Wednesday, August 31, 2005

things are good

I am so happy right now. I have been in Ames, Iowa for a week. Jake and I really like living in the same city together. I got a new apartment and move in next week. Even though I had a crappy phone interview on Monday, I had a great phone interview today. My friend Trisha called, she just started graduate school and loves it. This evening I headed up to MN for the weekend. My Dads birthday is on Saturday. And I need to get the rest of my furniture from St. Paul. During my 3 1/2 hour car ride I spoke with my friend Casey, who is in New York right now and when we called he was running across Broadway and when we hung up it was raining! I thought about my NY blogger friends. I stopped in Northfield to visit Amanda and Matt, they just got a new iBook and iPod. Amanda heated up some food for me and we talked and laughed and it was like I hadn't even left! I am sleeping over and we are going to have coffee in the morning. Tomorrow I am going to pack up the rest of my stuff in St. Paul. And I am going to see Paige and Allisa. I need to call my friends Meghan and Edmund too. Things are good.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

these places

Hello! I really appreciate all of you out there...Wherever you are in this world!

Recently my partner Jake helped me find this unique site that shows the location of the last twenty people to visit any website. It updates every few hours and you can zoom in and see the city, state, or country a visitor is from.

The last twenty people who have visited my blog are from these places.



This website does this for free!

Monday, August 29, 2005

one to stumble

"Tell me about a time when you avoided a problem for a school or work project by keeping others informed? "

Huh? Crap, I have no idea. What kind of question is that?

I can't think of anything. Nothing is coming out of my mouth....except, Ahhhhh...ummmm....hmmmm.

That is a really good question, I compliment. Basically just trying to fill some of the silence.

Then I actually say, Oh, wow, ummm, I really don't know.

I just start talking, I don't even know where I came up with the words to finally answer this ridiculous question, but I did, and it was horrible.

Oh well. I have another one to stumble through on Wednesday.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

romantic comedy

Had another wedding this weekend. There was almost a two hour gap from the end of the ceremony to the start of the reception...we brought a laptop and watched The Wedding Date at a park.


As we were watching our movie, an older woman sat at the table behind us. I turned around and watched her take out of her bag hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise, and a fork. She then proceeded to peel the eggs and make the egg salad. At a park...? Is that weird?

I guess we were watching a romantic comedy at a park.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

me blogging

This is me blogging at Jakes. We both live in Ames, Iowa. We eat lunch together now.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

into her shoe

Arriving early to Ames I decide to surprise Jake on campus after his class. Walking over from his apartment I asked the first person I saw for directions.

She had red hair like Anne Shirley (from Anne of Green Gables) and it looked like she might have just started a jog but was not out of breath yet...I go ahead and ask her:

"Do you know where Howe Hall is...?"

Oh, no I don't (total devastation). But I have a map in my shoe!!

She quickly bends down, takes off her shoe and pulls out her Iowa State University campus map, which was folded neatly to fit into her shoe.

"Oh great (smile on my face)! So are you new?"

Yeah. Are you?

She asked this with such desperation in her voice.

I wanted so badly to say yes, that I was...because in reality I am. My move to Ames is new for me just like her, I am nervous and excited just like her...but instead I say, "No, sorry, I'm not. But, hey how is your first week going?"

Oh, it is going okay. It is a little overwhelming. I have this Human Development class and there are so many statistics and sometimes it just gets to be too much...

"Yeah, I know how that goes."

As we both study the map I notice her orange highlighted routes.

She points ahead and says, You should run into if you go that way.

"Great! Thanks so much! And have a great year!"

She smiles and bends over with her map folded ready to stuff back into her shoe.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

the bear

Okay, here is the bear! I know that it looks small...but sometimes photos do not do reality justice. At the time it felt close, scary, but also beautiful. To be honest, I just wanted to watch it and not scare it away.


Jakes foot (size 13) compared to the foot of the bear.

hot noodles

Isn't our world beautiful? This view is from the top of a mountain in Alaska, taken last summer.

Ben and I are making dinner; we had hiked up the mountain all day and were starving. I insisted we bring cheese and summer sausage and mix it together with some hot noodles. Because I knew it would taste so good; and it was delicious.



We saw a bear an hour later. Jake and Ben yelled for it to go away but not before I took a picture.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

my table



This is my table in my apartment. It used to be in my parents house and I grew up eating breakfast at it with my brother every morning before school. He usually ate Frosted Flakes. That is my iBook that I use everyday to check E-mail, blog and upload pictures. That black cord hooks up to my camera and computer and transfers the photos into iPhoto for me. Nice and easy. The flowers in the bowls are from Amanda, she brought them for me Tuesday when I had knitting club at my place. They are from the organic farm that I visited. Those are my keys. That little silver pocket knife is from Jakes friend Brain, it has Jakes initials on it. The red leash is only there because my dog slept over. My cell phone has a camera on it. I just brought that note pad from Mankato...it has my to-do lists in it right now. Those three jars on the window sill are filled with sand from Red Rock in Nevada. Jake and Ben climbed there this spring. I have tea light candles in the jars also. The rocking chair is from a woman in my apartment building whose name is Honey. She is a sweet sweet friend and one day she asked me if I wanted it, she told me it was the first piece of furniture she ever bought for herself. And now I have it. My friends love to sit there when they visit. The rug is from IKEA. The plants are from Amanda, she really has a gift for growing and somehow I have been able to keep them alive for over a year. I bought that little TV to fit in my little apartment. For some reason it takes eleven seconds to turn on. The CD that is laying on top of my "CD case" is Romantica, Luke is the bass player and is Paige's husband. They play music wonderfully. The picture frame on the shelf has a little print that I bought on the Saint Charles Bridge in Prague. There is a hand blown pitcher right below that I found at an estate sale. From the window at left I get five bars of Internet for free. At the other window my neighbor caught me stealing his Internet!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

three visitors

I had three visitors today. One is sleeping over.

We walked to W.A. Frost for dinner just a few blocks away. We sat outside. My Dad was really hungry and thought his food was delicious (and my Mom's soup). Deciding against dessert at the restaurant we headed back to my apartment. I cut up the peach my Mom brought and scooped the vanilla ice cream. I took them up to the roof and I snapped a few photos. We admired my herbs and decided my basil looks amazing. My Dad then watched The Andy Griffith Show while my Mom and I rested on the bed. Then they said good-bye and it was just me and my dog, Patches.

I can only imagine what she is thinking. Where am I? Why do I not recognize anything? Why is there no room in here to walk around and sniff? I want to go home now.

Random thought....Dogs and babies can be so mesmerizing. Have you ever noticed this before---you are with a group of people and no eyes can avert the constant entertainment of these foreign creatures(?)

For the past half hour I watched her in my apartment. She walks from my rug to my kitchen...it only takes her a second to sniff the refridgerator, the stove, and then the wall...then she goes to her water dish, her food dish, then back to the rug...Oh, look there she goes into my tiny bathroom...then to my closet...then back to my rug...around to the VCR, then she licks my foot...then back to the kitchen. REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT

Even though she is probably going to wake me up at 2 am to go outside, I don't even care. I love her so much that I just watched her eat.



Wednesday, August 17, 2005

coming to

Time is running out. My money is running out.

I search and search for jobs. I search and search for apartments.

I am moving in less than two weeks.

And then there is my resume.
Is it too long?
Does it make sense?
Is the format weird?

I want a job that inspires me. I want to be proud of where I work.
Does this exist?
Can I find a job?

I am afraid this having a summer like we did in second grade is slowly coming to an end.

Help!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

a passage

Last Saturday my good friends Jeanette and Shawn got married. This Saturday my friends Gina and Rich got married. Both amazing couples and both incredibily fun celebrations. Meghan (who happens to be Gina's sister!) and I read a passage from Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh at Jeanette and Shawn's wedding. I took the picture below of Gina on her wedding day.

For marriage, which is always spoken of as a bond, becomes actually, many bonds, many strands, of different texture and strength, making up a web that is taut and firm. The web is fashioned of love. Yes, but many kinds of love: romantic love first, then a slow-growing devotion and, playing through these, a constantly rippling companionship. It is made of loyalties, and interdependencies, and shared experiences. It is woven of memories of meetings and conflicts; of triumphs and disappointments. It is a web of communication, a common language, and the acceptance of lack of language, too; a knowledge of likes and dislikes, of habits and reaction, both physical and mental. It is a web of instincts and intuitions, and known and unknown exchanges. The web of marriage is made by propinquity, in the day to day living side by side, looking outward and working outward in the same direction. It is woven in space and in time of the substance of life itself.

Monday, August 15, 2005

same state

After twelve days of being home in Mankato I am finally heading back to St. Paul. I am leaving tomorrow morning.

These next few weeks are going to be wild. I want to do many things before I actually move to Iowa. Did I mention that I am really moving to Iowa to finally live in the same state as Jake? I can't remember if I officially posted about it. Anyway, I want to do so many things before I leave that I need to make a big to-do list right now.

I am completely overwhelmed with feelings of transition and limbo. I feel splintered and I hate feeling splintered. It is sorta driving be crazy. Today I called my Dad at work and broke down...he made me feel better though.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

slipped into

There was no one at the ticket counter...I didn't even hesitate. I opened the door and walked straight ahead, trying to look like I belonged. Inside I spotted the drinking fountain, Perfect I thought, A purpose! I totally need to get a drink of water. I saw the Men's Bathroom, but where is the Woman's Bathroom? I now knew that I had picked the wrong side. No bathroom to take cover and no theater that I sought insight. I saw the woman with the lavender shirt go to the ticket booth now. "Seventeen fifty, first theater on your right." My stride was smooth, well as smooth as I could make it with my mind racing with the thought of being asked, "Can I see your ticket please?". I entered the bathroom and looked in the mirror. What am I doing? I still hadn't found the theater with the movie I came to see. Now I started to really panic and considered aborting the mission. Instead I peaked around the corner and saw March Of The Penguins only thirty feet ahead of me. I walked straight for it and slipped into the darkness.

For the first fifteen minutes I thought for sure the police were going to come in and take me away.

Friday, August 12, 2005

life in a box

Since Monday I have been in my pajamas.

After a whirlwind of a wedding weekend I decided to stay in Mankato to organize my "old" room.

Four days later I am still in my pajamas.

I have literally saved every note from middle school, every notebook from high school, and every last paper and assignment from college and graduate school.

I have shuffled through boxes and boxes of saved letters from camp, notes from by B/F/F/E's, and birthday cards. I read through my Hello Kitty grade school journals, and yes, they were locked (luckily I had saved the key).

All my crushes flashed through my head again.
All the drama of high school.
All the heartache.
All the questions about life.
All the goals.
All the insecurities.
All the sadness.
Everything. Flashed through my head again.

I have saved my entire life in boxes and for the past four days I watched myself grow up again.

I read letters that brought me to tears. Letters from my little brother when he was in first grade, letters from my Mom when she had a free minute at school, letters from my Dad sent to me during my weeks at camp...I still remember getting those letters. I read through hundreds of cards and little notes left by my college roommate Trisha (sometimes just saying, Good luck on your Biology test!). I read letters that made me remember what amazing friends I have from home. And then the notes to myself usually scribbled on scrapes of paper.

It wasn't just letters in those boxes, it was also my education. From British Literature, to Physics, to Social Psychology, to Interpersonal Communication, to Logic, to Photography and to Statistics I took one last look and then I recycled.

I can't keep everything forever. I saved things that I thought would make me happy in twenty years when I pull out my boxes again.

I don't know if I can really fit my life in a box but at least I tried.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

gift from

This is Maya and Meghan at the rehearsal today. Maya is so beautiful (and so is Meghan!). At the wedding Meghan and I will be reading a passage from Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. We read tomorrow night...well, I guess I mean tonight, it is 2 am...!!!



So far this weekend has been crazy fun. I am too tired right now to write. I can say that being with all my friends, the people who I grew up with, is always unbelievable. Just to be home feels good.

Friday, August 05, 2005

27 years ago

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I can only imagine how you must have felt 27 years ago! Such joy and happiness! Congratulations and I love you both.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

christabro

Oh my gosh, is this little man not the cutest? I finally got to see my friend Christa's (of christabro) new house and see how much her little boy has grown!!! It was a great afternoon of catching up.



p.s. I am home in Mankato for the weekend, my good friends from high school are getting married on Saturday! I am a reader (and she only asked me to do it yesterday...everything is last minute for them and they love it...it might drive me a little crazy but oh well!)

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

circle of

I cried last night.


Paige's invitation said to meet at 7 pm at her loft downtown.

I arrived at 7:15 and I was the first one there (I am always the first to arrive...).

Then Chanda arrived with warm brownies. Then Allisa. Then Amanda with plums from the farm.

We all brought our knitting.

Paige had the table set with food and drinks.

We ate, we talked, we laughed, and we cried.

My words right now won't even come close to expressing what we shared with one another last night.

I can say that the friendships we have grown are real and are beautiful.

And I can say that I have never had a circle of women that have inspired me so much.

We didn't knit. Nothing horrible or dramatic happend.

Just words of affirmation.

Words that will..."echo in my head"...long after last night.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

off their arms

Since last Friday my days have been full of family, friends and fun! I will recap all my adventures in a brief update.

Katie, Jakes sister, visited me Friday afternoon and stayed the night in my little apartment! It was so great to have her at my place, I kept saying that it was so fun to have someone else around!

Saturday night I watched Lost in Translation with Paige and Luke. The movie is absolutely beautiful and I loved it.

Sunday my parents came up and we visited both my Grandma's, Adeline and Shirley. Played cards with Adeline, who is a spunky 91 years old. I locked my keys in my car and Grandma Shirley helped me out again (she has AAA; this is the second time I have locked my keys in my car...the first time I had hit the car in front of me and while getting out I locked the door with the car running).

Yesterday my Dad came up for dinner and Howard Pulley basketball. My aunts and uncles were at the game as well (the Howard Pulley tournament goes on all summer; teams consist of current, past, and future U of M players and other Minnesota boys who play with colleges around the country). My Dad and I like to sit in the front row, that way we are the closest to the players; we can actually see the sweat dripping off their arms.