This is a photo of me bouldering. (Which I love to do, in case you didn’t know.) That basically means you climb a rock wall (inside or outside) up to 10 feet high, but you’re not tied into a rope, so if you fall you fall onto a mat (or the ground.)
This is after I spent a long day climbing. But it was still pretty fun. Enjoy.
I know, I know. It’s been almost a month. It’s Admissions season, which means it’s the season where I have more work than I know how to handle. But we’re back with pictures of my vacation, and now that I have the Internet at my apt, I should be updating more frequently.
I was in the cold for Christmas and New Year’s, and now I’m back with some New Year’s resoluions. Among them? Simplify food. I am sick of planning a meal for every night of the week, and Jeff is sick of helping. So we’ve come up with an agreement–we’ll have themed nights, and work within that theme to cook something up.
So here’s what we decided:
Mix it up Mondays
American Tuesdays
Asian Wednesdays
Mexican Thursdays
Italian Fridays
We basically took the foods we eat the most, and slid them into days. This will work for me, because I will finally start remembering to take things out to defrost, and should work for Jeff since he’ll be able to grocery shop with me without my brain splattering on the wall from confusion.
Meanwhile, here are some pictures from my journey home for you to enjoy:
OK OK. I’m sorry. I’ve been without Internet at home for days, and I moved this weekend. I am behind, and I am sorry for that. I shouldn’t have stopped writing. So here. To appease all of you, the story of my moving.
Saturday was THE DAY. The last day in a shared apartment, the first night to sleep in Jeff and I’s own apartment. I got up and started packing, and soon my girls Bec and Core had arrived to help me pack. Kiki and her friend A showed up too, and when Paul brought the coffee, we were a full house. Moving went smoothly–everything out, everything in, all by 2 pm. Then the ladies did a Target run and the boys ordered pizza. Cool, chill, fine, right? In and out of Target, had some pizza, and then we decided to go to Goodwill while we still had the U-haul to see if they had any tables. And here is where it all went downhill.
Bec, Core, and I all got to the Goodwill store just fine. But after we had been there for about 10 minutes, I was beginning to wonder where Jeff was. Eventually, he called to tell me the U-Haul had broken down in the middle lane at an intersection. WONDERFUL. He was waiting for the tow truck…
…and an hour and a half later, after a repair-truck had been dispatched and concluded that the U-Haul DID need to be towed, Bec, Core, and I went to visit Jeff. Meanwhile, he got a call that there had been a drive-by shooting at our old apartment. We were doubtful, at first, but when we went back to drop Core and Bec at Bec’s car, we couldn’t get to her car because…it was behind the crime-scene line. And the police man said that retrieving the car might be difficult. I asked him how long we had to wait, and he said:
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“If the guy dies or not.”
AWESOME. So Bec, Core, and I went back to Jeff, who was STILL waiting. After looping around to our old apartment one more time, the police officers told us they were about to take the caution tape down. So we waited, and Bec and Core hopped in the car and never looked back. The tow truck came, and I picked Jeff up the side of the road like a hitchhiker.
The next day we spent 3.5 hours cleaning up after our roommates in the old place, which was not the most fun I have ever had, let me tell you. BUT we did get to say “Adios!” to the apartment forever, and now we’re in our new home that has started shaping up. So it’s not all bad!!
Plus: it’s Christmas season!!
Today we make a list of things I am thankful for, on account of it being Thanksgiving Week.
1. My job letting me have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off
2. Living in a region of the USA that doesn’t have snow (because I am excited to have a mild-Thanksgiving)
3. Getting to go home in 26 days
4. James Taylor Holiday music
5. Spotting a celebrity last night who excited me so much I almost peed my pants
6. I finally signed a lease with Jeff. Thank God. We’re moving out this weekend!
7. Tomorrow I am going to read for 3 hours. And it is going to be my holiday present to myself.
8. Jelly beans from my boss
9. Friends scattered near and far that will make all my holidays that much better
10. You! For reading my blog and making me feel great. 🙂
11. This bench. And how it gives me hope to someday own such a cool bench.
12. Photoshop.
13. Boston in general, for having benches such as this in the first place.
14. A 20 lb turkey in my fridge waiting to be cook. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
We have found an apartment. Thank God. Here is a picture of the outside. And here is our checklist from before, and how we did!!!!
*sunshine, and lots of it — check
*windows (to help with above said need) — check
*Air conditioning, because a year without it was NOT fun —check
*PARKING (This is one of the most important) —check
*more than a walk-in-closet sized kitchen —check
*bathroom that isn’t “old” or cracked or otherwise gross. (Jeff also is not keen on weirdly tiled sink, a commonplace in some places here) — check (although there is tile.)
*hardwood floors (I hate carpets, and Jeff also hates them from the dining area, and its seemingly all or nothing here) — check
*A landlord/manager ON SITE that speaks impeccable English. (We’ve have difficulties in the past.) — check
*something NOT on a hill, as Jeff DOES bike to work, and would be very appreciative if he could get to and from work in ease. — check
That being said, we’re looking mainly in the Los Feliz and Franklin Village areas, so we might not get lucky with the hill…We’ll see. Meanwhile, things we do not want:
*carpet
*a parking space that is exposed (Jeff worries about dings)
*A place that doesn’t pay water/trash (common place in LA, and some apartments we saw yesterday didn’t have the basics)
*a ground level apartment
*something too far from the 101
*A spot in an apartment complex with lots of children and/or college students
Also, we have created a “things that would be nice” column:
*A place that has an area to store a bicycle — check
*A pool
*An option for a second parking spot
*A bathtub and a shower without a door but rather a rod. – kind of check (shower stall and separate tub)