Just a day in the life of a Veterinary Technician

I have been given one of the greatest opportunities for my career - even at the beginning of my career! I have been hired at a veterinary clinic that works with, not only cats & dogs, but with exotics as well. Parrish Creek Veterinary Clinic. There are very few clinics around Utah that do not specialize in exotics.... What exactly determines if an animal is exotic? Well let me tell you:

• Birds and lots of them - there are so many clients out there who have a large variety of pet birds. Conures, macaws, parakeets, cockatiel, african grey, chickens etc... the list goes on and then within those lists there are different kinds and colors. So a lot of people own birds that need medical care to a clinic that specializes in them. We are the only clinic that has both Utah Board Bird Specialist... So I guess you can say we are pretty special :) Not only do we see birds from people, but we see birds from Tracy Aviary from SLC, which means even more species!

• Small Pets. Where do I begin? Well we see hedgehogs, chinchillas, rodents (rats, hamsters, mice...), sugar gliders... All these cute little creatures!

                                 

• Reptiles. You know what this means - snakes! and of course iguanas, bearded dragons, turtles/tortoises, etc...

• Wildlife - the wildlife rehab will bring their animals when they need medical attention. Such as eagles, beavers, etc.

• Lagoon - Remeber taking the train ride around the pond when you were a kid. And when you get to the other side there are animals. Well sometimes we get to work on those cool guys. Since I've been working there, because I am new, I haven't had the chance to see any from Lagoon come in, however I have been told on occasion they come in. They told me they got to work on a kangaroo. How awesome!

So I am loving the clinic thus far. I do miss and wish I am able to work with more farm/large animal. I miss being around horses but I still have such a large variety I am loving it. I am sure I will get to see more new animals come in and will learn a lot about different species. It has been a wonderful blessing to have such a wonderful opportunity as a veterinary technician to help out all of mother nature's creatures. They all are so cool in their own unique way and truly make this world amazing!

Be vewwy, vewwy quite. . . . I'm hunting antlers.

First Deer Shed

Ever since I was a little kid I have wanted to go shed hunting. It has something I always thought would be fun and would love to collect but I never had the resources to be able to go. Now that I have a horse to carry my butt up the mountain, a wonderful husband who is patient and adventurous to my crazy ideas, and tracking elk, this is my first year into it. I must say.... it is addicting and gives you quite an adrenalin rush when you hike all over and turn around a corner and there it is. A beautiful, big antler lying there on the ground.

Lola

It has been quite the learning experience, but it has been a fun experience. There are so many perks to shed hunting.

Mo

• I get to ride my horse - isn't that the best??

• Definitely get a good workout in - I'm pretty sure hiking up a steep mountain multiple times in one day sheds some pounds! Yay!
• Quality time with the hubby - sure I get grumpy when I'm not finding 20 sheds all lying within 10 feet of each other, but its been a great experience spending it with each other, fighting over the binoculars and trying to decide who has to carry the antlers up to the horses.
• Running into elk - the bad thing about elk sheds is.... you can't get them until they have fallen off. I wish I could rope them off of them, but if that antler isn't ready to come off, well I can't take it home. So I definitely have learned some patience. But the cool thing is I have been able to see some cool elk (one where the right antler was growing straight down) and its always neat to be able to watch them on another hill grazing (or running away from you). Wildlife is amazing!



Curly

• Other critters - It might not be lions, tigers and bears but its always fun to scout out other wildlife like the deer and moose.
• The dogs love running around the mountain.... if only Mo was trained to find and bring sheds back she would be perfect because she covers the entire mountain. 

My Traveling Pal

This might be the start of a new, and addicting, hobby for me. Its been fun to get up in the mountains and outdoors, now that the snow is melting and spring is here. People keep asking me what I plan on doing with my treasures. Probably decorate and make cool things out of them of course!!

First Elk Shed

More Crafts!! Winter Charger Plate - Mouse-trap Magnets - HorseShoe Necklace Holder

Don't you just love craft time? Here are a few ideas that are way easy to do!

Since it is still winter time and Christmas is over, here is a cute DIY home decor for the season! Winter time charger plate! I love making these plates cause they are so easy!!
 Michael's and Tai Pan Trading have way cute charger plates. Red/Gold/Blue/White/etc and you can do any theme. I wanted something that I can have all winter instead of just at Christmas time so I did a snow theme! Let It Snow sled and a snowman. I also found some snowflake jell stickers to add to make it a little more festive. Now I just put it on an easel and let it sit on my kitchen table until spring!



Need more magnets on your fridge to hold up those Christmas and New Years greeting cards from friends and family? How about mouse trap magnets? They can hold up your cards without having to cover them with a magnet. Just take off the trap and leave the spring. Paint, decorate and glue a magnet on the back. With my mouse trap magnets I had some lace ribbon and I cut and placed on top of them for a little extra cuteness! They sure have been handy to hold up those cards and pictures!




Ok so for quite some time now I have desperately needed a cute jewelry holder. I  am in still need of something for my earrings (which I have plans to complete in the near future) but I recently made such a cute necklace/bracelet holder. I love it and how cute it is especially for those cowgirls! I got a pallet board, cut it to the size I wanted and sanded. I then painted the board a turquoise color and for a more rustic look added a little stain here and there. A secret to the stain is rub most of it off of your brush with an old cloth and then just brush it along the board here and there. If you add too much just wipe some off or even add some paint back to it. Then I added 4 horseshoes. Each horse shoe has 8 nail spots and to keep the horse shoes on the board I nailed in 2 nails all the way through and left the other 6 half way out so I can hang the jewelery on them. Add a wire for the back to hang up and wa la - your cowgirl necklace holder! Cute!

Oh Christmas Tree

Well this post is a little late.... Christmas came and went quickly this year. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season. It was our first Christmas as a married couple for Hutch and I. We had a great one! I think we even started our own Haslam Christmas tradition that everyone thought was way cool. A sagebrush Christmas tree! Sure the thought of it to people was thinking "cheap", "redneck", and "dumb" but once people saw what I had planned for it, the tree turned out way cool and beautiful!
Growing up I remember my aunt had a sagebrush tree one year and ever since then I thought it was cool and I wanted one. So our first year married I told Hutch and he thought it was a good idea too. At the time we were the only ones who thought it was a good idea. We went on a ride on our horses in search of the perfect sagebrush. It had to be big and full. It was an awesome ride, spotting tons and tons of deer and beautiful views. And then we found it and brought him home and got it decorated.We decorated it with lights, red ornaments, berries, bells, and Indian ornaments. Turned out better than I imagined!

Indian Ornaments

Berries

Rustic Bells

I absolutely love my sagebrush Christmas tree. In fact Its almost the middle of January and I still have it up! I think it definitely will be a tradition from now on :)

I also made a Christmas tree craft. I made it out of clay pots and buttons, ribbons and wooden stars. Simple & Easy! Just get your different sizes, paint, glue and then decorate! This would be such a fun craft for kids too!