New Member Added to Cronk-Houseal Household
Sadly, at the end of September, Shelby lost her beloved Rabbit. After Rabbit's death, she swore she would never again have another pet, let alone another rabbit. It was the one and only time Shelby called in sick to work and meant it.
If you think she was joking, just remember that in 2017, for a year and a half, Shelby had a pet fish named Blue (she called him “fish” because she is so creative). When Fish passed away, Shelby refused to get another fish and still hasn’t; even after Justin has given her a gift card and taken her to the pet store to get one, she has still never gotten another fish. Her declaration to never get another rabbit then should have been taken incredibly seriously.
The good news is that many in her life know Shelby as a “rabbit person.” They sent her links to bunnies up for adoption and even an Alaskan rabbitry’s Facebook page. The Facebook page conveniently sent her frequent updates and constantly showed up on her newsfeed with pictures of adorable baby bunnies. Shelby saw a baby bunny on the rabbitry’s page that she could not live without. She spent almost an entire evening trying to talk herself out of it, but try as she might, she couldn’t.
Meet Maple, our natural sweetener.
Maple is a 13-week-old Holland Lop; Shelby picked her up when she was 10 weeks old and has loved her every day since. Shelby and her friend Diane drove 3 hours each way to pick this little Adventure Bunny up in Soldotna, Alaska the weekend after Thanksgiving. The roads were terrible with ice and snow but the tiny package they picked up made it all worth it. On the way home, Maple quickly earned the moniker "Adventure Bunny" as she preferred to ride on the dash of Diane's Jeep the whole way home.
Now that she is settling, Maple is working on potty training and getting to know the outside world. She has mastered litter training inside of her cage, now if only she could stop making messes on the carpet outside her cage, everyone would be much happier. She has learned not to pee on the carpet, but unfortunately, she has not figured out that means to pee in her litter box. Instead, she has taken to peeing on the wood floor near her litter box, baby steps.
Maple recently took an adventure out of the house where she endured the many pets of strangers, riding in a car (again) for multiple hours and her mom putting a harness and leash on her to go outside. She seems to be pretty okay trying new things, but she isn't thrilled when small changes are made to "her space" and will often move remotes, papers, and toys out of her way on the couch and floor.
Shelby and Justin, but mostly Shelby, are very excited for this new addition and take every opportunity possible to brag about her and send adorable photos of her.
Maple is full of energy and mischief. She enjoys sprinting around the living room, eating plenty of hay and romaine lettuce, and she begs for head pets. She has recently taken to relaxing so intensely Shelby watches very closely for the movement of her breaths, and she is even learning to roll over like a puppy. She is a lot of psycho in a small package and fits in perfectly.
If you think she was joking, just remember that in 2017, for a year and a half, Shelby had a pet fish named Blue (she called him “fish” because she is so creative). When Fish passed away, Shelby refused to get another fish and still hasn’t; even after Justin has given her a gift card and taken her to the pet store to get one, she has still never gotten another fish. Her declaration to never get another rabbit then should have been taken incredibly seriously.
The good news is that many in her life know Shelby as a “rabbit person.” They sent her links to bunnies up for adoption and even an Alaskan rabbitry’s Facebook page. The Facebook page conveniently sent her frequent updates and constantly showed up on her newsfeed with pictures of adorable baby bunnies. Shelby saw a baby bunny on the rabbitry’s page that she could not live without. She spent almost an entire evening trying to talk herself out of it, but try as she might, she couldn’t.
Meet Maple, our natural sweetener.
Maple is a 13-week-old Holland Lop; Shelby picked her up when she was 10 weeks old and has loved her every day since. Shelby and her friend Diane drove 3 hours each way to pick this little Adventure Bunny up in Soldotna, Alaska the weekend after Thanksgiving. The roads were terrible with ice and snow but the tiny package they picked up made it all worth it. On the way home, Maple quickly earned the moniker "Adventure Bunny" as she preferred to ride on the dash of Diane's Jeep the whole way home.
Now that she is settling, Maple is working on potty training and getting to know the outside world. She has mastered litter training inside of her cage, now if only she could stop making messes on the carpet outside her cage, everyone would be much happier. She has learned not to pee on the carpet, but unfortunately, she has not figured out that means to pee in her litter box. Instead, she has taken to peeing on the wood floor near her litter box, baby steps.
Maple recently took an adventure out of the house where she endured the many pets of strangers, riding in a car (again) for multiple hours and her mom putting a harness and leash on her to go outside. She seems to be pretty okay trying new things, but she isn't thrilled when small changes are made to "her space" and will often move remotes, papers, and toys out of her way on the couch and floor.
Shelby and Justin, but mostly Shelby, are very excited for this new addition and take every opportunity possible to brag about her and send adorable photos of her.
Maple is full of energy and mischief. She enjoys sprinting around the living room, eating plenty of hay and romaine lettuce, and she begs for head pets. She has recently taken to relaxing so intensely Shelby watches very closely for the movement of her breaths, and she is even learning to roll over like a puppy. She is a lot of psycho in a small package and fits in perfectly.
"New Normal"
In March, the world changed in a very big way. Words like “quarantine” and “new normal” became common words in our vocabulary. COVID-19 swept the globe and soon was designated as a pandemic and the world as we knew it started to change.
For Justin, that meant an extended stay in Iowa before returning to work as normal. The four weeks home were great, but he was just as excited to be able to return to his projects.
For Shelby, that meant moving her work home with her and never leaving the house again. Shelby has been working from home since the end of March 2020; she hopes to never have to return to the office.
For both, though, their physical health has seen very few effects. Both have remained COVID-free during the pandemic.
Unfortunately for Justin, due to Shelby’s current working conditions, she often wears pajamas for days at a time and requires he be her social outlet. It makes for some very annoying nights for him, rest assured.
They are both adjusting well to the “new normal” even though much of their life has stayed quite the same, just with fewer trips the grocery store and a lot more mandated mask wearing. Shelby and Justin have switched up their grocery shopping hours and go early in the morning and only once ever 3 months or so.
For Justin, that meant an extended stay in Iowa before returning to work as normal. The four weeks home were great, but he was just as excited to be able to return to his projects.
For Shelby, that meant moving her work home with her and never leaving the house again. Shelby has been working from home since the end of March 2020; she hopes to never have to return to the office.
For both, though, their physical health has seen very few effects. Both have remained COVID-free during the pandemic.
Unfortunately for Justin, due to Shelby’s current working conditions, she often wears pajamas for days at a time and requires he be her social outlet. It makes for some very annoying nights for him, rest assured.
They are both adjusting well to the “new normal” even though much of their life has stayed quite the same, just with fewer trips the grocery store and a lot more mandated mask wearing. Shelby and Justin have switched up their grocery shopping hours and go early in the morning and only once ever 3 months or so.
The Boring Stuff: Shelby and Justin Career Updates
As far as career updates go, Justin continues to be the General Manager and Lead Taxidermist of Knight’s Taxidermy. His skills are unmatched and his accomplishments numerous.
Justin won Best Life-size Mount at the SCI Alaska show. He is also the recipient of the Charlie Fleming Educational Fund scholarship which allows him to continue his taxidermy and wildlife education.
He has already started “furthering his education” on his own dime by attending a class with the World Champion, Joe Meder, where he learned expert-level taxidermy skills. Joe was impressed with Justin’s abilities and questions. During the class, Justin worked on mounting his dad's 1988 Whitetail Buck; this buck was taken before Justin was even born.
During the year of 2020, he completed a total of 21 Life-size mounts. The worst part of all of this experience is that he becomes more and more convinced that his own trophies should all be life-size mounts as well. So far, the only personal mount he has done is his 2017 mountain goat which has received many a compliment from Knight’s customers. His creatively astounds even the hardest to please customer and his ideas are endless. He is always planning the next project and asking for input and feedback.
Shelby has been in her position as a Senior Training Officer at a local credit union for 2 years. She trains the employees of the collections department on compliance and practice-related skills.
In her time with the credit union, Shelby has now helped aid in 3 different member impacting events: the 2018 Earthquake, the 2019 government shutdown, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Shelby has been the lead in training employees in how to assist members during these complicated times.
In 2020, Shelby hosted over 50 virtual training sessions and trained an estimated 440 participants.
Shelby has also joined an international speech club sponsored by her company and is on her way to becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster, an internationally recognized achievement.
Justin won Best Life-size Mount at the SCI Alaska show. He is also the recipient of the Charlie Fleming Educational Fund scholarship which allows him to continue his taxidermy and wildlife education.
He has already started “furthering his education” on his own dime by attending a class with the World Champion, Joe Meder, where he learned expert-level taxidermy skills. Joe was impressed with Justin’s abilities and questions. During the class, Justin worked on mounting his dad's 1988 Whitetail Buck; this buck was taken before Justin was even born.
During the year of 2020, he completed a total of 21 Life-size mounts. The worst part of all of this experience is that he becomes more and more convinced that his own trophies should all be life-size mounts as well. So far, the only personal mount he has done is his 2017 mountain goat which has received many a compliment from Knight’s customers. His creatively astounds even the hardest to please customer and his ideas are endless. He is always planning the next project and asking for input and feedback.
Shelby has been in her position as a Senior Training Officer at a local credit union for 2 years. She trains the employees of the collections department on compliance and practice-related skills.
In her time with the credit union, Shelby has now helped aid in 3 different member impacting events: the 2018 Earthquake, the 2019 government shutdown, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Shelby has been the lead in training employees in how to assist members during these complicated times.
In 2020, Shelby hosted over 50 virtual training sessions and trained an estimated 440 participants.
Shelby has also joined an international speech club sponsored by her company and is on her way to becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster, an internationally recognized achievement.