Holga!

A few months ago, I rounded up about 25 dollars and bought a Holga. I don't know how many of you know about them, but I was intimidated for the longest time! The film is medium format 120 film, and they are a little more challenging than just using a 35mm film camera, mostly because they are just a plastic toy camera. But on President's Day weekend, Mark and I went home to Bear Lake and I got up the courage to go out and take some pictures. Some of them may be a little boring and gloomy, but I am just so happy they turned out! I am also glad that I was able to get some vignetting on my pictures.  

Black Bear Resort

For those of you who want to see what some people are planning on doing with Bear Lake, take a look at Black Bear Resort's website.

Bear Lake Doesn't Need Any More Bears

For a final in one of my classes, I have agreed to write an article instead of taking a test. Any topic. When I briefly thought about the subject that I wanted to investigate and write about, only one thing came to mind: Black Bear Mountain. I have heard so many rumors that I thought it would be a good way to dig to the bottom of the rubble and come up with the truth. But I think the truth might be a little too much to handle.
Next step was to pick people to interview. My father seemed like a good person to question; with 30 plus years with the Forest Service and working directly with the area involved, he would be perfect. Today I interviewed my dad, asking him several questions, mostly about the proposed area and what would be the possible effects to the environment. As you can expect, my father is not in favor of the idea. I'll give you a few reasons why:
1. Part of the proposed area sneaks its way into the Paris Peak Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA). An IRA is an area that is 5000 acres or larger that is designated as roadless. Simply put, an area that does not have any roads that have been constructed and/or maintained. The Forest Service has been putting more value on roadless areas, because they are often seen as sanctuaries for certain animals and plant species.
2. Black Bear Mountain basically wants to swap land with the USDA Forest Service, allowing these areas in Bear Lake to become private. This means that if they acquire this land on the Worm Creek IRA and the Paris Peak IRA that these areas will no longer be public land administered by the Forest Service. Black Bear Mountain will have complete control over the land and can do anything they want with it. They offer to swap land that they own somewhere else (such as in Island Park) with the land in Bear Lake, and in turn give the land in Island Park over to the Forest Service.
3. Part of the Worm Creek IRA is identified as deer and elk winter range critical. The creeping of the cabins by the lake northward only means less and less areas for these animals to survive. Taking away more critical land for them only means more damage. Among other possible environmental impacts include: loss of cattle grazing in the summer, impacts in important grouse populations, and impacts on creeks and fish populations.
Environmentally speaking, these are pretty important arguments.
And that's as far as I've gotten and I'm pretty opposed to the idea myself.
For so many years I would sit in my front window and just stare at Paris Peak and the surrounding mountains. I don't even want to imagine the scar of a ski resort cutting across the areas around and perhaps on the mountain itself. Many may claim all the economic benefits of such a resort, but is it worth it? Aren't there other ways to build the economy? I was searching for anything I could find on the resort when I stumbled across this page. The article by Kate Carpenter was so upsetting I could barely make it through half of it. Ski lifts? Golf courses? A water park? A ZIP LINE?

I can't help but think that the developers of this resort are being so selfish and greedy.  Is paying the environmental bill worth it to destroy such a gorgeous area? Why can't a beautiful area be left untouched and why do people feel the need to take over everything? Brad Auger, a developer for Black Bear Mountain proudly claims (according to this site), "There is nothing that we are going to do here that's going to impact anything in a negative way." 

I think he should try telling that to the hundreds of deer and elk who live there in the winter. I think he should try telling that to the grouse that call that area their home. Most of all, I think he should try telling the people of Bear Lake that one of their most beautiful mountains will never be the same again. And it is all for the sake of someone wanting to be rich.

Granted, the Forest Service has yet to accept or deny this proposal for the swapping of land, but I sincerely hope it doesn't happen. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. The developers of Black Bear Mountain will probably come and go, developing other lands, but the people of Bear Lake will be the ones who will wake up every morning to such a black reality.

Hey Jude

I found another adorable video for you to watch. This little kid cracks me up, he is the cutest thing ever! Too bad he wasn't born about 40 years ago...







Add the elephant and a kid that can sing "Hey Jude"...and I think my family would be pretty much complete!

Me, In Alphabet Form

A- Attached or single: Definitely attached! 
B- Best Friend: Mark, Christina, Sue, Kym, Laura, Jenna (you know, the usuals) 
C- Cake or Pie: Pie is gross (unless it has a graham cracker crust) but even then, I'm still picky.

D- Day of Choice: Probably Friday or early morning Saturday
E- Essential Item: my Mac. It's how I actually learn things. Definitely not my college textbooks! :) 
F- Favorite Color: I love a lot of colors, but I don't like fall and winter hues. 
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Swedish Fish 
H- Hometown: Paris (I constantly try to trick people with this, and try to make myself sound somewhat cool, then they find out I'm from Idaho and get instantly turned off) 
I -Indulgence(s): Oh geez...going out to eat. (which I probably need to do less of) Being lazy--something I do constantly on a daily basis, haha!

J- January or July: I'll take 4,000,000 Julys over just one measly January. 
K-Kids: Nope, not yet. And don't ask either!! (haha, totally kidding) 
L-Life is incomplete without: a lot of things. 

M- Marriage Date: May 18, 2007
N-Number of Siblings: I have six, and Mark has three. 
O- Oranges or Apples: Yes, please.
P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders can about make me lose my mind sometimes. I don't have a lot of fears...probably just graduating college and then not using my degree..or not being able to get a job. :( 
Q- Quote(s): "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Ghandi

R- Reason To Smile: Puppies and kitties :D Daffodils and spring semester being over. Trips to Salt Lake with family, and all the new babies that I get to meet this year. 
S- Season: I'm with Heather, last of spring to early fall. Anything that happens before and after is torture. 
T- Tag Five: Why?

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I ran a half marathon once...and ONLY once! I will probably never do it again, running definitely isn't for me. In fact, I'm convinced that all long distance runners are crazy.
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Almost vegan. Oppression of animals is heinous.

W- Worst Habit: Wasting my time. Staying up way too late.  
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds? This is a little random. Probably x-rays, ultrasounds always look like a giant blob.
Y- Your Favorite Food: Oh, so many things...I can't name them all...
Z-Zodiac: Leo. Horoscopes crack me up. "You will have challenges this week..." Don't we all? :D

Our Wedding!

I thought I would post some pictures of our wedding for you to take a look at. I can't believe its almost been a year! Enjoy! : )

My cake was so much fun to design.

So was my reception! So many thanks to my family for helping me decorate.

 

My bouquet was peonies.

The line!

Coming out of the temple.

The quilt that my mother and my aunt Sharee made us. I love it!

Meet Mark

Since most of you are some of my friends from high school, and haven’t met my husband, I thought I would fill out this survey about him. So here’s a few facts about Mark!

 

What is his name: Mark Andrew McDaniel

How old is he: 25

How old are you: 22, almost 23

Where did he grow up?: Logan

Did he play sports in high school?: Baseball, but he loves playing rec basketball and softball.

What's his favorite candy?: German chocolate. Basically anything chocolate, and I got him hooked on Laffy Taffys!

Who said I love you first: Mark said “ I think…I think I love you.” I remember it like yesterday, it was so sweet.

Who can sing better: Neither one of us like to sing in front of the other, yeah, we’re kinda weird like that.

What music does he listen to?: Nine Inch Nails, AFI, Smashing Pumpkins, and a whole myriad of others

Who is smarter: If you ask Mr. IQ test, Mark is smarter than me. ;)

Who does the laundry: We both do.

Who dirties more laundry?: I’m pretty sure I do.

Who does the dishes: I do, but Mark takes his turn.

Who pays the bills: We split them!

What's his guilty pleasure?: Sleeping in and Café Rio burritos. (Both of which he takes advantage of frequently.)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: I do, but some nights Mark says I take over the whole bed plus the covers.

Besides you, who is his best friend: Probably his brother, James.

Who cooks dinner: I do. It probably wouldn’t be good if I lived on a steady diet of eggs, ramen noodles, and frozen pizzas.

Who is more stubborn: I think we are both about the same, but I can’t think of anything that we’re really stubborn about…

Who kissed who first: Mark kissed me, but I was so nervous that it was a little awkward. I’m sorry, Sweets!

Who asked who out first: I invited him to a movie with some friends, then it was him after that.

What is his favorite animal?: Mark would probably say that he loves dachshunds, but I would like to think that he has grown a deep love for cats. :D

Who has more siblings: I do, I have six and he has three.

Who wears the pants: I would like to think that we both do. Although Mark might say something else…;)

What is your favorite thing about him: Mark is so patient. I have basically no patience sometimes. I love that he doesn’t want to buy a big truck or spend a lot of money on useless things. He’s a tightwad like me, and I love it! He is so open minded.

How long have you been married?: A year next month!

How long did you date?: 8-9 months

Who eats more? Usually Mark

Who is taller: Mark is taller than me by about 8-9 inches. I love it!

Who drives when you are together?: Mark drives around town, but when we go out of town, I drive.

How did you meet?: We had heard about each other through mutual friends, but then we met at EK (maybe I shouldn’t tell anyone that.)

Who proposed?: Honestly, can you see me proposing?

Who has more friends?: We’re probably about the same, and we have a lot of mutual friends from before.

What are his nicknames?: Markus, Markie (I call him Sweets and Luvvas)