Pictures!

Ryan and I finally got picture wire today, which means we were finally able to hang up the pictures above our bed, which means we were finally able to take bedroom pictures, which means we are FINALLY able to post them online and show everyone our new home!

Click right here to see them on Facebook!

Hopefully this works for those of you who aren't on Facebook. Let me know if it doesn't, and I'll post them another way as well.

The pictures above the bed really do make a difference. They make it even more "home."

That's all for now, as that's really all we've done today, beyond other small errands that are really not at all exciting. Bread. Juice. Wow.

Ah, Weekends.

Today was pretty boring, at least to write about. BJ and Sammeh had work early, Ryan and I slept in. I worked out. Ryan and I played video games all day. The four of us watched a couple more episodes of True Blood. I'm about to chow down on a large amount of cheese tortellini, then the four of us are participating in a raid on WoW at 8, which will go until midnight.

This weekend was pretty empty...I did some laundry and fetched smoothies, but beyond that, nothing "productive" happened. Usually this would bother me, but...it doesn't. The past week and a half since we arrived have been pretty busy--moving, rearranging, building, shopping, buying, setting up house and accounts and lives. And if all goes as planned, sometime in the next few days we will get phone calls that will make life even busier. We're hoping for it. So two days where barely anything of Value happened might turn out to be pretty valuable in the long run.

Now, this pasta is much too tempting, so I'm signing off until tomorrow. *nomnomnom*

Oh, something kinda cool. New character in the show, crazy hippie-dippie chick named Amy? Character is from Storrs, Connecticut. Ryan and I chuckled, and I then couldn't help but notice how weird she sounded among the Louisiana characters.

Anyway. Nom.

The Rest of Saturday, June 5th.

The day ended up being pretty boring. I fetched smoothies, did laundry, played a lot of Pokemon. There were three highlights:

[o] The smallest thing was watching three more episode of True Blood, an HBO series about vampires in the south that BJ and Sammeh (mostly BJ) have introduced us to. It's very good, with fantastic characters and great writing.

[o] Next up: DRIVE-THRU PASTA. There's a chain here called Fazoli's that is basically just what I said: pasta in a drive-thru. Alfredo, lasagna, chicken parmigiana, ziti, etc etc. Anyone who knows me, and my pasta obsession, can only imagine my happiness when I learned of this place. Is it the best pasta in the world? No, but it's damned good for drive-thru. And the breadsticks! Yummmm....

[o] Last but never least: I finally got to talk to David for the first time since Ryan and I moved, and since David and Dorita's trip to Ireland. I learned that it wasn't the trip they had planned. Originally, they had signed up for a caravan--horses, wagons, the whole bit--across the country. Talk about awesome! But the first day, Dorita ended up being dragged by her foot by a horse, and destroyed most of the muscles and tendons in one foot. She's going to be fine, and she actually had the best foot and ankle doctor in all of Ireland operating on and treating her...and from what David told me, it was almost a better trip from then on.

Everyone they encountered was beyond courteous, beyond nice, beyond anything they were used to. The hospital, the U.S. Embassy, the taxi drivers, the visitors for other patients--everyone went out of their way to help them, whether it was giving David a place to stay, providing internet and phone numbers, pushing the wheelchair in the airport, everything. They were already changing their views and perceptions of the world, and this really motivated that even further.

It was a lot to absorb, and, while I got what he was telling me, it's hard to put it all down in writing. Plus it's not entirely my message to share; it's just part of what happened me today. However, knowing the two of them, I'm very glad for all the positives they are going through right now, even if it's influenced--recently and currently--by seemingly negative circumstances (guess what the key word is). I completely supportive and happy for them :)

And now, as it's almost 2 in the morning, I'm finally off to bed. I'll find something else to talk about tomorrow, I'm sure.

Slightly Belated

Didn't update yesterday due to rampant busyness. Started off the day with exercise and a shower, followed by laundry (which included jamming one of the two washers with a quarter, >.<), followed by a long shopping trip with BJ and Ryan.

I already knew these two would be tight. They were pretty tight when they just talked online on a regular basis. Then they were able to go clothes shopping together, sharing the same size, relatively same taste, and a VERY heavy slant toward the "metrosexual" side of the scale.

After about 15 hours in the Big & Tall section of JCPenney's, we hit Best Buy, then made a stab at finding a "local" liquor store that sells my beloved framboise. What we thought would be a simple trip turned into a mini-adventure, finding ourselves in a much more rural section of the town (if we were still in South Bend at all, I'm not entirely sure).

We eventually gave up on it for the day and headed home, but I must say, if I have to make a semi-weekly trip all by myself, with the windows down and stereo blasting, down roads with more trees than houses on either side of the road...I'll manage somehow. :D

Ryan and I had decided to make this a stay-in day, with game playing and relaxing and not spending money, but I remembered just this morning that the Beloved Smoothies came in yesterday, and the store will be closed tomorrow. SO! One tiny outing, then a day of relaxing. And laundry. And dish washing.

I'll find something to update about later, I'm sure. Early warning: there's a chance it'll be WoWtastic.

Edit: 11:11 am. Changed up the template and colors! I thought the previous one felt too closed in, and too dark despite it being fairly bright greens. This one, to me, feels more open and bright. Let me know what you think: good, bad, like this color, hate that color, etc etc. I'll go make sure anonymous commenting is allowed so my parents can join in...

Mmmmm.

One of the biggest changes to our world, thus far, has been FOOD. Never before last week had we seen, or eaten at, Popeye's, Long John Silver's, Cici's, Del Taco, Panda Express, Chik-Fil-A, Steak n' Shake, or any of the other dozen eateries that exist less than a mile away. We have sampled from many of these in the past week (I still haven't had the craved macaroni and cheese pizza at Cici's, but soon!), and they have more or less all been extremely tasty.

Even the food we're used to are different. Subway has a drive-thru, offers Monterey Cheddar bread, and makes personal-sized pizzas. The grocery store carries varieties of favorite brands that we had never heard of (such as Hawaiian Red Baron frozen pizza, Ben & Jerry's Peanut Brittle ice cream, and CAFFEINE-FREE MOUNTAIN DEW WHAT THE HELL).

Another big difference: almost every single place closes at 9. The drive-thrus may stay open later, but all dining rooms close at 9. Meanwhile, the liquor stores are open until 2 in the morning, and they don't put tarps down over the alcohol in the grocery store on Sundays. This lead to an interesting scene at the self-scan on our Sunday grocery run: I scanned the six-pack of Woodchuck hard cider I had found, the machine called for assistance, and, instead of checking my driver's license, the attendee took the hard cider away. She was very nice about it, especially when I explained about Connecticut and tarps and aren't we silly country bumpkins.

On this same grocery foray (at Meijer, another store we had never heard of before now), we bought more food than we had been able to for a long time. That night, Ryan cooked up dinner for the entire apartment: chicken breast marinated in a Cajun-terikyaki concoction he mixed up, with rice and frozen veggies on the side. It was delicious. The next night, he made a fruit smoothie: cherries, mango, banana, and yogurt. Also delicious. He has now been voted the house chef.

My only experiences in cooking since arriving here have been boiling water for frozen pasta, and helping with the rice and veggies when Ryan made chicken. I haven't even made myself eggs yet, which is a little ridiculous, given how much I've missed being able to do that.

However, I can forgive myself the transgression for one simple reason: I found the Beloved Smoothies. And I ordered up a case of it. Tomorrow evening, 12 Stonyfield Farms Yogurt Smoothies (in Peach!) will arrive at the Garden Patch Market, and I will pick them up and put them in the fridge and do a dance of Happy Yogurt Time. And devour them.

I'm still torn on whether or not I should order myself a case of Guru, the energy drink I fell in love with back in Connecticut. It does exist here, but only in Original and Original Lite, and I'm head over heels for the Juicy variety, in Superfruit. A case of 12, shipped to our door, would cost $26. I'm thinking I'll wait until I have a paycheck, and then order it. Maybe.

It's an interesting combination of two new worlds: we have the space and tools to store and prepare healthy, delicious meals, and we have a new, vast selection of deep-fried delicious drive-thru to choose from. It should be interesting to see how these opposing forces shape us in the near future.

Indiana!

I could do a whole long post to explain how, from April 20 to now, Ryan and I made the decision and went through the process of moving from Stafford, Connecticut to South Bend, Indiana. Except the idea of that whole long post is exactly what has been keeping me from posting on this blog. The idea of reliving the process I just finished, and typing it up in a way that is at least mildly entertaining, is exhausting.

Here's the short version:
The only way Ryan and I could afford to move out of his mother's basement was to move to Indiana, where we were all but guaranteed to get full-time jobs as Starbucks baristas, and where our friends BJ & Sammeh had a 2-bedroom apartment waiting for us.

So we jumped.

So far, it's been great. We get along very well with our new roommates and their friends, and have been having a lot of fun. The area is interesting (to us), and has enough trees for me to get by. There have been bouts of homesickness, and attacks of "OMG WHAT DID WE DO HOLY SHIT," but for the most part it's been...well, good!

I would like to try and blog on a daily basis--partly to keep my writing going, partly to keep my friends and family updated. I've attempted at this commitment before, but let's pretend there's a good chance, hm?

So...what is new, here in Indiana, with Ruth and Ryan, as of June 2, 2010.

Yesterday, BJ took us down to the Rental Office to be added to the lease as Occupants. We got parking stickers, cards for the exercise room and pool, and our very own copy of the lease.

We took this copy over to Inova Credit Union, which is BJ's bank. I had asked both BJ and Sammeh about their banks, to see if they'd be good for us to join, and both had agreed that BJ's was best. We sat down with a friend of his, and she set about with setting accounts up.

First she put in our address (which we had proof of, with our pretty new Xerox!).
No go--we don't live close enough to qualify.
She asked if we would be working closer to the bank, or going to church in the area. We must have looked confused, because she then explained:
"Membership is based on where you live, work, or worship."
I can guarantee that all the New Englanders reading this blinked at that statement. We did!

We ended up being grandfathered in under BJ's membership, which had been grandfathered in from when he lived with his parents (who apparently live in a qualifying area). The next hour or so had Ryan and I filling out forms and answering questions, while BJ snarked in the background. We should be getting our checks and cards in the mail any day now, which has me really excited. I almost feel as giddy as when I got my first bank account that wasn't a joint account with my mother. An account! With all my money in it! It's no longer in an envelope in my desk! Huzzah!

From the bank we went to a little organic grocery store called Garden Patch, which carries the Blessed Smoothies.

For those who don't know, I've been all but living off of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Smoothies for years. They're delicious, there's no High Fructose Corn Syrup, probiotics up the wazoo, and they work well as a snack or part of a breakfast. I've been going through 3 or 4 a day for the longest time, and the week I've gone without them has been devoid of yogurty goodness.

But the Garden Patch had them! Only in Strawberry, but good enough! For some reason I only bought three, and now only have one left, so I may go down today and buy more...and see how much a case would cost.

The Garden Patch was followed by Del Taco and Ritters, two chains Ryan and I had never heard of. The first is pretty self-explanatory: tacos, burritos, and other vaguely Mexican food (plus fries and hash browns), filled with your choice of chicken, steak, or fish. Ritters is a local ice cream chain which we now know makes the most delicious ice cream and ice cream delights this side of the UConn Dairy Bar.

Yesterday was also my first attempt at using the laundry room for our section of apartments. The laundry room is attached to the complex, but only accessibly from an outside door. It's essentially a large hallway, the first half of which is lined with storage lockers for each of the section's apartments, and the second half of which holds two laundromat-sized washers and dryers.

I learned several things:
First, that the laundry room is always locked, and only unlocked by turning the key and knob separately.
Second, that it costs $2.75 per complete load of laundry ($1.50 for wash, $1.25 for dry).
Third, that the washer takes roughly half an hour, and the dryer takes roughly a week.
Fourth, that the size of a washer load is actually just too big for the dryer to completely dry everything in it.

Sadly, I learned that last item as we were heading out to the Rental Office. And I had filled up both dryers, expecting one to be done by the time I finished loading the second. We ended up calling Sammeh from the bank, and she was kind enough to fetch our laundry for us. I now owe her something shiny, not that she'll take it without a fuss.

Looking back over this post so far, it may seem one very packed day. Up to this point in time, I had:
[o] done 40 minutes of exercise
[o] taken out almost all of the cardboard recycling*
[o] done 3 1/2 loads of laundry (one dryer load had to go through twice >.<)
[o] become an official Occupant of the apartment
[o] opened a checking and savings account at a local bank
[o] and sampled even more local cuisine

*Some morons tried to thwart me by leaving a small love seat in the cardboard recycling dumpster, but I was not deterred!

That sounds like enough, right? But no! There's more! Fortunately, the rest is fairly easy to sum up:

Shortly after BJ, Ryan and I returned, BJ's parents visited. They were friendly and funny and all around awesome people. BJ tried to break silence at one point by pointing out that they are pro-marijuana, which they seemed scandalized by until I piped up that I was, too, being raised by the biggest hippies in history.**

**Well, almost. As far as I know, neither of them went into grocery stores wearing only loin cloths. And if they did I don't want to know about it.

After they left, two our other three friends in the area, Alex and Rachel, came by. We ended up staying up until two in the morning playing board games (Things, followed by Apples to Apples, followed by Quelf). I could not have been happier, being a a deprived addict of both board and card games. They're having a rough time right now with money and employment, and seemed to really get a lot out of the night, so we will be harassing them to come over and unwind on a regular basis. :D

All in all, yesterday was a long and positive one. Today I return moldy cheese to the grocery store, buy more smoothies, and hopefully hear back from Starbucks with the results of our final in-person interviews.

I'm hoping to post again tomorrow saying that we'll be starting training in the next week, or we've won the lottery. I'll take either.

Made For You

There has been so much going on in my life since my last post. I have been stretching my skills and abilities, working hard on several projects, fighting hard battles with myself, and always learning. Hell, I walked on fire two weekends ago! I have so much I could write about!

...but that's not what I'm posting today.

I'm not sure if I believe in Fate or Destiny...I tend more toward the You Make Your Own Destiny side of things. I do believe that, sometimes, little things happen for a reason. You'll notice something on the side of the road, a song will come on the radio, a random stranger will say something that strikes you as relevant to your story, and it happens because you need to hear or see it.

Last week, for the first time in a few months, I felt like listening to my OneRepublic combination CD, with songs from both their albums. I'm not sure what compelled me to put it in, but I'm glad I did. Almost all of their songs make me feel better about life in general, or just plain make me happy. This song, however, is the one that has been leaping out of the speakers and jumping up and down on my head.


I was writing
Thinking with my long hand
Put pen to paper
Everything was sinking
Then you start to wonder
How you gonna handle me when I'm under
Sinking in the darkest sea

Everybody wants you to make it
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to take it
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to make it
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to take it
T-t-take it

Can you feel all the love?
Can you feel all the love?
Can you feel all the love?
Can you feel all the love?
Like it was made for you
Like it was made for you
Like it was made for you
It was made for you...

Tell me something
Something that can move me
Don't tell me lies
Or I swear you're gonna lose me
Didn't like the notion
Jealous of the fish
It feeds your devotion
Swimming inside of me

Everybody wants you to make it (Can you feel all the love?)
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to take it (Can you feel all the love?)
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to make it (Can you feel all the love?)
It's all yours (uh huh)
Everybody wants you to take it (Can you feel all the love,)
Like it was made for you
Like it was made for you
Like it was made for you
It was made for you...


(Song on YouTube)

I'll admit, I'm not 100% sure of what's going on in the verses, lyric-wise. I think it's a writer struggling with the inner insecurities that many creatives have, the worries that "it" won't happen, whatever "it" means for each person.

It's the bridge and chorus that I care about. I have listened to this song so many times over the past week, trying to nail that sucker of a message home: Everybody wants you to make it, everybody wants you to take the chance...feel the love, it was made for you.

I'm not proud of it, but I can be very delicate, and have been even moreso over the past two months. I'll be in a fine mood, even a great mood, and then one little thing will set me off, and I'll sink into tears or temper. Doesn't help that I have this habit of anthropomorphizing every single thing in existence, so when an object doesn't stay where I put it, or jumps out to trip me, or doesn't hang right, or whatever, it feels like a personal slight.

I live on the edge of frustration, and it sometimes feels like Something is pushing me over that edge on purpose. I usually accuse the Universe of being that Something, of not wanting me to keep going in the direction I was heading, of sidetracking me with annoyance and frustration. This song's message is one that I need to take in and glue to my insides.

The Universe is not out to get me; it wants me to be happy.
My friends, my family, and the Universe all want me to succeed.
This is hard lesson to learn, to hold on to.
I am trying.