Hello fellow Knotties! I've been finding everyone else's planning bios so helpful, I thought I might as well make one of my own. We're planning our Minnesota wedding from California, where we currently live, which is turning out to be a bit of a hassle. But we'll make it work.
Our Story
Susan
I grew up in Roseville, MN and graduated with a degree in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Minnesota. I have always loved animals and am in the process of figuring out a career working with them. I started out planning on becoming a wildlife biologist conducting field research, but after three field seasons throughout college, decided perhaps field research wasn't quite for me. I currently work as an assistant zookeeper and love the close interaction with some really cool animals, but am not as keen on the tedious nature of the day-to-day work. Possible next step: back to school to become a vet technologist. I love hiking, camping, cooking, watching movies and reading. And of course my new obsession is planning our wedding!
Jim
Jim grew up in Olalla, WA and graduated with a degree in Biology from Western Washington University. He worked for the Washington State Department of Ecology as a field researcher doing stream flow analyses for a number of years after college, but always had in the back of his head the memory of how much he enjoyed his wildlife classes in college. So when he was given a promotion that took him out of the woods and stuck him in a cubicle full-time, he decided it was time to try out the field that had interested him most in college. He currently works as a wildlife biologist for the US Forest Service on a project studying fishers (large weasels). Through this job and his previous one he has discovered a passion for GIS, Geographical Information Systems, or fancy map-making on a computer as I call it, and is working on a Masters in GIS at Humboldt University in Arcata, CA. Jim enjoys hiking, camping, working on projects, watching movies and listening to audio books.
How We Met
Jim started work on the fisher project in February of 2007. The project had just officially started up and Jim was basically a crew of one, with occasional help from his boss, the principal investigator, Craig. I had been looking for a summer job after my sophomore year of college, hoping for a chance to get to try out field research for the first time and travel somewhere new. I found the job posting online for the fisher project and asked Craig if I could come on as an intern, and all of a sudden found myself driving out to California with my dad for a big summer adventure. I remember thinking, "ooh, that guy is cute" when I first saw Jim. Jim remembers thinking, "wow, that girl has some big hair". I was Jim's first crew member to show up for the summer and we quickly bonded as Jim showed me the ropes of field research such as telemetry and trapping and driving big 4x4 trucks. I impressed Jim with my pluck and determination to keep up with him, hiking up and down the steep mountain terrain. Jim impressed me with his outdoorsy know-how and his dedication to working hard and a job well-done. We grew closer as the summer progressed, having fun at late-night poker games with the rest of crew and hikes in the beautiful Sierra Nevada. All good things must end, and Jim drove back to Minnesota with me so I could continue college. Our relationship didn't have to end, however, and the first of several long-distance periods apart began. We stayed close by many phone calls and online video messaging and a visit every few months. I returned to California the next summer and then again in January of 2009 to complete my last class of my last semester in nearby Fresno so that I could be close to Jim. The picture is the first one we have of us together.
