now,

and who can complain about that?

we should be finding out in a couple weeks if he passed the written exam.

if he passes (which he is pretty confident he passed) 

then we should be hearing shortly after about an interview

we are crossing our fingers!!!

as for me, I am only 8 short weeks away from graduation !!!

the high school I am student teaching at has been such a great experience for me.

the students there are extremely opinionated and are not afraid to speak their mind.

so it has really pushed me to come out of my shell and put the smack down on them. .. hahha

but no really, they are some tough kids!

they all come from such a low income area, that the whole school gets free breakfast and lunch.

i deal with a lot of kids that are in foster care, who don't speak english very well, who are bipolar, who have behavioral issues, who have special needs, who are in gangs or involved with drugs, and the list goes on.

but i love it!

I even got my own class about 3 weeks ago.

I teach my very own drawing and painting class where I give all instructions, do the grading, write the bathroom passes, take roll, and all that jazz.

I have about 30 students, compiled of mostly juniors and seniors, 

but there are a few freshman and sophomores sprinkled in.

they are mine until the end of the school year =]

i am also highly involved with the ceramic class on campus.

I am helping orchestrate a project with another program at the school called Health Corps.

they have a representative that holds events on campus to encourage healthy eating.

we are working on a project to decorate a pillar in the cafeteria by making forms out of ceramics and displaying them all around the pillar.

it is a "field to fork" theme,

kind explaining through visual experience how we grow food in the field, and harvest crops, and farm animals,

and how they can all develop into a healthy meal.

I am also in the middle of working on a huge project for school called PACT.

Performance Assessment for California Teachers.

we have to film ourselves and write almost a 50 page paper (single spaced =/

we turn it in in the middle of april, and it is basically what determines if we get our teaching credential or not,

so no big deal.

i am sOo excited for summer!!!

i can't wait to get this school stuff over with!

hopefully i will be able to find a job for the next upcoming school year...

and i wanna have a graduation party!!!

if someone wants to throw me one that would be great! haha

so our plans for summer is to relax a lot, fish a lot, go on vacations, camping trips, have people come visit,

anddd . ..

michio wants to move!

Veterans Weekend Shenanigans

On Friday evening michio and I went night fishing with one of his buddies that he went to high school with and his wife to start off our weekend.

unfortunately no pics...

but with took a boat out to part of the river where there is a beach.

we made a bonfire cuz it was super cold!

(and for light of course)

michio caught 2 catfish, and i caught one.

michios friend justin and his wife tiffany didnt catch anything =[

but we did have some yummy hot chocolate!

on saturday, michio and i picked up the most darling puppy.

she stayed with us until sunday.

michio's dad has a dog, but she is getting super old and look like she might kick the bucket soon.

he has also been wanting a new puppy for a while now.

we found a great deal on a purebred black lab who came from 2 hunting parents.

seriously, that is the most ideal dog for michio's dad since he hunts.

she's also a girl, and michio has this grand idea to eventually breed this new puppy with his sisters dog, so we can have a free puppy later down the road when we have a house.

here she is!

we surprised his dad with her on sunday.

they named her Atsuhime (Atsu for short)

it translates to Princess from japanese

she LOVES to cuddle

i was so impressed that she actually went to the bathroom right away every time we took her outside, and she comes when you whistle =]

michio wanted to keep her of course... =[

someday michio!

sunday after we gave michios dad his puppy, all of the family on the takahashi side went to his dads.

his dad and step mom just came back from japan, and had tons of gifts for us!

we've already eaten most of the goodies so i don't have any pics of those =/

my favorite thing was some japanese prints that they brought home!

i will have to post them later!

monday, we hung out with michios friend justin and his wife tiffany again.

they took us dirt bike riding!!!

i have  never ridden before, and it was michio's second time.

his first time was with them a few weeks earlier.

ok.. so i was super scared cuz ive never done any sport so extreme,

but i have always wanted to and totally loved it!!!

we drove a few miles up there river near our house.

there's an area where they have tracks.

its not like a man made one where they build jumps, 

but more of a scenic natural track.

it was sOo pretty out there!!!

i wish we had more pics...

but here's what we have!

i was going so slow in this video... haha

but hey! i was just learning!

michio and i were riding together and i wanted to go slower but ended up gassing that bad boy up and both of us stopped our bikes and started cracking up cuz we were so surprised i didnt eat it!

i loved it!

we actually got to ride all the way home which was super fun!

and i also got past 2nd gear haha

michio thinks he can do tricks now . .. psshhh

with that being said... i think we should save up to buy our own!!!

My First Salmon

michio and i woke up early this morning to go salmon fishing...

something i have wanted to do for a long time but haven't been able to cuz of school!

2 of my classes have ended, so now i have time to actually have a life!

we met up with michio's brother in law Elias and nephew Iwane

michio was the only one who hooked a fish 

and he was nice enough to let me reel in the only fish of the day

it was sOo fun!!!

but boy was my wrist hurting!

i cant wait to actually hook one myself and reel that sucker in

DAD you need to come fishing with us!!!

it took me about 15 mins to reel it in

on the boat right after we took the hook out

still alive and super wiggly!

salmon wasnt the only thing i caught

i caught 3 or 4 clam

and a craw dad

this is iwane eating one of the clams

michio doing the honors

kuma stealing some of the innards

Bishops Pumpkin Farm

i have never been to a pumpkin farm before...

until today!

there is a really popular pumpkin farm about 15 minutes from where we live

i really had a good time!

i really needed a fun activity to do to get away from academic mode

there were soo many fun activities to do!

there was a ton of cute little stores on the property!

they also had a gift shop and a store where they sold fresh pumpkin pies among many other goodies!

today was one of the last days, so almost all of the pumpkins were gone!

it was only a little bit heavy...(dont mind my red straining face)

michio wanted to make sure you guys also got to see how big this pigs balls were 

(for some reason i believe my brothers trev and alo would really like this)

sunflower maze

most of the sunflowers were gone... but if you paid to go into the maze you also got to cut a sunflower to keep

this was the far end of the maze, opposite of where we started

they had a few of these stands where you could look over the whole field

we did not go on the hay rides, but they had a whole other huge pumpkin field still filled with pumpkins that they took you to