jessd

Welcome Little Janek!

Congratulations Judy & Marty! We're all thinking of you and can't wait to meet the little guy. 

Commence Internship

Today I begin my summer internship here. I admit, I've got some serious first day butterflies. 

The best part of the job so far - it's about five blocks from my front door. Commute: 8 minute walk.

The second best part is I'm getting paid. A full-time paycheck for the first time in.... 9 years or so. 

Now, off to work. 

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Sorry if the timing of the Father's Day video wasn't right on for some people. When I made it, the slides and song ended perfectly in sync but I realize different computers seem to play it at slightly different speeds, throwing the timing off a bit. Regardless, you should get the jist... which comes down to this: my Dad's a pretty handsome dude who still has a very full head of hair and he really likes tractors.

For my Dad

New Graduation Gear

In one 24 hour period I received two things on my doorstep - a cap & gown for graduation a full year from now and a white water canoeing helmet. Isn't that the weirdest two things you could imagine sitting on a doorstep together?

There's some type of superhero hidden in this image I'm convinced.

I figured I'd catch a bargain when it's been thrown my way and the graduating class was selling their gowns pretty cheap after their ceremony. After watching them all go out and pay $70+ for them I figured the $35 was a no brainer. Now I just need to remember a year from now that I have the stupid thing and don't go and buy another one while this one hides under 18 shoe boxes in my closet.

As for the helmet... I've been white water canoeing with a bicycle helmet. This is because investing in all of the gear necessary at once was not in my no income budget. So I've been making due with a bike helmet and although it has worked just fine (it helps that we haven't actually tipped or fallen out of the boat yet so it has not been tested) I feel like a total dork everytime I put it on in the boat. The kicker was showing up on the cover of the paddle club's monthly newsletter ("Canews")... looking composed and professional as we nearly tipped on the top of a river wave... wearing the retarded bike helmet.

I couldn't go on like this, so I splurged and bought one via our trusty internet because all of the ones I tried on at REI were huge for my teeny tiny, absurdly small cranium. So I ordered a Youth Medium via some random website. Received it. Tried it on. Too big. Yes, my head is apparently smaller than a 7 year old's. So, I paid an obscene amount of money to UPS this thing back to some small town in Colorado in exchange for the Youth Small. I know my brother can relate to this story. It's hard being us.

I wanted to title this entry Cap Helmet & Gown but the title field wouldn't let me use a strikethrough. Argh.

Rolling huts, moving blogs & passing days

Classes are over and I've had some extra time on my hands as my summer internship has not started, but I can't say I've been accomplishing much with my time. I had my loft windows replaced so now the bright sunshine that Seattle has been enjoying for 28 days straight can shine on in. It's a huge improvement!

I also got away over the weekend and enjoyed some country time in Mazama, Washington. This town sits just in the foothills of the North Cascade mountains, on the east side where things are sunny and dry and just beginning to show signs of a desert climate. It's small. Smaller than my good ole hometown of Cranberry Lake, New York. The "downtown" of Mazama consists of a kickass convenient store that stocks some select Patagonia clothing, bakes its own amazing savory scones and even makes a decent mocha. In addition to the store there is a real estate office and a yoga studio. That's downtown.

  Mazama also has some amazing architecture for a sleepy river town. We're totally staying in a Rolling Hut when we head to Mazama in the winter for some cross country skiing. I have a feeling my architect brother may want to tag along.

Winthrop, a bit further east of Mazama is a old West town complete with wooden sidewalks, lots of tourists, and every flavor ice cream you could possibly imagine. We enjoyed a little stroll down the two blocks that make up the town, tried to help keep the local bookstore in business by buying a full priced novel, which I never, ever do because the Seattle library system is amazing. (Wanted to buy the most recent book by the author attending our annual 826 Seattle fundraiser this year - Michael Chabon. I believe the book, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, is being turned into a movie as we speak by the Coen Brothers.)

While in Winthrop we couldn't help but splurge on a pre-dinner ice cream cone. The shop was making their own waffle cones and the fresh, sweet smell was filling the streets. I had been craving butterscotch for days [for the first time in my life] so was excited when I saw Butterscotch Fudge. Unfortunately, it turned out to taste more like maple than butterscotch. And I hate maple. It was a sad turn of events. The only thing cheering me up was watching the TMF eat black licorice ice cream. I had never heard of such a flavor, or maybe just never noticed considering the concept is disgusting to me. But seeing it was even more unappetizing - dark black ice cream. It does wonders to one's lips and teeth let me tell you. I was cursing the absence of my camera. And I deeply apologize to you, the readers, who may have never witnessed such a sight.

We headed back to the city brainstorming how to skip that home-ownership-thing and jump right into vacation-cabin-in-the-country-ownership-thing. It's a little tricky considering I have no income at the moment. 

In other news... I have gotten very involved with the grad school program. I've been working with the  Admissions Office so soon I will be starting a blog for prospective students by current students. I will also be showing up on the website in a month or so. We had a little photo shoot a few weeks ago and I was not psyched with the results but I'm hoping it'll just be a tiny box on the side. 

Along with that I've decided to move this blog. I've been paying money to host this blog for many years now and have found a free site which appears to be just as good. So keep an eye out for a new address in the coming days. I know that's super annoying and I hope not too many people lose track of it, but it seems best considering that no income thing. I'll try to keep this one up with the forwarding address for a month to help with the transition.

I guess that's enough updating for now... although I could go on. I'll save it for tomorrow.

 

Year One... Check.

It is official. My first year of graduate school is complete.

I'm filled with a combination of awe in how quickly it flew by and relief that I feel some semblance of a life back. My life since September has consisted of leaving for campus at 7am, getting home at 7pm, doing more work until about 10pm... getting up in the dark and going to bed in the dark.... spending 70% of every weekend doing homework, writing cover letters and studying, the other 30% consisted of worrying about the work I wasn't doing. It was all consuming causing my friendships, relationship and stress level to suffer.

I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of working us to the point that we don't have time to get a haircut or cook something that has not been previously frozen, but the thought of working 60 hours a week seems like a summer vacation now. Lucky me, that's what the next few months seem to have in store as I begin an internship and then start it all over again in September.

PS. That's me remembering how to relax with a little sailing adventure on Lake Union several weeks ago.

The Vanagon's Maiden Voyage

This is the new sign of summertime! The vanagon with a canoe on top in front of some American flags and big, picturesque mountains.

Because I am the best girlfriend ever I've agreed to do some white water canoeing with the tall man-friend. We spent the entire day on Saturday heading down the Skyomish River in the North Cascades. We managed to stay in the canoe all day, even after watching several very experienced paddlers go over during the last series of rapids on the river. It's only a matter of time before we end up unexpectedly swimming during a trip, but I was very happy it wasn't this weekend because that river was glacial fed and COLD!

After the day of canoeing we headed south to "camp out" at a friend's cabin in Central Washington. We slept in the vanagon on the queen size bed that is in the back. It's not exactly roughing it, but we did get to enjoy a view of the stars and sounds of the noisy frogs as we drifted off to sleep.