Volunteer Efforts

This week, I started volunteering with No More Homeless Pets, an organization that helps homeless pets find homes through adoptions, fostering, etc. It's such an amazing organization and I'm thrilled to work with them!

I started with simple office work, and today I spent my morning helping in a kennel where some of the dogs are kept. There were only three dogs today, an older medium sized dog named Rex, a pitbull mix puppy named Phoebe, and some kind of mini-poodle named Mitch.

Rex was playful and has apparently gone through a major transformation. He came to the kennel baring his teeth and growling, but with training has become a friendly, fun dog.

Phoebe was just a pup who didn't quite understand what I was doing with the ball I was throwing and wanted to go inside after five minutes.

Then Mitch. There are specific instructions to go slow with Mitch. When I arrived, he was huddled in a corner and refused to move. After playing with other dogs for a while, I came inside and he hadn't moved. I entered his kennel and still he didn't move. He came from a family in Duchesne County and no one knows what they did to him to make him terrified of people. It's heart wrenching.

I sat in his kennel with him, trying to get him to respond, but he merely kept his head down. But I stayed with him and gave him all the attention and love I could. He still didn't move.

This is exactly why I am so eager to get into the animal field. I want to help them, I want to rehabilitate them and help the ones who need it most. It's disgusting how some people could abuse their pets this way, and Mitch deserves a wonderful home with a loving family. He just needs some help first.

I cannot wait to go back next week.

How Exciting!

So, I did both of my options. I filed for unemployment (I'm officially a statistic!) and filled out the FAFSA, a bit late, but still waiting for student loans. I may apply for a privatized student loan, but who knows.

At any rate, my moving process has semi-officially begun. I'm moving down to Phoenix in June, which is WAY sooner than I anticipated. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. Luckily, I have so much family there that I know I don't have to worry about being homeless. My friend Emily and I will move in together in August, but until then I need to find a job and start setting up residency.

I kind of sprung it on Zack though. I should have been more careful but instead I ripped the band-aid off. We're both dreading being apart. It certainly will be hard living in a different state. I'm not too social though, so I am pretty sure I'll be a shut in. I'm also saving up for a new laptop with a webcam so we can Skype. If anyone would like to donate to that cause...

In other news, Emily and I are going to Coachella this April! MUUUUUUUSE is going to be there, I'm more than crazy excited! We have a camp spot for the three day music festival, it's going to be so stinky and fun!

For Real This Time

Who knew trying to sort out your life to another state was so stressful?

I'm trying to figure out where to go for a student loan to get me through the summer while I transfer to Mesa Community College. I'm walking the line between "do I file all this unemployment paperwork?" and "do I just get a student loan and save my job search for AZ?"

I'm also trying to see how their veterinary technician program works and if I can transfer to a 4-year school with the associates degree in veterinary technology.

I'm watching a show on Animal Planet right now called Underdog to Wonderdog and it has me in tears. TEARS.

Along with everything else, I'm trying to grip the reality of leaving Salt Lake, my parents house, Zack, and moving to a new city.

This is all very new and very sudden, but it feels like the right thing to do.

A Difficult 2010

So far, my 2010 has been nothing but stress. I may develop an ulcer by July if this keeps up.

I practically lost my job today. I hadn't worked since December (the 17th to be exact) and I even filed for unemployment. I found out through a third-party system that I "probably" won't come back, which is completely unfair. I was left hanging for three weeks and never properly let go. So my job search continues. Which sucks because I arranged my school schedule this semester around my 10:30-5:00 schedule, so I have a class at 8:00 in the morning and another class at 7:00 in the evening everday.

Since I decided to go into a veterinary technology program, I've been looking around at different schools in Utah that could offer me such a program. They're all crazy expensive and I'd wind up paying off student loans until the end of time. Utah apparently doesn't think of the animal lovers
So my second mama Linnea suggested I go to a school in Phoenix that offers a veterinary technician program (most likely a community college) for much cheaper.

I really want to live abroad for a while, even if it is just Phoenix. Particularly Phoenix because I want to be closer to family, and I already have friends down there I could live with.

So...I don't know. It's all very, very, up in the air right now, but it's looking like a huge possibility.