Journal Material

Well today is a day to go in the Journal. I have been waiting for this day my whole life. I didn't think this would happen to me until I was in Alaska but today as I was sitting in my car in College Ward Utah, I glanced over to a group of trees along a little frozen river and noticed something out of the ordinary.

Since my Dad is a bird lover I have learned to always watch for birds. I love watching all the Hawks up here in Logan. They seem to be everywhere and I find them fascinating. Today however the bird was much larger than a Hawk. At first it appeared to be just a huge brown bird, but then, something magical happened. It lifted its beautiful white head up and I almost screamed. Well actually I did, but that is because I really wanted to see it fly and I was trying to scare it. It didn't work and I had to get closer to it. I jumped out of my car. The only thing between my car and the Bird was a huge snow covered field. I started running into the field but I soon realized I was waist deep in snow and was sort of stuck. I'm sure this was very amusing to my patient through her window. I decided I would never make it across that field without getting hypothermia (I was wearing scrubs) so I turned around disappointed. I drove in a square block twice around the field just watching it. A crow landed in the same tree as the Eagle and the crow was not even half the size of It.

This is the greatest day of my life.



Facts:

*Eagles, as of 2007, are officially off the Endangered and Threatened Lists in the Continental US.

*Eagles make the largest nests of all North American Birds. Up to 13 feet deep and 8 feet wide weighing up to 1 ton!

*The average female weighs 12.8 lbs. The male 8 lbs.

*In Alaska the females may exceed 16 lbs. and have a wingspan of 8 feet. (Oh I love Alaska)

*The average lifespan is 25 years.

*Eagles can fly up to 30 mph while carrying a fish.

*Bald Eagles have powerful talons and have been recorded flying with a 15-pound Mule Deer fawn.

*Eagles mate for life. (I love that)

*Eagles are awesome.

So this is the New Year...

I figured that the only people that read this are my Gnomes so I am not going to document my New Years because they all did it beautifully. All I will say is that it was great.

I have felt really motivated so far this year to be Better, in every way. Some of my desires for the year are resolutions and others are just new mind sets. 2009 is going to mold me into perfection! Hah. I'm kidding, but it really is. I will put notes up everywhere to remind me, I'm going to do whatever it takes.

If you ever see me not wearing this pin you can pinch me. Also by the end of the year all those shoes will be worn out no matter how far I have hike, run, walk whatever... My dancing shoes are there too, just pretend.

The rest of my goals are for me to know and for you to hopefully find out in time.

Here's to 2009!

PAUL

Today Janelle introduced an idea to write a book about my Dad. I instantly agreed.

WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO:
--EARLY YEARS--
-Rafting huge rivers for days at a time by himself on his home made raft at age 12
-Taking the fish you buy at the zoo to feed the seals and putting them in his pocket to take home
-Being chased by the barking handicap man
--LATER YEARS--
-Being an avid member of the
Utah Lepidopteris Society (bug club) at the age of 50.
- Kent Catany
- His unique philosophy's on everything in life ranging from Carbs to Intense Igloo construction and Outdoor Survival.

Be prepared to see the Biography "Paul" on your local bookstore shelves soon.

When you google my Dad's full name, this picture pops up for which he is forever embarrassed about. He's 6' 5'' 215 lbs running though a field chasing a butterfly.... Oh how I love him.

look...

Look what Ben gave me for Christmas! The middle one is possibly not quite finished, while I was sitting admiring it a stray tennis ball hit his face on the check and scuffed it up. It was sad.

I love it Ben!!

And I Love you!!

The North Pole

So my family has a tradition every Christmas Eve of driving down to Utah lake which is usually completely iced over and we throw rocks in to try and break through it. It's always been fun and my silly little family just gets a kick out of it, well except Dan now who thinks he is too good for it and stuff.

This year it was exceptionally good. It was so Snowy!! It felt just like the North Pole, or maybe Antarctica would be a better description. I should change the title of this.

When we got to the point we always drive to there was a special new feature... A Pole!!! Now we can really call it the North Pole legitimately. (Okay I won't change it)

Ben was very brave and walked out onto the ice which was pretty patchy at spots. I almost went out with him but the mere thought gave my mom a near heart attack so I stayed back for her.

Our little valley is quite the little wonderland. It made my craving for Alaska even stronger. I will go there even if it kills me. Janelle gave me a book about Alaska for Christmas and I can't put it down.

It's been such a nice Holiday. I'm grateful to be with my Family. They never stop crackin me up which is great exercise for my healing lungs. Oh, for anyone who cares, I am already to 2000 ML on my aspirator. I'm so proud of my self.

Merry Christmas!

For Sale! I mean for FREE!!

So, Mckay introduced me to Craigslist the other night. It just so happened that earlier that day I was looking through the Classifieds in Logan and I found something of interest. A FREE MINIATURE HORSE!! It's 36 inches high and needs a fun family. I about jumped in my car to pick it up that instance but then logic set in and I realized I didn't really have a place for it unless it was going to be an indoor pet, which I didn't think my roomates would approve of.

I got home later that night and that is when I was introduced to Craigslist. We spent about two hours just browsing around and then we found another thing of interest. A FREE PASTURE!!! Some guy wants his field grazed and would supply the pasture with hay and water.

CRAZY!! Now I just have to figure out if the little guy will fit in my backseat.

Oh Christmas Tree

Last week Hayley and Chelsea and I marched out to buy a Christmas Tree. Since none of us have a truck, we had to be creative about getting it home. I mulled over our options for about three days and decided that the only logical way would be to walk it home. They agreed, thankfully, and so we bundled up and walked over to Smiths which is luckily only about two blocks away. We picked out the perfect one and got a stand and began our trek home. It was quite a sight but a lot easier than we all had thought.

We rearranged our whole living room to accommodate our new plant. We strung the lights and hung up all the golden balls my mother graciously gave me and called it good. I filled the stand with water and Mckay donated her red sheet for the skirt. It looked perfect and smelled even better! Every time the heater comes on it spreads the scent all around, I love it.

To my disappointment, the next day I checked and the tree hadn't drunk any water!! I started coming to the conclusion that it would die within a day or so because we didn't cut a fresh slice off the bottom.

Sunday night Ben and I decided we wouldn't give up on it that easily. So, we knocked door to door searching for a saw and a nice lady up the street let us borrow hers. It took us about 25 minutes to saw through it due to a incredibly dull saw blade. We put it in the water and let it be.

I checked it later that night and it still hadn't had anything to drink! I decided to give up.

This morning I went over to it because the lights had gone out on part of it and to my astonishment, All the water was gone!!! I was so proud of it!!

Now the trouble is, how long was it dry for? Did it seal off again? agh... This has been way more work than I bargained for. But it is so worth it.

For all of those poor souls who are still reading this, the moral is - Don't give up on a thing. Just when you think all hope is lost, trudge on.

Merry Christmas