Planet SCD

As some of you know, I went to Chicago last week with a big group from my Landscape Management major. We went to participate in the Professional Landcare Network Student Career Days (more familiarly known as Planet SCD). It's basically a convention for college students in the green industry, where they compete against fellow students in their areas of expertise and connect with companies and people in the industry. 

Like last year, I competed in Arboriculture Technical Skills and Woody Ornamental Plant ID. My preparation was not exactly ideal, but I also have a year more experience now plus the added advantage of having studied this before.

Not so pretty Chicago.

Chicago was...kinda ugly. Granted, it's March and there's nothing green there except the river, I still didn't think the city itself was that cool. We ended up driving a lot in the city and surrounding areas, and it just looked small and cramped and dirty, and rather unsafe.

Networking: Me and Roger Phelps from Stihl

The first really exciting part about this trip for me is the networking - meeting the people in the industry. Because I've gone on several trips like this, I know a lot of these people already. It was so fun seeing Roger and Lara and Noel and all the Davey guys again! Since I'm graduating in December, I was talking to them about full time employment in January. Several companies have offices across the country, like Davey, Bartlett, and Valley Crest; while some are in specific areas, like Lambert's (Dallas), High Grove (Atlanta), or Del Conte (San Jose). Tree care and plant health care is a strongly growing portion of the industry, so I'm a "hot commodity" in the market (according to Dr. Allen, my main professor). Essentially, I now just have to decide where to go and what to do. Not so easy.

Getting ready to climb, with Andrew on belay.

My primary competition is Arboriculture, and then Woody plant ID. Arboriculture is a team event with me and Andrew Hollingshead. A competition climb always makes me a bit nervous before I start. This year I climbed right after lunch, and about 25 people from my school were there to watch me. Joyous. When I was just starting my climb everyone was standing down there, staring at me silently, so I stopped for a second and called, "How bout a little cheering?!" It actually helped lessen the pressure. I don't know how to describe the climb other than it went really well. I felt strong and smooth, very confident in what I was doing, and trusted in the ropes a lot. When I was done, the judges - all guys from Davey Tree Co, said I'd done really, really well. So I felt pretty good. I knew that Kevin from Penn State and the BYU-Idaho team had also done really well, and there were a couple of other teams that would be competitive, so I wasn't sure of what the results would be. Andrew and I got 3rd place! I was so excited and happy about this! This is what Kalie and I did last year, and it is definitely respectable. Hooray!

Station 4: I had to take throw the branches in the bucket and toss them into a target circle on the ground.

The woody ID competition was much boringer - I looked at plants. Some of them I knew right away, some of them I figured out by looking at them, and some I had no idea whatsoever. I did better than last year, and it turns out I got 9th place (quite an improvement from last year's 48th place).

The awards ceremony on Sunday morning was exciting. Andrew and I got 3rd place, and amongst our team mates there were two first places, a second place, and quite a few third places. Actually not as many as we were expecting. So when they finally got around to the top 10 schools, it was kind of nerve racking to keep not seeing our name. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4... (oh man, if Kansas state got 4th, and they had a lot more top 3 finishers than we did, are we not even in the top 10?) 3 - BYU Idaho. 2. ...1 = Brigham Young University Provo! It was amazing! We got the big traveling trophy and a big check of $5,000!

Brigham Young University - Provo; 2011 Winning Team!!!

In and around Chicago, my favorite thing was the Garfield Park Conservatory. We spent several hours there on Monday morning, and it was amazing. My favorite was the show room, because it was so full of flower color from azaleas, daisies, camellias, and so many more!

Garfield Park Conservatory Show Room. Flowers!!!

It's really fun being part of this very cohesive group of people that was on this trip with me. I love my major!

PS. The random fun parts:
 - Eating pizza at Piece (Brewery and Pizzeria): a pub in Chicago on St. Patrick's day.
 - Shopping at H&M on Monday, and Filene's Basement, where I got a big pink hat.
 - Getting a $1000 scholarship.
 - Running with Kimber, Phil, Tek, and Amber.

Lost and Found

Yesterday, I lost my wallet.
This morning, I realized that I had lost my wallet.
Before I left for class I searched my backpack, my purse, my various coats, my bed, my chair, and my floor. Nada. Luckily, I had some cash stashed away that I could use to mail in my scholarship application. It actually turns out to be a good story, because after I finished classes I simply went to the place where I last remember having it - a computer lab where I had printed out said application. I described it briefly, and voila! I got it back. Good story, right?
I realized that I've used the same wallet since I was about...ten. I've tried one or two different versions, but it's never long before I come back to this one.

When I looked inside my wallet, I was reminded of a conversation I'd had with Alyna a couple of months ago. How would people judge you based on what they find in your purse/backpack/wallet?

It's a curious thought. And since I've been meaning to write a blog post to keep up with my bloggy siblings, I figured I'd write one about the contents of my wallet. But you guys will have to tell me what the judgement is.

In my wallet (in order from the different pockets):
 -Two driver's licenses, old and new
 -Various driver's cards for BYU and The Care of Trees
 -Blood Type card (A+)
 -Wells Fargo Debit card
 -American Express card
 -AAA card
 -American Red Cross Donor ID card
 -Stamp booklet
 -Winger's Gift Card
 -Kohl's temporary charge receipt
 -Ticket stub from Burlesque
 -Two walmart gift cards
 -Macey's gift card
 -Provo City Library Card
 -State of Virginia DOT Flagging Certification
 -Yozone punchcard with 7 stamps
 -Free Movie rental coupon
 -Business card for Mark Noark, Davey Tree Expert Company
 -Be The Match Donor ID Card
 -$5
 -Receipt from Wendy's (Spicy chicken sandwich)
 -Receipt from BYU Creamery (Milk, cookies)
 -Two quarters, a dime, a nickel, and a penny

Yep. I think it's quite a typically random assortment of junk. All that stuff and only $5.66. That's sad.

It's always more fun to share with everyone

I'm in such a sharing mood lately.  Or more specifically, I love sharing some of our family's favorite movies with people unfortunate enough not to know about them already.  Example, Oscar.  To my friend Ryan and my roommate Kalie.  This classic move contains some of our favorite lines, but too often I find that people have no idea what I'm quoting, and just give me really weird looks.
     "A husband, a husband, but where will we FIND a husband?"
     "Feel this, this nice!  Like a baby's behind."
     "And here's a nice, crisp, twenty dollar bill!"
     "We don't have a daughter that's not Lisa!"
     "Dr. Poole was right!  You're an ox, AND a moron!"
     "Put that away, I'M YOUR FATHER!"
etc, etc, and so forth.
My point is, I like to share these movies with people, so that they too can enjoy the hilarity in their lives.  And stop giving me weird looks quite so often.  Also, Scarlet Pimpernel.  Somehow, these two movies are so well known in our family, but not so much to others.  I'm doing my part to counter this. Are you?

Looking forward

I have gone to two weeks of classes already, and I'm pretty excited for this semester. I am taking:
 - Joseph Smith and the Restoration, from Susan Easton Black
 - Intermediate Latin Ballroom Dance (Dance 285)
 - Turf Science (boring, required)
 - Agribusiness 1
 - Floral Design
 - Classical Civilizations 1, Antiquity to the Renaissance
 - Advanced First Aid

There were some classes I wasn't really looking forward to, Civ and First Aid, which are now two of my favorite classes.  In Civ we're doing a lot of reading from the Greeks and some Romans, which I now remember I really like learning about.  First Aid will be awesome if I can stomach the graphic images of mutated limbs or whatever.
I'm also working on the Tree Crew for BYU Grounds again this semester. I'll be putting in about 15-20 hours a week.
I've decided it's going to be a good semester.  I'm enjoying my non-major classes, have friends in just about every class, get along well with my roommates, run 3-4 mornings a week, and the homework load isn't too heavy, just a lot of reading.  Yeah, i'm definitely looking forward to the year.

A different sort of work week

    Work this week was very different from what i'm used to.  Instead of having my name up on the board to work with various crews throughout the week, I was up there exactly twice, and neither of those were normal circumstances.
    On Monday, Kalie and I both worked with Dave and we went to the Arlington National Cemetery for PLANET's National Day of Service: Renewal and Remembrance. (PLANET = Professional Landcare Network).  We participated by installing lightning protection into a giant white oak in one of the older sections of the cemetery.  It was pretty fun to try something new, be working with Kalie and Dave, and to participate in this big event.  Also, it provided an opportunity for some pretty good pictures.

  Facebook has all the pics:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=187614&id=651171510&ref=mf

     On Tuesday I wasn't scheduled, so Jeremy sent me with Jeff Walton, one of the sales arborists, on a couple of appointments.  I honestly don't remember anything else i did that day.
    Wednesday, my name was up for Plant Health Care (PHC), so I went with Rebecca, our PHC coordinator, and  did that.  It's fun and I get to learn a lot, but it's not any hard physical labor, which is just fine considering the heat of this week.  When we got back to the office, my name still wasn't up for the next day, so I just wrote "Jess - PHC" on the schedule.  With Rebecca's permission, of course. I wasn't sure that was going to fly with my foreman and my boss, but when Thursday morning rolled around, nobody argued it, so I worked with Rebecca again.  And again, no sweating.
    Friday was even more weird, because not only was my name not on the board, they really hadn't planned anything for me to do, so I ended up doing odd jobs around the office for a while before going with Bonnie, another sales arborist, on an appointment.  I felt like the red-headed step-child of the office, except without the red hair.
    So it was a strange week because it felt like they were starting to phase me and Kalie off the work crews, which doesn't make sense because we still have four weeks here.  It'll be interesting to see what happens this week.  The other weird thing about last week, I only worked hard enough to sweat on one work day of five.  Weird.

This is Work

I often feel like I don't have much to write about this summer, because really the only thing that happens is work. Let me describe a typical day in my life, and you will understand.

4:00 am - Wake up, dress, eat, scriptures, pack lunch, etc

5:00 am - Leave for work, Kalie drives

6:00 am - Dispatch meeting at work

6:15 am - 2:00 pm Work. or so. It could last until 3 or 4 on a long day.

4:00 pm - Home, maybe swim in the little pool or read a book, shower, nap, etc

6:00 pm - Dinner w/family

8:00 pm - Start getting ready for bed

9:00 pm - Bed time (ish)

Days are fairly short with this schedule. Doesn't really leave much time or energy for outside activities. Sometimes we go to Walmart or something afterwards, and on Thursday evenings we go to Institute and play ultimate frisbee afterwards (that's our late nights of the week). Sometimes we do something fun on Saturdays, like yesterday when we hiked Old Rag, other times we work at Kalie's house and hang out. Sundays we go to the stake singles ward, which is fun. Yep, that's my life in a nutshell. What a way to spend a summer, eh?

A Visit to Pemberley

Last Wednesday after work, Kalie and I went to Pemberley. This is what the Jenkins call their estate, aka, really beautiful big house and gardens, etc. The Jenkins are the most amazing people. They're an older couple in the Anderson's ward, and are great friends with everyone, especially the youth and young single adults. I just love them. Darryl and Arlene might just be the most loving, accepting, and giving people I have ever met.
Darryl, aka Jenkins, is so funny. "Sweet poop" is his preferred term of endearment, and he calls Arlene "Prince$$". He loves gardening and Jane Austen books and movies and adding the word "dog" to everything. "That's dog fabulous!" "Did you see my dog roses?" So funny.
Arlene is the young women's president and great friends with all the young women in the ward, and a fabulous cook. She's quieter than Darryl, but just as wonderful. She also loves Pride and Prejudice and all things Jane Austen.
Grandma Hazel, Darryl's 96 year-old mother, also lives with them. She's so sweet, but can remember very little. She's pretty mobile considering her age.

We had a tour of the gardens - Grandma's garden, the rose garden, and the fairy garden, and ate hamburgers and other great food. I ate so much.

We're going out to Pemberley again tomorrow morning to help garden, and some other time to watch the new Emma with them. I can't wait. I hope to be an old person like them someday. :-)