Esto Perpetua

From how it is looking, this week is a week of sadness. A week of soon-to-be-lost pride.

This week I think I'm going to go get my Utah driver's license. It's one of the last things I have to do to get residency here.... and I hate it!!! I have put it off for months, but I can't put it off any longer. The fall semester is rapidly approaching, and my large out of state tuition balance is still staring at me in Banner. This is a painful process. I love my state. Utah is not where my heart is!!!!!

Most people don't know beans about Idaho... therefore, they don't understand what is so great about it.Well... lucky for all of you, I am here to give you some info about my favorite state in the union.

Fact one:
Not only do we have a state horse (the appaloosa), state tree (western white pine), fruit (wild huckleberry), fish (cutthroat trout), bird (mountain bluebird), raptor (peregrine falcon), song (Here We Have Idaho), insect (monarch butterfly), or gem (star garnet), we have a state dance (the square dance.. go figure) AND a state fossil!!!!!!!!! (The Hagerman Horse Fossil... we have one of the largest fossil beds of prehistoric horse fossils in the world!)

and yes... in case you were wondering... our state vegetable is the potato.

Fact two:

Our agriculture doesn't just rock the potato industry. Idaho is also the number one national producer of trout, Austrian Winter Peas, and lentils.

Fact three:

Idaho's nickname is the Gem State. Most people don't know why we're called the Gem State, if they even know that at all. The reason is because Idaho is actually a prolific producer of gems--over 72 different types of precious and semi-precious, to be exact.

Idaho is one of only two places in the ENTIRE WORLD where star garnets can be found. The other is in the Himalaya Mountains. Who knew Idaho was as cool as the place that Mount Everest is?!

Fact four:

Idaho's population is estimated at about 1,523,816 for 2008. (Utah's is about 2,736,424.)

I am one of 1.6% of the state reporting to be two or more ethnicities. (The exact same as Utah and the national average, actually.)

Idaho straight-up Asians: 1.2%, Utah: 2.0%, national: 4.4%

and, of course... the percent reporting white: Idaho: 94.8%. Utah: 93.2%. National average? 80%.

Fact five:

We have 3,100 miles of river in Idaho. That's more than any other state in the nation.

Fact six:

Our state seal is the only one in the country that was designed by a woman. We were also one of the first states to pass women suffrage laws.

Here it is on our state flag:

and then... up close:

Fact six:

This is an Idaho potato sack that Marilyn is wearing. yeahhhh

Fact seven:

I go to spud day in Shelley, Idaho, almost every year for my free baker at noon to eat while I watch the tug-o-war over the pit of mashed potatoes, poured out from a cement truck.

oh yes. it really happens. and i love it. Too bad I don't have a picture of that one.

I also have a museum dedicated entirely to potatoes in my hometown. You can buy lotion, the richest chocolate milk known to man, and ice cream with potato in it in different places across the valley. The dairy products are freakin good. (Shout out to my home boys at Reed's Dairy in Idaho Falls! I love you and your legit milkmen too!)

Fact eight:

This is what our plates look like. They're my favorite. On the standard plates, each county is listed in front of the number with an alphanumeric listing, usually one number and one letter referencing the specific county. One can tell where a car is from by its license plate... but a few other states put the county name directly printed onto the plate. I like our code better.

Fact nine:

One of my favorite places in the entire world to drive is right at the line between Bannock and Franklin counties, right on Highway 91 between Preston and Downey. Here is a picture of a silo and a picture of a tractor. This makes my heart sing.

Fact ten:

Esto perpetua is our state motto. Literally, I think it means something about being perpetual, but it's usually translated to mean something to the effect of "let her endure forever." (Webster says it means "may she endure forever," I think.)

Idaho will never die in my heart!!!!! I love you, great state to the north!!!!!!! ♥

http://www.visitidaho.org/about/facts.aspx

http://www.accessidaho.org/aboutidaho/facts.html