I GOT IN!!!!

I got into grad school!!!! I hadn't talked about it because I hadn't actually gotten in. But anyway, story:

After I quit Zipline, Jeff gave me full permission to just sit and do nothing for a few weeks to unwind and de-stress (this is how bad that job was). So while I was at home watching tv and eating ice cream, I thought about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And Jeff and I know we want to move to Seattle, so I was looking for jobs in Seattle and everyone that I wanted to apply for said "7 years experience or a Masters Degree." I was finding myself looking more and more at at Project Management in the IT world.

So I started looking into it and going back to school didn't sound that bad. And so Jeff and I started talking about it, and we both agreed that it would be the best thing for our future. This conversation definitely included who would stay home with the kids part time and such, and we both agreed that Jeff would be better to do that because he loves programming, but really doesn't enjoy doing it 40 hours a week. So we decided that I would be the 40-hour-a-week person and Jeff would be the stay-at-home/part-time-freelancing dad.

So I found a program that I was really interested in at Boston University. I looked at a lot of different programs that were accredited through PMI. But the reason I really liked this particular program because a lot of programs were mixing business class with project management classes and Boston mixes computer science classes with project management classes, which I felt was better for what I want to do.

So I applied and sat and waited for three weeks and just got the acceptance email yesterday.

The Wedding is as Planned as it can be at this moment

I feel like I'm in this weird limbo waiting place about the wedding. Everything that has to be booked a million years ahead of the actual event is done, and now we're just waiting to order the rest. I literally can't do anything for the next month except go beer tasting with Jeff for the keg, write vows, and start nagging parental units about embarrassing pictures of us growing up. And then in a month it all starts up again and really doesn't stop until the actual wedding.

Actually as I'm sitting here, I beginning to realize all the little things that still need to get done. And it's becoming a really long list....

The Past Mixing with the Future

A month ago I saw some cute engagement photos in a library and got the idea that it would be cute and ironic if Jeff and I did ours at Whitworth in one of the computer labs. So last Friday, Jeff and I met Rachael in the middle of the day at Whitworth's library and took photos. And it was a very strange feeling. I've been to Whitworth a few times since I left for various reasons, but never really inside. I would either just drive around the main drag loop and look at the changes, or go to the Print Shop on the outskirts of campus to visit them. So, as we tried to walk as naturally as possible down the stairs and into the library, it felt weird. It felt even weirder as we got inside and headed up the labs where I spent many hours working on everything from code to art projects. It was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Everything was in the same place, yet time had obviously passed. 

We walked into labs that I used to feel so at home in, coming in loaded down with books and snacks ready to camp out for a few hours; and now as we wandered in I realized how foreign it felt, like we were trespassing on sacred "only students aged 18-21" ground (complete with new signs about proper coffee containers, when in our day it was soda cans). We took some pictures in the book stacks that I used to know so well, but now didn't. And then we took a walk inside the newly remodeled Student Union Building (or the HUB as Whitworth calls it) and even though things were different and new and shiny, I still took a New York Times, just like I did everyday I was a student there.

And then the present caught up to us. The Computer Science department is no longer housed in the low-slung brick building known as Lindaman, but instead now resides in the shiny new wall-of-windows Science building (and I will fully admit that I didn't even suggest going to see it for fear of running into old professors who would have loved to see me, yet I didn't want to fail them somehow with the story of my life). We went and visited Jeff's dad up in the IT department (he's the Director of IT, something that he wasn't when we were there at school) and as I sat in his office, one of Jeff and my old classmates walked by because he now works there.

As a new chapter in my life quickly draws closer, it was an interesting afternoon looking back at the past. Even as I get ready to go back to school for my Masters, I know it won't be the same. At some point between Whitworth and now, I became an adult. The things that I worried about at Whitworth don't even phase me anymore. I am now more confident in my abilities, in my place as I sit in the Director of IT's office discussing the runnings of the place rather than down in the labs a floor below studying. Going back to school now means going back to enhance my knowledge of my field, not to sit and argue rhetoric like it did before. It means going back with long-term goals firmly in place and reachable.

Guess What?

me: hey honey
guess what
Jeff:what?
me: i have something importatn to tell you that i CAN tell you right now
Jeff: ok but don't get me excited just to say what you always say
me: what do i always say??
Jeff: you say "guess what"
and i'm like "ooo? whats this ? something exciting that i've never heard before???"
"i love you"
"DAMN IT"
"I KNEW THAT ALREADY"
"I WANTED SOMETHING NEW"
me: well then i guess I have nothing important to tell you
Jeff: its important but when you say "guess what" i think it means you're gonna tell me something I did not previously know
honey, guess what
did you know that I like chrome?
the guess what gives you some kind of intrigue on what i'm gonna say only to tell you something you already knew
Jeff: does that not make sense to you?
me: you're no fun
fine. i'll think of something and it'll be important
Jeff: so you were going to say "i love you" just now?
me: duh
*five seconds later*
Jeff: honey
guess what
me: ooooo *intrigue what?!?!?
Jeff: SEE?
me: i was mocking you
Jeff: i had a dream last night that a plane full of nukes was about to crash into us. And we were running but there was no escape. and right before it blew up i was like "well if i'm gonna die i'm glad I get to be with you before the end."
how sweet huh
but then we didn't die because I am invincible in my dreams
so all was well
me: so sweet

Chair 3!

Us headed up Chair 3!

So if you are going to marry a skier, you must become a skier. It's basically the law. And before dating Jeff, and having lived in the PNW for more than ten years, I could count the number of times I had strapped some sort of plastic to my feet and tried to go down a snowy mountain on one hand. But Jeff is determined. So this year we went to the Mt Spokane Ski Swap, hosted by the Mt Spokane Ski Patrol, waded through the throngs of people also looking for good deals, and got me some skis, boots, helmet, and gloves. And then we went and bought ourselves the Mt Spokane Stocking Stuffer pack of tickets, which is 3 lift tickets for $100, which is a good deal.

So we went Night Skiing yesterday to see how many times I can fall on my butt, and amazingly, it wasn't that many. Having skis that actually fit the size of your body (the two times I went last season, I used Jeff's mom's skis, which fit in the boots but were about 4 inches taller than me, which is bad) make things much easier. Jeff's other goal of this mission was to get me down Chair 3 (see map here). And he succeeded!! We stayed on the Northwest Passage, which is the easiest of the runs off Chair 3, but I still made it down...until I would get to the Cat Track. Then I would fall. And falling on the Cat Track is a no-no because it's basically the interstate highway of the mountain. But luckily it was night skiing, and by the time we headed up Chair 3, it was late into night skiing and most people were in the lodge having a beer. So we did Chair 3 three times, and by the end I couldn't really put any weight on my left leg because it was working so hard, but I was still standing. Barely.

A Mt Spokane employee photo-bombing

After that, Jeff had the need for speed and I had the need for hot chocolate, so I headed for the lodge and Jeff did a few runs by himself. Jeff actually used to teach at the ski school at Mt Spokane, so he's a good skier and was being an amazing boyfriend and not leaving me in the dust. Then he joined me for hot chocolate, and we went home. It was fun and a great way to start the ski season.

You can over-salt things

This is what I learned last night.

Story: A few weeks ago, Jeff decided that we eat enough couscous that we should just buy plain couscous rather than the boxes that are pre-seasoned. So we bought the plain couscous and since have been playing with seasoning it. Last week we made a lemon chicken couscous salad, and Jeff thought it wasn't seasoned enough (I thought it was good). So last night I made chicken and couscous and Jeff was at work, so I had to do the salt and pepper myself, which I usually leave up to Jeff because I'm not that good at it. And I'm not because I over-salted the couscous. But I fixed it by just mixing the chicken and veggies into the couscous...which might mean that I didn't salt something else that I should have.

Salsa Cookbook + Jeff = A Match Made in Heaven

So on our Thanksgiving adventure, we supported Small Business Saturday and bought a cookbook in Anacortes, WA's local bookstore called Salsas of the World. And since Saturday, we are now on the fourth salsa. We made two that night with the family and turned it into taco night since everyone was sick of turkey and leftovers. And as I sit here and type, Jeff is making two more so he is fully supplied for the week. But something that caught my eye was a salsa called Romesco. This is apparently a staple Spanish salsa and has almonds in it. But the thing I found most interesting was the spices it called for: pimenton de la vera - picante, and pimenton de la vera - verde. So I looked it up and found out it's a "better paprika" made from a chili from the La Vera region of Spain. I now need to order some, thanks to this New York Times article about using it as a better paprika.