Blogs may not be what they used to be, but I'm still here.

Hello again world!  

Family, friends, random person who accidentally finds themselves here, I come to you after 3 years of silence (and another sporadic 3 years of on and off before that) to once again share with you my world.

Such as it is.

Not for popularity or recognition.  Not for validation.

For connection. 

Also because I'm a little rusty in the writing department and I figured dusting off the old blog might be good practice.  

The clacking of the keyboard has a sense of familiarity.  But the flow is slow and sluggish.  

Maybe a quicker wit, a larger vocabulary, and awesome extended metaphors will come back to me again.  For now, I just wanted to take some time to say just how thankful I am for my life right now.

What a blessing it is to even be able to say that.  To recognize all the good.  Because let me tell you...

...Things leading up to this were tough. 

But lets save the toughness for an different reflecting period.  

Today, let me tell you about my job.

(skipping the journey of getting there for now).

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think a high percentage of people would say that working for a non-profit, making next to nothing, having to be a jack of all trades, and wrangling children is their idea of a dream job.

Well.

Let me tell ya. 

It's been mine since 2011.  

Working for a nature center has been my goal since my first taste of it working in Maine at Merryspring Nature Center.  

And if I had any doubts that this job would be just as amazing, they have been since quieted. 

This job at Ogden Nature Center is literally my dream.  

I get to go to a 152 acre nature preserve every day, work with a bunch of other kooky naturalists who love the outdoors, and EDUCATE!

Now if you had asked young Sarah if she had any plans of teaching, like...at ALL, she would have laughed in your face.  She was going to work with animals and own 100 brown puppies and 100 white puppies, dang it!  She was going to be an animal trainer for movies.  Or a Zoologist.  (Or maybe a special effects artist...that was a random one).  

Sarah Lambson an educator?  Nah.

Funnily enough, pretty much everyone in my family has done some educating of some kind or another (formal or informal) and the fact that it runs in my blood is rather encouraging.  

And when I realized I loved it, I ran with it.

And so here I am.  

For anyone interested I'm gonna outline my job below (feel free to skip if you bore easily).

I would try to outline a day in the life for me but the fact is, every day is different.  

For clarity's sake I will say that I was hired because of a grant through iSEE (Informal Science Education Enhancement).  The grant qualifications were that we created a curriculum for first graders that followed along with Utah testing and curriculum standards, teaches science of some kind, and that we attempt to reach every first grade classroom in the state of Utah in three years.

So that's a big part of my job.  Maybe about half.  This half of the time is spent driving all over Utah, going to schools, and teaching the same program about classifying animals into birds, mammals, and reptiles to all first grade classes. We use animal artifacts (pelts, feathers, skulls, etc.) to help teach about the traits different animals have.  And we always bring a live animal (usually a snake). So far we've gone to Park City and Logan.  And let me tell you: The drives are stunning. 

Driving in canyons is my new favorite thing. 

Another 25% of my job is helping with field trips.  These are for schools that want to bring their classes (K-5) to the nature center for a seasonal program.  Right now the have the option of a program called Field Ecology (where we collect bugs, learn about the food web, and explore predator/prey relations).  The second is called Living Close to the Land and teaches about the indigenous peoples of Utah (we built a giant teepee, we show them how to make corn cakes over a real fire, it's cool).  There can have up to 100 kids and we split them into groups and several of us take them around to the different activities around the nature center.  It's exhausting work but it's outside and it's a ton of fun.  

I would say about 10% of my job is other various outreach.  This usually means going off site with various activities to interact with the community.  I've helped out at the farmers market, gone to a block party at Weber state, taken paper making to a middle school, and taught veterans about aquatic macro invertebrates.  Some time in October I'll be helping out with an owl themed outreach and I'm really excited. 

What are we up to, 85%?  

Another 10% is helping out with events.  As a non-profit we do a lot of community fund raising events.  Some are fancy, some are more relaxed.  The one we have coming up that I've been doing a lot of prep for is called Creatures of the Night.  A non-scary, nature/Halloween themed weekend of fun times for kids.  I've helped put together several carnival games (pumpkin golf, skunk tail ring-toss, Bat/Moth), and put together a fortune teller costume for myself at the fortune telling station.  This event seems like a lot of fun and I'm excited for it.  The others I've helped host have been strictly 21+ and have been geared at the big money types around Ogden.  I mean...we don't make money here so we want wealthy people to give it to us, right?  So we throw fancy fundraisers.  I get it, I just wish I didn't have to dress all fancy and be there for it.  

The last 5% of my job is (hopefully) helping the nature center come up with more programming ideas and way to reach out to more and more people so we can continue to expand.  My goal is going to be to create programming for the middle school and high school ages.  My director isn't a huge fan of that age group so I'm not sure she'll be on board.  But I love the chance to reach out to that age and really connect with them on a more in depth level.  I think we could do a lot of good here in Ogden with that age group.  Working with kids that age begins the next generation of environmental stewards and that's kinda the point of a place like this.  

So there you have it. It may sound boring at times (heck, it IS boring at times all those phone calls and writing/re-writing curriculum).  But essentially I get to play games with kids, do arts and crafts, and watch magical connections happen all day.  It's a blast.   

For those of you who weren't sure what I do for a living these days, this is it.  I wouldn't have it any other way right now.  I hope to be here for several more years. 

Stay tuned for more little updates coming soon (like moving into my new place!)

Friends and family, I love you all and I wouldn't have made it here without all your help and support.