My Best Friend and I

It has been a while since my last post, but I thought I should probably write on here sooner rather than later. A lot has been going on in my world lately. I have had a lot of tests and quizzes, plus my birthday was this week. Things have been really chaotic, but I am still enjoying my life. I thought that this blog should be about my best friend and I. I have talked about her every now and then on here, but never enough to let you guys know how truly amazing she is. She has helped me with so much and she deserves to know how grateful I am for her. I try to tell her as much as I can, but I think that this will truly show her how amazing she is.

Well, we met 3 years ago when we were both in our sophomore years of high school. Well, the first time she remembers us meeting was then. She had talked to me our freshman year, but she doesn't remember it at all. Haha! But, it was a miracle that I met her that next year officially. When I say miracle, I really mean it. The whole summer before my sophomore year I prayed that I would find a best friend who would heal me. I had gone through a lot my freshmen year. I basically had no friends. My previous best friend let me down and I was hurting a lot. I just needed someone who would help me through everything while still having a blast. Hannah was definitely the answer to that prayer. I don't know what my life would have been like without her in it, but I know it wouldn't have been as great as it has been. I believe Hannah and I have always been best friends. The first time I actually met her, I knew that we had been friends before. I know it sounds crazy, but I knew. I think that Hannah and I have always been best friends and will always be best friends. We just had to find each other on earth and once we did we were inseparable.

Hannah brought me out of my shell. After everything that happened in my world, I closed off myself from the rest of the world. I didn't let anybody in. I didn't hug people. I didn't love people. I didn't let people love me. No one really knew the true me until Hannah found out who I really was and showed me off to the world. If I hadn't met her, I would still be the hoodie wearing, awkward person I was my freshmen year. I would say I am definitely not that person anymore. I am the person I was meant to become.

The first time we hung out, outside of school, was to see the movie 7 Pounds. It wasn't the best movie to see just because of how depressing it was, but I still enjoyed hanging out with her. When she got there, she ran in and gave me a huge hug. I didn't really know what to do because I never really liked hugging anyone. She made me feel like I was important though, like I was someone special. That was a fun night even if it was a depressing movie haha!

Over those next few months, we became inseparable. We were together all the time! It was great having someone who truly cared about me, outside of my family. I was the happiest I had been in a long time. I finally had a best friend whom I could confide in and trust. Then February 2009 came and tragedy struck. My mom's best friend, Paul, who I loved a lot died of a heart attack in California. My mom called to tell me the news. At first, I couldn't process what was going on. How could something like that happen? I was finally happy with my life and then he had to pass away. After my mom called, Hannah called me. She knew something was wrong. She sat on the phone with me as I broke down and cried. She listened to me and comforted me. Then at his memorial she sang For Good with me. Something told me that she would always be there for me after this happened. For Good became our song after that. We were best friends who had made an impact on each other.

Then May came. My mom surprised us with a trip to New York! I was so excited to go with my best friend and my mom! We went to see Lion King, Wicked and Shrek on Broadway! I think that was the best 3 days of my life. We had so much fun in New York together! I couldn't believe that we were actually there!

We became best friends so quickly. That fact alone proves to me that we were friends in Heaven before we came to earth. I don't think I could have survived everything I went through during high school without her. She made me the woman I am today. She helped me to become more spiritual and a better person. I look at her and see the person I want to be. She is beautiful, inside and out. She has an amazing personality. She is funny. She is spiritual. She is my best friend and I would do anything for her. I love you, Hannah! :)
Here are some pictures of us:

Home

Well, I am awful at this blog thing. I get so busy and I forget to update it, but at least I am now. As you can probably tell, I have been thinking a lot about home lately. I miss home. I miss my family. I miss my dog. I miss my best friend. I just am homesick and want to be at home with the people I love the most.

I love school, don't get me wrong. It has been the most amazing experience so far and I know that I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to go to school. A lot of people don't get the chance to go to school because they can't afford it. I truly am grateful for it all. I'm grateful for the friends I have. I am grateful I have the Gospel in my life as well. Without that, I don't know where I would be. I would be a lost soul wandering alone without any guidance whatsoever.

I am just missing my home. I want to be in my bed with my dog, but it will be a while before that will happen. I am already getting excited though. I will be the happiest person in the world when I get on the plane to go home. I miss everyone so much. It will be amazing when I am able to go home, but right now I am in a place I don't really want to be. I feel alone. I know after church today I will be much happier, but right now I am just down.

I love you mom. Thank you for listening to me and always being there for me. I know I don't show it all the time, but I truly am grateful for you. Thank you for being the best mom I could have asked for. Thank you for dealing with me when I am being a punk. I know I can be ridiculous. I am a teenage girl, so I have my moments. I am sorry for that. You truly are the best. I love you.

The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

So, I haven't written in a few days... Yeah I know I suck lol I am not really good at writing every day. I also couldn't think of anything witty to title this post as, so you are stuck with a boring title. I hope that doesn't deter you from reading this.

Well, my blog would not be complete without mentioning The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. The first time we went was in 2006. Just like the name of it says, it is a place where they have wolves and bears. They try to rescue animals who would otherwise die. They also spay and neuter all the animals so that they won't have any babies in captivity. The center would rather not breed their animals.

In 2006, we went just to see what it was about. The center is awesome. They have a little museum inside that teaches about the animals and the history of them being hunted to the point of endangerment. All the animals they have in the museum have explanations of where they came from. A lot of them were the result of illegal hunting and trapping. It is an incredible place. Here are a few pictures of the museum area.

After you walk out of the little museum, you walk outside to where the enclosures are. In 2006, there were only 2 enclosures; one for bears and one for wolves. They had other enclosures in the back so they could change out the bears and so they could keep the older wolves separated from the young ones. I had a chance to adopt one of the wolves. Now, I don't mean really adopt it, haha I just mean donating money to the center and in return I got a picture of the wolf. I decided to adopt Hayden. He was the alpha male of the pack at the time. This is him.
He is so gorgeous. This is one of the pictures I took of him. He seems to have been posing. I loved this wolf dearly. I spent my time taking pictures of him mainly. I was just drawn to him for some reason. Maybe it was because he was so fluffy from his winter coat shedding haha

On the other side of the pathway are the bears. They usually only let one or two grizzlies out at a time. The enclosure isn't big enough for them all to be out at one time. I loved all the grizzlies and didn't really have a favorite. This is one of the bears that was there at the time. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between the bears there, so I am not sure which one this is.
As we were getting ready to leave, there were a couple of wolf pups in a kennel. We were confused since they didn't allow breeding. We didn't know how they could pups then. We went over to them and learned that a breeder had bred them for a movie, but the movie didn't want them anymore, so they were going to kill the pups. The Center was able to step in and adopt the pups before they were put down. Their names were McKinley and Leopold. They were so adorable.
Now, if these two had been killed, they wouldn't have experienced life at all. Today they are the alpha and beta male of one of the two packs the center now has. They have grown a lot. This is them as of now.
They have grown to be amazing wolves. I wish they could have experienced their lives in the wild, but at least they are alive and healthy.

The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center is a great place to go and learn about wolves and grizzlies. If I lived in West Yellowstone, I would be there every day, either working or volunteering. I love that they have rescued so many precious lives that would have been lost. I don't mind spending the money to go to a place that cares for these animals and loves them the same way I do. I am grateful for the people who own it and take care of the animals.

Hopefully this post made up for the couple of days that I was lacking haha! I love that I actually have people who read this. Thank you! It means a lot to me. I am grateful for my friends and family who support me in what I want to do with my life. I am grateful for the education I am receiving and the professors who are teaching me. I am grateful to be so close to nature. Hopefully I will be better about updating this every day :) I love you all! And I love wolves!

My First Wolf Experience

So I decided I should probably start at the beginning and work my way up til now. I have had so many Yellowstone experiences that I will probably tell them out of order, but I know for a fact that this is the first wolf experience I've had. One tends not to forget something like this.

It was the end of June in 2006, my mom, Paul, and I were in an RV. That trip was crazy. We all got on each others' nerves and by the end of it we wanted to kill each other, but I don't really remember the bad. I remember the moments where I was blown away by the beauty of Yellowstone. We were so blessed that trip. We had the opportunity to witness nature at its finest. The best part of that trip was the one we got the least pictures of. It was when we saw our first wild pack of wolves ever. I had been praying so hard that I would see wolves. Heavenly Father gave me that and so much more.

We were sitting on Dunraven Pass in a pullout with a bunch of people who looked like they knew what they were doing. They all had their scopes up and pointed towards the trees down in the valley. We asked them what they were looking for. They replied with wolves and I think mom and Paul knew I wasn't leaving until I saw some wolves. A man named Brian took me under his wing and let me use his scope almost the entire time. He taught me about the Agate Pack and how many wolves were in it. He said that would be the pack we would see if we saw any wolves.

I remember someone saying they spotted a wolf. Brian found it in his scope and I was able to see the small black pup. I was beside myself! Pretty soon the puppy laid down and we couldn't see him anymore. I used Brian's scope to look for more wolves. I was able to see a grey wolf along the treeline. We knew that wolf was the babysitter and was watching over the pups.

Soon we got distracted by a grizzly sow and her two cubs up on a bare mountain. We watched them for a while until we got bored. We kept waiting for the wolves to show up again because, really, that was all we wanted to see. We saw a boar griz wandering through the valley, but it didn't seem like a threat to the pups. We watched him walk around and then leave the valley. But then, we saw another boar headed right where had seen the black pup last. I ran over to mom and told her what was going on. I didn't want a Wild Kingdom moment as my first wolf experience and neither did she. She was praying that nothing would happen to that little pup. I ran back to the scope and watched the bear grow closer and closer. At this point, we could see everything with our bare eyes.

Just when we thought that a Wild Kingdom moment was about to occur, 7 adult wolves emerged from the trees and escorted the griz away from the pups. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared back into the trees. Before they left though, we were able to get this picture. I know it isn't great, but considering how far away this wolf was and how fast it was running, I'm just happy we got a picture.
Once all the adult wolves disappeared, the six pups popped up from where they were laying and began to wrestle. I am not sure how long we watched them for, but after a while an adult wolf came and took the pups somewhere to feed them. What an incredible way to start out my wolf watching experience! I know I will never forget this moment! We had spent about 4 hours watching the wolves in total and it was worth it!

I am always so grateful when I see wildlife! A lot of people take nature and wildlife for granted, but I try not to. This is my life! I want to be able to experience this for years to come! I will forever be grateful for that beautiful day in June of 2006 because that was the day that sparked everything that would come.

As I said before, I have been to Yellowstone every summer for the past five years (except for 2008), and it has never ceased to amaze me. Each time we sit watching wildlife, it takes my breath away. To give you a little taste of what I mean, this is what I get to witness each year I am there.

It is beautiful isn't it? If I could be in Yellowstone every day of the year, I would be the happiest girl in the world. This picture is of Hayden Valley where we watch the Canyon Wolf pack. I have had so many great memories in this valley. It is going to take a lot of blogs for me to tell all the stories, but I think it will be worth it. But I am going to go off on a little bit of a tangent for now. I will share all my stories about Yellowstone, but right now I want to talk about Yosemite National Park.

I have never been to Yosemite National Park. You are probably wondering why I am going to talk about it then. Well you see, one day I plan on going to Yosemite and hiking the Half Dome with my best friend. I want to take her to Yellowstone and then take her to Yosemite to hike. I think this would be fun. Now, I know a lot of you don't know what the Half Dome is so I am going to explain it. This hike is about 16 miles round trip and that doesn't include the cables. The cables is the last part of the hike that is only about 600 ft. but it is almost straight up and down. It is considered one of the hardest day hikes in the world. More than 60 people have died doing this hike, but most of those deaths were because the people were idiots. This is what the cables look like:
This picture is taken from the base of the cables. Man, it looks so hard, but I want to do it! This is something on my bucket list! I will definitely have to get in shape to do this, but I know I can do it if I put my mind to it. It is considered a Wilderness Area and I think it would be an amazing spiritual experience. This is what the Half Dome looks like in its entirety. It is so beautiful!
Anyway, I just really want to accomplish something like this in my lifetime. It will be awesome! I hope Hannah will want to go with me :)

You Can't Spell Wolves Without Love

Today I realized that I love a lot of things. I love the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love the Book of Mormon. I love my family. I love my friends. I love myself (most days). And I love wolves. They are my whole focus in life right now. I know that seems weird coming from an almost 19 year old Mormon girl. A lot of people my age are focused on marriage and family, but all I can think about is finishing school and being in Yellowstone. I know if I follow the path my Heavenly Father has set for me that marriage and family will come eventually. I do want those things, but right now I have my eyes set on something I want. I want to be the girl in the pictures holding the wolf after they have tranquilized it. I want to be the one in this picture.

I want to be the girl who gets to hold the Canyon Pack Alpha Male for the first time. I want to be the girl who fights her way to the top because she knows she can do it. I want to be the girl who takes over for the head wolf biologist, Doug Smith. I want to be the girl who does what she loves to do. I know I'll never make any money doing what I love, but happiness is a much greater reward than money, in my opinion.
Anyway, I have been realizing more and more that this is what I am meant to do. I have had my doubts, but everything has fallen into place so perfectly. I know Heavenly Father has been leading me along. I am at the school of my dreams. I have met some amazing people. Devanie, Alyssa, and Marree have really helped me to be myself. I don't know what I would do without them. They are all wonderful!
I know that Heavenly Father placed them in my life for a reason. My classes have been awesome as well. They are easy! I have enjoyed my Natural Resources class the most! I have learned so much about Nature and what we can do to protect it. It really opened my eyes to a lot. The Church is so strong up here as well. I feel so spiritual even when I just walk around campus. Institute is amazing! If you want to know more about that, let me know. I will email my experiences with that to you.
As you can see, the Lord has helped me so much on Campus and this is how I know I am headed in the right direction. He is pushing me along and helping me become myself. This post has been more about me than anything, but I figured that this is important. Next time I write, will be more about my experiences in Yellowstone. Thank you to everyone who is reading this.
Thank you mom, Hannah, my family and anyone else who believes in me. I love you all. Just remember, you can't spell wolves without love :)

The Wolf Girl

Ok, so I know any one who reads this will automatically assume I am making a Twilight reference, but we all know where assuming gets us. No, this is not a reference to Twilight. It is literally who I am. I am the wolf girl. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am. I am attending Utah State University in order to become a Wolf Biologist. I'm no expert by any means, but one day I will be.

You see, I have loved wolves for as long as I can remember, but nothing like the way I do now. I think maybe now I appreciate them more than I did as a little girl. I understand why they are important and why we need them in the ecosystem. No matter what stories I was told as a young girl, wolves never scared me. They seemed sacred to me. They are sacred to me, still.

We grow up hearing stories of how wolves are evil and how they can be interpreted as the devil. In my mind, how can something God created be evil. He created everything perfectly. Humans are the ones who screw everything up. If you read Native American Folklore, they believe that wolves are sacred spirits who have great wisdom. Mongolians believe similar things about them. Something tells me they are more on track than we are. We are natural men. We only care about ourselves and what we need to do to survive. We have no use for nature or beauty anymore. We believe we have dominion over everything, so we can destroy it. We are the evil in this world; not the wolves. I have a several stories that would prove that statement, but it would take forever for me to write them all down.

Every year, I go to Yellowstone for two weeks to watch wolves. This next summer is going to be hard for me since I won't be able to go. I have to stay in Utah to gain residency. Over the course of the past 5 years, I have learned so much about wolves and about myself. I learned that I wanted to be able to research the wolves I loved so much. I learned that I could be independent. I learned who I was and still am. You tell me wolves are evil, then I must be evil too. But you are wrong. I don't believe that I am evil. I believe I am a Daughter of God.

This past year, I was able to watch two different wolf packs in Yellowstone with my mom, one of my best friends, and several other people who love wolves. It was a remarkable experience that I will share later on. Right now I just wanted to explain why I am the wolf girl. Kayla had never been to Yellowstone before so I put it upon myself to take her. She needed to see this place. She needed to know how beautiful and pristine it really is. I thought of it as a chance to teach her and others about wolves. It was the perfect opportunity. She left loving wolves and Yellowstone almost as much as I do.

Wolves are families. We have a tendency to call them packs, but to really understand them, you have to realize that they are families. They are like us. They have a mother and a father who run the pack. Then they have the rest of the family and whatever other wolves they can bring into the pack. They are very territorial, but they are so loving when it comes to their family. The most tender moments I have experienced in my life are when I have been able to watch the wolves play with the pups. They take care of their own. I think we call them packs to avoid making them seem like humans. If they aren't anything like us, we have more justification in killing them.

My heart breaks as I hear news about wolves being killed for no reason. I can't help them, but I know that whatever we do to the animals of this earth will be brought back on our heads in the end. Yes, God gave us dominion over the animals, but he never told us to treat them terribly and to massacre them. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that animals were put here for us to use, but I think the way we go about doing it is wrong. We torture these animals for fur coats and meat. If we did the same thing to humans, it would be considered evil and hellish. I don't see why we can't all exist together. We did at one point.

Anyway, I need to go to bed so I am going to wrap things up. I just wanted to let you all know that I am an animal lover! I love them all, but wolves are my favorite. I can just picture myself holding a wolf in my arms after tranquilizing it and weighing it. I am going to be the next Doug Smith! Watch out world, here I come!