Nature and Me = :)

Over my spring break I decided I needed a few healthy doses of nature to make up for how much I was missing by my job. First place I went - Spring Valley of course! It was a warmer day, so I didn't mind trekking around. The week was pretty chilly and rainy.

Salt Creek

I went to my favorite spot - Salt Creek first. It was definitely flowing as the snow was melting steadily. For some reason, I just love sitting on the bridge watching the water flow and the small creatures running around. :)

Me in the creek

Yes, I know how silly this picture is. But I saw a bottle in the creek and wanted to pick it up. So, I set my autotimer and was going to pose with to prove my awesomeness. Well, I underestimated how long 10 seconds is, as well as how soupy the creek bank was. So, my camera has about 10 tries of me trying to get it out, as well as me having fun with the autotimer in general. Haha...

Pond

I went from the creek to the cabin and took a look at the frozen pond. It was oddly peaceful sitting on the bench. There was a little breeze, but other than that, it was completely silent. A very rare moment in this spot!

Hay field

I wandered over to the farm and took the back paths to see what was new back there. This view is the back of the hayfield. On my camera lens, it looked like that light colored grass was smoke. I thought it was sooo cool!

Horse and Engel

I ended up walking all the way to my car by the time I realized that I never to got to see the livestock. I went back to the farm and caught Engel and one of the draft horses outside. I'm horrible and have no idea which horse this is! It's either Price or Duke. Ooops! I had fun watching them and sitting on the wagon seat.

Later on during my spring break week, I decided to finally go and check out the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I have never visited the gardens, and that felt silly, especially given my major, my passion, and that I wanted to apply to work there. I finally decided to go and at least see what the major attractions were, so I could sound semi knowledgeable if I got past the application stage.

I loved the saying above the door in the visitor center. Everyone here was SO friendly! And of course, there was a sweeeeet gift shop in here ;-)



This is what I saw as soon as I walked outside of the visitor center. It took my breath away and it was still technically winter! The blues were so blue and the yellow in the tree was just as beautiful. I knew from the minute I left the center that I could love working there.


I also wandered over to a huge set of greenhouses that were connected. I learned that there were different types of plants/environments in each greenhouse. I LOVE working in greenhouses, especially show/educational greenhouses. I didn't want to leave! It reminded me of working in the greenhouses during my undergrad!


This little guy is a young ginkgo tree. I do what I can to subliminally hint to my dad that we should plant one in his backyard. :) I love this tree!



Well this sure was enough pictures huh? I'll keep the pictures and/or nature to a minimum has I post in the next few weeks. Thanks for suffering through it. :)