Discecting a Snake

If you had a hard time with the picture on my previous post, then you may not want to read this one. The first picture(s) are ok. But I wouldn't recommend any more than that if you have a hard time with blood or innards of any sort. Just a heads up.
So in class yesterday, these policemen brought in a dog that they had recently adopted and were going to train for duty. It was a freaking huge German Shepherd mix. And I got to bathe it. That was quite messy. It wouldn't fit in the bathing bin, so another student and I had to do it in the horse cleaning area, which is basically one big empty room with hose. Oh, and a drain in the middle. Woot. Anyway, after that exciting ordeal, I was pretty much soaked from the knees down. And I have provided a picture of my wetness. I didn't get one of the dog though, darn.
After that I decided that little dogs are fan-freaking-tastic! This one girl that comes to class has a teeny little puppy. It has been dehydrated for a while and it gets hydrating shots every time it comes, poor thing. It's about as big as my foot, which is a size 5 and a half. Here is a picture of me and that little puppy. It is super cute. If I'm remembering correctly it is a Yorkshire terrier/poodle mix.
So as with dogs, snakes come in all sorts of sizes. Another girl in my class, who is very pregnant and her belly button is poking out a ton, caught a little snake in St. George this past weekend. It is kind of like a worm in size, but it isn't slimy like a worm. I haven't held it, but I kind of want to. It is weird, and definitely not an anaconda.
Today in class we had a snake that was about a bazillion times bigger than the little snake. It was a 25 year old Boa. Yikes. The poor girl was in the process of dying and was pregnant. The owner breeds snakes. He wasn't sure how far developed the babies were, so he brought in the snake so we could kill it and see if it was possible to save the baby snakes. ya, that was a gruesome ordeal. I asked my teacher if it would hurt the snake when we killed it, her reply was, "It will hurt a little, but she's already dying and death would be a relief to her." So ya, Susan, my teacher, took a tool and stabbed right into the back of the snakes skull and into the bran. And that is how it died. Poor thing.
So after that we had to cut it open. I would advise never cutting open a snake because it is completely disgustingly stinky inside. Bleck. I was breathing through my mouth a lot. This picture is of another student cutting open the snake.
This is the snake's awesome vein that went all the way down it's body. That was pretty cool to see.
When we got to the place the baby snakes would be, we found them to be hardly developed at all. There were tons of eggs though. Boas give live births to their babies, but they develop inside of these little gooey egg things. In the picture you can tell which eggs are fertilized and which aren't. The white ones are the ones that are fertilized, the yellow ones are not. We even cut one open and found the little fetus, it would probably fit on half of my pinky fingernail. It was really small.
In this picture you can see the trachea of the snake. That's the part that the food goes down. It was really cool, it went all the way down until you got to all the other crazy insides. It was awesome!
We then proceeded to take apart the snake. The owner wanted us to skin it so that he could hang the skin on his wall. Gross. I did quite a bit of skinning, it was nasty. I did think it was cool to see the ribs though, and that's what's shown in this picture. And most of the innards are taken out here. Gross.
This picture is of all the insides of a snake in one big pile. Gross.
I am really enjoying my class. Although we don't have exciting things come in every day, it is nice that there's randomness to it. I like that you never know what's going to happen in a day. It's great!

School!

I have now successfully completed two weeks of school at the Bridgerland Applied Technology College. Woot! On my second day of school, I was able to observe the dissection of a cat's uterus, which had two dead fetuses inside. It was really cool. There was a lot of blood and gross amniotic fluid there, but it didn't bother me, which is good. I took a picture on my phone and there it is. Sorry if you have a weak stomach. You'll get over it. :)
On this past Monday, the class was going up to my teacher's home to help prepare her pregnant goats to give birth. I was so pumped to go, but then my car broke down. I could shift into first, third, and fifth gear; reverse, second, and fourth were not working at all. Lame. So I ended up not going to class because I missed the carpool up and I was afraid to drive my car all the way to Preston, Idaho. I picked up my car all fixed this morning, but that's another story that I will get to later.
So on Thursday I had a little bit of a predicament in class. We were going to be drawing blood from dogs and cats. It is always important to have practice, right? Well, I have always kind of had a thing with needles. It's not like I pass out when I get a shot, but I can't watch the needle go in. And when I'm donating blood, I can't look at it when I have this needle inside of my arm. So anyway, we students are watching a veterinarian who came in to instruct us, and I pretty much almost passed out. I got super light headed and had to sit down. Ya, it never really got better. I would come close to watch drawing blood from a different area, but as soon as that needle went in and filled with blood, I had to sit down. ya, this could be a bad sign for my veterinary career.

ENGAGED!!!!

On Tuesday of this week, Ross proposed to me! Finally! Now I'm gonna be getting married. Woo hoo! I took a ton of pictures of the ring, trying to get a good one. This one is the best I could get. Blah. I did my best!
Here's how it went. The day was a spectacular one. I got my federal tax refund back in the morning, and in the afternoon I sold my old Oakridge apartment contract! Hooray! It was quite a fantastical day for sure. When I got home from all my doings, Ross asked me if I would like to go for a walk. Of course, I said yes because I love to walk and talk to Ross, as well as to hold his hand. Woot! So we walked to Adam's park which is where Ross and I shared our first kiss together. :) We played on the playground a little bit, then climbed on the rock climby thingy. That was fun. We ended up just sitting on top of the rock-climber-ma-jigger and our hands were getting really cold. Then, Ross took my hand in his. The ring was in his hand! I felt it and got all jittery. Ross then asked me to marry him. With a classic Melanie squeal of delight, I said yes. Then Ross put the ring on my finger and we kissed. Oh yes, that was one of the best days thus far in my life.

Kaysville Days

This past week I had the opportunity to go home to Kaysville for a few days and spend time with my awesome family. Monday night my cousin, Scott, proposed to Ariane Stevens. There was a huge party at Scott's house afterward. It was super fun and there was tons of food. Cookies, pie, shrimp, smokeys, soda; pretty much just a bunch of yummy stuff. Here's a picture of the happy couple. :) Matt is in an adult roles class at Davis High and had a little robot baby thing. It was crying a lot at the party, and Matt had a hard time keeping it quiet. He named the baby Debbie, after my aunt. It was really funny to see Matt with the baby. We all would take turns holding little Debbie. It was pretty fun. Leslie and Daniel never really left the table. They were eating the refreshments the entire time. Silly little children.
At home I was able to get help on the quilt I am making. My mom is a master quilter. She has made so freaking many quilts in her life, it was only obvious that I would go to her for help. Pretty much all day Tuesday I was working on my quilt. Which was too bad that I couldn't be with Ross because it was the 8 month anniversary of our first kiss. But that's ok, because I love my family and being home with them. Here's a picture of my quilt thus far. It's now in strips. I just have to sew them together and then put on the border then the top will be done! Woo hoo! I'm excited for that.
On Wednesday I helped my mom out in the preschool, but not really. I just got Patrick the bearded dragon out of his cage and took him down for the preschool kids to see. They were learning the letter 'L' and Patrick is a lizard, which starts with 'L', hence I touched the nasty thing. You see, Patrick and I don't get along very well. A few years ago I was holding him on my stomach while I was laying on the couch watching tv. Out of nowhere he jumped, with his mouth open, to my throat. Bearded dragons are not the friendliest looking lizards, not even close. I put my hands under Patrick and threw him away, he booked it back at me. It is pretty terrifying when a huge, horn-covered lizard is attacking you. Matt caught him and he was put back in his cage. Since then, I've never touched Patrick. But on Wednesday I did. And here's a picture to show it.
Now I'm back in Logan and it is so freaking much colder than down in Kaysville. Which is kind of lame.

Fat Burning Dance Party

So I have been getting some fat to accumulate upon my midsection. I decided that I need to get in shape. Not just because of the fat, but because I have so little energy, and energy is important. I need to be able to climb two flights of stairs without being winded. I am pathetic. In my search for exercise routine, I contacted my elder sister, Sarah. She is wise in the ways of staying fit. I have admired her for quite some time because she is so healthy and awesome. Anyway, she suggested that I do yoga then pilates. And she also said that instead of buying a dvd or something, I should get a library card and check something out of the library.
So I got a library card for the Logan City Library. Woo hoo! I couldn't find a picture of the library, but here is the post office. The library is just north east of it. Woot. It is a pretty nice library, I like it anyway. So I was looking at their exercise dvd's and couldn't find any power yoga ones. Pretty much I'm just wanting to burn fat for a bit, then tone my body. I think it is a good idea. Anyway, most of the stuff was like Pilates for Dummies or Yoga for Men (which Ross says would be like, "Now see if you are able to reach down past your knees. Don't worry if you can't, this is normal.") So I found one that I thought sounded good: Fat Burning Dance Party. My thoughts were that I love to dance, and I need to burn fat. So woot! I checked it out.
This morning I tried out my Dance Party, and I'm pretty sure I did burn fat. So Jennifer Galardi, who was the wonderful dance teacher on the dvd, is pretty much just as cheesy as every single teacher on any fitness movie you will ever find. Although I felt like a fool for pretty much the entire workout, it was fun and I could feel my body working hard. Yes. You are probably thinking I'm an idiot, just because you can see the cover of this dvd here, but hey, I think it's gonna help me out. Next week I'll get a different exercise movie. I showed Ross some of the moves I learned and he couldn't stop laughing. Obviously, I was wise to do my dancing when none of my roommates were home.

Great Movies, Great Music

So I've had the great opportunity to see two new movies this past week, both of which had excellent music. The first one that I went to see was with my family, Avatar. This movie was absolutely incredible! As my dad said, "It's a movie for Melanie because none of it is real." That may be true, but I think it makes a spectacular sci-fi! Many people have said that if you've seen the preview, you've seen the movie; *cough *Ross... But I say otherwise. After watching the preview, you can know what the plot is. However, there are many more characters and twists in the story that aren't revealed until you watch the entire film. The music was written by James Horner. Woot woot! I thought the musical score was great! I might buy the soundtrack. But I don't know. The music really added to the feel of the movie. I loved it! I strongly recommend seeing Avatar!
Today I got to see another movie I've been wanting to see: Sherlock Holmes. This movie was also quite spectacular! I do have to say that it was a little dark at times, but I really enjoyed it. It didn't catch my taste as well as Avatar did, but it was really good. I would say that my dear sister Sarah would probably freaking love it. It was done very well and the acting was amazing. I was really impressed with Robert Downy Jr. Although, when he was shirtless I was a little shocked not to see him with a big light in the middle of his chest like in Iron Man. Oh, well... The music from this movie was composed by Hans Zimmer, one of my favorite composers! And it is marvelous music. This soundtrack I bought today. And actually, I'm listening to it right now. :) It's super good. I recommend this movie as well.

Christmas Break

Ross and I had our own gift exchange prior to Christmas because we had to do it before we left to our own families. I had a ton of fun shopping for Ross! I've never had anyone to spoil before, so I went a little nuts. But only a little. And I think Ross went a little nuts, too. Well, not as much as me. But still. Here is a picture of the pile of presents that I got Ross. Hooray! I made him a blanket and got him two shirts, a sweater, and five movies: Iron Man, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Mystery Men, and Kung Fu Panda. :) All great movies! Ross got me the Leven Thumps book series, which I have never read but have wanted to, tennis balls so I can learn to juggle, the X-men trilogy, the Star Wars Prequel trilogy, Iron Man, Batman Begins, the Dark Knight, the board game Sorry, and some Milky Way candy bars. :) Ya, we must both have great taste in movies since we both got each other three of the same movies! Bwahahaha! We sure had a good laugh about that. But it's all good. Woot. Oh, so also here is a picture of my handsome true love Ross wearing one of the shirts and the sweater that I got him! He is such a freaking stud muffin! :) And I had so much fun buying Ross the clothes I got him! I spent a good penny at Khol's, but I think overall we spent about the same amount of money on each other. It was really fun! I sure did enjoy that.
So on Christmas Eve the Bredthauer family had our annual dinner and talent show. It was pretty great this year. My cousin Scott, who's wife, Lariann, died in May, is now dating this really great woman name Ariane, who came to the family talent show. She is so freaking cool! I know Ariane from when I was in marching band at Davis High. She was one of the adult leaders. She was in charge of woodwinds, I believe. She's a freaking awesome person. And now she's dating my cousin! Wowie. I have to say that every since Lariann was diagnosed with cancer, Scott could be happy, but you could always tell there was something there stressing him out. And now, I have to say that I don't remember a time that I have seen Scott this happy. It's been about three years since Lariann was diagnosed and it is so amazing to me how happy Scott is now. Seeing him and Ariane together is so amazing. They are such a happy little couple! I'm really happy that they have each other. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see Scott so happy, as well as Ariane. They deserve it. So with the great variety of talents that my extended family has, it's always quite a fun experience to see what each family comes up with. My family usually does something silly, but still talented. We are pretty talented folk. This year, because Sarah and Andrew were in Hawaii, we all dressed in Hawaii outfits and sang Mele kaliki maka. I probably totally slaughtered the spelling, but we were pretty awesome. :)
So Christmas was pretty good this year. Santa was a little lacking in money this year so the presents weren't as spectacular or plentiful as they usually are. But it was still a good day. The picture is of all of the gifts I got from Santa. Woot! It was nice to just be with my siblings and to play games and all that. My dear dog Sparky got a snake toy that has a squeaker in each segment. He really likes it. It is a good tug-of-war toy for him.

Movies

So basically, I am going to do a Christmas post. But I'm wanting to put up pictures from Christmas and all that. I have my camera, but I forgot to bring my cord to get the pictures on my computer. So the beginning of next week that post should be up. But I really really wanted to post some things on here. So you will all just have to be patient as I have to be before I can put up my Christmas stuff. :)
So basically there are a lot of freaking awesome super hero movies coming out soon! At least, I think they are going to be AMAZING! Those of you that know me know that I am obsessed with superheroes. Hence, my blog title. So a particular movie that is coming out next year I am now completely determined to see when it comes out at midnight on May 7, 2010. Gah! It is Iron Man 2!!!!! Oh, my freaking crap. I'm so freaking excited!!! It's gonna be great! Iron Man the first has been probably the best super hero movie I have ever seen in my life. It is amazing! I really hope that the sequel turns out well. Did you know that there is a movie set for this film in Park City? Bwahahaha! So awesome. Yay! I bet it is going to be amazing!
Coming in 2011 are Thor, May 20, and Captain America, July 22. BWAHAHAHA!!!!! I'm really excited. Just in case you couldn't tell. I'm gonna have to see those movies at midnight as well. I have also found that in 2012, all these super hero movies will be put together, including the Incredible Hulk, for The Avengers!!!!!! Wowie!!!! I'm like, going crazy with excitement. :)

Glee Finale

Tonight marked the night of the finale of my favorite tv show, Glee. It was FANTASTICAL!!! It's a musical that takes place in a high school. But it's not high school musical. It's about a glee club. And they sing and perform and it is amazing. I believe I have mentioned it before, but only because it is freaking awesome! I love it. Anyway, I decided to put up my favorite song that Glee does here because it's fantastic and I think y'all should watch it! I sure wish I could sing like that. Sheesh. Here's the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XLkP0KBmZc
it is most fantastic. Anyway, today I had my first final. I studied with my buddy Emily Armstrong last night. Well, both of us ended up doing really bad on the exam. Lame on a lame stick. I'm pretty upset about that, but I did manage to pass. That's better than failing completely, I guess. Poop. Oh, well.
So basically I'm super duper excited for the Christmas break! I'm going to be moving out of Oakridge apartments and moving into Bridgerland apartments. I'll be in Ross's ward. Woot! I'm pretty pumped about that. I'm really sad to be leaving my ward though, it's a really great one. The bishopric is great. Maybe I'll stay in the same ward even though I'm moving. Ross said that it wouldn't be against the rules, it's just frowned upon. That whole phrase "frowned upon" makes me think of the tv show, Friends. Particularly the season when Ross Geller is dating one of his students and says that it isn't against the rules, it's just frowned upon. Then he learns later that it actually is against the rules and it turns into this whole secret affair going on thing. That show is hilarious. Anyway....
I have one more final exam tomorrow in Biology. I sure hope it goes well. I should probably be studying for it right now. I'm pretty sure I'll be ok though. I like the subject and know the stuff really well. Party! I don't really have anything else to say, so I hope everyone has a great week!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was awesome. Pretty much. It was really nice to take a break from everything and spend time with my kick but awesome family. And my dog, Sparky. That's one of the things I like most about going home. Sparky simply adores me! He follows me everywhere and always has his little doggy smile on his face. He had recently gotten a haircut when I got home. He is such a handsome little puppy! And he keeps me warm at night. Dogs are good for that.
So Sparky, like most dogs, likes lots of attention and to be rubbed all over the place. I forget how crazy high school boys are until I go home. My dear brother Matt has his own way of petting Sparky that, strangely enough, the poor dog doesn't mind at all. That's one thing I don't like about going home; I find out how abused my poor dog is. I don't know why my family teases him so much. At least I can get my siblings to take him for walks, don't want Sparky to get fat.
Thanksgiving dinner was at my Uncle Bill's house in Orem this year. It was pretty intense. Me and my siblings most enjoyed that Guitar Hero was set up downstairs. We rocked like there was no tomorrow! I rocked the hardest. No one could compete with my awesomeness. Of course, none of us could play on a higher level than medium, but I was still the best with that. Woot! It was funny to watch my dad try to play, he didn't get it. "No, dad, strum and push the buttons at the same time!" "What?! That is so much to do at once!" Yup. That's my dad.
This weekend, my dad and Matt put up the Christmas lights. That's pretty exciting stuff. So I had to get a picture of Matt hanging out on the roof. I sure do love my family! Leslie, Daniel, and I also traded Pokemon cards. (I do not care what you think. I know people older than me who are way more obsessed with Pokemon.) I have now managed to have almost the entire original 151 Pokemon. I am very close. And someday I will triumph!
Anyway, now I'm back in Logan and back to school. But next week are Finals. Hooray!