Sunday, July 12, 2009

HUGE update post.

Well, I'm terrible at blogging! As you can see, my last entry was on the first day of school, which was what, nine months ago? More than that, I think. But don't complain because here I am making a new entry!

It's summer, which would normally mean a nice three-month break but I'm easing my way into the world of grown-ups and continuing to take classes during summer term. It's a funny transition--you spend the first two decades of your life getting long summer breaks and suddenly they're ripped away from you! How cruel. That said, I'm actually really enjoying my classes. I am currently taking Forensic Anthropology, which is basically a CSI class. We've been split into groups and each have an actual skeleton to analyze and at the end of the term, we'll be giving a report on it as a medical examiner would be doing in the real world. It's really exciting, and only slightly disturbing. The most interesting part is analyzing the skeleton--our guy had pretty bad osteoarthritis, and at one point fractured one of his hands. He also has dentures on top and really bad lower teeth--our professor said it was because he was a meth user. Insane what that disgusting drug will do to a person's body!

Next half of the term (in just a week, yikes!) I'll be taking a heavier course load. I'm taking three classes, one of which goes from 8 am to 5 pm on Fridays only. It will be interesting trying to stay alert and focused on one topic for that long! I'm taking all anthropology classes at this point. I'm really excited about my major, and it won't be much longer until I'm done! If all goes according to plan, I should be done at the end of winter term next year. Amazing! It will feel so great to be a college graduate.

I lost my job as a nanny right as the spring term ended--because of the awful economy, my boss lost her job as the nutrition supervisor for Springfield school district, and obviously an unemployed parent doesn't really need a nanny. But I got a call from her last week saying she thinks she's about to start a new job, and will need me again soon! September at the latest, but hopefully I'll have a few days of work during the summer months. With the support of my amazing parents, I do okay while not working, but it is definitely nice to earn my own money and not feel like such a mooch. The job market is awful here so I'm really hoping this nanny thing will pick back up and carry me through the school year. That way, I can finish school in winter and stay in Eugene until my lease is up next June, supporting myself for the last few months of that. Then, once Chris has graduated (winter or spring for him!) we are planning on leaving Eugene. We haven't decided where to go yet but are thinking tenatively of leaving Oregon! Crazy, since I've been living here for 10 YEARS! That is a long time for me. He's lived in Oregon his whole life, so it will be interesting for both of us.

I moved into a really great new house. I'm no longer living with three other loud girls! I can sleep at night without having to listen to them playing foos ball with loud music on. I now live with Anya, one of my roommates from last year, and a really sweet girl named Spencer and her dog, Porter. Our new house is ADORABLE, with arched doorways/cielings and hardwood floors. My rent is much cheaper and I have a vegetable garden. I'm much happier here than I was at my old house. My room is really big and on the second story, which is a dream come true!

Okay, how about some pictures? I went camping with Chris right after spring term ended at a place called the Blue River Resevoir. I did some fishing but no luck (I've apparently inherited Dad's ineptitude at angling, as I've been fishing at least once a week all summer and haven't gotten a single BITE!) and mostly just lazed around the campground. Here are some pictures of that trip:

Here is our shelter. It was warm enough that we didn't even need a tent, just this tarp to keep us dry when it started raining. I am really proud because I built it on my own!


Here's a super gross mushy kissy picture of us on the Blue River before it is dammed and becomes the resevoir. This is where I had my line in the water and could actually see fish in the water completely ignoring it...sigh.


And here is what happens when I set the timer on the camera, run to sit next to Chris before the picture is taken, and stomp on his leg as I sit down. Oops, haha.

And some pictures of the house, yay!


Here is our adorable living room. This is just after we moved in, so it looks a little bare. Where that red chair is we now have a comfy blue papasan chair, and some more stuff on the walls. LOVE the wood floors...so much nicer than carpet!


Here is one part of my room: I have a dormer window! It's really cool, and a lovely spot to sit and read. I'm so happy to have a bookshelf, too! And you can see my built in dresser. The bottom drawer is so long I'm pretty sure I could sleep in it.


And now I'm standing in the dormer window nook, looking at the rest of the room. It is ENORMOUS and so great. Here you can see my bed nook, which I really like--it frees up so much space in the rest of the room. I think I need some more furniture! The silly velvet chair is from our old house and really comfy--it belonged to my old roommate Marta but she was going to throw it out so I snagged it because it's great to sit in and read or write. In the upper right corner you can just see my cool paper lamps from Ikea. Also please ignore the beer bottle on my table, haha, and note my Beatles posters.


In fact, here's a better view of them :) I love the fact that I have THREE windows in my room. It keeps it really cool at night. That map is a vintage one from National Geographic.

We have a kitchen that is really 50's style, with red counters and white cabinets, and actually have a fourth bedroom that we've set up with a second tv and video game stuff for when people come over. We all share one bathroom but with three people it's not a problem at all, unlike having one bathroom between four people in the old house, yuck! We're trying really hard to keep it neat and tidy, and we've been having people over a lot. I'm so happy here!

Okay, as it's 11 pm and I need to be up at 7 tomorrow, I should probably get to sleep! Hope everyone is well.