The Road is Always Calling

I have not been the most consistent blogger as of late. Unless I was reviewing a book, I really did not get around to sharing what’s been going on. Part of that is the shear chaos that is grad school. Another part is that the gravitas and weight of my thoughts hasn’t felt like “share with the world” kind of material.

That said, some day when I make my blog book of 2010 and 2011, I will want to include the whirlwind of mini-trips that have made up the last six weeks of my life. {Are you ready for this? It's a bit of a marathon post.}

December 17 – 21: Disneyland with the family. It was our wettest experience in the Magic Kingdom and one of our most memorable due to the ponchos, Mae, the lack of concern over vanity (how can you be worried with water is actually streaming down your neck because it’s raining so hard?), Jenessa and I having our own room, how many times we rode certain rides (Small World in particular), and so much more.

December 22 – 25: Christmas with the Hutchins. The majority of the Hutchins descended upon my grandparents’ house for what felt like our last “all together” Christmas for a while (minus Eric who was off wooing his future bride (they’re getting married in September!) and Jewels who was with Brett’s family in Texas). It was a great holiday despite how gray it was and how early my family had to leave to beat a snowstorm. I love any excuse to be with these great people and to play games all day every day.
December 26 – 30: Home to California. Five days of catching up with friends, pajama movie days, shopping in the city, working on a t-shirt quilt, and just Bay Area bliss. I love being home. There is nothing like it.

December 31 – January 5: First week of classes. Welcome to the last semester of grad school. Let’s be honest – I barely paid attention since I was getting ready to leave again on Thursday.

January 6 – 9: Clipperland. I am interning long-distance with Clippers this semester so I spent Friday in meetings with the Clippers HR people (love them). The rest of the weekend was spent catching up with my friend Maria. We shopped, watched a couple Oscar buzz movies (more on this later), ate great food, walked along the water, and just enjoyed being in the same place at the same time. I love that girl so much and wish we could plan our lives so that we ended up in the same place once we graduate. January 10 – 12: Week two of classes. Yeah, I was definitely having a hard time paying attention. Didn’t help that I realized this week how much I dislike my classes.

January 13 – 17: Tahoe with MPAers. After Thursday classes, we hopped in the car and made the trek to Incline Village. We spend a wonderful weekend playing in the snow, lounging on the beach (seriously – 46 degrees in JANUARY), making snow caves (that would be the boys), playing cards, and just enjoying being away from school.
January 18 – 26: Third and fourth week of classes. Miracle of miracles, I was in Provo for a weekend. The highlight of this chunk of time was seeing Jewels and Mae for the first time in a month. These weeks solidified my loathing of at least one of my classes and reiterated how much I love going to the movies when it’s too cold to do anything else.

January 27 - 30: Seattle. Katie Fin and I met up in Seattle for a much needed catch-up session and so that I could get a better feel for an area that I am considering moving to. It was great to see Kate and to walk Seattle streets with her enjoying delicious Pike Place muffins and frequenting Watson Kennedy every day of our visit (seriously – we went every day that we were in town. It’s everything I want in a boutique except for its prices). (Kate and I didn't take one picture because it rained so much when we were together. Next trip Kate - we have to take double to make up for it!)

January 31 - ?: Provo. I’m not sure how long I’m in town for this time, but I think it will be a while. I need to get classes and work sorted out and on track. I need to find that motivation that seems to flee either during the last semester of grad school or when your classes feel like GE’s – double whammy when those two experiences coincide.

It’s been a great, albeit a bit insane, six weeks. I can’t wait until I get to head out somewhere else – somehow the road is always calling….