I'm a Junior!

This past Thursday, I took the Principles of Marketing Clep test, and passed with a score of 63! Since I now have 60 college credits, I'm half way through my degree, making me a college Junior! =D
Now onto French, a 6-12 credit test! (if you get a higher score, you get 12 credits)

BTW, I should have the Pal group  post out here in a few minutes...

A Great Little Video!

Although I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars, the way this 3 yr. old portrays it is amazing!
It really could have been any description, it's the character telling it that makes it great! :)
http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/video/1515/star-wars-3-year-old/

I didn't get any Pal group photos at the ball like I said I would, although I did add a lot to the Pal list! I'll have a post on that hopefully soon. I'm busy studying Principles of Marketing at the moment and there's a lot else going on, but I know you're all anxious to find out what the Pal group actually is! ;)

BTW, I accidentally put a poll out with the deadline for Jan. 2011, but fixed it to 2012 now!

Test passed, and got some bad birds.

I went to test today, for the Human Resource Management test, and passed with a score of 52, a little low, but at least a pass! Now on to Principles of Marketing.

Lately I have finally been able to shoot Starlings, though I am still waiting to get the scope mounts. (It's pretty difficult to sight down just the barrel to get an accurate shot since it doesn't have sights on it).
On the 1st, I got 2 Starlings in the morning, both wing shots. The first one I shot at twice, at a really close range after it fell, but somehow missed! I had to chase him down and corner him in a bush. The second was even harder to get: He fell on one side of a fence, then ran through to my side. I tried to aim for him, but he quickly went for some brushy grass. I chased after him, trying to keep him in the open, but soon lost track of where he went. After a while I went for a garden rake, and started to sift through the grass. Finally, he jumped out, but I'd left my gun behind, so I tried to get him with the rake. I missed, and he went back through the fence! Running along side, using the rake like a plunger, I finally got him, right before he reached another clump of brush. Triumphant again! :)
 The same day, I set mousetraps in a bush where there were a lot of House Sparrows, and caught a female in one the following morning.

BTW, in Canada I saw a female Hooded Merganser at Niagara Falls, and added it to my life list.

My Blogs Belated Birthday

Thanksgiving last year was actually the day I created this blog, so happy 1st birthday to it this year! Here are some random photos from various posts.

 





Extreme Sledding!



Sleet laden trees

                                                     Art (and photo) Festival entries from 2011 (next 4 photos)



German Girl

Cooper's Hawk

Tufted Titmouse eating from my hand

female Mallard in flight

Black Racer

Mary Ann, a future drawing project

 2010 CHEF conference

Mourning Dove

  

A Starling, of course





The Starling hunter, of course!



  

While we were in Canada, visiting our Grandma the Thanksgiving week, two people, Kate and Britt awarded me the Stylish Blogger award. (Don't ask me why, I hardly ever post, and rarely change the look of it too often!)  Thanks guys!

 

 I don't have much time to answer the 7 questions, or award any at the moment, but might do it later. Most of the awarding would probably be to those who already received it, though!                                                           

The 10th is the annual CHEF Christmas Ball. I'm planning on enlarging the Pal group during this time, but I won't tell you what that group is exactly, till after the mentioned event, so the numbers will be larger, and I'll have a group photo to go with it! :)

Done Precalculus!!!

At the top! (a picture my sister took of me on a tall rock )

After MONTHS of toil, I have finally finished Precalculus! This has been by far my longest course, and I pray that it'll stay that way!
 Next up, I have Human Resource Management, which is supposed to be easy, so I MAY find for time to blog, but don't think I'm promising anything, we're about to leave for a trip to Canada to see our grandma, and there are a lot of other things going on.
Seeing I have been so busy, it's not a surprise that I haven't had time to hunt Starlings and House Sparrows. At the moment, I have to get a new set of scope mounts for the Gamo Big Cat, as the screws have stripped out. After I do that, I should be able to get some Starlings. The ones I've seen recently have been pretty brave.

My Birthday

    Now, about a month since it happened, I'm finally writing this post about my 18th birthday! (Oct. 1st)

A good start would be to tell you that the theme was the Kentucky Derby, or horse racing in general.
Jessie and everyone older (except me, obviously) helped decorate, and it turned out great, as you will soon see in the photos. Take note that almost all these photos are by my sister, but I'll say if one isn't.

The general layout...



A mixed bag...note the Clydesdale at the #6 gate!



                                                                 Photos on the walls

                                                                    The "finish line"!

My presents

                                                            Family photos in the morning

What? We were supposed to be ready?

Our Mum took this one, which is why Marjo's in it

A horse shoe shaped dessert and danishes

  A while after breakfast, we went to Sioux passage park for a little while, as they were having some historic stuff going on.

Alexandre, learning how to use a rope maker

I told Marjo to take this photo

Laura-Lise patting a friendly Great Dane (there were a lot of dogs there)

Dressed up...mostly (Katia, L-L, & A)

Afterwards we stopped by Spanish Lake Pond, to see if we could find any wild persimmons. As we were getting out of the van, this immature Red-tailed Hawk landed in a tree nearby! I got the camera to take these next photos of him.

Preening

I got right under him, and you can see how their eyes are set pointing forward

Autumn colors on the walk to find persimmons

Jessie and I, trying to find ripe persimmons. I didn't use to like pictures of me in glasses (I wear them for long-distance),  but they say it makes me look German, which isn't a bad thing! :)

                                                            Scenery across the pond

We found this bat on the walkway, and thought it was sick, but when we came back, he had climbed up a nearby tree.
I think it's a Little Brown Bat (don't say "Well...yeah Sam !", it's a real name!) (my photo)

                                    Trying to find ripe persimmons (there weren't very many! :(  )

K, on my Dad's shoulders, and L-L on mine

Katia looking through a clump

An unintentional Lewis & Clark pose!

Practicing in the field with my new soccer ball

                                                                      The cake!

Katia's wondering "why the funny face?"...

That's what it was supposed to look like! :)

Blowing them out (or about to)

A new knife! How sharp?! ;)

The How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack!! A favorite

An old camera, with the promise for a new one!! =D

  We had a pretty full day, for a birthday! Our bdays usually get eaten up before we're done eating breakfast! ;)


My interest in horses and horse racing came from Walter Farley's "The Black Stallion" series which always stayed in my list of favorite books. A favorite that I later found was the book, "Man O War, a Legend Like Lightning" by Dorothy Ours from the library. This biography about Man O War is one of my favorite books, and I actually got it this year, fitting well with the theme, though Man O War never raced in the Kentucky Derby. Here's a brief overview of Man O War .