If a Blogger Posts in the Woods...

It's become less relevant to blog lately, since it seems that most of the people who read my blog I see regularly.

My mom reads my blog. I've been hanging out with her on Sunday's at the Farmer's Market where we've been selling her knitting projects. Here's a picture of all the cute baby hats, since why wouldn't you want your child's head to look more like an eggplant? I'm working on setting up an Etsy site. Even if we don't sell anything, it makes for good people watching. For example, today I saw three children on leashes and they were pulling much more than Moose does; I must be a good parent.

Michael reads my blog. He's been working all over the "region," going on fancy business trips to Reno, NV and Pocatello, ID. Whew, pretty soon he's going to have to buy some spurs because he's a textbook cowboy. I think there's a song called "Textbook Cowboy," hmmmm maybe it's "Pinball Wizard." When he's on those fancy trips, somebody has to take up his side of the bed...

Becky, my future mother-in-law, reads my blog. She loves me, almost as much as Moose, who pulled up a chair at Sunday dinner this afternoon and looked at the beautiful mountains while his grandparents fed him treats and let him into the house--Moose really likes Sunday dinner.

 It really is such a pretty time of year, I have big plans to see some leaves this week.

I told you he pulled up a chair.

Now that I've covered the people who read my blog...

I spent most of the weekend playing Pinochle, which is almost as hard to play as it is to spell, and fist-pumping, which is almost impossible to do in a becoming way, with Jackson and Mandy. Here's a picture of Jackson and Mandy:

 

I got it from a google search of "Jackson and Mandy" since I didn't have the forethought to photograph our game playing--but the resemblance is uncanny.

Looking forward to some job interviews this week that may allow me to stop delivering food to people while wearing a tie!

Happy Fall

I am blogging from the top of Millcreek canyon right now. In other words, I'm using my phone and the pretty pictures I took as an excuse to rest during a hike. Am I interrupting nature with technology? Perhaps. Side note: I wish people would stop referring to smart phones, etc. as 'devices.' It just makes me think of the phrase, 'left to her own devices,' which creates the image of someone stranded on a desert island surrounded by iPads and gameboys while a ship sails away.

Anyway, it's so nice here. With pretty trees and a gentle breeze. I haven't been taking Moose the dog out much since he's had some sort of stomach bug. We (read: Michael) was up every hour for a few nights so that Moose could try to do his business. What a sicko. He's doing much better after a vet visit. In fact, he's about ready to run down this mountain. So I'll be off and leave you with a few fall pictures. In sure it will just get prettier.

Rings and Things

Well, my ring is finished. We love it. I stare at it like it might disappear if I'm not constantly looking at it. It's very pretty. I have yet to take a good picture of it, since I'm limited to the phone on my camera for the next few days, but here are a few attempts.

It's rose gold with a brush finish, so it's not too shiny. It has a little white gold around the diamond. I love the color and the fact that it's the stone my Nana and Grandpa's engagement ring.

I can hear the bells.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho

I've decided to blog about my job(s). For the last few months, I've been thinking, "I'll just wait until my jobs are a little more settled or permanent," but it seems that that may never happen.

I am currently interviewing (and may be interviewing for the rest of my life) for a museum job that focuses on increasing the involvement of faculty and students in museum life. Since I spent a significant portion of my last year in Oregon convincing anyone who would listen that they should care about art history, I think I can rechannel those efforts. Plus, any position within museum administration and outreach that also includes working with professors on designing curriculum sound pretty great to me (and will look pretty great on a future resume). It makes me sing I Hope I Get it  from "A Chorus Line" will gusto. Alas, the position (which I will probably get news of today...right?) is only part time at first...

...so, I'm also working for my almamater with a giant class that used to be called "Creative Arts", but I suppose that was too specific, so its just called "1330" now. This massive, gargantuan, swollen class of 1,200 students was assigned to one instructor, who was expected to lecture, grade, and respond to student emails. What? With so many students taking this class, though, it makes for great meme fodder:

Anyway, I got a teaching position to help mostly with logistical aspects of the class. It's great because 1) I can do it from home with minimal trips to Logan 2) I have to take a few trips to Logan, which means I get to see all my cool cats who are still up there 3) I get to stay engaged in the University (with a capitol "U" so it holds all the romantic sides of education--like elbow patches and phrases like "I concur" or "I find this statement problematic"). It's been going well so far, although I find it a bit ridiculous that students continually message the entire class with questions like "I can't figure out how to use my i-clicker." Really? Because you just sent that message to me, your instructor, and ONE THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE other people. Alas, the position is only part time...

...so, I'm also waiting tables 3-4 nights a week. I love to wait tables--especially when I'm working for a small restaurant that occasionally has a cash flow problem. Sometimes, people come in with two groupons and become angry when told that they can't use two at once, so they pull two tables close together and proceed to shout at one another for two hours--what a laugh. It's so fun to see just how much Parmesan cheese the average person can eat. I also totally love wearing a cute long-sleeve white shirt and a black tie, to be sure to separate myself from the regal customers. Perhaps my favorite part of the job, is leaving the house right when Michael gets off work.

I've been working on my sarcastic blogging tone. Okay, okay, I'm not that upset about waiting tables, although I do hope its temporary. I'm excited though because all these endeavors, coupled with Michael's completely steady "real" job mean that Michael and I were able to send a chunk of change to pay down our student loans and are sending another one in a few days. I can't wait to come on this blog and announce that we're out of debt. I actually need to work on talking about debt less, but I blame Michael's family for introducing me to Dave Ramsey (who is pretty obnoxious, but oh-so-right about almost everything). I'm now an extreme budgeter. Michael and I did a small-scale victory dance when we made a payment last month. That's the nice thing about being a lonely grad student, I suppose, as long as you can keep living like a grad student for a few years and start working consistently then student loans can shove off. I find it helpful to get violent when talking about loans, which is why our victory dance included shouting "take that annnnnd that," while Michael did chopping motions and made "shiyahhhh" noises. I suppose the other good thing about being a lonely grad student, is it doesn't take much to entertain you forever after.

If You're in to the Uintahs

Last weekend I managed to convince Mandy and Jackson to wake up early on their day off and drive to the yurt--this took promises of swimming and some sour patch kids. We had a really good time, playing the game night classic Rollick (a sort of hilarious reverse charades), and eating delicious food that Deb and Diane (yurt owners and surrogate aunts) and my parents prepared for us.

My favorite part was swimming--or should I say gracefully wading. Mandy was a total loser head and didn't get in at all. Here's Jackson trying to pull her in (please note that the black circle under Mandy's hand is Diane, whose already been swimming for a while now).

 

Sheer discomfort, on the part of Jackson, and sheer pleasure from me (because I love to see Jackson uncomfortable).

Anyway, we had a swell time at the yurt; it's so nice to have something a few hours away that makes you feel like you've gone on vacation. 

This week was filled with Michael running all over campuses trying to convince professors to use his company's books. I don't have a very good concept of what he actually does everyday, but I know that he has business cards and gets free lunch. He's going to Reno next week--classy business trip, eh? I'm doing a bit of job-restructuring myself, but I'm pleased to say that I'll be starting work next week in Logan at my almamater with an online portion of a class of 1200 kids--1200!!! It should be very similar to the grading and lecturing that I did in Oregon, but with a slightly better paycheck. This also means I'll get to see my Logan friends when I visit, although I'll be able to do almost everything from home. I also am STILL waiting to hear back from a museum job, but at the rate that their hiring, I'll probably begin working in January 2015.

Also, check out this coaching action shot from last Saturday!