In which it is Springtime

Weeeell hi there! Great to see you! I missed you, it's been too long. How the hell are you?
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That's fascinating!

Well, I sure hope you're all doing well. Or well-ish. Or just ok. And if you're shitty, well, I send extra good juju your way. Can you feel it? Caaaan you? Are your spidey senses tingling?

Lots of life-y business haps since my last update. I would apologize for my pitiful, eratic and less than stellar performance in updating this blog, but, I'm not sorry. Not really. I am chronically bad at keeping up with things, and I (as most humans I've met) tend to start something and well... not finish, or not keep consistant. Sometimes it's easier, sometimes harder, but overall, I plan on keeping this blog up to date at least quarterly. Quarterly is not too bad, after all. 4 is a solid number. Quarterly is the regular update sent in newsletters for most businesses and science journals. Clearly, this blog is science. I am a scientist. A life scientist. Of business. Chyea.

Soap! I went to Mexico! And it wasn't that hot! Except for that day I got heat stroke! No, it actually was hot and humid, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't complain. But really, it's probably hotter because I am a super pale, usually dehydrated girl who sometimes pushes herself too hard. I guess it really wasn't that hot.

So! I love lists. Did you know that? Maybe you do now after reading this. Or maybe you just know me super well. Yeah, I'm talking to you *wink wink*. Ily.

List #7123781: Things I really enjoyed about Mexico

1) Seeing my lovely, lovely sister. I hadn't seen any of my East Coasters since Christmas, which is the longest I've ever been away from my family. I know, I know, cry me a river, could be worse. But I effing love my people. So, seeing her definitely earns Numero Uno status. It worked out really well, because both of us are big into adventures and not huge into just sitting around at resorts.



2.) Not staying in the resort. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about a free, all inclusive, gorgeous beachy-ness, swim up pool hotel suite. I just wanted to explore and get some culture, of which there is none at the resort. Never being to Mexico, I had a lot that I wanted to check out. Kate and I went off most days on some pretty rad excursions and experienced a lot of the Yucatan.

3.) Guided tours through security checkpoints with police wearing huge automatic guns. We went on the traditional cenote/Chichen Itza experience, which of course was magical. We did get on the wrong tour at first, but we figured it out along the way. The guide at Chichen Itza was awful, so Kate and I did our own exploring, and took some of the best pictures I've ever seen.

Historic colonial town of Valladolid

The other excursion we did was to Coba, and to one of the last climbable pyramids in the world. It was terrifying and rewarding and hot hot hot. Standing on the top, I couldn't help but think, hey. Lots of people's freshly harvested hearts have bled here. Apparently, this was a bit much for the people around me, since all of them looked at me like this. I thought it was cool. On that same day we went to a teeny tiny Mayan village, and got to boat around and zip line and be present for a ceremony/blessing by a shaman, where he burned some traditional sap for incense that smelled incredible. It was a small tour and a small village, and the intimacy of it was really amazing. Very authentic! That place was my favorite. I could have hung out in the forest with Kate and the shaman for the rest of the trip. Kate and the Shaman, that would make an excellent band name.






Shaman forest

 



From the sacrifical stone on top of Coba mega pyramid



4.) Performances at the resort. Getting to watch some pretty awesome lip synching/dancing from an adult sized wooden swing and drinking free alcohol. And also, Kate killing it on the dance floor. Or stage, rather.

5.) Traditional Mayan food (aka, mostly corn). The only place in the resort we had traditional Mexican food was in the dinner show we went to, where they made special vegan food just for usses. It was crazy good. And it was cool to be in a big ampitheater and watch a chef work his magic in person and on large screens. Felt like we were on the Food Network! The other very tradition Mayan/Mexican meal we enjoyed was in Coba. Tamarind and hibiscus water? Rice and beans? PLANTAINS, YOU SAY?! Yes, please!

I guess that list tops out at 5. Of mention, we did participate in a few little CoreMed parties along the way, and I met some far away coworkers, which was nice. Overall, it was a whirlwind, short weekend, but I am psyched that I got to see some of the things I did. Apparently, Coba is being closed off for climbing in the next year. So glad I didn't miss out! There was so much to do and to choose from, but honestly, I wouldn't have traded that day in Coba for anything else in the Yucatan Peninsula.

After Mexico, I came back to my fair Seattle. I had to find an apartment rather quickly, and was very lucky in my search. I'm now living a cute, cozy (read: small-as-fuck) 1 bedroom on Capital Hill, which was my neighborhood of choice. The place has a month to month lease with great terms, so I wasn't locked into staying after my contract was up in May...

But really, I think I've known since the first good week I had in Seattle last September that I wanted to stay. I feel rather at home here. The topography (is this the right usage of that word?) is stunning and pretty near idyllic for every type of person. You like mountains? BAM. Volcanoes and shit. Oh, but you'd like to be near the ocean and salt water and whales and seagulls barking all the time? ZAP. Got you covered. Fresh water for boating and swimming? POW. Done and done my friends. There also happens to be a rainforest on the other side of the Sound. That's happening this summer. It's close to Portland, Victoria, Vancouver, and all other places and things west coast. For the most part, peeps have a laid back attitude and a friendlier than New Englanders (though that's not super hard.) The only thing is that it rarely sees snow, but I can drive 30 miles north and be in snow country in January. I've also made some really stellar friends out here.

Alright, I'm done with my love letter to Seattle. For now. Short story long, I will be relocating all my stuff out here with plans to stay awhile, as I've now accepting a full time position with the company I was contract with. My stuff will be coming out West to me sometime in July after I go home and finish going through the gems in my storage unit. I started that process a few weeks ago when I went home and found some pretty brilliant things, including old pictures, the old collage from my bedroom walls in high school, every note that anyone has ever written me ever, boxes and trinkets from all of my exboyfriends. ALL of them. Some of whom were only actually my boyfriends in my mind. They were real people, I swear! It was just rather one-sided. Alas, all of the above has been tossed, with some dark and somewhat blurry camera phone pictures to remind my of the favorites. Favorite things in general, not favorite not-really-boyfriend boyfriends. Don't look at me like that. You know what I mean. Right? Anyway, here are some storage unit pictures for shits and giggles.

My first cell phone, a hand-me-down from Matt. The back is all messed up from where I superglued it to my wall collage in high school.

Some of the many stolen signs and other pieces of my wall collage

Perfect taste in music. Obvs.

An entire floppy disk container full of WAVS. And probably only one per disk.

"Hi there, hello there, how do you do? We're going to sing some songs for you. Some fast songs, some slow songs, some funny songs, too. So join in and sing along and have some fun too. We're gonna sing about Laura, a very special, special girl" Pretty sure I remember all 5 songs by heart. This was a keeper.

Love matches from 8th grade.

With all that said and shared, I plan on continuing my country wide journies and international experiences. I just have a new home base to do it from. What's next, you wonder? Great question, my friends. A weekend in Vegas, perhaps. Extended leave to Japan? Possibly. A tour with Doctors without Borders? Hopefully.


But for now, my dear friends, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise  these are the days of our lives  these are not the droids you're looking for  these are good times. Thanks for reading and I'll maybe talk to you in the next three to four months.

She lives!

Just not in the digital world. Well... barely.

With my computer broken and my Kindle Fire and its absolute mockery of a web browser, it has been nearly impossible to keep up with blogging. Instead, I've been keeping a real paper journal, longhand style.

So, why don't I break out that delightful notebook and share some of my profound experiences with you!? Yes! Making the "Obligatory catch up" blog somewhat more intriguing! No? Maybe? I think your head says no, and probably your eyes and maybe your heart, but what you actually mean is "yes." OK then, if you insist!

On November 17th, I wrote, "Today I drank delicious beer. I don't know what it was called.There are a lot of beers out here."

On November 29th, "The Hopper commercials make me a little homesick for New England. As do the Dunkin commercials and the SNHU commercials.WTF is up with Dunkin's adds out here? I want some god damn Munchkins. Who can I call to complain?"

December either the 12th or the 16th holds this little gem: I apparently wanted to remind myself that "it rains in Seattle a considerable amount" and that "people drive like the rain is some sort of voodoo magic falling from the sky that has never before been seen by the likes of men."

Sometime in the first weeks of January, I wrote about my future as a professional Jenga player. The dates are illegible. It would also appear that I was bleeding from something during that particularly profound thought, as dried droplets of blood are on the bottom of the page. Apparently, dreams of professional Jenga playing trump a-cut-that-is-so-severe-it-is-dripping in the realm of writing.

What a successful 3 months of journaling. -_-

From memory, then, here's a breakdown of all of the things I would have blogged about had I actually been able to, and possibly the things I would have written about if I was a more coherent, non sarcastic individual.

1. I still live in Seattle. Winter is mild and people complain about the rain. They need to grow up and put on some golashes, because this place is the shit.

2, The rest of my Ireland vacation was ridiculous. Not in that it is worthy of ridicule, but in that it was hard to believe that it could be so awesome. A seperate Ireland post will arrive shortly after the reception of my hard drive from NH.

3. VIP tickets to see the Killers was one of the best decisions of late 2012.

4. I went home for a short Christmas break and it was absolutely lovely. With that said, I signed another contract to stay in Seattle until the begining of May. That will make this the longest stretch I have ever been away from home, and the longest stretch that I have gone without seeing any of my people.

I'm sure I've forgotten things of importance and things of great humorousness, but I will have to live with my remarkable journaling as the only record of those last two months of 2012.

Luckily, I remember lots from January!

Happy 2013! I brought in the new year at a masquerade, something I've always wanted to do. The fireworks from the Space Needle were pretty impressive! I have taught myself many new things so far this year, including the "cups" song and game, how to sing a song in French, how to start fires without matches. I started working out regularly, and I've lost about 15 pounds. I've also read 4 books. I took a mini road trip across the Cascades to Spokane. Let's see, anything I missed? Oh! Well I had a window smashed in my car for the first time. I think that about covers the excitement happening thus far. Perhaps I should just prepare myself for the impending dissapointment, because January was the most productive month possibly I've ever had. But who knows? 2013 is lookin mighty promising, with a free trip to Mexico avec my favorite sister and all sorts of weekend trips planned for the upcoming spring months. Perhaps January is just a warm up.

Stay tuned, my friends. And watch for the back dated blogs from my cross country trip and my other 9 days in Ireland!