To do a very quick recap. I have moved across the country to go to graduate school at the University of Washington. I'm working toward two Master's degrees. One, an MPA (public affairs) from UW's Evans School, with an emphasis in environmental nonprofit management. The other is an MS from the College of Forest Resources. I don't really have a concentration there yet, and part of it may depend on where my money comes from. But, I'm looking generally towards the social science realm. Right now I'm really interested in urban renewal (making cities more livable by installing parks, green roofing and pavement, increasing urban agriculture, etc.) and for one of my classes I'm doing a pretty extensive annotated bibliography dealing with urban renewal and gentrification as it relates to environmental justice. It'll be a good intro to the topic, and I'm hoping that the project will give me a better idea of whether or not I want to be involved in that area.
I've also moved into an apartment with my boyfriend Mark. This, of course, caused no small amount of drama with his ultra-conservative parents and sister and now i feel awkward around them all. Lovely. Fortunately, my family viewed it much more favorably and thanks to them and Mrs. Lynn, we were able to put together a very nice apartment. It's maybe500 square feet? I'm not sure entirely, but it looks like a real home. I have a huge nesting influence, so it was really important to me to settle in quickly and well. You can view pictures of it here.
I had my own doubts about the decision to move in together, but they have since been completely thrown out the window. It is the most comfortable, wonderful situation I could ever hope for. At least for me... I think I might nag mark too much for his tastes, but he doesn't seem to mind. IT IS SO NICE TO BE TOGETHER, FINALLY! We spent 4 1/2 years apart, and only got to see each other every couple of months, most of the time. That meant that every time we did see each other, there was this underlying pressure for me that everything had to be great and memorable and wonderful. Now that pressure is gone, and it's perfect and relaxed.
We also have Abbey, the dog. She's a little terrier/Italian greyhound mix.
Abbey is about a year old and acts like it. The world revolves around her. If Mark and I are hugging, she jumps into the middle of us (an "Abbey Sandwich"). If Mark is playing piano, she sits on his lap. If she wants to play squeaky ball, she will hit us with the ball over and over again until we comply (and squeaks it incessantly, in case we're having trouble locating it.) Other than that, keeping Abbey is easy. We do have to walk her 4 times a day, rain or shine, but it's a good excuse to get outside. There's a nice park a block away from us, where we take her, and some times let her off leash to roam around with other dogs. There are also a number of off-leash parks, including one with lake access, that we can take her too. Capitol Hill (and Seattle, in general) is VERY dog friendly.... you can take them anywhere except restaurants (and even then, you can eat outside with them!) and grocery stores. You can even take them on the bus! Everywhere Abbey goes, she makes dog and people friends. Abbey also likes apartment living, and kennels well when mark and I are at school. But, her favorite things is to sun on one of our oversized window sills. You can see pictures of Abbey doing that here.
