Alright, now for the next update, though I don't have cute pictures to accompany it.
Memorial Day weekend, Mom and I set out for our cross-country drive, which we had broken up into several very manageable days, interspersed with visits with dear friends. We set out Friday night, drove a few hours, then spent the night in Colby, KS. Saturday was our big driving day, all the way to St. Louis, MO. There we stayed with and had a lovely dinner out with Polly's family. As it was the holiday weekend, Polly and Will were home, so we got to spend time with them, her brother, and her father (her mother was out of town). It was so so so nice to catch up with them!
The next morning we headed to Nashville, where I promptly ditched Mom at a hotel and went to hang out with Andy for a day. :)
We left Nashville the following afternoon and drove to Knoxville to have dinner and spend the evening with Jimmy, Carol, and Seth. As always, they were so hospitable, and the conversation was lively and warm. Tuesday morning we left Knoxville, had a brief stop in Kingsport for breakfast with an old friend, and then we drove to Charleston! We got here Tuesday evening, and we went to dinner at Red's with Caitlin (the new roommate!) and Zack (a friend from Furman).
And here I am! In Charleston! Can you believe it?! I have little moments occasionally when I have to remind myself that this is my real life, that I actually get to live here, that I really did leave CO and am starting my life here. I'm still looking for a job, but I have secured a part-time internship as an editorial assistant with an amazing online magazine, The Good Men Project. I am so so excited to be working with all these great people, and I am hoping that it provides great experience and great connections. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying the work, and it's keeping me from going crazy from boredom. But seriously, this is a great website, and I highly recommend that you all spend some time reading through some of the articles.
Next post: The Desk
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Me and the Boyfriend
I have done a terrible job of keeping up with posting on here, and I have quite a few things about which I need to post, but I am going to try to space them out so it seems like I post regularly, at least for a few days.
So where to start? I think I'll start with my favorite news of all the news I have.
His name is Andy, and he's super awesome. Don't we look cute in our matching sunglasses? Yep, I get to call this cute guy my boyfriend!
It's a funny story how we realized our mutual feelings for one another. Abridged version: friends in divinity school, keep in touch after graduation via texting, share a love for Dexter, text all the time, and suddenly realize we like each other. He's just so great, and I can't believe it took me three years to recognize it.
But, the timing was perfect, and we're super happy that we get to be together now, even though he's not here in Charleston. Thankfully we live in the 21st century, so we have Skype! And he is coming for a summer vacation in Charleston in July! (That has nothing to do with the 21st century, but it is very exciting.)
Here are a few more cute photos of us when I got to visit with him in Nashville as Mom and I drove across country. (That will be a separate post, no worries.)
Anyways, I'm pretty excited about this guy, if you can't tell.
He's totally winking in this one. What a charmer.
So where to start? I think I'll start with my favorite news of all the news I have.
It's a funny story how we realized our mutual feelings for one another. Abridged version: friends in divinity school, keep in touch after graduation via texting, share a love for Dexter, text all the time, and suddenly realize we like each other. He's just so great, and I can't believe it took me three years to recognize it.
Here are a few more cute photos of us when I got to visit with him in Nashville as Mom and I drove across country. (That will be a separate post, no worries.)
Anyways, I'm pretty excited about this guy, if you can't tell.
He's totally winking in this one. What a charmer.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
The move is official!
As I am at work with literally no work left to do today, I thought I'd update all 4 of you who read my blog that the move to Charleston is official! Mom and I will leave May 28 or 29, and drive across country, with pit stops in St. Louis, Nashville, Knoxville, Johnson City, and eventually Charleston! Woo!
I am going to be living with my good friend, Caitlin, on Daniel Island. We'll be living it up in her one-bedroom apartment until I find a job and get my own place. I am pretty excited. :)
Before we leave, though, Deborah and I have the big trip to Taiwan. Stay posted for pictures and updates from that trip. Ok, by "stay posted" I mean after May 22.
I am going to be living with my good friend, Caitlin, on Daniel Island. We'll be living it up in her one-bedroom apartment until I find a job and get my own place. I am pretty excited. :)
Before we leave, though, Deborah and I have the big trip to Taiwan. Stay posted for pictures and updates from that trip. Ok, by "stay posted" I mean after May 22.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Original Snooky
At the risk of seeming like one of those pet owners, I think it is time to dedicate a post to the one and only, the original, Snooky. As I spend most of my evenings with the little punk, we have been able to get to know each other so much better, especially considering that I have not been around for the last six years. He is 15 years old, and he acts and smells like he is knocking on death's door. But he is still so cute! He's the only animal I have ever loved, and let's be honest, he's probably the only one I will ever love. I know he can't live forever, but the way he keeps cheating death, I can't help but wonder if he will be the first dog truly to cheat death. I mean, c'mon, who wouldn't want this little guy around forever?
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Sunday, November 07, 2010
South Africa - be warned, this is a long post!
This post is an amendment of an email I sent to a friend as a recap of my South Africa trip. It's very long, but I hope you enjoy it!
Let's see, we started with the longest amount of traveling I have ever experienced. We had about 23 hours of flight to get there. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, got to the hotel and showered and unpacked before heading out to walk around the city, even though I really just wanted to sleep. Becky (my coworker) has a friend (Torben) from Germany who is living in Cape Town working in a home for adults with disabilities as his year of civil service required by the German government, so we hung out with him and his other friend (Till) from Germany. Torben and Till met up with us Sunday afternoon and walked around downtown Cape Town with us, had a coffee, and then we went back to our hotel for dinner and an early bedtime! Monday was completely full of staff meetings, which were held in a conference room in the hotel. Yes, the meetings were fairly boring, but I did enjoy meeting the international staff members with whom I have been corresponding the past 3 months and had never met before.
Tuesday we had meetings in the morning and then went on a staff group tour. We took buses out to Fish Hoek and Hout Bay where we took a boat out to Seal Island. It was pretty sweet. After Hout Bay, we drove along Chapman's Peak Drive, which is breathtakingly beautiful! After Chapman's Peak Drive we drove to a township where we visited a ministry center there that runs several homes and medical centers for AIDS patients. It was kind of strange to arrive in a tour bus, walk around their township, and simply get back on the bus. I did not really enjoy that. And every time we got on the bus, I fell asleep pretty much immediately, so I missed the vast majority of what the tour guide said. After the bus tour, we went back to the hotel for dinner and another early bedtime. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all meetings all day. We started at 8 am and went until 6:30 each night. We had tea breaks and lunch, but it was an incredibly tiring week.
Friday evening after the last meeting ended, Torben and Till picked me and Becky up in the car they had rented. It was a 1971 VW Beetle, with the hood painted as the South African flag and the doors were the American and Italian flags. It was both amazing and a piece of crap. I took photos, do not worry. We went with the boys and their friend, Freddie, to a soccer game at the Cape Town stadium. It was super exciting, even though it was less than a quarter full. The two teams were from Cape Town, so I would have expected more fans, but no. After the game we went to a bar downtown, but we were dead tired and had a big day planned ahead of us, so we each had a drink and then went home.
Saturday the boys picked us up and we went to Muizenberg Beach. It was gorgeous, but I quickly learned that literally everywhere in Cape Town is gorgeous. After strolling along the beach watching for sharks and finding none, we continued on to Boulder Beach and the penguin colony. The penguins were cute yet smelly. We walked around a bit there then went over to the part of the beach where you could swim. We did go swimming, and the water was unbelievably cold. Frigid. Icy. I could not believe that such beautiful water on such a lovely beach could be so cold. So Becky and I swam for a few minutes then stood on the shore while the boys took turns diving off the rocks. The water was cold, yes, but the weather was spectacular. It was about 75 degrees, and throughout the weekend it got up to the low 80s. Unbelievable!
After having a quick picnic by the car, we headed to Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope. It was about a 45 minute drive from Boulder Beach through the national park, and it was beautiful. We saw baboons and whales and ostrich. Ridiculous! We hiked up to the lighthouse at Cape Point, took pictures alongside the loads of people there as well, then hiked down to this tiny beach between Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. There were literally hundreds of stairs, but it was definitely worth it. The beach was very isolated, with maybe 4 other people down there while we were there. We drank wine, waded in the frigid water, and while the boys decided to go swimming (are they crazy?!), I took the best nap of my life on the beach. We hung out there for a couple of hours, then hiked back up and then up the point on Cape of Good Hope. People had told us that it was going to be unbearably windy, but it was just kind of breezy and the sun was shining the whole time. We couldn't have asked for better weather the whole day. We took our tourist photo by the Cape of Good Hope sign, then headed back towards Cape Town via Chapman's Peak drive and Fish Hoek. This time we were driving this route at sunset. It was even more beautiful than on the bus tour on Tuesday. Becky and I then had to switch from the hotel from the previous week to a guest house where we stayed that night (and to a new guest house the next morning), and once that chaos was sorted out, I met up with Jedd and Janelle Schroy who live in Johannesburg and had dinner with them and their 2-month old baby, Reagan. After dinner they dropped me off on Long Street to meet up with Becky, Torben, Till, and some of their friends for a bit of a night out. Unfortunately I was basically asleep as I was standing up, so we only stayed out until about 12:30. It was a pretty busy place and could have been fun (Torben and Till stayed out until 3:30), but Becky and I were simply too exhausted to be any fun.
Sunday morning we were up and out at 8 am (crazy!) to take the cable car up Table Mountain. Our car died as we got to the cable car station, so Torben stayed to sort that out while Becky and I went up the mountain. Till, crazy kid, climbed up the mountain in just one hour, met us at the top (we had been up there for a while), and then the 3 of us hiked down. Oh. My. God. I thought I was going to die. Not just because of the intense incline and the unstable rock steps down, but because it took and hour and a half. I was not prepared for a legitimate mountain climb, and my shoes gave me blisters, but we made it down. By the time we reached the bottom, I was not sure that I could stand my knees were so wobbly. Till must have been in much better shape than I suspected, as he had climbed up AND down with seemingly little effort. It was also about 85 degrees on the side of the mountain, so all of our clothes were drenched with sweat. The drive home was absolutely disgusting. They then took me back to the guest house, and I showered for the meeting I had that afternoon with my department from work. Becky and the boys picked me up as soon as I finished and we drove to some beach that starts with a "B" to watch the sun set and view the iconic image of Table Mountain, Lion's Head, and Devil's Peak. We had loads of fun on that beach.
Monday I had meetings all day, and Becky and the boys had a tour of the winelands. I am a bit jealous, yes. They came back to the guest house that evening with pizza and we hung out there for a while. Tuesday morning I had meetings again, then Becky came back in the afternoon for the dinner our organization was hosting at this international conference (approximately 5000 delegates) that was in Cape Town that week. The dinner presentation was a large reason that I got to go to Cape Town, so it was pretty important. When we got back to the guest house, the boys came over and we looked at our pictures from the week and then watched Zombieland.
Wednesday morning the boys had to work, so Becky and I went shopping and then the boys came over to the guest house for about an hour before we had to go to the airport. And that is all! The trip home was really long, but relatively uneventful. I do not like such long flights, but I got some sleeping pills and they helped immensely.
The trip was amazing, and I am incredibly grateful to have this job that provides opportunity to travel! I will not attempt to summarize since this post is already way too long. BUT - here's a link to my photos on Picasa!
Let's see, we started with the longest amount of traveling I have ever experienced. We had about 23 hours of flight to get there. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, got to the hotel and showered and unpacked before heading out to walk around the city, even though I really just wanted to sleep. Becky (my coworker) has a friend (Torben) from Germany who is living in Cape Town working in a home for adults with disabilities as his year of civil service required by the German government, so we hung out with him and his other friend (Till) from Germany. Torben and Till met up with us Sunday afternoon and walked around downtown Cape Town with us, had a coffee, and then we went back to our hotel for dinner and an early bedtime! Monday was completely full of staff meetings, which were held in a conference room in the hotel. Yes, the meetings were fairly boring, but I did enjoy meeting the international staff members with whom I have been corresponding the past 3 months and had never met before.
Tuesday we had meetings in the morning and then went on a staff group tour. We took buses out to Fish Hoek and Hout Bay where we took a boat out to Seal Island. It was pretty sweet. After Hout Bay, we drove along Chapman's Peak Drive, which is breathtakingly beautiful! After Chapman's Peak Drive we drove to a township where we visited a ministry center there that runs several homes and medical centers for AIDS patients. It was kind of strange to arrive in a tour bus, walk around their township, and simply get back on the bus. I did not really enjoy that. And every time we got on the bus, I fell asleep pretty much immediately, so I missed the vast majority of what the tour guide said. After the bus tour, we went back to the hotel for dinner and another early bedtime. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all meetings all day. We started at 8 am and went until 6:30 each night. We had tea breaks and lunch, but it was an incredibly tiring week.
Friday evening after the last meeting ended, Torben and Till picked me and Becky up in the car they had rented. It was a 1971 VW Beetle, with the hood painted as the South African flag and the doors were the American and Italian flags. It was both amazing and a piece of crap. I took photos, do not worry. We went with the boys and their friend, Freddie, to a soccer game at the Cape Town stadium. It was super exciting, even though it was less than a quarter full. The two teams were from Cape Town, so I would have expected more fans, but no. After the game we went to a bar downtown, but we were dead tired and had a big day planned ahead of us, so we each had a drink and then went home.
Saturday the boys picked us up and we went to Muizenberg Beach. It was gorgeous, but I quickly learned that literally everywhere in Cape Town is gorgeous. After strolling along the beach watching for sharks and finding none, we continued on to Boulder Beach and the penguin colony. The penguins were cute yet smelly. We walked around a bit there then went over to the part of the beach where you could swim. We did go swimming, and the water was unbelievably cold. Frigid. Icy. I could not believe that such beautiful water on such a lovely beach could be so cold. So Becky and I swam for a few minutes then stood on the shore while the boys took turns diving off the rocks. The water was cold, yes, but the weather was spectacular. It was about 75 degrees, and throughout the weekend it got up to the low 80s. Unbelievable!
After having a quick picnic by the car, we headed to Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope. It was about a 45 minute drive from Boulder Beach through the national park, and it was beautiful. We saw baboons and whales and ostrich. Ridiculous! We hiked up to the lighthouse at Cape Point, took pictures alongside the loads of people there as well, then hiked down to this tiny beach between Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. There were literally hundreds of stairs, but it was definitely worth it. The beach was very isolated, with maybe 4 other people down there while we were there. We drank wine, waded in the frigid water, and while the boys decided to go swimming (are they crazy?!), I took the best nap of my life on the beach. We hung out there for a couple of hours, then hiked back up and then up the point on Cape of Good Hope. People had told us that it was going to be unbearably windy, but it was just kind of breezy and the sun was shining the whole time. We couldn't have asked for better weather the whole day. We took our tourist photo by the Cape of Good Hope sign, then headed back towards Cape Town via Chapman's Peak drive and Fish Hoek. This time we were driving this route at sunset. It was even more beautiful than on the bus tour on Tuesday. Becky and I then had to switch from the hotel from the previous week to a guest house where we stayed that night (and to a new guest house the next morning), and once that chaos was sorted out, I met up with Jedd and Janelle Schroy who live in Johannesburg and had dinner with them and their 2-month old baby, Reagan. After dinner they dropped me off on Long Street to meet up with Becky, Torben, Till, and some of their friends for a bit of a night out. Unfortunately I was basically asleep as I was standing up, so we only stayed out until about 12:30. It was a pretty busy place and could have been fun (Torben and Till stayed out until 3:30), but Becky and I were simply too exhausted to be any fun.
Sunday morning we were up and out at 8 am (crazy!) to take the cable car up Table Mountain. Our car died as we got to the cable car station, so Torben stayed to sort that out while Becky and I went up the mountain. Till, crazy kid, climbed up the mountain in just one hour, met us at the top (we had been up there for a while), and then the 3 of us hiked down. Oh. My. God. I thought I was going to die. Not just because of the intense incline and the unstable rock steps down, but because it took and hour and a half. I was not prepared for a legitimate mountain climb, and my shoes gave me blisters, but we made it down. By the time we reached the bottom, I was not sure that I could stand my knees were so wobbly. Till must have been in much better shape than I suspected, as he had climbed up AND down with seemingly little effort. It was also about 85 degrees on the side of the mountain, so all of our clothes were drenched with sweat. The drive home was absolutely disgusting. They then took me back to the guest house, and I showered for the meeting I had that afternoon with my department from work. Becky and the boys picked me up as soon as I finished and we drove to some beach that starts with a "B" to watch the sun set and view the iconic image of Table Mountain, Lion's Head, and Devil's Peak. We had loads of fun on that beach.
Monday I had meetings all day, and Becky and the boys had a tour of the winelands. I am a bit jealous, yes. They came back to the guest house that evening with pizza and we hung out there for a while. Tuesday morning I had meetings again, then Becky came back in the afternoon for the dinner our organization was hosting at this international conference (approximately 5000 delegates) that was in Cape Town that week. The dinner presentation was a large reason that I got to go to Cape Town, so it was pretty important. When we got back to the guest house, the boys came over and we looked at our pictures from the week and then watched Zombieland.
Wednesday morning the boys had to work, so Becky and I went shopping and then the boys came over to the guest house for about an hour before we had to go to the airport. And that is all! The trip home was really long, but relatively uneventful. I do not like such long flights, but I got some sleeping pills and they helped immensely.
The trip was amazing, and I am incredibly grateful to have this job that provides opportunity to travel! I will not attempt to summarize since this post is already way too long. BUT - here's a link to my photos on Picasa!
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