Here we go again!

I am anxious, excited, wary, optimistic, and a complete bundle of nerves. Here we go again. We are moving!

Who would have thought that nearly 5 years ago, when I first landed in NC, that I would end up having a bucket list of items that I desperately wanted to complete?

At least I still have my health

I interrupt this regular schedule program of not writing or giving a general crap to give you this sunset and a blog post!

In the new year, I resolved a few things: 1) To find a job 2) To blog more/more consistently 3) To, perhaps, run/exercise a bit more. So far I've been lacking on all three...well, unless you count doing jumping jacks to get warm because I'm trying to cut down on the cost of heating the house by keeping the thermostat low. To be honest, it's hard to blog when there's not much to blog about. I'm rounding into my second year of full time unemployment and were I to keep up a blogging schedule the bulk of the content would be about the terrible reality shows that I watch, how I walked to get the mail today, and the state of the neighbors' dogs when they come over for treats.

All that being said, I have been living in North Carolina for over half a year now! In this time living here, I've noticed that it is way too easy to spend my days wallowing in my own self pity and despair (hence the lack of updates) than it is to be grateful for the sunnier side of life. And so, in keeping with my devolution into mediocre writing skills (see, how the negativity so easily rears its head?), here are the things I am blessed to have and grateful for:

• Jack
• Kale for $0.99 a pound at the grocery store. At least I can assuage my guilt for eating at Chick-Fil-A by eating more kale purchased at a ludicrously low price. EDITED! 03/21/13: I just went to the store today and the price of kale has gone up to $1.29/lb--what is this, Seattle? There is officially nothing redeeming about this area.

And, because I need some perspective as to why I need the above list in my life, here are the things that suck about the area:

• It's very nearly impossible to find a mid-level professional job because the area is still mostly agricultural and seasonal. I think it's one of the few areas in the country where a college degree means next to nothing. Ask me how demoralizing it is to not get a job where one of the few requirements was to have graduated high school.
• Follow up. I think it's nice to follow up when people leave voicemail messages or say they will send an email with information, but I guess that's not the norm here. I've now realized that it's easier to pull teeth than to get companies (utility companies, especially) to follow up and maybe return/pick up a call or two, because, I guess, either people don't care about the money we want to lavish on them or this is some sick, demented version of Island time. 
• Loud rain. Some may call it heavy rain, but I'm going to call it like it is: loud. At least in the Pacific Northwest the rain had to decency to fall in a constant, near mist so that it is quiet and allow people to sleep through the night. Not so in the South! Here it is loud, thunderously announcing its arrival in the middle of the night so that you are awoken from your semi-deep slumber and unable to go back to sleep to continue that dream about hanging with Liz Lemon on 30 Rock.

Dear Derek

Dear Derek,

It's been two years since you've left us, but you've never really left our thoughts, our conversations, or our lives. Mentions of you are still sprinkled here and there...usually bringing laughs, sometimes a bit of sadness, but mostly laughs and good memories.

Some time ago, probably around the time of my birthday, because it's only three days before yours and it's one of many little triggers that jog my memory back to you, it occurred to me that we are all getting so much older. We are now closer to 30s than we are to our 20s, but I'll always remember you as eternally 26. It feels easy to wallow in what may have been, but I'm going to wax nostalgic for all the adventures we were fortunate enough to experience together.

One of the best hikes that I have been on were the hunt for chanterelles. We would take some mountain road off Highway 2, drive as far as we could go, park by the end of the road (literally, the trail was washed out by the river), hike some ways and then we would encounter this magical land filled with chanterelles just ripe for the picking. The last time we went, you were the only one who remembered the trail to the magical chanterelle land and also the only one with enough sense to bring along an orange vest, because it was hunting season and none of us had plans to be mistaken for a deer and get shot. You were also the only one who more or less knew what they were doing. You checked Jen's bag and noticed there were a few non-chanterelles (and potentially poisonous mushroooms, thus saving her life) that had made it's way in there and informed me (only after we were done with our picking) that we were supposed to cut off the stems of the chanterelles not rip them out of the ground so that they may regrow next year. It was a fun afternoon, being one with our inner gatherer. Afterward we all went back to your place, where we found your very nice drawings of scantily clad women. We probably made fun of you for drawing lewd pictures and you probably said something snarky back at us.

I remember the trip because it was just another ordinary thing we did for fun. It wasn't a particularly revelatory experience that shone a light on some significant symbolism of our friendship and I'm glad for that. I worry that the longer time passes, the more I'll tend to impart some important moral theme over our friendship, and forget that the important thing to remember is just the memories of friends hanging out with one another, trading barbs, and enjoying each other's company. And it doesn't need to be given any extra layer of meaning or symbolism to feel more significant.

Things I think about while not looking for employment

I know, I'm getting lazy with my writing--in terms of quantity, frequency, and quality. I guess I can fix the quantity and frequency part, but not when I've rediscovered crepe paper streamers and Jack has been out of town and I want to make sure his room is properly decorated in hot pink and yellow streamers when he gets back. But, it's hard to want to fix my quality of writing--especially as it just devolves into a series of lists of various topics. I can't help it--lists are such an efficient way to write! I blame it on my youthful lapse into obsession with the works of Nick Hornsby and the novel, High Fidelity, in particular, for wanting to create top ten list for every minutiae of your life. Besides, I'm hoping that writing bad posts that rely heavily on lists could be my "thing", my "voice" for this blog. Why yes, I like to skim from the bottom of the pond of mediocre work ethic.

And so, without further ado, here is my newest list of things I've been thinking about while not halfheartedly searching  for employment in a tiny and stagnant job market.

-"Is the kettle whistling? I swear I hear it's whistling." And so, with near lack of regular human interaction, I believe my brain is starting to lose it. This morning, as I boiled water in the kettle for a cup of coffee I always wonder why I need to drink, I could have sworn I heard it whistling--despite the fact that I had just put a kettle of cold water on the stove not two minutes before. I checked on it twice more before I decided that it really wasn't whistling and I should just go and look at things on the Internet.

-Speaking of things on the Internet, I spend a fair amount of time (while not searching for employment or watching mind rotting television) perusing gossip and celebrity fashion blogs and I find myself wondering how long it would take and how famous I would have to get to step out looking like Lea Michele at some Elle party. I'm not a fashion-y person, but I'd like to think that I put myself together enough to be presentable and I'd like to think that Lea Michele is, perhaps, the same way. But how does someone get talked into wearing something so sheer, so much like underwear, out in public? Would fame affect the way someone approaches fashion? Sometimes I like to buy things just because they're weird enough that I find myself liking it. But could I, someone who is mostly rational most of the time, be convinced to wear a sheer, belted caftan over a bra and panty ensemble?

-I am seriously considering launching into my Plan B Employment Plan if someone doesn't doesn't offer me a job soon. Plan B being that I open an Etsy store that sells awesome posters that I've screen printed by hand. (Oh, I haven't told you? I have it in my head that screen printing shall be my new hobby. Suck it, sewing and knitting.) But the most important thing to consider before starting out on this new venture is WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO CALL MY COMPANY? Nevermind that I should first look into some sort of start up capital to sustain myself through the initial building phase. Or how much I could conceivably do by myself that would make it a viable effort. No, I need a snazzy name for my newest pipe dream. And so, if my friends have any suggestions, I would be happy to take them (you will not be compensated, however).

Hey! I'm turning old.

I love Exploding Dog.

It was my birthday! For the first time, in a long time, I celebrated by myself. The first birthday I had to spend mostly by myself was my freshman year of college--I had just moved into the dorms and started school and I didn't want to be THAT person that loudly celebrates their birthday. I did, however, register to vote. I also got my foot cut up by a door because some poop head wasn't paying attention and swung the door into/onto my foot and opened a gash that left me bleeding and hobbling to a convenience store to buy band aids. Although I was partially at fault for choosing to wear flip flops to class but, to be fair, it was college, I was toying with the new sense of freedom unencumbered by high school dress code guidelines--I was living on the edge. And that was my 18th birthday.

I did like my birthday this year, because I actually managed to keep myself fairly busy--unlike any other day in the life of an unemployed. I made rice krispies treats (with sprinkles in them for a bit of panache) and chocolate chip cookies for my neighbors for driving me around when I had last minute errands and Jack was off at work with the car. Then I sat down and watched my DVR'd episode of Gilmore Girls--and it was one of my more favorite episodes (Season 6, Episode 9: The Prodigal Daughter Returns). I also made a quick dinner for one of the officer wives, who had just given birth a few days before, as part of a meal plan the other spouses had set up. After I dropped off the dinner, one the way back home, I picked up a tiny ice cream cake for myself. Finally, I settled in for a night of Dancing with the Stars with chicken strips and fries for dinner.

The day felt good and I enjoyed doing the little things for my neighbors and the officer wives. It might be the wisdom of years lived creeping up on me, but I do like the idea of making my birthday a day of service--or just doing something for someone else because damn, it fucking feels good. I've now realized (or at least I am old enough to admit this to myself) that I enjoy volunteer work and doing things for others, not because it helps to foster a sense of community, to bring people together, or that it is consistent with the idea that helping each other out is just what a civilized society does because we all live in the same community, but because I get a serious high off of people saying, "Thank you for what you do. You're so awesome." Seriously. It's better than crack and just as addicting.

It's the end of the world as I know it.

I haven't felt this dramatic since high school and yet here I am today because my hard drive crashed. Literally--crashed to the floor because I wasn't paying attention and my knee knocked over my laptop that was sitting on our coffee table. Even though the fall wasn't that high, it was enough to knock the life out of my hard drive. So now all it does is click. Click. Click. Click. Each successive click just reminds me of how broken it is--and how much money (money I don't have and I don't want to spend because I'd rather buy food) this is going to cost me.

I suppose this shouldn't bother me as much as it does, after all I still have my health, a roof over my head, and people that love me (despite my penchant for being dramatic when little things are broken), but it does!

Here are, currently, the little things that bother me, upset me, and otherwise rattle my sense of normalcy despite, really, not being that big of a deal (in the grand scheme of things):

• The hoard of fruit flies living and propagating in our trash can (and they've started to colonize the bedrooms and bathroom). I've set out a trap for the last week and it does nothing. Well, I actually inadvertently did get two flies with my opened bottle of wine, but the trap does nothing. I've rinsed out our trash can (making sure I take out all their little larvae), I've put in new liners and yet they come back!
• Our crappy cable box. For the price of cable, I feel that Time Warner Cable should really upgrade their cable boxes and stop re-purposing old boxes with terrible reception. Is it too much to want a receiver box that, well, receives from the remote?
• The price of cilantro at Harris Teeter. A bunch of cilantro should not have to cost $1.79. It's not even organic!
• The price to fix my laptop. I don't want to spend the money, but I think I will have to. It's my baby and my lifeline because I have everything on there. From drafts of resumes, my senior thesis, college papers I've written that I'm not proud of but I still keep them, to pictures of nearly everything I've done and seen, to my music (both legally, illegally, and questionably legally obtained), to funny cat pictures from the Internet that I've saved. A part of me is fine with throwing out the hard drive and just putting in a new one, but the sentimental part of me wants all those things back with a promise that I'll do a better job of backing up my files the next time around.
• My lack of job prospects. I am tired of going day to day waiting for a phone call and getting none. I'm doubly tired of the same rote answers that people give me when I call and ask when a response can be expected (even though I once had to give those same rote answers when people calls asking about the hiring process). I just want to know so that I can move on and continue sending out more resumes.

Perhaps it is because I have been unemployed for so long, and the more time spent not in a fulfilling 40-hour work week, the more the little things get to me. It's also possible that even with a job distracting me from the little things, I can still spend all my days thinking about and obsessing over it, but it would also give me a wider audience so that I can regale more people with my tales of woe rather than just Jack.

Moral of this story: Hope and pray that I can get a job soon so that I can put out more upbeat blog posts rather than complaining about how, seemingly, bad my life is.

A Seattle summer, at last.

This place is flatter than three week old soda.

The weather has been so miserable since moving in--high temperatures, high humidity, followed by the occasional thunder, lightning, and rain--that I found myself mildly surprised at the recent turn of events. The skies have cleared and the mercury has finally dropped enough for a sane person to want to sit outside for a while.

With that, I actually ventured outside for a time today--walking along the shore when the tide went out and catching up on reading under the shade of a tree with my dog friend, Lola.

Lola has no problem wandering into our house, looking (really, searching) for some food handouts.

Between the cool breeze, warm sun interspersed with some clouds to keep things from getting too hot, it felt like the Seattle summer I never got to experience. Except for the bugs. Oh god, the bugs. All the various bugs that enjoy the taste of human flesh and blood.

In the three odd hours that I spent outside--one hour wandering in the water and two hours just sitting outside on my porch--I got bitten five times. Five big swelling bites. And since I've been in the South, it happens nearly every time I spend more than 30 minutes outside. I've been bitten so often that I've gone through half of an one-ounce tube of hydrocortisone that I bought about a month and a half ago. When I lived in Seattle, the same sized tube would last me so long it would expire before I got through a quarter of it.

But I'm whining and I should really stop. Just as when the cloudy days finally gave way to sunny days in Seattle, I really need to take advantage of the times when heat and humidity give way to crisp fall air--bug bites be damned.  Or I could just be more militant about putting on bug spray and arming myself with a fly swatter and citronella candle wherever I go, waging an all out one-person war against any bug that may attempt to make me its lunch.

Up and At 'Em!

True story: I was up at sunrise to take this picture.

Hello to the three friends that read this!

I am going to start blogging again. A real, honest effort to start this baby up after an unofficial, totally being lazy, I'm-going-to-blame-this-on-moving-across-the-country, self-imposed hiatus. Hopefully this will--again--bring some structure back to my life and give me something to do other than search for jobs, fill out job applications, and wallow in my own self pity wondering why no one calls me back.

But, seriously. No one calls me back. Or they haven't yet. Man, being unemployed for over a year certainly does something to one's self-esteem.

Topics that I hope to cover throughout this renewed need to blog!
-The sad state of affairs (more like a lack of Asian markets) that has led me to shopping at the "International Food" aisle at the local grocery store--when, in the past, and usually within spitting distance of a 99 Ranch, I'd always wonder what kind of sad sack purchases their soy sauce in that aisle.
-The tiny frog that lives in my mailbox--and basically terrifies me every time I open our mailbox. It could be poisonous! It could jump on my face!
-On how not having a job for over year also does something to one's psyche. Basically, I'm terrified of everything now. EVERYTHING.
-A discussion on whether or not I should venture out on the bike when surface street speeds top out at 55mph with about a 3 feet-wide shoulder for safety. I can only think of cons for this discussion, number one being: No life insurance.
-My new friend, Lola. Only she's totally not aware that she's my friend. And she's also the neighbor's dog.
-Look at all the things the South has to offer! Sub-title: An attempt to assimilate into Southern culture.
-A discussion on my internal conflict and never-ending guilt on eating at a Chick-Fil-A multiple times, despite knowing full well their stance on certain social issues. What is worse? My weakness for deep-fried chicken and waffle fries or my inability to stop frequenting a place that openly practices discrimination? At what point does a fast food joint's opinion factor into my support for them by purchasing their tasty chicken sandwiches?
-My three weeks spent exploring the greater Richmond area while I waited for the car to get fixed. Also: My first real taste...or like an amuse bouche...of the South. Also, also: My first real long-term experience in the terrible Southern heat and humidity and the rain.

Exploration! Destination: Decorah, IA

We've made it to the East Coast now (in fact, I've been in Richmond for the last three weeks)! I'm just now taking the time to slowly chronicle the rest of the road trip and wax nostalgia for the two weeks on the road and the brief respite from my all consuming fear of (continued) unemployment waiting for me in North Carolina.

But enough of my negativity! Onto the interesting things and Decorah is very interesting. Decorah must be the most interesting town in Iowa. Although I haven't spent a lot of time there (or any time really), I am almost certain that no other Iowan town can beat Decorah. I wish I had more pictures to share on Decorah, and thus better illuminating my point about how interesting it is, but by this point in the trip I started to get photography fatigue and the heat wave washing over the entire area didn't help. You'll just have to imagine the town, aided by my spectacular prose.

Picture taken after we dipped our feet into the cool spring water behind us. I sure hope it's not a drinking water source for people.

The main purpose of our stop in Decorah was mostly to visit our college friend, Steffen. Jack and I hadn't seen Steffen since the end of college, so it was nice to see him and catch up. The secondary purpose of the stop was to eat, drink, and be merry because we quickly discovered there were a lot of good food and drinks to be had in town.

After rolling into town on the back of a cresting heat wave in the Midwest, we dropped off our things at Steffen's place and quickly sought out anyplace with AC. We had some happy hour snacks and drinks ($3 Mojitos and $4 Martinis? Haven't seen those prices since Palomino's changed their menu) at the Tap Room Bar, located in the Winneshiek Hotel. The happy hour snacks would be the first in a string of amazingly delicious foods I would have while in Decorah.

After our 4pm drinks, we went over to the fish hatchery at a nearby park (one of two things we did in town that did not involve us eating or drinking). The fish hatched at the hatchery are eventually released into the local rivers making for an easy capture by local fishermen. At the park you can buy a fistful of fish food to feed the trout, so of course I had to put in a quarter for the food. While I had fun seeing the fish whip themselves into a frenzy for the pellets of fish food I threw in, I also had a small, brief pang of guilt because I knew that all I was doing was fattening them up so they could eventually be "released" into the river just to be captured by fishermen.

After all the fish feeding fun, we headed back to town for dinner at La Rana Bistro, which if you were not paying attention (or somehow got lost for about 2,000 miles) looks like a restaurant found in the Northwest. They have a focus on local foods with a small changing specials board and they offer a nice selection of beers and cocktails. So of course, we all have another round of drinks with our dinners. It was a hot day, after all.

After dinner, we strolled along the main drag and eventually ended up at a Homebrew Contest hosted by a local gallery, the ArtHaus. Seriously, are we in the Northwest? After some good beers and some not so good, it was starting to get dark and the fireflies came out! Fireflies! Or, I guess as they call it out here, lightning bugs. At first I thought my eyesight was being affected from all the beer tasting but, it was just the little bug lights flickering and disappearing as they search for their little lightning bug mates.

The next day, we started out at the local farmer's market. The chef from La Rana had a booth with food and, of course, based on the dinner we had the night before, I had to go and try the offerings. First off, there was the coffee, which was billed as a New Orleans Ice Coffee, and that was ridiculously addicting. Once it hit my lips, it was so good! It was like a new revelation in coffee and I've decided that I must have that recipe, so that I may make it at home by the bucket full and drink nothing but that all day. Second, there was the bagel bomb, which consist of a "pastry" made from bagel dough and stuffed with bacon and cream cheese. I don't even like cream cheese and I thought it was delicious. Holy crap, what a way to start the day.

Afterward, we headed out to Seed Savers Exchange, where Steffen works, to check out their public garden area, take in a tour, and poke around a few of their fields where they grow and maintain different heirloom seeds. I'm not someone with a particularly green thumb (I killed a chive plant, once), but visiting Seed Savers gave me hope (that and Steffen gave me a bunch of seed packets). I also learned a lot about heirloom seeds, how to properly propagate them, and a many other things that I fear have been lost into the folds of my brain.

Just before we left, we stopped to have one last meal at Ede's and the Angry Pickle Deli. It's no Salumi, but it was filling and the perfect send off for another day on the road. I was sad to leave Decorah and the town of delicious foods, because we wouldn't find good food until we hit Richmond, VA. Although there was the hot breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Chillicothe, OH...they had warm biscuits and gravy and all the coffee I could drink!

Exploration! Destination: South Dakota

I drove through South Dakota and so now you don't have to! Oh, but you want to anyways because, as far as I can tell, it is the more interesting of the Dakotas. There are at least four places, in my opinion, worth stopping for in South Dakota: Mt. Rushmore, the town of Wall (home of WALL DRUG), the town of Mitchell, and the city of Sioux Falls.

First stop: Mt. Rushmore

It was deceptively sunny and bright out.

Honestly, Mt. Rushmore is not nearly as regal or an inspiring as I expected then again, after visiting Yellowstone, a lot of things seem not nearly as regal or inspiring. Also, it doesn't help that the Park Service decided to make Mt. Rushmore less about the awesome scenery you are looking at (among the Black Hills in South Dakota!) and more about the man, one Gutzon Borglum, who designed the monument. There's the Borglum Visitor's Center, the Artist's studio, and many numerous busts of the man and his son, Lincoln Borglum, scattered throughout the park.

Fun fact: Borglum actually started construction on a "Hall of Records" somewhere behind/near Lincoln's head thinking that the US Government would want to place our nation's most important documents in this "Hall of Records" (documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution...to start with). Luckily the government declined.

Next stop: WALL DRUG

I started seeing roadside advertisements for this "WALL DRUG" (and always in bright, attention grabbing CAPITAL LETTERS) as we left Mt. Rushmore. Since the town of Wall is a little over a hundred miles away, I saw about a hundred miles worth of billboards like: FREE ICE WATER: WALL DRUG or VISIT WALL DRUG: HOME OF FIVE CENT COFFEE & DONUTS (but FREE FOR HONEYMOONERS or VETERANS!) or WALL DRUG: PAN FOR GOLD! or WALL DRUG: HOME OF GIANT T-REX! After about a hundred miles of seeing it, you can't NOT stop by. As it turns out, all the advertisements are true...sort of.

It essentially was like the 50,000 Silver Dollar Store in Montana, but somehow MORE AWESOME. It's a weird middle-American Disneyland--every store inside is themed and sells everything a tourist would want: from free ice water and five-cent donuts to souvenir mugs and t-shirts to artisan and locally made beer soap to $10,000 wood sculpture art. Oh, you can also pan for gold or mine gems.

There's also the option to ride a giant jackalope.

NEXT STOP: MITCHELL CORN PALACE

I had only heard of this place through the many Travel Channel specials about amazing things in America and never though I'd have the opportunity to visit, but I consider myself so lucky to be the one driving that day so that I had the final say on stopping in Mitchell after seeing the billboard for the Corn Palace.

Essentially, it's just a building where the outer facade is decorated using every part of the corn plant. When you go inside, the smell of popcorn (and all the additional flavors added on to the popcorn) hit your nostrils and the aroma lingers as you go through the corn gallery featuring all the previous year's decorations dating back to the early 20th century. Then there is the souvenir shop, which is appropriately corn-themed. And...that's about it for the Corn Palace.

Also featuring more art using corn decorations!

LAST STOP: SIOUX FALLS

Appropriately, I found out that Sioux Falls is South Dakota's largest city via roadside billboard. (I learned a lot from billboards on this trip.) We just stopped there for the night before heading to Decorah, IA the next day. I included this stop because, surprisingly, we happened upon a delicious little Vietnamese place: Lam's Restaurant. It could be that we were starving, but relative to whatever ethnic restaurants I assume are out there in Sioux Falls, it was one of the most unexpectedly delicious dinners we had while on the road.

The next day I insisted we explore for a little bit, so we went to Sioux Falls Park. Again, after seeing the pristine waterfalls Yellowstone had to offer, Sioux Falls was a bit...dirty. It didn't help that there were pieces of trash stuck near the bottom of the falls. Oh, and the park is about a mile away from a livestock auction, so depending on which direction you get into the park, you have to pass trucks of livestock being loaded/unloaded to be sold and butchered. BUT NEVERMIND THAT! We ended up grabbing some food at the Overlook Cafe run by Utopia Catering and that was surprisingly good too--considering that most food you grab at the park is usually of the pre-packaged sandwich and soda variety. Here, I had coffee (from locally roasted beans), some fancy Thai-inspired chicken wrap, and Jack had a Cuban pulled pork sandwich. Good enough to start us off on another day of driving.

EXTRA BONUS STOP THAT I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT: SOUTH DAKOTA AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

It's no National Naval Aviation Museum or even the Museum of Flight, but if you are fond of once-fancy jets on sticks (Air Force jets in particular) then the South Dakota Air and Space Museum just outside of Ellsworth Air Force Base might be worth a stop. We walked around for a bit before retreating into the souvenir shop for some free AC, browse all their wares for sale, and wonder how much it must suck to be stationed there (seemingly) in the middle of nowhere.

Exploration! Destination: Yellowstone National Park

We're still on the road!

I am going to do you a grave injustice right now: I am going to attempt to sum up the entirety of Yellowstone National Park in a blog post. I know this will be a grave injustice not because I've been helping myself to some delicious Big Sky beer while I type this, but also because Yellowstone National Park is something you should definitely go and see for yourself. It is AMAZE-BALLS.

Jack and I essentially did a quick and dirty one-day round trip grand circle tour through Yellowstone--it was roughly 160 miles and it took us about 10 hours with stops for lunch, assorted dawdling, and picture taking. We hit all the spots that one would consider a "hallmark" of the park: The Grand Prismatic Spring, the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone, and (of course) Old Faithful. While they were definitely worth the stops, it was also a pain the major ass to deal with parking and the tour buses (oh god, the tour buses!). In the end, it was the smaller, more quiet spots that I enjoyed the most.

I call this one: Pensive on Yellowstone Lake

While we were driving through the park, I started keeping a little log book of all the things we saw and what we did. It turned out to be pretty handy because it did become a bit overwhelming, given all the things that you can see. Halfway through the park, Jack and I switched driving, so then he was in charge of the log book. I will share an excerpt below and see if you can tell who is writing what:

• Minerva and Jupiter Springs: Mineral rich waters from the springs hardens the trees, which makes them technically dead.

• Swan Lake: The more "traditional" shots of Yellowstone: Meadows and mountains in the distance.

• 1706: Joanne "toots" in the car. Twice.

• 1830: Petrified tree; Joanne's bad parking not noted.

• 4Jul2012: Mud volcano. Buffalo next to boardwalk. DRAGON!

Exploration! Destination: Missoula, MT (or basically the entire contiguous United States)

Ahoy from the road! Our first "real" stop outside of Washington State (on our way driving cross country) is Missoula, MT. Jack has family who live in town and there's the old Flynn Family Ranch,  which is still owned and maintained by Jack's family.

But before we get actually get into Missoula, I HAVE TO stop at the 50,000 Silver Dollar Store, partly because it's roughly in between Spokane and Missoula and by that time I would need to stop and pee, but also because it's tradition. I have a thing for "traditions." The store touts itself as Montana's largest souvenir shop, what they don't tell people is that it is also home to Montana's largest collection of the Three Howling Wolf shirt and plentiful turquoise tchotchkes--what I'm saying is that you should visit the 50,000 Silver Dollar Store.

Anyways, Missoula is a quirky little college town nestled all nice in between the mountains; it's like the Austin of Montana and while there's the family farms and ranches, there's also plenty of hippie types to go around.

Tell me this doesn't kind of look like Portland to you. Even the graphic design trends are similar!

We were lucky enough to get into Missoula on the weekend, so we spent Saturday wandering around the farmer and craft markets in town, shopping in the downtown stores, and experiencing the weirdest bout of cognitive dissonance. You'd expect Montana to be all rough and tumble with ranchers, cowboys, and other more tough alpha males, but walking around in Missoula you'd think that you were in Seattle (minus the hipsters) or Portland (Montana has no sales tax!).

Another fun attraction in Missoula is hiking up to the "M", which is basically a giant M on the side of the mountain behind the University of Montana. The view is nice and when we hiked up wild flowers were blooming so it made pretty boring hike into a mildly interesting one. I say it's boring because the trail is basically made of switchbacks, if you've been on a hike with me once before you know how I feel about this. Going on a switchback feels so futile because you're basically zigzagging back and forth as you gain elevation. Oh, I also hate elevation gain (or too much elevation gain over a short distance, thus requiring the use of switchbacks on trails).  And now I have climbed the M, so you don't have to! Here's the view from the top:

They don't call it Big Sky Country for nothing.

ADDENDUM TO THIS POST (AND REALLY, I SHOULD BE HUNG FROM MY HEAD FOR NEGLECTING TO MENTION THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE):

While we were in town, we HAD TO stop at Big Sky Brewing, because they make some delicious beer. I'm sure they offer a tour, but I've never been on it, usually whenever I find myself in Missoula (which is 3x's more often than you'd think) I head to the brewery for their 4 daily free samples and at least two growlers of beer. Beer is much better if you get it directly from the beer cow.

Day Zero: There Very, Truly is a Box for Everything.

We haven't left yet. We were supposed to leave about a month ago, but due to various factors, we've managed to stay in the Northwest until very nearly the end of June. This was beyond awesome--I got to celebrate friends' birthdays that I was unsure I would ever get to spend their special days with, we got to see a hint of a Northwest summer, and I got to experience purchasing liquor at the grocery store! But alas, the time as now come for us to leave.

This morning the movers (or more technically, the packers) came to box up all of our stuff. Literally. They boxed IT ALL UP.

And this is just our living room.

 Things that were packed into bins were wrapped in special brown paper: I don't know what it was, but it was two sheets of special brown paper sandwiching a sheet of plastic-like paper. It was special brown paper. Then, the bins, which were wrapped in special brown paper, were wrapped generously in packing tape.

And there were the many various sizes of boxes! So many boxes. And they all had numbers and codes for them. It was pretty amazing to watch all my things get boxed up. Especially since all my previous moving experiences have been going to American Eagle and asking Tracie if she had any spare shipment boxes. But, now there is a box for everything. I do mean everything.

This is a very large box. This is not a very good picture.

BEHOLD! I am standing next to a box that they put our mattress and box spring in. I didn't even know they made boxes that large, but they do. Somewhere in the world there is a corrugated cardboard manufacturing magnate churning out bed-sized boxes for all the moving companies of the world, living large on the riches built from supplying cardboard boxes.

Tomorrow, the movers are supposed to come and take away our things, which will hopefully make their way over to North Carolina. Tomorrow, I hope to be less fascinated by how many different types of boxes exist out there. But until then, I'm just going to stare at the boxes (and wondering how best to build my cardboard castle), wishing them (and us) a speedy trip to the East Coast.

Things I Will Find Myself Missing About Anacortes

I am someone who becomes attached to things very quickly. For example: In summer school biology class (that I took to get ahead), we had to create a bug collection (properly labeling the species and type) for our final class project. My friend Elisa had caught a caterpillar and dropped it into a jar for temporary storage before it was transferred to the the kitty litter-plaster of paris-acetone gas chamber. While it was in it's little holding cell, the caterpillar just made circles over and over again to the point where we named it Speedy. And once you name something, knowing that it will be dead mere hours later and pinned to a foam board, the act of killing it becomes heart wrenching. I assume little Speedy was eventually killed, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Just trying to remember it brings a tear to my eye.

That being said, knowing that I will be moving away from the Northwest, Seattle, and Anacortes is heartbreaking. For the short time that I have lived in Anacortes, I have grown strangely attached to this little town. Perhaps it is due to all the Gilmore Girls I watch and my secret wanting this town to be my Stars Hollow.

Things I will miss: This view.

These are the things I will find myself missing about Anacortes when we move away:

-The Senior Center. In this period of unemployment, I have volunteered at the Anacortes Senior Center as a way to keep myself from going crazy and also to just hone whatever skills I still have. But I like the place and the people that frequent the Senior Center. They are just characters. Most of them are what I imagine my friends and I will be like when we get into our twilight years.

-Stan, Yeong, and Mark the Skagit Transit Bus Drivers. They are awesome--when I get on they greet me by name, they know when I get off so if I happen to zone out they won't pass my bus stop, if the bus is running late and I need a transfer they know to call the bus driver ahead to wait for me. Yeong even brought me homemade kimchi one day when she found out I liked kimchi. They were the first people I ever talked to, on a regular basis, in Anacortes.

-The Seafood guy at The Market. I swear he's stoned most of the time, but I've never met anyone who's more excited about seafood than that guy. Plus, he remembered that I was from Seattle and what I did last weekend, thus making for casual conversation while he's weighing out salmon for me.

-The deer in the backyard who live under our porch. Sometimes I pretend they are like pets, but sometimes they are just a touch annoying what with the eating of the foliage and peeing on our lawn.

-Victoria radio, mostly like CJZN The Zone on Vancouver Island. It's a cute little radio station and they play great music and they're just so adorable in their little Canadian ways. Although I have yet to get used to their weather reports, as they measure the temperature in Celsius.

-Old Salts. It's a gas station mini-mart. But it's owned by a nice Korean couple, who make kimchi on the reg and sell it. Homemade kimchi, at a gas station mini-mart in Anacortes: Weird, I know, but so delicious.

What Would Claudia Wear?

I'm not a particularly trendy person; I'll probably never be featured in a trendy fashion magazine where they visit the "streets" of whatever trendy city and find the trendiest girls to photograph. I'm not that adventurous when it comes to dressing myself; I have amassed a ridiculous amount of grays and neutrals in my wardrobe to the point where I have to consciously remind myself to STOP BUYING GRAY THINGS JOANNE FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

That's not to say I'm boring--nay, I do have some interesting items like sparkly tights, a pair of colored jeans, and a red plaid shirt that everyone says reminds them of a picnic table because that's what they always say to me when I wear that shirt. However, they all pale in comparison to my most interesting item to date: A yellow striped sweater from Anthropologie:

But wait, there's more!

It's interesting because not only is it yellow and stripey, which adds just a little punch of color and pattern to my outfits, it's technically backwards!

I wish I had better posture to show you all.

It's weird that it's purposefully backwards, but that's why I like it and I can't really explain more beyond that. Oh wait, yes I can: I like it because I totally think this is something Claudia Kishi would have worn and Claudia Kishi was 8-year old Joanne's default fictional Asian Girl hero (for a lack of any other Asian girl hero she could relate to). Except that Claudia would never have bought this in a store like Anthropologie (or would she? I feel like I can write a five-page essay on this topic). Instead, Claudia Kishi, who was truly before her time, would have bought a cardigan at a thrift store and consciously make the decision to wear it backwards, because she was Claudia friggin' Kishi. Then she would have dug around in her room and found a Snickers bar in a sock and eaten it.

Foul Bachelorette Frog

3 months? Maybe 2? I managed to stick to my weekly blogging goal for nearly three months (eh, it's probably closer to two months) before the laziness slipped in and I had better, more pressing matters to attend to...like sitting around watching the TLC's marathon on the anniversary of the Royal Wedding.

To my credit, I did do a lot of things in between all the lazy TV watching, which I shall summarize for you below:

To the Emerald City!
I went down to Seattle one weekend to hang out with friends and see some old co-workers. And it was the perfect weekend to be in town; it was like a TV show (or someone's very pretentious Pinterest account): Single gal in the city, crashing with two friends and their adorable Shiba in their loft in the heart of town, lunch at a delicious hole in the wall establishment, a bustling happy hour with hand cut french fries and $2 New Belgium beer,  brunch at a place that serves water in mason jars, dinner at a place where their water carafes are old whiskey jars, people watching at Cal Anderson, and Stumptown coffee!

On another time, I went down during the middle of the week (because I'm unemployed and I can) to meet up with friends for some quality girls time and Korean BBQ (and also some Musashi's with the last bit of cash I had left). Before I headed back up to Anacortes the next day, I managed to sneak in a trip to Cafe Besalu. I had a spinach quiche there and ordered a croissant and ham and swiss danish for the road.

Making a mess.

Girls Night All The Time.
While Jack was out of town, I took the opportunity to devolve into a college version of myself (poor nutrition choices bound by laziness) and forget any social manners I may have ever learned. Messy countertops? I'll clean that shizz tomorrow....maybe. Dinner of Hot Cheetos and maybe a salad? Don't mind if I do. Not shaving my legs for a week (or more). It's not sunny tomorrow, is it? Then I'm not shaving my legs!

I also gave myself a few more liberties, such as using both bathrooms in the most inefficient way possible. I like to use the toilet in the hallway bathroom, but I'm going to shower in the other one, because it has a nice shower-head (the kind that make it feel like rainfall). I also untucked the blankets and threw on a pink bedsheet. Then there was the watching of terrible television without fear of being judged (My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding? Uh, yes please!).

We usually only deal with this kind of wildlife. Not rabbits. That's something new.

Jack's Back! Time for all the work around the house.
One of the things I was actively avoiding while Jack was gone (but knowing full well that it needed to be done) was mowing the grass. Mostly because I'm not quite sure how this mowing business works (I've never done it myself) and also because lazy. So when Jack gets back, we get to doing stuff around the house--I'm weeding while Jack mows.

Twenty minutes in, Jack discovers that the lawn mower has gone over a little rabbit nest. The mom is toast, but we find three little rabbit babies. We scoop them into a box and Jack goes back to mowing the lawn, while I let my guilt seep in. I end up going through the phone book looking for advice on what to do. By the way: If you are using the MacGregor Yellow Book for Skagit Valley and look up Wildlife Removal, don't call that number because it calls a NURSING HOME. Boy, that was an awkward telephone conversation.

In the end we decide to drop off the babies at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center up near Bellingham. So we take the box and throw in some grass and get going. Luckily the babies are in good shape when we get there, a bit cold since we were supposed to keep them covered with a blanket instead of in a box with grass thrown on top, but the lady at the center thinks they will be okay. Another successful, if slightly frightening, interaction with wildlife!

Jack's Belated Birthday Surprises
Jack's birthday came and went while he was down in El Centro, and outside of a text I sent him on that day, he didn't have much time to celebrate. And that's where all my pent up energy from not working comes in! I decorated his room in colorful (read: hot pink and yellow) streamers, wrapped his presents all nice and tacky like, and even baked him a cake. If you're feeling a little intimidated by my Martha Stewart-esque-ness, don't be--that cake was from a box with artificial canned frosting! Yum!

The birthday boy declined to be photographed with his cake.